We gonna party till the money runs out (Week 1)

I'm sure you all are dying to know how my first week of retirement played out.  Was I bored?  Did I watch TV all day?  Get ready for my super exciting recap!

Monday - It was gorgeous outside that morning but the first thing that came to mind regarding my new found freedom was napping.  I knew I couldn't do it though as it would burn up too much time.  When I dropped the girls off at school, I inadvertently scared the crap out of another mom who thought I was going to ram into her.  No, just quickly trying to back into this parking space for the sake of all the other parents in line behind me.  P.S., it's called the "drop off" lane not the "sit in the car with your kid until the doors open" lane for a reason.  Yes, I was making new friends already.

While the girls were in school, I took a long walk (just under 3 miles), finally painted my toenails, finished up a blog post (or "worked" as those bloggers who make $ off of their blogs call it), finished the book I was reading and ran a few loads of laundry.  The girls wanted to swim after school so we hung out by the pool until it was time for me to make dinner.  We really weren't doing any meal planning beforehand and I want to change that.  I also want us to eat dinner as a family more than we have been, which is not at all during the week.  Well, in the very least, I can now eat with the girls if Rich isn't yet home from work.

Monday night I made a turkey meatloaf, which is a household favorite (recipe by Ina Garten), with scalloped potatoes (not homemade, sorry, not sorry) and sauteed asparagus.



Tuesday - I had volunteered to chaperone the girls' field trip to a planetarium and a museum because I wanted to chaperone but also because of the cathing situation with Anna.  She is still small enough that we can cath her in the van when we are out and about.  Even though one of the nurses would be on the field trip, the only place to cath Anna would be on the bus, which would stress her out because she would be afraid of someone accidentally seeing her.  I followed the buses to the museum in my van and it all worked out.  Fun was had by all.

After the field trip, I only had a few minutes at home to change up the laundry before I needed to leave to pick the girls up at school.  Tuesday night marked the girls' last dance classes for the season.  They wanted to swim again after school and I agreed but the timing was tight.  Allie and Emily had tap class at 4:00.  We returned home after tap for about 35 minutes to eat dinner (leftovers) and then returned for ballet class, which started at 6:00.    

Wednesday - After school drop off, I returned home and continued with laundry.  I needed to be back at the school an hour later because the kids were having an exhibition of their research projects.  Because I was going to go on my walk/run after the exhibition, I decided to cook up a southwestern omelette.  With a mini bagel.



After school, it was too chilly to swim so the girls played outside for awhile.  They were scheduled for a tennis lesson that night but storms were forecasted as well.  Thankfully, the storms just missed us.  For dinner, I made lasagna, baked zucchini and garlic bread.



Thursday - Rich dropped the girls off at school just because.  It's on his way to work and he wanted to.  I turned the TV on for the first time because the Goo Goo Dolls were going to be on the Today Show.  I feel like TV is such a time suck.  I went for my walk and . . . wait for it.  Yes, more laundry.  Allie had a dentist appointment after school to have baby teeth on the other side of her mouth pulled.  She had one side pulled back in the winter and we waited for a baby tooth to fall out before we had the remainder pulled.  This is to combat the crowding in her small mouth and make room for her adult teeth coming in.  Grammy watched Anna and Emily and when Allie and I returned home, I let them watch the Food Network as Allie needed to rest.  We had poor man's shepherd's pie (also known as tater tot casserole with a layer of green beans) for dinner.  Meh, wasn't really a favorite.

  

Friday -  Rich dropped the girls off at school again.  I know, I have it so tough.  I went for a long walk/run, kept up with the laundry, ventured out for some errands and then watered all of our outdoor plants and flowers.  The girls had their year end gymnastics show last night so they ate an early dinner of leftovers and then as a treat after the show, we went out for ice cream.

I don't want this to get too long so I'll save it (and my non-food photos) because there is soooo much I want to say.  This is a whole new world for me.