We cracked open the Florida adventures cards I got for Mother’s Day and had our first adventure at a splatter room in Gainesville. I still think we came out looking way too clean, but it is thoroughly satisfying to throw paint around a room for an hour. I will not say we left with works of art, but we did leave in a good mood.
Tag: christina
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May 21
Christina had her science fair today and it was really cool! Everyone in fifth grade was assigned an experiment and had to present their methodology and results to an audience of milling parents. The demonstrations, presentations, and visuals were very well executed, and the kids really knew their stuff. They answered all my oddball questions without batting an eye (or even rolling an eye). And there were some neat experiments. One of Christina’s friends built a solar oven and baked cookies in it! Christina’s experiment had to do with circuits and which circuit operated faster – a fan or a light bulb. Everyone guessed light bulb, but Christina’s experiment proved us all wrong! You can’t argue with science!*
*Unless you’re a Republican.
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May 20
Christina had her fifth grade graduation today. It was a nice ceremony. Christina did not seem engaged, although she did give a speech with a couple of her classmates, and she did allow me to take one picture at the photo booth (but with no props). She had ordered an outfit in advance, but then didn’t wear it. She said it didn’t match. We offered to take her home afterwards, but she said no, which pissed off her sister, who would have gotten to come home with her. Even with all this, it was a good ceremony, and I think Christina appreciated it despite herself. Couple days left and then we’ll officially be out of the elementary school era. Something about that makes me sad. But I’m also excited to see what comes next. Proud of both my girls.
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May 11
Had a really good Mother’s Day. Colleen came over with the boys for a bagel breakfast and then the girls and I went out for haircuts. They all came out great, but Christina was disappointed with her straightened hair. Lesson learned on that one. Billy and the kids gave me this really neat set of scratch-off cards for different places in Florida, each with something to do there. I’m looking forward to making our way through them. As usual, I can’t believe the weekend is already over. They go too fast.
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May 5
Christina showed up at the dance studio for picture day but walked out as soon as she walked in, asking to go home. We missed her scheduled picture day because we were out of town for cheer, and when we got there today, she was surrounded by little girls in matching tutus and she felt completely out of place. So we came home and did the shoot ourselves. It was her idea to shoot in her room, which just seemed kind of perfect. It’s the epitome of her. I had fun doing this with her, and I’m kind of glad we decided to come home.
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April 26
Christina had another great day of competition today. “Let It Be” won first in the category, second in the level 1 small group category, and was one of only three teams in all of level 1 that received a nomination to go to the world championships in NYC in July. She was so excited, as well she should be! I’m so proud of her.
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April 25
We gave this self publishing kit to Christina for her 10th birthday. She loved the idea of it so much that she was afraid to use it in case she messed it up. She wrote a bunch of stories, but none of them seemed good enough to publish. In the end, she decided to use a series of stories she wrote a few years earlier: The Collections of My Friend Zombia. She literally spent more than a year transcribing the stories onto the provided pages and then illustrating them. She finally finished it about a month ago, long after I’d given up hope that it’d ever be finished. Somehow she’d managed to hold on to all the paperwork that went along with the kit and we managed to get it sent off. It arrived today and it is really the work of a true artist. I say that as the artist’s mother, knowing full well that I am biased, but I love it. It’s a story about a girl and her zombie friend, and another friend who can’t handle the idea of being friends with a zombie, so she blows herself up at the mall in front of both of them. And they live happily ever after. Well, some of them do.
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April 19
It was a busy day. Gym for a run this morning, then food shopping, dyeing eggs (we tried the Cool Whip method this year with marginal success), and then I went out for pizza with Lauren and Monica. While I was out, Robin and Billy baked jelly bean sugar cookies that are actually quite tasty! I’m looking forward to a relaxing evening from here out.
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April 16
It is so annoying dealing with the pharmacy. I’m going on three days without a medication after being told for days, “It’ll be ready by 11.” I can barely function right now. I’m glad this medication works, but it is ALWAYS a pain in the ass to refill. I go through this every month and I’m getting tired of it. And also just tired.
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March 9
Christina’s performances were both really good! Apparently one of her teammates was sick, so they had to perform without her. We never even noticed! The production dance was so entertaining – it really woke up a crowd that was falling asleep. We didn’t stay for awards because they were more than an hour behind schedule and we wouldn’t have gotten home until midnight, so I don’t know how they did overall. I’m sure Christina’s friends will fill her in! They looked phenomenal to me.
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February 25
I’m a big fan of all the family time we’ve been having lately. Tuesday family game night has proved to be particularly awesome. It was my turn to pick a game tonight, so I picked Pictionary. Robin and I are kind of a dream team. You should have seen her picture of a harmonica. I have no idea how I guessed it. Magic, I guess.
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February 23
We attempted an escape room today. Billy and the girls had never done it before and I thought it’d be fun. It turns out we are not all that good at puzzles. It took us almost 20 minutes to solve the first one, which didn’t leave much time for anything else. But I think everyone had fun and now we HAVE to try again.
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February 21
This has felt like a very long short week. I have been working without breaks all day, often not bothering to stop and eat, and going directly into cheer and dance schedules without any transitioning. There was a book I used to read to my mom when I was little, called Rest, Rabbit, Rest. Rabbit kept a schedule down to the minute, even scheduling time for scheduling time. He never scheduled any time to rest. Healthy Hippo told him to try yoga. Kidding Kangaroo tried to spray him with water when he wasn’t looking. Zany Zebra recorded a tape for Rabbit to listen to later when Rabbit said he was too busy to talk. The tape told Rabbit how much life he was missing by over-living his life. Rabbit was disgusted until all his friends came and did everything on his schedule for the whole week! Rabbit was left with nothing to do and had no idea how to do nothing. So what did he do? Do you think he laid on the couch taking a nap? No, he did not! He created a schedule for relaxing! Time to go stargazing, time to listen to music… My mom always said I was just like Rabbit, and she wasn’t wrong. If I’m not busy, I feel like a waste of space. But I guess sometimes it’s important to just… stop. Not make any octopuses or socks or write a novel or even hike a trail. Just… stop. I think I’ll make that my goal this weekend. To accomplish absolutely nothing. I think I am unlikely to succeed. But even a little bit of nothing is better than something. Or something like that. Dude, it’s time for bed.
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February 15
Christina and I got pedicures today. I also bought myself a bikini – the first one I have dared to buy in probably at least 20 years. Robin and Christina said it looks good on me, and they’re usually pretty quick to say when something doesn’t look good on me. We also went food shopping in like 45 minutes from the time we left to the time we put away the last item in the fridge. So it’s been a pretty good day.
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February 8
Christina had a dance performance at the Riverside Arts Market on a foggy Saturday morning. I loved getting to watch her. They look so great!
