Today I'd Rather Be...

It is rainy, cold, and just downright nasty in the nation's capitol today.  I could have easily stayed under the covers and just snoozed the day away...like Bunch does every day of her life!  I took this picture a few years ago and it has always been one of my favorites.  I cannot wait to see my furry best friend on Thursday!  Between family, friends, Thanksgiving food, and Bunch, the excitement of going home might be too much! 

Now, if only I didn't have to walk to class in the nasty weather. :-(

Did I Mention I'm Also An Anthropologist?

No, not the kind of anthropologist you're thinking of!  I do not study Anthroplogy, I study Anthropologie!  Did ya'll catch that little differentiation in spelling? ;-)  Yes, I am completely, utterly devoted to the clothing store Anthropologie.  As sad as it sounds, I probably go at least once a week if not more.  And no, I don't buy something every time I go!  The store is only a few blocks from my house, so how can I be expected to stay away for too long?  Their clothes are just my style and I could spend hours (or days!) inspecting every single garment in the store.  Anthropologie is definitely my biggest fashion weakness!

The other day, while I was one of my browsing outings in the store, I noticed these:

Are they not wonderful?!  Aside from pretty clothes, I'm a sucker for pretty pj's.  Unfortunately, I don't own many pretty pj sets because I'm a poor graduate student and I can't bring myself to spend $48 on a pair of sleepy pants!  But, I'm just as happy drooling over them via a trip to the store or online.  Yes, the Anthropologie website is at the top of my favorites list!  Oh, and I also spotted these fun little robes too:

And last but not least, this:

This coat reminds me of Julie Christie in Dr. Zhivago!  It also reminds me of Paddington Bear with the cute toggles (If your children don't know Paddington, you must introduce them!).  And how can you resist the fur collar AND cuffs?!

Do you think it would be too much for me to ask Santa to bring me one of everything from Anthropologie this year?? ;-)

And Just When I Thought...

I couldn't be any more excited, I turned on the tv and this was just about to start:

It is the little things like the Grinch that make me feel like this:

Over the River and Through the Woods!

Happy weekend to you!  I hope you are getting as excited as I am about Thanksgiving.  I can't wait to get home and see my family and friends!  Oh, and get my fill of turkey, dressing, and pumpkin pie!  I am sucker for Thanksgiving food.  Our housekeeper, Rene, has made our cornbread dressing for us for as long as I can remember.  And let me tell you folks, Rene knows how to make dressing like it's nobody's business!  I sound like I'm more excited about the dressing than my family and friends don't I??  Please do wish me luck as I am having my first holiday air travel experience Thursday morning.  I have class Wednesday night, so I will be flying in to Birmingham just as the turkey is probably being put on the table.  Luckily, my grandmother's house is only about 30 minutes from the airport, so I won't be too late getting there.  Ya'll save a plate for me, please, and make sure that most of it is dressing! :-)

In other news, my three little gals are doing great and are keeping me on my toes every week!  Erin is growing like a weed and it has been so much fun watching her become more alert and observant of her surroundings.  She is the calmest, most satisfied baby I've ever seen.  As long she's fed and clean, she's more than happy to let me drag her around and put her in and out of the car 18 times a day.  Sweet pea, I hope you keep up this good behavior because you have spoiled me rotten! 

Lucy and Gretchen and I have spent alot of time talking about Thanksgiving for the past few weeks.  It is so fun to listen to them talk about what they've learned in preschool about Thanksgiving and how it began.  Lucy sat me down last week and told me all about the first Thanksgiving:  "Stewart, the pilgrims came over on a BIG ship and then they had a BIG feast at a BIG table and they all said WE GIVE THANKS!"  Does it get any cuter than that??  Gretchen was a ball of excitment all last week as she is turning the big FIVE tomorrow!  I don't know what I would do without her.  She is such a huge help with the baby and Lucy and what makes it even better is that she truly loves to help out.  Give that girl a task and she'll get it done pronto!  Do you think it's possible to teach a 5 year old how to change a diaper correctly?? ;-)

