The Second Day.

So, I didn't get a picture of her today because she spent most of the morning hurrying me out the door so she could get to SKOOL, MAMA! Once there, however, she had a moment of bashful-clinging-to-Mama-ness that cracked my resolve. Luckily, there was a train table available to distract her and by the time I said goodbye, she didn't even care enough to look up from the trains to wave.

In other news, I've officially done it again. Overloaded myself in a few ways. This time, its because I gave in to the temptation and desire for CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! experience and agreed to deliver a cake on a Thursday when I am planning to be gone for the weekend, can't start it until Thursday, and originally was going to LEAVE on Thursday. We're now leaving on Friday, so hopefully I can get everything done in time. My goal for the long weekend... LEAVE THE LAPTOP BEHIND. I figure they can get along without me for Friday and half of Monday.

Crud. Reminds me I need to talk to the Skool about letting El come in on a different day next week.....

First day of school

Toddler Princess started "School" today. A 2-day a week program called "Parent's Day Out" at a local church. She was thrilled, Mama was trepidatious. We got to the school about 20 minutes early, but I wasn't concerned. They have early dropoff available and I figured I would take at LEAST those 20 minutes to ease away so she wouldn't be upset or feel scared. We walked in the doors and there was her classroom! Covered with kittens on the door and with her two teachers and few of her classmates already inside. I signed her in and we went inside to find her cubby. By the time her teacher had introduced herself and I'd hung up her backpack and stowed her lunch and nap mat, the Princess was playing with toys on the other side of the room. I called her over for a bye bye hug and reminded her to obey her teacher. I went across the hall to pay her fees and figured I'd hear her calling for me. Nope, she just wanted Beau and Dadoh. Her teacher leaned over the door and asked quietly if she could have them when she asked and I said that's fine, whenever! I stayed and listened a few more minutes, but she was obviously not upset. She'd not progressed to laughing and chatter yet, so I know she was feeling a little insecure, but I have a feeling the lure of the toys overcame her shyness fairly quickly. I left the school and by the time I'd taken 3 steps I was sobbing. I cried all the way home. >sigh<

My baby is growing up too fast!

Putting a positive spin on life

A Beautiful Mess has a challenge/idea on her blog to set yourself Four Simple Goals to achieve before the end of the year.

1. choose simple goals that will make your life richer and happier on a daily basis. choose things you may not otherwise get done, but that are not difficult to accomplish.
2. do not choose result oriented goals, choose activity oriented goals. for example…. instead of “lose 10 pounds”, choose something like “eat fresh fruits and vegetables every day”. get what i’m saying? positive actions instead of just the end result!
3. choose goals that are personal that you believe will truly make your life richer just by doing them! they can be daily, weekly or one time experiences.

I found this through Zoot's site this morning, and decided to jump on the bandwagon myself. In a way, I'll be following Zoot a touch more than Beautiful Mess, because I'm going to try and keep these goals to things that aren't usually on my list of "to do by X day". If I did the usuals, it would be modifying the "lose weight" "better mom" "cleaner house" goals, and as they are everpresent, there is no need to rehash.

1. Write for ME at least 1 hour each week. This includes blogging, poetry, lyrics, and my novel.
2. Organize one area of the house each week. This doesn't mean a full room, which could get overwhelming, but simply an area. This week, I'm going to organize my desk. Next week, perhaps the bookshelves or the entry way. Eventually, I'll find the pretty, organized house languishing beneath the clutter.
3. Cook for fun each week. I make meals every day, but its been quite a while since I was able to just pick a random new recipe and set a day to make it. My new goal is to gather all of those recipes I keep wanting to try and just do one each week. It won't overwhelm my shopping budget if I stick to only one specialty buy menu item, and if the Toddler Princess doesn't want to eat it, it's only one meal lost.
4. Look for the positive in each stressor. I have a bad habit of allowing stressors to get to me. I end up with tense shoulders, headaches, bad sleep, fatigue, and a generally grumpy self who then doesn't present the best of herself to the people who matter most (Toddler Princess and Hubband). I'm aiming not to eliminate stress (which would be kind of like eliminating all crime at one fell swoop--impossible), just to take each stressor of my life and find the positive. Like... a side project I've taken on that was to be done by the end of June and is still lingering on taking far more of my time than advisable. Well, the positive? I'm getting a good bit of extra money in August that I never expected! There. :-) One goal done!

Actually, just in writing this post, I have accomplished 2 of my goals. And that's a positive spin on the loss of an hour of work time!

See you soon...