school daze

so yeah, it's actually been a couple of weeks now since the bean's very first day of school in her transitional kindergarten class.  and because we've been so busy with all sorts of other fun stuff, i thought maybe i'd just skip sharing the pictures of that super important day.

but who am i kidding?  of course i have to post 'em - memories like these are exactly why i started this blog to begin with.  i've been perusing old posts from two and three and five (!!) years ago, and the walk down memory lane has been really fun.  and in a handful of years when she's going through her own elementary school promotion ceremony like her sister before her, she'll get a kick out of seeing this kind of stuff.

because the bean has always had a relatively late bedtime in the past, i'd been actively working on pushing it up further and further as this day loomed near.  and we're finally in a nice routine on school nights:  dinner by 7:30, shower at 8, unwinding and relaxing and then in bed by 9.  i know that's still on the late-ish side, but it's working for us.

on that morning, as she munched on some eggs for breakfast, i got her lunch ready.  it is so weird to be doing this again - the teen hasn't had a lunch box in forever.

knowing that the first day of school is always a major cluster at any school, we made sure to leave nice and early.  like the majority of parents there, i had my camera in hand.  since she's not old enough yet to realize that this is supposed to be embarrassing as all hell, she was all too willing to let me take as many pictures as i wanted.

we played a round of tetherball before i encouraged her to head over to the playground and make some friends.

it didn't take long.

although when they headed over to join in the game of tag that a bunch of other kids were playing, she let go of her new friend's hand and hung back to watch.  that endearing gesture of tugging on her earlobe told me she was feeling a little out of her element.

when the bell rang, she froze into place as instructed.  and then when the playground attendants blew the whistle, signaling that it was time to get in line with their classes, she followed the other kids and found her place.

i blew her a kiss and found a spot in the back with the other parents, and watched her as she stood quietly and listened to the attendants as they introduced themselves and gave them some basic instructions about how their mornings would go.  i waved at her as she turned around, and although she  looked a little concerned when she didn't see me right away, worry turned to relief as she realized that i was still there.

then it was her turn to wave happily at me as she and her classmates followed their teacher into the building, off to start their day and learn some stuff.

as for me, i joined the cluster of folks who were heading over to the parents' breakfast.  and apparently, there have been lots of tears shed over the years on that first day.  look, there were tears of joy packets!

the school principal came in to greet everyone and answer questions.  he, uh, also read us a story.  yup.

i'm not gonna lie - i'd been dreading this day for weeks.  preschool was easy - three hours a day, three times a week.  just enough time to get some stuff done and have some me time, and then spending the rest of the day together doing whatever we wanted.  but all of a sudden, i was facing six hours a day, every weekday, with just me.  and the dog.  now, you'd think this was fabulous - more time to myself, right?  and i'll admit that i was already planning ahead, scooping up groupon deals for yoga and barre classes to do while both girls were in school.  but i missed her.  sigh.

and so when q&a time was over, leaving me free for the next five hours, what did i do?  well, i'll tell you:  i took myself out to breakfast.

i managed to kill an hour, enjoying a leisurely meal all by myself, looking at the photos i'd taken and mulling over what else i could do until it was time to pick her up.  and i found myself in the old routine i'd been in during those preschool hours - only this time, i didn't have to stress over getting everything done before 11:30.

when it was finally time, i headed back to school rather eagerly - and not exactly alone.  i'd picked up a cute little toy and put it in her seat so that she'd find him when she opened the car door.

it was fun to watch her delighted expression when the door opened and i was the first thing she saw.

and of course, she was really excited to find my little surprise.

mah baby!  oh, how the time has flown by.  and it only gets faster and faster from here on out.

a weird start, but ended with a bang

i kicked off my actual birthday with a training run.  after all, i was a little behind from being sick, and i figured it wouldn't hurt to play a little catch-up, even on my special pretty pretty princess day.  and right as i grabbed my towel after my shower, i heard the doorbell, followed closely by the sound of my mom's voice. 

i rushed through getting dressed and putting my face on and then headed out to receive a big smile and a birthday hug from my mama.  well, and something else, too - she'd tweeted me last week to say that she'd gotten me a fabulous present that she was dying to give me.  i was, of course, dying of curiosity as to what it was, and her excitement was definitely warranted:

pretty sweet, right?  i'm pretty easy to buy for - hello kitty anything is ooh'ed and aah'ed over by me. 

it was nice to see my mom that morning, and she got a little face time with MIL too.  but the clock was ticking, and we had a 1.5-hour drive ahead of us to get to GGM's memorial service.  so she hung out as long as she could and then made a quick exit as we finished getting ready. 

hey, if i had to go to a friggin' funeral on my big milestone birthday, at least i looked cute.

i'll spare you the details of the service, but suffice it to say that the highlight of it for me was the "adaptation" of a rhianna song.  it started out with "nana, when the sun shines we'll shine together" and ended with "nana, you can stand under my umbrella."  we figured that it was likely that less than 5 people in the church had any idea who rhianna was, and when the recitation was over i heard murmurs of "oh, that was so beautiful." 

aaaaanyway...

the bean fell asleep in the car on the way back, and when we got home i managed to slip away for a much-needed mani/pedi.  and i went all out, accepting every extra those sly women threw my way.  paraffin wax?  sure.  deluxe pedicure with various scrubs and moisturizers?  okay.  extra bonus massage time on my hands and arms?  hey, why not?  when all was said and done, my total even before tip was...a lot.

when i got home, the bean was still down for the count but woke up about ten minutes later.  with MIL gone to take FIL to the airport for his flight home (yeah, he was home for just barely two days, just for me), we piled into the car with brother wan for points unknown.  well, unknown to me and the bean. 

