Mar 18, 2017 | Uncategorized, What's going on |
It’s St. Patrick’s Day and I’m not wearing green.
Until there’s a holiday to celebrate all that Italians bring to the country I will not participate in St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. That’s not entirely true. I celebrate the fact that corned beef is on sale but that’s where my partying ends.
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| God bless Italy. |
Today was AB’s asthma/allergy appointment. I use this blog as a record of when we bring our car to the mechanic so why not make it our medical record too?
When I made the appointment the receptionist told me in the most I hate my job voice that we would be there 1.5-2 hours. I wish she told me that before I decided to make an 11 o’clock appointment. An hour and a half landed us a 12:30 which is solidly in the middle of lunch time. I packed enough snacks and books (and the ipad, in case things went south) to feed a small army. Annabelle eats enough snacks for a small army so it worked out. Much like Hansel and Gretel, we leave a path of Cheerios and Goldfish behind us everywhere we go.
I took this picture of AB as she was walking through the garage to the car.
She was slow.as.a.turtle.
She’s seen everything single thing in our crowded garage 152 times but she had to stop and inspect it all AGAIN. I have to allow for extra time if we exit the house through the garage instead of the front door.
We finally made it to the car and were on our way when I realized we might not be going to the right office. I re-listened to the message on my phone and sure enough we were about to pull into the wrong office. We arrived at the correct office with two minutes to spare. It took us three and a half minutes to walk to the front desk thanks to Miss Turtle. I apologized profusely for being late but the lady behind the desk said not to worry. The lady who took Annabelle’s stats was slightly less understanding. The doctor was so nice and spent a lot of time learning all the details of our bronchitis saga. Annabelle was fascinated by him. She kept putting her hands on his knees and staring up at him while wiggling her hips. The initial round of allergy testing showed she’s allergic to feathers. Of all things! Part of me wishes she was allergic to dust. Surely a dust allergy would make hiring a weekly house cleaner a necessity. It would be FOR HER HEALTH. I’m only thinking of her best interest!
Her best interest and less work for me.
Mar 15, 2017 | Uncategorized, What's going on |
Since I last checked in, our kitchen sink clogged and wouldn’t drain. I discovered the pipes had been slowly leaking all day and soaked everything in the cupboards beneath. We also heard back from Mac the mold man about the mold situation. There’s mold in the cellar and slightly elevated traces of mold in the air of Annabelle’s bedroom. It’s delightful dealing with adult things.
On Friday morning we went to Sesame Street Live. Normally I avoid Sesame Street like the plague but Annabelle’s school had tickets and I wanted her to experience it with her friends. My dislike of SS means Annabelle hasn’t seen much of the show besides Elmo’s World. I’d rather do 12 loads of laundry than hear Elmo talk about himself in third person but she likes it.
Annabelle recognizes most of the SS characters and she was enthralled by Big Bird and Cookie Monster. We were sitting a few rows from the front so she was able to see everything. I’m glad it was a very low cost event because her very favorite part was collecting confetti that fell from the ceiling. We could have stayed home while I threw ripped up construction paper into the air.
I’ve racked my brain to think of what we did on Saturday but all I can remember is I went to the dollar store and cleared out their fake flower section. Wild times up in here!
Sunday night we had a craft night with two friends from MOPS. They each have two children which stressed out Annabelle a little. She doesn’t like loud noises and confusion, which are two areas most children (including AB) excel at. In fact, yesterday we were watching a few of her friends and they started having a pillow fight. She was exhausted and overwhelmed and started saying, “Kids! Everybody calm down! It’s too loud in here. Everybody calm down.” She’s in for a real treat when she has brothers.
We made wreaths and frankly I’m surprised at how well mine turned out.
I was hoping the wreath would kickstart Spring to get it’s act together but no such luck.
We spent some time in the snow when Sesame got up from her nap. She played about as long as it took me to get us both dressed. I couldn’t find my snowpants so I had to wear Christopher’s. I looked like a giant white marshmallow on the top and a giant black marshmallow on the bottom. You could even say I looked somewhat like an inflated cow. It was very attractive.
The snow wasn’t packable so we made a laying down snowman.
Happy Tuesday. Take notes from Annabelle and rock your gold shades as you go forth and concur the snow.
Mar 9, 2017 | In a People House, Uncategorized, What's going on |
Annabelle is dealing with bronchitis AGAIN. I’m just as tired writing about it as I’m sure you are of hearing it. It’s neeeever ending. I finally switched doctors because her initial doctor wasn’t being proactive about getting to the root of the issue or sending her to an allergy/asthma doctor. Switching doctors caused me some guilt. I was afraid I’d hurt the doctors feelings by leaving. I wanted to send flowers and tell her it wasn’t personal! She’s lovely! Never looked down on me for my constant visits! Now I’m having second thoughts. Maybe I should go back. I call and reinstate AB as a patient tomorrow.
