A Quiet Week And Weekend

It's been pretty quiet around Casa de Briana lately. And I am quite happy about that. It's not often that I can say that my week was kind of uneventful, but it really was. I had a nice lunch with my friend Carole on Thursday, but other than that, I've just been doing boring stuff around the house and a bunch of errand running.

I already know the week ahead of me is going to be busy (lots on the calendar), and I'm sure life will get even busier with the holidays looming right around the corner. So I'm enjoying the quieter time now.

This weekend we had no big plans either. Bri had a play date at the neighborhood playground on Saturday with some neighborhood friends (the weather was chilly but sunny ~ just beautiful), but that is all we had on the calendar. No soccer. No running. No dinner dates. Just hanging out at home. Nice.

Miss B decided to take a selfie on my phone the other day. Who needs to be sassy or serious? My gal is silly and I like her that way...

B was able to wear a dress and boots on Wednesday. Bri has to wear sneakers on PE days ("specials" like music and PE rotate and fall on different days each week). Now that she is in running club on Mon and Thurs, she has to wear sneakers on those days too ~ even when her special isn't PE. My fashionista isn't too thrilled that she has to wear sneakers so often to school now. So when she gets a day that she can wear a dress with boots or dressier shoes to school, she's very excited...

Thursday, we did a craft after school. Foam kits are super cute, but they are aggravating to put together sometimes. The instructions say "no glue needed." That's very far from the truth...

Briana is still doing great in school. Her teacher uses a classroom tool called "ClassDojo" to reinforce good behavior...

 The kids get points for doing things they are supposed to do like clean their desks, follow directions or use recommended websites at home like "First In Math." Briana was the student with the most Dojo points out of the class last week and she was quite proud of herself. She got to pick a treat out of the class "treasure box."

I am enjoying the fact right now that Bri doesn't have a project due - though Bri has had several tests in which she had to study.

She hasn't been slammed with homework this year and that has been so nice. I dread the day when she starts getting bombarded with it. Will it be next year (4th)? Maybe 5th? Not looking forward to it.

I have a lovely 5 minute drive to school to drop and pick up Briana. The trees that line the street have been beautiful. I'm sad they are losing their leaves now...

Doug, Bri and I went to see "Big Hero 6" Friday night. It was the first 'nighttime' movie Bri has ever been to. It is a wonderful movie, but very, very sad in parts...

My kid had tears streaming down her face when it was over. She is ultra sensitive, so I am not surprised. She feels things very deeply. The whole theater was in tears throughout it, myself included.

But it was really, really good. I do recommend it.

Now it is Sunday. It is supposed to start raining soon and rain all night into tomorrow. A cold front will be pushing through and temps will plunge into the low 20's Tuesday morning. Brrrr.

Just one more week until Thanksgiving break!

Briana's 1st 5K

Saturday morning was Briana's very 1st 5K race!

She was excited and nervous all at the same time. We were up at 5:50AM to get her to the park by 7:15. It was early. And cold ~ very cold. In the 30's.

It's how cold outside?

What the heck have I gotten myself into????

I tried to bundle Bri enough so that she would be warm in the cold temps but not over bundle her so she would get hot during the run. I was totally winging it.

Hats and gloves were definitely needed...

We met up with Bri's coach...

And the running club team...

The kids did some warm up...

It was then time for everyone to line up...

Off they go...

Bri kept up a nice pace...

Of course, the mom in me was a little worried about her. I couldn't see her as she followed some of the path in the park. I prayed she wasn't getting too tired. I was so happy so see her finally come around the corner toward the finish...

37 minutes, 42 seconds...

One of her schoolmates (a boy) was struggling a little bit during the run (I think he might have started off too fast) and he was trying to catch up with one of his friends (but he never did). Briana said she slowed a little to talk to him and give him some encouragement. She ended up crossing the finish line a few seconds before he did. She's just awesome.

She got a medal and a water bottle...

Bri and her friend Allix...

Allix and her mom (who also ran the race)... 

Go team!!!!

Getting a little love from daddy...

The race was just a small part of the Extreme Family Field Day that our county was hosting to raise money for our public schools. There were lots of other things to do (jumpies, food, obstacle course, etc). Even after running for almost 40 minutes, Bri wanted to climb the rock wall...

And jump on the bungee trampoline...

The last thing she did was this inflatable...

I want to be the next "Kacy Catanzaro"!!!! (Female American Ninja Warrior finalist)...

Hmmm, got some work to do on that. And I better not try it after a 5K. ;-)

We were all pretty tired from getting up so early, so we headed home.

When we got home, we added Bri's new medal to all the other medals she has received over the years. Her medal holder is all filled up. We need to double up now!!

I can't begin to explain how proud I am of Briana. She had a bit of a rocky start to running club due to some hot weather issues, but in the end, it has been a wonderful club for her. She's built up her endurance and she was so proud of herself for finishing the race so strong.

That's my baby! :)

My Week Is Improving

I got my margarita last night - and it was so yummy.

I'm feeling much better today.

Miss B has been in a much better mood and she got her iPad back this morning.

I ran a couple of errands this morning - including making an appointment to get Bri's passport renewed.

I started to really notice the fall color hitting Georgia now. It puts me in a good mood...

I live in the "land of the evergreens." Lots of green trees that don't change color. Georgia won't ever be completely full of color, but we have some really amazing "pops" of it.

Bri and I did a fall craft together the other day...

And I know I gripe about Bri sometimes, but she is still the best thing that has ever happened to me. Growing up, I never imagined myself raising a child that wasn't biologically related to me, but life threw me a wonderful, inexplicable, humbling, amazing curve ball. Now I have the best kid on the planet making a huge impact on my life each and every day. She has made me a better person.

I am truly blessed.

