Jupiter in the Shower

"Mom, we have to get my belly button full of bubbles."

Internet Shopping

Our department added on an extra week or so because New Jersey decided they weren't ready to take on all the processes that they thought they would be. They have taken some of the work, but not all. So we have minimal work to do at the moment. We worked very hard packing and boxing everything up because we thought we would be all done, and now we have nothing.

I hate when I run out of stuff to look at on the internet. I love the internet, but doing it for seven hours a day at work gets old. I'd rather be home trying to get my house clean. (and boy does it need that.) The other day I discovered the King Arthur Flour http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/landing.jsp?go=home&ref=ti&utm_source=Yahoo&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=king+arthur+flour&utm_content=kaf&OVRAW=King%20Arthur%20Flour&OVKEY=king%20arthur%20flour&OVMTC=standard&OVADID=1976401521&OVKWID=18585012521website. Before I knew it I had printed out six recipes, ordered sourdough starter and a crock to keep it in. The sourdough starter was supposedly on backorder until September 2nd. I ordered it Thursday and expected it to come in a week. It came Friday. Then I had to get bottled water to feed the starter. It's like having a pet that lives in your fridge. I fed it for 24 hours and then started the first batch of bread. The dough is rising now.

It would have been a lot simpler to just go to the supermarket or whatever and BUY a loaf of sourdough bread, if I was having a craving. If I had lots of work to do, this wouldn't have happened. I wouldn't have been trolling the internet looking at recipes because they're something that the internet police have not blocked. Never mind that a nice King Arthur flour catalog came in the box and Saturday morning I drooled all over that. I can get my own yogurt machine and make my own yogurt too!!!! And I can get Jupiter her very own 7 inch wooden rolling pin. (That I might get. She loves to pretend cook. Especially with real ingredients. Elmo pointed out to me the other day that while Jupiter is forever telling me not to make her any of my "recipes" for her to eat, she's forever in the kitchen making up her own recipes.) The rolling pin has free shipping, so maybe for Christmas.

Oh, someone fell asleep. Told her she needed a quiet time. The sun is out, so after nap we can go to the playground and swing. And go to the store to buy cat litter. We're all out. Details.

Well, now I can go clean something or I can go sit in the sun and read a book for a half hour. Hmmm...there's a tough call.

church fun

Today we went to cross. Turned out it is Blessing of the Backpacks, which I didn't know until we got there so Jupiter's backpack is at Mimi's. Oh well. Lots of kids don't have their backpacks. Jupiter sits with me and her friend KK, and eats her snack in the first ten minutes. She was right. I should have packed more cheddar bunnies. At least when she's got something to nibble on, she can sit quietly. Jupiter and KK both get bored. They start poking each other. I sit between them for awhile. Then I look over at Jupiter, who has pulled out her shirt. She has a CD hidden in her shirt. I look at the ceiling. Doesn't tell me WHY she has a CD in her shirt. It's a Music Together CD..Maracas collection. She insists she's too grown up for music together CD's, so why she smuggled one to church is beyond me. I take custody of the CD so it doesn't get broken. I LIKE the music together CDs. As we leave communion, Jupiter looks at me and says, "Race you back to our seat." I say no. At the end of the service, during the announcements, Jupiter tells the other kids nearby that she is almost a teenager. The kids in the row in front of us look to me for confirmation. I tell them Jupiter is 5 and a half. Jupiter tells me that I'm too stupid to know she's almost a teenager.

And so we make our traditional trip out to the bench in the narthex for a CHAT. Fr. Tim doesn't realize that we're having a CHAT and comes over to chat. The whole bench break works a lot better when it's not the very end of the service and the narthex is full of people.

She's having quiet time now. Sunday is our only quiet time day in the new school schedule and I plan to take full advantage.

Yesterday we went to the Bounce Zone http://www.smsportszone.com/bouncezone-saco-maine.php . It's essentially a big warehouse filled with myriad bouncy houses that you can go to for $7 an hour or $10 if you want to spend as long as you want. What a concept. Wish I'd thought of it myself, in fact. We spent two hours reaching our sensory threshold. She banged her head against the back seat of the car all the way to the Bounce Zone but not at all on the way home. I LOVE Bounce Zone.

