Growing Pains

It was one of those days. First day back at work after spring break, so I started off tired. After work I had to pick up Daniel, drop him off at home so he could do his job and his homework, run to pick up my glasses because I got the call that they were ready, but got interrupted en route by a call from Nora who was ready to be picked up from school earlier than scheduled because rehearsals were over. So I told her to be ready with all her stuff outside the school so I wouldn't have to go in and find her.

She jumps in the car and we go to get my glasses, stopping off at Game Stop so I can replace a game of Daniel's that I broke last week. Get the glasses, swing by weight watchers to weigh in (the same for the past 2 weeks, argh!) and then pick up some roasted chicken because there is no time to make dinner tonight.

Nora put the chicken on the floor of the car and as I turned to back out of the parking space to head out and pick up Dominic from his after school care, something catches my eye. A lovely scarf, which is on a beautiful black leather jacket. That I don't recognize.

"Who does that jacket belong to?" I asked Nora, thinking, rather ridiculously, Who would put a jacket in my car?

"Uhhh, did I pick up the wrong..." Nora says. And then a phone rings. It's not my phone. It's coming from the jacket.

I find the phone, a nice touch-screen blackberry, and the caller ID says that a friend of mine is calling. I try to figure out how to answer the damned phone, and finally get it. Turns out it belongs to another friend (the mom of one of Nora's friend) who is frantically looking for her jacket and phone.

We arrange to have her pick it up after she does her car pool run. I turn to Nora and say, "How could you mistake this jacket for yours?" She does not have a leather jacket. "I don't know. I was tired!"

She's leaving her stuff all over the house. The ice cream on the counter. Her sweaters on the floor. A hammer on the driveway. Despite the straight A's, her brain is sometimes turned off.

I guess she's becoming a teenager!!!

Melt in your Mouth

I cooked up a big batch of blondies tonight. Daniel was out of cookies for school lunches, etc. I used the Namaste brand mix, which I had never tried before, and they turned out pretty good.

Today had been a busy, tough day, and I'm tired. So I jumped right into those blondies along with the kids, and had one hot, right out of the oven.

It's an amazing mood lifter. I've never experienced "runner's high." But "chocolate high" -- I know all about that. :)

11:30 pm, 3:00 am, 5:15 am

Last night was the holiday party thrown by Matt's office. It was at the Gaylord Hotel & Conference Center, on the new waterfront area built just south of DC. Lovely, HUGE... it was snowing inside the main lobby, just for effect. The staff was fabulous, the dinner was okay, the dresses were fun to observe. Traffic was better than expected both to and from the event, and we got home just in time to hear Nora throwing up in her room. Yeah, it was one of those messy ones.

11:30 pm, 3:00 a.m., 5:15 a.m. It's a tummy bug. I kept telling myself that after the 3:00 a.m. vomit --the one where she told me she was awfully thirsty. I remembered we had been out shopping together earlier in the day and she told me how thirsty she was. (I was as well -- shopping and cold, dry weather will do that to you.)

Nonetheless the monkey in my brain is saying, "Should you go check her blood sugar? How about keytones? How long has she been thirsty? Has she lost weight?" The other part of my brain, the one that truly wants to get some rest is saying, "Shut up. You were thirsty, too. She has a slight fever. It's a tummy bug. The clinical trial people said last summer she didn't have the antibodies in her blood showing diabetes. SHUT UP. GO TO SLEEP."

Maybe I slept. I'm not sure. I've got a field trip this morning with my church kids. I just folded the 11:30 p.m. laundry and am putting the 3:00 a.m. laundry in the dryer. Time to start the day. Sat Nam.