I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars.
- Walt Whitman, In Philosophy
It’s just so darned beautiful here lately. I want to go outside to play and am chafing at having to spend my days indoors. Two more days until freedom…
It’s surprising how quickly something that’s supposed to be a joyful occasion can turn into a total stress fest. It all started early Friday evening. One of the attorneys I work for came to me with an emergency project that just had to be completed that evening. I hauled a heavy file onto the bus with me and worked on the project during my hour-long commute home. I continued working frantically on the project when I got home, begging my husband to go pick up the kids from school and to hurry home so I could attend my yoga class.
I finished the project, emailed the data to the attorney and waited for my husband to return home. Thirty-five minutes after the yoga class was supposed to start, he finally showed up. There was some sort of delay at the daycare (I’m not sure what–but I’m not blaming anyone—these things happen!) and he just couldn’t get home in time for me to make the class.
I was incredibly disappointed.
To take my mind off things, I started baking the cake and cupcakes for Claire’s party. The cake partially fell and I threw a (little) temper tantrum. It turned out all right, in the end, since I was able to cut out a lot of the deflated portion:
If you should ever take it into your head to decorate a cake with colored sugar, S.T.O.P. in your tracks. It’s incredibly messy. The kitchen floor still crunches when you walk on it, and it’s been swept up and vacuumed several times since then. hehe 
Saturday dawned, a cold, grey and rainy day if there ever was one. So much for my plan to send all the kids out to play in the yard. Because the weather didn’t match my expectations, I had to think up alternative party games. Before anyone arrived, I enlisted the help of my niece and brother-in-law to hide rubber butterflies around the living room and dining room.
When the guests first arrived, they decorated gift bags with butterfly stickers and markers. (Unsurprisingly, most of the older boys weren’t too interested in this. The younger ones loved it though!) I then sent the kids hunting for butterflies around our home. They collected their treasures in the decorated bags. This was a great hit. As this was winding down, my niece and I “tatooed” guests with butterflies and flowers.
My husband then surpervised a bowling bunnies game, while I organized the gifts and set up the cake service. The kids loved this too. There was a lot of giggling and carrying on
Claire was totally overwhelmed by all of the activity. We couldn’t get her to smile once during the party. She wouldn’t even blow out her candles, and that’s the one thing she requested for her birthday. Afterwards, though, she assured us that she enjoyed herself. I know for a fact that she adores the six pair of dress up shoes and the Dora-the-Explorer toy store she received.
She was completely spoiled by all of her wonderfully generous friends!
Despite all of the stress, it turned out to be a delightful party.
I’m blatantly copying the format of Annie’s snapshot post from last week, because I enjoyed reading it and am just not feeling that original today. My apologies to Annie
What I’m Reading: Broken for You by Stephanie Kallos. I’m about 2/3 the way through this book and am enjoying it thoroughly. The writing is excellent and the characters tug at your heartstrings. I’m also enjoying the references to places in Seattle–both those familiar and unfamiliar to me. I’d like to check out some of the places I’ve never visited. Ms. Kallos writes with such fondness of the Hotel Orleans, but I’m not sure where that is. It sounds a lot like the Sorrento, although that has more of an Italian style, rather than the French style attributed to the Orleans.
What I’m Watching: The early Star Wars movies (my son is very enthusiastic about them) and Stranger than Fiction (wonderful movie! totally loved it).
What’s Cooking: I’ll be baking a birthday cake and cupcakes tonight. I’ll decorate them first thing in the morning.
What I’m Knitting: Socks for Claire (I got sidetracked from the sweater). They were supposed to be a birthday gift, but I’ve only knit a few rounds on the second sock. They’re just not going to be finished in time. I’m sure she won’t care that much. To a three year-old, socks aren’t the most exciting present ever–even if they are hand-knit.
Friday Night Fun: I’m going to a yoga workshop run by Ingela Abbot this evening. She’s supposed to be an excellent teacher. I’m looking forward to it!
'I, Amy of quixoticpixels.com, sign up as a participant of Self-Stitched-September. I endeavour to wear only handmade items of clothing every day for the duration of September 2010'.
