Flying

Flying - time!
Since I last posted, some highlights:

• I finished up all of the wedding-related stuff I was doing for the teacher at Avery's school. She got married on Saturday. I couldn't attend because we were out of town for the weekend. I was up until 2:30 AM on Wednesday night doing to place cards for the tables, but it was worth it. I was very pleased with how those turned out.  And I'm now a total expert at using many types of pens with my Silhouette. You need place cards or the like, I'm your woman. During this process, I also discovered that it's cheaper and better to buy large sheets of high quality paper at Blick (or another art supply store) rather than using cardstock or scrapbooking paper. It takes the ink better and gives you more flexibility ... you know, in case you were wondering. 
• We had a visit with some of Avery's birthfamily! It went very well. Nikki (birthmother), Grandma J (maternal grandmother), Grandpa Paul (maternal grandstepfather), and Garrett (brother) were all there for the BBQ at Grandma J's house.
• We had another visit with the grandmother we hadn't yet met, Grammie Tina. She is Mike's mom. It was great to finally meet her. The visit was a good one. Avery took no time whatsoever to warm up to Grammie Tina. She commenced trying to impress her immediately. The two of them made bead bracelets together. 
• D and I attended his office's annual company trip. This year it was held on the coast at Salishan Lodge. I remembered to bring gluten-free graham "style" crackers for the beach party where s'mores were the dessert. While D went kayaking, I hit the spa to enjoy a scrub. 
• Mom and I painted ... and repainted. Fortunately, I actually enjoy painting for the most part. Mom wanted a smokey blue for her room. We picked out a blue, painted her whole bedroom (the largest room we were painting ourselves), then decided it wouldn't work. So we repainted it and it looks much better. She and I also painted her office and the guest room. The professionals came in and painted the dining room, living room, kitchen, and hallways, as well as all the ceilings. Mom and I will still need to paint the two bathrooms, but we can do that after she's settled in a bit. 
• MOM MOVED! She moved on Tuesday with the movers doing all the heavy lifting. I've been over to her place to help out everyday except yesterday. She's making great progress. The kitchen is unpacked, the living room is done, the office is nearing completion. Her couches fit perfectly in the living room, and they are much more attractive in this house than they were in her CO house. 

Flying - Avery's schedule
I've been flying* through Avery's fall scheduling, arranging and scheduling and registering for Avery's fall classes. So far, I think we can manage gymnastics**, dance***  and swimming****. Whether theater***** can be added into the mix remains to be seen. Swimming and theater conflict. When asked to choose between them, Avery chose swimming.

* Yes, I'm stretching the use of the "flying" theme here.

** Gymnastics, for us, is dependent upon two spots being open for Avery and Elise. We're out of district for THPRD. I suppose if we can't get into gymnastics there, I'll check if Avery wants to do gymnastics without Elise. If she still does, then I can look outside of the parks & rec program (probably go to the place where Teacher Jackie is teaching).

*** I was very happy to learn that the studio I found for Avery has both online registration and the ability for me to schedule particular days during a session. This means I don't have to pay for those days we'll miss due to vacations, etc.

**** Swimming is dependent upon being able to find an agreeable time that Henry can do semi-private lessons with Avery, as well as SWCC having a semi-private slot open during our requested time(s). So many dependencies.

***** I decided to just sign Avery up for theater on the off chance that things will work out exactly the way I need them to for this class to happen. If they do, great! If not, then I will lose my $25 deposit for that class.

Flying - travel 

I have been missing Mexico. I also realized this is my last school year where I can just do as I please with Avery's schedule. As such, I decided to see if Christie & Henry would be up for a trip down to Mexico in September. As I was proposing this idea, I realized that we have to connect through LA and what's near LA? Disneyland! After some back and forth with Christie regarding dates that would work, we scheduled a trip. We'll be hitting Disneyland for two full days and we'll be in Mexico for 5 full days (7 if you count travel days). I'm very much looking forward to this. And D will be able to join us for one full day in Disneyland.

Christie is opting not to tell Henry for fear that he'll ask everyday for a month if it's time to go yet. I did not take this route with Avery and told her almost immediately. Today we had the following conversation:
A: "Am I going to school today?"
M: "No, it's Sunday."
A: [pause] "Disneyland?"
M: "No."
A: "Mexico?"
M: "No."

At least she asked about school first?