The Walk and the Tent

Today was the day away from home. I made plans with my friends Kate and William today (you'll hear more about them later.) The girls and I went down to their place and while we were hanging out, Kate and I decided to take all four kids (Beautiful G, at 5, was the oldest. The youngest was 9 months) and walk down to the store. We did take the double stroller (thank goodness!) but the walk, OH MY GOODNESS!

They lived farther from the store than I thought plus the sun finally made it's appearance while we were gone. We walked for 2 hours! By the time we got back, the only kid who hadn't ridden in the stroller was Beautiful G, mostly because she was too big. The good thing was that Kate and I got to talk during the walk. I haven't talked to her like that for awhile, mostly due to scheduling conflicts. Plus, I convinced her into using coupons (when you start using coupon math, it's hard for people not to be convinced, I've found)

After our very long walk, we headed down to my mom's house. A few weeks ago she bought a Gigatent Fantasy Palace Play Tent on woot (the link here is for Amazon, if you want to see what it looks like or buy one for your kids). It finally came earlier this week and we wanted to show it to the girls. Since the walk took longer than we thought and Dave got off work earlier than he planned, he and my mom got the tent up before we got there. They were sitting in the backyard, with the tent, when we got there and the girls took to it immediately. The girls went from exhausted to full blown run in no time flat!

They loved the tent and we learned just how sturdy it was when Beautiful G fell into it (popped right back up no problem.) Mom let the girls take some of the toys out to the tent too, so they were enjoying playing with their toys in it. The walkway in the middle was shorter than my girls, so we could watch the "wave" when Sunshine walked through it.

Eventually the weather started getting chilly and grey, so Dave put the tent away and the girls came inside to play and have Grandma read to them. Among other things, they read The Cat in the Hat Comes Back (Beginner Books(R)) and Beautiful G read several words from the book herself. While I understand she's supposed to learn to read, it's quite something to hear your child read words from a book you read as a child. Talk about a tear jerker!

Honestly, we had an awesome day, one I wouldn't trade for anything. It's days like this that make me so glad to be a mom.

The Baby Shower

Today, I spent most of my day at a baby shower. One of my friends, whom I met 8 years ago when I moved to California and I have been told (and would agree with) is very much like me, is due to have a baby next month. She's a sweetheart and lives down the street from us. Her DH works with Dave too, so we interact a bit with that too. It's her first baby and she's trying to figure it all out.

Going to the party was great, because it meant I got to see her and several other friends I haven't seen in awhile. It was also kinda awkward, though. I met my friend (and actually, all of my friends here in California) at a church I used to attend. We were very involved at the church and both of my girls were dedicated there. We left a year and a half ago and while I kept up with some people, others (many others) fell by the wayside. It wasn't intentional, but I guess its stuff like that which shows you who are your friends and who are just people you see regularly.

Many of the people at the shower fit in the second category. I spent much of my time playing "catch up" where people ask what's going on in my life. It's small talk, I know. But I hate small talk. I suck at small talk. I'm not a people person and being social makes me very uncomfortable. Fortunately, I managed to get at a table of people who are my real friends and not a group of  those I hung out with. The new mother is one of the women I consider like a sister and two other of my "almost sisters" were there too, along with one of my extra mothers. I sat with them and the sisters and I caused our own small amount of trouble (especially for my extra mom, who was running the games!).

I did do something for my goals, though. I'm part of a writer's group for moms and I joined the goals group they have going. It started today and I put out there my goals. Now to help keep myself accountable. Partially that's what this is, a place to keep myself accountable.

Oh, speaking of accountable, I lost 1 lb this week. The real question is that simply a weight fluctuation or weight loss? I also found another very good reason to lose weight. My 10 year high school reunion is happening later this year. I don't have any details beyond the fact that several people from high school are making loud noises on Facebook about having one. High school was probably the most miserable 4 years of my life, with middle school's 3 years being a very close second. In the intervening 10 years, my life has changed for the better, including the fact that I got out of there! I really want to go to the reunion, though. I want to see my friends from that time, but I also want to show off the fact that I'm certainly not the same person I was 10 years ago. But I cannot walk in there being 60 lbs overweight. Because that will overshadow any "wow" factor I have for anything else. So now I want to lose 60 lbs by June 11 (figure that's the earliest they would have the reunion, hopefully later in the year). Well, when I stuck it in a calculator, it says I can lose probably about 30 lbs by that point. I can see what I can do, but my goal is 60 lbs by June 11. Let's see how it goes!