I’m actually not coming to you from the land of the ice and snow. Just North Carolina, which is cool and sunny and breezy. I find myself ALL ALONE. Like in a dreamy dream. Spouse hails from NC, Greensboro to be exact, which is sort of where I am. Upstairs in his parent’s house, by myself. You know how when the employed half of your partnership takes a “vacation” and you suddenly are working even harder than you usually do? Well, yesterday when I had a mini-meltdown after much of this ‘vacation work’, I earned some hours of no chores and duties, including parenthood. Hubbo and his moms took my angels to a nearby playground, of which there are many in this green, green land of trees and parks and strip malls. Then off to their aunty’s place for fast food and who cares what else…. Bye-bye!
We had a miraculously smooth 7 hour drive from Baltimore to G’boro this past Saturday. Especially considering there were two 2.5 year olds in the backseats. They held it together well. I am frequently impressed by how happy they are just to be with their parents, doing something new. We found a cool little zoo about four hours into the trip and stopped in and walked around for about an hour, which took the car-bound edge off us all. Perfect timing. I think we’ll hit it on the way back, too, tomorrow early afternoon, which will hopefully coincide with their naps, leaving us an hour or two of napping ladies to plow through the miles and miles of road. I borrowed a portable DVD player for the trip, but don’t know that we’ll use it. Well done, ladies! You can come on my road trips anytime! Advice for parents taking toddlers for road trips: bring lots of good snacks, including some with protein so they don’t get all weird and sugared up. Bring music that is fun to listen to for everyone, and have treats that you whip out when tensions get high. That’s all I got. Good luck. I don’t know what it is like for the potty trained set, but kleiosbelly had a good CoolWhip container suggestion, as did nappy re: the every hour squat in the weeds.
Had another great job interview with the same place I interviewed with a week and a half ago. Very excited to have me aboard… as long as I was willing to work for less money than I have made in, oh, fifteen years or so. WOW. I gave them my bottom line re: pay and what I need to make to pay for preschool. We shall see what comes of it all. I am convinced that the right thing will happen with everything and am trying not to get too stressed out by the reality that deposits for preschool deadlines are coming up in the next week that will make all or nothing possible. I am open to what the universe has in store for us, but must say that I would be very excited to have the girls in a program three days a week for the fun and sanity of us all. Plus, it would be great to be back to doing some work in the field I got sucked into eleven years ago.
20 Fingers, 20 Toes 
call me when you have some time. i want to hear about this job and all that. stick to your bottom line, sister. make them work for it! you deserve it!
Well, what a whirlwind! Yay for trips with small people! I am often surprised at how just the newness of a trip makes my little bug a MIRACULOUSLY fun travel partner. He just loves going. And I am so relieved because things could, really, go horribly wrong on long car or plane rides. Way to go, ladies. Glad it was fun.
I hear you on the vaca meltdown. I haven”t had one of those, but it is unbearable at times, that everyone else relaxes and talks, while the small people do what they do best…explore and find all the ways in which other peopel”s houses are not child-ready. I love their curiosity. But I go hysterical about how easy it is for everyone else to relax when I’m screwed into a tight little adrenaline ball. People without kids have no idea. Somehow, parents with a Y chromosome seem somewhat oblivious, too.
And yay for a maybe job. Hope they step up to the plate on salary, because there’s no point if you lose money working just to pay for the child care you’re already ambivalent about. Good, good luck. I hope they pay you more than you’re worth. Which is a considerable sum, indeed.