An Almost No Good, Very Bad Week

The Very Bad:
This is a week I never want to repeat.  It started off on Monday morning when I dropped a brand new (plastic) bottle of mustard on the kitchen floor and splattered myself, Ben and most of the breakfast nook and inside of the fridge.  I hit it just right to break and get an insane amount of mustard all over my life.
Then that evening, Ben injured his hand on the trampoline.  He came inside with that "injury" cry.  You know, the one, it's just a little different from the "I'm hurt" cry.  It started swelling right away so we spent the rest of the evening at Seattle Children's Urgent Care so we could get an X-ray.  In the end it wasn't broken, so I felt like I really wished I could get those 3 wasted hours back.  We didn't get to bed until 11. Not the best way to start the school week.

I was still super sore from BP 101 launch.  When the soreness went down, my neck started hurting.  So on Wednesday, after 3 hours of training clients, I drove up to my chiropractor so he could realign my neck.  On the way home I got rear-ended on Aurora.  We were in stop and go traffic at a green light and the car behind me went a little too early.  I didn't see it coming, which is better for your body since you don't tense against the impact.  But the hour I wasted standing on the street waiting for the cops to come and then finish writing up the accident seemed very long.

My car.  Seriously this poor van.  It's been in so many collisions.  The Vehix report must be 17 pages. 

The 1993 Honda Accord was much worse off.  

On Thursday I made quick Costco run during the girls' piano lessons.  Then I picked up Ben from a friends so he could help me unload before I went back to get the girls.  I tried to load up Ben with one too many things.  His injured hand is still struggling to grip.  So, a glass jar of avocado mayo made it onto the floor of the garage. Ouch.  The sound of that crunching glass and goopy mayo echoed in my head for hours.
On Saturday Libby took forever coming to the van to leave for dance.  We were late, so I left her.  Stupid.  Then I felt bad and couldn't complete my errands without her (since she needed new shoes--see next paragraph).  So I wasted 1/2 hour to go back and get her since she wasn't answering the new home phone.
We found Easter clothes and shoes for Ben only.  Libby found some shoes she liked.  Then on the way to church today (again, we were waiting for her to come out until we were late) Sarah complemented Libby's shoes.  Libby said, "Yeah, they are really squeezing my feet."  Hit the brakes.  Turn around.  Go home and swap shoes.  The new summer shoes won't work out if they don't fit on day 1.  Urgh!
Saturday evening had some bright spots (see below).  But Derek and I got into it over something stupid and he left for work angry.  So, I listened to 3 episodes of the Happier podcast and cleaned like a maniac.  I was still awake when he got home, contemplating a way to simplify my life so little frustrations don't send me over the edge.  Answer, (although it is hard for me to do) I'm taking the next 3 weeks off from training clients.  I need room to breathe.  Especially because Mariners season starts tomorrow.
The Good:
There were some good things this week. Teaching went really well.  One of my students said, "Mrs. Norton, you are a really good teacher.  I'm glad you are my teacher."   It was so sweet.
I also got to sub Ben's class on Friday.  It was fun to be with him all day.  I adore a bunch of his classmates.  Others I got really tired of by the end of the day.  Especially the one that wouldn't stop touching me.  AHHH!
My car isn't really damaged.  It's driveable and that's a blessing.
Libby used the home phone for good too.  I posted about her funny mean emoji texts.  So on Saturday she called as I was just finishing at the gym.  (I guess I could add to the bad list that during my sauna time at the end of my workout there was a woman in there playing music from her phone and singing along, how relaxing is that?  NOT!)  Anyway, Libby called and said, "Mom, I didn't want to send a nasty text.  I just wanted to clarify that you will be home at 7:30 (I left a note).  And we can all walk [on the treadmill while watching the ipad] for 30 minutes.  So I can start at 7:30 when you get home, then Sarah and then Ben?  We will all have time?"  I loved the word clarify so much (and the math going on in her head) that I didn't even mind having to leave the sauna early.  Especially since I got to escape the wierd singing woman.

