While Baking Chicken....

Today is Sunday. I've been very busy/perfectly slothful. Time for a reverse-chronology? SURE!

Grant and Abbie are cleaning their rooms today. You may laugh. Well, at least a few things are being put away properly. I spent the morning at taiko. We played Hiryuu a lot, and I played chuu or slappy/oodaiko. It was fun and tiring and noisy. We played in the new practice space. Very echo-y. If you happen to know the secret to inexpensive soundproofing, do shoot me an email. I didn't have any trouble getting to the new space, it's actually very few turns. I even had enough attention to spare to look around at the food options that are close.

Didn't sleep well last night. It occurs to me that I never kept that sleep journal. I should do that. I would put last night down as: Took long to get to sleep. Woke easily and often during the night. Unable to sleep any significant length of time between 2-5am. Slept soundly sometime after 5...but was awakened by the hungry dog just before 6. Tonight I will experiment with stretching before bed.

Yesterday I helped Molly move. Josh and I got the kids ready in the morning and threw the dogs out into the muddy back yard. We got to Molly's around 10:30-ish. It seemed like there was lots of standing around involved, but I did manage to fill up the back of the CR-V pretty quickly. Josh helped the men move the washer and dryer into trucks, along with a dresser and a SUPER heavy TV and mattresses, etc. The kids, who usually love helping people move, were too busy playing to do much. It kind of disappointed me.

Molly lives on the third floor. Well, you can imagine the traffic issues, I'm sure. After all was unloaded, and the washer and dryer and tv set up, Molly and Ryan ordered pizza, and Josh showered at the new place and got ready for work. He left after we ate, and then me and Molly decided to go back for another trip. We got her desk and some emergency stuff, like silverware, toilet paper, trash bags and clothes hangers. Oh, and pillows. We'd noticed the lack of them while making the bed. Her parents surprised us all by stopping by to inspect the arrangements, but they didn't stay long. It was just a peek. Then me and Molly hung clothes for a while, but the kids were starting to come loose at the edges - a sure sign of time to go! I managed to get them away before any true fits emerged, so that was good. I had meant to make chicken, but there wasn't time - we were already hungry. So we just had quick stuff. It had been a very dark, cold day. A shame, because we work even better on nice days. I think we're going back some other day to help Molly's parents move some furnishings around in their newly remodeled basement.

Friday, Abbie and I went to City Hall and finished signing up Grant and Abbie for summer soccer, and Grant for T-ball. It's during Abbie's dance class, so she won't be playing it until next year. Then, we went grocery shopping, ate a quick lunch at home, and then went to our hair appointments.

I don't know if I mentioned making the hair appointments. I was not very happy with the woman I talked to. She was very stony, and slightly annoyed by me. But I wasn't being annoying, I promise. What is it with this new trend at the appointment counter? I've made a fair few appointments in my time. Why am I suddenly horribly rude if I don't give the date and time of the appointment to her? Good grief! What is so horrible about, "What do you have available next week in the late mornings?" I always get "the stare". You know, the one that means, "I would seriously be rolling my eyes right now, if it wouldn't get me fired. Are you really going to make me look up to see what is open? I so don't get paid for that." And this woman was in her 40's, so I know she wasn't brought up with this mentality. So, I was pleasantly surprised when she was not, in fact, the stylist I was scheduled with. (Another note: Isn't it usual to tell me the name of who will be working with me? At least so I can ask for the right person at the counter??) Anyway, she was younger than me (not hard, these days) and could have been more, probably. She sounded very intelligent, but not "brought up too high". She wasn't as fast as Dawn, but did a respectable job, up until the styling part. But my hair takes some getting used to. Abbie sat with a woman named Meg. Her cut is ADORABLE! It's actually about an inch shorter than I had told her, but I don't care. It suits Abbie very well, especially at her current age. It's a saucy little bob. Or maybe it's just Abbie who is saucy. We got home in time to get Grant from the bus stop, but just in case, I had written him a note, now that he reads so wonderfully.

Thursday I wrote Andrew that I wasn't feeling great, but was going to come to taiko anyway, since it seemed like everyone was crapping out for practice. But I had to take it back. I got a weird fever and was too dizzy to do much. Is Motrin really a fever reducer? It didn't seem to work too well. That's okay. It's great for my sore muscles, anyway. I spent the evening reading. in bed.

I read all of The Big Over Easy, Thud! and I'm mostly through Mort.

Tuesday was our moving party/meeting at the new taiko space. All of us who got there early, just grabbed stuff and loaded right up. In fact, we did such a good job that when Andrew arrived right when we were supposed to start....we were just finishing up! So we drove to the new place and unloaded, and then had a meeting. I had hoped it was a short meeting. Josh had to work on Wednesday, and I was hoping I could get home in time to watch a movie with him. Didn't happen. In fact...it was a REALLY LONG meeting. And I am now on the PR committee. Whee! but I don't feel like I have much to contribute. I will certainly try.

Monday, Abbie had dance, but the girls didn't behave too wonderfully. We could hear the teachers fussing through the walls. They are going to tap dance to "Almost There" from The Princess and the Frog. I was charmed, until I caught a glimpse of the choreography. Where in that song is the occasion to shake one's bottom at the audience? Well, they made one.

Yay, T-ball.

Celebrate the World went pretty okay. I had fun, though I really needed a drink of water. My dad liked it. Molly liked it. Ryan and Jennie and Amelia liked it. JD and Cory liked it, too! In fact, she might sign up for a beginner class sometime. Even my cousins came! I could see them from the stage! Well, to be honest, I was guessing it was them, because without my glasses, it's hard to be exact. But I was thinking, "That looks like a Sky-shaped blob, right next to a Kelsey-shaped blob, right next to a tall, dark haired blob that could possibly be Kelsey's boy!" Sadly, I never got to meet him. I was still unloading the stage when they went to the lobby to look for me, and when I finally got out there, they'd left.

Well. There ends the retrospective.

So, if any of you are moving this week, I'm totally on a roll!

In other news: We are watching The Muppet Show. I have yellow crocuses blooming in my yard! (What happened to the purple ones???) My house is not clean. I need to make an appointment for Grant at the dentist. I also need to send something UPS. I might make a jambalaya on Tuesday, since it's Mardi Gras, and I'm stuck home with the kids. Callie is getting quite fat.

Enjoy the last remaining wisps of weekend!