Today Zach went to see his first movie.  Regal does free movies for kids on Monday’s & Tuesday’s during the summer.  So today we went to see the Veggie Tales - Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything.  I prepped Zach beforehand - dark room, huge screen, sit in chair or mommy’s lap.  He did great.  It was the endish of the movie before he was done, so I thought that was GREAT! 

The folks at Regal are marketing geniuses…

Flylady used to have Wednesday’s as Anti-Procrastination Day - you do all (or some) of the stuff you’ve been putting off.  (Maybe she still does, but I can’t quickly find a darn thing on the website.)  It doesn’t say anything good that I waited until Thursday to Anti-Procrastinate, except maybe that I just knocked THREE crappy-dappy things off my list of stuff to do.

First, I called the photographer to make an appointment to order Zach’s pictures from OCTOBER!  I don’t know what my problem is, except maybe there weren’t any shots that I was crazy about and I still haven’t hung the large family portrait from his 3-month session and our money is better spent on other things right now.  But everytime I see the list of pics the grandmothers want laying on my desk…  Well, let me just say that I’ve been having kooky dreams that I believe are representative of the things I have hanging over my head that aren’t complete.

Second, and the most difficult of all, I called the Montessori school and turned down the position for this fall.  I do understand that it’s all good.  But it seemed awfully huge to turn down something I wanted so badly because it hurt my heart to think of Zach being gone every single morning.  Anyway, that’s all done now, too; and he’s still on the waiting list for the next fall.  (I can’t imagine NOT being all weird about the 5 day a week thing then too.)

Third, I called to get an estimate on having some fluids changed in the truck.  By not going to the dealer, I should save $150 on it.  All these things I’ve been putting off were phone calls - I am TERRIBLE about putting off phone calls.  Or maybe I’m GREAT at it - depends on how you look at it…  Is there a career in which you get paid for procrastinating?

These things aren’t all done, mind you.  The photographer will have to call me back and we’ll have to make an appointment that I will have to go to.  Then I’ll have to pick up the pictures and mail them to the grandmothers.  I’ll also have to coordinate taking my truck into the shop with Matt.  We’ll have to swap out the car seat and that’ll mean I should wash the seat cover in the back of the truck because it has Daisy hair all over it…  So there is much work still left to be done, I’ve only set myself up to begin.

Oh!  Speaking of the truck…  I sent the final check in to Toyota to pay it off!  And when I log into my Toyota account, there’s nothing there.  And the check has cleared the bank.  All I’m waiting for now is for the title to come in the mail.  Yippee!!!  It’s mine!!  Mine, Mine, Mine!

We’ve just been doing normal stuff this week.  I went to KYA (Kick Yo Ass) Yoga on Monday and, literally, my butt cheeks were hurting on Tuesday.  So were my arms, so when we went swimming Tuesday I skipped applying sunscreen to my back and got a (not so) nice little burn.  Yesterday we went to storytime at the library and Zach was so well-behaved.  Last time he was a little, um, more active than the other kids, so at breakfast yesterday, I told him where we were going and how at storytime we were supposed to sit on the floor and listen to the nice lady read us books. On the way to the library, same deal.  Before walking into the room, same deal.  And he was soooo good!  What, you mean when I tell him my expectations the chances of him actually fulfilling them increase??  Wow.  Imagine that.  And seriously, do I want him to think he has to read my mind to get it (whatever It is) right?  So I’m learning my lesson there.

Today we’re going to open up the pop-up and see what there is to be seen.  Probably make a list of stuff we need to buy and to do.  Hopefully we’ll be able to camp in the driveway soon!  Doesn’t that sound ridiculous?  I also think we ought to go to a church parking lot for me to practice driving and parking it before we take it out.

So, the washing machine buzzer just went off and from the way my eyes are watering, it must be time to vacuum the rug downstairs, so “Bye, Bye Interweb.”  Catch ya later!

I watched the Baby Borrowers for the first time Wednesday night and thought about how much it would absolutely suck to have cameras on me all the time.  Even with two years of experience parenting, I still do stuff that is totally bizarre…  Most of the time it’s minor things like forgetting to bring a snack during an errand run or sitting down to eat without having set out forks.  But every once in a while, I stun even myself.  On Tuesday I took my car in to get the tow lights checked out and I left the diaper bag in the car.  Honestly, I thought it was going to take about half an hour for them to find the disconnected whigamajig or replace the blown fuse or whatever.  Plus, Zach generally doesn’t poop in unfamiliar places…  So, wasn’t I surprised when an hour and a half into our wait he had a big ol’ diaper…  Considering his penchant for diaper rash, I had to attend to the matter.  And of all the options that I had, do you know what I decided to do??  I decided to dump his diaper and put it back on… 

Did your jaw just hit the keyboard?  ‘Cause that made ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE!!!

