It wasn't planned, but I tailgated (and sometimes even attended the football game) at Notre Dame for three consecutive weekends in October. Perhaps this situation alone explains my dizziness.
Happy to report, I slept more than 8 hours a night over the weekend - and *poof* no dizziness. Well, that's not a sustainable lifestyle, but I feel good for now. 
Curly serving
This weekend there was no ND game. In anticipation of you wondering: What did you do with yourself? . . .
Thursday:
I scheduled midday fam therapy for Kay and myself to discuss THE SAME DAMN THING. Broken record territory. I can't even. She moaned about how we play favorites to Rae in her bedroom while the baby monitor was still on. Oops. (this was not the basis for the emergent session, but it came in handy)
We're not playing favorites - we're connected. You want the connection? Swell, start doing the work. Quit sneaking, lying, be genuine, try to gain our trust, etc. 
Best buds with the same name!
Fam therapist: Looks like you're not enjoying life right now, so make better choices.
The fam therapist suggested we share a note found in Kay's backpack with the principal. Let someone else step in, so it's not just you two. The principal told Kay the same EXACT things we've told her. He rocked her world. Maybe she got the message?
Me: I don't think you consider what Dad and I say as important. Think again.
In order for me to leave the tots, I had Becky come over with her own daycare peeps. Curly raced home on her lunch break, and just before she headed back to school, Coach arrived during his lunch break. Becky's daughter attends junior college, so she stopped by after class.
The fussy baby, who can't relax, gets stiff as a board while eating, refused to take the bottle from them. She's almost 6 mos. She finally took it from Coach. She's a puker to boot - the reason I bought a little green machine a few weeks ago. She drank a bottle, then projectiled said bottle on me and my carpet and my couch. At least she's super cute. 
tan Veronica Beard pants
Curly carried a tot down from her nap at 3:30 pick up time - I was home by now. The tot was notably wet. Um, she had no diaper on. I believe it was a case of too many cooks in the kitchen - someone put her on the potty (we're trying to potty train her) and never put a diaper on her pre-ap. Thankfully the mom is super chill and found the whole thing hilarious.
With Friday off, this is the start of my weekend. After the tots were picked up, I packed my dinner in a thermos to eat at Curly's game and raced off to a high-end woman's consignment shop that was having a sale. I took photos of the things I've been 
Why is my butt
so square?stalking watching, and sent them to Mini. My plan was to go back Friday morning to buy items Mini liked.
Since I was coming from the other direction, I asked Coach to grab Nana, and I met them at the high school. 
ND graduation?
On my last visit
it wasn't on sale
- this time 40% off.
It was Curly's volleyball senior night. This was the second game this week Nana attended. She's uncomfortable going to away games, but is happy if I promise her we're heading to a familiar spot.
Additionally, Becky, my cross-town daycare buddy, showed up to cheer for Curly, and two of my babysitting moms came with their little people in tow to cheer for "BIG CURLY". Curly babysat for little Curly (IRL she and this 16 mo old have the same name) over the summer, and they are besties. Curly was tickled with the turnout. She has open campus for lunch this year and when she pops in - baby Curly makes a bee line for her. Cuteness abounds.
I bolted from Curly's last home game and drove to my college alumnae book club. It was a great night. We read, The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store. Ratings ranged from 3 or 3.5 out of 5. Consensus: too many characters, slow start. I enjoyed the way so much tied together towards the end.
 |
| long denim skirt - this was new. I hadn't seen it at my earlier trip. |
I drove Kae and Ray to school, worked out, went to morning mass, baked pumpkin bread, ran back to the consignment shop, bought the items Mini approved of, and stopped to pick up salads for my lunch date. All before noon.
My dear friend, who I met when her daughter and Curly Irish danced together, came over for lunch. We try to meet every few months, but rarely in the summer. We had a great time catching up.
