Five On Friday

Happy Friday, everyone!  I don’t think that I’ve needed a Friday this badly in months… maybe even years.  These last few weeks have been pure chaos and I’m ready for some semblance of normalcy.  Won’t be getting that this weekend, though, as Brian and Jacob will be out of town, but at least I’ll have some downtime with my best girl.  And a Sunday dinner at my parents’ house.  Finally.  That ought to recharge my battery and feed my soul a little!

Today I’m linking up with A. Liz Adventures and A Little Bit of Everything for Five On Friday.   

O N E

Well, Jacob has officially started PK4.  I still can’t believe it.  Monday came and we hit the ground running.  Brian, Olivia, and I all walked him into his classroom, and he seemed right at home, right away.  No tears from him, and surprisingly, no tears from me.  (Until yesterday.  I think the combination of my grandfather passing away and Jacob starting school finally hit me like a ton of bricks yesterday, and it was quite a rough day.  Not good at all.)

Anyway, Jacob has been coming home every single day in the happiest little mood, and he’s been all a chatter about everything that he has learned each day.  He brought his lunch to school twice this week, and he bought his lunch at school twice this week, and both experiences seemed to go smoothly.  He was especially excited about the marshmallow hearts that I snuck into his lunch on Tuesday.  That boy loves marshmallows!

T W O

Remember the Target debacle with our porch furniture a few weeks ago?  Well, I’m happy to report that Target did an excellent job of handling the return and they have somewhat redeemed themselves after the poor job they did of handling returns from our wedding registry after we got married.  I don’t think I’ll ever be able to completely forgive them for that disaster, but that’s another story for another day. 

Anyway, if you remember, a few weeks ago, we ordered two chaise lounges from Target.com and both were unusable – one was completely busted by the carrier before it even arrived at our house, and the other was defective.  Instead of being shaped like a rectangle, it was a parallelogram. 

Fortunately, when I called Target customer service, a competent (and friendly) person took my call, and they arranged for a carrier to come back to our house and pick up the damaged ones, they shipped two replacements, and they refunded our original handling fees in the form of a Target gift card.  I am happy to report that Brian put the replacements together, and they are both perfect.  Bravo, Target, bravo.  Now I don’t have to quit you forever.

T H R E E 

In case you missed it, I finally shared my gift wrap storage and organization here on the blog yesterday.  I’m so happy to finally have it all organized and labeled… it is so easy to find what I need, and it’s going to make Christmas wrapping a whole lot more fun this year!

F O U R

Speaking of Christmas, is anybody else as excited about fall as I am?!  I’m already dreaming of college football, cool, crisp weather, comfy leggings and cozy scarves, red and yellow leaves falling from the trees, a big crackling fire in the fire place, Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks, the sound of marching band music floating through the night sky, the scent of Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin candles wafting through the house, and the sound of cheerful Christmas carols playing everywhere.  Gives me chills just thinking about it.

F I V E

As I mentioned earlier, Brian and Jacob are going out of town this weekend… it will be the first time that my baby has travelled without me!  Brian and I have left Jacob and Olivia at home a couple of times with grandparents while we traveled, but neither of my babies has ever travelled without me.  They’re only going to be a four hour drive away, but it might as well be clear across the country as far as I’m concerned.   

They packed up and left right after J got out of school this afternoon to go to Brian’s state tennis tournament.  Brian’s dad is going with them so Jacob has someone to sit with during the matches when Brian is playing. 

Olivia and I are staying here to hold down the fort, and I’m sure we will be doing lots of girly things – gossiping, drinking wine, and doing our nails.  Kidding.  But I might really try to paint her nails.  Gotta get her started early. 

I’m already counting down the minutes until my Boo returns on Sunday!  Please pray that they have a safe trip over and back.  

Have a great weekend, everybody!