That Fifi. She's a busy girl.
I've been down in my office finishing up some work and all this time she was putting the final touches on Fidget's new birthday cake!
Would you like a slice?
Zero calories, I promise.
Be careful with the sprinkles on top, though. They might be a little crunchy.
It pains me to have to wrap this stuff up tonight. Momma's had a lot of fun playing with her Fidget's new toys.
Happy weekend! xo
Thankfully, the work fog is starting to lift. And the sun is starting to poke it's lovely head out, too. Hurrah! So. Back to life. Just in time. Tomorrow someone is turning two!
It's a good thing I picked up Fifi from Alicia yesterday, because she has been a LOT of help. She's over-the-top-cute and her mere presence in our home means that Fidget will be receiving something for her birthday. But more than that, the girl is crafty!
Before I knew it, Fifi had taken over the final touches of Fidget's matching dress and was busy pressing away.
She is so quick and helpful. It was done in no time.
And of course, Fifi insisted on posing with the finished product. The girl has spunk, I tell you. She insisted on a matching hair clip for Fidget, and I obliged.
She was very proud of her work.
Thank you, Alicia, she's just perfect. xo
I have had this obsession with Fidget's birthday this year. She's turning two, and we got her a little kitchen playset for her playroom. We're adding a faux window. With curtains. And pennant garland. A little table for the middle of the room. Mini pots and pans. I am working on the playroom -- but it's not there yet. This week's work schedule has flipped me over and has me screaming uncle.
But that will not thwart my plans for this:
This little project has been in my mind for a couple weeks. A felt (and wacky thrifted striped polyester) cake. I've had that knobby striped stuff for a long time and I wasn't sure what to do with it. Evidently, it makes decent faux frosting.
Fidget loves birthdays and cakes and the whole spectacle. When we had an early birthday dinner in FL a couple weeks ago with my folks we had to keep relighting the candles and singing, she thought it so much fun.
Just last night I finished the 'boring' part - making the cake body and a couple slices (just wait 'til you see those: chocolate!) but I couldn't wait to decorate the top. I will be removing the pins and sewing those buttons on before I give it to her, promise. Guess what I'll be doing tonight if my office cooperates and gives me the night off? ;)
I'm also very excited about a handmade doll she is getting, thanks to Alicia's craftiness. The plan is to make Fidge a dress to match her new little girlfriend. And that is kind of in progress, too.
Whew.
Err. Um, I'm sorry if I haven't replied to any of your nice comments lately.
For some reason Yahoo! has decided I don't need written encouragement. Oh, yeah? Well, I do. Especially this week, being overworked and needy and more than a little hormontional to boot. (Yep, that's my word, and my gift to you today. It's a good'un.)
So thank you for visiting. And commenting. Your funny little messages are making a big difference this week. I've set up another email account via gmail, so maybe we'll have better luck.
(ooh! Look, Fidge in the snow! I even broke my no-face-shots rule because she was having so much fun.)
I'm seven worksheets deep into this work thing and my mind is stumbling over all the conditional formulas, conditional formatting, escalation factors, and conditional variables feeding multiple worksheets. It's kind of a stretch to think I am capable of that much... logic. Clearly they have me confused with someone who knows what the heck they're doing.
Fidget's birthday is Saturday, too... and my little fits aren't helped much by the heaps of laundry, bedsheets to change, party to plan and toilets to scrub. (Wow. This is turning into one heck of a pity party. How do you decorate for that?)
(ooh! look! A crocheted pillowcase from thriftin' Thursday last week. And score...its pair was there, too.)
On the upside, last night I only worked through until 10pm. And as soon as my super awesome husband got home last night he took care of the kids so shutting down 'early' was possible. He even folded heaps of laundry and sorted them and got it mostly right. He's my hero. He never reads this blog so I should probably tell him that in person.
I took a break yesterday morning while waiting for some feedback and caught up on Shannon's trip to Uganda. And I cried for those children and in shame for all my complaining. I've got a lot of growing up to do. I turn 36 soon. Is that too late?
Hormones. Sheesh.
>I'm going to go pop a B vitamin and slam some coffee. ExcelWorkbookLand, here I come.
Why dwell on the heaps of work when a glimpse at my flickr account heals my soul?
Fidget, by the way, turns 2 on Saturday. Sunglasses and all.
