A bunch of stuff and another Friday Five...

This week has been sort of insane. Tomorrow I (along with another friend) am giving a baby shower for Lucy's dear Mrs. Pope. Right now, as of Friday morning, my house is not ready at all, I need to shop for some of the food, I need to wrap my gift, finish the favors, set the table, arrange all the chairs (I'm expecting close to 35 people)...yeah, it's going to be a late night.

I thought I would get a lot done yesterday. While Lucy was at school, I planned to clean the upstairs. I was working on the bathroom, and Elaine was sitting in the hall. I heard her say, "Mom, I broke it." She walked in carrying the head to the Swiffer mop that I was just about to use. No problem, those things just snap back on. Unless they're really broken off, which somehow my not-quite-3-year-old managed to do. Who breaks a Swiffer? Unbelievable. So I finished some other stuff, we went to pick Lucy up from school, dropped movies off at the library that were overdue of course, went to the bank to deposit some money so we could immediately go and spend it all at Target (including buying a new Swiffer), and went home.

Also, Lucy is the Star Scientist at school this week of all weeks. This means that she does a science experiment of her choosing at home, then demonstrates it to the class on Friday. Because she loves to cook, we decided to do a cooking experiment. I had planned to do the experiment on Thursday because it was combining all sorts of ingredients and making four cakes: one cake that had all the ingredients and each of the other three with a different ingredient left out and determining the results. We made enough of the good cake so that everyone in the class could have a little bit, so that's why I left it until Thursday. I didn't realize that after we got home from Target however, we had 45 minutes to do the whole thing before we had to run out the door to get the girls' haircuts. As soon as we got back from that, it was time to take Elaine to her swim class. As soon as we got back from that, it was time for me to leave to get my hair cut. By the time I got home, I was too tired to do any of the shower stuff I'd planned (and the bathroom floor still hasn't been Swiffered yet), so I've got all my tasks to look forward to this evening. I'm viewing it as a challenge.

What's really getting me through this nutty week is the fact that starting this Wednesday, I'll be on vacation in Door County. Which brings me to this week's Top 5...

Top Five Reasons I Love Door County (and again, not in any particular order)

1. This: where we love to bring our kids

2. This :where we do NOT bring our kids

3. This: which I remained convinced is one of, if not the, most beautiful place on this Earth.

4. This: where I love to stock up twice a year.

and

5. Because I've gone here with my family ever since I was a toddler. My parents started going with my godparents before my brother and I were born. Now I'm coming here with both my parents and my kids, who are crazy about Door County. I'm pretty sure they'll bring their kids someday too. I'm not kidding when I say as soon as you pass Sturgeon Bay, you can actually feel yourself relaxing. I've been to a lot of different places, but this is still one of my top two favorites. There are a lot more people up in DC than there were when I was little, but it doesn't matter. Rumor has it that the first time my parents brought us (I think I was three and my brother was five), we started to cry when it was time to go home. I still get a big wave of sadness every time when we have to leave, though we always take one last drive through the park to tell it goodbye.

I could definitely post a lot more things I like about it, but that would be a much longer post. This year though, on the recommendation of Lucy's teacher, we're planning to try this. I'll report back on how it is, how the shower goes, and how Lucy's day as Star Scientist turns out!