Just after I posted that last post about my laptop not working, my laptop started working. Of course. I’m a pretty firm believer in Murphy’s Law, so it’s only appropriate that this is what happened. So instead of just laying on the sofa, doing sudoku puzzles, while watching Juno with Andy, I’m messing around on the computer. But now you can all see those great pictures I was telling you about!
Every time we go to the zoo, the boys stop at this statue to have their picture taken. It’s fun to look at the changes. I love the peacocks-the colors are awesome! Note to self, Cheetos aren’t the best option for snacking on the go, sans hand wipes!
Caden really likes the lion. I actually got to be in a picture!
Caden has this really goofy belly laugh that he does every now and then. Today, I don’t remember exactly what he was laughing about, but it’s sort of forced, but still hilarious. Notice how he holds his belly…
I was all ready to blog about our day today. It was a sunny day, in the mid-50’s, and really feeling like spring is on its way so the boys and I ventured out to the zoo (along with the rest of Southeastern Wisconsin!). I was going to post all sorts of pictures from our zoo visit, and also from our fun outside yesterday and today. But my laptop doesn’t want to cooperate, and I need to multi-task while I blog which I can’t do from our desktop, so no exciting blog tonight. I’ll try to get it done tomorrow during the day before Andy and I head out to Mo’s Irish Pub for his sister’s birthday party.
Today, Andy’s sister, Lizzy, turned 30! I hosted dinner, but Andy’s mom made it all. We had her nummy lasagna, salad, tasty Texas Toast, and delicious pumpkin bars for dessert. I’m stuffed to the gills, and actually, as I lay here on the sofa, I have my jeans unbuttoned! I shouldn’t have had that extra piece of pumpkin bar!
Lizzy (she actually prefers to be called “Lis” but I’ve called her Lizzy for about 15 years, so it’s kind of hard to change that!) had some pretty specific gift requests. She has kind of a thing for Tiffany jewelry. Andy, Chuck, Sara and I got Lizzy this. Her parents got her this and a necklace similar to this. (Now I have some ideas for my birthday-in 7 months!) Andy and I also got her a top from H&M.
Enjoy these other pics from the evening. Happy 30th Birthday, Lizzy!!! Can’t wait ’til Saturday!
I’ve discovered a blog called I Should Be Folding Laundry and it’s on my Google Reader so I always know when she posts. She’s fun to read, and she makes me want to do more blogging and get a larger group of readers. Many of the blogs I’ve been reading make me feel this way!
Anyway, she started a challenge two weeks ago called “You Capture.” She gives a weekly photo challenge and we post it on our blog or Flickr page and then link it back to her page. I decided to start taking part in it, because I’m hoping it will encourage me to start taking more pictures, start looking at things differently, and help me to learn more about my photography. So here I am with my first entry.
The challenge this week was perspective and here’s what I came up with:
I bought this vase and sprig of fake cherry blossoms before Christmas and I just love them. Andy and I love red, and I love to find inexpensive touches to add to our living room. The other day, it was really sunny and the sun was shining in through our west-facing front windows giving me inspiration and great natural light to try out this challenge.
So, my three-year-old appears to have a pretty lousy memory. I use the word “appears” because I think it has more to do with his priorities than anything else.
For instance, you could ask him what he had for lunch two hours ago, and he may not remember, probably if it was something he didn’t really like. Or you could ask him after school what he did there, and he will only remember one fairly insignificant detail. I often think his nap erases his memory.
Today, my brother-in-law and his girlfriend were watching the boys at their house while I worked (for the 4th day in a row-not a common occurrence for the past 6 years!) and Caden took his “Big Blue Blankie” over there. Tonight, the search was on for it. According to Andy, it did come home with him, but he wasn’t sure where it would be. (Andy’s memory wasn’t so great as well!) So we checked Noah’s school bag. I checked Andy’s car twice. I checked the basement. After that, Andy remembered that Caden did bring it in and Andy told him to take it upstairs. Caden checked his bed, but didn’t see it. I gave him “Little Blue Blankie” and Noah’s “Yellow Blankie” (thank goodness Nana knitted extras!). He seemed satisfied. After I read stories, I went to tuck Caden in. I adjusted his pillow…and found “BBB” under the pillow. I suppose he was trying to keep everything looking nice on his bed.
Or maybe he was distracted by the new pillows I got for both of them. Picture “Brewers” in the script lettering and a picture of Bernie Brewer. Cool, huh?
I’ve been reading “spoilers” from Reality Steve and others about tonight’s finale of “The Bachelor” and I was really torn about watching. But I think it’s like a train wreck that you just keep watching, waiting for the carnage. More later…
Just read Dooce and she had this video clip posted, and it made me laugh out loud, so I wanted to share it with both of you guys out there reading this right now. Enjoy!
