To Blog or Not to Blog?

I started the blog with good intent. I wanted to share with my friends and family in an efficient manner; I am acutely aware of how disconnected I am from everyone due to my inability to get on the phone or write email whenever I want. But there's just one catch -- the greater majoriy of my friends and family are not the blog reading type of people. They don't get the chance to go online much, and when they do, it's not part of their routine to come check out the blog.

So after being semi-successful in keeping this updated, I'm starting to rethink blogging again. What's the point? I can just keep a private diary in google docs, and be just as effective.

Potty Training

Alana's been potty training. The story is long, but the most recent attempt to potty train started a few weeks ago, maybe a month and a half ago. This week, something finally clicked and she started insisting on wearing "big girl underwear". We were really worried at first since we didn't want any random accidents at school. But it's been 3 days now that she's come home in the same clothes she went to school in. YAY!!!

An Anonmyous Hit and Run

Chris found a dent on the acura yesterday. Not just a dent, though -- it looks like someone drove into and along the side of the car for a good foot or so before taking off. The indent isn't huge -- no structural damage -- but it's plain as day. The car is not new, but it's been well taken care of, and it's the first car we purchased together. Plus, there's something deeply disturbing about someone destroying what's yours with so little regard.

It brings to mind our most recent car purchase earlier this year (we had to upsize to fit everything that goes with having 2 kids). As we sat in the Carmax parking lot to sell the second vehicle we purchased together, one of Those People just had to pull up into the spot next to ours and bang open their car door without a fraction of a moment's thought. Not 1 hour after we drove off the lot, we had a nice fat knick on the driver side door -- not just paint chipped off, but plastic gouged out. The guilty party was anything but guilty. He and his older companion saw nothing wrong with what had happened -- there was no structural damage, so why are we so upset? He genuinely seemed infuriatingly uncaring that he just damaged someone else's property. He didn't even care that he was caught doing it -- just kept asking why we were so upset.

GRRRRRR. I can only pray for karma.

Scatterbrained

I am having the hardest time concentrating today. My mind rebounds away from anything work related like the wrong ends of two magnets. I keep worrying about school, which is a little absurd as Kindergarten is a whole year away. But I keep worrying about how to get Caden into the right school district. I think we may have to move. And that opens a whole other huge can of worms. Yikes.

Pebbles Tossed into My Pond

Today was the first day of school at the montessory. There were TONS of new parents, all waiting around the front desk, their cars clogging up the parking lot, waiting to sign in, pay, or enroll. Walking into Alana's classroom, I saw that their old bookcase had been replaced, and her cubby had been moved. The sign in sheet was prepopulated with names (no more writing in the wrong name in my hurry!). No one was there yet, or rather, no teacher was in yet (the kids were in another classroom, I presume). No matter - we usually started her in Caden's classroom anyways. In Caden's classroom, the sign in sheet was the same prepopulated one. The cubby was still where it used to be. There were 2 new kids, 2 pre-existing kids, and then our 2. The teacher was the same, but not the primary one that we love so much. I hope she eventually returns from her supposed extra month in Sri Lanka. She still has not returned my email, and I haven't had a chance to talk to anyone about updates on her status. *sigh* We'll see.

These little changes make me think about the big changes we'll have, as soon as next year, when Caden's next 1st Day of School will be his First Day of Kindergarten! Yikes! How time flies.

An Unexpected Surprise

1) Mmmmm:
Chris is home with the kids today as their school is closed today for some admin something in preparation for the new school year. He took them around town on various errands. One stop was Georgetown Cupcakes, one of which opened in Bethesda within the past year. He has their cupcakes every town hall his company holds (though as pricey as those are, and as badly as his company is doing, I seriously wonder about that particular use of money!). He has raved about them for a while now and decided to buy a dozen (!?!?). The 4 of us shared 4 of them before I came back to the office. They are dainty, pretty, petite. I tried the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip, the Fudge something something evil, the Cherry Cheesecake, and the Chocolate Ganache. Oh. My. Mmmmmmmm. My favorite was the Cherry Cheesecake. Just the heft of it in my hand alone promised pure paradise. Like a bar of gold, the size of it belied the weight. I'm sure 5 whole sticks of butter plus 3 tubs of cream cheese, not to mention a liberal scoop of sugar, was all somehow condensed into the little treat. Heavy though it was in my hand, it somehow managed to melt and crumble like clouds in my mouth. Can you tell I enjoyed it? There is one more in the box....

2) Oooooo:
My company is strict about what sites you can and cannot visit (no personal email, no message boards, no video, no youtube, no facebook, etc). So imagine my happy surprise when I found myself able to get to this site! Who knows how long this access will last, but I will enjoy it while I can.

I almost feel guilty using this site. (They clearly say in the guidelines that we need to use our judgement regarding which sites are appropriate and which aren't.) And the fact that I actually enjoy using this site makes it feel like it's probably on the list of no-no's.

Every Little Thing's Gonna Be All Right

It's been a rough month, and a particularly rough week. I've been playing pandora to help things just a bit. Randomly, or by whatever logarithm pandora uses, Bob Marley songs, particularly "Three Little Birds" and sometimes "One Love". I've never been a big Bob Marley fan, but somehow, I do feel just a little bit better each time those songs play.