*******
Silly me - summing up a weekend in one post? Thursday I'll fill you in on the rest. Did you read Heaven and Earth Grocery Store? Have you changed up your schedule lately and been surprised at how much time you have? Any guesses on which of the 3 items I bought? Does anyone else bring dinner in a thermos if you have a busy night?
Love big curly and little curly!
ReplyDeleteI hope you bought all those items. You have an enviable figure, and they look great on you ( and therefore Mini?).
The German exchange students went home, and I can breath a little easier. I now can cook boring foods ( pancakes and bacon for dinner last night!) and not have to worry if the girls were having a good time. They were very sweet, but I wanted to be a good host. It's not like family visiting when you can just do the regular routine
Praying for you and Kae!.
Oh, on a busy night , I'd just buy popcorn at the sports concession stand. I can get by without a meal, but I do love popcorn. And I support the teams that way. Granola bars in the car in a pinch. But you need good fuel and have to be careful of what you eat, I can see a thermos of your our delicious cooking making sense.
Deletembmom11 - I love the two Curlys too. My Curly is bummed that baby Curly doesn't seem to get that they have the same name. She thinks we're just talking about her. Eventually she'll get it, but it is confusing. I can only imagine that having the exchange students would add a layer to your day. Having family visit in my world - is just as challenging as having outsiders visit. Judgie etc. Thank you for your prayers.
DeleteI'm cracking up at popcorn as a meal. I couldn't survive on that. I keep gf snacks in my purse, because I eat all the time. I never seem to get enough to eat.
I don't even own a thermos anymore! But I'm out of the stage of having to eat dinner on the run. I hope you bought the green dress because it looks great on you! I looked at that book at the library but put it back. I can't remember why, but it must have not looked appealing after reading the blurb inside.
ReplyDeleteBijoux - I bought 4 thermoses for lunches when the kids were young and somehow we still have 3 of them. Our kids have been teased in high school, because if varsity kids or jv kids have to stick around to watch the next team play - I deliver a thermos of dinner food to them. Their friends and coaches are like, What's up with that? We would never buy pizza at a concession stand. Or if we did - it certainly wouldn't count as a meal. I also pack a thermos for Coach when he meets me at a game straight from work. the book was good, but didn't need to be so long. Parts of it - when everything fell into place made me laugh out loud, but parts were also very sad.
DeleteI almost always pack a lunch for work, but since there is both a fridge and microwave, I've never been able to justify buying a thermos. Never thought about dinner's on the go. Hmm.
ReplyDeleteI really like the green dress! I hope that is the one you picked!
So nice that Curly had a big cheering section for senior night!
Jenny in WV - that makes perfect sense. Ours have been used regulraly for a decade or longer. I gave kids thermoses for Christmas one year so they could bring mac and cheese or soup to school as a treat. Still coming in handy. Yes, I bought the green dress. Lots of peeps wear green to ND graduations. Boom, done.
DeleteI love the green dress and the denim skirt and I laughed at your square butt comment. Made me think of Sponge Bob!
ReplyDeleteYou stay busier than a one armed paper hanger!
Do I own a thermos? No, I don't. Also, I can't do a liquid dinner, I'd feel cheated!
What a fun turnout for Curly and I love that she's following in your Babysitting Footsteps. She's got big shoes to fill!
YAY FOR EIGHT HOURS OF SLEEP. ;)
XO ~Suz
Suz - I bought the denim skirt and the green dress. The Veronica Beard pants - I did like them, but they are probably a size smaller than what I normally wear and I am not sure they were intended to fit so tightly. Plus they were still really expensive.
DeleteI've never heard the one armed paper hanger saying and it's making me laugh.
My thermoses are not for liquids, sister. They were for the kids to bring mac and cheese in their lunches. Yes, I've had them for that long. I think we're down to 3 from 4, but when you consider that I bought them over a decade ago - we've gotten a lot of wear out of them. I sometimes show up to kids' games with a thermos of dinner for Coach. He always needs more when we get home, but it holds him over. With his new hours, that's hardly even necessary anymore. Who knew that this was how other people lived - two parents home for dinner most nights? It's downright addictive and manageable as all get out.
