Up In The Air

I squeezed in a spring buying trip this past weekend and found some great stuff.  I returned to Baby C saying he didn't feel good and a client emergency for my day job that needed to be handled.  I won't even discuss the Little Mermaid play costume that Mini K informed me we are supposed to make.

I had plans for a blog post.  Did you read it?  Did it end up being as awesome as I thought it would be?  Oh wait, I never actually got around to writing it!

Today has been a blur of briefings, meetings and then the dreaded call:  you son needs to go to the ER and yep, that is where I went.

Baby C has a septic infection, Mr. G was of course out of town (forget Murphy's law, that's working mom law) so thankfully they let him come home after x-rays, fluids and meds.  Mr. G was able to get the last seat on what used to be a lovely US Air flight and has now become American Airlines but I won't get on my soapbox about that.

His hospital bracelet is still on because we have to go back for a check up tomorrow.  So while today is in fact What's for Dinner Wednesday, the menu was actually Gatorade by force for C and Golden Grahams with a side of scrambled eggs for Mini K.  I drank an imaginary glass of wine and then settled for a half caff coffee from the Keurig because I am still on the post oral surgery liquid/soft food diet.

I type this in case someone else is having a day or week like mom and out of gratitude that my week isn't worse.  It's life and I am determined this year to just embrace it and go with it.

So tonight's dinner will wait until tomorrow and I will post it---it is that good!

Until then, I will sit next to Baby C and hold his hand and he will join me in the luxury that is sitting in front of the tv.  Sometimes a working mom needs a sick little one to make her slow down.

Sweet dreams and Purell hands my friends!

Tuesday Tornado

This morning around 2 a.m. Baby C said his throat hurt.  By the time we drove Mini K to school I could tell something was wrong.  Well it turns out that the little man had 2 inner ear infections and a sinus infection for starters.  So like all moms, when you kids get sick, you rearrange your schedule, come up with a new one and take care of your little one.

SO that is what today has been.  My fun post on teacher's gifts will have to wait.  The good news is Baby C is now on meds, we can fly for Thanksgiving next week so the kids can see their cousins and after a long night tonight not one order will have been delayed!

I consider it a win....so friends count the small victories in the win column because life is about the moments, not the years!

Little Things

I am a big believer that its usually something little that makes you strike up a conversation.  So many of you I know in real life and some of you I only know through email, and maybe there are even some people that read this blog that I don't even know.  If you have a blog, please post something similar about yourself as I think it always fun to see what we have in common.

So on this Wednesday, I thought what gets me through the week and this is what I have come up with...25 things that make me smile

1.  Opening my mailbox to a stack of shiny new magazines

2.  Making cookie dough with Mini K and delivering it to friends just because

3.  Coffee table books, I love to give these as gifts, but rarely buy them for myself

4.  Finding something when I am out that I know would be a great gift for a friend, I FIRMLY believe that a present should be something that someone will love that they would not normally buy for themselves

5.  The first day I walk into Starbucks each year and see the red cups!

6.  An icy cold fountain diet Dr Pepper, yes I know soda is not good for me, but I said I was being honest

7.  Lululemon workout clothes.  There is just something about them

8.  Being able to wear a sweater and shorts/skirts and not being too hot or too cold

9.  Charm bracelets.  I love to be able to look down at my wrist and remember loved ones and good times.

10.  Needlepoint. This may make me an 80 year old woman, but I do not care.

11.  Friday Family Movie Night.  We all put on our pj's and watch a movie in the family room.  This week's is Mini K's pick and we will be watching Soul Surfer

12.  Finding a new product that I know my clients will love and being able to tell them about it.

13.  Wrapping gifts.  My high school job was gift wrapping for a boutique in Dallas and I love making a Texas sized bow.  I will also confess my ribbon organization is in need of major help!

14.  Bar snacks.  Seriously, I could live on a good snack mix and chips and dip.  If you follow me on Instagram you know my current favorite is the new Greek Yogurt French Onion by Helluva Good.  AMAZEBALLS

15.  Lip gloss.  I will try them all and love to give and get them as gifts.

16.  A GOOD pedicure.  This is NOT to be confused with a pedicure, there is a difference, especially for a runner.

17.  Handbags.  I am picky and if it isn't one I can ass down to Mini K, I don't buy it.  I can then justify them as investments.

18.  Champagne.  It is my favorite cocktail, there is something about the bubbles that can turn a bad day around.

19.  Crafting.  I have been thinking about emailing a group of girls to come back fall wreaths for our front doors.  It is more fun with friends!

20.  Good fitting jeans.  If I find a pair I like, I buy 3 pairs of them:  one to wear with boots, one with heels and one for lengths in between.

21.  Mascara. It is a working mother's best friend.  A good mascara can turn a night with little sleep into a 12 hour hibernation.  My current favorite is Illegal Lengths...I am open to suggestions so fire away.

