May 28: Pooey the Builder

So many new jobs have come in this week--thanks a lot 'nado--and Pooey the Builder is busy at work.  Here we see her toiling away in her office.  She is seriously going to have to can that useless Wendy. Honestly Wendy, c'mon, it's "Pooey the Builder", not "Pooey the Office Manager".  And don't think that we don't know about all of these personal calls you've been making on the company phone.  Wendy, this is a place of business, not a sorority house. 

Off to get ready for the night out--bachelorette party!!!  Updates from tonight (possibly...) in a future post.

May 25-26: First Massey's of the summer & Stormpocalypse

This has been the most bizarre month weather-wise.  Rainy and low 50's to sunny and mid 80's, torrential downpour followed by perfect blue-skied day and, now, tornadoes.  Feeling awfully "rapture-y" to me.

Wednesday was great--sunny, a little hot during the day, cooling off in the evening.  Blue, bright, wonderful.  Mike had the great fortune of online class, which meant his daily driving time was reduced from 2.5 hours to a piddly 1.5 hours.  ;)  A few minutes before class "began", he casually mentioned that if I was interested in driving over to Massey's, he could be interested in that.  Ohh...OK Mike, gotcha... you could be interested, *wink wink*.

I am never one to turn down the opportunity to get ice cream (see previous post involving chocolate ice cream face).  Hen and I hopped into the car and drove the short distance to our favorite local ice cream place.  Arctic Mount w/pb cups, hot fudge & peanut butter sauce for mom, same w/Reese's Pieces for dad, kid's cone with sprinkles for Hen.

Now I'm not sure if you can see this in the photo, but I was really interested in the Massey's sprinkle color-scheme: chartreuse, robin's egg blue, lavender, fuschia, beige and white.  Beige sprinkles???  Who has beige sprinkles?  What is this, some hip pop-up ice cream joint?  Hen took far less interest in the color of the sprinkles and quickly got to work devouring his cone.  He held onto it so tightly that his shirt got scrunched up under his arms and his belly button got a little air time.

We drove home and continued to eat our treats on the porch in the newly painted Adirondack chairs (yay! Mother's Day!)  Hen finished his kid's cone, wiped his face with the back of his arm, stood up, and removed his shorts.  He invited me to do the same, but I politely declined.  I hadn't finished my ice cream yet, it would be in poor taste to remove my shorts before finishing my dish.  After a little underwear dance party on the porch, he finally agreed to bath and bedtime.

Too young for ice cream, but NEVER too young for dress-up.  She started talking about flux capacitors and all that junk.  Nerdy baby.

Chatting on the front porch--taking a break from the cone.

Underwaaaaaare!!!!!!  "Mama, take of your shorts!!"

The following evening was less picturesque.  Tornado warning and very menacing, dark skies had us in the basement, wearing headlamps and eating cake.  Kitty seemed a little uncomfortable with the situation, but Hen embraced the dark & stormy and was fully on board for a basement adventure.  He didn't want to come back upstairs, but I am fairly certain that this had less to do with his newfound love of the spare-sock filled, musty, dark underworld of the basement and far more to do with his disinterest in bath/bed. 

Once he hit the pillow, however, totally different story.  Out like a light.  Alice was the same.  I was also completely exhausted and fell asleep, until awoken by our VERY loud neighbors.  What is it about a terrifying weather-related experience??  People were overly friendly and far too interested in socializing.  Go back to your quiet existence inside of your own homes, peeps.  I am trying to sleep!  I feel it important to mention that one of these "post-tornado block party" folks was my husband.  He's much friendlier to the people who occupy the other homes on our street.((See "list for summer" post and the bit addressing my poor neighbor-friend-making skills.  I really am a jerk)).

Those happy-go-luckies (including the two older ladies that live next door to us and WAITED OUT THE STORM ON THEIR PORCH--baller) were shivering in their boots at around midnight/1am when things got super apocalypse-y.  I have never heard lightning that loud.  It was really awful.  I wish that the kids had been able to sleep through, alas, they woke up and were stressed and afraid.  Worst feeling.  I wish I could have made that all better. 

