Magoomba Monday #25

Can I just say how happy I am to have made it through last week?

1) So I have made some comments alluding to the fact that I have quite suddenly become a very active part of the PTA at Jake's school. Unfortunately there is a severe lack of parent participation in our community and our state's budget crisis has left the school system in desperate need of additional funds, not to mention the fact that the economy has left everyone spending less, including giving to charities and organizations. Then the school's PTA president had to resign her position to take care of a personal matter. So, needless to say I ended up stepping up and this past week was crazy. I set up and worked the book fair almost every day last week, helped organize and orchestrate the Winter Fest at Jake's school and wrote the PTA's page for the January newsletter. The good news is that we were able to put a lot of books in the hands of students at the book fair, raised a decent amount of money at the Winter Fest and increased home/school communication with the newsletter. It's a lot of work but it is also nice to know I am helping to make a positive impact at Jake's school. Not to mention that I have made some wonderful, life-long friends in the process.

2) Another reason this last week was so crazy was the fact that Joe was out of town. He was originally not due back until this Friday but now thinks he might be coming home earlier in the week. This would be wonderful as both the kids and I miss him terribly, especially this close to the holidays. I give so much credit to military families who sacrifice time away to protect our freedom.

3) Friday I took the kids on a "date". We went and saw "Princess and the Frog", which was super cute and both the kids really enjoyed it. I then took them to McDonalds Playland for dinner. It's not my first choice for food or entertainment but the kids love the play structure there, not to mention the toys they get with their happy meals. I then treated myself to a Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha from Starbucks for the drive home and we checked out some Christmas lights before heading home. It was a very nice, relaxing evening.

4) Saturday was the aforementioned Winter Fest, in which we went early to set up and then I worked one of the booths. Here we are before heading out:

The kids were overall very good considering the amount of time we were there and thankfully, Mr. Nathan (Jake's best friend Sam's Dad) came and took the kids for me so they could participate in the festivities including a free craft. Here is Jake and Sam waiting to have their reindeer's nose hot glued:

I was able to sneak away for a little bit so the kids could visit Santa.

If you look at the caption on Jake's shirt, his expression is so fitting:

Jadyn is getting a little less scared every time she sees him. I think the candy cane she gets afterwards helps.I then learned a valuable lesson firsthand: Candy canes are sticky. Very, very sticky. (You were so right Joanna!)

5) So one think that has fallen to the wayside in light of Joe being gone and me being so busy at Jake's school is my working out. Part of the problem is also the weather because while it is not too cold for me, it is too cold for Jadyn to sit in the stroller while I walk/run at the park. This is really not a good excuse because we have a treadmill for this very reason. I just haven't had the time or motivation to get on it. I am hoping that will change this week because I was really do well there for awhile and I want this to be a priority.

6) Couple of entertainment notes. First of all, I am love, love, love with the band Muse and even more in love with their new album - The Resistance. There was something in particular about their single, Resistance that was just haunting me and I finally researched the lyrics more closely and figured it out. The whole album and this song in particular was inspired by the love story in George Orwell's novel 1984. It was just recently when LauraC posed the question, what book(s) changed your life? It's not an easy question because while there are many books I love, I can't say that many of them changed my life but after careful consideration, I came to the conclusion that 1984 had that impact on me when I first read it back in 1992. It really changed the way I looked at things and taught me that it was okay to question authority. Anyway, take a listen to the song if you haven't already and tell me you can't see it "1984: The Musical"

And finally for my fellow Twi-Hards. Taylor Lautner (aka Jacob) hosted SNL this past Saturday and I just had to tune in to see what he would do. Well, while most of the show was about what I expect from SNL these days, there was one skit that had me rolling with laughter. Enjoy!

7) I love getting the mail this time of year. I love getting mail that I actually WANT to open. I love seeing all the cute pictures and reading updates on families yearly newsletters. I love getting in touch with people I haven't spoken to in awhile. Tis the season!

And with that, hope every one's week is off to a great start and not to stress anyone out but there is only 11 more days until Christmas. Can you believe it?