It was one of ‘those’ weekends. The kind where you are
almost constantly on the go and the time just slips away. It wasn't as if we had any major
all-consuming plans. It was just a bunch of little things…all in different
directions…that needed to be
done. The kind of weekend that you try,
unsuccessfully, to explain to your friends without kids as they wonder what in
the world you do all day/weekend that is so exhausting. I saw it coming on
Thursday. C and I still hadn't made it
to the grocery store (we normally go, list and coupons in hand, on the day
before payday when the store is far less crowded and we have the opportunity to
take our time and not forget anything…I detest the grocery store, always have)
and there just isn't time on Thursday after Coffee Group so, no grocery store.
I knew then that it was going to be ‘that’ kind of weekend…not a bad weekend,
just a full one. Friday would have
worked except we’d already made other plans so by the time we could have gone,
it would have been too close to K getting out of school (Friday afternoons are
always rushed anyway since it is also gymnastics day for K….so we get her from
school, get her home to get changed and then are right back out the door). By
the time we got home from gymnastics, I had no motivation to cook and there
were (of course) no leftovers in the fridge…since J had worked late and we had
STILL gotten home before him, he was in no mood to cook either…so back into the
car we all went and enjoyed a delicious Mexican meal as a family from one of
our favorite local restaurants. For
everything else, that left the weekend…
…still no trip to the grocery store…
My hubby had some errands of his own that he needed to
accomplish…some stuff that he needed to get done for/with the garage (he has a
project car that requires as much attention as a child), haircuts for him and C
and a couple of other things. I really
wanted to get a chance to meet with my Mary Kay consultant…I love their
products but sometimes getting together to experiment with new colors can be
downright impossible. I was also unhappy
with a hair color that I had tried back in November. It wasn't exactly bad, but
it was really dark for me with a lot of red and I was ready to give it up. So, being the super-involved Daddy that he
is, my hubby gathered both of the kids, their Kindles and drinks and they went
off together so I could do some ‘Mamma Stuff’ (that’s what C calls all that
girly stuff like hair, nails and makeup).
I met them for lunch (I love finally having a local Chick-fil-A!!) after
my makeup appointment and then headed over to my favorite DIY beauty products
store. They spent the rest of the
afternoon trolling around town while I spent it upstairs in our master
bedroom/bathroom stripping color out of my hair and putting new color on…from
chocolate cherry to golden honey in about 2 ½ hours. Not bad.
…still no trip to the grocery store…
But with our Super Bowl (Not A Party) Event (see
Super Bowl
post) looming, we at least needed supplies for the wings, potato skins and
sauces. So…back into the car again…stop at the grocery store to get what we
need for that event. And then out to
supper again. For the love of eating out!
…still no trip to the grocery store…
Sunday morning we realize that we STILL haven’t made it to
do our usual household shopping so we decided to make it a family trip (I
secretly love family grocery trips…but they aren't always practical as far as
schedules are concerned). Off we went, list and coupons in hand. When we returned home, fully stocked with
food and necessary supplies, it was time for naps (munchkins must either nap or
observe 2 hours of quiet time in their rooms to be allowed to stay up a bit
late for football fun). While they
napped, we did everything else necessary to get ready for our ‘Not a Party’
Event.
Wings were a new experiment for J and I. We wanted boneless,
skinless wings (basically poppers tossed in sauce) so we cut boneless, skinless
chicken tenderloins in thirds…after tossing them in some seasoned flour and
quick-frying them (1-2 minutes in a deep fryer), we seasoned and fried them a
second time. At this point, they were already yummy enough to snack on, but
wings aren't wings without wing sauce/seasoning. We’d already decided on one wet sauce and one
dry toss. The wet sauce was a Honey
Chipotle sauce that would clear out your sinuses in a heartbeat…I pureed it in
the food processor, then dumped it and the wings into a bowl and tossed it
around. SO. YUMMY. The second was a batch of dry toss Taco
wings. So when we fried them the second time around, we added some taco
seasoning to the flour mixture…then tossed them in more taco seasoning (dry) as
soon as they came out of the deep fryer. BEYOND. DELICOUS. Our sauce bar was equally as awesome…sour
cream, ranch dip, two guacamole choices (regular and spicy), an extra batch of
the Honey Chipotle and some salsa. With
the Mexican-y foods that our friends brought, we had a pretty awesome tex-mex
inspired Super Bowl. And I am pretty sure we all ate too much…then half-time
came and we ate more. **groan**
By the time the game was over, everyone left and the dishes
were done, the weekend was over. Seriously OVER. What happened to the, roughly,
84 hours between Coffee Group and falling into bed Sunday night?! **Most** of
our single friends don’t get it. And I don’t blame them…I didn't get it until
about 5 years ago…and I get it even more now than I did then. Sometimes the
minutes and hours just slip away and the next thing you know it’s 3 or 4 days
later and the project that you started on Wednesday is still folded next to
your sewing machine. And the singles wonder why you didn't just finish it on
Wednesday evening. Now I just smile and say ‘I just decided to do something
more fun instead’. They will understand…when they are married and have their own
kids. But as a single, I hated it when
people would say ‘you just don’t understand what it’s like until you’re living
it’…don’t get me wrong, it is a TOTALLY true statement. But I don’t want to
make them feel bad. And the truth is, snuggling with my Lil’ Man, coloring my
hair in silence while I read a good book, watching a show/movie on the couch
with my hubby or building Lego pet shops with my Lil’ Lady is far more fun than
anything else.
~Jac
It occurred to me this morning that our days of lazy
Saturday mornings will eventually be coming to an end. At some point between pregnancy number one
and child number one starting Pre-K (and now Kindergarten), our definition of ‘sleeping
in’ have already drastically changed. Sleeping in use to refer to sleeping
until 9am (or later…we have two great sleepers that routinely slept past the 9
o’clock mark). But with schedules and
alarms, our bodies now naturally wake a mere thirty minutes…on a lucky day, a
full hour…past when that dreadful alarm would sound anyway. That is ‘sleeping
in’. And that is fine. Turns out we can fit a lot more into one day if we
finish breakfast before noon.
