We had a pretty good weekend. Saturday's weather was too nice to be believed, so after Penny had her nap, I packed her into the car and we went to the park.

She had a blast -- I pushed her in the swings for a while; and she got down to pet a dog; and then she ran over to the swing on the other side of the park. Then she spent a while running up the ramp to the stage, then jumping off (with my help), and doing it all over again.

Eventually she learned that there was a slide on the far side of the stage, and even though it was a big-kid slide, she wanted to go down it, so I helped her get up the ladder, then took her down on my lap a couple of times.

She rounded that out with some playing in the leaves. Another kid maybe a year older wanted to play in the leaves with her -- he scooped up a handful and tossed them at her. She got scared/shy and ran back to me. The kid -- astonishingly empathetic for his age -- tried to show her that he was just playing by picking up another handful of leaves and dumping them on his own head. Penny thought that was funny, and did it herself, but she refused to go play with the kid. Oh, well.

She found a couple of sticks (amazing; as if we were playing near a bunch of trees!) that she decided were fairy wands (the fairies in Sleeping Beauty have wands, you know) and she waved them gleefully around all the way back to the car. She insisted on bringing them home with her, too, though I did manage to convince her to leave them outside.

Sunday afternoon, we went over to visit my parents. My dad is in California all this week for business, and then next Saturday he and Mom are leaving for Cancun, so I figured they'd want some time with Penny before that.

And while they entertained Penny, I got to set up my scrapbooking stuff in the dining room and get another page or two done. Not as much as I'd have liked -- Penny came in several times to make sure I hadn't gone anywhere and beg me to pick her up -- but more than I'd have been able to manage at home.

Of course, we didn't get home until after 8, which means Penny didn't get her bath, and I was too tired to want to think about making jello for my lunch today, so that didn't get done.

But I did get her clothes into the laundry, which is good, because she's just about out of clothes that are both warm and sufficiently rugged to wear to school.

Of course, it's Monday today.

I wrenched my shoulder yesterday, either hefting my scrapbooking bag or hefting Penny -- it doesn't really matter which.

Not once, not twice, but three times on my commute this morning, someone zipped in front of me (making me slam on the brakes -- which, as a note, Penny thinks is hysterically funny) and then proceeded to just pace the car in the slow lane.

I hate other people. Especially when they're driving.

I forgot to write the week's tuition check for daycare. I'm vaguely astonished that I remembered to bring her naptime blankets. Though I got an extra hug from Penny's friend TJ this morning. I realized that when Matt comes home, I'm going to miss it -- not the commuting back and forth, but dropping Penny off and picking her up. And getting to see the other kids.

I have meetings pretty much all morning today. The one from 9 - 10:30 is the weekly managers meeting, that I can mostly doze through, but the one from 11-12 is pretty much strictly for my benefit, so I need to wake up before then.

And why am I so tired?

Penny woke up twice last night with nightmares. The second time, she convinced me that she needed a diaper change, so I turned the light on to do that (she didn't really need it -- she is tricky). It was almost worth it, though, because when I put her back into bed and covered her with the blanket and then put her little plushie dog next to her, she wrapped her arm around the dog and -- I swear -- snuggled down with it like you only see in movies and cartoons. It was adorable.

But I'm still pretty well exhausted this morning.

I'm off for coffee and breakfast before the managers meeting.

--Liz