Karina in mommywood's Blog

After years of trying to decide whether I wanted to build
a patio or grow grass in the old spot where our jacuzzi used
to be, I finally "committed" to growing grass and if I didn't
like it I would just lay brick down over it. Brilliant,
or at least better than staring at the gaping hole in the
middle of our yard for another minute. So I talked to my
landscaper who gave me a quote I couldn't stomach to resod
the whole yard - which would have to be done if I wanted it
to look right - and figured I would go the seeding route,
which was a teeny fraction of the cost but takes way longer

That pretty much sums up my afternoon.

We got passes to the screening of Tinkerbell - of course we went.

I tried the Coffee Bean's Pina Colada Ice Blended for the first
time. It's possibly my new favorite drink in the world - SO GOOD!
SO, SO GOOD!

After having our bags checked for recording equipment by three
menacing looking but sweet talking men dressed in black, we went
inside, found great seats and settled in for a perfectly lovely
afternoon with one of our favorite Disney characters.

By the way, Tinkerbell looks great for her age!

Okay, so Glendy is back in Chicago safe and sound
with all the expected drama delivered during her
trip, but I am too wiped from living it to talk
about it, so ... I'll just quickly fill you in on our
fabulous backyard movie party. It was fabulous!

We put up a sheet on the garage wall and used a
projector with our DVD player. It was just
like being at the drive-in - without the cars.
The kids had a blast even though we had to wait
for it to get dark so we could see the picture.
I think it's worth mentioning that there were
26 six and seven-year-olds and we had no tears.

I'm about to find out. In a few short hours, my sister, Glendy, who is coming in for my daughter's birthday party, will be landing at LAX - an answered prayer in and of itself given that American Airlines has canceled flights to and from Chicago, and without prayer, she would have 100% been booked on one of those flights. Trust me, no one knows "drama" like Glendy knows drama.

Anyway, we're all really excited - my girls love her and I don't know about you, but anytime I get around my sister, I revert to childhood. When we were little girls, we used to play these ridiculous little games, like "Sharks" and "Hot Lava," both of which required one of us to run and jump onto the couch while the other kicked and flailed wildly trying to keep the runner off - we made them up all by ourselves - don't ask me why - I guess we really needed an older brother. And then there was "tetanus shot," where one of us poked the other in the arm and chanted, "tetanus shot." I'm pretty sure this game was born when Glendy had to go get a tetanus shot and she was scared. Being the supportive little sister that I was, I came up with the little chant to taunt her and it stuck. So now my youngest has her play "shot" at the ready to sneak up on "Aunt Glendy" and give her a tetanus shot.

Doesn’t seem that long ago that the yellow “Baby on Board” car window signs were new
and all the rage, but then it must have been, because one; I haven’t seen them in forever
and two; my oldest, who was a baby at the time is now behind the wheel of a car herself -
which brings me to my public plea for all speed racers to slow down on the streets and freeways and canyons and the Target parking lot. I mean, really, where in the world can anyone be going in such a hurry and do they realize that if they get pulled over or in an accident they'll be even later? I asked a particular twentysomething guy that a while back - right after he almost ran my daughter off the road to pull into a parking spot - about 14 seconds sooner than us.

So there I was, minding my own business, sifting through the mostly damaged Christmas Santas and angels at a discount store, when my 16-year-old daughter did the unthinkable - she pointed out the 6 ft plus copper Nutcracker and mentioned casually, that we should get it. Now most people would chuckle and move on, but then, most people don't have a Nutcracker collection, which, for reasons still unclear to this day, I do. I suppose if we dug really deep, we could determine it to be the manifestation of a childhood memory. I did after all, dance in the professional production of "The Nutcracker," with the famed ballerina, Valerie Panov, as a child.