She is running her first 5K tomorrow morning, so wish her luck!!!

What A Week

It's been quite a week for me. It hasn't been all bad ~ I met my friend Kathy for coffee on Wednesday morning which was really nice, Bri had the day off from school on Tuesday which was also nice (voting day - I voted early) and tonight I have a girls' night out planned.

But dang this week has been filled with hiccups.

We "fell back" on Sunday ~ which made Sunday seem longer. I don't really mind the longer day, but shifting that hour really doesn't help anyone's body clock...

And everyone keeps calling it "daylight savings time" when it is really "daylight saving time." Savings go in a bank. We are supposed to be "saving" time. And I actually had a friend point out that we aren't actually "saving" anything ~ which is totally true. There are still exactly 24 hours in a day...

Doug and I put all the Halloween decorations away on Sunday (and we have A LOT) which took a bunch of time. But all my fall decor is now out...

You would have thought Miss B would have been in a great mood Monday morning since she had that "extra" hour of sleep. She was at first, but then she got rapidly grumpy because she remembered that she didn't turn in an assignment for Venture that had been due on Friday. Which of course she never mentioned all weekend. Her tone seemed to be like she was blaming me for the oversight.

Grumpy Briana...

 She and I had words that morning because I told her that it wasn't my responsibility to make sure she did all her homework. I do help her with homework, but ultimately it is her responsibility. She has a sheet that comes home each week from Venture, but there is rarely Venture homework listed on it. And if there is homework, there are usually just worksheets in the pocket of her folder to be completed. This was an actual writing assignment. The assignment was given at the height of my sickness, so I did miss seeing the assignment. But still, not my fault in the end.

We were angry with one another, and Doug offered to take Bri to school. The whole week before, Bri was so excited because the class had earned a "bring a device to school" day on Monday. Between Halloween, soccer tournaments, preparing for soccer dinners, time changes and arguing, we both forgot about it. (Kind of ironic with the fact our conversation had just been about responsibility.)

Bri got to school and was devastated.

When I picked her up from running club, she looked weird when she got into the car. Then she burst into tears and told me what happened. And then she said "I left you a message." I was so confused - and then it hit me.

This was my FB status from that day...

"Massive mama guilt - I rarely forget anything when it comes to Briana. Her class had earned a "bring your device day" today and I totally forgot about it this morning. She tried to call me this morning from her teacher's cell phone asking me to bring her ipad in, but I didn't recognize the number and her message was so garbled and far away (she said she was crying) that I actually thought it was toddler making a mistake call. She got in my car this afternoon sobbing and told me what happened. She and I had some words this morning before school and she thought I was still mad at her. I hate that she thought I ignored her all day - it's heartbreaking. I think her standard of me is so high now, when I do make a mistake, things seem much more earth shattering.

— feeling heartbroken."

I started to cry because my kid tried to reach me and I didn't know. I didn't understand the message. I felt horrible.

We cleared it all up after we talked and she ended up getting "Minecraft" in her iPad - which every kid on this planet seems to have now. I just feel badly that she thought I was super mad at her all day...

We had our soccer dinner that evening and it ended up being really nice despite the hiccups of the day.

Doug had to leave to head to the airport directly from the dinner because he had an all day demo to do in Miami the next day.

The next day was voting day and Bri's day off from school. We invited Taylor over for a few hours...

After Taylor left, I took Bri to get her glasses adjusted because they kept falling off of her nose. She is good to go now...

Tuesday night, I unfortunately had to get on Bri once again about her attitude. She has 14 pounds of Halloween candy (which I need to chunk a bunch and/or donate)...

 I let her have a piece after dinner and I took a small piece for myself. She seemed a bit irked that I took some of her candy. So we had another LONG talk about sharing and all the stuff I did to help her get all that candy (such as costuming and walking her in the cold temps and rain), so I earned at least a couple of pieces. I told her she needed an attitude adjustment.

So Wednesday I had a nice coffee day with Kathy (which I needed)...

Doug had come home from his trip on Tuesday night, but late Wednesday afternoon, he had a meeting in Atlanta, so he had to work late - again.

He got home around 7ish. I had washed the dinner dishes and loaded them in the dishwasher. I usually set it for a two hour delay, but I decided to just go ahead and run it for some reason. Thank goodness I did because water started gushing out the bottom. The pump broke I believe...

Dishwasher repair guy is coming out today.

After dealing with that, Bri had the nerve to get huffy - AGAIN. What the h---????

I walked into the bathroom after she had taken a shower, and she left her towel and robe on the floor. She knows better than that. I made her stop what she was doing and pick them up. She got huffy with me about it. Seriously???

I calmly yet firmly said "Go get your iPad now." She handed it to me and I told her I didn't know when she would get it back. After a few minutes, I told that she lost it the entire next day and if she huffed me even a little bit again, it would be gone a whole lot longer (next time it will be gone a week or maybe two). Then I sent her to bed.

Taking her iPad is hitting her where it hurts (and me too)...

Let's just say she was a lot sweeter and nicer this morning. I am not sure if it is that she is feeling a bit guilty (she always seems remorseful when we talk) or if she just wants her iPad back. Probably a bit of both.

And also this morning, I totally forgot to pack her snacks for the day. Today is her long day at school because of running club. I feel like I am in a fog this week - I don't usually forget stuff. I ran to the grocery store which is next door to her school, grabbed a couple of things and ran them back to the school. Managed to get that done before the school day actually started.

Dang.

Let's just say I'll be getting a margarita with my dinner tonight. A big one.

Believe me, I know my issues are extremely minor in comparison to so many bigger problems in the world (first world problems ya know). But, it's been kind of a crazy week. I'm just ready to get my happy Briana back (not sure what is up with her this week) and get my head screwed back on straight.