whirlwind weekend wrap-up

Can I tell you something a little embarrassing. I was frantically trying to write Gwen's 21 month letter, not finding the time and being all upset with myself for not getting it up on the 16th... um, she just turned 20 months, not 21. Opps. Apparently I'm pulled in so many directions that I can't even count.

At least I have a jump on when I actually go to do the letter next month! (Oy vey.)

To explain myself though, let me tell you about my weekend, to give you a little sneak peak at why I'm so distracted. We have lots going on.

Saturday was our quieter day. Trav had to get up and head to Willy's to meet a repairman. Gwen and I decided to relax at home and have some down time together. I popped her on my back and we walked to the local playground.

(I firemen came to visit her daycare class last week... she loved it and keeps wearing the hat!)

It was a beautiful fall day, and we definitely enjoyed the sun and colors.

Stopped to say Hi to a train friend of mine, home for lunch, then it was nap time. As soon as Gwen went down for her nap, I went to work.
This footlocker has been in our bedroom since we moved in:

Its mine from high school/college, and was my mom's before that. We wanted to move it down to the basement to make room for a nice dog bed for Daisy (right now she's sleeping on a body pillow by Trav's side of the bed), but I really needed to clean it out some first.

It was a goldmine of memories!! 

My group of high school friends... my beautiful mama at 18.

Hilarious cards from my ridiculous friends.

A sweet, sweet project my little brother made (when he was in first grade maybe?). 

It was so fun to go through, I found so much stuff that I'd forgotten about. Not to mention 2 empty picture frames, some jewelry, and a few things that I've passed down to Gwen. I was also able to throw away a bunch of stuff, which gave me plenty of room to add my old yearbooks, and make more (desperately needed) room on our bookshelf.

I also took some pictures of the top to put on facebook and tag my friends. It was fun.

Once Gwen woke up we had a snack, I snuck a quick shower, and we were off to Smith's Place Place for a "Friend's of the Birth Center" picnic! It was for all family of Birth Center clients. That place is amazing!

Its huge, and every room has something different.

Books, trucks, kitchens, etc. But the outside is just as good, if not better...

Its just as much fun for the adults, as for the kids!
All of our favorite though, was the huge wooden slide that you rode down on a burlap sack!

Gwen couldn't get enough of it and would take off for the top again before Trav or I could even stand up at the bottom!

It was a really nice time.
(As an aside, it was awesome to see so much babywearing and breastfeeding in one place!)

When we got home, after putting Gwen down, we hung more pictures. I also FINALLY broke out the canvas that I've had in the back of my closet for ages, but never got around to painting. I was intimidated to try, but I figured I would just go for it. So Saturday night I painted the background.

Sunday I had to work, unfortunately. The event itself though went well, and it was pretty easy on my part; but still tiring. I got home and put Gwen down for a late nap, and we went to work hanging the last of the pictures and sorting more stuff.

Around 4:30, Miss Megan (Gwen's old teacher) came over to watch the babe so Trav and I could go out for our anniversary dinner:

We had an awesome relaxed meal... good food, lots of courses, and no little ones to entertain! Ahhh... We finished and still had a little time before we had to be back, so we stopped at a playground on our way home and played on the swings! It was fun to be silly together without having to be a parent.

We walked around the park a bit too, to enjoy the pretty colors.

Lovely!

Then it was home to put Gwen to bed. She did great with Miss Megan... who was, incidentally, the first non-grandparent to babysit Gwen. After getting Gwen down, I went to work in the office, sorting out 3 grocery bags full of books to donate. It allowed us to consolidate all our books onto the one (still overstuffed, but...) bookshelf.

So the weekend... wonderful! fun! but so so full.

Yesterday... well I had hopes of popping in here at some point, but instead I ran around like a crazy woman, with multiple work items needing to be taken care of at the same time. It was a bit much. I ran out the door about 5 minutes later then normal and just made my train.

I worked on my painting some more though, and here's what I have so far:

 Nothing to write home about, but I'm pretty pleased with it so far. Especially for my freshman effort. Not sure what I'm going to do next... should I leave it as is? Or build the tree up to be completely full? Thoughts?

Well, that's where I am now. Things are a bit slower and quieter today, which is nice. But still plenty to do... so back to work I go.