Last Week's Texts

This Week's Texts

Also on Saturday, in between trips to drop off a food order (yes, multiple trips to drop off one order), I got most of the Easter shopping done.
The last good thing about last week was that I had a family fun idea that was inexpensive and it worked out!  See Kite Flying Post!
I also had a great day at church today.  I love teaching my sisters in Relief Society.
Here is to a new week.  A week with more open space in my calendar to prepare my home for the guests that are coming this weekend, and to catch up on sleep (a little).  A week where I can teach Kindergarten and enjoy it.  Where I can give the parents from our school a chance to see if they are the next Picasso for the Art Docent fundraiser on Thursday night.   To go to the chiropractor again (since my neck is bugging me again).  And to cook for my family.  At least one meal this week. To put on a good Easter dinner with homemade rolls (okay, that may be going too far.  Storebought rolls.)  I got this.

April Fools FUN!

So the kids and I were sitting down to dinner last night while Derek was at the Priesthood session.  I had made the first homecooked meal in 3 nights.  (And Tues is frozen food night around here, so it was IKEA meatballs, so really more nights than that.)  The kids all of sudden looked up and said, "Wait!  It's April Fools and we didn't do anything!" True story.  The last few years I have gone all out for April Fools food fun.  This year I was just proud to have a dinner on the table.  

But we started brainstorming a dessert we could make to fool Derek when he got home.  The ideas were hilarious.  Brainstorming with my kids is one of my favorite things.

Then I realized.  Wait...I don't want to cook anything.  Let's fool him with his favorite cookie that I don't make.

We rushed to Fred Meyer and got some Doublestuff Oreos. We hollowed out a bit of the inside and filled them with different candies.  Then we replaced the top (I did make a little frosting paste from some of the insides and milk that we could pipe onto the oreo to a make sure the new inside stayed hidden).

We made him a nice plate of oreos by his dinner plate.  

I was cool as a cucumber when he got home.  The kids were off playing.  No one was the wiser.  He sat down to eat my delicious beef and barley stew (big instant pot triumph!).  But then, one by one the kids came in and asked, "Did you eat your oreos dad?"  By the time the 3rd kid had casually asked this question, the joke was up.  

He was a good sport and tasted all 4 varieties.  He said the Troll powder was the worst but they were all pretty gross.  

It was a fun April Fools afterall! 

Nerdy Oreo

4 of the innocent looking Oreos

Troll sour powder.  Very easy to disguise!

I only wish we had had time to run some over to Grandma Geneva before bedtime.

I Thought I Was Busy...

There have been many times in my life when I thought I was busy.  And I guess I was.  But now, I have taken busy to a whole new level.
The cold that started next week decided to linger this week because I pushed a bit too hard.  And I think because my sinuses are just defective or something.  So I was tired this week.  But I had some seriously awesome highlights that made this week a week to remember.

Highlights:
My kids ate fast food/pizza 3 times this week.  They don't mind mom being so busy!  (For me this was a highlight because I didn't make or clean up dinner for 3 nights in a row!)
We finished off another wrestling season!  Einstein did quite well!

When the wrestlers were being called down to roll mats, Ben said, "I'm going to go down and show those guys how to roll mats."

I had a great time teaching Kindergarten.  I feel like I am hitting my stride.  I want to teach again next year.   I asked my former principal and a former student to write me a letter of recommendation. My student's response brought me to tears.

I also got to launch a Bodypump release for the first time in almost 2 years.  It was so fun! (And hard!)  The launch was on April Fools day.  Our joke was wearing pink and fluffy clothes (when the release was anything but!) and we did the tracks out of order.  People who come to BP like the structure.  So it was totally funny to throw them a curve ball.  And it was a different challenge to do triceps before chest!  Back track was last.  I was dying by the end!  The rest of the team stayed and did it again too.  I was lucky to get to leave and drive my kids to gymnastics. Whew!