I took him to the bathroom and while he was standing up, removed his pants and removed the diaper.  And immediately realized that I had come up with the most stupid, stupidest plan EVER.  EVER!  What was I thinking?  So I got a ton of wet paper towels and cleaned his bottom and threw away the diaper and racked my brain for what to do next.  Of course, the restroom wasn’t empty and I was trying to do all this without my bottomless child running around. And by the way, I’m only confessing this to you because of the post about our dog not having tick protection…

I decided to use paper towels in place of the diaper.  They were the tri-fold ones and I tried to place them in the crotch of his pants sort of like a maxi-pad.  OMG, I’m dying while I write this…  I told him to be sure to tell me if he needed to go potty and we’d come back to the bathroom.  And while we were walking out of the bathroom and into the crowded waiting area, the stack of paper towels came out of the leg of his shorts…  He didn’t notice & I just grabbed them really quickly and threw them away in the nearest garbage can.

At this point, I realize that the only way to get out this INSANE situation is to just go get the flippin’ diaper bag.  So I walked out into the service area and there was my car parked in the CLOSEST spot to the door and no one working on it.  In no time at all, I had walked to the car, removed the diaper bag that contained diapers and wipes and was back in the bathroom completely reacting like a normal human being again.

Real Simple is addressing nine commom sleep issues on their website.  If you’re one of the 2/3 of American women that have sleep issues, you can check out their article here:

http://www.realsimple.com/realsimple/gallery/0,21863,1722625,00.html?xid=weeklynews

I hate it when I can’t think of a clever title.  I also hate it when I’m typing the word “title” and I lose my cursor after the second “t”.  A sort of panic sets in…  Oh Crap!  Did I just publish that????  Anyway…  here’s my lame-titled, yet mesmerizing post.

Wow, friends, we had a successful day of getting stuff done around here.  I degreased some of the kitchen drawers and cabinet doors so that I can sand, prime & paint them - sometime - later - not today though; got a haircut; took my car in for servicing; bought Matt some scrubs for work; put away the last bit of stuff from unpacking; and cleaned two tubs and one shower curtain.  I even flossed my teeth.  Shaaa-zam!

I also wrote my observant niece a letter of apology.  Here it is.  Hopefully you’ll see the irony in my life…

Dear Ruthie,

 

You were absolutely right when you said Daisy had a tick on her Sunday.  I saw it this morning and it was as big as a blueberry.  So gross!  You would think that a veterinarian’s dog would have been treated against ticks, but not this one.  In fact, we don’t even have any flea & tick control at home.  Unbelievable.

 

Clearly, I will know better than to underestimate you in the future!! 

 

Love,

Aunt Betsy

Hi kids!  We had such a great time last week seeing all sorts of family - grandmas, grandpas, great-aunts, uncles, aunts, cousins and even a college roommate.  And I’m glad to be back home too - I’m in charge again!  hee hee  The first thing I have to do is get Zach’s sleeping schedule back on track.  Right now he’s between 2 and 3 hours off and while its only a problem in principal, we cannot have that child going to bed at 10:30…  Why, that’s two hours into my internet surfing time!

Matt started his new job tonight and I’ve had the television on HGTV all evening.  ha HA!  Does it seem wierd to you that I watched a cable channel all evening after having our cable services disconnected?  It still hasn’t been turned off!  We aren’t paying for it; I’ve already received a bill in the mail…  I have no idea why we’re still getting it.

Today I went to yoga for the first time in over a month.  I haven’t skipped class this long since I was pregnant.  I almost didn’t go, though, because I was too chicken.  I was afraid that I would collapse in the middle of class!  That would be so embarrassing since I’m the youngest person in the class…  So, I went to the class that’s held before mine - Relax and Renew.  It was sooooo wonderful.  In fact, I’m going to make sure I go to this class every once in a while to, well, relax and renew.  My favorite classes are the ones where I’m able to move past the exercise mindset and into a ‘breathing with movement’ mindset.  That probably sounds wierd if you don’t do yoga, but I think that is what is supposed to happen during every class to get the maximum out of your practice.  That’s exactly how this Relax & Renew class turned out.  My plan is to go to the general level class on Friday and then next Monday get back into my regular Kick Yo Ass yoga class.  (My teacher would cringe to know I wrote that…) 

Over the weekend, my SIL planted a Running seed in my head that seems to MAYBE have stuck.  Last August I went to the doctor for a checkup and complained of not sleeping well.  In fact, I don’t remember the last night I slept through completely without taking something and then waking up the next morning feeling hungover.  Seriously, maybe before I had a baby?  Maybe before I get really huge & pregnant and had to wake up to roll over - I honestly can’t remember.  Anyway, when I talked to my doctor about it, he suggested I exercise.  I don’t know what the heck is wrong with him…  Exercise?  How about you just give me a pill, Sport.  And lately I’ve started getting pissed off that I’m not sleeping.  I’ve decided to start counting the number of times I wake up during the night, but I keep forgetting to put a notepad by the bed, so this isn’t a scientific counting, but a middle of the night sleepy counting - and I’ve counted SEVEN times.  Every night (seems like) 7 times I wake up, rearrange my pillows and roll to the opposite side.  It doesn’t help that we have the crappiest mattress known to man and that I almost have to tie myself to my side of the bed to keep me from rolling into Matt.  CRAPPY, CRAPPY Mattress. 

