A few things made the shift to letting her watch a little easier. 1) JD gets home later than he used to.  So their time together was taking a hit. 2) The little girl was starting to do the bedtime procrastination thing.  All parents and caregivers are familiar with it. The dawdling, the requests for water, time in the bathroom, did I mention dawdling?  It was pushing bedtime further and further (closer to my prime-time viewing actually). And by allowing her to watch Wheel of Fortune both of these things were solved.  JD watches with her and it has become one of their special things.  Be careful if you watch with them, you can’t just blurt out the puzzle if you think you know.  Our rule has become that she has to be ready for bed (jammied up and teeth brushed) before she can watch.  Done.  Easy Peasy.

It’s hilarious to watch with her.  She’ll usually comment on Vanna’s lovely dress (the color, how sparkly, how long it is).  Then she does what we all did.  It’ll be a five word puzzle and they’ve called T,H and E. “I know, it’s something, something, THE, something, something, something”.  I’m not even kidding.  That’s exactly what she says.  And I laugh EVERY time.  She was shocked to learn that when mommy watched the show as a little girl Vanna had to actually turn the letters.  It took some explaining, but she was impressed.

Another generation of Wheel.  Merv would be proud.

I know how to do this, really, I’ve done it before. How could I forget the drinking water part?

To be perfectly honest I’m not much of a beverage girl. We have coffee in the morning, but if Jeremy didn’t want it I wouldn’t make it. As a kid I had milk or water with meals, but now I don’t. I don’t crave milk, juice or soda. I drink diet soda instead of grabbing a handful of cookies. And I often forget about water altogether. One of the things I often forgot in the first weeks of working out at the gym was my water bottle. After paying over $1 a bottle for water whenever that happened I quickly caught on to remembering my Sigg bottle. At home I rarely have a glass of water. At the nanny family’s house I’m more apt to keep a cup of ice water around (not sure why it’s easier there).

I do know however that in order to get the pounds off the scale (and my thighs) I’ve got to drink a decent to significant amount of water. For me the important time is after dinner. I usually want to munch something while hanging out in front of the TV. If I drink 2-3 glasses of water between 8-11pm I see a difference on the scale. No lie. This of course is in addition to working out and tracking my calories.

It makes sense, it’s just something I tend to forget. So I’m here to remind you, just add water. 

I don’t know that I’m siding with him so much as cutting him some slack.  Running a household is a job.  The schedules, shopping, maintenance, cleaning, childcare, it’s a huge job.  Ideally every home and family would have it’s own version of nanny/admin/housekeeper, but they don’t and these tasks fall to the adults in the family.  So what happens when one of the adults is out of town? Why is it expected that when someone else has to do that job that they would be able to step up to the plate immediately and hit a home run?  Why should we expect everything to be the same with someone else in charge?

If I had to do my spouses job I would be utterly useless, and that would be just figuring out the parking.  I don’t know how to run a team, read office politics, let alone the actual brainiac work that is IT Management.  So why then when I go away should I expect that he would know how to run the house like I do?  And why is how I do it the right way?

Honestly, from the time I started leaving for a weekend (when the baby was two years old) I was so thrilled at the thought of not being responsible for anyone else for two whole days that I didn’t really care what I came home to.  I’m happy that I have a husband who works a job that provides us with the cushion of enjoying extra things like weekends away.  Sometimes I take flak for prepping the pantry, laying out snacks, putting a casserole in the fridge, or planning an activity for them before I leave.  But isn’t this similar to what the teacher does for the substitute?  Wouldn’t I need some direction if I had to walk into an unfamiliar building and run a business?  If even for a day?

It’s my job to know that Friday is Spirit Day at school and our daughter needs to wear blue and a funny hat.  It’s my job to pack a nutritious lunch and have the pantry stocked so I can do so.  It’s my job to know the name, number and location of the vet.  It’s my job to know where all the vital household documents are. I’m on-call if the child gets sick at school.  Why is it my job?  Because we talked about it before we got married.  I’m a traditional gal and we decided that whoever could make the most money would work and whoever didn’t would stay home.  Most of the time I’m content to do it and yet like everyone else in their job it’s a grind sometimes.  I’m pretty sure though that no one else is signing up for it so it’s all mine.   Gotta love job security.

1. I started Kindergarten when I was four years old. By high school I was the youngest in the class.

2. I have lived in in 18 different homes, in 10 different towns, in different four states.

3. Except for a school year in Missouri, I’ve always lived in states that border an ocean.

4. My leg (femur) was broken in a car accident when I was in 2nd grade. I was in the hospital for a month, at home in a body cast for a month and then at home on crutches for another month.

5. In 8th grade I had the chance to go to the Jackson Five Victory tour in Vancouver, BC (for free) and didn’t because I didn’t think it would be a very Christian thing to do. I’m STILL kicking myself for not going. Not cuz I’m a Michael Jackson fan, cuz I’m not, but I really think it would’ve been an incredible thing to see.

6. I traveled to Baja Mexico for a mission trip the summer before my sophomore year of high school. It forever changed how I view what I *need*.

7. Even though I was a band geek (flute) I was voted to be a cheerleader as well.

8. I started playing the flute in 5th grade band. I played until my early 20s and haven’t played since. Growing up I was often in vocal choirs. I haven’t in the past seven years and I miss it.

9. I attended an all women’s college (Cottey College, Nevada MO) for one school year.

10. In a children’s theater production at Cottey I played Rabbit in Winnie the Pooh.

11. During my second year of college I managed the 99 cent theater in town. I learned how to splice film together and run a cinema grade projector.

12. Because of the above mentioned job I have listened to the Rocky Horror Picture Show more times than I care to count.

13. I married my high school sweet heart. And we are still happily married!!!

14. For our tenth anniversary we celebrated with a trip to Hawaii, a new diamond for me and a house (in NC). We will have a difficult time topping that in the future.

15. We had the name Emily picked out since the early 1990s. There are a few people who may actually remember. I was very distressed when Alex Trebeck named his daughter Emily in the early 90s.

16. Until I witnessed a friend give birth I was convinced I would not be able to do it.

17. If I were to go back to college it would be to get my RN and masters for mid-wifery.

18. My dream car for years was a Volvo wagon. I’ve driven one for the last seven years.

19. I have eaten crepes at the base of the Eiffel Tower.

20. My number one goal as a parent is to raise a child who can give and receive love in healthy ways.

21. My favorite Disney princess is Belle (because she reads alot)

22. At Starbucks I order a tall, non-fat mocha, no whip.

23. If I could live anywhere it would be the Oregon Coast.

24. My favorite color is the darkest of navy blue.

25. I’ve decided that high thread count sheets, massages, psycho therapy and good hair cuts are worth the expense.

Must keep cleaning… 20 minutes left of unstructured time.

• Beef Stew
• Oatmeal & Raisin cookies
• Chili
• Banana Bread

It’s 80 degrees outside, but apparently my kitchen doesn’t know that. 

Life here has been crazy since we returned from Disney.  We had a great time and our pics are on Flicker.  If you’d like an invitation to view them let me know and we’ll hook you up. They aren’t public.

The little girl only has 10 days or so of pre-school left.  The big “K” starts in July. Hm… time to book my mommy spa day. Our summer will be a mish/mash of Kindergarten, the nanny job, swimming, trips to the library and just general hangin’ out.

I’m working on an entry regarding the gym. It’s been a year since Lifetime Fitness opened in Cary, so it makes sense that I should mention it this month.

More soon~