More video that will make you cry

This is a clip of a song from A Chorus Line being performed by the original cast. It's fabulous.

Friday's Lessons Learned

Another week gone by. Here's another list...

• I don't think I am actually capable of maintaining 2 blogs and 2 Twitter presences. As much as I want to keep on writing for my Make-up 101 blog, I am facing the fact that I am just too busy. I can barely post often enough on this one blog. So, I will be putting Make-up 101 on hold until some other time when I can really commit to making something out of it. In the meantime I will post any make-up reviews, etc. on this blog in case anyone's interested in them because just because I won't be blogging and tweeting about make-up doesn't mean I won't be helping to support Sephora's P&L.
• I think I really should consider a move to a warmer climate. It seems like the warmer the weather, the better I feel. Or maybe I am just feeling miserable about the fact that it is late spring and it has been 55 degrees and raining all week?
  
• Zoe has hit the age where it is fun to eat dinner at friends' houses. She ate at her friend Dominic's house last night and I'm not sure, but I think it is the highlight of her year.
• This was a short work week, but it felt really long.
• A good iPhone app can really make your day. I discovered FantasyLens last night and have been having a ball with it. Below is my creation from this morning. I call it "Rob Washington." I am sure I will be busy with this all weekend.
  

Rob Washington, originally uploaded by Marcyjill.

Images of a holiday weekend

I didn't take a lot of pictures this weekend even though I was hoping to. Even so I think I managed to capture enough to sum up the long weekend.



This is a picture of Zoe at her school's "Patriotic Day." All the grades sing songs about the U.S. and it is done every year on the Friday before Memorial Day. It is very cute, but it is also very crowded. This picture was taken at the end when the students were headed back to their classes. This was the only photo opportunity I had because it was so crowded.



Zoe and her friend Dominic. I took them to the playground on Saturday and they played for 2 hours without coming up for air. They were so darn cute I wish I'd taken video.



Rob in the ER after slamming his shoulder while playing basketball with Zoe in our driveway. Also important to note that this was taken AFTER he was given percocet for the pain.



Zoe marched in Fairfiel's Memorial Day parade on Monday morning with The Little Gym. She did cartwheels for the entire parade route. Again it was very crowded so this was the only picture I managed to get.



Zoe insisted on swimming this weekend despite the fact that the pool water was still too cold. Heater or not, sometimes there is only so much you can do. This was taken just before she jumped in for her first swim of the season. She lasted in the water for about 15 minutes before she came out with blue lips.

Friday: Lessons Learned (posted Saturday)

I actually wrote this yesterday, but I was so tired I clicked "Save" instead of "publish."

• I can go 5 days (and counting) without eating any candy. It hasn't been easy, but so far so good.
• A really great haircut only comes along once in awhile. I love the Kimberly my hairdresser and she always does a really good job, but the cut I got this week is particularly great. At least in my opinion.
• Zoe has pretty good taste in boys. This week I invited her friend Dominic over for a play date. Dominic is a frequent topic of conversation in our house and it is clear that the two of them like each other in a way that if they were 15 and not 7 I might be concerned. Up until this week I hadn't really spent time with Dominic, but it turns out he is a very sweet and adorable little boy. He and Zoe have a great time together.
• I can run on the treadmill faster than I thought. At least for a minute at a time. I tried an interval workout this week and I surprised myself. That felt good.
• I hate to brag, well no, I love to brag about Zoe. She's doing great in school. This week we got results of comprhensive math and spelling tests and on both tests she only got one wrong answer and each was due to careless mistakes. Plus she takes basketball after school and the coach told me that she is one of the best. She's the only girl in the basketball class and clearly that does not stop her.
• Insecure people will try to take credit for your work which is why it is important to put your name on everything. I was quite happy I do that this week.
• Looking forward to a 3 day weekend with very few plans is a marvelous thing.

The Sartorialist

Have you seen The Sartorialist blog?

If you love fashion or really good fashion photgraphy and you haven't seen this blog, you should.

