Speed Limit 30 MPH

Yowsa. That was one busy weekend. The only downside (besides having to work my arse off to work 40 hours in 4 days) to having my Fridays off that I can see is that our life is a bit more like college than you'd imagine: weekends start on Thursday evenings.

Thursday: work all day, come home a tad bit early, run 3 miles, pick up kids from sitters, dinner @ Wahoo's because I cannot stand to clean the kitchen again, Matt's brother comes over to play with kids, bedtime is late
Friday: playdate in the AM, late lunch, late nap, late run interrupted by my cat-napper, wake up Tabby from nap, dinner with friends, holy crap it's 9:30!, home late
Saturday: gym, drop kids with mom, lunch out, home to work on this and that, dinner with mom, sister, kids, head home around 9:30 (again)
Sunday: gym, birthday party, swimming at birthday party, home for lunch, kids down for naps, I go grocery shopping, come home, make dinner, long walk, clean playroom (from playdate on Fri), kids to bed, freelance work, relax and watch Chuck until too late.

It was really nice. I probably wouldn't have cut out a single thing (except maybe some of the WORK I had to do), but man am I tired this morning!!

Checkin In

I am exhausted. We left right after work on Thursday and spent an amazing weekend in Vail. I really loved and appreciated the break. I have been working so hard and it was nice to do a few things with Matt and the kids and my family that weren't rushed. We loved skiing (gorgeous day on Friday) and watching movie and cooking and just goofing around. It was so nice just playing with the kids. They always surprise me.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. I stayed up too late last night doing some work that had to get done before today (which I put off until the last minute). And then I got up super early with the kids because Matt and my dad headed off to a remote resort for another day of skiing and I packed up and headed home with the kids. They played pretty well on their own while I got things put away, did laundry and picked up, but they were exhausted from our trip and had practically no naps, so it was early bedtime for them and now some relaxation time for moi.

Some Links to Share

As usual, the full compliment of crap I’ve amassed is here.

• a online journal for your eyes only: check out Penzu
• Too many passwords? Might want to try Last Pass
• Cute fabric photo mat from a pizza box – so clever!
• a very fun thing to do with your children’s artwork
• new default save locations for Firefox
• love this great photo experiment
• a nice post on giving kids rich cultural experiences (that don’t require springing for plane tix)
• I will have to try making taffy with the kids
• I bought mine, but here’s how you can make a great kitchen platform stool
• got a maple tree? tap that bad boy
• I think it would be fun to mail a frisbee
• hilarious infographic on DVD pirating – film companies, take notice
this story made me a little nauseous
100 skills you should have
• these photorealistic paintings are incredible!
• way cute Valentine sticky notes – a bit late for this year, but the method is genius!

xoxo

And The Moral of the Story Is …

• Matt arrived home safely Thursday night. I was very glad to see him.
• Friday was super-busy with a playdate and a bunch of other stuff.
• My parents took the kids Friday night so we could have a date.
• We went to see Avatar in 3D. From a story standpoint, it kinda sucked. The graphics were amazing though.
• We picked up steaks at Whole Foods for dinner … they were OK, but the potatoes were awesome (more on that tomorrow).
• Sans kids, I skipped my “long run” Saturday morning and spent the whole day working on my freelance project while Matt worked in the basement.
• We hosted my parents, grandma, sister and brother-in-law for dinner on Saturday Night. It turned out well (more on that tomorrow too).
• I made the kids mix CDs with new bedtime music on them for Valentine's day (plus a couple of other little treats).
• We went to the gym and scratched the surface on weekend indulgences.
• We came home and had lunch and playtime and then NAPS (for the whole family).
• In the evening, we had a nice dinner, a bath (the kids), and folded laundry.
• I watched the Olympics and worked on THE PROJECT until they were over. Making excellent progress, but need more time!
• Unfortunately, due to excellent afternoon nap, could not fall asleep until after midnight.
• Was NOT able to get up at 4:30 AM for Monday run … this is a reoccurring theme with me.

So the moral of the story is … No Naps on Sunday!!

Lovely Links

As always, a full compendium of my links is available here, and an RSS feed as well.

