Photo shoot

Saturday was a gorgeous day, so we decided to have our own little photo shoot in grandma's backyard. Three things to note before the massive show of pictures - I'm too tired to edit so no touch-ups, even though the lighting stinks in some of them; I'm too tired to make witty captions, so make your own; and well, I can't remember what the third thing was. So here they are :-)

Happy Birthday to You! Happy Birthday to You!

Happy birthday dear husband. Happy birthday to you!

Here's to all the ones we've spent together, and all the ones we'll spend together in the future.

P.S. - I ate an extra piece of cake while we were celebrating my grandma's birthday tonight, just for you :-D

I can't change the world

I know this.

All I want is to change my mom's life. That's not such a big ambition, is it?

She's my mom, and I feel a huge responsibility to help her get things together while I'm here, before I move 800 miles away again. She has three siblings, but none of them will help take care of their 87 year old mother, who has dementia. That's all on my mom, and if the subject of moving her to a home is broached, everyone is either up in arms about it, or could care less. She can't keep taking care of her, the burden is causing awful depression and anxiety. And I don't know how to fix it.

And then there's the horse. Who needs to be sold.

And the fence. That needs to be fixed.

And the house. That needs repair.

And the dog. That needs surgery.

And the absolute lack of fun in her life. That I wish she could find again.

What I've been doing at night

I've found a hobby. And I've sold them. And it's awesome to feel like I actually have some sort of a skill besides changing diapers and cleaning litter boxes. (College education? Was that what those four years in Kent and two summers in Russia were all about? Imagine that.)

They are Amber Teething Necklaces, for anyone wondering what's so special about some little beads.

(Yes, M, there are other crunchy, strange people out there. Not just your wife. I'm thrilled I have proof :-P)



And now for a little cuteness. She is truly the light that gets me through the day. She can reach out and grab hold of my heartstrings and never lets go. I've been down in the deepest corner of the dumps lately, but all she has to do is give me her classic "Mom, I love you!" grin and everything is okay again.

It's not stopping

To continue the theme of the last post . . .

It is only on the day that you don't fall asleep until way after 2am (because you were completely wired all night) that Princess Buttercup (that would be E - she's working hard on earning that Princess nickname) wakes up screaming at 4:45am. And does not go back to sleep.

I don't think me begging her to just take an early nap is going to work today.

I thought I changed my name

Despite the extreme spelling difficulties with my 'new' name, I thought I had made it perfectly clear that I was done with my old one when I signed the dotted line and went through that painful process of switching driver's licenses, social security cards, credit cards, everything.

So, why will this whole Murphy thing not go away? Must I be stuck with this my whole life?

Yes, folks, I'm talking about Murphy's Law. In case you needed it spelled out for you.

How about a run down of my day? That should sum it all up.

~Early early AM: Awake to the sound of cat yacking. Unfortunately, it doesn't sound like his normal I'm-an-old-cat-and-hack-all-the-time stuff. It's a put-yer-slippers-on-in-the-morning kind of sound. Fabulous.

~Still early AM: Baby wakes up. Get up with her and go to her room to change her. Realize that every single clean diaper is in the dryer. Still wet because someone forgot to turn it on last night.

~Mid-morning: Find that a major infestation of aphids has plagued the prized mandevilla plant overnight. Have to toss it and pray that nothing found it's way to any other plants.

~Early afternoon: Check mailbox to find that car registration info that had been mailed at the beginning of the month has been returned to sender. Sender = me. Registration expires the 29th. Clearly, I am SOL after Saturday. Especially since it's going to be in the hands of Liberty County and the geniuses that work there. Considering the address was actually correct, all faith in the postal system is lost, and there is much consideration for just driving the 800 miles on an impromptu vacay to just take care of it in person.

~Mid-afternoon: Run in with oblivious and rude entitlement queen at children's second hand shop in B-town. Narrowly avoid beat-down scenario after being 'bumped' into twice and cut in front of twice. Escape the store with a snarky remark and bewildered saleslady.

~ Mid-afternoon again: Find that the bead store that was the objective of the whole trip to B-town is actually closed on Tuesdays. End up paying nearly three times as much for one item at Michael's. Can we say rip off?

