Wednesday

Today was a good day. I met with Missy, who is going to co-coordinate the nursery with me, which I am super excited, not only for the help but I think she has some really great ideas and talents to bring to the ministry. I also think we will work well together. The meeting went well, we got some stuff done, some plans made and some problems solved. Then Sherry took us to lunch at Panera (yummm.. creamy tomato soup with asiago croutons).
I went back to my Mom's and we were very happy to find that Missy's son had a great time playing with my kids and my nephew. Then my mom's neigbors came over from across the street and helped me figure out what to do about Anna's dress. The blue one is now too small. We will go with the ivory and Marie (the neighbor) is going to make a really pretty sash and attach some of the ivory flowers from the sash that came with the dress. She seemed very confident about the whole thing, and very certain that the blue dress was way too small and that flower girls should be in white or ivory. So that's what I needed. Someone just to be kind of pushy and nudge me in the right direction (or any direction that means progress, really).
Then I spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out with the kids and T, my nephew. I came home and Dave had gotten Chinese for dinner (which Anna asks for specifially all the time; the kids wolf down the chicken and brocoli, white rice and wonton soup, I know it's probably too high in salt so we try to leave most of the sauce in the serving containers. I got mixed vegetables, just plain (I hate the gelatinous garlic sauce they normally use. I also ate a few pieces of Dave's general Tso's chicken, which is really nasty mystery meat but does taste delicious. The secret to eating it is to avoid making eye contact, and to never, ever cut it open with your fork. It makes me shudder just thinking about it.
Then I was off to enjoy my Mother's Day Gift: my first facial ever. I got the pumpkin pie facial. It's like an hour of heaven, except for when they paint the burning peel on your face, or when they extract all the gunk from your pores with this sharp metal thing. But it included some very relaxing massage to my chest, neck and arms, and face, and the steam was fabulous for my sinuses. It was just so entertaining! There were so many steps. Clean your face twice, soak with hot towel, examine skin closely, apply peel, apply foamy stuff, hot towel, extractions, toner, wash face, mask, massage, cleanse, tone, moisturize. And the lavender water cotton balls over your eyes! Then the warm aromatherapy pillow on your face. It was just so luxurious ! The room was so dark and pretty and quiet, and the music was a little more elevator than new age, which in my opinion is better. I seriously think I may have missed my calling. God knows how much I love products, and she had so MANY of them. Like a huge stockpile of Dermatologica.
And I adore, adore picking skin. To get to push blackheads out for a living? I mean, come on! I love it when Dave lets me pop a zit or work on an ingrown hair. I know it's not really just quirky, it's disgusting. But I love to pull splinters out, peel sunburns, oil my kids heads and scrape all the cradle cap off, pluck eyebrows, work on ingrown toenails....... Maybe I am just really a gross person. Probably. Most probably definitely.
Anyways, the facial was fantastic. I smell like a piece of pumpkin pie with a nice cup of chai tea on the side. I was so relaxed afterwards that I could barely figure out my credit card receipt. Then I just could not go home! I went to Wild Oats (they are closing, and EVERYTHING is 30% off. I browsed around, purchasing two tubes of tomato paste (the kind you keep in the fridge instead of the stupid can where you use a third of it and throw it away), a cooking magazine, and some body lotion. Next I went to Starbucks. For the first time ever, the coffee had no power over me. I have not had one ounce since Sunday, which is pretty awesome. I sort of had a revelation while I was chugging my latte and trying to avoid looking at a man holding a hungry homeless sign at the intersection. It just seemed absurdly wasteful and I decided I needed to get some control over my coffee/latte/americano addiction.
I got a black hot tea and a raspberry apricot jam scone. I sat for an entire hour and graded papers for my tutoring student. This was like heaven to me. Correcting grammar, yummy treat, no interruptions?????
So it's been a good day, even though my steroids are making me a little MANIC and HUngry and my antibiotic is making me sick and hurting my stomach. So it's like I am starving but I don't want to eat anything. Which I guess with my brother's wedding coming up so soon, may be a blessing. The tailors give me my final fitting on Saturday. They demanded I be there at 800 am. I had better fit into the dress, I am a little afraid of what they might say. THose are some pretty fierce old ladies.