One of Those Weeks!

It's been one of those weeks y'all. It started on Saturday with me waking up grumpy. It was very strange, almost like a cloud of darkness hanging over my head. I could feel it and I knew I had better take it to the Lord right then or I would be overcome with it. We packed a lunch and got out of the city for a while and that seemed to help. I'm pretty sure I know the source of this darkness, no, I know for a fact where it came from! I began asking the Lord to show me what was going on and I do believe He answered and some things that have been going on for the past few weeks around here came to my mind. Slowly throughout the day, I could feel this cloud lifting and I was so grateful!

With my lack of running because of my back problems, I've had a hard time finding something I can do for exercise. I'm finding it hard to get motivated to go swim- there is a pool near by but it's kind of expensive and I would have to get up and go before school...which means soon it will be dark, rainy and cold and .... well ya right. So I was determined to walk to school each day and not give in once to drive, even if Marc was home with the van. I'm pleased to report that I've done every school run this week so far. Twice a day, with Addison. I can get a pretty good pace with the stroller and yesterday we walked into town to Starbucks (totally defeated the purpose of the walking the weight off!) and then we walked to a playgroup and then walked home. Not sure how many miles I did yesterday, but my hips were hurting today.

On Tuesday Marc, Addie and I needed to go into town for something so we decided to stop for lunch at the new Ruby Tuesdays that opened a few weeks ago. I was so excited! I think eating out is my love language. I don't know why I get so excited over it. I don't mean fancy eating out, because that is not us...but like I get excited over Subway y'all. Anyway. I was pumped to see "Queso dip" on the menu! Music to this Texans' ears!! So Marc orders a burger, I get my usual chicken quesadillas to share with Addie and then queso to start with! Much to our surprise this is what came to the table:

Does that look like queso to you? I took a bite and was so confused. We were one of the only few people in the restaurant because it had just opened for the day and the manager happened to come over to our table and asked how everything was. We explained the situation and he assured us this was the queso dip, except he pronounced it "Kweeso" which made me smile. Marc read the menu to him (I was trying not to bust out laughing at this point) and pointed out that is read "smooth, spicy cheese dip" and there was nothing smooth about this. I asked if it might be the artichoke dip because I had never had spinach in my case-o before. Looooong story short, this is their version of case-o. I was disappointed but whatever.

As my quesadillas came out I asked for some guacamole to dip them in and this is what I got:

Feeling kind of bad at this point but also very annoyed (and guilty for being annoyed) I asked again and said that I ordered guacamole and then explained how it was made. Even our waitress said, "Ya, I thought guacamole was green too but this is what the chef gave me." I'm sure my eyes kind of glazed over and I looked at Marc. Again, the manager came over and we had to explain. So, we were slightly disappointed (annoyed) that we wasted our once a month eating out money on this. Oh well. We kind of thought since it's advertised as and "American Grill and Diner" that it would be kind of close in taste, but it was not so. We might be banned from every returning- Addie was rotten during this whole time too so they were probably REAL glad to see us go. The manager did come over at the end and ask where we were from and told us that they can't ship internationally, so they don't get the same ingredients. I can understand that, but I think they should at least know what guacamole is! Also in talking to some other Americans, they did not have good experiences there either.

Ok, so bravo if you are still reading!

This morning I got told off by Cerys' teacher because she was not wearing a coat. I had dressed her in the school jumper (sweatshirt) since it was only in the 60's so it was not cold. I just explained that it was not cold and she would be fine in her jumper and her teacher told me that she needed to be in a coat or mac (raincoat) because they were going to be walking to the post office today. I then became more concerned that they were leaving the school and I had no idea about it. My good friend Mel jumped in and saved the day for me by giving me her middle child's coat for Cerys to wear on the trip. But this afternoon I will be having a conversation with the teacher. I am just baffled sometimes that there is NO communication between school and parents. Or any permission slips. I know, sounds very American and over-protective. The post office is just down the road...am I over -reacting?

I'm sure I've blocked out any memories of Cerys or Bailey acting like this at 19 months old, but Lord have mercy. I'm trying not to get down on myself for Addie's behavior but I honestly do not know what is going on. She is so naughty! She had the award for best of the three in the sleeping category, but the past 2 weeks she's hardly taken her afternoon nap. She sleeps for about 30-45 minutes and wakes up crying. I had visions of cups of tea alone during her nap, but that has not yet happened since the girls have been in school.

Well, from all this complaining it sounds like I need to go have a good quiet time. I think the "new" has worn off and some culture shock is settling in. I'll see you in a few days and my attitude will be better!