It’s been very quiet without Tim here during the day. Mom has also been gone earlier than usual, Emily is only around during lunch, and Dad is home after lunch. Often I have no one to consider other than Sara Ellen and myself and consequently have gotten a lot done. Like personal errands, and Christmas shopping.
But before any daily details… HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY SARA ELLEN!
What a wonderful little two year old I have.
Last Friday, we hung out at the mall in the morning. Went to playtown, ate lunch, and bought some christmas gifts before picking up Emily. In the evening we shared a very nice pizza and a movie night with Nana and Papa. I can’t remember anything about Saturday. Sunday Emily made oatmeal for breakfast and she and I went to worship while Sara Ellen hung out with Miss June in the nursery. Sadly Miss June is asking for a replacement as she has been serving there for a long while. Sara Ellen has gotten used to her and is very comfortable, especially when she is joined by other children. We decided to do another Homestead Garden trip and after lunch at Potbelly’s went right down so we could return in time before taking Emily to Nutcracker rehearsal. Speaking of which…
Chesapeake Ballet Company dances The Nutcracker December 15 at 7:00 and December 16 at 3:00 at the Chesapeake Arts Center 194 Hammonds Lane Brooklyn Park, MD.
Monday was a beautifully productive day. I’ve joined freecycle and picked up some Christmas greens from another member. What I got was amazing! Two kitchen bags full of poinsettia, holly, and rose garlands, single gold-tipped poinsettias, 5 potted poinsettias, and more. When I got home Dad took Sara Ellen on a *cold* walk to beach and I decorated. The house is so festive now, wahoo! I also dropped off old costumes to the AACo Board of Ed as I was told someone can reuse them. I also dropped off a suitcase of my old clothes to the YWCA to help battered women who’ve run away with nothing. In the evening someone picked up formal dresses I was freecycling. At ballet we began with a pointe bar and I was reasonably happy with myself. The costume poster is up! I took pictures but I can’t get them off my phone yet. I do have a picture of my little princess in a Cinderella costume I brought home. 
I watched the Heros Volume 2 finale but wasn’t terribly captivated. A certain villian has his powers back and several heros are dead.
Tuesday was another good day. In the afternoon Sara Ellen and I accompanied Dad on a Christmas research mission. We started with lunch at Johnny Rockets and made a good start. Sara Ellen even got to visit Playtown. If you haven’t figured this out, it’s one of her favorite places. We also visited Toys ‘R Us so I could look into small gym sets. I found one I liked but even better than that, Dad said he and Mom wanted to help get a full swing set for the birthday girl. We found one that looked like one they bought for me 24 years ago and it was on sale! We paid for it right then. Awesome! For soup night I put a bunch of veggies (corn, carrot, celery, sweet potato, garlic) in veggie broth and boiled, very yummy and warm on a cold night. I picked Emily up and she treated me to chai at Safeway while she ran an errand. I even got more christmas shopping done. I had a great time at modern but the energy was quite a bit lower with a certain olive-skinned brunette no feeling so well, and two girls missing. We did a really neat combination I hope we might use again. When I got home I found Sara Ellen having a grand old time in the bath tub. But I washed her hair and that is not the happiest moment.
Wednesday, we woke up to snow! We had a good breakfast and went outside to play a game we ended up calling “ta-da”. I had a sandcastle form, stuffed it with snow, counted to three, smacked it on the street and said ta-da when i picked up the form revealing the tower. Sara Ellen really enjoyed this. Once I suggested it, she enjoyed tromping on them. She tried it again with Emily during lunch but in the backyard so there wasn’t much smacking possible on the snow-covered leaf piles. I took some pictures but didn’t use the flash so most are pretty dark. At ballet I was very happy with my pointe work. I’m not saying it was great, just that I was happy with it. I kept them on the whole time (this is center only) and even did pirouettes! I was always to scared to do them as a kid. I was so excited!!
Today Sara Ellen opened presents from Aunt Corri in bed, then we played in the snow and made snow-bunnies (”Ta-da” with a bunny form). More presents came in the mail, tights from great-grandparents, and a Disney Princess magnetic drawing board from my friend Sara. Sara Ellen fell asleep on the way back from returning Emily to work and I spoke to Tim for a while. We’re all excited for him to return in two days. After her nap Sara Ellen watched Finding Nemo while I went to the store for dinner and party food and picked up Emily. I am making taco soup and mac ‘n cheese soup for the party Sunday. Hopefully we can get the swing set up before long.
