TGIF

Friday at last! Leif woke up full of energy and went full speed ahead all morning at home. Then when I was dressing him he went and found his pacifier and blankey and started falling back asleep. Putting him in the car next for the 20 minute drive to school didn't help matters. He was tired when we got there. Sorry daycare.

When I was a kid I liked fruit cocktail, except for those occasional frighteningly dayglow red/pink cherries. Evidently Leif has the same fear. If I spoon fruit cocktail out for him he will not.touch.it if there is a cherry decorating the mound. He will instead pick each individual piece of fruit that he normally enjoys greatly off of the tray and onto either the sleeping dog below him or the floor. BUT, if I pick out the cherries beforehand and offer the same pile of fruit cocktail to him it is fabulous stuff. I would be perplexed by this behavior, but I have to admit that I was THE exact same way as a kid. I had very strange food rules. Sadly I have overcome them and will now eat nearly whatever is put in front of me (except cucumbers and watermelon).

I am really looking forward to our trip tomorrow to the pumpkin patch. Last year we went with our close friends and got some fabulous pictures. We have decided it will be an annual trip. I would upload a picture from last year, but the controls are appearing to be funky here and not responding. Oh well, I will wait until Monday and post side by side pictures.

The other thing we might do, depending on how far AB gets on his take home exam, is go buy a tree. Last spring AB and our friend K moved our wonderful cedar that was "strategically" planted by the landscaper (who we believe to have been high the entire time he did our front yard) to grow up under the eave of our house. It was a spectacular tree that we loved and that grew nearly 3-4 feet a year for the last 3 years. Unfortunatly, after much nursing thus summer, the tree did not survive the transplant and AB cut it down a few weeks ago. We will be replacing it with something. We have talked about a cedar, but I am afraid that part of what killed it was being in direct sunlight in a dry part of the yard. So we might opt for a pine of some sort.

I would love a tree that changes leaf color in the fall to a deep red. But a few things here... the likelihood of us actually raking up the fallen leaves is not good. So that means our "good neighbor" status would probably plummet when the winds that this area is known for kick up and blow every single leaf into our neighbor's yard and nooks and crannies of his house's exterior. I wouldn't worry so much, except that they are particularly anal about their yard. And well, we like them. The other thing is my deal... I love decorating for Christmas and I love putting lights on trees. I have images in my head of two nicely lit pine trees at Christmas-time. Awww...

I have to laugh though. When I told AB this morning that I wanted to go shop for a tree, he immediatly thought I meant a CHRISTMAS tree for the house. Yes, I love the holidays and preparing for them, but I am not that weird. Plus the fact that last year we spent a small fortune on a fake 9 foot tall tree. Truth is, I started having pangs of guilt every year for buying a real tree that was happy and growing in some lovely little forest (yes, I know that is not where most Christmas trees come from), but the emotions of being a new parent got to me. Then there is the safety issue and the fact that we are rarely, ok never, home for Christmas. And then there are the disposal issues... I love the smell of a real tree, but I just couldn't do it anymore. So we forked out the bucks for a prelit behemoth marvel that graces our library. (And forces us to *never* buy a house without tall ceilings again.)

Aside from the pumpkin patch and tree shopping we don't have much planned. I will go home to a clean house tonight which is the biggest treat. I would like to cook something yummy this weekend and Leif and I need a trip to either Children's Place or Target to buy some "play clothes". I was frustrated last night when I went to pick him up and it was noted on his day sheet that he "fingerpainted". Well I didn't really NEED that noted because it was quite obvious in looking at him covered from head to toe with orange paint. Conveniently I had sent him to school wearing a white Gap long sleeved tee-shirt. Ok, so maybe this was stupid of me, but it was nearly the last thing he had in his drawers that was long sleeved... after he spilled a glass of water down his front sopping the previous outfit he started in.

I did manage, after two applications of Spray and Wash and an overnight soak in Oxyclean to get the orange stains out for the most part. So I love the fact that he fingerpaints there, but can they not put smocks on the kids? Or request that each family send in an old long t-shirt to put on the kids for these activities? Oh well. I learned my lesson and Leif will from now on attend wearing "play clothes".

So I have 4 out of 6 positive responses from my invited speakers for my ACS conference section. Wohoo! I had not expected this and thought it would be more like pulling teeth to get people to attend with only an $85 reimbursement of the conference fee. But apparently people like being invited to present their research. I am waiting on one person to decide, she was tentative. And I need to actually GET the name of my last person from my mentor, who is getting settled in DC where he will work for the next 3 months. :-/

Otherwise work is basically uneventful while we wait for $$ to come in.

Everyone have a great weekend!