Glee

Glee is by far my favorite show on tv these days. In fact, I can't remember the last time I loved a show so much. They break into song..in the hallways. It's like a little dose of Broadway every week. Does it get better??? No...no it does not.

But my appreciation for the show goes far beyond the music. It embraces the different -- on Glee, you see, different is normal. It's for the theatre nerds and the band geeks and the choir members. The storylines are real, from the bullied to the teased to the confused. Glee has taken a powerful step, introducing the first on screen example of two teen boys falling for each other. It is touchpoints like these that are exceptionally important for the lost souls of high school. This song captures it all perfectly:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQ59jBudWwQ

Lest you think I go a whole post without mentioning the child -- I am proud to say she too is a lover of Glee. She requests their music in the car, at bedtime, you name it. Tonight she wrote a song in the shower...'for Glee' -- something about rock and roll and fire. Future leader of a grunge band.

Spring! Sort of.

Thursday the temps started trending up. Arden broke out the scooter and the dog rejoiced that she was finally getting to leave the yard. By Friday it was 70. And then today at about 10AM it started to snow. And snow....and snow. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

The kid and I had a grand time this weekend. D had to travel for work, so we lived it up. Movies -- Mars Needs Moms; lunch with her intended on Saturday at the aforementioned Cafe Verde. Shopping for spring/summer clothes for the kiddo and tools for organization of her playroom. Sunday we stuck close to home and purged, organized and cleaned. She only cried once when she discovered a McDonald's toy in a bag headed for the trash. That she hadn't seen or played with for a couple of years. Good thing she didn't dig much deeper...I was merciless.

Some pictures of the last few days...

As of Thursday this was the last snow at the Reservoir. As of today, it looks different.

Making our way to lunch.

Sportin' her new sweater. I need to get her a Yankees one.

This was yesterday afternoon at the playground...no jacket or sweatshirt needed. Demonstrating her soccer skills. We signed her up for soccer starting in the spring.

It was fun while it lasted!

Down with DST

I don't know about you, but I am seriously taking issue with the time change this year. I don't remember it impacting Arden...or heck...even us like this before, but the last few days have been terrible. I worked at home on Monday in order to crank out some proposals. Being the stellar mother I am, I allowed myself to be cajoled into keeping her home. Who needs kindergarten? In fact, she sneaky devil woke up on her own and went to play in her toy room upstairs. A true case of "maybe if I'm really quiet, they'll forget I'm here and not make me go to school."

Anyway. Monday night bedtime was nearly impossible. She went up around 9 with relative ease, but then an hour later it was "MOM!" ... she finally conked out around 11pm. Woke up around 5 complaining about something and when it was time to get up around 7 this morning...well, let's just say it wasn't pretty.

The GOOD news is she passed out early this evening so hopefully we'll get back on track soon.

Dora and I are both feeling the effects of it this year too. I was wide awake until nearly 3AM last night...so the child's 5AM wake up was, as you can imagine, super welcome.

But, 4ish paragraphs later I digress. While home on Monday, Arden decided to make use of the wonderful bag of tricks a sweet friend gave us for her. I can't decide on a favorite, can you?

Another glimmer of hope for our city...

I'm toying with the idea of actually exploring the city in which we've lived for oh, 7.5 years and finding all the fabulous nuggets that make it...well...fabulous. Up first, Cafe Verde (www.mycafeverde.com). Clay and Veronica discovered it several weeks ago and I finally went by today. Great coffee, great desserts and and a wide array of sandwiches and other entrees made with local foods. The atmosphere is something special, dotted plentifully with tables and comfy couches and chairs. It's our very own Central Perk! On weekends they feature bands, folk, jazz, you name it. It really is something special, and gives me great hope for Lawrence. If you live in the area, go visit it, it's right downtown on Essex Street!

Arden collapsing into one of their chairs post hot cocoa and brownie inhalation. She approved.

Ahem

This is my excuse for a seriously lack of blogging:


Last I posted, the kid was sick. Well, she stayed that way for nearly two weeks. She was out of school for a week. I can't tell you the fun it is juggling a super sick kid with two full time working parents. I ususally have a huge amount of flexibility, but our big event was March 2nd so I was up against a wall. We split the week but it was indeed less than ideal on every front. It took the two full weeks for her to regain energy.

She spent a lot of time doing this:

Grandma Mary came to visit amidst all the illness. She stayed in the big city with Annette, but we managed to see her for a couple of days. First stop was Uncle Bobby and Mandy's new house. Though they've only been there a couple of months, they've made it so beautiful and homey.

Grandma Mary took 9 of us to see Mary Poppins.

It was the oddest adaptation of the story line. Mary Poppins was, quite frankly, mean. Arden fell asleep at the end, but has been requesting going to see it again. She seemed bored through a lot of it, but I have to keep in mind that she was still pretty sick and it was an evening show. She does love a good musical. Her current favorite radio programs are Standing Room Only (all Broadway, all the time), and the same radio station's acapella show. Between this and her love for Lady Gaga and Michael Jackson, I'm certain we are raising her right.

Our biggest event fundraiser was March 2. Arden came into the office on Sunday and helped the events team work on seating. This is Paul. He is the honorary co-chair of our event. His likeness resides in 'the sandbox' at our office. The sandbox is code for where the cool kids sit. I don't sit there.

I stayed down at the Westin Copley on event night. This was the view from my room. Between this and the Westin Heavenly bed, I didn't want to leave.