• skip those store-bought valentines and print your own
• think I'm making these darling little mailboxes to hold the kiddos' valentines treats
• I wish I sent mail enough to use a Google Map Envelope
this gave me a good giggle, especially the reference to Clueless
a car decal that detects wifi – yes, please!
• really cute valentine's ideas from Parent Hacks
• really dig these cute kiddo plates
• i ♥ this teeny weeny crafting cottage
• know your semicolon!
• make your own car mount for your smartphone for $2 in 10 min!
• adorable printed valentine's day bags
• Yum Sugar has a tasty sounding Valentine's Dinner
• and some Valentine's food for the kiddos too
• adorable handmade fabric card and envelope … maybe I'll do that next year

So Far So Good

We are having a good week … let me tell you about it:

• Matt's desk arrived on Monday and we got it all put together. Office is looking great and other than moving in all his stuff, getting our futon back to the playroom and adding some artwork and terminating some wires (cat5, coax), the remodel part of the basement is done (his shop is still lagging behind).
• Tabby had a leeetle stomach bug (maybe Ben too?), but she now seems to be mostly over it.
• I am taking the kids to the library tonight … and I get to pick up a new book for me.
• Gymnastics last night was hilarious (as usual). Tabby kept running back to the viewing area to give us updates on her progress. “I'm doing great!” and “I'm doing awesome!”
• I got in an excellent 3 mile run last night (farthest in a while!) while I watched Make It or Break It.
• About halfway through a 600 page biography of Ben Franklin … though I have given myself permission to ditch it if I stop enjoying it.
• Tonight will hopefully be a quiet night during which I can play with the kids and get some laundry and picking up done. And dinner is already made – lentil soup!
• After downing a ton of raviolis and meatballs, Ben finally slept through the night. Am buying stock in Olive Garden.
• Matt is taking Friday off so that we can hang out and get the house ready …
• because I am hosting Game Night on Saturday. Very much looking forward to it!
• Just found out that we are going to get the awesome prints for Matt's office over a third off because the artist we're buying them from is having a BOGO sale. Also thinking about buying a couple more prints for the playroom.

And yes, another post in bulleted-form.

Links with Love

Finally, links!! There are a ton, but only the best here. Enjoy.

• Check it: make homemade ice cream with just one ingredient
• I ♥ brown rice and I can't wait to try this recipe
• for all you foodies: check out eat wild; you can find local great quality meats and veggies
• lots of great books on NPR's best books of 2009
• awesome hobbity tree house
• love this heart garland made from magazines
• perfect for a snow day
• fun for the kids: DIY stickers!!
• love these fleece superhero ponchos …. CUTE!
• really digging this seasonal calendar … free for the printing
• cuuuute bento boxes from my sweet muffin
• a bit late for Christmas, but neat mod gingerbread house
• you probably saw them because they were EVERYWHERE, but you gotta love these tiny gingerbreadhouses
• liked this interesting
idea about limiting gifts
printer toaster … umm, yea
• still want to make this candy cane angel food cake
• really really cute agendas
• when I get a mo, I want to check out how to make HDR images … amazing!
• hack a magic 8-ball
• next Christmas, I'll try white trash toffee
• nice round-up of photography hacks
• now that we have medical marijuana here, we also have a marijuana restaurant … wonder if you have to have a doctor's note?
• make a cool magnetic christmas card holder
• I suppose if you need a flowchart, you're probably beyond help, but I'll try

The Haps

• Wheezed my way through my first run in over two weeks. It didn’t not go particularly well. I am getting a bit nervous about our half marathon. Eep!
• Ben has something. Lowgrade fever, wheezy breathing, tons of gas, sleeping even worse than before. Hope it passes soon for both our sakes. Might have to put off the sleep-training until next weekend.
• Carpet goes in next week, sometime between Tuesday & Thursday. I.Cannot.Wait!
• Since the carpet (the very last step in the construction phase of our remodel) goes in next week, that means we have to finish up a few things this weekend, including installing a banister and finishing up a bit of painting in the stairs.
• Found some amazing artwork on Etsy for the kids’ playroom and Matt’s office. I will not link to it just yet since I want it in a “big reveal” sort of post. But I’m very excited about it!
• Have done very well with cooking at home this week … Tabby started gymnastics again last night and we have almost always eaten out on those nights, but last night we had leftover sloppy joes and still made it to gymnastics with plenty of time and no more $$ spent and much healthier as well.
• Tonight I am making Stir Fried Turkey Lettuce Wraps – very excited about that.
• Got an awesome new bag and new shoes from my mom as a belated Christmas gift (exchange for some boots that didn’t work out) and I love both of them very much!
• Lost my sunglasses at the gym on Sunday and they turned up there this morning. Woot!
• I am going to try no-knead bread this weekend … or at very least get the bread maker out. Swear!
• Thinking of installing this laptop station in the playroom for when I’m hanging around down there. Unfortunately, that means a trip next door to UT, where “next door” is like 10 hours away. Boo.
• Just one more day ’til the weekend. Yay!