Barbie tastes like cake

O.K., so I didn’t exactly keep my promise, which is somewhat unlike me. Unless of course we have some sort of social plans, which I’m often prone to cancelling at the last minute if the thought of cleaning my house, fixing dinner for the kids and Brandon, and bathing the kids before leaving, overwhelms me. I’m really bad about that, which might explain why I haven’t had many social invitations recently…But to make up for my lack of posts, this is a ridiculously looooooong post!

As I mentioned, we’ve had connection issues all week. Then Brandon made some upgrades to the computer. My photo files are ginormous and even with my external drives, just take up a huge amount of space on our hard drive. If there was any sense of financial security in the world, I’d be at the Mac store when they opened, but an updated graphics card and more memory will have to do for now. The good news is, the upgrades should significantly decrease the time it currently takes me to edit. Yahoo! My floors may be vacuumed before spring.

Aside from that, the week was just as crazy as it normally is. I don’t even know what I did the first part of the week, but it flew by, so I must have been busy.

Tuesday was supposed to be a half day for Alex and we planned to go to Children’s Museum for the Lego exhibit. After I put The Gator on the bus, it started snowing. I drove Meredith to preschool, thanking God for 4-wheel drive the entire way there.

I realized when we stepped into two additional inches of snow; Meredith was going to have to have new snow boots. During last week’s snowfall, I squished her feet into an old pair of Alex’s boots. She complained they were too tight and I accused her of not liking them because they were black. I was wrong. They were a size and a half too small…at least.

So, while Meredith was at school painting with tissue paper and vinegar, I went to Kohl’s to find boots. I don’t do well in Kohl’s or any department store for that matter. I’m very easily overwhelmed. Nevertheless, I found a pair. I bought them and then realized they were probably going to be a little snug and might not even last this season let alone next year. I had to run another errand in an area close to a different Kohl’s. (They are like Walgreens around here. One on every corner.) I found a better option there and made the exchange. The lady opened the box to double check sizes and there were two left boots in the box. Of course there were. After 20 minutes of searching, I was in business and Meredith was thrilled to wear her new pink snow boots home. I asked her if they felt better than the old boots and she said, “Oh definitely. But, I’m really excited because they LOOK so much better!”

We rushed home to meet Alex’s bus, only to find out they cancelled early dismissal. It was snowing so hard when they were scheduled to release they decided to hold the kids. Don’t you know the teachers were thrilled to hear that announcement.

Wednesday was a blur. I have no idea what we did.

Thursday was hectic. We started school on time unexpectedly. I dropped Meredith off at preschool and went to Alex’s school to volunteer. You haven’t seen focus, until you’ve attempted to coerce a group of first grade boys to “read” for an hour.

Then, I went back to the part of Indianapolis I didn’t even know existed until two weeks ago to visit my friend Neal in the hospital again. I met our friend Jeremy there and we listened to Neal tell inappropriate stories for an hour and a half. Those are the only kind of stories Neal tells and frankly it’s so good to hear him tell them! Neal is battling Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. I’ve known Neal since Jr. High and I’m very surprised cancer picked him. He’s a corker to say the least. He’s also strong and brave and alone in a hospital room for four weeks while he recovers from a stem-cell transplant. So, Jeremy and I were so happy to be able to don a mask and gloves and laugh with Neal while he whittles away the days towards recovery.

I raced back up the highway listening to the route guidance lady admonish me to make a U-turn at my earliest convenience. Route Guidance Lady, is completely unfamiliar with 465 traffic patterns in the late afternoon. I scooped up Meredith at preschool while Brandon picked up her creepy birthday cake. More on that in a second…

Meredith’s birthday party with her friends was Thursday afternoon. After much debate, we finally settled on Bounce Planet. Alex had his birthday party there. The kids loved it and I loved the complete convenience. All I have to do is show up with a cake. I can do that! I am normally on top of party planning, but with the month we’ve had, Meredith’s party took a back seat. I didn’t even put the invitations in the mail until TUESDAY!!! It turned into a word-of-mouth party. Sort of like a preschool rave. I have practically no pictures from the party because the lighting is terrible. Between the high ceilings, fluorescent lighting, and bright colors, the light makes everyone look ill.

Here are two of Meredith playing a game.

Happily unaware of my camera:

OVER my camera:

Despite the dirty look, Meredith and her posse had a blast in all the bounce houses, playing the annoying games that require tokens and spit out tickets, and riding low-rent virtual roller coasters. Of course we had cake and ice cream…right before dinner. Considerate of me.

A word about the cake. I get really excited about the kids’ cakes. I don’t like icing, so I’m not really much of a cake eater. However, I’m completely fascinated by what people can do with icing. I watch Ace of Cakes with as much excitement as I watch The Real Housewives. I used to get just as excited about Meet The Press, but I cannot stomach David Gregory. Anyway, I always order a fairly elaborate cake for the kids. What did Meredith want this year? What was her only request?

This frightful confection:

A Barbie cake she spotted in of all places, the Meijer bakery. Blech. I was reminded it was her birthday not mine, and her wish was granted. I worried the kids would be traumatized by cutting into and then eating Barbie’s skirt, but no one flinched. They just shoveled it in. Right. Before. Dinner.