The Highlight of My Day

I had to work at the school today and didn't feel like it. But as I walked into the gate and Abby followed me around just a little bit the way most kids do to their working parents she spotted a teacher and wavered away from me. As I turned to get on with my business I heard her proclaim to her teacher, "My mother is driving me Crazy!"

Oh my gosh. Nothing could have cracked me up more.

P.S. if anyone has been trying to call - our phone has been out for a week. Very annoying. Prognosis should be known Wednesday.

Pre-School Parent Pet Peeve #1

Or grandparent in this case.

The Critic:

This grandparent at the school has this entitled view of things.
There were too many holidays on Mondays and the school won't let you make up those days so she switched her daughter to tues-fri so they didn't have to 'pay' for missing school.
The sign-up for lunch bunch was full before she got there and she's supposed to work that day - yet her granddaughter won't be there. And while parents may have to deal with that sort of problem, she is most certainly not going to work when her granddaughter is not there.
The ballet class she wasn't even supposed to join because her gdaughter was already in a class is too full. The people at the community center (not the teacher) said they wouldn't be dancing the first day. The teacher said she would split the class if it was too big. Blah blah blah blah.

I'm not exactly immune to being critical and whining but the thing about the school is that it's not the school's evil plot to screw you out of your valuable free time by having holidays. And ballet - if Abby wasn't having a great time then I might be frustrated and sad etc, but then I would hope I would take her out of the class. But that's not the case with Abby and it's not the case with this lady's granddaughter.

Blah.

Pathetic

Poor sick Abby is in bed with a wet rag over her eyes while she clutches a rag for her runny nose.

Thomas the Tank Engine

Not for the Faint of Heart

(Goes in the "mushy" category)

Yesterday I picked up Abby from her pre-school and I was the first parent in the classroom. As I walked in to find them all working on puzzles. I noticed Abby singing in a sort of rhythm some form of "quack" or "bop" I'm not really sure. But the odd thing... the odd thing was that ALL the kids were doing it - all to some weird song in their heads. It was like in the Breakfast Club when the kids are all whistling. Or... like in The Birds where it's all eerie and calm. It was pretty hilarious. None of them broke the rhythm until more parents came in (usually they start crowding the door to get to their parents).

Today was a very big day. I took Abby to school as normal, but she got to stay til 2 with the 'lunch bunch' (a program where ten kids or so get to stay and eat lunch together). Then we went to Claire's house. Then Abby had her first ever ballet class. Which, though tough to wait through registration, was pretty much the cutest thing I've ever seen. The parents aren't allowed in the room but we have to stay near the patio and can watch thru the screen doors.

Oh my... hard to describe how sweet it was - but there was Abby following all the instructions. She did have difficulty at first because everyone has to find a green dot on the floor to keep as their position and Abby thought she needed to keep both feet on the dot (it's about an inch diameter) at all times.

But it was great to see her laughing and dancing... it was just great.

Adrea's Guide to Picking Up

or... Adrea's Guide to Reclaiming Control Over the Housework When You've Neglected It:
*warning, may not be acceptable to perfectionists (I see you out there)

Do a laundry burst. This helps keep the cycle going and lessens the chance of leaving a load of clothes in the washer to get moldy or the dryer to get wrinkled.

Do things that will make the greatest impact first. Don't organize the cupboard when you have last weekend's travel bag on the dining room table.

Never leave a room empty handed - pick up something on your way through it and either throw it away or put it where it belongs. Throw away most things (but first check if they contain money).

Put some music on.

Don't blog.

Zoo Day: Part Two, Abby

Gramma has been trying to take Abby to the zoo for about a year. Finally, with Spring Break from pre-school and me desperate for ideas of how to entertain my daughter, we set it up and met my friend Jen and her daughter Anna.

And after all that preparation, Abby had a great time at the zoo. She ran from exhibit to exhibit...
and was done in about fifteen minutes.

Especially when we saw the train. "We can't see the animals, we have to ride the train!"

Zoo Part One: Where's Waldo?