I had to make a plethora of phone calls to find the new doctor so I deserve a medal. Adulting is too hard. I think the best of both worlds is to be an adult with the responsibilities of a child. All the fun parts but none of the insurance hassles.
We had two men come over today and test the house for mold. We’ll get results tomorrow, but when I asked if the man had any predictions he said, “well, it doesn’t look too good.” What a sunny outlook. When we spent much of last winter sick I joked that we were allergic to this state. Turns out, I might have been right. We might be allergic to our own house.
Yesterday the doorbell rang while I was on the phone. I wasn’t expecting someone and there wasn’t a car in the driveway so naturally I assumed someone was there to murder us. I am truly an example of sunshine and optimism. It was the general manager from the restaurant next door asking for signatures. Normally I read everything carefully before I sign but this time I was distracted and didn’t study the paper. I signed on the line and sent him on his way. For all I know I could have been agreeing to sell my liver. Christopher’s too, since I also signed his name.
How could I possibly find anything more thrilling to talk about that mold and livers?
I was looking through pictures of Sesame the other day and came across my very favorite ultrasound picture. I loved her little nose in the ultrasound and I love it now.
I’ve been wanting to make a silhouette for years but never got around today. I paid someone $9 and she did all the work. I think it’s precious.
Feb 28, 2017 | Uncategorized, What's going on |
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| AB during the most stressful playdate of her life. |
In an unusual turn of events, Christopher had a three day weekend. We haven’t had a 3 day weekend in months so I declared it Family Fun Weekend, or FFW for short.
We started off the weekend at the gym. The gym isn’t at the top of my Fun Times List, but I do like zumba days. Besides, I need to exercise so I can eat chips with a clear conscience. Normally I’m the youngest person at zumba by about 40 years. I’ve done classes with people my age which I don’t enjoy because I feel so self conscious and compare myself to others the whole class. In this class I don’t have any comparison issues because as long as I’m moving quickly I’m doing better than almost everyone. This week a girl about my age stood next to me. I hadn’t emotionally prepared myself for such competition so I almost did that weird Michael Phelps arm flap thing to psych myself up. Just when I thought I was doing a little better than her I tripped over my own feet. It’s true what they say about pride coming before a fall.
After a family nap that afternoon I went to make a return at Target. I almost looked at the bathing suits but I didn’t want to deal with that kind of depression.
Friday night we had a pizza party in the living room and watched Toy Story. Annabelle really latched onto the party theme and wanted to have a cheerio party the next day. In addition to it being FFW, I decided it should also be MMM- Movie Marathon Madness. We always watch a few of our shows through out the week, but we had a bunch to catch up on and giving it a fun name made it seem less like we were being couch potatoes and more like we were reviewing movies for the Oscars.
Saturday morning I slept in while Christopher took Annabelle to breakfast. It’s a weekly tradition they enjoy and I enjoy the extra sleep. It’s a win-win all around. Next on the FFW agenda was a visit to a new bookstore at the mall. There was a rubber duck themed fundraiser for the children’s hospital near the store so we waddled over to see what all the fuss was about. Annabelle got her face painted and a duck balloon she named Click.
Sunday was a pretty typical day. That’s not completely true. We had to tell Sesame to
“Take the hash brown out from between your legs.” That’s not typical. We went to church in the morning and Annabelle refused to nap in the afternoon. I had to run to the grocery store for an ingredient for supper and while I was out I decided to swing by Home Depot to have a key made. I’ve had the blank key in my purse for literally 5 months but never think of it at the right time. I applied lip gloss in the parking lot because I’ve learned from experience that the more gussied up you are at home improvement stores the more help you get. I have no problem using my feminine charms when I can’t find the right department. I hadn’t counted on the door to the store being stuck shut. I stood there like an idiot waving my arms and legs to make it open. So much for gentility.
I hope you have a great week. A bug just flew into my face and made me drop the computer off the couch so my week is off to an interesting start.
Feb 23, 2017 | Uncategorized, What's going on |
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| Valentine flowers still going strong. |
I cleaned off the top of the refrigerator today. It looked like a bomb went off up there and it was an embarrassment. We have a basket up there that has become the home to everything that doesn’t have a home. If you need scissors, a ticket stub, random writing implements, cough drops, three different types of tape, googly eyes, a hammer or screwdrivers we’re your one stop shop. Every time Christopher can’t find a screwdriver he ends up buying one, even though I insist we already have some. I believe this proves my point.
