My Day...Unplugged

What did I miss? Apparently blogger updated their interface but it says my browser doesn't support it...whatever that means.  I guess I need to look into that.

I also missed an invite to a Mile High Mama's event at The Museum of Nature and Science.  It was sold out at 4pm.  It happens to be the night of my first PTA meeting and if I'm going to be the President someday...I can't miss the first one.  So...it's all good.

Here is a run down of my day:

8am....shut everything down. (I'd like to know the electricity that was saved today)

8:15am...eat breakfast in front of the TV while watching a segment on The Today Show about Teens that are addicted to technology.  Find out that Teens are cyber bullying each other anonymously on Formspring.  Vow not to get a formspring account...or a cellphone for my kids until they are 30.  Tips from the *expert*: don't take your phone to bed with you.  Any texts tweets sent after 10pm are irrational. Park your phone when you have company.

8:50am...sign an 8 month lease on my apartment and vow to get the hell out of here and BUY A HOUSE by April.

9am...watch Nancy Drew with Mallory.  Think to myself that her Penny Loafer's are kind of cute and wish I could google *penny loafer*.

10am..Impulsive Addict calls to check up on me.  Love her for doing this with me!

10:15am....Wish I could check my weather app to see what the temp is.

10:35am...Email break (but not twitter) I have 51 emails.  NONE of them are important.  Check the weather app.  It's 80 degrees.  Turn on the AC and straighter my hair just like a You Tube Video I saw yesterday.  Wish I could watch the video again.

11am...Pick up Alex, remember to take my watch so that I know what time it is instead of checking my phone. Go to McDonald's Drive through and remember that I can't check in on 4square or Gowalla or FB or Forkly.  Wonder how my friends on twitter will live without knowing where I was.

12pm...Watch Y&R on TV that I DVR'd instead of watching it online.  I actually pay attention to what is going on without being distracted by twitter and cry at the end.

12:45pm....Open Alex's backpack and find that Ms. M is helping me out.  She sent me a Scholastic Books Magazine to read. Get to page four and see that they want me to follow @parentandchild on twitter.  Read 1/2 of magazine and find things I want to google:

The Rhythm of Family by Amanda and Stephen Soule
Skiphop.com
My Future Listography
How Your Child Learns Best by Judy Willis
Recipe that I'm making for dinner
The house I saw for sale by the school.

1pm...Do a load of laundry and wish I could check my weather app because it's hotter than hades outside. Decide to watch this really bad movie so that I can see a love scene with Michael Muhney in it.  Luckily the kids stayed in their room playing legos.

2:15pm..Check email (49) and weather app (95 degrees).

2:30pm Watching Nancy Drew....again.  Ask Alex 50 times to stop calling her Nasty Drew.  Find the little chubby kid that loves her annoying and think that the penny loafers look stupid now.  Wish I could google the name of the cute kid that likes her from her old town.

4:10pm...turn on my computer.  Send out my first tweet of the day and check my weather app again.

Impulsive Addicts Unplugged Post.
Yoga Pants & Coffee Results Post.
Outta This World Unplugged Post.
Mighty M Family 8 Hours Post
Emmy Mom Lessons From Unplugging
Jenny Kate  Calling Betty Ford

iPhone Challenge...

Do you ever feel like you've become too dependent on your phone and your computer? Are you addicted to Words with Friends and Twitter?

Every now and again....I find it really helpful to unplug from all of my electronics. It helps me realize that there are OTHER ways that I could be spending my time and that there are PEOPLE that I should be focusing that time on.

I've gotten way better about this as my kids have gotten older and over this summer actually. I have taken a lot more time to read (I've read NINE books this summer. Looky here.) and I've done more things with my kids.

My kids need me more and I NEED to be more in the moment.

So...when Impulsive Addict started talking about taking a break from her phone...I pushed encouraged her to do it and said I'd do it with her.

Tomorrow...I'm joining up with Impulsive Addict, Emmy Mom and @AmberNDE for a iPhone/Computer Fast for 8 hours.

Could you give up your phone (except if it rings and you don't have a landline) and your computer (except for 2 ~15 minute breaks to check email) for 8 hours (me: 8am-4pm MST)? Should you?

Join us, keep a log of what you did instead and blog about it on Thursday!


YAY! Barb from Yoga Pants and Coffee is joining us!
WOOT!  Pam from Be Colorful is joining us too!
Boo YA! Teri from The Mighty M Family is in!
Yippy! Sara Jo from Outta This World wants in!

First Day, The Ugly Cry and Santa

*two posts today! I had to catch you up on yesterday and I'm excited to share another vacation picture!*

The first day went really well....as far as we can tell. He's not saying much, only revealing small details like *someone threw rocks at me* and *raising two fingers means I have to use the restroom*. I haven't received an email from the teacher yet so I'll count this day as a success.

Uncle Robert went with us to see Erick off. I think it's possible that he was the only uncle that cared so much and that we looked like a reverse polygamous family.

