This week the very humorous Jacqui at One Pink Chick has chosen the topic for Listicles – Guilty Pleasures. I could do a quick list of guilty pleasures that would include ice cream and watching people fall and hurt themselves, but I need to catch up so I’m going to bore you with a longer post.
The truth is, since I’m a mom I feel guilty about almost everythingAnd since life is good, everything in it is really a pleasure. So I’m going to write about some guilty pleasures we had on our trip away this weekend.
We went to Williamsburg, Virginia so Fiona could participate in a feis (pronounced fesh - an Irish dance competition). This is the first time she got to wear her beautiful teams dress:
Please note the look of pride on her face, and the fabulosity of the hair. As many of you know I have Irish-dance-wig-o-phobia. I’m scared of the wigs, and I never know how to put them on. So I panic. I flaff around uselessly, jabbing bobby pins and derailing my child’s already limited trust in my crap ability to do girly up-dos. Although I managed to secure the bun on my child’s head, Annie, our wonderful dance teacher, kindly redid it for us. She made it look more like an actual bun and less like a dead squirrel. So for me, guilty pleasure number one this week was having Annie do Fiona’s hair.
There’s a lot of waiting around for moms to do at Irish dance competitions, so I took a self-portrait with three of my guilty pleasures – a good novel, Starbucks cappuccino, and my Ugg boots that are so cozy I never even wear socks with them:
I’m not very good at it yet but I’m starting to get into this Irish Dance Mom thing. Fiona is the type of girl who is good at things she’s interested in, so she won a bunch of prizes – first in traditional fiddle, and in dance two second places, and a third place. She got a trophy and some medals, and there was a tiny smile of pride on her face all day long.
So for me, another guilty pleasure is the pride I feel in seeing my daughter do well in something that she loves. She does not get this trait from me – this doing well at things she tries comes from her father’s side of the family. They are a family who still displays a wall of trophies belonging to their sons. The only thing I ever really won was a a 1st place ribbon for a kick board race when I was 7, and we lost the ribbon.
Checking the awards board.
Some moms were wearing their children's medals...I got ahold of myself and refrained.
We stayed at Great Wolf Lodge, a wonderland for children that is also a water park. Guilty pleasures there included nightly children’s story time by the fireplace:
A chocolate pedicure for Ella at Scoop’s kid’s salon:
Trick-or-treating around the hotel:
And a high school dance troup dressesd like zombies, performing Thriller:
But the biggest guilty pleasure of the week was my husband falling on his a** when he was trying to get off the Wave Rider. I didn’t have my camera with me. It sent me into hysterics.
I had convinced him to get on the Wave Rider at the water park. The competition between the dads was pretty high. Some lost their swim trunks. He dove onto the board with gusto, then rolled and rolled like a giant Tootsie Roll, then after an impressive flip-over, he somehow got carried back up to the top by the wave, and the crowd of onlookers gasped when he came tumbling back down again.
Then he stood and attempted to walk confidently off the Wave Rider – but slipped and fell hard right on his a**. I was in hysterics – I was laughing so hard I needed CPR (but he was, too). It was the best laugh I’ve had in two years.
When we got home, we sat together in the family room having a cup of tea, and we noticed a pungent stench all around us. It wasn’t the trash, and we couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. It was so bad that it drove us out of the room. This morning my husband woke up at 4:30 to go swimming – and left a note for me written with on a paper towel:
"Found dead chipmunk and got rid of it outside. Smell should go."
This note sent me into another spastic fit of laughter. It just sums up life in our zoo house – who has dead animals rotting away in their family room? We’ve got animals tearing through here all the time. In just the past week we’ve had a baby rabbit, a giant toad, a bird, and two chipmunks run through our living room – most often being chased by our cat. Anyway my husband’s note was another guilty pleasure – because he had to find the decomposing chipmunk under the couch and dispose of it, and I didn’t have to.
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God yes, laughing at the spouse is truly a guilty pleasure (but sooo delicious). And thank you for clarifying the whole Irish dance bun thing. It’s always confused me, as if somehow at the same time as the kids are learning all those steps, moms are taking hairdo class….are there prizes in hair?
Twitter: mannahattamamma
What a great idea Deborah…I think there should be!
Twitter: Adothemomalog
I’d laugh at my husband falling, too! Mine didn’t even go with us when we went to Great Wolf Lodge this summer – and I probably couldn’t have paid him to get near any of the slides. I bet trick-or-treating there was fun. Your daughter looks so impressive with her fancy hair and makeup – I definitely enjoy seeing my daughters do well at something they enjoy. It’s gymnastics in our case!
Twitter: euregirlsandboy
Our husbands are opposites then – mine loves an indoor waterpark, a contained environment he can train the kids to go on all by themselves – hopefully in the next year or two – so we can (finally) sit on our arses and enjoy ourselves. (-:
Twitter: Adothemomalog
Oh my gosh!! That description of your husband falling had me cracking up as well! As for the dead chipmunk…well, I like my chipmunks OUTside
Yeah me too. Gosh, who knew how much a teensy little old chipmunk could REEK?
Twitter: Adothemomalog
That photo of Fiona, absolutely precious! The pride combined with excitement is so vivid in those eyes. Kudos to her for her dancing success! I only wish you had a picture of the wave incident with your Hubby. Sounds hysterical!
Twitter: notwifezilla
It looks and sounds like you had a great trip! I’m so glad you didn’t have to deal with the dead chipmunk…I’m not sure how you even deal with dead chipmunks. Good thing your husband found it first.
Twitter: chicktuition
Yes, good thing – I don’t even want to know what it looked like.