OMG, Jason’s face when Deanna starts talking to him about how he has all of the things she’s looking for in a man-AWESOME! It’s an obvious surprise, and I don’t think you could have practiced that face he made!
And I can’t believe I’m actually feeling nervous just before Jason proposes! (I’m about 40 minutes behind “live”.) I think it’s because I know what is going to happen. We’ll see how it goes…
Molly was totally challenging him, and I wonder if Jason really started to second-guess himself then, or if it took a few days. And have you ever seen any other Bachelor or Bachelorette cry like a baby after letting the runner-up go? Seriously! How long did it take for him to compose himself after letting Molly go? I guess he started second-guessing as soon as she walked out the door! And he looks a little uncomfortable as she’s gushing on about how much she loves him…
Now onto “After the Final Rose”…
Do you think people had tickets to ATFR, then had to give them back because of the “intimate” nature of the whole thing?
At least he didn’t completely blindside Melissa. He claims she knew before ATFR that his feelings have changed.
Do you think the producers have been high-fiving each other after finding out Jason’s feelings changed?
Whoa, that greeting was cold! I can’t tell if Melissa’s wearing the engagement ring… Oh wait, she’s not. Ooooh, she’s pissed! You can’t blame her! And how uncomfortable is Chris Harrison right now? Do you think he snuck off the set? Oh, there he is, with the signal from the producer that they have to cut to commercial. And now he sees his escape route! I bet Jason wishes he were going with him! “Hey, Chris, buddy! Wait up!”
Melissa was a lot stronger than I could have been.
Don’t you think Molly’s suspicious about the lack of audience members? What did they tell her?
I like Molly more tonight than I ever have. She’s pretty classy. And very well-spoken. I think I’d be a stuttering mess if I were in her shoes.
Smooth, Chris Harrison, smooth. “What if Jason changed his mind?” Real subtle. Do you think he’s all giddy that they’re about to reunite?
As he walks in, I think Jason’s about to jump out of his skin! Or he’s hoping Molly will jump out of her dress!
Whew, thanks, Chris, for saving Jason during his awkward stuttering!
Jason just spilled the beans. Uh, whaaa???? Molly just gave Chris a look like, “Am I on Candid Camera? WTF?!?!?!?!?!?” Um, coffee, Jason? Seriously? Nice.
Okay, if I were Molly, I’d be like, “Get the damn camera out of my face, and let me go burn off some of this awkward steam!” I love her reaction!
Suddenly, they’re touching. Her hand is on his thigh. I think she’s waking up a bit. Just “a piece” of Molly is confused? I’d call it more of a whole section!
Should they really be kissing? It seems a bit tacky. I’m surprised at how easy it is for Molly to just take him back. But I guess she really never got over him. They’re kissing again.
I’m realizing most of this doesn’t make sense-I was commenting as I watched. But if any of you are die-hard fans, and watched the show, you’ll understand much of it!
It’s my big brother‘s birthday today! He’s been off this weekend with his wife, my wonderful SIL, touring the California coast, checking out some wineries, eating aebelskivers, getting a couple’s massage, and sleeping to the sounds of the Pacific Ocean. Not a bad way to celebrate, huh?
He’s often difficult to shop for, especially with his expensive taste in gadgets for his computer or his camera. It also gets a little old shopping for “geek” stuff. So I was at a loss as to what to give him. He helped, though, by letting me know about a game he wanted for the Wii. And I could gift it to him through our connection. It’s called “World of Goo.” I really don’t know anything about it, but it’s what he asked for and I think he’s excited to have it.
They never grow up!
Happy Birthday, Matte!!!!!!!
p.s. This is the first of my NaBloPoMo posts for March. I needed a little incentive to get blogging again, so I’m joining in. The theme is “Giving (up)” and I figured this post was appropriate for “giving.” I’ll try to keep it interesting this month.
I’m finally calming down. It’s amazing what DVR’d American Idol and Survivor can do for some mental health!
For Lent, I gave up raising my voice to the boys (I know, it’s really supposed to be a sacrifice of something you enjoy, and I definitely don’t enjoy raising my voice, but I do it a lot, so it is sort of a sacrifice). And today is just the third day of Lent. I already blew it.
Today is Friday, which means no school for either of the boys, and no work for me. This morning we started out kind of lazy, lounging around after breakfast. I let the boys watch some shows so I could make a couple of phone calls in peace. After they had watched “The Backyardigans” and “Dora”, I turned off the TV and we headed upstairs to get the boys dressed so we could run an errand or two. I got another phone call, and, as usual, while I was on the phone, the boys started chasing each other around and ended up in the room where I was and started making a ton of noise. This literally happens about 95% of the time while I’m on the phone. What actually makes me a little more mad is that yesterday when my brother-in-law was over here and he got a call, the boys were as quiet as could be. Great.