Summer OT group is all done now. Kindy Step up Day is on Wednesday. First day of school is Thursday. Friday they're off for Labor Day Weekend. I can't believe it's September!!

If I can talk, I'm still alive

I think that's what she said. We were in the car on the way to Popsicles on the Playground with the Principals, and she was wiggling her loose tooth. She figured she could still talk missing teeth, so she would live.

She proceeded to lose tooth number four at the picnic table at Popsicles on the Playground with the Principals. The Principals were very happy for her, and gave her an extra popsicle. A great way to get on her good side.

Last week we had a "quick"meet and greet with Jupiter's teacher. We stayed an hour. Jupiter dragged me around the room, and Mrs. VerdantLand showed Jupiter, first thing, the place where she could go if she got anxious or needed some quiet time. We read a book there. Jupiter saw the bathroom twice. The teacher has a lot of posters hanging in the little bathroom. I better warn her Jupiter will get distracted and forget to come OUT of the bathroom. We met a couple of friends who will be in her class...nobody she already knows though.

The next day, Jupiter went back to the primary school with Mimi to drop off some empty paper towel rolls with Mrs. VerdantLand. Mimi started talking to one of the other teachers and Jupiter consented to go with Mrs. VerdantLand to their classroom WITHOUT MIMI. Mimi stayed in the hall to finish her conversation. Jupiter checked on her one time and Mimi was still in the same place, so she went back and helped her teacher and talked to her quite a bit, I hear. And then, in the car on the way to the gym, Jupiter said to me, "I'm not so scared about staying at school and Mimi being at home now."

Whoa. Did she actually just say those words??? Yes, she did. Of course its not actually the first day of school yet, but she's at least considering the possibility. And she's properly labeling her feelings to boot.

Tomorrow's the last day of summer OT group. Bummer. The OT said she would put some info on paper for Jupiter's classroom teacher about strategies. Mrs. VerdantLand said that whatever Jupiter needs us to do for her to be successful is what we will do. Quote.

We are so blessed to be where we are and in a place where people are supportive and helpful. I am grateful.

Bedtime suprise

Yesterday when I was done posting to my blog, Jupiter was still awake. She had a long nap yesterday afternoon and I didn't think she would go to sleep early. And so she didn't. But when her music ended she asked me to turn the music off and lay down with her. So I did.

Sometimes that doesn't work well for sleeping. Often it deteriorates into her pushing and kicking at me. But last night she took my arm and placed it around her so we could snuggle. She made eye contact for a few minutes. Then she closed her eyes and went to sleep while we were snuggling.

It was so awesome.

endpost.

vacation pic's not taken by Jupiter

Mom, it's so hot my smile is falling down

This is what Jupiter said to me during our one and only truly hot day last summer. I thought it was such a beautiful way to express how the hot weather makes her feel. She can't stand the heat. The heat has finally shown up here and lasted a full five days. I enjoy the hot summer weather in a way most people don't. Especially my daughter. It's like it sucks the life force out of her. I understand how she feels; it's the way I feel in January when the high is 12 degrees and it's all I can do to get out of bed.

I'm back at work now. Basically finishing stuff up so the department can transfer to New Jersey. And we've started the new schedule, so I'm going to work at 7:30 and working until 3:30. At 9:30 this morning I looked at my computer and said "I've only been here two hours?"

This is not good. I know it's a necessary change, but I didn't realize the change would be so hard on ME. I was filing stuff this afternoon (because of course the wisdom dictates that we file everything in order before we take it out of the file cabinets to send either to storage or New Jersey.) and considered decorating all the file folders with glitter before sending them to New Jersey. One of my workmates then considered sending them an empty box with nothing in it, just so they can try to figure out what it was and where it went. (which reminds me of the year my sister's chorus teacher and a group of kids made up a fake kid named Hugh Simpson. They actually got a fake schedule for him with real teachers and it drove the teachers crazy until they figured out it was a joke. Anyway, back to the regurarly scheduled post.) I didn't think it was EVER going to be 3:30 today.

But tomorrow I get to leave early to take Jupiter to the dentist. Of course they didn't have any appointments the last two weeks when I didn't have to work anyway. So that's on the schedule for tomorrow. Thursday we go to school for a quick meet and greet with Jupiter's teacher. Can't believe it's almost time for school already. Where did the summer go?