This was a big week in our household. We got a new sofa! I got some new rain boots! Jackson got a new watch! And Drew got a haircut! Ok, so the haircut is the least exciting because he gets one every two weeks, but I couldn’t leave him in the cold on our list of new things. Anyway, maybe not the most exciting week ever, but pretty good for a post-holiday, middle of January, spring-is-still-two-months-away week. Also, Jackson drew that ‘I heart U’ note for me above and that was pretty sweet, too. And he learned to tell time, too! Like, for-real tell-time (well, to the closest five-minute mark), which, as a parent, is such a cool thing to witness. He’s been obsessed with time and clocks for the last couple of months and my parents got him this toy clock (with corresponding time cards) for Christmas and he’s been watching a couple apps on the iPad about telling-time, like this one, and then we got him his watch and suddenly it all clicked, just like that. Watching your kid develop interests and passions (Jackson’s biggest passion so far seems to be learning, in general, and figuring out how things work) is one of the best things about being a parent. It helps balance out the boogers and toilet-training mishaps and public meltdowns and meal-refusals. Mostly.
How was your week? What are you up to this weekend? Who else is sick of winter yet? And who has upcoming vacation plans some place warm to make me jealous?
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Crochet.Ninja January 23, 2015, 4:35 pm
it’s so cool to watch kids ‘wake up’. it feels like it’s instant, even if it’s not, you’re like ‘when did this happen?!’ and all of a suddenly they know stuff.
Crochet.Ninja January 23, 2015, 4:35 pm
apparently i’ve lost brain cells at this boring day at work.. ‘all of a suddenly’… le sigh.
Diablo January 23, 2015, 4:56 pm
Crazy week as we have our big annual grant application deadline next week. Leading my Youth Council is time consuming but the most fun thing about my job. Just getting to know my new little pal Simon (pictured in my avatar), who we’ve had since Sunday last. Got plans for sushi Saturday with one group of friends, then playing music with my new music buddies, and M is going to join in, on Saturday night. She’s a great singer, but doesn’t have much confidence in herself, and confidence is everything in performing. It’s well above freezing here, which is pretty much unheard of in January. Love the warmth, but the melting snow is making everything a goopy disgusting mess. Hope you are all having as much fun as me this weekend!
Moneypenny January 23, 2015, 5:18 pm
Aww, congrats on your new kitty! He looks very cute in your avatar pic!
Addie Pray January 23, 2015, 5:13 pm
A haircut every two weeks!? Does drew’s hair grow that fast? What happens if he waits 3 or even 4 weeks? Do the curls start double looping? Does his hair grow upward? Outward, like the sides expand? Or grow down like the start of a mullet? Does he use product? I’m fascinated.
Dear Wendy January 23, 2015, 5:36 pm
After two weeks, he has a ‘fro. The kind of ‘fro only a 44-year-old Jewish man could have. So, yeah, haircuts every 2 weeks are sort of necessary.
Lyra January 23, 2015, 8:00 pm
NG has to get his cut every month to meet regulation for the Reserves. When he was active he got it cut every pay day, so every two weeks. I just got used to it because his last drill weekend was in early December and he came here tonight before heading down for drill and I had forgotten it would be short again! Ah well, at least I get the uniform!! 😉
Moneypenny January 23, 2015, 5:27 pm
The weather lately here has been nice- 50’s and low 60’s, so sweater/no coat weather. Which means the little snow in the mountains is melting! There goes this year’s ski season. 🙁
This weekend I am determined to finish a dress I’ve been working on. And then I can move on to the next project! And Monday I’m starting to work with a new personal trainer, and I’m both excited and a little nervous- he’s an “elite trainer.” And he’s super buff.
I’m tentatively planning a couple of trips to visit some dear friends in the next few months- one to southern Oregon for a long weekend (hopefully late March); One to western Colorado to visit another friend for maybe a week, probably in June! Both will involve lots of beautiful scenery with lovely people.