A snow leopard, a tiger and a gorilla showing off their camouflage skills. Can you spot them?

Hugs and Kisses

Leaving Wesley on Wednesday.

Princesses and Pirates

What is it about getting a picture of a baby smiling that makes me feel so smug?












Abby was a little envious of Josh's photo session which was fine with me because I got a very willing Abby-model out of it! (Oh, the pirate reference - usually when Josh smiles he squints one eye and one side of his mouth is higher - so he looks like a pirate)

A few little things I want to get down before I forget even though they are totally off topic:
Abby found a playmate at the park Monday but didn't figure out his name so she would call out, "Friiiiiiiennnd?, Where are you Friennnd?"
We went on the Small World ride today at Disneyland and Abby called out to the other kids on the boat to make sure they looked up.
Oh, and she really likes churros.

Easter Bubbles

Other times...

Sometimes I compare pictures of Abby over her three and a half year life and can hardly believe how far away her baby years feel. Other times I catch an expression from the past as if not a second has passed...
Abby at her first birthday party:

vs. Abby's reaction to seeing Poppa coming to pick her up for their adventure day.

What I never want to forget...

I never ever want to forget how Abby says "nemennems" (aka M&Ms). I don't remember the first time - it took me a while to realize what the word was because initially she tripped over her tongue so much - initially the only way she could figure out how to say it was to stick out her tongue, hum, say 'nem' and stick out her tongue and hum again... so it was like "blemenblemems."

I never want to forget how much she is talking right now. She was watching Harry Potter downstairs and came up stairs during a scary part to relieve some anxiety by talking about it and reiterating everything,

a:What are those bad guys in the train, the window, the bad mentos - what are they called again?
A: Dementors
a: Remember when they were on the train and at the window and they were trying to hurt Harry Potter, why are they trying to hurt him? What are they trying to do to him?
A: They want to hurt him because they're mean and bad!
a: *nervous giggle* Yup and do you remember when that mean, BIG, dinosaur was trying to get at Harry Potter...with the BIG teeth and the tail, do you remember?!
A: I do!
a: Harry Potter was all right though, he GOT that dinosaur and that dinosaur couldn't hurt him anymore and do you remember that he lives in a castle?

I never want to forget and yet it feels like it slips through my fingers constantly. How she makes deals and affirms my decisions and is so brilliant. She loves to play with dry spaghetti. It's a mess but it's not a messy mess. I wanted her to clean them up and she couldn't resist the urge to break them up whilst picking them up (thereby creating more mess) and I told her if she broke them anymore I would take away her toy. And she said, obviously distressed (but not emotionally distressed - more like logically distressed ) "But, when I'm walking to get them they will break sometimes when I'm walking."

It was just... so true. In order to pick them up she would surely walk on quite a few which would break them and that hardly seemed fair to be penalized for!

How she cuddles and laughs and thinks...

The urge to hold onto right now is just as strong as the desire to watch her go forward.

Foil?

So, I've been wondering recently if my whole 'friend' issue has to do with my reading world... or tv/movie world.

I think ideally I get annoyed when my friends are not devoted to me and my life. They have moods that don't further my plot. They have families that they need or require something from them. They get hurt, annoyed and offended by me - they misunderstand me, they don't have the exact right thing to say which will inspire the next epiphany every time we talk. Everything they say doesn't even apply directly to the overall arc of my storyline. They don't act as my foil - they act as if they are independent of me!

In short, they don't seem to be written to fit especially into my story.

The nerve!

Is it weird that I am actually a little bit hurt by this sometimes? It's funny - to encourage some down and out person on his show, Dr. Phil (yeah, I admitted it - I watch him - wanna tussle?) sometimes says, "You've got to be the star in your own life."

Not a problem with me! I've always felt that, done that, lived that. My mom is so proud of me for being a trooper after the top layer of skin on my face was burned to a blackened crisp by a citric acid peel @ the dermatologist's office. And hey - I appreciate being appreciated for that. But I was how I was because I had this whole plot inside my head - the temporarily deformed heroine taking on the world and probably some international mystery while I as at it.

