Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Big Labor Day weekend chocked full of plans

Had a fun, productive Labor Day weekend with just a little stress thrown in for flavor.  We did a lot:  Taste of Polonia twice, went out for breakfast, dropped off donations at Salvation Army and went to a late afternoon cookout.  All in all it was a big weekend.

Donations away!

The only project I really wanted to accomplish was culling through our attic full of baby clothes and gear.  It's difficult for Nightingale to work on that when my mom is around because she questions/challenges ever decision.  My mom is kind of a hoarder and doesn't want us to get rid of anything. Nightingale also struggles with what to give away versus what to save for our friends who will/might have babies soon or her sister who might have one someday.

Alas, we still managed to get it done and ended up with 11 boxes of stuff that we dropped off at the Salvation Army on Monday.  And now that the attic is a little more clear, I can try to organize it better so that our kids have another playroom we can contain them in. 

We went to the Taste of Polonia twice, Saturday and Sunday.  We had to do two trips because we were meeting different couple friends -- CoupleA is trying to get pregnant, CoupleB is pregnant -- and Nightingale didn't know how the two would cross-pollinate.

I won't go into gory details but the dynamic was completely different with each set and one was more enjoyable than the other.  I think it was probably a combination of not feeling well and not realizing what life is going to be like once the kiddo arrives.  

I've been going to TOP for years and I have to say, it has finally crossed the line from an event that only old-world Poles can appreciate to something young kids enjoy.  It could use a more family-friendly element.  Jeff Fest had bouncy houses where you could buy a ticket and your kids could ride unlimited.  TOP had the same bouncy slides but it was per ride, which can add up quickly.  I imagine they have no incentive to change this source of revenue but you never know.  It only took two decades to bring the average fest goer's age down.

On Monday we had a cookout to go to and this illustrates my polar mindset.  On the one hand, would have liked to stay home and relax on the last day of a holiday weekend.  But we got to meet up with some friends we hadn't seen in ages, and that was fun.  There's still the protocol game of "you don't have to bring anything" and "we cannot show up empty-handed"  This is resolved by bringing wine, of course, but that often means another trip to the store.

When they are this quite, that means they are up to something

Our kids are old enough to amuse themselves but we still have to keep an eye on them.  So while we were able to catch up, we still didn't have completely uninterrupted conversations.  Another year or so and we can let them loose and sit back and actually hold a prolonged conversation. 

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