This morning, Ashley and Alyssa, along with Emily and Charlie (Gracie was at preschool), met at Peet's Coffee & Tea here in the Mushroom City to celebrate Alyssa's first official day as a SAHM... y'know, where your plan envisions the loveliness of a casual coffee with a couple of your favorite gals and their wee ones and everyone sits decorously at the small cafe table and the itty-bitties are sooooooooo quiet and enjoying the company of their Mommy/TeeTee/Mimi, and we linger through the morning in the warm ambiance of....oh, who the heck am I kidding?

So I entered Peet's where my aforementioned favorite gals were wrangling their young'uns...where Charlie did not QUITE want to get into his little seat strapped to a chair and Miss Emily did not QUITE want to do whatever it was her mommy was attempting to get her to do, and where a snack bag full of Cheerios kinda saved the day (plain, no nut additions, thank you very much), and where Charlie downed a whole yogurt while simultaneously gnawing on Mimi's billfold and where Emily did her Indi 500 race around and around the table, culminating in GIANT hugs for Charlie, which finished with a small yet bloody little scratch on his face from the high-spirited hugging (although we don't know FOR SURE who the "scratcher" was, just the "scratchee" because it was quite a melee there for a bit and he may have even scratched himself in the excitement) but Charlie really COULDN'T have cared less about a little thing like a scratch, he was just relishing in the fun and attention from his 9-month-older-than-him-Cuz...and where the Peet's Coffee lady made several visits with broom in hand to sweep up all the loose Cheerios now rolling crazily about on the floor, and where I made several retrievals of my soppy, yogurt-slimed billfold from the floor where Charlie was flinging it, and whew! 45 minutes FLEW by, came and went, that's all she wrote, so long, good-bye, nice knowing you, let's all get the heck out of here before we start breaking actual furniture!!

And our coffee? Yeah, I think it got drank or drunk or whatever although the handwriting was on the wall when in the very beginning of our celebratory gathering, I managed to spill half of Ashley's latte while attempting to affix the lid on top (and ya see, the kiddos are not ALWAYS the problem here, folks) and the nice barista refilled the cup and wiped up my little mess, and it was all quite wonderful. What fun! Wouldn't have it any other way!! Let's do it again soon. What d'ya say, Ladies? :)

R

I have arrived!

After blogging on Friday, I was excited to see I'd received a comment that same night...Alyssa wrote she was glad "MCM" is back! Yep...it's official. I am an...


Acronym!

And the last day is done!

There appears to be a "small" lapse in my posting. If you noticed.... My poor blog has languised for over six months, I'm afraid. And isn't it odd that something I love suddenly fell so far down on the priority scale? I'm not going to make any attempts to analyze the "whys" and "what fors" but will simply report on a pretty extraordinary day!

It began early as many of these mornings with my Charlie have, but this day I felt a difference. It was bittersweet for me as I know it must have been for Alyssa. Because this was her last day of work. She's now officially a "SAHM" (Stay at home Mommy!). As is her sister, Ashley. And though no condition lasts forever, for now it feels pretty darned good because I know three little kiddos who are - and will be - very happy for this state of affairs.

So I decided to have a "celebratory" Starbucks this morning at 7:15 am as I was making my way to Charlie's house for my last official early morning "on duty." Ok, who am I kidding. I have started most of my early morning official duties with a Starbucks. My excuse is I don't have time to make a latte at home. Of course I DO have time to wait in line for a Starbucks...go figure!

And since I had a couple of minutes to spare, I paused in the parking lot for a few moments to let it sink in. My younger daughter's last day at a job that has treated her well, although she has given every bit as much as she's gotten back - a job in faraway Redwood City that has been her own personal commute hell for the past seven years. The "big city" job in a highrise with shiny glass windows that look like mirrors that she dreamed about as a little girl - as I learned on one of her blog postings a few days ago.  



