Who are you? Posted on August 30th, 2010 @ 5:03 pm
This is what happens when your mom is a nerd. Halloween costume choices like Princess Leia, or…
I can hear the conversations now.
Everyone- “Daphne, what are you supposed to be?”
Daphne- “I’m Daphne!”
Everyone- “I know your name is Daphne. Who are you dressed up as?”
Daphne- “I’m Daphne!”
And then I’d have to step in and explain Daphne, Greek mythology, popular theme in art, etc, revealing myself as a true dork.
I find it bittersweet that Daphne is starting preschool tomorrow. I know she will love class and having 7 new friends to play with everyday. But as the preschool door opens, I can’t help but think the baby/toddler years door is closing. Wow that was quick!
Last week we attended Meet the Teacher night at Daphne’s preschool. Kind of anticlimactic for her, since her preschool teacher is also her Sunday School teacher and Daphne has spent ridiculous amounts of time up in these rooms over the summer while we’ve been working on the remodel project. But it was nice to meet some of her classmates. We’ve met the class bully, who thought nothing of yelling and shoving anyone who got near “his” toys. And it’s an incredibly diverse class, which I think is great. My husband joked that it was a little UN.
Here’s our girl now in her class, the Starfish room, with one of the infamous bulletin boards. Ha! And we should be receiving our new shelves and tables/chairs any day now. So ignore the crazy chipped chairs.
And in the reading area chair. I purchased these from JC Penney’s. Very cute!
Thursday was just one big mad dash to get everything pulled together in anticipation of Meet the Teacher night. I had to push my Finance Admin job aside to work on the room signs. We still aren’t finished. Each sign will eventually get an animal painted in the center of each plaque. It was crazy. My office was turned into a room sign sweatshop complete with power tools. I had vendors walking in my office with strange looks on their faces as they saw me in my grubby clothes covered in sawdust. Allison, our Children’s Director and I worked all stinking day painting, sanding, drilling holes, adding the ropes, putting on the letters and finally hanging them all. Whew!
And this just shows you a little more of our hallway progress. Still have some work to do.
For years my grandmother would send me birthday cards with the note “I’ll never forget the day you were born, August 18th!” The only problem? My birthday is NOT August 18th. Ha!
I cut her some slack since she battled with mental illness and I think it’s safe to say wasn’t always “present.” My other set of grandparents always spelled my name wrong on my cards. Can I just say how nice it is that Daphne has reasonably normal grandparents that know how to spell her name? She is blessed.
Anyway, every year when August 18th rolls around I always get a smile on my face thinking of Nana’s cards.
I’ve mentioned the remodel project that I’ve been coordinating and finally decided to take some work-in-progress photos. No before shots, so you’ll just have to imagine it… a main entry lobby cut in half by a check-in desk wall, large Noah’s ark mural (so ten years ago) and each classroom was painted a random color without any theme to tie it all together.
The wall is gone (!), the 3 hallways and entry area have been painted as well as 6 of the 8 classrooms. We are going with a beach/boardwalk theme. This particular area is from birth-5 yrs.
The temp desk is where the wall once stood. Now it’s open and airy and will house the preschool kids’ cubbies. Future boardwalk area.
Here’s the view down the long hall. The previous picture is just to the left of this shot. This is the boardwalk railing made with simple wood pieces. We’ll have light poles “installed” and topped with exterior wall lanterns, and you’ll be able to look out over the “water.” I love all my helpers!
Across from the boardwalk railing will be a huge sandcastle. HUGE! Then the other 2 hallways will be beach dunes.
And each of the classrooms got bright new paint and a particular sea animal theme. This is the sea turtle room. The sketched and base coated turtles are awaiting their colorful makeovers. I think the kids will really like it. We’ll also have all new furniture and fixtures.
This has been a huge project. And we only have three weeks to wrap it up. (Terror!) But it benefits Daphne directly so I’m glad to help.
Next up, the melted crayon project for Daphne’s b-day party treat bags. Maybe you’ve seen these on Etsy for a dollar or two a piece and thought that was a crazy price. I did too, until I spent a few hours peeling crayons. It’s incredible how the wrappers just fall off as Daphne is coloring, which causes a meltdown from her. And when you actually want the stupid wrappers to come off they act like the Crayola company used superglue to attach them. Really tedious, but a very cheap project. Ice cream cone mold was $2 and I used old/broken crayons and supplemented with some back to school specials (25 cents/box right now, woot!)
And a friend of mine is starting a cupcake making business. I’m her personal cupcake photographer. Yum!
