A day late

Well, it's now almost 10 a.m. on Thursday morning. I just got off of the phone with Barrett. I'd much rather be singing, "Friday night, just got paid, money in my pocket..." (smile) Where did I leave off…Oh yes, Alisa’s birthday celebration on Wednesday, 7/22/09.
As it turned out four of the five friends Alisa invited were able to attend. We left the house around 8:25 to pick up everyone. They were a little cramped until we dropped Aaron at PaPa & Tia’s (his ear was bothering him and so he didn’t end up going to weight training…slacker!), then all was well. We arrived at Pump it Up at 9:00 on the dot. I already had the waivers signed, so the girls watched the safety video and were ushered into the bounce arenas. Both A & B were open so the girls chose the less crowded side. They were the oldest ones there by a long shot. I tried to catch a few shots of the girls at play, then got them together for a group shot so I could sit down. Most novice photographers make the mistake of getting multiple shots of the same subjects while not having a single shot of a couple of the guests. I figured as long as I had a couple of group shots, everyone would be represented in the scrapbook. I then found a “quiet” bench by the fan and cracked open Waking With Enemies by Eric Jerome Dickey (the dose of mindless “smut” I’ve been trying to read since before summer school let out). I read a little but was too often distracted by girls reporting they were going to get a drink of water or go to the restroom or someone else’s kids squabbling over a Little Tikes Car. Eventually, a “field trip” group came so all of the Pop in & Play kids were ushered into Arena A, and it got a little crowded. I waited to see where Alisa & co. were and never did see them. I checked in Arena B to make sure they hadn’t missed the announcement while in the restroom and gone back in there. No big girls. I started to get a little nervous when I didn’t find them at the water fountain or in the restroom with multiple stalls, but then I found them all huddled in the single toilet bathroom holding court. Very Are You There God It’s Me Margaret? moment. One of the girls had just reached a crucial moment in every “adolescent” girl’s life the day before, and I’m certain they were holed up in the ladies room playing show and tell with her “supplies.”
A mother of a cute 3-year-old boy sat beside me and asked about what I was reading. She said she had just finished a book entitled, Same Kind of Different as Me by authors Ron Hall and somebody Moore, and had loved it. The mom on the other side of me agreed that the book was indeed an excellent read, and she informed us that a movie based on the book would be coming out soon with Samuel L. Jackson playing the lead character. I now know what book to reserve at the library (that is, IF I ever finish reading this one). At any rate, the girls were about all jumped out by 10:40 so I told them we could go ahead and pick up our pizzas and head to the park. I left them indoors as I went out to my car to get the phone number for CiCi’s Pizza and call to place our order. I ordered a medium spinach alfredo and a large half pepperoni/half cheese figuring that should be enough for five “little girls” along with the drinks, fresh fruit and cupcakes I had in a cooler in the car. The only problem was CiCi’s didn’t open until 11 a.m., so the order wouldn’t be ready until 11:10 or so. I told the girls they might as well enjoy the AC a little longer and we could head out right at 11 and not have too long to wait for the pizzas. We ended up waiting anyway because whoever I spoke with made an alfredo pizza not spinach alfredo, so they had to redo the one pizza. It was all good. We made it to the park around 11:30 (Here’s where I wish I knew how to download my photos and post them on here because I got some cute ones of the girls.) and ate pizza. The watermelon, orange slices & strawberries were pretty much untouched, but the pizza was devoured. The girls ran off to explore the park a bit then returned to open Alisa’s gifts ($20 bill, $20 gift cards to Walmart and Justice, and a "blendy pen" set) and eat cupcakes. We all left to see where the “trail” went (turns out it led to a housing development-surprise, surprise). Then, it was 12:30 and time to load up and return kids to their proper owners. I think everyone had a good time, including the birthday girl. Aubrey called her mom and asked if Alisa could come over for a couple of hours. I told her maybe one day next week, but not today because she had her cousin over (and she was spending the night with Taylor, but I didn’t mention that out loud!). We stopped by Tia’s to pick up “goody bags” Aunt Shannon had put together from some odd & ends left from Xavier’s previous parties. I dropped off Aubrey. No problem. There was a note taped to Avery’s door saying to knock next door (her Grandparents’ home) if no answer at home. No problem. Then, I stopped by Taylor’s house (I was going to drop her at home to take a nap or whatever until I delivered Alex to Aunt Faye). No one was home. No answer on her cell phone either, so we went on to my house. Then, I called Aunt Faye. No answer. I just went online to check e-mails and maybe start my blog. I told Alisa to pack her bag for Taylor’s house and change into some shorts for Six Flags. Yikes! I really did say Six Flags in front of Alex. Shoot! By 2:30-ish I had heard back from both Taylor’s mom and Aunt Faye, so I met Aunt Faye at mom’s to drop off Alex and pick up Aaron (Xavier came along, too). I delivered Taylor and Alisa to the Schulte’s home and returned to my own to lay it down.
I must have slept for close to two hours, and it felt great! Mike was working until 10 p.m. so Aaron & I had leftover chicken with pasta alfredo for dinner. Then we ran to Walmart grocery store to get cake baking supplies. I decided to go ahead and start with the baking so I wouldn’t be so far behind schedule. My personal preference is to bake one day, make frosting one day and decorate another day. Otherwise, it seems as if I’m on my feet for 9 or more straight hours (which I basically am if you consider: baking, dishwashing, more baking, dishwashing, frosting making, dishwashing, decorating, dishwashing, etc.). I managed to bake the 8” layers and one of the 10” layers before I had to stop for fear that I would become careless and mess something up. It was not as much as I had hoped I’d get done, but it was enough for one night (another reason to start early). Okay, so that’s about it for this one. I can’t seem to get caught up, but tomorrow should be easy because I didn’t do much in the way of errands, etc. today. Gotta get in bed before 1:30 a.m.! I can hear Mike snoring through the wall, and it's rhythmic cadence is kind of hypnotizing me. Of course, it doesn't sound so "rhythmic" when I'm in the same room with him. As Winnie the Pooh would say, "Oh bother!" Good night. Until the next time.