Well-Planned

Even though the daily grind can sometimes be exhausting, I have to admit I miss my little girl.  Alexa and I spend a lot of quality time with the two of us (the downside of Damon's restaurant career), so it's an odd feeling to be without my sidekick for a couple of days.  My time in LA has been non-stop between all-day meetings, the baseball game last night and dinner at Il Fornaio tonight, so I haven't even had the chance to FaceTime with Alexa.  However, we had done a lot of planning before I left for LA, so even though I am not  there in-person, Alexa is still getting the "Mommy-esque" effect as if I were there.

Being the consummate perfectionist, over the course of the weekend, I organized some of the day-to-day elements for Damon and my mother-in-law Carol.  Since Alexa has become very picky about her wardrobe, the two of us laid out her outfits for each of the days I was going to be out of town.  I even packed her bag for tomorrow's "Water Day" and printed the e-mail from the teacher to remind Damon to send Alexa to school in her swimsuit.  Carol loves to do laundry, but she is not much of a cook, so I actually planned the meals for the week.  Shocking, I know, given my lack of enthusiasm about cooking!  Alexa and I made a pan of lasagna from scratch on Saturday afternoon, an activity that turned out to be fun for both of us.  Alexa really enjoys cooking, and she enjoyed the sampling even more.  I would not be surprised if she is cooking dinner for us in a few years; I would happily relinquish the cooking reigns to her.

I am looking forward to coming home tomorrow night; I have missed the nightly bedtime stories from Alexa's collection of library books.  And, of course, I'm excited for some leftover lasagna!

Sneaking a few bites of cottage cheese as we made
the filling for the lasagna.  I need to buy cottage cheese
more often - - she loved it (don't tell Uncle Steve).

Hard at work assembling the lasagna - - pretty
good work for a four year-old...she's a natural!