~ Early evening: Outsmarted by the TV, DVD player and satellite receiver. Many, many times.

~Late evening: Discover that the recordable DVDs purchased this afternoon were actually NON-recordable. Only make this discovery after the package is opened and disc inserted and program is starting. Vow revenge on the salesboy that literally handed them over and said "This is what you need."

~Late late evening: Spill ramen noodles ALL over the kitchen floor. And, burn foot, of course.

~Late late late evening: Give up and rant on computer.

It's a sad day

Geauga Lake Amusement Park will be closing it's gates forever after this season is over. 120 years of operation, and now it's going to be shut down. And all the rides taken apart and scattered across the country. And shopping strips and condos built on the 600 acres of the park.

It's a very sad day.

Despite the fact that I haven't been there in years (it just has never been the same since Sea World left), I'm depressed. A huge piece of local history is going to be razzed and it's all because the management over the last 10 years couldn't get their crap together and keep the park going. Shame on them.

(Since I am having yet another fun sleepover at my mom's house tonight and am suffering with her obscenely slow dial-up and annoyingly loud keyboard, I'm not posting any of the pictures or links I had planned to include in this rant. You would give up too if you had internet this slow!)

I'm just not friendly

I'm not. This has been known for quite some time. I don't play well with others.

E and I were at the park today, after a nice long run and ambitious power walk up the monster hill. We were relaxing on a blanket, minding our own business, E was trying to eat my shoe. And then, another mom showed up on the scene. She had a crusty, stained, dirty and snotty faced toddler with her. Who made an instant beeline for our cozy blanket.

"Beebee! Beebee! Beebee!" She shrieked, teetering her way closer and closer, arms outstretched.

Fabulous.

Her mom followed closely behind, telling her to be gentle with the baby. Gentle? Gentle? Gentle is for kittens and puppies. How about don't touch? No? Umm, Stop? Halt? Nein? Nyet? Nelzya?

Thankfully for all of us, she stopped about a foot from the edge of our blanket, threw a handful of grass at E, and then retreated to behind her mother's legs. New people are the highlight of her day, and E was enthralled. I, however, was not. Brushing the grass off her head, I may have given an evil eye or two.

The mom tried to make small talk - asked how old E was (8 months? 9?), commented on not being able to remember when her girl was that little, and how beautiful her eyes are (okay, so I melted a little on this one). Apparently my short, one or two word answers gave off the appropriate vibe, and she picked up her child and headed off to the other side of the park. And then proceeded to evil eye me for the next 15 minutes.

Maybe I need to carry around a little warning sign I could set up around us, letting everyone know that I am not a friendly person and don't take well to germy, dirty toddlers hurtling towards my child.

The months just keep rolling by . . .

She's 5 months already. Time just keeps slipping away. Of course, the older she gets, the closer we are to M coming home. But, she's still growing up too fast already. Recently she learned to scoot. Backwards. And it's hilarious, cause she gets so pissed off when she can't figure out why her toys are now out of reach all of a sudden. Today she scooted backwards into the cat though, so she may figure out a way to use this to her advantage pretty soon. He was just minding his own business, staring at the birds on the balcony, when out of nowhere he got booted in the rear end. He jumped, she laughed, and then he hid. It's the start of a vicious cycle.


I finally got the memory card to my new camera the other day and have been slowly learning the ins and outs. I am way too impatient, and spent way too little time reading the instruction manual before expecting to be off and shooting. This morning was full of frustration, trying to figure out how to work the remote for the shutter. Turns out there's a one-touch button to turn the sensor on. Imagine that. Only took me an hour to find it. Once I got the hang of and a few other fun selections, it was non-stop photography. I got this keeper just playing around with the focus points. It's amazing the clarity that this camera has over our old one. I've just been sitting here staring, marveling at the sharpness. I'm in love :-)

Excuses, excuses

Before I had a child, I was perpetually late. Now I have an excuse.

And this is it . . .

We were doing so good this morning. I had 20 minutes to feed E and head out the door to church. Plenty of time. I thought. Until she threw a tantrum to beat all other tantrums, and promptly passed out as soon as I set her on the bed. The girl needs her beauty rest, no matter what schedule I may have for us.

Pieces and parts

I have a brand spanking new camera sitting here staring at me.

