Thursday, August 10, 2006

Ahead of the game?

Day 19 - Thursday - August 10, 2006

So am I ahead of the game today or just fooling myself? I am of course still in my pajamas at 1015 so perhaps a wise bet would be "fooling myself"! BUT... I have figured out what's for dinner. I have the chicken out to thaw (more than an hour ahead of time which is my usual, not very effective, thawing strategy). Actually found the recipe on-line, miracle of all miracles. I made a copy of it back in April to bring to NM and leave it here. Then I'd have one of our family favorites available anytime I decided to cook. But of course I forgot to bring it with me. Twice now. But that's okay because Taste of Home has improved its recipe database searchability and accessibility since I last tried looking up a recipe about 4 years ago.

And look at all that I have accomplished so far today...
  • Read yesterday's paper. Including the article about the winery I had planned to visit at some point and had forgotten all about.
  • Drank a cup of coffee.
  • Fed the kids breakfast. And a few snacks since it is sooooo late in the day. Not.
  • Turned on Cinderella for Felisa (who is no longer watching but Bella is)
  • Checked my email.
  • Called my dad for his new address.
  • Called Elena to make dinner location plans.
  • Made my grocery list. I'm going to try to accomplish my shopping in a single visit today.
  • Currently watching Ryan's step-by-step show-n-tell episode of putting together his new Scooby Doo puzzle. He's got about 20 of the 100 pieces together.

As amazing as that all is, I really need to get a shower and get out of here if I'm going to get to a winery and the grocery store and be back by mid-afternoon.

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Okay, all I wanted was a shower. A nice, hot, no one is bothering me for 10 minutes shower. Apparently this is way too much to ask for. First Felisa comes in and wants me to open a movie for her. I tell her that I will do it after my shower. Then Bella comes to tell me that Ryan and Felisa are fighting because they both want to watch/listen in the same room. I yell for Felisa to come. After a few minutes Bella gets Felisa to the bathroom. I tell her that Ryan is already listening in the bedroom and after my shower I will help her watch in the living room. Okay she says. A minute later Bella is back to report that Felisa was confused about my perfectly clear message and is trying to watch in the bedroom so the disagreement with Ryan continues. So I call her back again. And explain that in just 2 short minutes I will be done with my shower and can help her. She says okay. No further interruptions to the shower. I go out in my towel so that I can immediately solve this EMERGENCY crisis. I turn Felisa's movie on in the living room and Ryan goes back to the bedroom to listen. I go back the the bathroom to get dressed and finish getting ready. I am just half-dressed when Felisa is back, asking for cheez-its. Okay, can you wait until I get dressed? Yes. But can you wait somewhere else, like in the living room with your movie? No. Grrrr.... 10 minutes. All I want is 10 minutes!!!!!!!!

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So I'm at Sonic waiting for my breakfast burrito and cherry-lime when I realize that it is 12:00. Already? How did that happen? Oh well...

Half an hour later I am across town and lost. Of course. Why would I have expected to just follow the straight lines on the map to find where I am going? I definitely think the winery could make a couple improvements to their map. And the road construction wasn't helping matters any. There I am, stuck waiting through 3 extremely long light cycles, figuring I should be getting close. Suddenly I am at the head of the line and there is a shopping center directly across the intersection. Huh? What happened to the road? So on the next green light I turned left. Went a few blocks, turned right. And had no idea where I was. Pull over into the shade and get the real map out. Boy am I lost! Find an alternate route to try. I'm following a very slow old white minivan for awhile. Then realize I'm not on the road I thought I should be on. Oh, because it doesn't go through like the map shows. Eventually I wind my way around the neighborhood and make it over to the winery. The buildings are just as big and impressive as they look in the brochure and on the website. But the pond and the grounds are miniscule. Very disappointing. I did get a free taste though because I told the lady that I only like sweet wine. She said they only have one sweet one so she gave me a free taste instead of paying for all 6 of them and not liking any. And I got a spoonful of the chocolate wine sauce - yum! I took a picture of the mouse with the wine bottle and a picture with the kids in front of some wine barrels. Got a few nice pictures of the grape vines. Then paid for my souveniers and hit the road to drive all the way back across town. I went out the other way this time and had a nice drive through Los Ranchos de Albuquerque. Lots of big estates and horses.

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If Felisa doesn't stop crying every 2 minutes I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm cranky enough on my own. Her incessant whining and crying over every little thing is not helping any. Elena and the boys are coming over later which is good - I'm going to put the kids in front of the TV for awhile and hopefully enjoy a bit of quiet time.

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Funny quotes from this evening...

Thomas: It's not funny, it's dessert.

Ryan: And that's how long your lung bones are.

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Another nice evening all together. I'm going to miss these get-togethers when we are gone. I enjoy hanging out with Elena (and with Jared). The kids have been playing very nicely together. They haven't fought at all while causing mayhem and disaster everywhere they go. Tonight they managed to once again get the hose turned on but at least there was no mud pit since we are at Grandma's house instead of Elena's house. Keep in mind that I told them once already this evening to leave the hose off. Apparently "the babies" turned it on (that means Philip and Felisa). So that meant it was okay for all the kids to play with it. After all, I said not to turn on the water. I did not say not to play with the water if someone else turns it on. So clearly it was my mistake, not their disobedience! Oh and after everyone left I discovered the bedroom curtains almost completely pulled down. And don't forget the tent that they dismantled upstairs before dinner. And then Bella was trying to hide under the green blanket. Luckily I caught that one before she completely twisted it all up. I already had to take the duvet cover completely off and get it back on straight once. And once was enough for me! But... there was much cooperation and no fighting during all of this so that balances out the mischief. Well, a little bit anyway.

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Another late movie night. Ryan was watching Bugs Bunny in the bedroom and I didn't think I could fall asleep with it on so I decided to watch Failure to Launch instead. Pretty funny. But of course I was up until midnight again. And not sleepy. Could be a tough adjustment when we return to real life. And school is only 3 weeks away so we're going to have to start waking up early to get in the habit right away. No more lazy mornings - Ryan has to be at school by 0830 EVERY DAY! Yikes!

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