7 Quick Takes Friday - 1/7/11

-1-

I never thought I'd say this, but on Monday it was a beautiful sunny 27 degrees outside. In my former life, the one where I lived in Virginia and 27 was the average winter temp and we had about one week a year that made it down near zero and there was never any wind I probably would have been whining and freezing. Now that I live in the frozen wastelands of the north, a sunny 27 is cause for bliss! Especially when there is a light flurry of snow falling, glinting in the sunshine. Apparently I am really becoming a South Dakotan.

-2-

Yay for Gap Curvy jeans! They are one of the most awesome pairs of jeans that I've owned. Even more awesome was finding them in great condition at one of my local thrift stores. Yes, I shop thrift and I'm proud of it! I may never pay retail for jeans again.

-3-

On the subject of thrift stores, I have to share once again this super cute purse I picked up while I was shopping for jeans.

I have decided that winter calls for color, lots of it!

-4-

One thing that I look forward to at this time of year is calendar shopping! I almost always wait until the end of December because then they are all 50% off at Barnes and Noble, and in case you haven't guessed yet, I'm all about saving money! Buying a calendar isn't a quick in and out experience. No, I have to mull over all of the choices, decide what I want hanging in my kitchen for the rest of the year, what will bring me joy every time I look at it. Inevitably I end up with either a nature or a travel calendar. This year it's Tuscany...last year was Ireland.

And after the wall calendar comes the purse calendar because I am hopelessly out of date and have a basic no frills cell phone, not a Blackberry or a Droid or a whatever you use that does ten million things including keep your calendar. But they are not as pretty as my purse calendar either. See? Purple and shiny! It looks fantastic with the green purse. I've been getting this particular brand of calendar for several years because they are the most beautiful calendar I've ever seen.

-5-

If they came out with phone app that could get my boys up and dressed and ready for school I might just purchase one of those phones. It was without a doubt one of my least favorite mothering tasks at this stage in our lives. Fortunately I have one who is not only a morning person like me, but who also loves school. In a 'why can't we go to school all year long?' way. So getting him up and going isn't a problem. Getting him into all the winter gear right now is a bit of a challenge; he'll have his snow pants half-way on and get distracted by something. "Gates! Get your gear on!" Five seconds later one arm will be in the coat sleeve and he's distracted by something else. "Gates!" Everything on...distracted again. "Gates! Boots!" Sigh.

Now Indy is another story. He is his father's child. As in, NOT a morning person. Sometimes I refer to him as the small grumpy one. Morning starts with a five minute warning to give him time to adjust to the fact that he's going to have to pull his body out of his warm little bed. If we're smart, he's picked out his clothes the night before. If not...well, the morning is lost.

"What shirt do you want?"

"I don't knoooooooow!" (Hides head under pillow)

"OK, how about one of these three? Can you please look at them?"

"Noooooo! I don't LIKE those!"

"OK, then what do you want?"

"I don't knooooooow! I don't know what shirt I like!"

And so it goes until I give up and my husband goes down and stuffs Indy into some clothes. Then we get to repeat the saga with breakfast. This is often puncuated by outbursts of "I don't want to go to school. School is boring. I hate school. I hate you. Go away from me. I have a headache. I have a stomach ache."

Yes, I'd pay premium for a phone that would take over those tasks for me (including the packing of the lunches and all the other stuff that must be done).

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I must say, I adore both of the boys' teachers this year. I love Gates' teacher for loving his quirkiness and for finding ways to use his endless storehouse of facts in the classroom. I love her for being able to handle the moments when he becomes stubborn because he doesn't like what they are working on. He had ONE discipline slip last semester. One. That's a record.

I love Indy's teacher for taking a grumpy morning boy and getting him to smile, for her playful attitude to teaching. For being able to keep her smile in a room full of 5 and 6 year olds. I've been volunteering in the class once a week, and it appears to be vaguely similar to attempting to get a roomful of cats to all do the same thing, at the same time. I applaud her for managing it.

-7-

I'll just end with one final picture.

Yes, we've joined the cult of Snuggie.

For more 7 Quick Takes Friday visit Jen at Conversion Diary.