Ok. Back to excelworkbookland. xo
I have one of those jobs that you hear about and think yeah, she's lucky. I need to remind myself of that today because I got a call Sunday night at 7pm and, aside from sleeping from 1-6:30, I haven't popped out of excel worksheetland since. I hate excel worksheetland. I only go there if I have to.
Most of the time I work 2-4 hours a day, in maintenance mode. It's very nice and predictable. But I worry that they will soon consider me an unnecessary expense and cut off my nice dependable monthly retainer. Oh, how I worry.
Predictably, my husband says, Don't worry, you know you always start feeling that way and then, BAM! you have one of those weeks where you work nonstop and prove yourself irreplaceable.
People, this is shaping up to be one of Those Weeks. I'll see you on the other side.
XO
More Florida photos. Just because.
I'm working on super secret mini swap stuff (can I be frank and just say I am really intimidated by this one, because a)I'm really not sure what boys like and b) my swap partner is uber talented! I'm crossing my fingers that we don't totally screw it up). And I'm working on some birthday stuff for Fidget.
But the Florida photos are so much prettier than those WIPs.
My eldest's feet are now a size and a half bigger than mine. Eep.
We got all our tax stuff done last night and had an appt with our cpa today. Isn't that thrilling?
I hope we get some money back. Because it could go in our 'Florida Travel Fund'.
Because I'd like to go again.
Soon.
Have a happy weekend, everyone. XO
Short post today. It's another snow day and I have the kids at home and a deadline to boot. But I did promise warm sunny Florida pics. So here you go.
Even the dogs have better options there:
I'm sure there were several onlookers behind their curtains in 'Del Boca Vista' scratching their heads at the strange lady taking photos of A FIRE HYDRANT... (But it was so cheerful!)
... and laying down to take a picture of a kumquat on the sidewalk.
There are lots of projects brewing, because someone is turning 2 very soon.
Sweet girl. Thought the white sand was snow.
Fidget's meds are starting to work. She can breathe without coughing now. However, the prednisone is making her nights very restless and scary. I was up for 3 hours with her last night. I'm tired.
See the pretty flowers? Nice. I took several shots like this at my uncle's pool while we were sitting on his lanai having lunch the other day. I'm going to feature Florida photos all week because they are prettier and sunnier and better than anything I will take here in the 10 degree winter-storm-warning-snow-is-on-the-way-again stuff we have here. I want to go back!
Well, I guess that's going to happen. Because after two extended-winter-rental vacations down there, my parents decided to move to the Tampa area and are closing on their new home in a few weeks. [It's very 'Del Boca Vista', a la Seinfield.] They've bought a nice 3 bedroom in a retirement golf community where every day is a party. I'm serious. They go for a walk in the afternoon and get invited in to a neighbor's house and the next thing you know, they're drinking margaritas poolside.
Last week they spent the day on their neighbors' sailboat, going out to a sand bar/island in the channel. For about 8 miles the water was crystal clear and 8-9 feet deep. They saw all sorts of sea life. Dolphins jumped in the distance. When they reached the island, they roasted hot dogs and drank beer on the beach. My friend Katie said, "man, that's like college for retired people." No kidding. This is the stuff they do. Every day.
So I'm glad they're having fun. Their new house has plenty of room for us to visit and the 2.5hr direct flight wasn't bad. It will be fun to plan Florida trips throughout the year to get away, and not worry about the cost of lodging or rental cars. We've got additional family down there, so we'll get to see them more often, too. They're all very close -- within 20 minutes -- and my aunts and uncles (all snowbirds from Massachusetts and New Hampshire) all showed up for a little early 2nd birthday party for Fidget on Saturday. We realized it had been 8 years since we've been able to do something like that.
I always wanted to be different than my parents who, until this winter, did a lot of tv watching and staying in, rarely socializing or doing much. My, how things have changed. Retirement kind of rocks, I think.
XOXO
Ahh. Got in last night from a quick family trip to Tampa. Wow, it was gorgeous there. 80s. Sunshine. Pools. Leaving the house without spending 5 minutes bundling up the kids. Heaven.
Of course a holiday weekend wouldn't be a holiday weekend for Fidget without a mid-night trip to the ER (thanks to her super-asthma), but we did have a wonderful time visiting with extended family and frolicking in the sunshine. Many, many happy sunshine photos to come.
However, today I've got some stuff to do.
Wow. I don't know if I have the energy for all that. XO