Did you all make it through Valentine’s Day? I know some people find it hard to make time for it, me included, but I got a nice surprise from The Hub. The Teen had been selling Singing Serenades to raise money for his choir group and unbeknownst to me, The Hub bought one for me.
After dinner, we grabbed some dessert and then he drove me to the park, which I thought was a little odd. He said that The Girl wanted to ride her scooter. Riiiight. That was a tip-off but I didn’t care. If you want to check out the serenade, click here. You’ll probably recognize The Teen down front. I was surprised and pleased as I secretly wanted them to come to my door. That link should work even if you do not have a Facebook account so if it doesn’t, please let me know.
Overall, the week was good. We settled into our new routine which included four days of track practice. The Girl did really well considering she was still so wiped out from last week. Today, she got to finally sleep in and they are off from school tomorrow so hopefully she can get a little more rest.
The Teen doesn’t really know what to do with his free evenings but he really needs to fill them with studying. I can’t seem to stress that enough but he is a TEEN and what goes through one ear goes right out the other. I have pulled my hair out over it but he is trying. I feel he could put more into it though. Ah, it’s a constant battle.
What else is going on? Oh, our weather. Sunny, warm days. No sign of a chill anywhere. My star jasmine is blooming and everything smells wonderful. When it’s like this, all I want to do is kick off my shoes and read outside. These types of days are made for reading. Funny, I say that about rainy days too. I don’t know how you guys in other parts of the country deal with all of that white stuff. It’s pretty. I’ve been enjoying the pictures but living in it? Not for me.
What am I reading?
I am still reading Orfeo. I do like it quite a bit but I am reading it with two other books that don’t compliment it at all, so for now I’ve put it aside. The two other books? The Astronaut Wives Club and Among Animals, a short story collection. I must say, I am quite fascinated with the astronaut wives. They remind me a lot of the Stepford Wives from the classic movie of the same name.
What am I cooking?
I made linguine with white clam sauce last night. I was craving it but I had a terrible reaction right after eating it. There was no gluten anywhere so I really don’t know what happened but the response from my body was swift and fierce and sent me right to bed. I am still recovering today.
What am I watching?
We tried to watch This is the End last night but within ten minutes, we had to turn it off. The Girl was watching with us and it’s really not appropriate for her age range. Not good! So, we ended up watching Vacation again. I am looking forward to The Walking Dead tonight. Can’t wait, actually. We are also watching the Olympics here and there.
What do you have planned today?
Book Chatter 
I love the serenade! What a sweet gesture – I bet it was a lot of fun. They’re a fabulous group and I hoped they raised a lot of money.
Don’t have a facebook account and the link worked perfectly. What a great idea – the kids are so talented, especially that cute tall boy in the front!
Thanks for testing the link out for me! The Teen had a lot of fun since they kept it a secret for so long. Even The Girl knew and she is horrible at keeping secrets.
The white stuff: We don’t always enjoy it…in fact, this winter, not really at all, but on the flip side, we don’t have the heat and humidity that you sometimes have. We each have our strengths when it comes to climate. All in all, I’d rather be somewhere in middle, not of the country necessarily since you and I are on opposite coasts, but with the weather, I’m more of a moderate type person than either extreme.
The link was great and that was all for you? Wow. The Hub really is a special guy. You are lucky to have him, it sounds like.
Today here: reading as my wife catches up on sleep (works midnight shift) but then later we’re watching Downton Abbey (maybe Despicable Me 2 instead, to be honest) as she has three days off in a row, thanks to President’s Day and her “normal” days off.
They sang one other song, a longer more serious song but this one took so long to upload I decided to only share the one. All for me! Flowers and candy, included.
The Teen gave me grief saying I was the only person to pull out their phone to record it, but it was my kid and I wanted to share. So there.
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I have nothing planned today…it feels as though we are living on the North Pole…the snow is like ice and it’s freezing…what would have given you that reaction?
I think it may have been something I ate at lunch that caused the reaction. It was delayed quite a bit if that was the case. I had some chicken with teriyaki sauce and sometimes it has wheat in it. I barely had any, just a few bites but maybe that was enough. When I have a reaction, my throat blisters up and I literally lose every ounce of energy I have. I can do nothing but go to bed and last night, I barely got to the bed before collapsing.
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I am so jealous of your warm, sunny weather! I think the snow is pretty during the first few snowfalls, but after that, I could do without it. Sadly, we have a forecast that includes freezing rain and sleet and 6 inches of snow. ARGH! Spring can’t get here fast enough! I agree – the sunny days are just perfect for reading, but the snowy ones are, too. It feels wonderful to curl up with a good book and a blanket.
Loved watching your valentine serenade on Facebook. They did a great job!
With the weather being so mild, I hit the walking trail again this morning. I swear. It’s so easy to fall back into the “out of shape” category. I haven’t been walking for awhile but I didn’t expect to be quite so winded. Of course, I am still getting over the allergy attack I had over the weekend but still.
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Ah yes, I have one child who would rather do anything than homework. Of course, I am high strung so the only thing I can think of is that he will procrastinate himself right on to my living room couch when he is 40 years old LOL. We absolutely LOVED This is the End, but it is totally over the top inappropriate for even my kids, but of course I took them and won mom of the year award. Still, to this day, we quote parts of it and laugh. It’s probably going to turn into another Big Lebowski, in other words something we need to watch at least once a year. I mean, I’ve already ruined them so why not?
I need to set a time to see the rest of the movie. Maybe when she is at track practice tomorrow.
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What a cool Valentine’s surprise. We actually celebrated the w/end before and went away (good thing as we had a snowstorm for Fri.)
Have a great week.
I loved that video on the serenade and it was so fun to see the teen up front swinging and singing. What a sweet surprise. We went to see Lone Survivor and even though we turned down my mom’s offer to take BOTH babes overnight (we kept Evie) it was a nice treat to have a few hours just to ourselves.
And yes, the weather!! We’re nice and lovely here–I was a little hot on my run outside yesterday–but I know our winter isn’t done yet. We usually have one more chill before spring comes for good. It’s a nice surprise, especially when the rest of the country is suffering, but it does make me fearful of the summer!
Hope you’re feeling better today. Happy Monday.
It’s a nice treat to be able to get out and see a movie, but I always miss the kids when I am away from them. I’m sure you felt the same way.
I am at work, and the rest of the office called in sick and I am actually still not feeling all that great after that allergic reaction but I will tough it out. I can rest tonight. No track practice!
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Yuck on the allergic reaction! Especially when you don’t know what caused it. Scary stuff. I sent the link to my in-laws, I hope they enjoy it as much as I did. THanks again for sharing the link.
I am still out of sorts from the reaction. It causes inflammation and for me, it takes days to get it out of my system. I am not feeling all that great but got myself to work and now half the office called in sick. Sigh.
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Oh, so sorry to hear about the allergic reaction! That’s the worst — especially when you can’t pinpoint it.
Hope you’re feeling better now!
Oh I like The Walking Dead even though it’s violent. I couldnt get through This Is the End either … it just didnt do it for me. Nice V-Day serenade! It went by sort of anticlimatic here.
LOL! Honestly, I’m done with the white stuff too. Unless it only wants to snow on weekends. Then, I’m all for it. LOL!
Good luck with The Teen and getting him to fill his free time with studying! That was a MAJOR issue with C after cross-country practice, and his grades did suffer tremendously. There are studies out there that students actually perform better in school and are better at time management when they are scheduled to the nth degree than when they have free time. All I know is we experienced that phenomenon and C is now on probation with us since he blew it so badly last semester. I hope you have NONE of those problems!
Have a great week!