It was fun to surprise her with the little people showing up. Some of the other parents have been telling us after her volleyball games that she's 'so good' and why isn't she playing in college. Bah - this isn't her main sport. But the bball recruiting is so frustrating, part of me is like - hey, wanna try for volleyball?
I'm afraid to even mention it out of fear I'll jinx it, but I've been sleeping till my alarm, which is something I set as a back up. Huh?
I forgot to metion that I could not finish Heaven and Earth Grocery store. So many characters, and none of them grabbed my attention!
DeleteI didn't think about Mac and Cheese in a thermos. You are a genius! ~Suz
That's a good story about no one remember to re-diaper the tot before the nap. Yes good thing the mom is chill. I'm glad you have the support of the therapist and that the principal also told her the same message. Maybe that's what she needs for it to sink in. Love all the support for Curly's game - they must all love her (and you:)
ReplyDeletePat - I did that once myself. It was Ed's confirmation and I was making lasagna and cleaning house and getting dressed, etc. A million things while babysitting. All so I could host a meal before Ed's mass at church on a weeknight. Well, a 2 year old woke up and was wet and I didn't even notice. The dad gave me a funny look. He was like, Is everything OK? Bc he's not wearing a diaper.
DeleteOops. I'd had him on the potty and then forgotten the next step. All that to say, it happens. One of the moms I had last year, was lovely, but NOT AT ALL CHILL. I was not at all sorry she decided to work part time and stay home with her kid. She had me jumping through hoops. Unpleasant.
Yes, the therapist's idea of hand this one off to the principal and let him deal with it was genius. time will tell, but she's gotta knock some stuff off. I said in therapy that I feel like there's more than one Kay. there's the 'sure, I'll behave now. sorry about that' version and then there's the 'Ef them, I can do what I want' version. And she also likes to complain about us to Rae. I said in therapy - "It's not you and Rae against us. We're a family, and Rae gets that." I spoke to Rae and she says she shuts Kay down when she complains about us and I told her how we discussed it in therapy. Never dull.
I was going to guess you got the dress and the skirt, but I see you've already let the cat out of the bag. We don't have a thermos, and I have no idea what I used to do when I was driving kids around to activities. Although I think I always managed to be home long enough to get dinner as we didn't have anything late that I needed to hang around for. It would just be drop off and then pick up. Games were always weekends during the day, or latest finishing around 6 pm.
ReplyDeleteMelissa - You guessed right. Back when I could eat gluten, I think it was easier to wait and eat dinner later or snack until dinner if I was driving them around. I probably also workout a heck of a lot more now, so I do not like to wait till after a game to eat dinner. I'm glad I didn't show up to my book club hungry, because most of the food offered contained gluten.
DeleteI love that dress - and I love that it has sleeves. I prefer dresses with sleeves because I am ALWAYS cold!
ReplyDeleteOof, I had a nephew that projectile vomited bottles. It was not fun! My kids were generally not spitter uppers, except Will would when he had any sort of cough/cold. He'd do a huge morning breast feed, cough, and then cover us both with regurgitated milk... So fun!! :P
My change to my schedule is no traveling and boy is that a game changer!! This will be my longest block with no travel since, gosh, early 2023? I don't even know. I will have 3 full months off! Wahoo!
Lisa - I love that dress too, and I'm glad it was reduced in price. Good thing I held off in buying it during my visit a few weeks prior. I'm always cold too and the graduation is in May, so it can still be a little chilly then.
DeleteThe spit up isn't fun and my carpet and my furniture smells and my kids are older. I desperately need a new couch, but I'm waiting till I'm done babysitting. By then, maybe I'll have grand kids.