This morning--no work due to power outage (as you can tell from this post, the power has been restored), messy streets, sirens all over the place (that's actually normal for Carlisle though) and...clear and sunny skies.  Raaaaptuuuuure...!!!!

May 24: Kitty is Hen's #1 Fan

It's been a while since we had a kitty-clip.  Not that there is much variation between them--Alice bobbles, growls, drools, does something cute, I praise her, end of video. As similar as they may be, I do know that I'll be grateful that I took these videos two years from now when she is a living terror and I need to be reminded of a time when I called her "best-baby".

Speaking of living terrors (joking)...Hen is now demanding that we follow him into the backyard, where he will demonstrate how he hits the golf ball with his seven iron and then with his putter.  "You hit it hard when you are far away, and then you hit it softly with your putter when you are close to the hole".  Thanks for the lesson,  Hen.  Pickle Mickson (or, Phil Mickleson, as he is known to anyone outside of this home) would be proud.

Favorite moment in this video--when Hen (off camera) steps into the room and Alice immediately looks towards him and smiles.  This kid really loves her big brother.

101 and aren't we having fun

I just realized that this is my 101st post!  I feel so impressed and proud, which, honestly, isn't that different from my day to day life.  I have a pretty high opinion of myself.  Not gonna lie.  It's obnoxious.

Since my last post, things have been busy but at a tolerable pace.  Last week my colleague and I shared a "Inside the Admissions Process" presentation/discussion with parents/students in the Gifted & Talented program at the local high school.  The following day was the graduation for the students in the Youth Leadership program that I "support" (weird word choice...I'm the chair of the committee for the program, so I'm not sure what the appropriate active verb would be).  Lots of changes will likely be made to that program in the coming year--expanding to include 7th and 8th graders (currently just offered to 9th graders), will focus more on mentoring & academic success, less on themed sessions/field trips.  Hopefully changes that will enhance the program and allow it to reach more students and have a greater impact over time.

The rest of the week was blurry--Senior Week for our Class of 2011.  Lots of special events and parties, lots of bittersweet exchanges, lots of glasses of champagne.  Holy Hannah, senior week was very "college senior-y".  I even saw closing time at the local bar.  MAN that brings me back.  The last time I saw closing time: Barack was a senator, Britney Spears was bald and stink bugs hadn't yet invaded my world.  Needless to say, this was a special event and definitely one that will not be revisited anytime soon.  I learned my lesson at 7:00am the following morning (or the same morning? I'm still confused...) when Mike woke me up as he left to go play golf.  7:15am tee time?  Douchey move, Mike Boegel.

Lucky for me, sisters were in town and we had a little McDougall rendezvous (minus Mary) at the empty nest.  Speaking of that nest--now that we're all good and gone my parents are redecorating EVERY room in the house.  I'm not even kidding.  Every room.  It has always been a really beautiful home, but now, it's Better Homes & Gardens photo-ready.  Dang! Mom and Dad!  What are you trying to say here?  You had to wait until we were all gone to have super nice stuff?   Are we not capable of living amongst lovely things without ruining them with nail polish, ink or food stains?  What are we, animals?? Thanks.A.Lot.Parents.  (Real life sidebar: Nearly everyday, as we watch our children and pets wreak havoc on our home, Mike says to me "Someday, when everyone is gone, and it is just us, we will finally have nice things."  Ok Suz & Mac.  I suppose I sort of understand.)

McDougall rendezvous was followed by Mrs. Stamm's -- fried chicken, stuffing balls, mashed potatoes and gravy -- **buzz buzz** Alex, what is...hangover food?  Glorious stuffing balls.  If you live in my town and you DO NOT know about Mrs. Stamm's you are missing out my friend.  Best.Food.Evs.

Rest of the weekend was low key.  I brought best-baby to graduation and she wowed people with her pleasant disposition and Mona Lisa smile.  Coy little kitty love.  Hen opted out, he had golf balls to hit...aggressively.  I'm starting to wonder if we might trade in that seven iron for a hockey stick.  Kid can swing.  Hard. 

Quick recap and now I'm ready for bed.  PM is about to turn over to AM and that is something that I do not need to see on this already long night.  So long, farewell.