Shoulda Stood in Bed

This week finds me knee-deep in loan documents and commercial leases at work and slightly more than a week away from the carnival that I am co-chairing for Connor's school. Today also was Parker's birthday. The plan was for me to pick up cupcakes at lunch and take them to preschool prior to the 3 pm snack hour. Here's how things actually went down:

12:00 - Realized that wasn't going to make it out of building for lunch. Resolved to pick up cupcakes on way to school. Became aware of gnawing hunger threatening to cause me to pass out. Tossed wallet to assistant and sent her on sandwich run.
12:05 - Accepted chicken salad sandwich, wallet and change from said assistant. Devoured sandwich. Wallet and change absorbed by pile of documents on desk.
12:20 - Ran over hem of new skirt with desk chair. Ripped said skirt. Pulled abdominal muscle craning around to see how much damage had been done to skirt.
2:10 - Became aware of time. Grabbed purse and change but not wallet.
2:30 - Arrived at front of "10 items or less" line at Super Target, patting self on back for expedited manner in which cupcakes and related items had been procured. Realized that did not have wallet. Begged checker to keep items at register.
2:31 - Conducted thorough search of car. No wallet.
2:32 - Placed outgoing call #1, to office. Confirmed wallet was still on desk.
2:33 - Placed outgoing call #2, to spouse. Begged for rescue and arranged to meet spouse in parking lot.
2:34 - Placed outgoing call #3, to elementary school. Explained that was "stranded," husband was "rescuing," and oldest child would need to wait at school for pickup. (Avoided mentioning cupcakes and lack of wallet, lest emergency sound - well, kind of pathetic.)
2:35 - Placed outgoing call #4, to preschool. Begged for delayed snacktime start.
2:36 - Decided to walk to beauty supply store across parking lot and purchase colored hair spray for oldest son's Halloween costume. Forgot lack of wallet. Selected can of $4.19 purple hair spray. Remembered lack of wallet. Located $4.20 in loose change and bills in purse, which was insufficient to cover price plus tax. Muttered to self and begged checker #2 to keep item at register.
2:40 - Received incoming call #1, from spouse, who was block away. Spouse sheepishly admitted that he had left without own wallet.
2:40 plus 1 second - Cursed spouse in front of God and country in Montgomery Plaza Super Target parking lot.
2:41 - Placed outgoing call #5, to preschool. Begged for further snacktime delay.
2:41-2:55 - Waited for spouse at location equidistant between Sally Beauty Supply and Super Target. Considered crying and/or throwing self in front of moving vehicle.
2:55 - Caught twenty dollar bills thrown by spouse of out of moving car window.
2:56 - Discovered that purple hair spray was on sale for $3.20 and therefore could have been purchased twenty minutes prior.
3:00-3:18 - Hit every light between Super Target and Baylor All Saints.
3:20 - Realized that pumpkin pull-apart cupcake cake covered in way too much orange and black icing was not going to win points with preschool teachers, particularly given twenty-minute snacktime delay. Insisted on cleaning up mess and kissed up to preschool teachers in every other manner possible.
3:45 - Arrived back at office. Noticed six-inch swath of orange cupcake icing on jacket sleeve.

All's well that ends well. The class loved the cupcakes (as did the office folks who benefited from the leftovers), and - total control freak (or "troll freak," in Parker-speak) that he is - Parker appreciated knowing that he had Mom and Dad running fire drills on his behalf. Connor griped a little about being marooned, but not as much as he griped about the colored hair spray, which apparently was "too lavender" and "not a true Yu-Gi-Oh purple."

Halloween House

I've made a pledge not to acquire any Halloween decorations this season, no matter how cute or deeply discounted they may be. These photos will explain why.

Our Twelfth Anniversary

"We were friends for a long time. And then we weren't. And then we fell in love."

It was twelve years ago that this Sally married her Harry. Our anniversary fell on a weekend that was booked solid with school events, a masquerade ball and a softball tournament (how's that for variety?), so we celebrated the occasion amidst family and good friends. We did manage to find a couple of hours in between in which to sneak off to The Ginger Man for a couple of beers and some deep conversation, reminiscent of our early (best-friend, pre-dating) days at the Crown & Anchor Pub in Austin. The conversation topics have evolved over the years, but it's nice to know that, two kids, a mortgage and a lot of "life experience" later, we still comfortably share the one brain.

Adding to the deja vu feeling - (1) the discovery that one of my masked ball cohorts (a relatively recent friend addition) was in a spirit organization with me at UT (I KNEW that I knew her when I met her - I just couldn't place her in that time period) and (2) the sight of all of the softball tourney participants running around in t-shirts that I had designed. Shades of college days . . . . Photo is of Culinary Arts' adorable (cupcake-themed) entry into the base-decorating contest.

It's Fall, Y'all!

. . . and most of my current painting projects reflect that fact. Attached are a couple of Halloween canvases that I completed this month (one for a customer and one "just because"), along with a selection of "college princess" canvases. (These have been hot items this year. I particularly like how the Tech one turned out - it was a special order for my friend Robyn.)

Treats and Tricks for Little Cooks

Last weekend we hosted the children of Culinary Arts members for an afternoon of kitchen-related fun. Well, that was the plan . . . . I baked 72 cupcakes and another mom baked a gross (literally) of cookies. I figured that the kids would decorate and eat some items on the premises and take the rest home. Obviously, it had been awhile since I threw one of these shindigs. True to form, the kids decorated a token few items (with the exception of Miss Matilda, who filled a tray with her creations . . . and then wanted nothing more to do with them), and then split into two camps - the boys went off to play with the boy toys, and the girls heaped much love on the pets. Likewise, when we went outside to make party crackers and candy necklaces, the young guests were much more interested in playing dress up (I had put out a couple of buckets of costumes as "filler" in case the scheduled activities ran short). I'd share some photos of the kids looking adorable in their (very creative) ensembles, but I never got around to taking pictures. You know that a party was a success when, at the end of the event, you realize that you never stopped to take photos! (As one of the grown-up party guests pointed out, you also know that a party is a success when someone gets naked . . . the streaker in question? My youngest!)

Oh, Anniversary Tree . . . .

My parents called me at work this morning to advise that they had purchased a tree for us for our anniversary and for Parnell's birthday. He has been wanting a "colorful" tree for some time, and I would say that this one fits the bill. It is an "Autumn Fantasy" silver/red maple cross and apparently has all of the tree bells and whistles (drought- and diseased-resistant, seedless, upright grower, maintains its own shape and displays tons of fall color). I have named it Tim Horton (a red-leafed maple should have a Canuck name, and IMHO Tim Horton makes the best hamburger in North America and deserves to have a tree named after him).

Delivery had been scheduled for Saturday morning, but Parnell pushed it back, as we have fifteen or so kids invading the house for a pre-Halloween party. (I, on the other hand, suggested incorporating the tree into the party - we could requisition shovels and put them all to work? Call it a treasure hunt?)

Normal people buy sweaters and Best Buy cards as gifts. I am not descended from normal people, as perhaps is evidenced by the fact that I am considering constructing a small tree fort and ladder out of popsicle sticks (Connor keeps begging us for a treehouse, but he never specified his desired dimensions . . . .).