fun friday madness

can i tell you about the madness that was our friday?  okay, good.

it started bright and early as i remembered i hadn't yet attached the required patches to the front of the bean's daisy tunic.  oops.

as i was working on that little task, she woke up and found a little surprise i'd picked up for her at the girl scout store:

off she went to school for just a half day, while i hit the barre for a good workout before tackling the rest of our busy ass day.  after class, i had just enough time to race home and take a shower before picking her up again just before lunchtime.  then we took a nice leisurely drive down to anaheim to pick up the bib i'd paid for so she could do the kids' run at the avengers half marathon weekend at disneyland...even though she wouldn't be able to run it after all.

run disney usually offers custom-designed dooney & burke handbags in the theme of their uber-popular half marathons, and this one was no different.  and they are insanely popular, as you can see from this crazy line to buy one:

the bean wanted to see what the fuss was all about, so we walked up to take a peek.  i have to admit, while i usually find the bags rather tacky and fugly, these were actually kind of cute.  not enough to buy one, mind you, and especially not with that dumb line to wait in.

on our way back to the car, we stopped to check out the finish line for the next morning's 5K.

with half of our day behind us, i stopped for a caffeine fix and picked up my very first red cup of the season.  i don't usually drink hot coffee - it puts me to sleep - but they screwed up my order and so along with my usual iced drink, i got this matching hot one.

we had about half an hour to relax at home before we were off and running again.  while the bean shook it like a polaroid picture at her hula class, i ran out and got some fun decor for that afternoon's first daisy scout meeting:

and as soon as she was done being lilo for the week, we had another wardrobe change and headed off to meet her fellow scouts for the very first time.

it's funny - i've never been that nervous about facing a group of 6- and 7-year olds before.  it was really good to have two co-leaders to share the spotlight with, though, and although there were a couple of hiccups along the way, we managed to get through our agenda relatively unscathed.  the meeting went really well, and the girls all seem to be very sweet and excited to see what comes next.

believe it or not, we weren't done.  oh, no.  all of the weekly practices that the bean has been participating in for show choir were culminating in that evening's annual fundraiser.  and so i helped her get dressed in the simple outfit they were wearing onstage, drove her to school and left her in the capable hands of the show choir director before rushing back home to get myself cleaned up and dressed for the gala.  people were already arriving, and they were dressed to the nines.  damn.

to go along with the black & white theme, i busted out a dress i've had for about a decade.  heh.  luckily, it still fits and is as comfy as i remembered.  and when we got back to school, it was a nice surprise to find that although we were probably among the last to arrive, we got one of the best parking spots in the lot.  bonus!

the gym had been completely transformed, practically unrecognizable with the help of the school's events director's creativity and some very cool rentals.  i'm swiping their photo so you can see:

i was happy to find that we had been seated with some of the bean's friend's parents, who are all really fun to hang out with.  our tablemates from last year's gala were there too, which was cool because i've gotten to know the wife more through xtend barre.  and as we got past the hellos and how are yous, my gaze fell on this little card placed in the middle of the table:

it was a pretty cool way to give the attendees something to do, help them mingle with their tablemates, learn a little about STEM education, and a very clever way to avoid having to shell out cash for an actual centerpiece.  very strategic.  and the school's 3D printer was on display in the lobby too, working on a rose much like the one that was laying on the counter next to it.

we had a blast putting together our very pathetic looking structure.  we were all proud of ourselves at first, because it seemed that no one else was playing along.  but it made for some great bonding time and a lot of hilarity, because look:

even more amusing was when we looked around and noticed other tables putting together professional-looking structures like this:

needless to say, we didn't win shit.  ha!

but it didn't matter, because watching the bean up on stage performing her little heart out with obvious pride and joy was better than any stinking gift card they could've given us.  thanks to my friend radiomama who happened to be seated at a table right in front, here she is in all her glory:

onions.  there were definitely onions being chopped nearby.  we were so proud, and afterwards lavished her with praise and hugs and kisses.

even after that long day, full of activity and excitement, she insisted that she wasn't tired yet when we got home.  the hub and i knew better, of course, and told her to change into pajamas and brush her teeth and then she could come and hang out in the living room and watch tv.

about three minutes into an episode of spongebob, we were here:

the end.