We headed out to the car, and the driveway was still a little icy from overnight. I asked the boys not to go out on the driveway so they wouldn’t slip, then went back to getting the car seats back in the car. I then looked out to see Caden, slowly making his way out onto the driveway, looking back at me with a mischievous look in his eyes and a sly grin on his face. Timeout for Caden on the cold garage step.
Off we went to Hallmark to get some cards (Happy birthday to Elijah, Matte, Lizzy, and Liz!). Our Hallmark has a plastic picnic table with Duplo Legos so the boys can be entertained fairly well. Initially, things went well, but then their voices got a bit loud. They’re loud to begin with, but I asked them two or three times to quiet down. Then I asked them to help me find a card for Lizzy, which got them started pulling cards off the shelf faster than you could look at them. At least they put them back. I got them to focus and find a card. I headed over to look at something else, and they started picking up different “Hoops & Yo-Yo” stuff. I asked them to put them down. They didn’t. I asked again. They still didn’t. Finally, I asked again, and the made their way over to the shelf and looked like they were going to put the stuff down. I had to take the thing out of Caden’s hand, Noah put his down, and I then took them each by a hand, myself carrying 5 cards, and marched them to the counter to pay. I told them to sit on the floor and not touch anything. The lady at the counter told me I’d get more bonus points if I got a 6th card, so I took each boy by a hand, and marched them out to find another card, then marched them back to the counter. I told them to stay put and not touch anything (which I had repeatedly told them throughout the store) while I walked toward the back of the store with one of the workers to check the price on a wall hanging, then turned back to the front to see Noah running back to where I left them, saying to Caden, “Mom told us to stay here.” Caden was playing on a rocking chair decorated with train stuff. I paid as quickly as possible, then found Noah on the rocking chair. Caden had to try it one more time, apparently, and I said it was time to go. Caden chose not to listen. So while I pulled him out of the chair, Noah was headed toward the door, but not before he pushed some button on a stuffed Snoopy Easter doll. So much for not touching anything.
After telling them how they did a pretty lousy job in the store, we were off to the post office to mail a package to my goddaughter for her trip to Rome (lucky 6-year-old!). I told them they had to be quiet, not touch anything while I figured out the packaging and mailing. They sat at a table quietly while I got everything set. Goldfish help. It was actually a pretty successful trip to the post office!
We headed back home, and the boys went to the basement to play while I got lunch ready. They started out eating next to each other at the table, with the warning that if either of them started to act up, Caden would go back to his spot (strategically) diagonally from Noah. Of course, they started to act up, so they had to sit in their normal spots. Now, we have rules at the table (any table for that matter) that you have to sit nice, use nice voices, not make rude or unnecessary noises, and eat. These have been the same rules from day one. So when I turned around from the sink to see Noah basically crouched on his chair under the table, I sent him to take a timeout. Caden then started to act up (to be honest, I can’t remember what he was doing, but I was already getting angry), so I sent him for a timeout, as well. We have two timeout spots which are close to each other so it’s not always that conducive to concurrent timeouts. But that’s what I could do.
Okay, we have rules for timeouts, as well. Actually, just one. Really, all they have to do is sit quietly. But no, Noah has to find a Superball to start rolling around, then explains that the reason he was rolling it was because it was right near him. Yeah, that makes sense. And Caden was participating as well. So I took both of them by the hand and marched them upstairs (at 12:45) and told them to not come down until 3:00. Noah started crying (and sort of screaming) so I went outside to get some fresh air and (literally) cool off. I came back in, marched the boys back downstairs, and told them to finish their lunches in silence. I didn’t want to hear a single word. I then lectured them a bit, then went to sit in the office while they ate. Caden decided he had to go potty, so off he went. I heard him peeing, and thought nothing of it. Then he said, “Uh, oh, Mommy, I already peed.” What? Yeah, you did. Then I went in there and saw where he had peed. He was facing away from the toilet, and there was pee all over the floor and my un-hung framed Monet poster which had been leaning against the wall across from the toilet. The toilet ring was sitting on the toilet, so I’m thinking Caden was trying to sit to pee and poop, but didn’t make it in time. Whatever the reason, I really started to lose it. I sent him off with no pants on to finish his lunch while I cleaned up (including the heating vent cover which was closed so there was pooled pee in it). Mind you, my voice was rising a bit by this point. I know you’re not supposed to punish your kid for having an accident, but I was already on the wrong side of my mood.
Details start to get a little fuzzy around this time. I was really mad. I wasn’t seeing very straight, I wasn’t breathing very well, and I couldn’t stop moving. I know I spanked both boys, mostly because they were smiling and sort of laughing at me as I was lecturing them. I know I told them I quit, that I didn’t want to be a mom, and I went out to sit in my car to listen to the radio-loudly. I know I slammed several doors, drawers, and the dryer door. I know I shouted (bye-bye Lent sacrifice). And I know that I ultimately sent them up to bed with instructions to stay there until the clock read “three zero zero.” And I was done.
