Wash the Windshield

Keeping the view of the road ahead clear.



Monday, April 18, 2011

Prom Crawl

Things have certainly changed since the days of Prom for most all of us.  I know it has changed quite a bit for the 80's Ladies that may be reading this.

Oh, the days of prom....

I have a sweet little friend that is a Junior this year and SO excited about her first prom.  As an adult from the outside looking in, I think "oh goodness, all this money being spent and plans being made for one little night!?"  But then i remind myself HOW MUCH prom meant. 

... and it's a pretty big deal for these girls!

When I hear about the price of dresses these days, it makes me SUPER thankful that I have a son (and a daughter, but her prom comes later!)  I remember thinking about how crazy it was that us girls spent the greater part of the entire day getting ready for prom; from hair to nails, etc.

...and boys - got ready about 45 minutes before they picked us up.  

But as a parent, the thought of a +/- $100 tux + corsage,  isn't as bad as the $500+ that girls are spending on their stuff. 

W.O.W.

Then you have the whole element of dining at the most fabulous restaurant around.

Which brings me to the point of this post.

Some sweet parents asked me back this year to the North 40 entrance to the park to take pictures of their kids before they go to prom this weekend. 

I received the "official" facebook invite with all the details just last night.

Here's the interesting part...

The Event is called a 2011 Lapel Prom Crawl.

What is a Prom Crawl?

I'm glad you asked.

So, the kids meet at the high school to get on the chartered "shuttle" type bus.  (picture shiny black small sized charter bus).

They ride in the party shuttle bus to the park to meet me for pictures.

After they leave the park, they start crawling; or heading to each family's house for a section of the dinner.

The first stop is Appetizers.  Then salads at the next stop.  Followed by main courses and desserts at the next two stops.

Now, as the mother of a son (who should pay for his date's dinner)... I really like this idea!  Mostly because his mother wouldn't be out a bunch of money on food, but also because I feel like the parents get to be a part of this really big evening for them.  And, they get to stop at every parent's house for pictures with any of the extended family or whomever wants to see them before prom!

What a fun idea!

I'm so excited to be on one of the "Prom Crawl" stops this year!  Woot-Woot!

Sunday, April 17, 2011

You know it's time to do laundry when....

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind in my house between going on vacation for spring break, having some very active projects I'm managing at work and getting my portfolio to the place where it is ready to turn in May 2nd. 

We all know that I am not the model citizen when it comes to actually putting away laundry.  I try.  I really do.  I have even better intentions, but putting away clean laundry consistently is not my suit.

Consequently, I'm also an over packer.   So combine all of those factors with my spring break travels and you can only imagine how that whole situation turned out.

Let's just say... finally yesterday my mom came over and helped me put away the rest of the clean vacation clothes.

I know.

The part that I was most ashamed of is that, before we came home, I put all of our dirty clothes in the kids' suitcases and all the clean clothes in my suitcase.  That way, I'd be able to tell what needed washed.  Great plan.

Until I realized how severely I'd overpacked.  The kids and I had worn about three or four different outfits the whole week, between wearing our swimsuits/coverups all day and then our favorite shorts/capris during the week.

So, all thirty of the other outfits that I'd packed were unnecessary.  This will definitely be a mental note for me in the future.  The more I pack... the more I have to put away.

Regardless, the good news is... all the vacation clothes are finally put away.

Thanks to my mom.

The laundry on the other hand, has piled up significantly over the last two weeks.  This portfolio is cruicial in the development of the rest of my academic plan.  Therefore, I have to give 100%. 

I went to Allison's house this past week to work AND have her edit the work I'd done so far on my narrative essays.  The help she gave me was SO valuable.  I spent the rest of the week revising and getting it closer to done.

Combine that process with my crazy conference call filled work days and soccer practice/season starting up and ..... well...

Let's just say that I'm pretty sure I didn't shower from Wednesday morning to Friday afternoon.

Don't judge.

My plan was to spend the dreary day yesterday catching up on laundry, making a nice big pot of chili, and cleaning my house.  You know, those vacation clothes....

Coloring Easter eggs and sewing a valance for my friend's playroom window somehow snuck their way into the mix, so i think it's safe to assume...

...the laundry still didn't get done.

So, this morning I got up early to shower before church.  I get out of the shower and ready to get dressed when I realize....

It's MOST DEFINITELY time to do the laundry.

I begin to dig through my panty drawer because naturally, it's only appropriate to actually wear underwear to church.

But the only clean panties I have are the cute little lace ones.  You know, the low cut, sexy little numbers that leave you feeling like you have a massive wedgie for the small amount of time they are on.

I look over at my laundry baskets.  The one in the middle, the "brights" section is overflowing with dirty laundry.  And apparently every single pair of modest underwear I own.

So, off to church I went, ready to teach the cute little elementary kiddos during second service.

Wearing a nice modest pair of blue jeans,  a cute maroon shirt.

...and black lace panties.