And I pondered these things as my old friend, "Grande Nonfat Latte" accompanied me on this sunny morning in the parking lot by Starbucks. I recalled Alyssa at age 15 when she couldn't WAIT to be 16 and go to work. When, at 15-1/2, she was hired by Baskin Robbins - the only employer rumored to hire kids at 15-1/2. So I drove her to work those few more months until she turned 16 - and bought "Wilma" - her "dream car" back in the day...her little white Geo Storm that was good to her - even when she had a stunningly scary crash on the freeway heading home from San Luis Obispo one sunny fall day...to surprise us with a visit home after several weeks at community college. Wilma probably cost more to repair than she was worth (in terms of $$), but that was ok. Wilma brought Alyssa and her friend Kim, who was accompanying her home, safely through what was, I know, a terrifying situation.

So this morning when I arrived at the Wagner's of Morgan Hill (!), Charlie gave me a short greeting - his big smile and a light in his pretty blue eyes. But Charlie seemed a little off - a little tired perhaps. Instead of going into his "Hi Mimi Happy Dance" that I ordinarily witness, Charlie was content to watch a little Sesame Street and just...chill.

And chill a bit more...

And tuck his tiny, sweet feet neatly behind him...

And watch a little more of this...and a little more of that....

on the Street called Sesame..

If he was interested in why I brought my camera this morning, he didn't show it...

And then...Charlie became..well, Charlie. And I SERIOUSLY took about 8 shots just like the one below, each one cuter than the next. And trust me, I really wanted to show you all 8 shots, but I figured one would suffice. But take my word for it - they were ALL awesome!

And then it was time for Mr. C. to get busy...working on his future engineering endeavors...

...and...

looking to saddle "Old Green" and ride off into the sunset, which is when I noticed....

THIS!!!!

Check it out! The red glow behind Charlie? I think my new camera (Canon 60D, gift from "Poppy" at Chrismas, thank you soooo much!) may be capable of photographing auras! D'ya think?

!!!

Not just a one-time fluke, here it is - AGAIN! Woooooooo.....

Charlie, quite possibly not a fan of the unexplained, was quickly off an running.

Meanwhile, back at the (Sesame Street) ranch, we learned that today's theme was - WOW - CAMERAS! And, as usual, "Mr. Noodle" was stumped about the subject of picture taking and, well, life in general!

Pooooor Mr. Noodle!

Even Elmo was fascinated with the subject of photography. Particularly at how his friend Dorothy (the goldfish) had installed a camera (must be one of those fancy underwater outfits) in her bowl! And if Elmo doesn't look just a teeny bit scary with those big old eyes magnified through the fish bowl on a giant screen TV, well, then I don't know what does...

Soon thereafter, Charlie brought one of his new finds over for me to examine....

Yep - he has unlocked the key to "childproof" safety covers for the electrical outlets. Below he demonstrates how an outlet is just the right size for a childproof cover...and he is NOT happy when Mimi needs to retrieve ALL FOUR covers that he's confiscated.

So, what has changed in the 10-1/2 months that I've "on-again/off-again" watched Charlie grow?

Well, his toy colletion for one thing...it's grown just about as fast as Charlie has. But the main, most wonderful thing about watching Charlie grow is how fun, how happy, how smart (oh, yes, he is!) and how simply wonderful this newest boy member of the family has become.

So I prepared a "last breakfast" this morning as my last official duty and passed "the torch" over briefly to Chrissy - his last official nanny (we are all pretty official around here, folks!) who has been a sweet addition to the "Taking Care of Charlie" official roster of folks who really love this little boy!

And when the official torch was passed this afternoon upon Charlie's mommy's arrival home? Well, I didn't witness that personally, but if I know my daughter (and I think I do), I'm sure it all felt just as surreal to Alyssa as it has to me.

Welcome, Alyssa, to the awesomely amazing world of Stay at Home Mommies. You're in some awfully good company!