22.  Tocca candles.  They immediately transport me to a vacation.

23.  White towels.  We only have white towels and I match the monogram thread to the color of each bathroom or person that will be using them.

24.  Tervis tumblers.  I don't want to count how many we have, but I will say they have their own cabinet.

25.  MONOGRAMS.  I know this will surprise no one that knows me, but I monogram everything:  furniture, fabric, clothing, jewelry, shoes and even parts of my house!

So there you have it, 25 random facts about me that you could have lived your entire life without knowing!

I confess I am going to try and finish a needlepoint project tonight...at least I stayed up late fro an old lady!

She Can Google

This realization was how my week ended last week.  For those of you that have been reading since the beginning you know my mother came down with thyroid cancer over a year ago.  The doctor's blamed it on the fact that she had survived West Nile Virus and in the buffet of cancers this is the one you want.  The problem is this is my mother's 3rd round of new and exciting cancers and this one has needed a LOT of radiation and waiting.  The waiting and treatment mean that she can't be with Mini K and Baby C like they are used to...

I had a choice, to tell her the truth a year ago to to avoid it.  We told her Nana had cancer, it was a sickness and she was going to need strong medicine and we needed to pray for her a lot.  This worked until last week, when Mini K snuck onto my computer and googled cancer.  The tears came, and the talk of dying and I of course kicked myself for not thinking she would do this and adding it to the list of names on parental control.  Mr. G and I locked her from every bad word we could think of, certain websites all together, certain phrases, anything with an age limit, but we never thought about the word cancer.

So Mr. G took matters into his own hands and promptly booked us a long weekend at the Homestead in hopes of distracting her.  In hindsight it might be one of the weekends I look back on forever.  We checked in and the kids promptly demanded the pool and lazy river.  So off we went.   As soon as we walked into the pool Mini K sees her friend M from tennis and thinks her daddy arranged that too!

So we spent 4 days doing everything as a family unit.  I mean meals, chess, exploring, swimming, hanging out, tye dying t-shirts, watching fireworks.  I will remember this weekend when she tells me to walk behind her or drop her off a block away.  I prayed all of the time together would make her stop thinking scary thoughts of things we cannot control like cancer.  Thoughts 7 year olds should not have to process.

We came home yesterday and as I dropped her off at school today she told me she was still sad, but she was going to think of all of the things that made her laugh when she is with her Nana.  When I picked her up the first thing she wanted to do was call her Nana.  She went to practice and then we took Baby C to the playground and thankfully I tucked 2 healthy children into bed tonight and promptly called my momma!  This too shall pass and I pray daily she beats this like she has done before, but tonight I rest in the knowledge that she knows not only how much I love her but how much my children love her and as I watched two little kiddos fight sleep I have the peace of knowing they know how much I love them.

I keep flipping to these photos of the littles from this weekend and cannot help but smile.  If you know them, then you know how much this is them...EXACTLY.

So many people have loved ones far away, going through things far worse, and I hope and pray for safe returns and happy endings, but what you control is if the people in your own life know how you feel about them so TELL THEM, because I realized last week with a click of the mouse that you can never tell people enough!

The Juggle

It seems my new strategy is to retreat from the blog when I am feeling like my to-do is suffocating me, so I am going to push myself out of my comfort zone and just deal.  There are people out there dealing with a LOT more than I am and definitely stuff more IMPORTANT than mine, and I have always tried to steer clear of thinking it's because I am a working mom, because I had weeks like this long before I was married or had kids, it is life.  There seems to be this unspoken of state in blogland where moms that work judge moms that stay at home and bloggers that are married or have kids seem to claim the high ground over singletons.  In my personal opinion we as a country like to glorify the act of being over scheduled and at the end of the day there is nothing really luxurious about it other than the reward when you cross everything off of your list and take a break.

So here I am and I am here to stay.  I said I would keep it real and in the case of today's post, it's all over the place.  We ran into our friends at Lowes today...we squeezed in a trip between last minute camp packing shopping (I'll get to it) and a rock climbing birthday party, because I needed Mr. G to help me pick some tile for a shower insert.  Let's not even discuss that it was for a shower we never intended on re-tiling, but I promise after this week all I have left is a few more pieces of furniture to cover, 4 area rugs and the driveway.  We agreed to put off the new range and fridge until the end of the summer because I am driving myself crazy with spreadsheets trying to decide between 3 models of each!  Anyway, my friend sent me an email that made my day, and made me stop, she missed the blog posts about shopping and wanted to schedule a time when the adults could get together and the kids could play and it made me realize that in the end life is about those memories and the emails and calls that make us feel like we are a part of something bigger than our to do lists.

