I want my two weeks!

Two weeks!

I am saying it like the kids saying, “two dollars” in Better Off Dead. One of the single best movies. Ever.

I want my two weeks!

This is what I should have said to a colleague the other day, “you are right, I don’t HAVE to keep my kids home for the next two weeks, yes, they could go to daycare, but we WANT to be home for two weeks”. Instead I just looked at her blankly like 'you really didn't suggest that did you?' Oh well.

I somehow have gotten a boat load of vacation time. Seems that every time I go to take a day off I check my chargeable hours goal and am over. It has just been one of those starts to the current fiscal year. I have had many fiscal year starts that were in the red. So I will take it.

Normally I take Thanksgiving week off. It is *MY* time off to do the things I love. Prepare for the holidays. Cook fantastic food. Get things done around the house.

Yeah sure, I had that whole vacation thing. And while that should count, you know, it just really didn’t in the sense of "my" time. Vacationing can be hard work! And nothing gets done around my house. And I am struggling to keep pace. Never mind, there is no “keeping pace”. I am struggling not to fall too far behind.

Normally by this time I have cards out and all my shopping done. Normally.

While in Orlando I had a horrible time getting in the groove for Christmas. It was hot. Hard to think about Christmas shopping when you are sweating. I did buy one gift there though. Not telling!

Coming back to snow really helped me get my Christmas groove but between my husband wrapping up one job, starting another, swimming lessons, gymnastics lessons, basketball practice, birthday parties out the wazoo and the fact mentioned above that I have hours (actually days…) to burn. Yeah, you can imagine what all I have gotten done around the house.

Nada. Zip. Zilch. Zero.

We aren’t even looking particularly Griswoldy this year and please ignore my husband’s ladder on the porch.

This is also why I haven’t talked at all about goals. Though I have good intentions for 2011.

I have a good list of goals for my two weeks off. (And yes, I promised to remote in regularly… and hence not use much of that pile of vacation time I have…)

My list:

Organize recipes (yeah right… well I will think about it! This was one of those prior months goals, the system is there, just need to do it.)

Finish quilt (that one that I started, sure I could finish in three weeks, then the dog broke my sewing machine and I had to replace it - the sewing machine, not the dog - and then life got in the way)

Make salted English toffee (it's a small must)

Digital Music (I am sure I am supposed to organize it, organize my playlists, upload my cds or something here. My digital music simply needs attention)

Make lefse

Make sugar cookies

Decorate sugar cookies

Take kids to see Tangled

Take kids to open gym one (or more) afternoon at Garlands

Organize Kitchen Desk and Desk Cupboard (it is ugly. Really ugly. I will organize it, hopefully find my address book and then send out my Christmas cards. They may be WAY late this year. I can’t find the silly address book.)

Catch up on our recorded shows. (Dying to start this season of Glee. Oops, did I say that out loud?)
Drink

Wear my pajamas past 7am.

Watch entire movies, not just bits from the kitchen, with my children. (I am allowing magazines or Kindles to be in my hands through this though.)

Plan my house projects for 2011.

What do you have planned during the holidays?

My week

Thanksgiving is my week. After about my first year at the lab I started saving my personal holidays to use during Thanksgiving, whereby I could then supplement these two days with 8 hours of vacation time and wa-la... a full week off with minimal expense on my part.

Thanksgiving is my second favorite holiday of the year and one that I really enjoy prepping for. I remember back to 1st or 2nd grade when the neighborhood boys came to get me for sledding one Thanksgiving day and I declined the offer in favor of cooking with my mom.

I enjoy puttering about the house, working on small projects, improving little things, thinking about Christmas presents and prepping for the big meal. Or little meal as the case may be. We always cook more food than we can possibly eat because it is thoroughly impossible to make a traditional Thanksgiving meal for just a few people.

This time around I hadn't taken much time to plan for my week. Many factors playing into this... first the plan to host Thanksgiving for my mom and stepdad and then that not working out. The second is work. I have never been so busy and overwhelmed with work. Third is the kids, they keep me hopping. Fourth is that this year is just moving by so quickly that I am still (despite the fridge full of groceries) having trouble believing that Thanksgiving is really here.

I did think ahead enough when we found out my family wouldn't be visiting to declare it a good time to paint Skadi's room. So we are tackling that. (Pink, green and periwinkle with flowers. The pink is done.)

