Month: March 2010

We’re having a lazy Friday night here. I’m still tinkering around with this new blog layout, trying to get things just right. I’m not quite sure why I bother — doesn’t everyone use a feed reader these days? I know I do. But it’s still fun to play around with new headers, and it’s equally frustrating when I can’t get things to align just right.

We went from having no weekend plans to having it fully booked up in a matter of minutes today. Jake was invited to have a playdate at his friend’s house tomorrow and then sleep over. We’re supposed to meet up after the town’s Easter egg hunt. To keep Noah from getting upset, Drew suggested another “camp out” in the den while Jake is away. We’ll probably also take the little guy out to dinner. When I was driving around the other day I was sad to see that the closest Arby’s had gone out of business. Drew loves Arby’s and it was a welcome change from the standard burger joints. Once I think he might have even checked out their franchise affiliate program, just out of curiosity. But I guess they couldn’t compete with the dozens of other nearby chains. At any rate, I have no idea if we’ll eat somewhere or just get take-out.

Sunday Drew’s mom and aunt are coming up for a visit. It’s been a while since we’ve seen them, and I know they are dying to peek at Laura’s first tooth. The boys are on spring break this week and they don’t know it (yet) but they’ll be having a couple overnights with my parents. Maybe I’ll think of something interesting to do with them on the other days. Too bad the weather won’t be as beautiful as last weekend. Then again, at least it will be nicer today. Tonight’s low is 11 degrees! I have the wood stove roaring right now and a quilt next to the chair in Laura’s room. Getting up five times a night is bad enough; I don’t need to freeze while I’m at it.

I hope you have some fun things to do this weekend, as well!

Tonight I’m more relaxed than I’ve been in weeks. The church dinner I volunteered to chair was last night, and what an ordeal this was. It’s a requirement for 2nd grade/1st communion families to attend and the parents are supposed to all help to pull it together. There is also supposed to be a director who knows what the dinner entails. Unfortunately for me, that person quit the week after I volunteered to do this. I’d never been to one of these dinners and people kept giving me excuses and not expicitly telling me this woman quit. I found out quite by accident. Even the priest was evasive (which shouldn’t surprise me — typical Catholic stuff, sigh…)

At any rate, I really flew by the seat of my pants trying to figure things out and make sure things were getting done. One of the other mothers really stepped up at the last minute and I was really grateful for that. So last night was the dinner. It was basically families with young children and older folks. There was some confusion with the seating arrangements due to a few last-minute guests and one familiy in particular decided to give me a really hard time about where they sat. They were insistant that they sit at one of the three front tables (as if being closer to the priest somehow makes them holier than everyone else). Now, I’d reserved those tables for the religious ed. teachers involved in the dinner as well as long-time parishioners who had been involved with the program and were now moving away. The wife/mother was such a hag. Finally I just told her to sit wherever she wanted. I should have also told her to check into some Procerin reviews because either she needs some medical help or a stylist who can show her what to do with her hair. Ugh! There was one other group of people that was kind of difficult, but that one was easily resolved.

The dinner was really good though. Generally, I do not care for lamb but the lamb served last night was amazing! I had seconds, that’s how good it was. At the end I was presented with a beautiful Easter lily in appreciation for the work I put into the dinner. I was a little embarrassed walking up to get it, but it was nice to be recognized. It really was quite stressful and the next two times I have to go through the whole 1st communion thing, I know what job not to take. I’ll stick to setting the tables.

Well, so much for the amazingly gorgeous, warm weather we enjoyed this past weekend. The sun is out, but it’s chilly. And rain and even colder temperatures are to follow in the next few days. That’s spring in the northeast, though. I won’t complain though because it’s better than snow! My skin goes crazy in the spring – does yours? The sudden temperature shifts make my skin break out like crazy. Maybe I should temporarily swap out my vanilla bath gel for some acne body wash. I’ll be very happy when the warmer weather is here to stay 😀

Oh, I’m sooo tired tonight. Last night Jake’s friend slept over and the boys (including Noah) never fell asleep until nearly 10. Good grief; that’s well after my usual bedtime! And then around 3:30 Laura started waking up over and over again. And I had to run Jake’s friend home and take Jake to CCD first thing this morning, and I didn’t get to leave because I needed to iron things out for this Seder Supper on Tuesday. And then my parents came down this afternoon. And… now I’m just wiped.

We’ve had a fun visit with my parents so far and my mom helped me decide on food for Jake’s 1st Communion party. Since Laura’s birthday is just a month after that, I’m basically planning two parties at once. But I think we’ve got a good plan. I designed a nice communion invitation that I’ll send out to our families. He has his suit. I think I just need to get him a communion set with the rosary, prayer book, etc. And find something for myself to wear too!

No, no… I’m not nesting! Spring cleaning perhaps, but don’t get any ideas. LOL. The title of this entry refers to a pair of hawks that are nesting in a tree in the woods directly behind our house. Jake noticed them flying around the other morning, and when we took a closer look we noticed a nest in one of the trees! This morning I jumped outside in my bare feet (crazy I know because it was darn chilly) and I was able to snap a few shots using my zoom lens.

I’m about 90 percent sure it’s a red-tailed hawk (commonly known as a chickenhawk). These glorious raptors feed on mice, squirrels, rabbits, reptiles, and other small animals. I’m not sure they typically eat chickens, but I bet they go for the chicks. Hence, the nickname perhaps? At any rate, clearly these guys like their meat and wouldn’t go for the bird equivalent of Fastin. No need with all the flying they do! The nest is quite high up. I took this photo to give you an idea just how far up the tree the nest is located:

The base of the tree is not shown in the photo because the woods dip down and there is no way in heck I’m tromping around without bug spray now that the warmer weather is approaching. I’m not taking a chance with the deer ticks. I’m enjoying my hawks, though, and wondering if the wood duck will return this year, as well!

My poor husband is desperate for Target to drop a couple times in their toy clearance to 75 percent off. There’s something he really wants to stash away for the boys for Christmas and he’s waiting and waiting. You see, some people choose to do their Christmas shopping on Black Friday. My bargain-hunter hubby stalks the clearance all year long, then brings the items home, wraps them, and hides them immediately. The result of this is twofold: first, we are able to give our kids a pretty over-the-top Christmas for very little money. Second, the present stash can get a little out of hand. I think we’re going to need to start scaling back on the pre-buying because as the boys get older, they have more specific requests at the holidays. (It’s no longer just about toys Daddy thinks look cool.) Of course I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping to find some Barbies to hide away for Laura, too 😉