Me Time

Don't get me wrong.  I'm not complaining.  I feel very blessed to have been a stay-at-home mom to Munch for the past few years.  I've watched her grow and blossom from a front row seat.  I have Hubby to thank for that.  Being a SAH mom is a job best appreciated only after many years of trials and tribulations.  I fall into that imperfect catagory.  I started out feeling overwhelmed and vociferous about the lack of time for myself.  I conveniently took it out on Hubby who was probably just as if not more overwhelmed and underprepared than me as a parent.  Me-time for me has now taken a definitively different turn.  For example, me-time can be found in mowing the lawn in 98 degree weather.  Really which family member is actually going to leave the inside of an air conditioned home to come out and demand quality time with you?  No one!  Not Hubby not Munch.  Go to your dental appointment with glee.  That's right, you read correctly.  No one, no matter how much they love you and require your attention, will want to make this office visit with you.  So enjoy your often sporadic adult interaction with your hygenist and dentist.  They are such good listeners and exhibit just the right amount of empathy.  For an hour, you get to sprawl out on a comfy dental chair and listen to new age music as another adult chats with you and cleans your teeth.  Have a long list of grocery items to get?  Selflessly offer to take on this tedious task by yourself.  Hubby won't be any wiser to your covert strategy to gain more me-time at your local supermarket.  He will think he won the honey-do-list lottery and will gladly stay home with the baby.  Go down every aisle and look at every clearance item.  No hurry no worry.  After about 2 hours of "shopping" you can safely head home ready with some stories of how the deli line was so long or how few cash registers were open.  You see that elusive me-time is there.  I just have to recognize it and work it to my advantage.

First Day of Kindergarten

Hubs and I couldn't be more proud of Munch!  No crying, clinging or hesitation as we left Gi to her first day of kindergarten yesterday. 

Fresh Mountain Air Does a Body Good

attempting to fish in Lake Keowee

3Ds in Issa Queena Falls

Munch decorating her own birthday cupcake at the cabin

presenting waterfall Buddha

at Stumphouse Tunnel---the tunnel that goes nowhere

celebrating Gi's 5th bday at the cabin

beautiful Falls Park in Greenville

down at the lake riding on top of a giant piece of driftwood

sharing a strawberry shake on our way down to Brunswick

another celebration of Gi's bday in an Italian restaurant in Brunswick

looking up at the cabin

first and only fish that hubby caught

big thanks to Uncle Mark and Auntie Sara for having us

Gi going down to the dock from the cabin

first family dinner at the cabin

Gi entertaining herself at a local Savannah hospital while Vovo is being checked out by the ER doc

pitstop for lunch on our way up to Savannah

fishing and relaxation

What does a trip to the ER, a volcanic spousal meltdown in a Walmart parking lot and a chilly waterfall splash all have in common?  Our family road trip to the moutains of South Carolina that's what.  We survived and we had a fab time despite all the ups and downs of family travels.

No Negotiations



Auntie Sara turned this polo into a dress by adding a skirt with a cute white trim.



Auntie Sara did the same thing here with a matching fringe.  Big thanks to our favorite auntie.

Don't worry, ladies and gentlemen, I am not about to launch into a discourse about the nation's debt ceiling.  I'm talking about school dress code and uniforms, people! That's right!   I'm talking about a more harmonious start to mornings come August 22nd.  I'm talking about lower blood pressure for middle age moms like myself.    I'm talking about less laundry and more money in my mostly empty pocket.  People, people, people, I'm just giddy with delight!  Come the end of this month, my fashionista Munch will march off to kindergarten to a school that has and will enforce a dress code.  Ahhhh, the smell of victory is sweet even if it is at the expense of my daughter.  I will no longer have to neogotiate, plead or demand what is appropriate to wear to school.  My little Munch will have exactly five choices to select from no more no less.  Uniforms, I love you.  You make my life simpler.  You are the great equalizer between aged mom and fiesty, stubborn five year old.