Let's see...what else is going on...mmmmm....oh I almost forgot!  My hair is falling out!  Isn't that great?!?  I bit the bullet last week and made an appointment to get my hair cut and highlighted at the Aveda salon up the street from my apartment.  Originally, I decided to forgo haircuts and color to save money while I was in school.  Yes, I was going to have long, dishwatery blonde hair for two years.  That is until I looked in the mirror the other day and couldn't take the stringy, dishwatery hair anymore.  So, I went in on Wednesday and my stylist was inspecting my hair when he asked "Are you stressed out by any chance?"  I replied "Well, I'm a nanny for a 5 year old, 3 year old, and a newborn and I'm in grad school at Georgetown, so I think it's safe to say I'm pretty stressed out 99% of the time."  He responded with "Well, you are losing your hair and there is a lot of breakage too.  You should get some prenatal vitamins."  I wasn't quite sure whether to freak out over the fact that I'm shedding like a dog or that I was just told to go get some vitamins for pregnant women.  Thankfully, he informed me that the "shedding" isn't permanent, but that I needed to really work on de-stressing.  How the heck do you de-stress when you have this kind of life??  If any of ya'll know, please tell me!  Otherwise, I may be bald by the time I finish grad school!  Despite the fact that my hair is falling out and broken, what is left is now golden blonde and the perfect length again.  Sorry natural hair color, you just didn't do it for me!

Alright folks, I'm off to get back to work on one of my final papers for school.  Only a few more weeks and I will have finished my first semester of grad school at Georgetown!  Yay! 

Happy Early Thanksgiving!

P.S.  Don't you just love Norman Rockwell paintings?  I do. :-)

Does anyone out there remember me??

I hope so!  And I know if you do remember me, you've missed me terribly. ;-)  Every single day I think I am going to find the time to blog, but inevitably it doesn't happen!  If nannying has taught me anything so far, it is that I am in the WORST physical shape of my life and, that time is precious!  OK, maybe I should re-phrase that - "alone time" is precious!  As much as I adore the those three little girls, they might as well be putting me through a workout boot camp every day!  The only time I sit down during the day is to feed Erin a bottle and I normally don't make it through a feeding without having to get up to referee a spat between Gretchen and Lucy or open the back to door to remind them for the millionth time NOT to pull the leaves off the shrubbery.  For some reason they love to pull leaves off the shrubs and bring them to me as "presents". 

Speaking of presents, last week before my midterm, I told Gretchen and Lucy on the way home from school how nervous I was about my "really BIG test".  An hour or so after we got home, both of them came upstairs from the playroom with a little something for me to keep in my pocket during the test.  They said "Stewart, we have bravery treasures for you to keep in your pocket during your big test tonight!"  Bravery treasures - don't you love it?!  The "bravery treasures" consisted of two beautifully colored pictures (Hello Kitty, of course) and a few pencil grips.  I tucked all of my bravery treasures safely in my coat pocket and you can bet they were with me through the entire exam!  I haven't gotten my grade back yet, but hopefully those bravery treasures helped me pull through!

There is much more to write, but it's time to pick up the girls from school and I don't want them to be the last ones waiting for the ol' nanny to get there!

More to come soon!

Still here...barely!!

Hello friends!  I am still alive and kicking, but school has taken the stuffing out of the country mouse over the past week or two.  I have had a ton of work to do and a midterm to study for that is this Wednesday.  Please pray that I will pass with flying colors and not crash and burn!  I am so nervous about this test (obviously, it's been a LONG time since I've taken an academic test) and am terrified of forgetting everything the minute I sit down for the exam.  I'm sure plenty of you out there have experienced this feeling before too!  Thankfully, the girls have been so understanding of their stressed and frazzled nanny.  Two of them were sick last week (thankfully it wasn't the swine flu!), so needless to say we were all in pretty bad shape!  I will be breathing a huge sigh of relief come Wednesday night when I finish the exam.  Well, it might not be a really huge sigh of relief because I still have to deal with anticipation of getting my grade back!  Oh grad school...you sure are giving this mouse a run for her money!

I'm hoping this isn't what happens to me when I sit down to the exam:

Be back after Wednesday with a *hopefully* positive report!