Pringles, 90210, and Cloudy Bay

Ever have one of those days- where u need to stay in bed . Lets see its 8:30 and I haven't showered (that's PM not AM)- 3 1/2 year old attitude is kicking my arse.
From not wanting to go to gymnastics (a shrieky shrill of "I hate the purple leotard" (in a very Dakota Fanning dramatic way) to hosting a playdate where Casey refused to play with the other child (who btw played mary on the school nativity play). To an afternoon of time outs and hosting another playdate (CJ) where besides dinner -I also had to give baths as well (yes the playdate lasted from 3- 7:45 pm)(very good friend with sick baby and hisband not home)-at last kids in bed- toys everywhere (including casey's leotard collection ( did I mention that I so am not looking forward to the teen years). So yes still no shower but I did manage to pour myself an ample glass of wine and yes I am eating pringles for dinner (another nod that there is no takeout worth eating in the burbs). Shout out to hubby who tried to brainstorm food options but alas there seriously are NO options.

So 90210 tivoed show, a glass of cloudy bay, and salt and vinegar rice pringles (suppose to be healthier) Oh btw the fitflops are doing something- highly recommend (and no they don't sponsor this blog)

Pretty uneventful random weekend- Fri night went out with a girlfriends and some of her friends from our gym. These girls are very intense at the gym- I did a circuit class with them and literally the boxing section I was worried I was going to be knocked out by some of them. Well we went out for margaritas (very subpar place with salsa that was AWFUL) and the majority of the time they talked about other folks at the gym that cheat ( e.g during spin class the teacher says put it on 3 and they leave it on 1). To be honest they seemed genuinely upset that these girls were not spinning at the harder level. I had to say "who the hell cares if they don't want to spin at the right level." ( I did that whole cheezy speech that they are only cheating themselves and the whole time was laughing that people really worry about the STUPIDEST junk. Basically, I drank my margarita and left being very worried my treadmill speed was being monitored.

Sat- headed to a barbque where this family invited 110 people (they had a big yard but not that big). Weather of course was overcast- barbque went better than expected. When you have 25 kids ranging in age from 2- 11 with trampolines and a bounce house you pretty much expect a crying child every 10 sec (still laugh that some folks there have NEVER met us but know Casey Jane's catcall). Food was good, a lot of beer/wine, and an entire room of desserts . (there was like 28 different cakes, pies, ice cream choices)

Mr Green

It seems both kids' class are pushing the recycling and green earth concepts to the max. I am all for recycling in theory (to be perfectly honest I have made some baby steps (no plastic bags at the grocery store /bring my own/no bottled water have purchased cute hot pink aluminum water bottle) but I am definitely not a HUGE recycle by any means). CJ is now patrolling the trash can - anytime I throw something in he questions if we can reuse it for an art project or recycles it (yes we need canned soup art in the house). He is paranoid about the bath water we use - are we wasting water -don't fill up the whole tub etc. So yes like it or not Chris and I are trying to embrace recycling and actually CJ is leading the effort.

Reasons I haven't updated my blog

1- computer virus- being without a computer for 3 days and then shelling $150 to go back to my factory settings and missing all my other handy settings ( I am a little bitter- but bright side is I didn't lose most of my hard drive)

2- Chris out of town the rest of this past week (translates into paranoid me who sleeps with cell, landline, car keys, and lights up the whole house and only watched hgtv type shows that won't air scary movie trailers)- side note I finally requested a friend here to check in every morning that I was alive. No one was volunteering so I had to make the request

3-CJ had the stomach flu which I guess was better timed since I was already up in the middle of the night

4-Coffee maker broken- and no it is not convenient to get to starbucks with both kids. The poor customer rep on the line who dealt with me- I was not happy about 3 week turnaround time.

5-the sunniest weather I have ever seen in England (its like 72) but kid you not people are swimming in outdoor pools (brings back MI and Chicago memories of memorial day weekend pool openings)

6- I attempted to cut the lawn here (itty bitty small lawn) and I butchered it (had no idea how to set the length so it basically looks like we have no grass)

7-purchased Fitflops ( cute flipflops that CLAIM to have you lose inches on your booty and thighs just by walking around)- totally sure they don't do that but I have a cute bronze pair just in case they do.

