Another week

Ok, this waiting so long between posts is not working for me. Is it working for you? Must write more often, I forget all that we do if I don't. Quick update and then maybe I will ramble about something for a while. Or not.

Saturday
Aunt K left very early in the morning for home. Very sad little girls in this house this day. I don't remember what we did, except that I was surely getting ready for the little party I had planned for New Year's day. Oh yeah, that was New Year's Eve! We had black-eyed peas and greens for dinner and then watched the ball drop in Times Square at 9pm. Gotta love PST with little kids on New Year's! C and I were in bed trying to sleep when the real midnight hit. We knew what time it was only because of the fireworks going off in the neighborhood. Such old farts we've become, huh?

Sunday
I sent C and the girls off for a day away at a friend's house so that I could have my party. Four of my girlfriends came over for a get together where, among the usual talking and eating, we were going to do a burning bowl ritual. Basically, we wrote down stuff we wanted to release and then burned the paper. Afterward we wrote out our aspirations for 2006 and sealed the paper in envelopes. One friend, who elected not to write her aspirations out, swapped the envelopes secretly. We do not know who has our paper, but she will give it back next year. It was a very nice time. I really enjoy my friends here and want to plan more stuff like this throughout the year. C and the girls had a nice time while they were away.

Monday
C had the day off and spent it watching football. The girls hung with him for the day, since he was going back to work the next day. I spent my time between my office, attempting to organize my desk, and cooking in the kitchen. It was a quiet day. Just what we needed.

Tuesday
Lifelearner events started up again today. We met at a park to play. It was a beautiful day and we were very grateful for such good weather in January. Since the sun sets so early, we wrapped up early, around 3pm. E wanted me to find her a pink tanktop, so we stopped at Target on the way home. No luck finding pink tanktops, in her size anyway, but we did find one for A and she agreed to let E keep wearing the one she had borrowed earlier in exchange for me buying her that new one. E was not happy about it, so we stopped at Walmart to see if they had one. Worse luck there. They did not have any spring clothes at all. I ended up getting camisoles and a tie-dye kit. The plan was to dye the white tanks to suit E.

Wednesday
After I got up and awake for the day, E and I got out the dye kit and started doing that. She wanted three different designs off of the pictures on the box, so I shot for that. She also threw in a pair of white underwear to dye. A joined in with two pairs of panties, the only white clothing she had in her closet. The kit has more dye powder to use at a later time, so we will have to plan to do some more tie-dye in the future. Knowing E, I hoped she would be satisfied with the results. She wasn't, but I think she will grow to like them, after the dashed expectations wear off. She is way too much like me, for sure. I was pretty good dealing with her, even if I did want to scream after all the effort I have put into getting her what she wanted. I was a bit stern with her about not letting her happiness be defined by "stuff", or lack thereof. I think she got what I was saying to some extent, because she perked up and seemed to forget about pink tanktops for the rest of the day. We spent a long time outside riding bikes and scooters in the road in the afternoon. A family came to look at the house for rent across the street and I chatted with them while they waited for the owners to come let them in. They homeschool and have a 6 year old daughter, and four older kids as well. Could be cool neighbors, if they decide to move in.

Thursday
Spent the day taking down all the Christmas decorations and cleaning up for a Lifelearner play day here tomorrow. E was bugging her sister a lot and A was not handling it well. I got frustrated with it and told them both I was sick of it. Went and hid in my office for a while. A came down to find me and said she wanted to show me something. Turns out she had cleaned up her room and put away all their clean laundry, her sisters included. She was bursting with pride and I thanked her profusely.

I'd like to say more, but I am beat. Busy day tomorrow. I'll try to get back here before another week has passed and say something more profound.