Opera Saturday!

This Saturday was no different from any other day of the week--my husband had to be out the door before 8am to go to work. Now, don't get me wrong, his job is pretty good to us and he rarely has to work on weekends. However, when he does I still miss him! Saturdays are just not the same without you, babe! So, my kids woke me up and breakfast started once again.

I will admit that I had a whole lot of trouble falling asleep Friday night, so the beginning of the day went rather sluggishly.When Arnie came home for his lunch break I was still in my jammies. I was also in bed because I was watching the Whitney Houston funeral on TV and the only TV is in our room. I thought it was really interesting and my favorite part of the funeral was listening to Kevin Costener. I am sad that Whitney Houston is gone but since I didn't know her it kind of feels surreal to think that she will never make another song or album again. I am sad that she never fully made a comeback from all her personal struggles and made it back to the top. I guess I am sad because I feel like there is so much more she could have and should been able to do. But, who am I to talk? I am sure there is more that I could be doing. = D

I didn't watch the whole thing because I had my own life and kids to attend to. I got ready really fast and took my hubby back to work so I could have the car and go shopping. *Big GULP* I can't even remember the last time I have attempted to go shopping with the kids, without my Arnie. It's kind of our thing as a family to do. We love it! But, I knew I wouldn't have time to go shopping with everybody after work AND make it to the opera by 7pm. So, the kiddos and I went.

We hit the local Costco first. I love Costco. I would buy everything there if I could. Alas, going to Costco with my kids is sometimes a different story. One time I went to Costco by myself with Sammy and I believe that I was pregnant. Extremely pregnant. And Sammy decided to run away and I couldn't find him because the little stinker had run in between two aisles! As in the slight middle aisle between two rows of big, flats of stuff. As in I could not fit my swollen body AT ALL in there to get him and he would not come out because he knew he would be in trouble for running away! Ever since that happened, I shudder a little when I have to go to Costco by myself. To my relief, today was not so bad. Probably because I bribed the kids with "If you're good, Mommy will buy a berry smoothie when we are done!" And every time they stepped a hair out of line I just said the magic words, "berry smoothie" and they would immediately stop what they were doing to ensure they got that smoothie. And they did. Costco went quite well.

It was Target that we had some issues. I knew from the beginning that I was pushing it going to two stores, but I really needed to go to Target to pick up my new glasses! Yes, my two years were up and I got a new pair! The kids were very good while I had my glasses fitted and lucky for me everything was paid for earlier so we basically were there in the optical office for 5 minutes. Thank you, Target Optical for being so efficient and sensitive to my needs!

Sammy saw one of those two kid carts right at the beginning and that was the one WE HAD TO HAVE. Unfortunately, those things never have working seat belts! It was a trip full of running after kids. I will admit it could have been a lot worse, but it wasn't so bad--until the end, that is! I only lost Izzie once (she ran out of the aisle we were in and went directly into the next one. Don't have a heart attack, Mom. I was only away from her for ten seconds.) and it scared her so bad that she never strayed far from the cart again. It was when she wanted me to hold her for the last 20 minutes that it was bad. I was trying to gather ingredients for a recipe I wanted to test and was having trouble finding two. I needed my hands two read my recipe, look at products, and push this heavy, awkward cart. But she wasn't having it. And every time Sammy looked at her she would start screaming. To his credit, he tried to help her and quiet her down, but after a while he kept trying to swing over her as she threw herself on the bottom of the cart, screaming her head off. And I am pretty sure he stepped on her fingers at least once, but I am not sure and he is innocent until proven guilty. I was a little frazzled by the time we got to the register. And embarrassed. I even told the girl checking us out that "I never thought I would be the mom with the crazy, screaming kids at the supermarket, but apparently that's who I am!" At least she thought it was funny and agreed that she feels that way with her own kids. We hit a new low when Izzie was so mad that I wasn't paying attention to her while I was paying (we had a minute left in the shopping trip!) that she kicked herself out of the cart and I couldn't see her because I was paying so the woman behind us was like, "Um, YOUR daughter. YOUR daughter is crying." Lady, I already know my daughter is crying, I am trying to hurry to get out of the store ASAP! But I had to stop what I was doing and grab Izzie because this lady was freaking out. I really missed Arnie today. He helps me a ton.

When we got home I got everything out, cleaned my car out and then put the groceries away. I then had enough time to grab the kids and pick Arnie up from work. When I was cleaning the car out I tightened Izzie's car seat because I noticed that she was taking liberties with the extra slack her restraint system had. When we went to get my husband she was so mad because she could not do anything but sit there! It was kind of funny.

After I got home I hopped in the shower and got ready for the opera! I was so excited to get all gussied up and wear jewelery (I haven't done that in years, besides my regular earrings and wedding ring! Don't get me wrong, I love my wedding ring and I never take it for granted!) And after the day I had, I was ready for a slight break. I was also excited because I got to go with my friend Kim! We had fun chatting and being each other's "dates" because her husband was in the opera and mine was at home with the kids. Her husband did a fantastic job and I really enjoyed the music and singing. Our only complaint was that they mic-ed the orchestra and it was hard to hear the singers, who were not mic-ed. But, La Traviata was beautiful, and it even made me cry. So tragic! It helped give me perspective about my crazy day--I am glad that my life is not as complicated as an opera!