"Turn me on! Use me! Use me! Use me!"

But alas, I have every imaginable variety of camera paraphernalia . . . except a memory card. Which I clearly need to play with the camera.

At the sound of the UPS truck out in the parking lot this afternoon, I sprinted from window to window, tracking the guy in brown from building to building. My heart sank more than just a little as he drove away without visiting my building. No memory card for me today.

This is just one of the many reasons I despise using Amazon.com for any purchases. Three things ordered, all from different companies. Of course they won't get here together. No matter how much I stare out the window, willing the UPS guy to turn around.

The next time I want a climbing vine . . .

Someone please talk me out of it.

Well, actually no, don't do that. But at least remind me of the ordeal I just went through tonight. Spending over an hour gently unwinding a full trellis of Mandevilla vine was not the wisest idea. Apparently I get a little too attached to my plants and couldn't bear the thought of letting the gorgeous vine succumb to the cold snap we're getting tonight. Currently, it is residing in my bedroom, waiting for me to figure out what to do with the 15 + feet of vines.

Clearly I was not planning ahead when I planted this in the spring.

Refreshed

M and I had a wonderful chat tonight. We needed that 'let it all out' kind of conversation. It's reassuring to know that we can both point out the good and the bad about the other person, and go somewhere productive with those points.

I worry about the future, and he's reassuring. Even if he doesn't realize it. I need that.

During the conversation, some of the lighter notes focused on a possible venture to Vegas. And now I'm daydreaming (or would it be night-dreaming, since it's clearly not day now?) of giant whirlpool tubs, with gorgeous views of the city and a bottle or two of wine. And us, of course. Ah, the simple things dreams are made of. Where would the best suite be found . . . that's the preoccupation now.

Aside from the wonderful bonding conversation, our day around here was uneventful. Playing with E, cleaning up spit up every 15 seconds, and then venturing out to the Post Office and the grocery store. And then E helped me put the groceries away :-)

There's smoke coming from my debit card!

Oh lordy, lordy! I just ordered my camera. My super special, fancy pants, dream camera. And thinking about how much I just paid for something I don't NEED . . . well, that mixed with the food court Chinese food I had this afternoon . . . my stomach is in knots.

Now I get to not-so-patiently wait for each of the parts to arrive . . .

Popsicles!

"You're not lying to me, right Mommy? I really am going to like this?"

"Yum! It really is good!"

"Oh, but it's cold!"
"Add this to your Things Made with Breastmilk recipe book, Mom. It gets an A+!"

The Greeaaat Geauga County Fair

On Sunday and Monday, my mom and I took E to the fair. Long story short, it was hot, it was fun and I can't wait till next year. I'm sure we can time a visit back up here around then.

A few highlights to supplement that long-short story:
~E loves watching the horses and was enthralled during the Draft and Pony Show. I think she liked the jingling from the harnesses.
~The KHS Marching Band sounds horrible and is sooo tiny now compared to when we were in it.
~I only saw one person I knew. I think that's a new record.
~I drank at least 300 oz of birch beer. Refills were just 2$, and I wasn't letting that deal get away!
~I successfully nursed in public (really public public) 5 times. I consider myself a pro now. It was an excellent crash course.
~E was in the Mei Tai almost all day both days and was happy as a clam. Until bedtime. Then she realized she wasn't in her bed and took unhappy to a whole new level.

Loving the horses!

Eying grandma's onion rings.

And here I thought I had escaped having my picture taken today.
And yet again, grandma loves the camera. E loves her Mei Tai.

And that was the fair!

How would I entertain her without the cats?

"You can't hide for long!"

"Cause I will find you!"

"Even if you can't see me!"