Noah made a giant mistake at 2:00 asking if he could get up (we’ve been doing this every day this week and it really pisses me off-when I say what time the clock should say, that’s what I mean!). Luckily, Andy got home early today and went upstairs to deal with it. Not so luckily, apparently Andy has fallen asleep on Noah’s bed, while Noah didn’t, and at “three zero zero” Noah showed up at the top of the stairs asking if he could get up. I wasn’t nearly as angry as I was before, but having him come downstairs and start talking to me about all of the different Lego sets in the book while I was watching ER didn’t help at all. That and the fact that I still haven’t seen Andy since he got home has me stewing a little bit still.
This afternoon, we were driving home from Andy’s parents’ house and we observed two pretty unbelievable incidents, one more a-hole-ish than the other.
Just after we pulled out of the driveway, we saw a car coming toward us, and it looked like the driver had just opened his door-as he was driving. We then saw a can rolling on the ground behind it. To me, that’s a-hole-ish enough. I mean, seriously, you can’t wait to get home to throw it away? But it became worse when we noticed the can was a BUD LIGHT can! That he just threw out the door of his car, while he was DRIVING, at 3:30 in the afternoon! Luckily he wasn’t swerving because Andy’s parents live on a fairly narrow road. Seriously!
Then as we were driving down the road, going about 50 miles per hour, I noticed a car ahead of us, and it looked like people were throwing punches in the car. I naturally assumed it was two people in the backseat (not that that’s really acceptable). The car had swerved a little bit, but was holding it’s own in the far left lane. As I sped up to check it out (I’m kind of a snoop), I realized there was only one person in the backseat, a man, and one person in the front seat, the driver, a woman. And she was holding the right side of her head. And he hit her again. And then he hit her again, with the back of his left hand, from the back seat. Did I mention she was driving?! I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I really can’t tolerate abuse of any kind, and watching a man beat up on a woman in a car, while she’s driving is more than I can bear.
Some great examples being set in southeastern Wisconsin.
So today, my self-esteem is a steaming pile of crap.
It started this morning at work. Last February, I joined our company “WIN” program (I think it’s for Wellness Initiative something-or-other). Today, I went in to recheck my blood work, blood pressure, weight, and checklist of other things like exercise habits, tobacco use (or lack thereof in my case), alcohol consumption, dental habits, seat belt use, and other “healthy” habits. I’m sure my cholesterol and triglycerides are just fine, and my blood pressure was nice and low-where it always is. Then I went over to step on the scale. Um, yeah, I think their scale is not calibrated correctly. It claims I’ve gained about 6 pounds since about a week ago. I’d be more likely to blow it off if my pants weren’t fitting a bit tighter than normal. Oh wait, my work phone was in my pocket! That’s got to be about 2 pounds, right? RIGHT? Okay, not so much.
Well, I was willing to let the broken scale problem slide. In fact, I wasn’t thinking about it at all once I started working. But then I went into the room with the patient who is deaf as a post. I pretty much had to yell at her to get her to hear me. And that was with her hearing aids in! As I’m standing there talking to her, she all of a sudden says, “Oh! You’re having a baby!” Wha-a-a-a-a-a-a????? Um, NO! Ha, ha, I laughed it off, told her my scrubs don’t do anything for my figure, and tried to just move past it. I would have loved to tell her off, but I would have had to yell her off, and I didn’t want to draw any attention from the nurses or other people in the hallway to the fact that I was just really insulted and feeling really s#*%ty about my body lately.
I have had my baby “pooch” for 38 months-ever since a 10 POUND 4 OUNCE BABY was surgically removed from my uterus. My stomach muscles never healed back to “normal”, and I don’t like to deny myself the sweets and baked goods. But the last time I was mistakenly identified as being pregnant was twice in the same day, by two different people, about 6 months after I had Caden. Needless to say I haven’t worn that top again, and I’ve stopped wearing my gait belt (ours are hot pink-fun!) around my waist and now keep it around my neck.
I have wanted a tummy tuck for about 24 months, but have waited, and will continue to wait, to determine if we’re done having kids, and, well, the money thing is sort of an issue as well. See, insurance doesn’t cover “cosmetic” surgery like a tummy tuck unless there’s some medical necessity, like some herniation or something. I don’t think I want to deal with the pain and discomfort of a herniation, so now I just need to win the lottery.
Oh, and to cap off the craposity of my body image, I’m getting a cold and Caden was a pill this afternoon. So blah. I’m in a lousy mood.
Every time we go to the zoo, the boys stop at this statue to have their picture taken. It’s fun to look at the changes.
I love the peacocks-the colors are awesome!
Note to self, Cheetos aren’t the best option for snacking on the go, sans hand wipes!