The thing I love about this blog is that it is mostly pictures of real people. Not just models. I love to see the way some people truly rock their own style. That's how I look in my dreams. And, wow, do the Parisian women wear amazing shoes. Makes me drool!

So, seriously, if you haven't seen this blog, go now. Add it to your feeder. Look at it regularly. Enjoy.

Please, tell me how it ends

On Saturday night my mom graciously agreed to babysit for Zoe while Rob and I went to see Star Trek and then get dinner. I wasn't dying to see the movie, but Rob really was so I figured I would be a good pal and go along. About 85% into the movie (i.e. the climax) I look over and see Rob answering his phone and from the caller ID I know it is Mom. I know immediately this cannot be good news and, of course, it is not. Out of nowhere Zoe has a fever of 102. We immediately left the movie theater and headed home to take care of Zoe. Poor kid has been burning fever off and on since last night. It was kind of a rough night, but it seems like it is just a virus though because she has no other symptoms and the fever is down to 100 without Motrin.

Earlier tonight my mom suggested we should go back and see Star Trek again. Nope. The movie was OK, but I think I'll just wait for someone to tell me the ending. I definitely couldn't stay awake for it tonight and I'm not giving up another $10.50 and another 120 minutes to Captain Kirk or Spock. Maybe for Bones. He was kind of cute, but, nah, not worth it. So, if anyone out there can tell me how it ends once Kirk is beamed back to the Enterprise from the ice planet, I would appreciate it.

Friday Lessons Learned

• Do not tell your husband you don't want to make a "big deal" out of Mother's Day because he will translate this to mean "I don't have to do anything at all."
• The moment I put away my winter sweaters, I will have to take one out again because of the sudden drop in temperature.
• I am a sucker for every new flavor of sugarless gum that comes out. I try them all.
• I own a lifetime supply of cosmetics bags -- most of which I got free as some kind of "bonus." Even though I clearly don't need all these bags and haven't even used most of them, every time I try to throw some out I can't be parted from them.
  
• No amount of age-appropriate explaining can make a 7 year-old understand what was so bad about the Nazis and why Captain Von Trapp did not want to become one. This doesn't, however, stop said 7 year-old from asking about the Nazis constantly. (Was watching Sound of Music a good idea? Yes, I still think so.)
• Finding a pair of dirty socks in the bed when changing the sheets is yucky.
  
• My house averages 2 computers per resident.
• A husband in the "dog house" for neglecting Mother's Day is temporarily very helpful around the house and with the child.
• Any given morning that I want to sleep late, is the morning that Zoe will get up unusually early thereby making it impossible for me to sleep late.
• An evening with intelligent women friends is the perfect antidote to boy problems, hectic work weeks, and generally any other annoyance.
  

Nuns

Last night I introduced Zoe to one of the greatest musical movies of all time, "Sound of Music." She was hesitant about watching it, reluctant to give up iCarly for something Mom said is good, but I pulled out the old bribe card and told that if she liked it, she could stay up past her bedtime to watch.

I knew she was going to love it and I was right. She was hooked before the Reverend Mother finished singing "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?" and didn't tear herself from the TV until the Von Trapps had fled the Nazis.

You know the scene when the Von Trapp children go to the abbey to look for Maria after she ran away because the Baroness says all that nasty stuff to her? While we were watching that scene Zoe said to me, "Why do the call them nuns?"

"I don't actually know," I replied. "But I am sure we can find out."

"They should be call hundreds," Zoe said.

"Hundreds?"

"Yes, because of how much they love God. Hundreds. Not none."

I couldn't answer because I was holding back the laughter. Luckily the Reverend Mother started singing "Climb Every Mountain."

Friday list of things learned

• I should never leave an open bag of those soft peppermint candies next to me on my desk while I am working because then I will eat way to many of them and get a stomach ache.


• Cardinals seem to eat a lot more birdseed than the chickadees were eating.