Twitter: Adothemomalog
Sounds like an amazing weekend. Congrats to Fiona! What’s a chocolate pedicure? I think I need one.
Twitter: IzaTrapani
Iza, a chocolate pedicure is just the “flavor” the kids get to pick (chocolate, vanilla, or strawberry) – they choose one of those sizzle balls for the foot bath out of those flavors and they put it in the water et voila – eau de chocolate tootsies. (-: PS: Yes, every girl deserves a chocolate-scented footbath – go get one!
Twitter: Adothemomalog
The visual of your husband falling on his posterior had me cracking up. And the note!!
Congrats to Fiona for doing so well at the feis!
Twitter: MamaWantsThis
Oh, God – Alison – it was priceless. A once-in-a-lifetime fall.
Twitter: Adothemomalog
I jut have to tell you that everytime I open your page it makes me smile just to see those cute girls up in that right corner! Love your post and your page.
Twitter: bestfoodies
That was so nice – thank you! I love that smiling photo of them up in the masthead too – they’re being such goofy giggling Gerties up there, it’s so “them.” (-: Thanks
Twitter: Adothemomalog
Fiona looks fabulous in her costume! Congrats to her for doing so well in feis and of course to you also for getting pleasure from that.
I think I could smell the chipmunk from here.
Twitter: kiddothings
Oops, sorry about the stench.
Twitter: Adothemomalog
I love laughing at my husband. Not sure if that is what they mean by sense of humor in marriage but that is my version of it. Fiona looks lovely, that dress is stunning. I always wanted to learn Irish dancing. Maybe I can get my son into it.
So what was chipmunk doing in the living room, catching up on his Facebook?! Must have had one too many nuts…
Twitter: NorthWestMommy
Chippie the Chipmunk was post-Facebook, actually – he was being chased, bullied, and tormented by Cinnamon the cat, hunter extraordinaire. We thought we had rescued him earlier in the day but that turned out to be a different chipmunk. PS: Get your son into Irish dancing! The boys who do it are so cool.
Twitter: Adothemomalog
My college roommate was an Irish Dancer and she had her old studio perform during her wedding reception – it was SO cool! And that note – so glad you photographed it for safe keeping!!
Twitter: Chosenchaos
There’s a great idea – Irish dancers at a wedding. There is always, always such a celebratory mood whenever there are Irish dancers around.
Twitter: Adothemomalog
I can also say that Fiona looks fabulous in her own costume! Congrats to her for doing so well in feis not to mention for you also to get pleasure from that. I believe I possibly could smell the chipmunk from here. Thanks for sharing this with us.
I can so relate to the chipmunk story. I’m glad I’m not the only one to have the creatures of the great outdoors trying invading my great INdoors. We’ve had chipmunks, mice, birds, bunnies, and a *very* determined squadron of moles who are dead set on living in my oven. ICK.
Moles overtaking your OVEN, that takes the cake – seriously?!
Twitter: Adothemomalog
That note is awesome!! At least he got rid of it, mine would have asked me to wake up and help!
Twitter: Twinisms
Oh that is so funny Bridget – I will have to tell my husband. He’ll get all puffed up about his “bravery.” (-:
Twitter: Adothemomalog
Sounds like a wonderful weekend! And as for the chipmunk, well, we get bats in our walls… nuff said!
Twitter: SusannaLHill
I am trying to figure out in my mind how on earth we’d get rid of a dead, smelly bat in our walls!
Twitter: Adothemomalog
That’s quite a week! I used to be a Scottish Country dancer. This brought back memories of the competitions. We didn’t have the hair issues – “dead squirrel” – tee hee.
Twitter: SJM_CookiesMom
Photos please!! (-:
Twitter: Adothemomalog
Lordy, I would have to rummage deep in the recesses of my storage closet for those, if any exist – my sister probably has some. We’re talking #&% years ago! I’ll see what I can do!
Twitter: SJM_CookiesMom
The Great Wolf Lodge looks like a great place to find fun!
Twitter: jdaniel4smom
It is fun and also kind of exhausting – you spend the whole day running around after your kids hoping they don’t drown or get lost in the waterpark, then by the time you want to drop dead from exhaustion and chillax they want to run around (for MILES) the hotel up and down stairs doing this Harry Potter-like Wanding quest that literally takes two days to complete. (-: But yes, it is fun.
Twitter: Adothemomalog
She is a competition mom and proud. I would be too! http://t.co/GWEDHHrs by @adothemomalog for #MondayListicles
I’m dying laughing that you have chipmunks, toads and rabbits running through your living room! My daughter would be SO psyched. Great list! You know, I never know those curly buns were wigs: I always thought parents were obsessively using curling irons to get those perfect ringets!
Twitter: nystoopmama
If parents had to do their own Irish Dance hair curls —-> shoot me first.
Twitter: Adothemomalog
This could have easily be a movie, wait a minute, “Little Miss Sunshine” is out. Anyway, so funny post.
p.s. Fiona is a good looking kid.
Twitter: mama_andthecity
Thank you (-:
Twitter: Adothemomalog
I wish you would have had your camera for your husband falling down and for your laughing fit. I would have loved to see that.
Twitter: mytimeasmom
Now *that* would’ve made a great vlog!
Twitter: Adothemomalog
Irish dancing, uggs and dead chipmunks! http://t.co/GWEDHHrs by @adothemomalog for #MondayListicles
Isn’t Great Wolf Lodge the ultimate guilty pleasure for kids? We have stayed there twice and we call it Vegas for kids.
Twitter: litza2005
What a fun weekend! I’m still laughing at the note about the squirrel. Ewww.
Twitter: normalmomally