8-attended cricket game where the most exciting thing was young men in white polo/pants. Damn that sport is long and boring!

9 - made it to church with kids and Casey volunteers to bring up the communion. (which they allow her)- who in their right mind let's a 3 year old carry the GLASS bowl of communion. (sidebar in pure Casey fashion she makes it down the aisle, hands the bowl to the priest, and then refuses to leave the alter.

10-did I mention the lack of resteraunts in the burbs will send me home (seriously I don't want to cook 21 meals a week)

Prague

So 13 years ago I backpacked through Europe post college and one of my fave cities was Prague. To be back toting a family was different but weirdly the same (see photo of mommy drinking Pilsner Urquell)

1- My backpack was replaced with a 30 pound Casey. The only saving grace of having a little more money than I did as a backpacker was this go around I didn't have to wear that nasty sweaty stomach pocket thingy to hold my passport. ( mine was disgusting after 6 weeks of touring Europe)

2- Drank some beer but a lot less of it. The hostel I stayed in was on the water and had 2 things going for it- beer for a 25 cents and some hot guys from UNC. (oh yeah the city's architecture was breathtaking as well)

3-Casey and CJ allow cultural happenings in 45 minute incrementals every 3 hours. Talk about trying to plan around kids- I'll take my lonely planet guide and zero $ any day.

4-Prague is alot more commercial in some areas and seedier than I remember 13 years ago (again it may be the beer that helping me to forget) but its hard to beat the Charles Bridge at night and we lucked out with awesome weather.

5-The kids had moments of being rockstars like when they charmed the pants off of this couple at dinner (who subsequently invited us to their country home in the Cotswold)- btw the "English" do not invite randoms to their home so that was big. We shall see how the couple reacts when we actually show up there:)

6-Lego obsession to a new level- CJ trying to figure out how many legos it would take to build the Prague Castle.

Quick vent

Okay so I sent an email a week ago to the nursery parents seeing if anyone wanted to meet up at the local park for a picnic after school. Totally made the invite weather dependent as I DON'T want 20 kids and 20 moms hanging out in my kitchen. Well my harmless little picnic idea has created quite a ruckus - let's see

1- one call can we make a list so all the kids have the same food (20 ham sandwiches, apple slices, etc)?
2- should we detail if the kids can bring scooters and bikes?
3- if it is overcast will it be cancelled?
4- are you letting Casey change out of school uniform before picnic?

Answers to the Questions above

1-No- I am sorry little george will have to learn sometime that other kids will have better stuff in their lunchbox- in fact we still have some Oreo cookies that Mommy will be eating at the picnic:)

2- No- I am sure some kids have scooters but we will just let everyone bring their own stuff

3- let's be honest it will be raining tomorrow

4-no

Will report back on how/if the picnic happened. How George reacted when his ham sandwich looked different from a turkey sandwich. How we all need to relax and not create drama or else I will never invite anyone (except the 4 cool chicks I have found here)on a picnic. Okay -I feel better:)

A few random things on my mind-

1) i still hate how in May all the shows I watch end- the lost finale was good but I will be happy in a year from now when have less questions and more answers. ( Locke dead or alive?????)

2)school calender here is whacked - strange to have kids going to school until mid july- but when you are still wearing a sweater and a coat in May it won't feel like summer anyhow.

3)cooking- Both chris and I are so bored with what I throw together for dinner- I think we have had chicken stir fry a zillion times (this no decent restaurant in a 15 mile radius will be the death of me)- I have started leafing thru cook books in hopes that a magical chef will appear and cook the items for me:)

4)CJ first field trip (w/o mom) is tomorrow- yes we have heard about the bus, not having to wear a uniform, getting a packed lunch (no fizzy drinks (soda) or sweeties (dessert), and going with his class to Celtic Camp a million times this week.

5)Casey is moving backwards on staying dry at night- she now wakes up in the morning-throws her wet pull up in the garbage and then tells me "Mom, my pull up was wet but I didn't poo poo in it." (at some point I will bite the bullet and remove the pull ups but the girl sleeps from 7pm-7:30am and hate messing with that.

6)hosted a playdate on Monday for which the child stayed from 3-6:30pm- when I said the kids could watch a show while I made dinner- the little boy informed me that his mummy does not let him watch the telly during the week. Interesting concept but think I will stick with my routine.