Pall Pesibal

Interpretation: Fall Festival

Last Friday was the School's Annual Fall Festival, or Pall Pesibal if you ask Clara. A fun time was had by all. I had fun asking Clara to say Fall Festival over and over again. One of these days she isn't going to talk with such and impediment and I am going to miss it.

Clara went as a Princess. I made this dress for her and wasn't too happy with how it turned out. I caught the buttress in the skirt while I was putting everything together. (How many women have said that in this century?) Every time I looked at the dress, all I could see was the messed up waist line. Because I was being such a ninny about the costume, I decided to scratch the whole idea and turn her into Pinkalicious. I spent 2 days driving around looking for pink fairy wings. When it came time for the festival she wanted nothing to do with Pinkalicious and wanted to be a princess. By this point, I was done and didn't care. She could be whatever she wanted. Lucky for me, she decided the princess needed wings and a magic wand so the hunt for the wings wasn't a complete loss. (It was at this point in the evening that I decided I need to stop being such a perfectionist.) I thought the costume looked great once it was on with her underskirt and accessories. I didn't have a pattern so I followed this tutorial.

Thomas went as Superman...again. I bought this costume for him when he was 3 and this is the 3rd Halloween he has worn it to the Festival. It's nice to see I'm getting my money's worth. He is going to be a Nascar Driver for the real Halloween.

All By Myself

When I was growing up my dad would sometimes take road trips by himself. It was usually because he had to pick one of us kids up from a camp or event. I remember one time he drove to Washington to see his Dad. He drove the entire way by himself. I couldn't understand what would possess a person to drive all that way alone. Wouldn't he terribly miss his wife and 3 kids? How could he possibly do a 3 day drive without his 3 kids in the car reminding him that they weren't there yet? He would reassure us that he was very capable to drive the distance and was looking forward to driving with the windows down and the music up. He insisted that taking a drive alone was a great thing.

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This morning I had a photo shoot up on Mt. Charleston. It's only a 30 minute drive, not far at all. But when you calculate the time using Mommy Time, 30 minutes is...well, forever. 30 minutes all to my self. 30 minutes to listen to music I wanted to listen to. 30 minutes that I didn't have to tell the kids to stop touching each other. 30 minutes to think and let my mind wonder. In other words, 30 minutes of pure bliss.

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On my way out the door I shoved some CD's into my camera case. I took a handful but knew I only needed one. I stopped by Starbucks and grabbed a raspberry hot chocolate and pumpkin muffin. I thought about the calories I didn't need. Then I remembered fat and calories didn't count when I was driving by myself.

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As I pulled onto the freeway I slid my CD into the player. I sang along to many songs I have not listened to in ages. As far as I'm concerned, Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel and I sounded fantastic together. I drank my Hot Chocolate and leisurely drove up the mountain.

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The photo shoot went great. The weather was incredible and the scenery was gorgeous. We finished up after about and hour and a half. Then I realized I got to do it all over again.

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I took my time coming down the mountain. It was one of the few times I didn't feel the need to rush home and be with the kids and Steve. I pulled the car over and looked at the colorful trees. I moved to the side quite a few times to allow others to pass. I had my windows down and was enjoying the raindrops sneaking in my window. The drive down was even better than the drive up.
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It took about an hour to drive home but this time I don't think I was alone. I felt as if I had a passenger in the car with me. He probably wanted to listen to my music choice because he was the one who taught me to love Simon and Garfunkel. Dad was with me for the ride, whispering in my ear...'see, told you so.'

Insert bugle music here.

I am going to blow my own horn for just a minute because I am pretty stinking proud of this. My super talented graphic design friend, Cathy, referred me to Scott Hammond. He is running for Assembly here in town and needed some shots for his campaign. I was a little apprehensive to take the job, but decided to take a chance and do it.

The pictures turned out great.

My work, enhanced by Cathy's fantastic graphics, is now on eleven MASSIVE A-frames all over town. It's been pretty awesome to drive around and see my work plastered on the side of the road.

In full disclosure, I almost rear-ended someone the other night because I was looking at it as I was driving. It's a good thing I have lightning fast reflexes (except when it comes to falling and breaking elbows).

Best money ever spent.

For the past 3 days I have been paying Thomas to wear his hair curly. It started Sunday afternoon when we were going to take some family pictures. I begged him to wear it curly for the pictures. He was against it. I offered him $2 and he agreed. Yesterday and Today I paid hm $.50/day. He is keeping a running tab and has reminded me many times today that I owe him $1 (I've already paid for Sunday).

I don't think this is the best parenting idea. However, It's been nice to run my fingers through those beautiful, copper curls.

To Clara:

Dear Clara Jane,

Thank you for insisting on wearing your 'pinpess dess' to Wal-Mart yesterday. Your outfit of choice made my day as well as many other shoppers. I wish I could be as uninhibited as you.

I love you.

Love,

Mommy