Dear Mr. Too Impatient to Chill for a Second

Dear Mr. Too Impatient to Chill for a Second

I'm sorry that when I happened to pull out into the road today I pulled out too close to you. I had never realized that over 1000 feet would not be enough distance. I apologize for the fact that by the time you came screeching up behind me, I was only going the speed limit. I was unaware that we are now required to go at least 20 mph over it on that road now. Please forgive me for failing to increase my speed in response to your bright lights being flipped on and off several times, and to your ability to hit your horn so many times in a row. It was truly impressive. However, my sleeping daughter was not impressed, as she was quickly woken up with your noise. I felt it only fair to retaliate. I'm sorry your weaving back and forth in your lane did not prompt me to speed back up the 10 mph to the posted speed limit. I do want to assure you that I was seriously considering break checking you, however, I am quite fond of my obnoxiously slow vehicle. I am so glad that you were able to seize the moment to fly past me while no cars were coming, even though it was a no passing zone. I do hope that no bugs got on that hand of yours that was outstretched from the window, pointing towards me. It is such a shame that as you crested the hill in front of me, you happened to pass one of our town's finest police officers. I truly am sorry that I had to turn before I got the chance to pass you, as you were being pulled over. I do hope you told the person you were on the phone with all about it.

Sincerely,
The Woman Who Drives Like a Normal Person

Half way

The whole theory behind the title to this blog was how this year of "husband on another continent" would seem to take so long, that it would seem like more than just a year. Well, 7 1/2 months into this adventure, and here we celebrate the halfway point. That's right. Do the math. 7 1/2 plus 7 1/2 equals 15. Clearly, this will be the longest year.

I frequent a message board for military wives. It's a wonderful place. There's even a special section just for deployment talk. Which was normally a blessing. Until I hit this point in the time line and one by one, women start posting about getting their loved ones back in the next few days or weeks. A normally joyous occasion, where I should be happy for them. But, I'm not. I'm self centered. I sit here and read their posts and remember when they were just beginning the journey. A month after I did. That's disheartening. One of ours equals two of theirs. And the Army is claiming the rising suicide rates have nothing to do with the deployments. (Google it. I dare you).

I got a bottle of wine, and planned to make a real meal for myself. A halfway hurrah, of sorts. Instead I watched My Girl, drank a glass too many of wine (only two, but we'll touch the lack of tolerance in some future post) and ate half of the dessert. Fitting, I think.

I'm HOT!

"Onnnnne hot mamaaaa"

Please, Dear Lord, get this song out of my head!

Hot is clearly the theme of the day.

This morning I burned my poor little fingers trying to gently extract my crumbling English muffin from the toaster oven, while balancing a hungry baby (who was intent on giving me a hickey on my shoulder). Rather than drop the baby, I dropped the muffin. It's still sitting at the bottom of the oven, as though 14 hours hasn't been long enough to cool down for me to get it out.

Around noon we headed out to the Nissan dealership to get the AC looked at in my car. According to them, I'm an idiot and just don't know how to use it. Seriously. The guy was actually explaining to me how to use the air conditioning in my car, as though I was 16 and daddy just bought me my first one. Morons. I know that I am not imagining things - there is no good explanation as to why I would have icicles hanging off my nose with it blowing on low last summer (in Georgia, land of Hotter than Hell, didn't see a day below 90 for a freaking month!) and then this summer I find myself sitting there sweating with it blowing on high. HIGH, and I'm still hot after driving for a half hour (in Ohio, where it's a measly low 80s consistently). *Sigh* Maybe I'll just take my Daddy in with me next time :-P

Later in the afternoon, as the apartment reached it's daily oven-like temperatures (I seem to have AC issues a lot), we went down for a swim. Possibly the last one of the year. That makes me sad. I'm not looking forward to possibly having to resort to using the base pool next year. I'm going to miss this one. It was actually clean. All the time. Imagine that!

And now, it's still hot in the apartment. The AC will kick on and I'll be left shivering, but once it thinks that it has cooled the place down sufficiently, it turns off, and I'm left with that wave of heat as soon as the air stops blowing. It doesn't even matter how cold I set it.

I'll look back at this post mid-December and wish to have being hot as my problem again :-)

Tarts

tart

adjective
1. tasting sour like a lemon [syn: lemony]
2. harsh; "sharp criticism"; "a sharp-worded exchange"; "a tart remark" [syn: sharp]

noun
1. a woman who engages in sexual intercourse for money
2. a small open pie with a fruit filling
3. a pastry cup with a filling of fruit or custard and no top crust


Nope, none of those. Today the definition of a tart is - something that smells wonderful, looks like an actual pastry tart, also looks like a candle, yet has no wick. This is unfamiliar territory for me. A wonderful mama sent one of her tarts along with a diaper I purchased. (http://www.thetartshack.com/store/) It's Lemongrass and smells absolutely divine. I can't wait to figure out what to do with it . . . I am under the impression that you melt them in a tart burner (imagine that, clever name) and it smells up the house. In a good way. Unfortunately, I promised myself I wouldn't spend anymore money on frivolous stuff this week (after it cost 50$ to fill up the gas tank). Tart burner, tart burner, tart burner. How to make my own tart burner . . .