The World of Kindergarten

Okay, I have missed teaching.  SO SO much.  It is really challenging, creative, exhausting, energizing... And I have a knack for it.  And, I'm even better than I was at communicating with parents, because now I am a parent and I know what parents want to know.  But it is time consuming to be a good teacher.  I am teaching my students for a total of 2 (morning group) or 2.5 hours (afternoon group) a week.  And I am spending 5-7 hours prepping for that time.  Ha!  Getting ready for week 3 was much faster, I am getting in the swing of things.  But seriously, how do Elementary School teachers plan for 6 hours a day with these cherubs?  (I guess they have specialist time, art time, etc--things I don't do, but still!)

I will say that the kids are cute.  So cute.  So adorable. So different from high schoolers.  And yet, kind of like high schoolers.

One other thing I can say is that I never fully grasped how lucky we were at MTHS to have a copy center woman (Teresa, bless you!) who made all our copies.  At MP I have to make all my own copies and that is an hour of extra work I have to do to be ready for every class.  Bleh.

I think I pushed my "kinders" to think this week.  And that is my goal.

Spontaneous WHAT?

We never do anything spontaneous.  Well, basically never.  So on Monday afternoon when Derek texted to ask if I wanted to take the kids to the Husky Women's basketball game THAT NIGHT at 6 pm, I said...."YES!"  Let's do it!  Let's be crazy!"  One of my clients had already cancelled so she could go to the game, so why not see if the other client could switch?  And she could.  So we went to a game with only a few hours notice.  It was amazing.  Derek bought the tickets online.  We drove to the U (no traffic!).  We got Kidd Valley for dinner, parked and made it on time for tip off.  We had a great time at the game.  It was amazing (stress free because we were way ahead almost the whole game) basketball.  The arena is small enough that we let the kids go together to buy concessions and use the restrooms.
It was so fun.  Those Husky women drained 3s like nobody's business!
And I didn't say it (though I did think it), but Derek did.  "I pulled this off!  I can't believe it!  This finally makes up for the Nutcracker." (Where he bought us tickets when I was pregnant with Libby.  We were headed out for the 7 p.m. show when he looked at the tickets and realized they had been for the matinee.  Earlier in the day.)  Yes Derek, you have finally redeemed yourself.
I was so excited to watch the next game.  We recorded it so we could watch it once everyone was home.  Unfortunately I looked at my phone just before we were about to turn on the game and a KOMO news alert told me the sad outcome. I tried not to let Derek see that I knew that they lost, but I couldn't fake it.  I'm terrible like that.
Thus, it was a short but exhilarating ride on the bandwagon.

Libby wore her hair in a Kelsey Plum ponytail braid the next day.  Luckily the Nortons understand their chances of basketball stardom are slim to none, height not being on their side.

An Ending and a Beginning

This week was the end of the High School Season. Officially.  We had the luau themed wrestling banquet.  (This was a great theme, by the way, people brought AWESOME food).  

 And the beginning of my new teaching career.  I only had open houses this week, but it feels really really real.  I am, admittedly, nervous, anxious, excited, stressed...and mainly wondering how I am going to fit it all in.  I know I am going to screw up.  I already missed the drill camp I paid for the girls to go to this Monday, bought plane tickets that interfered with something really important and sent an email that freaked out some parents whose kids buy lunch at school.  But, onward and upward.  I've got this.

FLORIDA! Sarah's 8 year-old Trip

When we started the 8 year-old trip tradition, it was because Libby overheard me saying that I was going to go to Florida to visit my sister and help with her new baby by myself.  Libby (who was about to turn 8) was super sad!  She wanted to go.  So, I decided to take her.  She was, after all, old enough to be helpful. She was helpful, and we even got in some time at Disney.  The trip was a success.  