Emsz January 23, 2015, 6:00 pm
I went speed dating tonight and it was hilarious. Completely hilarious 😛
Lyra January 23, 2015, 9:49 pm
Spill! Who did you meet? How did it go? Did you get anyone’s number???
d2 January 23, 2015, 11:21 pm
Ha! I think I’m too slow to do speed dating… 🙂
Regina Chapman January 23, 2015, 10:45 pm
The ‘I <3 you' message is extremely adorable. Gosh, that must be so amazing to see a human being coming into his own:).
I'll have a quiet day tomorrow and rest up from a busy week, then go to a theatre show on Sunday with the bf. The thing I'm really excited about takes place on Monday though: ping-pong! I've joined a club just this week. It's been ages since I've been a member of any sort of sports club and I'm SO out of shape, but I really really like it:).
Lyra January 24, 2015, 12:53 am
I’m so excited to host brunch tomorrow!!!! My college friends are coming over — I’m making a quiche and some muffins and they’re bringing some other stuff. Mimosa? Why, yes please.
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Not much else on the agenda. Meeting with a potential photographer hopefully as long as she gets back to me! We’re reallllllly stressed out over renovating the budget. We are VERY fortunate to have some wiggle room (thank you, parents and NG’s parents) but we both don’t like spending large amounts of money. We over budgeted everything on the high end on purpose because we both would much rather plan for unexpected surprises and (hopefully) end up with a good amount of money left over to pay off our cars and whatnot. But that means we’re buckling down and not spending any money on dates or anything so our lives are even more boring than they are normally. It will be worth it and I’m glad we’re planning ahead and I’m SUPER glad that even if we disagree on something budget related we just talk it out, but getting price quotes for everything has definitely caused some major sticker shock.
FireStar January 24, 2015, 6:49 am
What could possibly be better than the I ❤️ U? I think I’d still be melted in a puddle somewhere. My favourite thing in the world is my daughter spontaneously kissing me when we do nursery rhymes together. An I love you would send me over the moon. Then again this is the child that refuses to say mama. I might have a long wait.
We have a weekend trip planned next weekend for Niagara Falls and then the two week Hawaiian cruise at the end of March! DW people are the best – I have a list of fun things to do there now. The weekend is quiet for us. Just a little baby birthday party. I am a little irritated at another friend though that texted me that I’m repressing my daughter because I don’t take her to mommy and me groups. What ever happened to everyone doing whatever they want with the their own kid and leaving everyone else to do whatever they wanted with their kids? It came across as judgey and I’m so tactless the best I could do was make a joke out of it because really if it wasn’t a friend I cared about I would just tell her to take her opinion and do unspeakable things to it. I’m a little surprised that she would say anything really. I know there are mothers that do this…I just didn’t think I knew any.
Dear Wendy January 24, 2015, 12:08 pm
wha?? How is not going to mommy and me groups repressing your child? That’s such a strange thing to say!
Sunshine Brite January 24, 2015, 2:43 pm
How rude! I don’t understand the repression either.
othy January 24, 2015, 11:11 pm
I don’t think “everyone doing whatever they want with the their own kid and leaving everyone else to do whatever they wanted with their kids” ever truly existed. I wish it did, but sadly, people can be so judgmental and nosy.
FireStar January 25, 2015, 6:09 pm
Thanks guys – I was wondering what the hell…I got the sense someone told her something about her daughter who is 6 months older than mine …and she was just sharing the misery. All around annoying.
othy January 24, 2015, 11:13 pm
I just did my taxes, and they were super easy this year (only one income, nothing really changed from last year), and we’re getting a big return. Mostly because of Othello’s school tuition. So glad we’re getting a big return because we just had to pay another semester’s tuition, so we can use the return to pay for that. It’s nice that we have so few tax papers now a days so we can actually finish them up early.
d2 January 25, 2015, 9:53 am
Oh, no, no, no; not taxes! I hate filling out my taxes!
My W2 forms arrived in the mail on Friday, so I can start on them, but I won’t have all the investment paperwork for a couple of weeks. Every year I say I am going to file them in March and I think I have only accomplished that twice.
This year my goal is to file in February. Otherwise, I am going to look really bad compared to Othy…
Lyra January 25, 2015, 10:14 am
I love going to a tax preparer because I’m able to just bring my stuff, hand it over, and 30 minutes later it’s done! I’ve always done it in February because no one else seems to want to do them that early. It’s so nice to get them done sooner rather than later.
