High Five for Friday (12.6.13)

1. While in Arkansas for Thanksgiving, Will and Hallie spent quite a bit of time playing outside. Though chilly in the mornings, the temperatures rose into the 50's and the skies turned sunny every afternoon; it was almost as if Mother Nature was sending the children daily, personal invitations to join her in a celebration of fall's beauty. (If you ask me, she more than owed us after all that tornado crap…) Will and Hallie also, however, spent a lot of time playing inside, on phones, iPads, and computers.

There's a lot of tech-saavy on that couch.

Because our car nearly overflowed with donations for Sara and Jeff, we couldn't bring any toys with us. And after two 10-hour car trips and multiple quiet mornings, nap times, and evenings in our hotel and at my grandma's house, Will in particular had maxed out on electronics. We've learned that the only way to find our sweet Will again, after he reaches this breaking point, is to cut all things electronic for at least a week. This week.

And it's been glorious. Will knows that if he asks about playing the Wii or my iPad I add another day to the "ban", so he hasn't asked. Hallie hasn't asked either. Instead, they've played outside - for nearly two hours straight on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday afternoons - and read a ridiculous number of books. They weren't allowed an overwhelming amount of video/handheld game time to begin with, but I'm enjoying this week so much that I think a permanent decrease may be in our near future. Now, how to break it to Will...

2. On Monday afternoon, Hallie's teacher handed me a flyer and mentioned that the preschool had scheduled a "bonus" pajama day for yesterday. "Great! Hallie loves to wear her pajamas to school!", I exclaimed. ("Great! Mama doesn't have to get Hallie dressed for school!", I thought to myself.) It wasn't until I read the flyer that I realized this pajama day was a fundraiser - coordinated without my knowledge - for Sara and Jeff. I'm lucky to have such wonderfully generous people in my life, and in the lives of my children.

3. It may sound silly, but this week I'm sending out a high five for crappy contacts and new(ish) glasses. If I hadn't started to hate my contacts, I would never have pulled the trigger on eye surgery. And if I hadn't bought new glasses last year, I would never have been eligible for eye surgery because my eyes have to stay "naked" for basically the week prior to the surgery. Six days and counting!

I've been wearing glasses (and apparently a very
large retainer) for a l…o…n…g time. I'm ready to be done.

4. I read this commentary on the Williams Sonoma catalog while working in my McOffice last Tuesday. I laughed so hard - out loud - that Diet Coke came out of my nose, my eyes filled with tears, and customers stared. One woman may have grabbed her staring toddler son's hand and pulled him to the other side of the restaurant, away from me. (Warning: the author of this commentary uses some profanity.)

5. My eyes filled with tears again (and yes, I was still in my McOffice) when I watched and listened to The Piano Guys' performance of Angels We Have Heard on High. I adore both The Piano Guys and Christmas music, and this combination of the two was almost more than I could handle.

I realized while watching this clip that one of the reasons I love this group of men is that they're living one of Tom's dreams. The opportunity to collaborate creatively, approach traditional systems with new perspectives, and stretch the boundaries of what society has long considered "good enough"…all while making music. Maybe someday my engineer will find his way back to piano.

Linking up with High Five for Friday!