Sleepy In Suburbia

I thought weekends were supposed to be relaxing. For one that didn't have any big commitments, this weekend was quite tiring. We're still adjusting to being up and out of the house at an earlier hour for school, and the kids were really tired by Friday night.

We played it low key on Friday. I treated myself to an "end of the first week of school" pedicure that afternoon since I didn't have any afternoon carpooling to do. Then I cooked dinner while the kids settled in for the High School Musical II viewing session. I had put on beef tips in the crockpot that morning, so I just made veggies and mashed potatoes. I usually serve the beef tips over rice, but the kids requested the potatoes this time, and it's just as good that way. My tip for great mashed potatoes? Add some garlic and a bay leaf to the potatoes while they're boiling. Then mash them with some whipping cream and butter. Definitely yummy, though, of course, far from low-cal. Adventure Guy got back late from his sales conference in Las Vegas. His plane was delayed, and he arrived about 1:30 a.m.

Saturday morning, I went to my Pilates class. I was proud of myself for actually getting up and going since I woke up when Adventure Guy came in and didn't get back to sleep for a while. I love the Saturday morning teacher, though, and I always get a good workout from that class. Saturday afternoon we babysat for my niece and nephew. My sister-in-law had helped me out one day when I had a babysitting crisis earlier in the summer, so we owed her one. I must say, however, that I think it's a bit more difficult keeping up with her 1 year old than it is watching Soccer Boy! Her daughter is 5, so she's no problem at all, but I'm out of practice with a toddler. I spent lots of time closing doors, monitoring toilets, and making sure he didn't get anything tiny in his mouth.

Adventure Guy and I took turns running errands with the girls while the other did babysitting duty. He took Gym Girl to the music store, and she is now the proud owner of a viola. She's starting orchestra this year and is so excited about it. Swim Chick plays cello, and I've enjoyed the benefits of her choice of a school-provided instrument. No such luck on the viola. It was less expensive than I expected, though, so that's a plus. I then went out with Swim Chick to buy her new dance supplies. In fact, I need to formally rename Swim Chick. She has not been swimming with a team since last January when she broke her collar bone. When she took a hiatus to recover, she realized just how little she missed swimming competitively. I'm a bit sad, since she's been on swim team since 3rd grade, but she's moved on. She's decided that she'd like to return to dance lessons, which she gave up when she started swimming. Her goal is to be ready to try out for the pom squad in 9th grade. She'll be taking a ballet class, a pom technique class, and a hip hop class. So, I guess Dancer Girl is born!

Having spent all our money on various kids' stuff, Adventure Guy and I took our friends up on an invitation for a low-key Saturday night. We went to their house for dinner and then played canasta. It's funny how things go full circle. When they were still childless, they'd come over to our house so that we could play cards after our kids were in bed. Now, we go to their house because they have four kids under five! Yes, four kids under five. Unfortunately, one thing that hasn't changed is that Adventure Guy and Best Friend's husband continue their reign over the canasta series. They are two for two in our recent matches. They also own the historic advantage. I'm sure Best Friend and I are about to come into our own, though. I guess we'll have to make more time for Saturday night card games in the near future.

Today was church and Sunday School. Adventure Guy and I are teaming up to lead a series of discussion about effective discipline for kids in our Sunday school class. Teaching adults is interesting compared to my experiences teaching high school kids. A lot of the techniques work just as well, but it's honestly more of a challenge for me to work with adults rather than teens. After church, I worked on my scrapbooking. I am now officially less than one year behind. I just finished October 2006. I also moved all my supplies upstairs to the gameroom. Now that it's nice and clean, I have a new cabinet to store all my stuff there instead of in my bedroom. It looks much nicer now.

And, now, it's time for our traditional end of the weekend experience: watching Entourage. I love Vince--those eyes!