Home again, home again

I got home Monday night from my longest trip away from the kids. I took the bus (man, that was an experience in itself, luckily I quickly connected with a 20 year old heading to visit her boyfriend in Penn State and had a traveling buddy the rest of the trip. She made my day when she was shocked that I was turning 30 - she thought I was her age!) to State College, met up with friends and journeyed on to Ohio the next morning. Funny thing was talking to Matt at one point and realized he knew nothing about my travel plans - only that I was leaving Thursday and going to Ohio - no clue that I was staying in State College and not getting there until Friday afternoon. If it were him traveling I would know every detail of his trip - him...not so much. We had a wonderful time - I think we seriously talked for three days straight. And of course enjoyed a relaxing day at the spa - in robes and slippers from 9-3! It's hard to believe it was a week ago - I'd been thinking about it for so long and now it's a week past already. It was such a great time to be away from all the responsibilities of everyday life and spend time with friends sharing our lives together. It was wonderful to come home though - Catherine didn't know what to think - took a few minutes before she came to see me. But Ella just sat in my lap and hugged and every so often would just touch my face and say momma. Very sweet...

We had a nice snow/ice storm Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Everyone else stayed home from work on Wednesday but Matt only works a mile away so he had no excuse not to. Only time that's worked out to be a disadvantage!

Ella has been a royal terror lately - throwing some tantrums that have me convinced she's possessed. Long story short, we decided that it was time to finally take away her pacifier. I am pretty embarrassed to admit that at age three she still uses one. Only at naptime and nighttime. We originally said she would be done at three years old but somehow that got delayed (just by two months though!). These tantrums would result in her wanting to go up to her room and sneak her "nooky" - basically the only way she would calm down. We're hoping the elimination of the pacifier will help us deal with the tantrums. It felt good to make the decision and stick to it. Last night was her first night and she did alright - up a bit early, but that's too be expected. Naptime didn't happen - she got pretty sad and upset when I was attempting to get her ready to nap but we persevered through it and she went to bed no problem tonight. I've been dreading this for awhile now and I am just so happy that we did it. I'm sure we'll struggle a bit over the next week but so far so good!

Other news...

my usual (as usual as it gets with me) TV review -

Friday Night Lights has worked it's way into one of my favorite show - Matt got me hooked even when I was trying so hard not to watch another show. Just so so good - and this past week's epi was great - tackled issues of racisim in a pretty honest way.
The Office - better than last week's episode with too much over the top Michael. The bat story was funny - I like when all the lesser used characters get screen time - even if it's only a line or two. I loved Michael coming to see Pam at her art show - worked so perfectly after he told Ryan that being a manager was about inspiring people. Oh yeah - Kelly getting so excited about Ryan relocating closer to her was hilarious!
Greys Anatomy - I don't even know what to say. Wow -very intense. The question of the week is "Is she or isn't she?" I gotta admit that I loved the scene where Meredith saw Dylan (bomb squad guy) and Denny - two great surprises.

I did forget to let everyone know what a wonderful husband I have. He stayed at home with the kids from Thursday to Monday and didn't complain at all. In fact, he said that they had a good time. He did such a good job of it that I think perhaps I should go back to work and he can be a stay at home dad. Today he got some much deserved guy time away and went with his friend Jon to a Winterfest that was held nearby. There were alot of local breweries there and you were able to sample the different varieties that they offered. He's in bed already - poor boy isn't used to that much beer! :)

That's what's new in our household. I'm so happy it's mid-February - we're getting closer and closer to a Spring thaw! One more big snow storm and I'll be ready.....actually I'm ready with our without the snow....