Home Alone and Some General News

First things first. The kids are at my parents' house for 2 weeks! They left yesterday evening and (so far) they are having the time of their lives. Jack told me he was playing with Grammy and Granddaddy and that Granddaddy has a mustache. Lily told me she missed me at first but that now she was having "so much fun" playing she didn't mind.

With the kids out of the house, Jim and I are at a bit of a loss. We had to set the alarm clock for the first time in two years because Jim had a very early meeting scheduled this morning. Jack wakes us up no later than 6 am every morning (sometimes much earlier). Jim actually set his phone alarm and the alarm clock so that he wouldn't sleep through it.

I got up when Jim did and had breakfast, but decided to get back in bed around 7:30. It was nice to sleep without any interruptions and I felt refreshed and full of energy for the rest of the day. I spent about 4 hours doing heavy spring cleaning in Jack's new room (more on this later), the living room, dining room and kitchen. I also worked on my stole (see earlier post today). When Jim got home, we went to try out the Mexican restaurant that moved into Melrose a few years ago (we weren't impressed). We each had an adult beverage. We stopped at the grocery store on the way home because there was no rush, and picked up a few staples. We came home to a clean, quiet home.

It's nice, but I really miss the kids. I also feel really strange all day, like I'm forgetting something. I keep thinking I hear Jack crying upstairs. I keep planning everything around picking the kids up at school. Jim thinks that by the time we both fully realize that we can enjoy time on our own, it will be time for the kids to come home!

Now for some general news. We've been having lots of fun lately. We (well, mostly me) celebrated the Trifecta, which is what Jim calls my birthday/wedding anniversary/Mother's day weekend. Lily and Jack bought me a ball winder, and Jim bought me Wii Fit, fancy-schmancy hand-made chocolates and took me to the NH Sheep and Wool Festival, where he bought me two skeins of pretty sock yarn. The kids loved the festival -- Jack because he's fascinated by roving, and Lily because there was ice cream. Jim had a buffalo burger and we all shared french fries and kettle corn. Lots of fun.

My parents came into town last week for Lily's ballet recital. Their trip just happened to coincide with the big WEBS tent sale, so I convinced my mom to drive out to Northampton with me. We left early, had breakfast at Sylvester's, and then went to the sale.

I'd been told how big the store was, and that it was attached to a giant warehouse, but it was still pretty overwhelming to see it. I bought lots of yarn, most of which is earmarked for Christmas gifts. My mom picked out yarn she liked and asked me to make her a shrug, so that's one of the things on my list. I treated myself to some wool/alpaca sport weight which should make me a sweater and leave enough for a child's sweater as well. Anyway, it was lots of fun and VERY cheap.

The following day, we went to Lily's recital. She was excited all day. I put her hair in a bun and used hair spray, which she thought was pretty neat. I put real makeup on her (she told everyone "I'm wearing my mom's makeup!"). We bought her real flowers to give her at the end of the show.

Her ballet class gave the first performance. I've been watching them practice this dance for at least 6 months. Like snowflakes, no students have ever performed the dance alike. That being said, their performance at the recital was the most coordinated I've seen. Lily really impressed me. She followed the routine very closely and did the best I've seen her do. We thought she was the best performer, of course!

She was really excited to get a real flower and immediately put the vase in her room. We left at the first intermission and took the kids home so Jack could nap, then we went to Jim's boss' home for a barbecue with his colleagues. We got rained on, so the party continued in the house, but we still had a lot of fun. Jack apparently stole a finger puppet shaped like a whale, concealed it in his pocket and brought it home (at least, that's what Lily claims). I just now (as I'm writing) asked Jim about it, and it turns out that Jack handed the puppet to Jim, who concealed it (inadvertantly) in HIS pocket and accidentally brought it home. Oops. When I asked Jack about the puppet, he told me he "got it at the shiny house." We think he was talking about the shiny new floors in the house, which was recently renovated.

Anyway...the kids got cake, so they were in seventh heaven. We spent the next day (Monday) getting ready for the trip and they flew out last night.

Jim and I plan on doing some painting (living room and dining room), some nights out (dinner and movies, mostly) and may even take a couple of days off to drive to Montreal next week. We'll see how things go.