It's Good to Be a Girl

Last Friday was "Mommy & Me" day for PDQ. I promised I would spend the day with her for her birthday and do what she wanted. I took the morning off and volunteered in her class which is generally a hoot. Getting called "Miss Abby's Mom" and hearing them try to one up each other is so darned cute. One little guy always makes me laugh, and he knows it, so he tries really hard! He wears cowboy boots and hunting shirts or in this case Motocross. He reminds me a lot of my BIL. He messed something up and declared "oh tartar sauce!" which nearly made me fall out of my chair. I was a little disappointed when Abby's crush moved on from him to another little boy in the class. Apparently PDQ had told everyone she was getting a pedicure. One little girl informed me her Mommy did manicures and pedicures and she even waxes people's feet. We would be forgoing that particular service.

After school we headed to the mall, she wanted food court Chinese food for lunch--her FAVORITE, she declared. And then it was off for the ear piercing and pedicure. On our way to the aforementioned attractions we stopped at Zale's to pick up my engagement ring which they took hostage THREE months ago to repair a prong that they had just fixed and replace a baugette that fell out. They had finally called to tell me it was ready. I got there and lo and behold, they couldn't find it, and they gave me attitude about it--was I sure they called? Yeah, just as sure as I was that they'd had it since the beginning of December and I was not happy about it at all. Then they had the audacity to ask me how much the estimate was, I was tempted to lie, but then sending a nasty letter wouldn't be nearly as effective. You know, someone apologizing for it taking so long or that they couldn't find it would have made me feel much better but nope, they couldn't even come up with common courtesy. I have already warned G-man that he is never, ever to set foot in the store again.

Okay, sorry for the detour...so we headed to Libby Lu, the girliest store in the world. They call everyone princess, everything is pink, and their bags are actually miniature carboard purses. She picked out aquamarine flowers since they are her birthstone AND blue is her new favorite color. So, I sign away my life, we pick out earrings and wait for the big event. When the woman marked PDQs ears I was a little bit surprised, I had no idea how tiny her earlobes were--there really wasn't a ton of room for earrings. PDQ was totally cool about it and held my hand but didn't even squeeze when they put the earrings in. I had left this part of the adventure out when telling my Mom what we were up to--she made us wait until we were in the third grade. I was sure she'd have some "advice" for me and I knew that I could do without it. I knew PDQ would show her as soon as we got home and she wouldn't dare say anything in front of her.

We ventured down the corridor to the nearest nail place where I'd always gotten good service at a decent price. The guy working at the desk lit up when he saw PDQ and was thrilled do her toes. He was very excited about the possibility of giving her flowers on her toes. Definitely the highlight of my day to have my winter nasty feet attended to while watching PDQ enjoy herself. She had to perch on the edge of the chair to get her feet in the water. She didn't think much of the exfoliating scrub, but she was digging on the massage. She picked out blue polish and got flowers on her big toes. All the women in the place ooh and ahh'd at which time she also showed them her ears as well. She was soaking up the attention like my feet were soaking up the moisture after the very long, hard winter.

There are days when I worry about having two teenage girls. There are days when the whining just about drives me out of my ever loving mind. And then there are days like this. I couldn't believe how grown up my little girl is getting. It was so fun to hang out with her and hear her take on the world. To be part of her world at school so I can keep up with the stories. I am so glad that I have a job that is flexible enough to volunteer every month and spend the important days with my kids.



My Suburban Bliss (yes, you get two posts, two posts in one!)

Since we started house hunting this time last year part of my suburban dream was to have a backyard where the kids could play. Well, as cute as my kids are, they aren't great at keeping themselves occupied outside without stuff. We decided that Santa would bring a swing set to cap off our new backyard because there was no way we were getting one installed late last summer after moving and praying and waiting and waiting and praying and waiting for our house to sell.

Finally, yesterday G-man completed the task. You can read his take on it here. For me, the crowing moment was yesterday afternoon when I took this picture from my kitchen window. Yes, the girls can play outside and I can watch them from the kitchen or the family room.

And, who wouldn't want to be a part of this family?! Kudos to G-man for his fine workmanship (and not asking me for worker's comp!)