She rolls

Well, she's been rolling over for quite a while now, but I finally charged the camera and got it on tape. Hopefully much to the delight of the husband. I have another video for him, in which I look like a complete goofball, so I'm still debating on posting it here or letting him suffer and have to wait for Photobucket to load for him.

Speaking of internet . . . I am so grateful that we've been able to use the webcams TWICE this weekend. I was seriously deprived for a while there. I think he's pretty darn sexy (obviously, seeing as to how I married him and all) and it sure is nice to see him. But, I unfortunately get spoiled way too easily. Now, phone calls just aren't cutting it. Either I have nothing to say, or he has nothing to say (hahaha, okay, so not so often on that one :-), or he's in front of his coworkers and I can tell just by the tone of his voice . . . it's always something. I kinda feel a fight brewing, sort of a premonition. Fights always seem to happen when phone calls get weird. But somehow, we're perfectly fine on the webcams.

It could be worse. I'll stop complaining now. Honest.

Anyways, here's the girly . . .

Let the Oral Fixation Begin!

East Cleveland, Yo!

From now on I'm voicing all my complaints right here. There's apparently some freaky prayer answering vibes stemming from this blog. And I'm not questioning it.

E peacefully succumbed to sleep all three times today. Morning nap - out like a light. Afternoon nap - not a whimper. Bedtime - passed out being carried into the bedroom; promptly rolled on her side and stuck a thumb in her mouth as soon as she hit the sheets.

Of course, this could have a lot to do with her wearing herself out quite a bit today, but I'm not really going to question it. I'll just have to piss her off to the point of no return more often . . .

This afternoon we loaded up in the car with my perpetually late and indecisive mother (Her: "What time is the appointment?" Me: "1:30, I'm leaving at 12:30." Her: "Oh, 12:30 . . . I don't know if I'll make it." Me: "It's 10:30, why wouldn't you make it here by then?" Her: "Well, I have to get ready. And feed the dogs." Me: "Uh-huh, and how does that take two hours?" Her: "If you don't want me to come then just say so." Me: *sigh*). She was exceptionally quiet, sulking cause I told her to get moving and make up her damn mind. She still came, but did her darnedest to make the day miserable. We were headed to Cleveland Clinic, to get an ultrasound on a birthmark on E's lower back. Apparently this particular placement of a birthmark has a 1 in 1000 chance of being an indicator of the spinal cord either not properly developing or fusing in the wrong place.

It was "Don't Have a Clue How to Drive Day". I almost got hit three times, once while cruising at 70 down 480. It was a blast. And then we got lost. Assured by mother dearest that she knew exactly where we were going, but still armed with my Mapquest directions, we found ourselves on E 55th, wondering where we were supposed to turn next. But, I found it, despite numerous protests, by you know who, that we should pull over and ask "that guy there" where to go. Of course, she got mad at me each time I just kept driving. Obviously pulling over to ask the crackheads on the street who were obviously involved in something to do with money exchanging hands was the perfect solution. (How on earth have I survived to adulthood? Seriously, how?)

So, I found it. And parked in the parking garage. Not behind the random apartment building as suggested.

I carried E into the hospital, while being nagged for not using the stroller ("Seriously, woman, who is carrying the child? Not you, so shut it!"). We mazed our way down to Pediatrics and checked in. After waiting a bit, the ultrasound tech came and took us to the room. E had to be nekkid (which she loved) and lying on her stomach (which she hated). Actually, she was fine for the first 20 minutes or so.

The tech went to work, doing her thing. And you know who started with the questions. Like a 5 year old. "What are you doing?" "Why?" "Why?" The tech was awesome though and told her she "wasn't going to be answering her because she really needed to concentrate and couldn't lose count". Which, of course, pissed my mom off. How dare they do their job and not talk to her!