Now, I will admit my to do list for tomorrow is done, and waiting for me in my planner, and I will tackle with gusto...TOMORROW.  Mr. G is watching Game of Thrones in the other room.  I will confess, I am not into that show, I need subtitles to understand it so I am blogging.

That birthday party I mentioned....well here is a little snapshot of it:

Mr. G took Mini K and let me tell you NOTHING says adult supervision like your spouse texting you a photo of your child rock climbing while blindfolded that says, she is having a blast and hasn't broken anything.  What would we do without them?

We have 3 1/2 days of school left and field day, and Mini K will be a rising 2nd grader.  A week from tonight she will be heading to bed in her bunk in her cabin at camp!  Our front room is now officially the packing staging area.

As with everything I seem to do, I turned to EBATES for camp prep.  I mean if I have to purchase a page full of items (and YES I monogrammed EVERYTHING) I might as well get cash back right?   SO we ordered her lime green camp trunk from Wayfair.  If you need a camp trunk, join EBATES and then head to Wayfair.  Their prices were 25% less than everywhere else, free shipping, no sales tax and cash back!  My mom sent her a trunk organizer that fits in the top of her trunk and has these 2 page protector like openings so I wanted to fill them with photos.

I typed in collage prints on EBATES and Snapfish came up so we spent yesterday morning uploading photos and creating 2 8.5x11" collage prints on Snapfish and picked them up a mere 35 minutes later at our local Walgreens.  The best part, well besides crossing it off the list?  10% cash back!

As a child I LOVED camp, but I will confess there is a word that when I see it on a note from school or an email or anywhere it makes my skin crawl:  LICE.  I think it might be one of the worst 4 letter words ever!  My fabulous hairdresser told me about a line a year ago that I consider a camp and school must have:  Fairy Tales.  The line is all natural and I am a believer.  You can purchase it online at Amazon and our Ulta also carries it.  There is a lice be gone treatment that I use on Mini K once a once.  It smells nice and I always let her watch tv while it is on her hair.  The week before she goes to camp or starts school I use it twice in one week.  It literally kills and repells lice, nits and eggs on contact.  They also make a lice repelling shampoo, conditioner and detangling spray that are already labelled with Mini K's name and ready to go in the shower caddy when I picked it up from my monogrammer tomorrow.  I want her to have a great time at camp, but I do NOT want any little friends making the journey home!

In the middle of all of this prep, the Grove is in party mode.   Or I should say our customers are in party mode and I love seeing what theme each new order brings!  I have gotten some great ideas so I thought I would continue the party spirit!  ALL invites are 30% off with code: GTA3.  The sale will run through June 25th so you have some time to plan your soiree and save!  All invites are on sale so if you have a shower or party to throw save yourself some money so you can get a little something for yourself!  There is something about seeing an invite in my mailbox that makes me smile.  Is it just me or can you identify an invite over any other piece of mail?  You can see all of the designs on sale HERE.

I kept it real, and this post might be the written equal of a sleeping pill, but I will be back tomorrow and seeing as how we are swimming in fabric over here I might have to do a post!

Mom Guilt

This post is real, it isn't preppy, or pretty or full of discounts, but this is reality.  Baby C is scheduled for surgery next Tuesday.  We knew his tonsils were too big, the constant ear infections, antibiotics and steroids were not good for him any longer so we scheduled a date.  Both the surgeon and the anesthesiologist have treated Mini K.  We trust them.  So I took one happy Baby C to his pre-op physical and the bad news came:  his right eardrum had fully ruptured.  It was bad, really bad and need to be reconstructed.  This too will now happen on Tuesday.

Our pediatrician had seen him 5 days before and it was clear, well as clear as his eardrum gets.  He never got a fever, or stopped eating, or really fussed, yet the mom guilt still came.  My brain knows that this would have happened whether I work or not, was with him 24 hours a day or 2 and he is still my happy little boy.  We will not know if this impacts his hearing in any way until 6 weeks after the surgery.  It is these next 6 weeks that I fear...the wondering the unknown, let's be honest the fact that it is out of my hands.  I believe in God, I pray, but I am a mother so I worry and look at him in the rearview mirror twice as much, focus on what volume level he turns the iPad to,  because...yes I am a mom.

He is asleep in his bed, with his Build A Bear puppy he made with his big sister and promptly named Snuggles, his favorite thing to do.  He smiles even when he sleeps and he stirs constantly, because this little boy is ALL boy and doesn't like to sit still.

I decided to do this post, because I think ALL moms go through this.  We want to make it all better, even something as simple as a scrape, and even when we know it will be okay, it still keeps us up at night.

For those of you that read my New Year's post, you know one of my goals was to force myself out of my comfort zone, well leave it to my kids to push me so far out of my comfort zone I strain my eyes to try and see it.

So until tomorrow I will drink my caramel tea and.....worry.