So, star in my own life - check. Now where do I sign up for side kicks?

Steve you ask? He's more the arch nemesis type - isn't he? He would have so much fun being deliciously evil. I'll bet he'd have his lusciously nefarious outfit all designed in his head if you asked.

Of course it's not the whole 'would you rather be with someone you love who doesn't love you or someone that loves you but you don't love' question because in the books it doesn't have to be a either/or. The friend is written to just exactly fit and balance and like/appreciate me just exactly as much as I like/appreciate her.

AND she'd obviously move wherever I move and find a house two doors down and promise never ever to move away.

I dunno - it seemed reasonable a few years ago...

Cousins

Spring Bloom, Spring Ears, Spring Break

Spring is here and it's a great time at the pre-school. Abby made a carrot as tall as herself. She decorated a basket and put soil and seeds and water together and grew grass in it. They decorated REAL eggs. Here are her bunny ears...


Along with spring has come a resurgence in pretend play. Yesterday all the characters from Handy Manny were misbehaving and Abby had to sort them all out gently.

We walked around using a broken phone to call all the Princesses who, we were all very relieved to confirm all like treats and toys just like Abby.

She also ordered Poppa to come and get her and reassured Gramma that Abby would come to her later tonight.


With all this blooming excitement sometimes a girl just needs to take her Cheeze-its, her dry soup and her water and just get away from it all with a good friend. Or crawl under the desk with the cranky cat and a bunch of dangerous looking wires... whatever works.

If I Can't Make Chocolate Chip Cookies

...to cure myself of a depressive sort of mood because that will ultimately make me a fat relatively repressed person, here are a few other things that work to self-medicate:

Do something useful for someone. Anything that makes me think someone might be thankful that I did that something.
Do something useful around the house. It eases the mind if nothing else - one less thing to do.
Listen to Abby talk in her sleep, "No silly, teeth don't go on your forehead!!!"
Fuzzy warm thick socks (still useful even with heat)
Blog about the good.
Sleep next to someone you love

Long time, no mention...

Had a breakthrough tonight with my outline for the book. This is huge for me. I can write a hundred thousand words no problem. Have done so in the fanfiction world for years. It was trying to create a storyline - one cohesive interesting complete storyline that I didn't believe I could do.

But despite all odds, I have finally stuck little color coded index cards to a big piece of paper. This is huge. I can basically... basically just write it now. There are a few fuzzy subplots, but they'll focus on their own as I write them.

Still feel a bit embarrassed if anyone thinks I think it's something that would sell. But am basically happy in doing it now to make it something I would buy. My crazy forays into fanfiction have, if nothing else, prepared me and even inspired me to write a story the way I want it for myself and really mean it. And I'm so very into the story that that is a realistic desire for me to have... I want to write it so it's OUT of my head and I can read it.

3 posts for April Fool's. Must just be happy I'm through with March!

Nature is not Warm and Fuzzy.

If anyone doesn't know about the Discovery HD series "Planet Earth" it's spectacular as it should be!

However, leave you warm and happy it does not. For example apparently babies of all species are easier to catch and eat than adults. But, of course, anytime a baby gets away - the predator's babies die.

It's all rather depressing. But hey - SPECTACULAR pictures.


Planet Adrea:

In the dusk, California says goodbye to a long, seemingly never-ending March. Little do the inhabitants of this old Spanish home realize, but sleep will elude them this night. The last breath of March has the last laugh...


Feline Tabby basks in the sunlight. She lives in a converted dungeon so the rays are not taken for granted. Her determination to mew her owners unto insanity shimmers in her green amber eyes...

The Odd Emotion Creeps Up

Abby went to the movies today with Auntie Samantha. They saw "Meet the Robinson's" Abby did spectacular. She was so proud of herself for not being afraid. And except for a couple absolutely necessary comments, kept pretty quiet.

I may not have sounded confident, but as I drove away I got one of those pangs that comes with watching someone you love so much gain independence from you inch by inch.

*see them? crossing the street all by themselves from my side mirror.