Autonomous Annie

I did it! I survived my first semester back after childbirth.  Last night I posted final grades for Fall 2012.  I now have five glorious days off from the store to get my life back in order.  Here are some things I'd like do:

• Finish Christmas shopping and wrap presents.
• Get everything ready for Emmie's birthday party this Sunday.  That includes buying food and supplies, ordering the cake, and cleaning*.
• Send out goofy family photo Christmas cards that feature an adorable holiday dressed-up baby.
• Pack summer clothes away (Clearly long overdue).
• Finish Emmie's baby book up to her first birthday.
• Read a book.  My smartphone is a time sucker that must be abandoned!

How much do you think I'll actually get done?

I woke up feeling happy and motivated for the first time in a while.  This evening our good friend is watching Emmie while Bruce and I go on a much-needed dinner date.  I'll wear a nice outfit and we'll dine at an upscale Japanese place for which we bought a Living Social deal many months ago.  Finally, we're going to get to be husband and wife for a couple hours, not counting the grocery shopping we did at midnight the other night.

Another exciting thing about this week is that Bruce is taking his last vacation day for the year on Friday to be with Emmie and me.  Originally he took off the day after Christmas, but when my boss at the store told me there was no way I could take that day off, Bruce switched.  Yay! A whole day together!  Considering that it's supposed to be the end of the world (Chariots of demons in the sky! Fireballs raining down! Oh God, I'm only half kidding - nervous laugh), I couldn't think of a better day for us to all hunker down at home.

*Of course throwing Emmie's birthday party here at my in-laws' couldn't be without its issues.  It started a few days ago when Bruce's mom casually mentioned to me, "You'll have to clean the cat hair off these chairs... so people have a place to sit down."  Twitching slightly, I reassured her that everything would be spic and span for the party. 

I understand her concern; if I were going away on a trip and coming home to a party at my house I'd be anxious to make sure everything got done right, too.  But I don't need anyone to nag me.  So when I was having a chat with Bruce's dad about how glad I am to have these next few days off, and he said: "You need them, because you have a lot of cleaning to do around here," I almost flipped out.  I am under the impression that they have forgotten I'm a) not their child and b) not a child at all.  I did once have my own very tidy house at which I threw many very nice parties.

So when Bruce's dad started saying something yet again about getting everything done for the party in time - I spoke up.  And Bruce was there to witness it.  I said, "Dad, everything will get done.  Okay? You don't need to trouble yourself one bit."

He continued, "I just don't want you guys waiting until the last minute and then having to scramble."

"We won't.  But even if we do, Dad," I pressed, "It will get taken care of."

He's been told.  And THAT is how one adult converses with another.