A beautiful day in the neighborhood

What a wondeful feeling to step out the door this morning without a coat on!

Jay kissed me good-bye this morning. I was a little bummed that I was too tuckered out to say more then "drive safely". I had not slept well all night, then I must have just crashed around the time he was leaving.

The girls and I took our time, indulged in some banana chocolate chip bread and dressed for the gym. By the time we got there, I had only about 20 minutes to do a little Treadmilling. Then on to Madelines class.

After class we went home to enjoy the day. We made a picnic. I guess that I am not sure what really deems it a "picnic". But, we made lunch and ate it on the front step. Then played for quite a while more. Emma in shorts and a T-shirt.

I sat down to get in some good reading. About an hour or so later, I heard a loud crashing and Emma yelling "mommy"!! As I ran down the two flights of stairs I am just wondering what limb is broken or what could have made that noise. After I found out that Emma was ok, just a bit scared, I surmised the situation to find her room a total mess. That happens sometimes when she wakes up and just wants to play in her room. She tears things apart. The crash was her trying to "fix" the shades and blinds in her room. The nightstand that she was standing on crashed on top of her. Good thing she didn't break a leg. I should have known that a situation like that would be the basis for how the evening would be.

Emma and I went out to play until Mad woke up. Which was quite a while later when I had to arouse her from a deep slumber. We played outside for a bit longer then went on a walk. Emma refused to fid in the stroller, so she walked. The first half of the walk was fine. Then whenever we stopped to talk to someone she would hang on me, saying "come on, let's go". Then she was too tired to "run" anymore. . . . So much compalining, so little time. She opted for the long walk, but when we started to turn home she was not satisfied that it was long enough. Explaining that Madeline needed dinner did not sway the screaming. All the neighbors that were outside enjoying the evening got a kick out of it. I am glad someone did.

During the walk I smelled so many wonderful smells of the first grilled meals of the season. Made me sad to think that if Jay was home we most certainly would have pulled out the grill for some burgers and brats. That will have to wait for another time.

Got home and she realized that dinner wasn't such a bad idea. Since I wasn't going to grill out without Jay, we dined on a Lean Cuisine and left over corn dog and chicken strips - I need to go to the grocery store badly.

We played outside for a while longer, then came in for a bath. This set of the second tyraid. To spare you the boring, mundane, ridiculous details, I will suffice it to say that I got her into the bath about 1/2 hour later. The bath finished with Emma saying "daddy shouldn't have to stay in a hotel, he should be home". Something like that. Then saying "I am just a kid, I don't understand" I felt bad for her. It was a big struggle all night so we sat down and had a talk.

She must be going through some growth spurt cause she fell asleep on the couch in the middle of Madelines stories.

It was a difficult day. I was trying to decide of the slight blurring in my eye is MS related or just allerges or something. Then I was signed up to go to see my Dr speak at a restaurant in St. Paul about MS. But, with Jay gone, and no one to watch the kids. I had to cancel. Emma was very challenging today. She has been like that everyday for a couple of weeks. It wears on you and I being to get very frustrated, at myself mostly. Missing Jay on this beautiful day wishing that he was home and the kiddos do to. I think that is part of Emma's unrest. The weather helped to aliviate some of the craziness.