A Gold Star Kind Of Day

Today was an amazing day. The Madore-ables and I are going on week 2 of a great schedule. Mondays at 9:30 are for Sarah's playgroup and Tuesdays at 12:00 are reserved for Sarah's Occupational Therapy. The playgroup is literally just a mile away from our house, and the OT comes right to our house. We're certainly spoiled with this new schedule right now. The last two weeks I've woken up early to squeeze a Wii jog in before the girls wake up, and I've noticed such a difference in my energy level. To date, I've lost twenty five pounds since January of this year, and my new goal is to buy a new dress (a few sizes smaller, of course) for my friend Ann's wedding coming up in October.

Now that we're on a great schedule, it's easy to plan things like errands, or play dates or the occasional Free Cycle pickup. For instance, this morning I knew that our OT was coming to the house so I wanted to grab a few items from the grocery store before then. Seeing Samantha has been cooped up in the house for the last 2 days, (Boston has experienced a cold snap with side of some much needed rain). So I knew that she would love to go out. Sure enough, Samantha was quite giggly to find out not only were we going to the grocery store, BUT we were also going to the ATM at our bank which is in the same plaza.

So we get to the ATM and Samantha asked if she could help me. I handed her my bank card and she put it in the slot, and then I withdrew my cash. When the bank "spit" out the money, Samantha grabbed the money and handed it to me, and then the ATM "spit" my card out and Samantha took that. While I was putting the cash in my wallet and the card back in the correct wallet slot, Samantha says to me (very seriously mind you),

"Why isn't the ATM spitting any more money out?"

We had a great trip grocery shopping. You may think I'm very strange, but I absolutely LOVE to grocery shop. I just dislike hate putting the groceries away when I get home part. Once we get inside, and get the cart all situated and Sarah all buckled up in her seat, I pull out my list, hand it Samantha and the fun begins. I turn it into a scavenger hunt, so Samantha has to find all the items for me. So while Samantha is concentrating on the next item and scouring the shelves, Sarah is sitting in her seat waving hello and saying, "HI!" to everyone (and I mean everyone) who walks by. Sarah surprised me today while shopping. We walked down the isle where the hand soap is, and Sarah starts to pretend to wash her hands. Then we walk in the produce section, and Sarah says "Buh-buh-buh" (which is "Banana" in Sarah's language), and "Aahh-p" (which is "Apple"). Then we head home, and Samantha starts to put the items away for me.

It may be cold and rainy outside, but it's been a great day for us today. I love days like this...gold stars for my Madore-ables.