The weekend was not all that it could be, but when is it?

K.T. and Kevin and Jess came over Friday evening to have dinner with us -- K.T. made a lamb stew that was really quite good, and we had a nice time talking and watching the girls play.

They left fairly late, though, and I didn't get Penny into bed until nearly nine. The last time we did this, Penny woke up three or four times during the night. This time, she slept fairly well through most of the night, but then woke up at 5:30 and was sort of whiney and bratty all day Saturday.

(This is not a suggestion, by the way, that the Hickses should have gone home earlier. Penny and Jess were both so wired on ice cream that, even if they'd left immediately after dinner, I don't think I'd have gotten Penny to bed any earlier.)

Saturday wasn't all bad. I took Penny with me to the post office, and she was actually relatively good the whole time we were standing in line. Or rather, the whole time I was standing in line; she ran around and ducked under the rails and played peekaboo with me over the counter, but she stayed near me and maintained a fairly cheerful mood and didn't shriek or anything, so I'm counting it a success.

We found the Brandts in not the best of moods, however -- Emma from lack of sleep, and Braz from overwork and worry over a friend in his department at work with some serious health problems, and Kris from dealing with Emma and Braz. Sarah was in a reasonable mood until Kris put her down for a nap. Oh, the horror!

They were happy to see us, but they obviously weren't really up to company, much less babysitting Penny for me while I ran errands. And Penny was still in a sort of grouchy mood from her late night and early morning, so we left shortly after lunch.

Penny's mood was much improved on Sunday, and was pretty good as I dragged her around town on the errands I'd been planning to run Saturday. She ate a big lunch, and took a nice long nap, too.

My intention had been to take her to my parents' for the afternoon -- let her play with them (or let them play with her, depending on how you look at it) and maybe even get a little more scrapbooking done. But when Penny got up from her nap -- in excellent spirits -- I said, "Do you want to go see Grandma and Grandpa?" and she said -- calmly and after consideration -- "No."

I offered it again a few more times over the next hours, because she's sometimes a bit contrary when she first wakes up. But no, she really didn't want to go out and visit Grandma and Grandpa. What she wanted was to go to the park and get on the swings. But, alas, it was about 35 degrees with occasional flurries of snow yesterday, which is not remotely park weather. So we compromised on watching Sleeping Beauty. Again. Alas, no scrapbooking for me.

(Not that it matters, because I only just now remembered that I'm still out of adhesive anyway, so I couldn't have gotten very far.)

Ah, well. Penny was contrary but cheerful for most of the afternoon and evening, but she did a pretty good job of entertaining herself for short periods, and she ate a good dinner, and had fun in her bath. So the evening was pretty good.

She stuck in her thumb and pulled out a plum...

I expect the first part of this week to be moderately hellish. Tomorrow -- Valentine's Day -- I have to take Penny to the outpatient center to get her pre-op bloodwork done. I think I may take along a little packet of M&Ms to help cheer her up afterward; giving blood is unpleasant enough for grownups.

Then I'll be at the office for all of about an hour (maybe) before I have to leave for my chiropractor appointment, and after that I'm going up to daycare for a "Parent Appreciation" Valentine's Day luncheon. Which should be fun, but with all that stuff on my schedule, I'll be lucky if I'm working a whole four hours on Tuesday.

Wednesday, there's another pre-op visit to the doctor's office, though thankfully that one shouldn't involve nearly as much unpleasantness as the bloodwork -- just a baseline checkup, and they'll give me her post-op medication prescriptions so I don't have to go to the drugstore with a screaming post-op child.

But Thursday and Friday have no major appointments, so hopefully they'll go smoothly. And Matt is coming home Friday night, hurrah! My parents are picking him up at the airport, since he's coming in after Penny's bedtime, but he should be home by 9:30 or 10.

Hurry up, weekend!

--Liz