Fighting the Blues
We've reached that time of year when the holidays are over, and yet it is still incredibly cold and dark here in Minnesota. We are in the thick of the post-holiday let-down. Thank goodness Julie is back in school again at least, but by the end of last week, I was exhausted and we had had one of those days on Friday that I just don't like to think about - the kind of day where everyone is butting heads with everyone else from the moment they wake up in the morning till the moment they go to bed at night. It was awful.
And I have to mention at this point that there are times when I wish this blog were anonymous - that I could say what I'm really thinking and feeling about what's going on around me, tell funny, embarrassing stories about people I know without risking their feelings, and just be brutally honest with my whinging. But I know that real-life people read this, and I don't want them to worry about me, or have hurt feelings.
But I can tell you about how sad I was at the end of the day on Friday now, because we had a pretty great weekend to make up for it, and today was good too. We'd bought tickets for the Sesame Street Live show a couple of weeks ago, and Saturday was the day. Joe's mom had actually suggested it - she wanted to take the girls, but I'd been thinking about taking them too, and in the end we all went together and it was great.
When we woke up on Saturday, the thermometer read negative 16 F or something like that. That's -27 degrees for the rest of the world who uses Celcius. That's not taking into consideration windchill - that was the actual temperature. Joe even took a picture.
Let me simplify it for you - that's freeze-your-ass-off-cold. We heated the van up before we took the girls out there, and it was still cold.
But it was worth it - everyone was all smiles when we arrived at Target Center, found our seats, and got our coats off.
Sophie was clapping and cheering as the show started.
Both girls were decked out in Sesame Street hair clips - Sophie with Elmo and Julie with Zoe. Julie spent the entire time during the performance transfixed, simply staring at the stage with a smile. Sophie insisted on standing up the whole time, she was so excited.
Our seats were pretty far back - we hadn't gotten around to buying them till a couple weeks before the show, and by that time these were the best available. Still, we could see the stage just fine.
During intermission, we took the girls' picture in front of a little photo-op sign thing. My favorite part of this picture is that the girls are holding hands. They've only started doing that recently, and I love it when they do little sisterly stuff like that.
Finally, goofing off at home yesterday evening - I took this picture while they were both sitting on my lap. It's the little quiet moments, sometimes, that are the best.
In other happy weekend news, I started a new class session at the store and it's going to go well. It's a group of ladies I'd mostly taught before and really liked. One of the ladies who hadn't been in the earlier class seemed all afraid I was going to criticize the way she knits, and I think I pleasantly surprised her by telling her that diversity in knitting is a wonderful thing just as every other type of diversity is. It felt great to be back at the store after almost a month off of teaching during the holidays.
And today Julie was off school for the MLK holiday, and on the spur of the moment I called our neighbor across the street for a playdate, which went really well. Her little boy is the same age as Sophie and super-cute. The two of them kept us busy and entertained right on through lunch! That makes the day go a lot faster.
Alright, this post has gotten to be a bit of a ramble. I'll leave you on a somewhat silly note. I can't believe I'm posting this because I look so crappy in it, but I took a little video of me and Sophie being silly in the kitchen the other night. Sometimes lately, she'll come up to me and just say "Mommy Mommy Mommy" over and over in her sweet little voice. I wanted to capture that, and I think I did to some extent. Try to ignore the nerdy glasses and pony tail.
And I have to mention at this point that there are times when I wish this blog were anonymous - that I could say what I'm really thinking and feeling about what's going on around me, tell funny, embarrassing stories about people I know without risking their feelings, and just be brutally honest with my whinging. But I know that real-life people read this, and I don't want them to worry about me, or have hurt feelings.
But I can tell you about how sad I was at the end of the day on Friday now, because we had a pretty great weekend to make up for it, and today was good too. We'd bought tickets for the Sesame Street Live show a couple of weeks ago, and Saturday was the day. Joe's mom had actually suggested it - she wanted to take the girls, but I'd been thinking about taking them too, and in the end we all went together and it was great.
When we woke up on Saturday, the thermometer read negative 16 F or something like that. That's -27 degrees for the rest of the world who uses Celcius. That's not taking into consideration windchill - that was the actual temperature. Joe even took a picture.
Let me simplify it for you - that's freeze-your-ass-off-cold. We heated the van up before we took the girls out there, and it was still cold.
But it was worth it - everyone was all smiles when we arrived at Target Center, found our seats, and got our coats off.
Sophie was clapping and cheering as the show started.
Both girls were decked out in Sesame Street hair clips - Sophie with Elmo and Julie with Zoe. Julie spent the entire time during the performance transfixed, simply staring at the stage with a smile. Sophie insisted on standing up the whole time, she was so excited.
Our seats were pretty far back - we hadn't gotten around to buying them till a couple weeks before the show, and by that time these were the best available. Still, we could see the stage just fine.
During intermission, we took the girls' picture in front of a little photo-op sign thing. My favorite part of this picture is that the girls are holding hands. They've only started doing that recently, and I love it when they do little sisterly stuff like that.
Finally, goofing off at home yesterday evening - I took this picture while they were both sitting on my lap. It's the little quiet moments, sometimes, that are the best.
In other happy weekend news, I started a new class session at the store and it's going to go well. It's a group of ladies I'd mostly taught before and really liked. One of the ladies who hadn't been in the earlier class seemed all afraid I was going to criticize the way she knits, and I think I pleasantly surprised her by telling her that diversity in knitting is a wonderful thing just as every other type of diversity is. It felt great to be back at the store after almost a month off of teaching during the holidays.
And today Julie was off school for the MLK holiday, and on the spur of the moment I called our neighbor across the street for a playdate, which went really well. Her little boy is the same age as Sophie and super-cute. The two of them kept us busy and entertained right on through lunch! That makes the day go a lot faster.
Alright, this post has gotten to be a bit of a ramble. I'll leave you on a somewhat silly note. I can't believe I'm posting this because I look so crappy in it, but I took a little video of me and Sophie being silly in the kitchen the other night. Sometimes lately, she'll come up to me and just say "Mommy Mommy Mommy" over and over in her sweet little voice. I wanted to capture that, and I think I did to some extent. Try to ignore the nerdy glasses and pony tail.
posted by Shelly Kang at 10:25 PM
7 Comments:
so cute! I love the stripes on the girls.
I'm so glad you called yesterday. We had an awesome time - and then came home and crashed for a great nap! What a perfect way to spend the day.
Take care.
-Laura
So sorry that Friday was a bad day! We all have them. At least you were able to have a good long weekend. and thanks for sharing the cute video.
I hear you about sometimes wishing your blog was anonymous. That's the primary reason I don't have one. I know I'd struggle with determining boundaries. For what it's worth, I'd love to read it if you did have an anonymous blog. I only know you from this blog, and I would be interested in how you process those things that would show up there. I just appreciate how you think about things - or at least, how I interpret it.
And that video of you and Sophie is so sweet. You don't look crappy, you look just fine. But Sophie and Julie take the cake!
Sorry about Friday. I'm glad Sesame Street Live made up for it!
My son, Thomas, and I have a similar call & response: He comes up to me and says, "Mom, Mom, Mom." And I answer, "Tom, Tom, Tom." We go on for a while like that until he starts to giggle. I need to make a movie before he stops doing it!
Sometimes days off school are good and sometimes they are one too many! My son had an extra "teacher prep" day off today and I really needed to relax by bedtime.
Sorry about your Friday, I know how those days are. Even though you kept out the details, I think I got the feeling you were describing. I've had days like that and felt a sinking regret afterwards. But tomorrow's another day, as they say, and it sounds like yours was a good one!
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