Sarah's trip was also a success.  We weren't as "helpful" although I did clean out my sister's fridge for her.  Instead they entertained us like crazy!  We spent a surprise day (for Sarah) at Universal so we could explore The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, a day split between Hollywood Studios and Animal Kindgom, a 3/4 day at the Magic Kingdom and an evening at Epcot.  All for free.  Seriously.  Disney employees get some serious perks (although high salaries aren't one of them, so my brother-in-law may not work for Disney for much longer).  And our Universal day was due to one of Rachel's church friends whose husband works for Universal.  I am such a cheapskate.  I would never have paid enough to have such an amazing vacation.  (And I read The Cheapskate Next Door during the trip, so I am even cheaper now ;).

My mom got concerned on our second morning when I hadn't posted any pictures, so I posted a fair amount during the trip, but here are a few more.

Sarah boarding the plane, I had to teach her the trick where you set your backpack on your suitcase so you can fit down the aisle without hitting people or seats.  

Before the red eye.

After the red eye.  We each had a row to ourselves. But could I sleep?  No!  Thankfully she did.  And I caught up (sort of) by getting 9+ hours of sleep almost every night we were there.  

We went to a couple of resorts and went swimming in the pools.  This is the Port Orleans pool.  It was the day before Mardi Gras, so they were getting ready for big parties.  

This little guy just captured my heart.  Seriously.  Adorable.

When we got to Universal, Sarah kept seeing signs for Harry Potter and pointing at them with sadness, but not saying anything.  When she finally realized where we were, and that she was going to Hogwarts, she was pretty darn excited.  

Hogwarts Express was one of my favorite things.  You get to hear Harry, Ron and Hermione going past and conversing.  A dementor also "looks in" your car.  The chocolate frog trying to hop away is adorable.  The whole Wizarding World experience is fun.  I went on the Gringots Bank ride.  It was 3D amazing and didn't make me sick.  All of the trolls in suits with wispy white hair sitting there doing their work in the bank reminded me of General Authorities.  It was hilarious.  

Probably my favorite thing from the whole trip was the Butterbeer.  I LOVED it. I may have had 3.  Or 2.5.  It was a frozen slushy butterscotchy creamy deliciousness.  I seriously loved it.  I am craving it right now.  

Hogwarts!  Didn't go on any roller coasters since I didn't want to get sick.  But Sarah loved loved loved them.  She even loved the Dragon Challenge, Hulk and some other crazy scary looking one.  What she didn't not like were the creepy rides.  Like the Haunted Mansion.  

Sarah with the Night Bus.

Sarah "driving" me in Fantasyland at the Magic Kindgom.  

Sarah with the castle.

For our Universal day Devin stayed with his nanny.  At Disney I got to watch Devin while the big "kids" went on the Roller Coasters.  It was a pretty fun job.  He had so much fun playing with the toys in the all the stores.   

Sarah had a blast at the pool party at the Animal Kingdom lodge on our last day.  It was a really sweet place!  

Sarah's prize from the pool party.  

This is what Sarah did when she had free time.  She read Harry Potter.  

Sarah "enjoying" the fireworks from Epcot.  These were from another park.  When they actually lit off the ones right there in Epcot, it was right over our heads and so loud it freaked her out.   I forgot how much I love Epcot.  Sadly we only had a little time there, but we got to see my favorite thing, the Chinese acrobats!  This year they did some roller skating stuff!  It was amazing!  

Last selfie with Ray Ray.  I couldn't ask for a better sister!

After a bit of confusion finding our flight (we were on Delta connecting to Alaska instead of starting on Alaska) we ended up cutting it close to our flight time.  Then we sat on the ground on our flight for 45 minutes before taking off.  It didn't matter to us though, since we had 4 hours in St. Louis.  The airport in St. Louis had an amazing play area!  Sarah could have stayed there for 10 hours! It was basically a mini airport.  

We got off the plane at 9:30 pm Seattle time and hit the ground running.  Picked up the van from our friend Shawn who fixed the passenger door lock and life resumed!