My tears didn't come right away...mostly because I was growing irritated with my husband's driving and had to keep barking orders at him. He's going to have a tough time at drop off against these mini van ladies when he's driving 15 miles an hour.

I had him so rattled when we got to our parking spot that he accidentally forgot to turn off our vehicle and left it running the whole time we were taking Alex to his classroom! Oops!

Saying goodbye to Alex was hard.  I waited until the last possible moment because he looked like he was about to cry.  I walked to the door and turned to take one last picture and he was sitting with his head down.  As I stepped out into the sunshine....I started the ugly cry.

Keith and Robert decided that I needed coffee STAT so they drove me down the road to The Village Roaster and I ate some gluten and drank coffee.  Then I opened a little baggie that had been handed to me as I was leaving.  It contained a cotton ball, a tissue, a tea bag and a note.

Here is a little gift for you as you leave your precious one with me on the first day of school.  As you hold this cotton ball in your hand, the softness will help you remember the gentle spirit of your child. After you've gone home and dried your tears, make yourself a hot cup of tea. Put up your feet and relax. Remember that together you and I will work for your child to be the best they can be.

Thank you for entrusting your child to me for the coming year.  I will do my very best every day to be your child's guide in learning and exploring this bright, new world they've just stepped into.

Of course I started crying again until I made iKeith read it to me with the voice of GRU from Despicable Me.   And then Santa appeared, handed Mallory a coin and said he caught her being good.  She just about passed out and fell off from her chair!

We went to the Belmar Mall, walked around, found the cutest outfit in the whole world for Mallory at Baby Gap, put Mallory on the naughty bench for being a brat, went to my new favorite store...Charming Charlie and then to Sur La Table where I bought a new vegetable peeler. Retail therapy?

I made iKeith take me back to the school 20 minutes early....because I was anxious to get my kid back and he made me sit in the car without the AC running.  I joked with him that he did it earlier...why not now.  He said something about gas mileage.

The bell rang and all of the kids came out and lined up against the wall.  Except for my kid.

I started to panic and then he came sauntering out! Taking his time....like he always does.  He walked slowly to me and gave me a hug.  whew! That umbilical cord hurts when it gets stretched!

We took him out for a special pizza lunch with root beer AND dessert!

I told him that I was probably going to spend the afternoon hugging him....and he said that would be okay!  I love that kid!

What I Wore:

Seafoam green t-shirt sweater from Down East Basics.

Jeans from White House Black Market

Wedges from Tommy Hilfiger.

White purse from Target.

Yes, Denise.  I wore jeans and a sweater on a 97 degree day.  Cardigans are my security blanket.

Question!!  What color accessories do you think I should wear with my green sweater?

School Anxiety

I'm trying to remain calm.

I'm organizing and labeling and drinking too much wine.

I feel like if I can just stay busy and organized then Thursday will arrive and everything will be fine.

I told everyone that today we'd be starting the new schedule and doing a dry run to the school.  I need to know how long it will take so that we can make any necessary adjustments on the big day.

Apparently....I've stressed out my little boy because he didn't sleep last night and now I wonder if I should just let him sleep or continue with my schedule.

Crap!

I had a big Going to School Dinner planned for Wednesday night but now I'm wondering if I should just keep it low key?  He hasn't expressed any anxiety about school....until last night.

********

In one of the emails I've received from the Welcome Committee, it said that Alex needed to wear a name tag for the first week with his teachers name on it.  I had this brillant idea to buy one of those plastic shields with the clip and print out his name tag on the computer.

I stood in Office Max for 30 minutes trying to decide what to do because you can't just buy ONE plastic thing and ONE clip.  You have to buy packs of 10.  This little idea was going to cost me $10.  I walked around and I fretted and I called iKeith and he didn't answer. (he never answers)

Finally, I decided to do the iKeith test and asked myself if Keith would roll his eyes at me over this idea, decided that YES, he would so I put that stuff back and bought name tag stickers and a sharpie.

*******

Mallory is very excited for Alex to start school!  I think she's looking forward to having some time alone with me and has come up with some activities for us to do together.  I have NO idea where she came up with these.

• Go to the mall and ride the Merry Go Round
• Go to coffee. 
• Paint each other's nails?
• Do each other's hair.
• Have a pillow fight in our underwear.
• Go to Target and get coffee.
• Spend Daddy's money.
• Go to the library. 

***********

I am loving my new Cozi Calendar and App!

I went through the school calendar and put all of the important dates in...and all of my to-do lists are in one place and I can mark them off on my phone!  You can set up a journal where you jot little notes about what's going on and then have your journal emailed in a newsletter format to family and friends.

This is going to make starting school so much easier!

Pray for us.....

Mom Getaway

Yesterday....I was running errands with my family and I almost lost my mind. They were crabby, whiney, hungry, thirsty, wet and not listening to a word I said.

I escaped.  I couldn't take it anymore and I got the heck away from them.

Much like this.



Have you met Alli Worthington? I've kissed Ali and I liked it!