What the heck was I talking about anyway???  Oh.  Running.  So, I might try to run in the mornings and see if it helps with the sleep thing.  And if it doesn’t, I’ll go back to the doctor, throw his stupid exercise advice along with real Scientific numbers in his face and see if he can help.  By giving me a dang Ambien like I wanted in the first place and if I start frying bacon in the middle of the night with no memory of it the next morning then we’ll deal with that then. 

Speaking of sleep…  Tomorrow, we have a couple of errands planned to keep us out of the house while Matt sleeps and hopefully, since we have to get up early to do said errands, Zach’ll be back to a normal bedtime tomorrow night. 

Well, that’s enough of my blather.  I hope your week has started off well and I hope that you take a moment for yourself to relax and renew too.

So we did, in fact, end up taking Zach swimming on Friday.  He had a great time and afterwards we splurged and went to Sonic.  Don’t be jealous of the exciting life we lead…

On Saturday, we went to Bloomsdays at the UT Trial Gardens.  They had workshops and a marketplace and a childrens area and live music and food.  Zach appreciated the sprinklers they had set up in various places the most.  If you’re in the area, I’d recommend going out to the gardens anytime.  They’ve redesigned it a bit in the last couple of years and it is really pretty.  The children’s area is shaded and they have a rabbit den built out of sticks around a big tree that the kids can crawl through.  While I took the camera to capture all the funness, I left it in the car.  I hate it when I do that…

Today, we bought a ball hitch to go on the back of our truck to the tow the popup camper we’re going to get this week.  T&C are giving us theirs.  After the April trip, we decided that the next family camping trip will be in a nice, warm, weather-proofed cabin somewhere.  We’ll call it a “Camping” Trip.  I’m already looking forward to it!!  In fact, maybe we could call it a “Family Camping” trip and just Celia & I go somewhere and leave Matt & Tim with the kids for the weekend.

So, why are we taking the camper?  Well, it’s because I’m crazy…  And remember I said that our tent was too small…  Well this is a free solution to our overcrowding problem.  And it has an AIR CONDITIONER.  (That may not work…)  Seriously, I’m really excited about getting it and at least trying it out.  And Daisy is going to love it!!

I have us mostly packed up already so we can make an early exit tomorrow.  We’ll only have to drop Matt’s car at the repair shop and stop at the fireworks store and maybe a quick trip to Target.  Hopefully we’ll get outta here by noon! 

I hope you and your families have a great week and a fun-filled Fourth of July. 

Here’s a fun little game to play this weekend.  Make a picture mosaic…

The concept:

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page of results, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.  Your mosiac needs to be 4 columns by 3 rows.

The Questions:

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name

When you’re done, each photo square of the mosiac answers a question above.  It doesn’t take long and it’s lots of fun to see how it ends up.  Leave a link in the comments to share your results.

I can’t take NyQuil without thinking of Dennis Leary’s “rant” on it and the beauty of the internet is that I can share it with you guys.  Zach is all better now and Matt is well enough to run; but I’m going through tissues so fast that I’m actually ashamed of the trees I’ve helped kill.  I’ve been sleeping with tissues stuck in my nostrils for the past couple of days/nights/whatever like itty bitty nose tampons. 

(Tender ears be warned - Mr. Leary loves using the F-bomb.  It’s funny that for the most part, I can watch a movie or read a book and two days later forget most of it, but this whole set by Dennis Leary is imprinted on my brain.)

So, it’s about 5 AM and I’m coming out of my NyQuil-induced coma.  I’m not sure if I’m better or not, but I don’t care either.  We’re supposed to take Zach to the pool today.  Every single day this week, we’ve told him that we’re going to the pool “later” or “tomorrow” and here it is the end of the week and we haven’t done it yet.  So during dinner last night, Matt & I promised (really, this time) that we’re going Friday.  If we go, I’ll miss my last chance to go to yoga before we leave town.  And it will be the 4th week in a row that I’ve missed going to class.  OMG, I know.  But really, nose tampons and sweaty calisthenics don’t equal anything good.  So maybe Matty can watch the boy and roll me over every half hour so I don’t burn and we can have an All-American, mommy’s drunk again, family fun day.  Merry F’ing Christmas!