She (the tech) did explain that normally this procedure is done very early, usually within the first few weeks, because what they are looking for is behind the spine and as the spine fuses, it's harder and harder to see. Makes perfect sense. You'd think. Because it was so difficult to see, another tech and the doctor were brought in to also look, so they wouldn't miss anything. E made it through the first one, and then started crying. She cried through the rest of it, mad cause she was on her belly. She survived though. No harm done. Meanwhile, whenever we were alone in the room, my mom was going off about how these people must not know anything if they had to keep calling more people in. *sigh* Yeah, that. Cause we don't really want them to make sure nothing is wrong.

Anyways, E is fine. Perfect spinal cord. Her pediatrician is clearly not that great though, since it took her this long to decide to get this checked out. I'm losing faith in this lady.

I knew there would be a point when I would crack and all this buddy-buddy time with my mom would hit overload. Today was it. I'm packing my bags and taking E on vacation. We're going to stay in a beach house on Tybee for a few weeks. (yeah, suuuure, I wish - one of these days I suppose we'll get out of here).

Deep Breath

I have that tight feeling in my chest. Like I'm on the quick road to another breakdown. I can't quite take that deep breath that I so desperately need.

E has hit some stage in her little world where she screams bloody murder before she falls asleep. No matter if it's before she's tired, right when she should go down, or too late. Naps and everything. She will kick and flail and squirm and squirm and squirm, crying the whole time. Her whole body goes stiff and she fights everything with all her might. I'm dreading her waking up, because now I have to go through this whole fight every time.

Sigh.

I need my husband.

I haven't said that in a while.

But I do.

Get Human!

http://gethuman.com/

I am in love with this website. I just accomplished what would have probably taken hours, in just a half hour. So very, very cool.

4 Months and a Pony Ride

So, I'm a little behind. Friday E turned 4 months and she got her first pony ride. It was an eventful day.

Four months old. She's a happy girl!

Much more fun on the tummy!

Yay for ponies!!

Relaxing after that tiring ride.

Keeping up with the conversation.

:-)

Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty

I Cook.

Yes. I do. Really. I'm not even joking.

Last night I made a cheesy broccoli rice casserole, a shrimp sauce over pasta, chicken pot pie casserole and meatballs. Today I took all of that up to my mom's and we plated it up for my grandma. Her freezer is stocked for a while, and I'm going to make some more dishes this weekend. My mom cried. She's so stressed out with this whole taking care of grandma thing, it's not even funny. We were supposed to take a vacation before school started, but now we aren't cause of a whole bunch of factors, and she's pretty bummed about that. I wish my aunt would have gotten her head out of her ass and come to help for even just a little bit this summer. It's so unfair that my mom is the only one with a real job and all three of her siblings could care less. It's time to think about putting her in a home and my mom has no idea how to go about it without the help of any of them, let alone having my aunt object and throw a giant wrench into everything.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Family sucks.

Other random thoughts:
I miss GA. I wish I could divide my time between here and there. I am really going to miss my mom (who would have ever thought I would be saying that about the person who called me fat and a slut - times sure have changed), but I can't wait to get back down there.

I went running for the first time in who knows how long (I have no excuse, I'm just lazy). It kicked my ass royally. 1/2 mile, straight up hill. I made it though without stopping (I did walk most of the time, but in my defense, that stroller is darn heavy). Plus the other mile I ran. My legs are jello today. But, somehow, I am already down to my 'after baby' goal weight. Weird. I eat like crap, and barely exercise and am dropping weight like no other. I'm not complaining yet.

I have too much furniture. I sold half of what we owned before I moved, yet I still have too much for this apartment. I want to live somewhere huge next, but with the same amount of stuff, so then it will be sooo open and free!

Buttercup

E's most often used nickname is Buttercup. Each morning I greet her with a super cheery "Good morning, Buttercup!" no matter how bleary eyed I really am. And she always gives me a giant toothless grin. So, I think she likes her nickname.

There goes the bride . . .

Off into the sunset with her new husband.

Surreal.