Kate January 25, 2015, 2:35 pm
Really? I’m not great with numbers or budgets but I always found taxes pretty quick and easy to do, even back with the paper forms. Now my dad lets me come over and use his Turbotax program, which makes it even easier. Of course it sucks big time if you find out you owe, but the process itself is ok as long as you have all your forms.
d2 January 25, 2015, 6:21 pm
The first 10 years out of college I was self-employed, so there was no payroll withholding throughout the year. On April 15, I had to pay for the entire years’ worth of federal, state and local income taxes, social security and Medicaid contributions, and a few odd business/self-employment taxes all in one shot. To make matters worse, my income could be seasonal and had the potential of being diminished from mid-December through mid-March. It was stressful to make sure that I had the money to make those large payments all at once. On the other hand, I did learn to budget really well. 🙂
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These days, taxes are easy and money is not an issue, but I still hate doing them. Maybe I still have PTSD from the old days…
othy January 25, 2015, 4:52 pm
You still look better than my FIL. He *just* filed his taxes from last year. The only reason I’m so motivated is the large tax return we’re getting.
Lyra January 25, 2015, 10:13 am
I usually just go to H&R Block but this year NG volunteered to help me do them. I’m kind of a dunce when it comes to taxes, plus I always have multiple incomes from different sources so it gets a bit confusing. He’s working on his accounting degree so obviously he knows what he’s doing!! 🙂
deni January 25, 2015, 8:39 pm
So… to othy, lianne, wendy and sunshine… who reached out to me last wk…
I didn’t feel right continuing our correspondence on that LW’s thread… is there a way to comment separately?
Lyra January 25, 2015, 8:41 pm
You could start a DW throw-away email and post it here so people can reach out. I did that about a year ago.
deni January 25, 2015, 8:47 pm
Thanks Lyra! I am still new to this. Guess I need to be patient because I didn’t see my comment here so I finally went back to comment on the afternoon quickie last week because I was confused!!! I’ll figure it out!!!
othy January 25, 2015, 10:57 pm
You can always start a new thread in the forums as well, those don’t get buried as quickly as the main site articles as well.
mylaray January 25, 2015, 8:41 pm
Has anyone else been following the Humans of New York story of the school in Brownsville, Brooklyn that has a fundraising campaign to send the kids on a trip to Harvard? It really warms my heart they’ve raised SO much money for that school and additional programs. Having grown up nearby in Bed-stuy, that area is rough and needs a lot of help. I’m sure it will make a big difference.
Lyra January 25, 2015, 11:33 pm
I haven’t seen that story but that reminds me, one of my college friends started a brand spanking new band program in her inner city charter school. All of the instruments the kids are using are school owned — most are donated by people in the area who don’t use them anymore. She has 75 kids in her program and it’s growing a LOT. She has raised all the money for the instruments, stands, music, etc. I would estimate she has already raised well over $75,000 in materials. It amazes me because she literally did it in a year, and is continuing to collect donations. From what I hear that in and of itself has done amazing things for the school, and the kids have really taken ownership of their music education. Most kids can’t afford their own band instruments, and her goal is to provide music for everyone who wants to participate. I’m just amazed at what she has accomplished.
mylaray January 25, 2015, 11:53 pm
Wow, that’s really great! My husband has gone back to college this year after several years to finish his degree and he’s planning on working as a music teacher and wants to help the inner city schools grow their music departments.
Lyra January 26, 2015, 7:42 am
It’s amazing! The focus so many schools have right now is on test scores for reading and math, but not everyone realizes that playing a musical instrument and participating in music engages the brain in more ways than reading and math by themselves. Not to mention music gives kids an identity and sense of belonging. What does your husband want to teach? General music? Choir?
MsMisery January 26, 2015, 12:32 pm
I was excited on Friday to see Intervention, Hoarders, and Obsessed pop up on Netflix. SOME OF MY FAVORITE SHOWS. I can’t believe Obsessed only lasted for 2 seasons. And obvs I need more excitement in my life.