That is quite the shift for you. I'm delighted that you're getting to walk to pick the boys up from school. That sounds like such a lovely addition to your routine. After everything you've been through, I'm glad that there's a few silver lining moments like those.
The baby with no diaper cracked me up! Oops! I'm glad that getting some extra sleep helped with the dizziness. I've been thinking about you, hoping you're feeling better. You look good in every outfit!
ReplyDeleteMichelle - The baby with no diaper cracked all of us up over here. One of the moms who I sat for last year would not have been as easy going, and Phew - I'm glad this mom was. Oops. Thank you for thinking of me. It was a weird spell and I'm still not convinced I know what the cause was, but I'm happy to be feeling better. Thank you. If you look closely the green dress has another hook and eye that I didn't get closed for the photo. Here's hoping I can get it all buttoned up and tucked in properly when I wear it. ;)
DeleteI tried to read Heaven & Earth Grocery Store. It was a fail. I just don't care for his writing. I found I was trying so hard to like the book, but I didn't care about it and it was irritating the hell out of me. I gave it like 50-60 pages and then said Forget it.
ReplyDeleteI'm really glad your dizziness has passed. I hope it doesn't come back.
I used to keep granola in the car to munch on when I knew I'd be out and about a lot, either the loose stuff or bars. I hate eating in the car, though--it's messy.
Nance - If it wasn't for my book club, I don't think I would've picked that book up. I can easily skip books or give up on them if they are part of book club. We are an easy going group and no one will care if I show up just for chit chat and snacks. I did think the mid point picked up, but so many of the characters - well I gave up on trying to remember how they were important to the story. Eating in cars is messy. Um, our cars are far from orderly and clean. Note to self: never offer to pick Nance up at the airport in my car. ;)
DeleteI read Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, and I think I would give it a 3. It was fine.
ReplyDeleteI like the denim skirt best, but all three outfits are great! Good thrifting!
I hope you can manage better sleep, dizziness is NO FUN.
I wonder if puker baby doesn’t want to take her bottle because her tummy is upset? Is she on formula? Maybe her folks need to try a different one?
Julie - I agree. Fine. With parts that made me laugh and others that were so sad and distressing, but not enough of a consistent draw.
DeleteI did buy the skirt and the green dress. This consignment is all high end labels, but sometimes when they get marked down low enough, it's worth it. I got my dress for our family portrait there and I love that dress.
The dizziness seems to have subsided.
They've tried different formulas - after I said, Whoa, this is NOT normal. She definitely is in pain when she eats, but doctors won't give her medicine unless she's miserable all the time. She's only miserable when she eats. Good times. I do think she's of an age (almost 6 mos) that she'll outgrow it soon.
Good lord- you did all that before noon on Friday??? I can see why you had to split this into two posts! And I see from the comments that you bought the dress and the skirt- great choices! I haven't read that book and I don't really want to- I know a lot of people loved it, but I just feel like it isn't for me.
ReplyDeletei hope you're getting some decent sleep this week!
Jenny - It was a busy and productive morning. I was on a mission to get stuff done before my friend came for lunch. I don't think I would've been drawn to this book except for my book club was reading it. It was decent, but long stretches were . . . long. Other parts held my interest. Too many characters and threads - not for me, I guess.
DeleteI've been sleeping great this week. I really want to start getting to bed closer to 10 vs 11. Alas, I stay up trying to get things done. Last night both my city dwelling boys called me one after the other. It was great to chat with them, but I didn't go to bed early.
Curly has INCREDIBLE hair! That picture with little Curly hugging Curly really shows off her hair.
ReplyDelete(Gotta say though I cannot imagine having to maintain it back when she was small. My daughters’ stick straight hair has been enough of a headache lol.)
Hope the family therapist can get through to Kay!
Joymarie - Curly does have incredible hair. It's insane. It took a long time for us to figure out what product would work in there and yes a headache too.
Delete