the hub had asked me weeks ago what i wanted for my birthday.  i mentioned before that i really, really wanted disneyland annual passes for all of us so that we could go and have some fun, riding rides, grab some dinner, watch fireworks whenever the hell we pleased.  the hub initially rejected this idea, considering the - uh - financial investment this entailed, and asked me if i wouldn't rather have a new computer instead.  even though the latter would be much more practical, i didn't want to be practical on my birthday, dang it.  it's always more fun to be a little frivolous. 

so when we ended up at downtown disney with the hub toting this:

i was really hopeful.  although that box could've contained anything - a pair of shoes, a handbag (which i'd also said i would love, since i still have yet to add a tory burch or marc jacobs to my collection).  and then the bean took hold of it and handed it to me.

the box was light as a feather.  heh. 

when we headed over to the security checkpoint, i kind of had a feeling that they weren't gonna let us go through without seeing what was in that box.  with the hub carrying it behind me, i went through and had my bag checked and then as he explained to the staff that it was a birthday present, i watched the guy shake his head and tell him that he was sorry, but the box would need to be opened before they could allow him through with it.

and so we stepped off to the side, i ripped the paper off, and did a gleeful happy dance as i pushed the tissue paper aside to find a year's worth of fun at the happiest place on earth.

redeeming them at one of the ticket booths was a bit of a process, as we managed to get a "cast member" who wasn't exactly feeling the disney magic.  she was old and grumpy, and tried to pawn us off on another window (which would've required getting back in the line), but we finally got through and i got a special button to wear.

this button alerts all cast members that you encounter that it's your special day, and i grinned and chirped a cheerful "thank you" about a zillion times everywhere we went.

sadly, the blue bayou restaurant was closed - looked like it's being remodeled.  bummer.  so we settled for a quick dinner on main street, rode the "nemo" ride for the bean, and then settled in for the fireworks show.  so nice of disney to celebrate my birthday with such a fantastic display of pyrotechnics.  heh.

look, it's mickey!

as we followed the giant crowd towards the exit, i tried to capture a bit of the halloween decor that's already in place.

we'd discovered that MIL had misplaced her keys, but thought she'd likely locked them in the car.  the hub and i went to get ours while brother wan rode the tram with her, and then we set off to try and find them in the 10,000-car structure.  it wasn't easy, and we ended up being stopped by security as we went back around for the third time to get to the right level.  turns out you have to be escorted by a member of their security team if you're going in there after a certain hour.  just like having to open that wrapped box before being allowed in, there were lots of security-related rules in place as a result of 9/11.

MIL had called AAA for assistance, but was told it could be up to an hour before they arrived.  but the security guard informed us that there were blue emergency buttons sprinkled throughout each floor.  all we had to do was push one and someone would come to help us - and they were usually equipped with some basic tools.  by the time we found her and brother wan, they'd already been helped out by another member of security wielding a slim jim.

as we sailed through the mostly-empty structure on our way out, i tried to get a picture of one of the blue buttons.  of course, i failed.

but you get the picture.  now, see?  if you ever have car trouble while parked at disneyland...look for a blue button.  quicker than AAA, and done with a smile.

much like the one on my face from the moment we arrived till the very second we swung back onto the freeway towards home.  yo, i have a full YEAR of fun ahead of me!  with her awesome school schedule that lets her out at lunchtime every day, the teen and i are already planning on heading to disneyland at least once every couple of weeks right after school.  woo-hoo!

i can't wait.

the hub has an iBirthday

so the hub's birthday was this weekend.

before she left, MIL and i had placed an order online for a joint birthday present.  i'd actually been saving for a while in an effort to buy it myself, but when she heard about it she asked if she and FIL could chip in for it.  and since it was rather pricey and i actually hadn't saved quite enough, hey...

and what was this very special present that had me saving my pennies for months?  well, something that the hub would never, ever buy for himself.  and yet i'd caught him perusing the website for it quite a few times. something so in demand that it took several weeks for it to be delivered, arriving a mere two days before i needed it:

i'd ordered it the very day it came out - march 11th.  and when i got the e-mail confirmation of my order, it said that it wasn't even scheduled to even be shipped out until april 1st, leaving me in quite a pickle.  although i'd ordered a smart cover to go with it, which i'd received about a week later.  i figured i could just give him that on his actual birthday, and then the iPad would arrive a few days after that.

and then last weekend i got the shipment confirmation e-mail.  the thing was coming from china to hong kong to alaska to oakland, and finally to los angeles.  i was skeptical about it actually getting here on time, but as i tracked that shipment online like a madwoman, fedex came through and i happily stopped at the mailbox to pick it up.

i'm awful at keeping secrets.  especially when it's about a great present that i'm dying to give.  i just love seeing the reaction it gets, particularly when i know for damn sure it's coming way outta left field.  so i'd been practically bursting at the seams for the last several weeks, so ready for april 2nd to roll around so i could finally give my husband the gift he'd never see coming.

the teen had seen him looking at the iPad website a few times herself, and she said "mom, what if he just goes crazy and decides to buy it?  he was looking at it at best buy when we went!"  but i knew better:  "he won't.  he'd buy it for someone else before he'd spend the money on himself."

it was so fun to watch him open it when the bean handed the brightly wrapped box to him.  he was really surprised, and when i asked him what he thought it might have been, "a book" was his answer.  at first, he tried to tell me he'd take mine and i could have the new one, but no way.  sure, i'd love to have a fun new toy with cameras and FaceTime and all that stuff, but it wasn't MY birthday.

well, sort of, i guess, huh?  whee!  happy birthday (again) to my dear husband!  look, now we're a 2-iPad family.

and now i won't have to wait my turn to play with mine anymore.  muahahahahahaha!