End of the week recap

It's Friday. I am exhausted. I'm not sure what I do that makes me feel so busy, but I know emotionally what is going on.

And it exhausts me. Rearing children makes me weary. They are good kids — don't get me wrong — but still, it requires a tremendous amount of mental energy to keep them on the ball. How people with more children, or spouses who do not help, manage is beyond me. I am blessed to have well-behaved daughters (for the most part — they are normal kids, after all) and a husband who, even when he is physically absent (which, sad to say, is fairly often) is there for me in spirit. He's always just a phone call away ... or a voice mail, or a page, or ... you get the idea. He is supporting us in the manner to which I have become accustomed, so I really can't complain.

Yesterday he went to work late so that we could see Sylvia in the Storybook Character Parade. She was Eloise, complete with book, short black skirt, clicky black shoes, and beribboned hair. I acquiesced and packed her an alternate outfit for the remainder of the day and it made all the difference in her mood. The parade was cute, but I shoud issue a caveat: Scooby Doo, Disney Princesses, and Star Wars are not books. Yes, you can buy a book that features them as characters, but they're not books. I know, this occurred the same week as Halloween, and it is a lot to expect parents and kids to come up with not one but two costumes in one week. And I know what it's like when your child tells you they will dress as a Stormtrooper and nothing else will do. But I think the spirit of the parade was to encourage reading, and somehow SpongeBob Squarepants violates that intent.

(Wish I had a dollar for Junie B. Jones I saw; I'm surprised my daughter wasn't dressed as her as well! Eloise was her choice.)

Did some shopping, came home, promptly got sick. Just as I needed to go and pick up two of the girls; it was a painful drive to Sampson and Cy Woods, with a stop at CVS in between to run to the restroom. Came home, hit the couch, called it a day.

But all is better today. There's a (slight) chill in the air. Met Gary for lunch and we exercised the right to early voting. There was a huge line — who knew? I was nervous because I had never heard where I am supposed to vote; panic was setting in as I feared that I would not know on Tuesday and wouldn't be able to cast my ballot. Gary will be gone, so we figured we should go get it taken care of today. So it's done. No vote for Kinky — I realized weeks ago that he is really not up to the task of governing. And my vote is not a novelty.

Made a 20-minute stop at neighborhood Happy Hour before I had to go get Alison; next week she may have to ride the late bus home. I need a social life.

Still on tap tonight: tickets to the theatre to see Proof. Soccer tomorrow, neighborhood garage sale; we didn't officially sign up, but we may stealthily sell a few items. Ssshhh ...

Happy weekends, all!