Notes From An Occasional Drama Queen

Well shoot, I didn't post yesterday. Now I'll have to make it up by doing NaBloPoMo prompts later today or tomorrow, because I'm anal like that and I want to have 365 posts in 2011.

Overall, this has been a pretty meh week. We started the week tired because of the two birthday parties over the weekend. I knew Nathan was overwhelmed because on Monday the gym daycare teachers took the kids to the basketball court, and Nathan complained that it was too loud in there. I decided we both needed some quiet.

So we stuck close to home, taking care of necessary chores and doing quiet at-home activities. There were plenty of at-home activities to do, too, because Nathan has been receiving a steady stream of Amazon packages from his grandparents, aunts, and uncles.

But by Wednesday, I was done with being at home. Some days household chores just feel so pointless. Why pick up toys from the living room floor when they will return there in mere hours? It's sort of like Leigh Ann said when referencing Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique: "Then you wake up one morning and there's nothing to look forward to."

I needed something to look forward to. And I had something planned for Wednesday that I was looking forward to. Farrah and I had plans to take our respective boys to the Garfield Park Conservatory, which is an awesome giant greenhouse in Chicago where they have green plants in the winter. Going there is like some kind of plant-based therapy for seasonal depression. And it's free to get in! And there's a children's garden! They have flowers! And that day only, there was going to be a special visit from a toucan! A toucan!

And of course my kid was sick. So we had to reschedule for next Wednesday, which is a non-toucan day. (Oh well, the plants will still be there.) And instead of frolicking through the flowers, we sat at home. And the weather was gross, so gross. It's been gray all week. (Except for today. Hello, Mr. Sunshine!) That kind of bleak weather just gets to me. I don't understand how weather could have that much power over somebody's emotions, but it does.

Then Thursday was Nathan's "birthday snack" day at school. Wednesday night I went and got 24 Toy Story cupcakes, plus matching Toy Story plates and napkins, and juice boxes. And of course the kid was still sick. So I brought the cupcakes and the paper goods and the juice to his school without him. He seemed relatively unfazed by having to miss his party, but it was a real blow to me. (Although if that's the worst problem I have, I clearly have a very good life.)

The thing is, he isn't that sick. He's sick enough to be crabby and annoying, but well enough that he still needs some stimulation. The problem is that I feel guilty bringing him to any place with a lot of kids, because everybody is so terrified of germs these days. And he's obviously gross and congested, but I kind of want to take him out anyway and tell the other parents, "Don't worry, if he infects your kid, it isn't that bad of a cold. Your kid will still be able to energetically gallivant around the house and annoy you."

Anyway, it's Friday now, and I think he's ready to re-enter society. I'm going to the gym to do my last swim before the triathlon tomorrow. My training didn't go exactly as I planned because I had to skip the gym on Wednesday, but whatever.

I'm nervous about the triathlon, but also excited because Katie is coming to spend the night and do the triathlon tomorrow. I'm trying this chicken tortilla soup in the crock pot for dinner. And making Power Cookies for dessert! (They are Ritz cracker sandwiches with peanut butter, dipped in melted almond bark. I really don't know why they're called Power Cookies.) And tomorrow we're going to Flavor for breakfast after the triathlon, which is home to such exotic pancakes as red velvet pancakes and bananas foster pancakes.

Don't worry, I'm being Weight Watchers responsible. I went yesterday and had lost another 2 pounds. My goal was to be 10 pounds down by the triathlon, and I'm 9.2 pounds down. I think maybe if I had worn lighter-weight clothing and shoes, I would have gotten to the full 10. But actually this past week I got lucky, because I cheated almost every day, eating crackers and other carb-based snacks at night. I need to tighten things up if I want to keep losing. Dammit.

Oh, and just to give me something else to get nervous about, tonight is my audition for the play of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. (I also believe the plural of dwarf should be dwarves, but spell check does not agree with me.) I have mentioned this before, but I am definitely not an actress. I have no idea how to go in and audition from a script like this.

But really, I should maybe stop being nervous about auditioning for a community theater show. I should also stop being nervous about an indoor triathlon on stationary bikes and treadmills (that is, the same machines I use every day). I should probably stop being nervous about most of the mundane, everyday things I get nervous about.

So I guess while I'm not an actress, I am dramatic.