Splashing out on Friday night :)

Last night, we went here!

We ate here:

It was fun, first time I've ever been there :)  It was bigger than I thought it would be.  It is huge.  You can smoke inside and I'm not used to that and my eyes got really irritated, but other than that, it was really fun :)  My plate of food was so big, I think I only ate about a tenth of it.  But it was very  good!

This is a must-share.

So it's nice out, which in my neighborhood means daily door-to-door obnoxiousness. We get everything from dudes wanting to know when you last sided your home (mine's not sided), people wanting you to subscribe to newspapers, teenagers with backpacks full of books that they want to sell you, groups of men, women, and children dressed ridiculously too warmly and formally offering you info on the Apocalypse with scary looking magazines featuring people running terrified from flames, you name it. Today I was visited by a dude dressed head to toe in AT&T gear.  I saw him coming.  He was somewhere in his twenties.  He rang the door and I reluctantly answered it, and he goes, "Hi! I'm Mike from AT&T U-Verse! Can you go and get your mom or dad for me?". I just kind of looked at him for a minute and then went, "Are you kidding?". We just stared at each other awkwardly for a few seconds and he went, "Uh...No...why, should I be kidding?". He looked truly perplexed. I was too.  So then he goes, "...Soooo... should I just wait here for you to get your mom or dad?".  I think at that point I was just so confused that I could only shake my head and close the door.  Did he really think I was a 13 year old with DDD boobs and a salt and pepper pixie cut?  That is my must-share of the day. So bizarre, right?  In what world could someone mistake me for less than 30?  It was a moment.

Good things about global warming.

It's happening so let's just get out there and enjoy it, shall we?

1. I can open the windows and air out the house, much needed from two big, gassy dogs.
2. Small house + nice weather = quadruple your square footage living space with outdoor spillage.
3. Eating outside.
4. Reading outside.
5. Hanging clothes outside (as soon as Hubbie fixes clothesline...)
6. Cabin fever instantly relieved with spur of the moment walks with kids and dogs.
7. No more pinning socks together for the wash so they don't get lost, who needs socks for the next 6 months?
8. We can start painting the house (Chris wants to paint it light blue!  Yick. I think battleship grey with white trim).
9. Popsicles. (Megan knows from living with me that I am a popsicle addict).
10. Every one just seems a little less tense, maybe a little more sweaty, but less tense.

The sounds of inconsiderate old folks

As soon as it starts getting nice out, my neighbor to the left starts up his old, OLD tricks. He's this crotchety guy who is retired and likes to spend all day, everyday, morning until night, puttering around his garage and BLASTING the super oldie station ALL DAY LONG. There is no escape.  Right now I'm trying to get a little cleaning done and the kids are playing around, and instead of the nice peaceful sounds of the day I'm forced to listen to his guy's incredibly irritating music.  We're talking "GOING TO THE CHAPEL AND WE"RE GONNA GET MAR-AIR-AIR-AIR-AIRRIED".  Stuff like that.  No one wants to hear Love Me Tender blasting thru their windows.  That was a few hours ago.  I tell myself it could be worse.  It could be offensive rap music or heavy metal, but I just wish it was no loud, endless music at all.  It is my annual spring, summer, and even into fall, gripe. Remember when the Osbornes had those annoying neighbors that would blast their bad music all the time, so Sharron started throwing food over the fence at them???? I can see where she was coming from.

What a week.

These are the things that happened this week:  We found out that the kids in our neighborhood are being sent to the one school I didn't want, the one with no gym and no cafeteria.  I'm going to find out more tonight at the Board of Ed meeting, and I'm mad and hormonal and liable to really make a scene, so anything can happen.  Also on my way to my ultrasound this morning I hit a rock or a pothole or something, and it shredded my tire and broke my rim.  My aunt had to come pick me up and run me down to my doctor's office. They were able to take me right away and I got the world's quickest ultrasound, which was nice, and now I have two little Cheeto pictures.  The tech said I'm eight weeks and two days into the pregnancy (yes, they can tell down to the day! isn't that amazing?  I had her explain it to me b/c I couldn't believe she could pin-point it so precisely, but they really can). So my due date is November 20th.  My car is sitting in the old Ames plaza in Seymour looking pretty miserable.  Oh yes, and by the way, I'm pregnant :)

Here are some cute pics from the week:

Gianna and Mimi just happened to wear their french kitty shirts together this week :)

Gianna is off this week, but my kids are off next week. Here's Mimi and Gianna taking a break from their private games (they don't allow me in, but I do sometimes listen at the door...) to snug up :)  Mimi only goes to school MWF, so they had a girls' day.  Max is in school slaving away...

I know she's my daughter, but Pip is the cutest, most delightful little girl in the world!!!!!!  She is the daughter of my dreams xoxoxo.  And G is the niece of my dreams, she is very helpful and rolls with the punches.  She also has an amazing singing voice (if I was her mama I'd look into singing lessons, just saying).  Two super girls.

But I don't only want to brag about the gals.  Check THIS out!!!!
It's a rare week when Maxwell doesn't get a 100 on his spelling test.  He even gets the bonus words!!!  What a boy!

And this is the weekly "mad minute" where they do as many problems as they can before the timer goes off. Max is up to 70!!! He's one of the top math performers in first grade!  Let's hear it for MAXWELL, son of the great engineering genius Christopher.  Clearly the genes have passed down successfully!

Lamb cake

I mentor a teenage girl, and yesterday she came to our house for a visit and brought us a lamb cake that she had made herself.  When I first heard 'lamb cake' I honestly thought it was going to be some kind of meat pie, but it was this: the most adorable cake in the world!

She also brought eggs to hide for the kids, and we had an Easter egg hunt in the backyard.  Then the kids wanted to hide them and we had to find them!  They hid them way better than we did!

We also dyed 3 dozen eggs!!!!  It was a good day :)

Forgiveness on Good Friday

Just in case you need it clarified: "Dear Mommy, I am sorry that I yelled at you and stomped at you . I am sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, and sorry." 

Pixie, my old friend

I'm back to the super short pixie cut.  Why do I ever try to mess with anything else?  This is where I belong. Nothing feels better than this!!!!

Brooke just kept cutting and cutting saying: the more I cut, the better it looks, so I'm just going to keep cutting. I was just like, go for it Brooke.  She cut off the remaining two inches I had left from last month's big chop.  My head feels so nice and light, and I could use all the lightness I can gather.  Ahhhhhh.... p.s. sorry about the messy bathroom, I promise I'm going to clean it tonight right after Big Bang ;)

Support your local eateries!

Tonight Chris and I had a delicious dinner at Ayash-Man, a new restaurant in town.  I was bummed out when Frankie's closed, but then I was excited to see that something new was opening up there, and it's run by a local family.  It was very welcoming, very clean, and the menu had many different types of food to choose from. Tonight I had a chicken ranch wrap and Chris had a mushroom burger.  It was yummy and super fresh. We'll definitely be back!

Adventures in hiking

We got a big surprise on our hike today:  lots of runaway sheep and goats!

Then some runaway dogs, but the kids rescued them.

Back home now and cooking up some of the fresh kielbasi that Phil brought us from New Britain :)