It’s been unseasonably warm this week so we took advantage of the 50* weather to visit the playground. I wish Belle Belle would love the playground more.
She tolerates it because she knows I love it so much.
After nap time we went to sign our will at the lawyers. I was wearing my exercise clothes because we planned on going to the gym afterwards. Of course it was a very professional office with dress suits and long conference tables and I was there in my black capris, old pink sweatshirt and messy bun. I stood out like a sore thumb. The lawyer asked if we had pen preferences and I almost lost it. Nothing he said was funny but in serious situations everything hits me as funny. I can’t take myself anywhere.
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| Making herself comfortable where ever she goes. |
Annabelle is so sweet and peaceful when she sleeps. So unlike the hour of talking, book reading and stuffed animal rearranging it takes to get to sleep!
Feb 19, 2017 | In a People House, Uncategorized, What's going on |
This is my 1,000th blog post.
That’s a lot of words.
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| Too many drafts, not enough earnings. |
I started way back in 2009 when I was younger, thinner and more well rested.
Most of my early posts make me cringe and I can’t read them without wanting to sink through the floor but I’m so glad I have them. The number of posts per year has gone down significantly since Annabelle was born but I still plugging away. Technically I already reached 1,000 posts but when Christopher and I were dating I unpublished some that I thought had subpar pictures I didn’t want him to see. I mentioned it later and he had already seen every single one so all efforts to maintain my squeaky-clean image were in vain.
I feel like I should do something big to commemorate this momentous occasion, but I couldn’t think of one thing. Yesterday I decided to do a day in the life in what is sure to be pain staking detail.
7:12- I woke up from an uncomfortable and very detailed dream about Christopher having an affair.
7:44- Annabelle started her early morning coughing fit. Moments before I had been thinking her bronchitis medicine must have kicked in because she didn’t cough all night. She’s out to prove me wrong at every turn.
8:00- She comes into my bed every day for our morning cuddle, to talk about our dreams and discuss what we’ll do that day.
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One of us looks like so sweet in the morning.
The other looks like a zombie. |
As always, she “needed to get something out of her wallet.” For unknown reasons, she refers to my phone as a pink sparkly wallet. My phone is none of those things but every morning that’s what she calls it. Lately she’s been asking to watch songs from Moana as she wakes up. It’s not one of my finest parenting moves to watch tv in bed but I’m not a morning person and I’m all about doing what gets you through.
8:22- While I was getting dressed Annabelle dumped out my bag of cough drops and made them into a train. They still need to be picked up.
8:45- Late breakfast. I asked AB if she wanted cheerios or a bagel. She said cheerios but when she saw me eating a bagel she said, “What do you think about sharing that with me, Mom?” It happens every single morning.
9:12- While I cleaned up the kitchen Sesame played in the living room. She told me it was my birthday which she’s already celebrated 34 times this year. She LOVES to play birthday. My birthday dessert was a tiny cupcake the size of a penny.
10:50- We arrive at Walmart. We went to a new Walmart instead of our old standby because we’re wild and crazy and you can’t hold us down!
10:54- Annabelle inspects every single thing in the produce department then moves to the dessert display. She tells me she wants it all for her birthday. I let her walk which means a sloth could have gotten around the store faster than we did.
11:25- I picked out a new vacuum. It was a big moment for me as a homemaker.
12:22- Home for a lunch of leftover fried rice. I break out the new vacuum while Annabelle eats. It’s embarrassing how excited I was about my new Dyson. I moved couches and cleaned corners that haven’t been cleaned in months. I sucked up so much dirt my old vacuum left behind.
1:35- Nap time for Annabelle. She yells down to me periodically about wanted water, a different book and a new stuffed animal.
1:45 to 3:30- In a rare burst of afternoon energy I cleaned the entire downstairs, including washing the floors and baseboards, organized toys and tidied up our bedroom.
4:30- I finally sat down to rest my eyes when AB woke up. Of course. I turn on the LaLa Land soundtrack and fill a bin with dried rice, beads and other small toys for AB to dig in. It makes a mess but it kept her occupied for 45 minutes so it was worth it. It gave me another excuse to use my magical vacuum!
5:15- Christopher comes home. We visit for a while then I vacuum upstairs. Suddenly the vacuum stoped sucking as well. Trouble in vacuum paradise! None of my fiddling with parts fixes it. I shed a few tears and go into mourning.
5:30 to 7:40- Supper, clean up, book reading, bedtime procrastination, etc.
7:41- I feel like it’s midnight. Is it bedtime yet? Is it too early to go to bed? When did vacuums and bulk paper towels become exciting? We finished the evening with Blacklist and chamomile tea.
