Soccer, Shopping and Home Repair

Kaitlyn recently began her soccer career.  We were very proud to take her to her first game.  We were also slightly apprehensive.  You see Kaitlyn is not the most persevering of our children, nor is she the most brave.  In fact you only have to look at her the wrong way and she is likely to burst into tears followed by a screaming fit for which, when asked, she will have no idea what the reason was.

She got all dressed up that Saturday morning and was extra happy to be on the purple shirt team (a fact that all but the one other girl on her team had probably been less than pleased about).

When we got to the field she had a 30 minute practice session with her team.  They did exercises like kicking the ball, running after the ball, chasing the ball into the neighbouring soccer field, jumping over the ball, tripping over the ball, trying to keep the ball away from the coach and sitting on the ball.

Finally the game was all set to begin.  At their age they don’t have a goalie and they only have 4 players at a time on each team.  Kaitlyn wasn’t picked to go on the field right away so she sat with the rest of her team on the sideline.  We watched as the two teams battled it out in the middle, each player trying desperately to get the ball off every other player regardless of their team colour.

Bachelorette Party – Part Two

The day before the bachelorette party I assembled all the items necessary to execute my devious plan.  I had the bag from Victoria’s Secret in which they had placed my purchases and I had an empty gift bag and tissue and my granny sack.  My plan was to do a swap so that the granny garment ended up in the Victoria’s Secret bag and vice versa.

I carefully unwrapped the lacy negligée in order to place it in the other gift bag which would have been totally uneventful had it not been for the flinging around of this negligée in the store when I was suspected of shoplifting (see part 1).  As I attempted to refold this lacy number I realized that one of the bows had come undone.  I took a closer look and realized that this particular bow was designed as a fastener which when unfastened (as it was at that time) created an opening for certain body parts to be ‘revealed’ (think Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction). 

Bachelorette Party – Part One

Earlier this year I was invited to go with a few friends to celebrate the imminent marriage of one of our group. It was to be a low key affair involving nothing more scandalous than a dinner out with friends and some gifts for the bride-to-be.

I had been advised that all the attendees would be getting lingerie for the lucky girl which seemed like a fantastic idea to me.

This girl is beautiful and sweet and I thought that she definitely deserved some fancy underthings to enjoy on her honeymoon.

I also realised that although I knew this girl pretty well we had not been acquainted for a very long time. This gave me an idea. I figured that she was unlikely to have seen or even to suspect that I have a slightly twisted sense of humour or that I delight in a little mild trickery. I started spinning a plan.

Midgets, Tie Dye And The Olympics

We were driving home from dropping James at work the other morning when Abigail started pointing out the window, giggling and saying “ook, ook”. I “ooked” and heard her say “oh, so funny” and noticed her in the rearview mirror sitting with her hands covering her mouth as if she had discovered something very amusing and a little bit naughty.

I “ooked” again and saw what it was that had amused her so thoroughly. She had seen a sign advertising cups of coffee that you could get in any size for 99 cents. The picture they were using to illustrate this amazing deal was a photograph of the tallest man in the world standing next to a little person (the PC way of saying someone with dwarfism) who didn't even come up to his derrier.

It was at this moment that I realised our twisted senses of humour may be genetic and have been passed right down to the youngest in the herd. Our baby was actually laughing out loud and pointing at a midget.

Travelling, Fire Fighters And An Illegal Aubergine

James is travelling again this week.  He left on Sunday morning which of course required a super early start to the day to get him to the airport on time.  He set his alarm for 5 am and we planned to be on the road by 6.  He had put on a load of laundry the night before and I presumed that he was going to remove the clothes from the dryer and dump them directly into the suitcase in the morning.  I made this presumption based on the fact that his suitcase sat open and empty just outside the laundry room.  It is quite astounding how differently we approach a trip away.  I would make a list and although it wouldn't take me very long to pack I would have ensured that I had outfits selected for each day, enough underwear to last a few extra days just in case and of course shoes for every eventuality.

I have learnt to leave him to his own style of packing even if it means he forgets things and we end up with extra gadgets on his return.  Last trip he had to buy a new computer mouse (which he then gave to me) and we usually end up with an extra phone charger or cord of some sort.  I have tried to help him with his packing but he prefers his own haphazard methods to my more listy ones.

A Week In The Life - Day 6 One More Sleep

The sleep last night left much to be desired.  Each night more 'inmates' have been added to the colourful characters occupying my normally peaceful room.  Last night as I went to join the already sleeping beauties I found that there was very little room for me.  Apparently Dave the Bear had decided to join us.  He is a giant teddy bear we got for Kaitlyn for her first Christmas here in the US.  James had bought me a similar bear (named Boris) before we were married and Kaitlyn wanted one of her own.  Dave and Boris are good friends and I was quite glad that Boris had decided not to join the party too.

A Week In The Life - Day 5 Almost There

I got everyone out the door in record time this morning. We all accompanied Emily down the driveway to meet the bus. Both Kaitlyn and Abigail pushed their strollers up and down while we waited.

Abigail and I went to our regular playgroup after dropping Kaitlyn at school and it was so nice to sit and watch her play and chat to friends. Afterwards I decided to do drive through McDs for lunch in the hopes that Abigail was be ready for a nice nap as soon as we got home. I got in line and waited for my turn. I'm really bad at deciding stuff in general but when I have the pressure of a line of cars behind me and a box with a voice asking me if I am ready to order my brain just clams up and I find it difficult to think straight. Add to this the fact that I have a non American accent and it makes for interesting drive through moments.