The Queen's Rambles

I need to remember that to-do lists calm me. I have never been a to-do list maker, but I discovered they were a saving grace after I had Elsa. My brain is not as sharp as it used to be–or maybe it’s just that I have four people’s schedules shoved into a brain that is designed for one person.

Things got a lot more complicated this morning when I was pulling out of a parking space and heard a crunch-crunch-screech sound. I backed back into the spot and took a look at the car next to me. I did a number on their bumper (because I know someone is going to ask, we were both facing out of a parking space, so I hit the front of their driver’s side with the back end of my passenger side).

The owner of the car walked out right when I started flailing about, looking for some paper. He was pissed for a millisecond, then became really nice and calm when I fell over myself apologizing and got out my insurance card.

I spent a long time on the phone with the insurance rep, getting everything set up. I haven’t needed to make a car insurance claim in over 10 years. This was a MUCH better experience than I remember. I don’t know if it’s because I’m older and calmer, have better insurance or if times have changed that much. He was able to make an appointment for me to take my car into the shop for an estimate and arrange for a rental car. Easy peasy. I’m not thrilled with the deductible hitting right at the beginning of Christmas season, but at least we only have a $500 deductible instead of $1000.

Since the door is not really all that damaged (I doubt I was even going 2 miles per hour when I went crunch-crunch), I am not taking it to the shop until Monday. I have things to do! Places to go! People to see! I don’t have time to mess around at an auto shop tomorrow.

It’s Erik’s birthday weekend, along with a big school even called Sweets and Treats (basically their fall festival with a candy and cake theme). I’m running the Sugar Shuffle, a shell game with a piece of rolo candy as the prize. Erik always wants to go to New York so he can play the shell game and win lots of money, so now he gets a chance to win a piece of candy. That’s even better than a fifty dollar bill, right? I don’t know if I’m the right woman for the job. I have a lot of practice since Erik loves the thrill of the gamble, but he always wins so maybe I’m not fast enough.

We have an all day soccer game-day on Saturday, which sucks. That’s when I’m supposed to be making the birthday cake. I’ve got myself psyched up for doing the camo frosting. What can go wrong with big blobs of icing? But now he wants me to make a moose taking a shower under a water fall.

Just a leeeeeettle bit outside my skill set. I’ll take him to Michael’s and let him pick out a set of animals to put on the cake. There was a Native American set that might have a moose. I can make a pond with blue icing. I picked up some sparkly clear gel icing that I can mix with it to make it look more like water.

I am starving for pizza. Someone give me pizza1

Five minutes later. . .

I can have pizza! I have enough points for two slices of my favorite pizza. Whoo-hoo!

I’m still doing well with the WW. They say you lose the most the first two weeks and that seems to be true. It is definetly disappointing, but not unexpected, when you start losing 1-2 pounds a week instead of a huge ten pound drop like the first week. I’ve been doing it three weeks and am down 13 pounds. Not too shabby. I don’t even hate it. They give you enough points to have a little, key word being little, treat every once in a while. If you do some planning you can go out and eat with out a problem. I am trying not to berate myself for not doing this years ago. It is what it is and I need to reap the benefits now. Look to the future, not the past. Blah blah blah. I’m getting better at not berating myself about things I can’t change.

Also, a big thank you to a reader who pointed me to Naartjie Such CUTE clothes! And not too much worse than Gymboree (though I don’t spend nearly that much at Gymboree since I shop sales). I ordered a few things to cute up Elsa’s fall wardrobe.

Heather has been sending me lots of links to cute dresses, so I have some options! I even went to Burlington Coat Factory today but I swear there is some kind of vacuum that all the 3T clothing goes into. Guess I’ll just have to wait a couple of weeks for Christmas pictures. It is so tempting to pull Erik out of school for a morning photo shoot, but I guess that would be setting a bad example about the value of school.

Don’t even get me started about the value of school around here. I am so tired of the smart gets getting short shrift. I visited the classroom on Monday and it was eye-opening. Erik was in the back rolling around on the carpet while he waited for the other kids to figure out the “sensory word” in the phrase “green beetle” was green. I am glad the teacher has an infinite amount of patience for the kids who need extra help, but it is upsetting to know that Erik is not being challenged. I have been exploring my options again and the only solution seems to be home school. I’m not that desperate yet. I don’t think Erik and I would make a good student-teacher combination.

Guess I better go order that pizza! The natives are getting restless.