Whew! Spring!

Remember how I waxed poetic about the "first blush of spring" (why, yes, I *do* have a Barbie Fairytopia fan in my house! If you recognized that quote, I'm assuming you do, too!)? Oh wait, I was going to wax poetic, but I was in the middle of a crushing writing deadline and I had to condense it down to one uninspiring sentence. So just imagine that I wrote such a beautiful ode to the first pink blossoms of spring that you wanted to pack up and move out to NC.

The pink blossom percentage has increased so that we have beautiful blushing trees all around. My favorite daffodils are showing their sunny faces and I've heard rumors of tulips. Within the next week or two I intend to pack up my minivan with snacks and children, shut out all thoughts of the atrocious price of gas, and make the drive down to the zoo and botanical gardens where I can bask in a bright array of various strains of daffodils to my heart's content. I intend to borrow Mr. at Home's good camera and invite every single one of my friends and probably a few strangers to enjoy the beautiful side of spring. After all, carpooling can save on that gas money.

Because, you see, there's the not so pretty side of spring, too. Every person I know is currently suffering from coughing, sneezing, and congestion. When the weather is almost 70 one day and in the 40s the next, then back to the 60s the next, well...it can mess with all those delicate body systems. And then there's the fact that softball season started Saturday and we will now be devoting 2 nights a week and every Saturday for the next 3 months to practices and games. Even if Mommy and Daddy aren't too crazy about the crazy schedule, K *loves* softball. K *lives* for softball. K *never stops talking* about softball. We really all enjoy the sport and are ecstatic that we only have 1 kid playing on 1 team to shuttle to evening practices - woohoo!

We dove head first into the deep end of the softball thing on Saturday and got a not so pretty glimpse of our lives for the next 3 months. This was Saturday.

8am - get up and get ready for Skills Day at the ball field. Planned to swing by the sports store for cleats on the way since Target doesn't carry the *pink* cleats in big enough sizes.

9:15 - Finally get out the door with all the necessary equipment and children. No time for the big sports store, so we make a quick run in WalMart who thankfully has the right size in something K will wear.

9:45 - Pull into the parking lot and head to the field. Which is empty. Which ought to have been busy with the U6 crowd who had their time slot first. Wonder around, chat with a couple of other confused parents, and finally talk to an official-acting person who said the fields are too wet and we've been postponed to 1pm. Make him call the bigwigs to verify the time. Oops! It's 12:30.

10:30 - Go to Bojangles for brunch and take our own leisurely time. Get a call that the Skills Day time has been changed (thanks for calling 30 minutes *after* it was supposed to start!) to 12-something that sounded like 12:50, maybe 15, so we'll get there early. Go to a couple of stores to waste time, then Mr. at Home gets a migraine. Race to take him home, then head back to the field.

12:15 - Get K measured for her uniform then the girls wander out to the outfield for a warm-up before the 12:30 start. Meet up with 2 moms from last year and talk while the girls get put through their paces and try to keep an eye on L, who is playing on the playground with some other little girls. ("She's from China like me! Her name is Abby!")

1:30 - Done with Skills Day! Head over to the mall to give Daddy more time to get over his headache.

2:50 - Run home, let the girls in the house for Daddy to watch, and race to my hair appointment.

3:15 - Get the most fabulous haircut I've ever had. I had no real plan or style in mind, but I happened to see another stylist with a really great haircut that was exactly what I didn't know I wanted. About the same length as mine, same hair texture, and my stylist is the one who gave the other lady her cut, so she knew exactly what she was doing. Totally lucked out.

4:00 - Quick stop at Target where the pants I've been wanting for 2 months are now on clearance, then race home.

4:30 - Get ready quickly for a dinner party. Check email where there's one from the softball league who says the U8 Skills Day time was changed to 2-4. Hah! This is not giving me good vibes for this season.

5:00 - Load the girls in the van where we drop them off at our friends' house who have graciously come to our babysitting rescue, swing through the grocery store for a cake since when did I have time today to bake?!?, then finally sit and relax and enjoy an evening of hanging out with 30 of my closest friends.

I was totally exhausted after all that, but it's still a huge sense of accomplishment to get so much done in one day. I mean, clearance prices AND a fabulous haircut all in one day? It just doesn't get any better than that.