Living in Munchkinland

Michael just informed me that he's booked his travel for the sixth week in a row to be out of town. Five weeks totally gone while he's in Dallas and one week where he drove to Cedar Park every day, which totally counts as out of town because he never got home before the kids went to bed. And there is no end in sight. Yes. I KNOW I should be grateful he has a job. I AM. But I am also allowed to have a mini pity party before I pick myself up and get back to having it all together. It doesn't help that I have decided I am ten pounds over my top allowable weight and I must do something about it now before it's holiday season and I lose the battle all together. Cutting calories and exercising is one thing, but what about my comfort foods?!?! Whenever I'm stressed or tired I want Mexican food. Chips and salsa and cheese and beer. And if I can't have that I want fried rice. Or dark chocolate coated almonds. And lots of red wine. Why can't those be diet f...

Got my hair cut and colored in preparation for the reunion/wedding/fundraiser event bonanza that is October. Michael came home! Hosted a large, fun, kid-filled playdate/lunch. Went out for lovely dinner and drank an entire bottle of wine on my parent's porch with a fabulous friend. Led the service at our super liberal church. Attended a political soiree at my parents house. Had a final reunion planning meeting with high school peeps. Fall weather came in! Had a lovely playdate with one of my besties. Now I'm preparing to send Michael off to Dallas again for another week. And another after that. Tomorrow is my first rehearsal. (Insert suspenseful, scary music here) And I'm going to start my half-marathon training in the morning. (More suspenseful, scary music) Enjoy the pictures. Outside has been a glorious place to be the last few days.

I got the lead in Amahl and the Night Visitors. I'm playing the Mother. I'm nervous because it's an opera and I haven't sung anything other than nursery rhymes in six years. There will be performances locally in mid-December. Now I have to make space in my life for rehearsals. I can do this, right? Right?

We had a wonderful weekend with Michael's parents this last weekend. They came in on Friday afternoon. Davis was so excited when he saw them in the car at school pickup. A huge grin spread across his face and he leapt up pointing them out to his friends with such pride. It was great. That evening we had an impromptu dinner party when the rain ruined our swim plans. I was glad it rained because we had so much fun! Michael came in for the tail end of it (he was working in Cedar Park all last week) and caught the end of the fun. Saturday we explored our local farmer's market, went to the local public library while I auditioned for our community theater's production of Amahl and the Night Visitors and then bought bbq plates in support of my friend Daniel's mayorial campaign. After lunch the men took the boys and Kade down to the river to fish. When rain ended that plan early we drove out to Tres Hermanas for an early dinner and then settled down to watch Cadillac ...

I like to feel competent. I like to accept responsibility, feel busy, purposeful, and helpful. This makes me say "yes" a lot. I like to say yes. But I have the feeling I'm going to have to say "no" pretty soon. Right now I have three dogs and one is a puppy. I have two small children. I have a husband who is out of town A LOT lately and who will be leaving for another full week tomorrow. I am helping to throw (coordinate) my high school reunion and my best friends wedding in the next three weeks. I've also agreed to be lay leader at our UU church. I am on the board of a fantastic (busy) organization. I'm on three committees at our church. I have a part time job. I make a concerted effort to cook for my Grandparents. I'm chair of the Montessori fundraiser committee. I've agreed to teach music at the Montessori. And I just auditioned for a play. (Me! First audition in six years! And for a fun community theater where I hope to volun...

Our new dog is here! Her name is Sookie and she is a standard poodle. Michael has been wanting another big dog for a while and when he found out that standard poodles don't shed AND that they love to fetch, he was sold. Michael picked up Sookie from some of my extended family in Waxahachie on his way back from Dallas on Friday night. We adore her already. She is a beautiful rust color with big brown eyes. She is the meekest, gentlest puppy I've ever met. She is a total sweetheart. Sookie already knows "sit", "down", "come" and "stay". She really looks up to Ellie and follows her around everywhere. Sam and Davis are over the moon about her and both claim her as their very own dog. She is wonderful to have around and I think she will fit into our family very well.

The other morning our dog Henry started barking and barking. He sounded like he was doing his "protective" bark, so I sent Michael outside to see what Henry could be protecting us from at 7:30 in the morning. It turned out to be a huge hot air balloon that was floating across our back yard. The kids and I ran outside and waved and laughed and watched in amazement. It was funny though, because you could hear all the dogs in the neighborhood to the right of us where the balloon came from barking and howling, then as it crossed our ranch you could hear all the different ranch dogs barking at it and then finally, as it crossed the river, you could hear the resident donkey over there start up braying at it. All of which tells me that if we are ever visited by space aliens, the local dogs and donkeys will alert us to the visit.

We went to Port Aransas for Labor Day Weekend. It was a pretty perfect beach weekend. Our friends Stacey and Chris and their kids came with us. My parents and grandparents were there. The weather was Fantastic. We ate a lot of seafood, played on the beach, read books, drank wine and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I love my family and friends and I am so lucky that I have Port A to go to. That place holds a piece of my heart.