If I’m not blogging over the next few weeks, you’ll know I’m swamped!
There are so many amazing birthday printables and invitations on Etsy and other sites, but I admit to being way too cheap to pay someone else to design and print what I want for Daphne’s party. I fell in love with an ice cream party printables set on Etsy, but with the invitations, cupcake toppers, sundae bar signs, favor tags and a few other items the total was almost $50. And there’s that pesky detail that you have to PRINT THEM ALL YOURSELF! Ack.
So, I decided to DIY. Using some ice cream themed clip art purchased from Etsy, I’m in the process of designing everything I need. In fact, the invitations are done. Would I rather have a professional do this for me? Oh heck yeah. I’m obviously not a graphic designer. I guess you make do with what you’ve got.
Here’s the invitation with all the important details blurred out. (Sorry folks)
Just a simple 4×6 image created from digital scrapbooking elements, clip art and a photo. I printed them as greeting cards from Mpix (they even send you envelopes) and spent a little over $9. Not bad. Oh, and the text on the actual cards isn’t pixelated and weird.
Here’s another element I finished, one of the sundae bar table signs. Each topping will have it’s own folded place card like sign that ties into the theme.
I’m also working on cupcake toppers, treat bag toppers and tags, toppers for the little bag of ice cream cone crayons that will be in each treat bag, station signs (craft, ice cream bar, drinks). All of the colors are from Daphne’s birthday dress.
I can’t believe her birthday party is two weeks away. I need to get busy!
- I had high hopes that my suddenly curly hair would look better during our ridiculously humid summers. Those of you with curly hair can stop laughing now… I just remember the 4 or 5 days after Hurricane Ike that we spent outside (since we didn’t have power) and how baby Daphne’s curls were even curlier and bouncier than usual in the humid air. I have Liz Lemon hair. (Pretty much the same cut too)
When I don’t do anything with it-
And when I spend quality time with my CHI-
The worst part of my hair, besides the grays, is how my curl is uneven. The back is curlier than the sides. Then I have this little patch to the left of my nape that is possessed. It’s my Bride of Frankenstein patch. My hair spends at least half the week in a ponytail, and my crazy BoF patch always sticks out unless I bobby pin it to death. I need to come into some money so I can pay someone to fix my hair on a regular basis. Or maybe I can just be like the women of my grandmother’s generation and go to the beauty shop and have my hair set once a week, then sleep on a silk pillow with a hair net. Hmmmm…
- And while I’m griping about my appearance, not only would I hire someone to come over and fix my hair but I’d also get eyelash extensions. Oh yeah! I have the most pathetic lashes- short and they naturally point down. I’d love to have pretty lashes just once.
- Enough about hair, let’s talk Predators. A few weeks ago my husband got a coupon from one of his co-workers to the Alamo Drafthouse theater. It’s one of those theaters that serves dinner and drinks. Genius, in my opinion. Do I want to spend $4.75 on a soda at a regular theater? No. Will I spend $5.99 on a margarita at the Drafthouse? Absolutely. Anyway, when my husband asked what I wanted to see my immediate response was “Predators!” Not what he was expecting. I’d always been a fan of the Predator/AVP movies and was excited to see a reboot of the series. Well, let’s just say I was glad we had a coupon. I thought it was predictable. All of the “woohoo!” moments in the film were rip offs from the original movie. I enjoyed the parody videos they played before the movie much more than the movie itself.
- And finally, I’m completely in love with the camera bags from Jo Totes. I think I can justify adding this to my birthday list, since now that I’m working again I need a bigger purse. Actually, I need rolling luggage. I’m not sure how I end up taking so much junk to the office.
Don’t you think the teal bag is adorable?
My preschooler just informed me that I have to tuck her back into bed. So, until next time…
Daphne got to sketch at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston
The artist
I’d show you the result, but let’s just say Daphne is definitely going through an abstract expressionism phase.
Vultures invaded the neighborhood. We’ve seen as many as 30 or 40 on one street, pecking apart trash bags on trash days.
And I even did a little sewing for one of Daphne’s friends. I don’t love the Ariel patch I bought on Etsy. The fact that the fabric isn’t taut bugs me. Looks like Ariel has wrinkles.
The birthday girl loved it, so that’s all that matters!
- Started a new job. As with any new job, the first few weeks are tiring. Figuring out expectations, job description, asking a million questions until you get comfortable in your new role. This is especially difficult since the person who was in my role for the last 3 years has another job and I didn’t have an opportunity to train with him. I’m figuring it out as I go. My brain is tired. Luckily, this means I’m no longer having problems sleeping at night. Woot!