A few thoughts from the evening:
~While M was sitting in Kuwait, lounging about, he could have easily been put on a plane, come to the wedding, and hoping on another plane in plenty of time to get back for his trip back to base. Why can't I be in charge of leave? Soldiers would love me. You want to go home for a bit? Sure, here's your flight number, have a wonderful time. :-P

~Family sucks. You're stuck with them. Creepy and weird as they are, you can never get away. A certain someone will never, ever be coming to live with us. Even if we do have a garage apartment. Too close for comfort. Friendly is one thing. Creepy is a whole 'nother ballgame.

~Other family rocks. E was an angel for my mom. It sounded like she was even better than she usually is for me. No crying, drank her bottle right up and promptly went to sleep. I couldn't ask for a better baby. Or mom - she had a big "let's eat away our misery" dessert for me when I got home. And a margarita. We love our margaritas.

~I'm glad we didn't have the big wedding. Sure, the greedy and selfish side of me thinks the gifts would have been quite beneficial (how else does one become the owner of things like carving sets and complete sets of red and white wine glasses and champagne flutes), but the practical side of me knows I would have never wanted to stand up in front of that many people and that our dinner was far more delicious than any catered event.

Okay, now some pictures.

Slightly saddened by this realization . . .

I strongly suspect there is a bachelorette party going down quite soon. And since I only stumbled across this information on the internet, clearly, I was not invited to join in.

And that makes me sad.

Makes me wonder how different this whole shindig involvement thing would have turned out if M was home.

I hate having "friends".

You know - friends, but not really friends.

Cryptic. I know.

Dishwashing the diapers

Seriously. The baby's diapers are currently running through their third rinse cycle in the dishwasher. If M was here, I don't doubt he'd be having a fit about it being disgusting. I'm still on the fence as to how disgusting it really is.

The whole purpose of this odd experiment is to "strip" the diapers. When washing in the washing machine, soap sometimes builds up on them and causes this horrible, knock you over, hold your breath smell. I experienced this smell last night when I walked into the bedroom and could smell E's diaper immediately. Another reason to "strip" diapers is to combat repelling, where the soap build up causes liquid to just roll of the fleece, rather than be absorbed.

Just so you know, I washed them all first in the washing machine. :-)

So, hopefully this strange effort will end all stinkies and leaks. And I'll be a happy mama.

In other day to day, boring issues . . . I picked up our old hitch hauler box thingie from the in-laws house today. They've had it since I moved to Texas two years ago and here I though they had used it once and then it was stored in their attic space since then. I'm thinking that's clearly not the case though. Not only was it completely covered in mud (caked on mud, off-roading type of mud), but two of the tail-lights are cracked and one has all of the plastic missing, the entire lock is gone and is just a gaping hole now, the pin for the hitch part is long gone, and the connector for the tail-lights is nowhere to be found. Oh, and all of the metal is completely rusted and crumbly.

This is why you don't let other people have your things. Even if they are relatives. Yes, I'm selfish, but being selfish keeps me from having all of my stuff ruined. I knew it might have a few scratches and dents and be pretty dirty, but no way was I expecting this hunk of junk I was left with.

Pissed. Slightly.

Sleepy Head

Drama Queen

She even poses while she sleeps. Little Miss Sassy is going to be quite the pistol I think.

Hello August!

I like this month. In August we will . . .

~Hit the halfway mark. Granted, it will be at the very end of the month, but still. 7 1/2 months down. Pretty impressive.

~Watch two wonderful people get married. I'll watch in person, and M will get to watch the video I'll probably send him. Too bad I can't send any cake . . .

~Hopefully take a vacation. Take my mother away from everything that stresses her out, stick her in a beach chair with the waves lapping at her feet and a cold margarita in her hand.

~Witness the most impressive display of craziness yet as M's family moves three generations, 6 people, into one house. I'm ready to be entertained.

~Get a new camera and quickly become an expert at photography again. Close-ups are the first thing on the learning agenda.

~Take the Corvette out for a drive finally. Maybe, just maybe, I can take a spin while it's running right. And after that I can take the truck for a spin too.

~Run at least 2 miles straight. I can do 1, and it almost kills me, but I know I can do more. I still haven't signed up for the 5k, but I will. I can do it!


There's quite a few more events that I'm sure will pop up over time. The summer is flying by, and although I love how the sands of time are swirling out of control, I know the winter is going to drag. I have to get in all of my outside time now.