Aside from that the plans are:
-Make jerky (aka pemmican) with Leif (done and it turned out superbly).
-Clean the fridge (done)
-Dermatologist appt (done and I have the wounds to prove it)
-Cook/bake (will start with cranberry zin sauce tomorrow)
-Entertain children for six days straight.
-Check work e-mail multiple times a day (ongoing)
-Keep checking my phone for signs of work distress (ongoing)
-Empty (and quit paying for) the storage unit (still need to inform AB of this one).
-Christmas shopping started and/or done (good start)
-Photo for the Christmas card (working on tomorrow)
-Abandon town for the snowy hills this weekend for a day of sledding/scouting ski areas/retreating to nature.

You will notice a number of different things on this list from previous years. The work aspect... cannot seem to abandon it all this year. And the Christmas shopping (normally nearly finished by now) and the photo (normally with cards in hand at this point). Also there are fewer projects.

This year there is more simple struggle to stay on top of what is at hand as opposed to undertaking new things.

Two days down

So today wasn't nearly as productive as yesterday. It also didn't start out well. Skadi didn't sleep as well as the night before. I KNEW I shouldn't have blogged about her great sleep. Then Leif woke up screaming this morning and was stuck to my side all.morning.long. He had to eat breakfast on my lap and then sobbed when I wasn't going to spend the entire morning sitting on the couch with him on my lap watching Curious George and letting Skadi cry in the bedroom. Misery.

What finally cured him? I should have known. He is behaving just like his father lately, striving to talk like him and such. A hot shower. He took about a 30 minute hot shower and was cured.

This morning I spent about 20 minutes conversing with his teacher about behavior issues. For once even though she said that he has been a challenge in class, she added on the phrase, "but no worse than any of the other kids this week, it's a tough week all around for some reason". She even told me that her granddaughter - also 3, has been exhibiting some "rather bizarre" behavior. I felt better.

Since I didn't care to hang out in my house while my housecleaner cleaned, I headed to Walmart for a few things with Skadi after the preschool dropoff. Then to the mall for a couple presents. I got home and was somewhat happy to see our housecleaner was gone. Partly because I looked forward to not having to hear about her wacky family, but the flip side was that she had only been there 2.5 hours. 2.5 hours and I pay her how much? House better be sparkling.

We got in and I went to go feed the fish. The temp on the tank was down. (Goldfish) It doesn't matter so much because these fish could survive the apocalypse. But I do have a plecostomas and it is getting to that time of year when they go belly up as the temp starts dropping. However, not to 66F. Dang. Killed another pleco.

66F? I have never seen the temp that low. I went to the house thermostat and it read 64F. No wonder we were cold. But I reset the thermostat yesterday knowing I was going to be home all week. It should be a balmy 72F.

Gurr. I made the call.

One way to warm up the house is to bake. Or maybe I just cannot stand to have a clean kitchen. It must just be subliminal. I made the fixings for five Thai chicken pizzas a la K&V and froze them. The fixings, not K&V. Then I also made these ginger cookies. Yum. The texture is amazing.

So I didn't get a jump on my Thanksgiving cooking. And I didn't finish up my photo albums. And I didn't sew curtains.

I did keep my daughter warm until the HVAC people could get there ($251 later and we have heat again). We also have yummy ginger cookies.

One mental health day down

I kept Skadi home, but dropped Leif at daycare today.

I used to state that I didn't know what the Terrible Two's were all about. Nope, we didn't have the Terrible Two's in our house. We do, however, have the Terrible Three's. So not a fun experience. I am lucky, he is a great kid, he is a smart kid. But wow, he is exerting his will right now. And he is willful about everything. Everything is a battle lately. From sitting down to dinner, to what shirt he wants to wear, to pooping in the potty (again).

I selfishly kept him in preschool this week while Skadi and I took the week off. I want to give Skadi some one on one time with me. I want to live by her schedule for a few days. I want to not endure screaming at the mere suggestion of naptime.

Oh wait. I forgot... must maintain my facade that my child is an angel. Let me think of something funny or cute he has done lately...

Really, there should be something to write here...

Thinking...

Ok, well the one thing that really cracks AB and I up lately is that his speech patterns are uniquely AB's. I asked AB the other day what it feels like hearing your own voice and sentiments echoed back at you. Because I find it frankly hilarious hearing AB's speech patterns come out of this little 34 lb beanpole walking around my house. "Probably", "actually", "why don't we do this", "how about we..." and any combination of these phrases.

I am being selfish leaving Leif in preschool. And I am working on not feeling guilty about it.