- Took on a short term gig as project manager for a remodel/design of the children’s area at the church we attend. I was probably crazy for agreeing to this. I’m recruiting and coordinating volunteers, purchasing supplies, trying to come up with ideas for our mural artists, spackling and painting at 10 pm at night on a Thursday. Last week, I played paint supply Tetris in the back of my Scion in the middle of a hard, sideways rainstorm with Daphne crying, “Mommy hold me!!” (Why she wouldn’t stand inside the doorway, out of the rain, I’ll never know). Have you seen the cargo space in the back of a Scion? Yeah, not much. Try transporting 16 gallons of paint, rollers, tape, etc.
- Tried to help Daphne adjust to not having me home. Still working on that. She spends the first 5 min or so after I get home hugging me, giving me kisses and telling me, “I missed you SOOO much today, Mommy.” Then she spends the rest of the evening glued to my side. I know it’s a process, and as soon as she goes to preschool in August she’ll be so occupied with her new little friends that it won’t be so hard on her.
- The rain storm meltdown I mentioned earlier… Daphne was sick at the time. Like 104 degree temp for 4 days. I spent the morning of July 4th in the emergency room with her. She’s fine now. While she was sick, however, no one got any rest. Jenny=slurpee brain at this point.
- The homemade pickles were awesome. A bit spicy since Penzeys peppercorns are potent. We just finished the last jar.
- Things I’ve neglected- completing Daphne’s preschool application, officially accepting the scholarship I got for this fall, coloring my hair, blogging, writing my pen pals and pretty much everything else that doesn’t involve work, Daphne and Home Depot.
It’s sad I already need a vacation. I’m just ready to get through this transition period and find our groove again.
And since I needed a pic, here’s my favorite July 4th pic of my girl. Yankee Doodle Daphne.
It’s Friday? How did that happen? So many posts just slipping through the cracks around here. How about some random thoughts?
- Last weekend I went with a group of friends to see Sex and the City 2 and then out for drinks. It was great! The time with friends, not the movie.
I do like Sex and the City, watched the series, saw the first movie, enjoyed parts of S&TC2. I won’t spoil it for you, but here are a few observations. 1.- For being 64, Liza Minnelli still has great legs. Better legs than her backup dancers. You go, Lucille 2!!! 2.- Carrie, WTH are you wearing on your head at Anthony and Stanford’s wedding? It looks like you stole it from the wicked queen in Snow White. 3.- Not that many Muslims will be flocking to see this movie, but I was shocked at how disrespectful the movie was to Muslim culture. 4.- Loved the Charlotte/Miranda “take a sip” scene. I give the movie 1 1/2 stars out of 4. Getting gussied up to go out with the girls for a night (and margaritas, mojitos, sangria) gets 4 stars.
- Hope you enjoyed your Memorial Day! I watched Band of Brothers pretty much all day long. Every time we watch that mini-series, Chris and I talk about what an amazing show it is. I am completely not a war movie girl, but I love Band of Brothers. Is anyone watching The Pacific? We don’t have HBO, so we’ll have to catch it on DVD.
- Still enjoying Glee. Loved the Lady Gaga episode. Love Sue. Love how over the top the show is. One thing that bugs me? When Will keys up Ice Ice Baby and all the high school kids know the lyrics and the dance moves from the video. Yeah, BS. Unfortunately, I do know all the lyrics (it came out when I was in high school) and it’s a song that pops into my head much, much, much too often. Mainly because the Totally Rad! sharpening actions I use in Photoshop are called Slice Like a Ninja and Cut Like a Razor Blade. And it may or may not be on my iPod. Ahem.
- I’ve been watching a lot of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. So. Funny. Like fall off the sofa I’m laughing so hard. I guess I just have an odd sense of humor. I’ve tried to watch Modern Family.. nah, not funny. Big Bang Theory.. can’t stand the laugh track. But IASIP is like Arrested Development, only with more dysfunctional, offensive characters. Charlie is my favorite. He’s got this subtle Bobcat Goldthwait thing going on with his voice.
- Daphne and I have been visiting an indoor play area located inside of a large church in Sugar Land. It’s awesome. Free, air conditioned fun. What else can you ask for in hot, humid Houston? How about the church cafe serving Chick-fil-A? Yep, the church cafe partners with Chick-fil-A, Starbucks and a donut/kolache company. So you can sip Starbucks while watching your kid play, then walk across the courtyard to eat lunch. Genius.
Who are you?
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