• I can actually name 4 species of birds without having to look them up in my Birds of North America book. (Cardinals, Blue Jays, Chickadees, Starlings)
  


• Zoe thinks chess (as in the game of) which she has been learning to play all school year in her school's chess club is pronounced "chest." As in, "I have a chest club tournament tomorrow." It is giggle inducing.


• Figured out how to create my own ringtone for my iPhone. My ring is now Zoe saying "ring, ring, ring! pick up the phone already (repeat)"
  


• I can conduct a conference call with my entire work team from my car while parked in the Stop & Shop parking lot.


• Telling a 7 year old that she is being a cry baby is actually not an effective way to get her to stop crying. (Bad Mommy moment #437)
  

Magic

A magic kit was high on Zoe's birthday wish list this year and she ended up getting 2 very nice kits with lots of different magic tricks. Luckily she did not expect the magic wand that came with kits to actually "do" the magic. That actually happened to my brother when he was a bit younger than Zoe is now. He was completely devastated when he realized there was no actual "magic" in his magic kit or his wand and that he had produce it all himself. I don't have many memories of my brother crying, but that one stands out. As a matter of fact I made sure Zoe did not believe this before I told anyone she wanted a magic kit. I didn't want to witness that heartbreak twice.

The tricks, are the same tricks that were in the magic kits when I was kid -- the red ball in the egg cup, the magic quarter in the box, the string that splits in half, many variations on card guessing, etc. It is still really fun stuff that is pretty simple. It is all in the presentation.

A couple of weeks ago my father spent an entire afternoon helping her learn how to do the tricks and about the performance aspects of magic tricks. Zoe loved it. My father is now her number one assistant and she is practicing these tricks all of the time. So, this week when she had to bring in something for "sharing" (why can't they call it "show-and-tell" anymore??) I suggested she do one of her magic tricks. At first she wasn't sure, but finally she decided to bring in the quarter in the box trick and apparently it was a very big hit at school. It is one of those moments that I wish I could have been there to see, but I know my presence would have affected her ability to perform the trick. Luckily, I can get my own magic show anytime I want. Perhaps I will consider Zoe for entertainment at my next birthday party...

Mother of the Year

Besides my handmade cards from Zoe, this is the best mother's day card ever.

Watch this (updated link).

Then, send one to all the moms you know.

Thank you momsrising.org for making my day!

Time

There's never enough time. I feel it all of the time. Days just disappear. So often I feel like one minute I am pushing Zoe to get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, get to the bus stop and then five minutes later I am pushing her to finish her homework, eat her dinner, get in her pajamas, and go to bed. It can be an exhausting treadmill. (Actually, time on the treadmill goes very slowly, so that's not really the right metaphor.)

I don't know what my point is except to say I wish I could feel like I had some more time sometimes.

What I have learned this week

After having fun with last week's post, I've decided to create a new Friday feature of bullet points of what I've learned for the week.

• Any discussion of head lice will cause my own head to itch -- one hour for every minute of conversation.
• Some people will just always be late. Always.
  
• Traveling with GPS is good because you don't have to think too much about where you are going. It is also occasionally eerie when you realize you don't really know where you are and you are just driving on this particular road in this particular direction because the little box on the dashboard said so.
• It is impossible to feel normal in any way while in a room with a dead body. (I attended a wake this week.)
• If you are not sure what to write in a card, the internet can be surprisingly helpful.
• iTunes is awesome -- except when you want to move your library from one computer to another, then it is not so awesome.
• Hamburgers just taste better when someone else makes them.
  
• Mother's Day cards only seem to fall into two categories -- overly floral and sappy (i.e. "you are the greatest mother that ever lived and deserve to have rose petals strewn at your feet") or juvenile cartoons that feature sentiments about laundry and cooking (i.e. we'd have starved and gone naked without you Mom, why don't you lie down today? -- but just today.)
• Repair men who cannot move their eyes above chest level while talking to me should be run over with their own trucks.
• I am generally a neat and tidy person, but I have trouble keeping certain drawers in a state other than a complete jumble. It is my secret sloppy shame.
  
• A gray and rainy Friday is still a Friday and therefore a good thing.