Skadi fell asleep last night at 7pm and woke at 4:28am for a quick nurse and then back to her marathon sleep until 6:48am. That child can snooze when there isn't anything popping up in her way (teeth).

We took Leif to school and then ran to the bank. It was closed and since I wasn't going to take her out of her carseat and schlep her up to the foyer ATM, the banking will wait.

We headed to Winco for groceries. I debated Albertsons vs. Winco. Albertsons and the convenience, the nice store, the one stop shopping beckoned me. But the vast money savings of Winco won me over. Skadi is a most excellent shopping assistant and didn't make a peep the entire time, even while I bagged my own groceries (hate that).

We headed home where she went immediately down for a nap. I put the groceries away and had time for a quick e-mail check before she was back up again. Not surprising given the sleep previously.

We played around the house. She watched me hang the pictures that have been begging for places on the walls. She worked on her crawling (backwards still and that is oh so very frustrating to her). We ate some lunch, turned on Days of Our Lives and folded laundry. At 1:30 she was back down for her afternoon nap.

Wow did I score with the afternoon nap. 2.5 hours to pick up the house, make my Cranberry Zinfandel sauce and start on my photo albums. I was productive there. At 4pm she started making peeps and we packed up to go assuage my guilt and retrieve the boy child a little early.

I looked at my Monday list. I accomplished about half of it. The other half remained untouched, or changed. So "Go get bearhands" changed to "See if Leif's old Bearhands will fit Skadi and call the shoe store and see if they have Bearhands this year". (They do.) I will run Leif down sometime this weekend to pick some out - he wants yellow... they don't show yellow as an option on the website. Why oh why do they not make yellow when they make every.single.other.color. Mentally preparing myself now. "Oh look Leif, they have ORANGE! Isn't ORANGE your favorite color? ORANGE will match your olive green and blue coat SOO well!"

I didn't get out to pick up one of AB's presents. But I will do that tomorrow while my housecleaner is here. Since I don't want to be here while she is here - yap yap yap. (Must remember to pack up the stroller tomorrow morning.)

My list was optimistic. I knew this. But what is really important to me is to have the time with Skadi. What I get done while she sleeps is just my extra bonus.

(Will get more down on my how I started dating my husband post tomorrow.)

A look ahead

I am already relishing the fact that I have only one week left until I am gone baby gone for one full week. Ok, not really "gone", but just not at work. Leif will stay in daycare Monday and Tuesday and likely Wednesday. I would normally keep him out Wednesday, but truth be told I think he will have a better time at preschool than home with Skadi and me. Additionally I want to give Skadi some much needed one on one time. And selfish me - I won't have to deal with getting him down for nap.

So here is my list of planned events...

Prior to the big event (i.e., the week off):
-3. Upload all recent photos and order prints.

-2. Confirm guest list for Thanksgiving day.

-1. Sit down with AB and create menu and compile grocery list.

On my list (priority items):
1. Put all photos in photo album.

2. Finish Leif's curtains for his room.

3. Grocery shop for T-day.

4. Prep what I can ahead of time (that list will come a little later).

After the above "need to do" list is done we move onto:
5. Sort through the bags and bags of baby/kid clothes. What can be donated/sold? What do I really want to keep?

6. Figure out where Christmas village is going and set it up since it is stored in the garage (and I don't need my husband to get it out).
6a. Take a trip to Macy's and Michaels with Skadi to get some "extras" for the village. I want my village to rock this year. Ok, maybe it will rock in a few years...
6b. A proper outline must have two subtopics... it bugs me when they don't.

7. Christmas photo of the kids dressed in Christmas clothes.
7a. Decide on card photo/photos
7b. Order cards.

Further down my list, filed under "wishful thinking":
8. Clean out Leif's closet and get it in order for him to use.
8a. But that will require having a place to put all.that.stuff. (What do you do with your wedding dress, for example?)
8b. Garage sale fodder? (NOT the wedding dress.)

9. Finish organizing our closet - go through and get rid of clothes unworn.

And under "if time should stand still while I remain in motion":
10. A trip to Joanne's for fabric and cute patterns.
10a. Look up pillowcase dresses, get the materials for one, and find/borrow from any number of princesses around, white wings. And Skadi will also need a halo... My Christmas Angel.
10b. For complete hokiness factor make Leif be a shepherd...

And under "if money suddenly becomes no object":
11. I really want a new outfit for the holidays. Maybe two. Maybe I just want new clothes. Whatever it is, shop for clothes for ME and not the kids. Sure Skadi could use a few more things but not one more item can fit into Leif's dresser. No way no how.