Weekend Update: It's Long

What have we been up to this weekend? (Why, thanks for asking!) We have had what feels like a rather busy weekend.

Saturday we had a lazy morning until about 11, at which point I decided that we needed to get dressed and get going. Our first stop was the bank, which we barely squeezed in before they closed at noon. (If you are wondering at the hour's difference between us getting ready to go and actually getting to our first destination, its OK. You obviously don't have children.) After the bank, I was planning to go to the mall to get some lunch (I had a Chick-Fil-A coupon), but the bank took quite a while and I had to run home for a potty break (Anna's, not mine) and to get the extra pull-ups that I'd forgotten, so I decided to bypass the mall and go to the toy store. (Not quite logical, you think? You may be right, but I'm not going to admit it.)

It was a good decision, though, because I came across an amazing sale on puzzles. Three wooden peg puzzles for a little over a dollar each--and I had a coupon! One of them is a duplicate, so I will be trying to sell it on eBay--unless someone reading wants to buy it. The other two are going to be presents for Anna's birthday next week.

Since we skipped lunch at the mall, I asked Anna what she wanted for lunch. "Hot dog!" was the answer, so we headed to Costco. Their hot dogs are amazingly cheap and kosher, which makes me feel better about eating a hot dog in the first place. By this time, I think it was about 1, which is past our normal lunch time, but the line for food was LONG, so what did we do? We got a cart and proceeded to enjoy all the samples they were offering. All throughout the store, customers could hear Anna asking, very loudly I might add, "Mommy, Anna have some? ANNA HAVE SOME?"

After taking the edge off our hunger, I picked up a preschool book for tracing. Since we aren't sending Anna to preschool or Mother's Day Out this year, I decided that I am going to start informal schooling this year. Just basics, like matching, colors, letters, numbers, counting, and possibly some writing, depending on how she does. I figure that even 15 minutes a day will be helpful. And maybe, just maybe, she'll be reading when she's three. God knows, she's smart enough.

Anyway, after we checked out, we headed over to get our lunch. It wasn't as crowded, but I had one h-e-double-hockey-sticks of a time trying to get our food and drinks. First of all, I had a cart, because there was no way I could carry her, my purse, our purchase (the book), our food, and two drinks. (And I wouldn't dare put her down, where she could easily run off or get snatched. She's a good kid, but not good enough that I would trust her with my hands full.) So I'm trying to navigate the cart over to fill up our drinks and people are just completely...unsympathetic. (And that's putting it nicely. Almost like saying that a mountain lion is a nice house pet. And don't write me letters about how much you loved your pet mountain lion that you had growing up. I'm not buying it.) Seriously, what is a single parent to do? Leave your kid at the table with your back turned so a stranger can snatch them? Or leave your stuff at the table so someone can steal your money, credit cards, and identity? The whole experience made me wonder when I should start talking to Anna about stranger danger. I don't want her to become fearful, but I do want her to be safe.

After Anna dropped her half-eaten hot dog on the ground, I decided that it was time to go home for a nap. I just wish I was the one who got to take the nap. I used the quiet time to try to get the dog hair up off the TV room carpet (that's another post altogether), check my email, remove the screws and mollies from the walls in our bedroom and then spackle the enormous holes in the guest room and our bedroom (again, another post altogether), and clean up the play room. After dinner and putting Anna to bed, I made a late night grocery run. In the middle of my leisurely shopping (because if I'm grocery shopping without a fussy toddler, I'm sure as heck going to take my time and enjoy it!) Brandon called. Anna had woken up and was very upset because I wasn't there, which also made Brandon very upset (at me--for leaving him with a crying toddler), which then, in turn, made me very upset. Nothing like a "Where are you?" call to ruin a good time out.

Holy moly, I just realized how long this is!

Sunday has been much of the same, although the business is contained to the house today. More spackling, multiple loads of laundry, vacuuming of the entire house (the dog hair!), cleaning of bathrooms, cooking of meals, blah, blah, blah. I have some cute Anna-isms, but I'll save them for another day.

Oh, and I'm sorry there's no pictures. I need to be editing Junior Golf photos, but I've been busy cleaning all day.