I Hate to Ask

But what next?

This week, we have some big wigs at work from other offices (HUGE-ass change from last week, where I developed my married crush on a LA State Trooper) and I get a call from the daycare. "Um, we have a little problem" Those words NEVER precede a "little problem", huh? Apparently Grant had shoved a rock stright up his nose. What would possess someone to do this? What about a rock would make you want to shove it in your nose?

So I went to get him. I got to school and the poor kid was shaking, he was so scared. I gathered him into the car and asked him why he did it on the way to see Dr. Ramey. He said that he didn't do it, "it just fell in there". Apparently, the laws of gravity were suspended for a few moments at the daycare and I wasn't aware of it. It sure as heck didn't happen across town at work. There was no real reason he did, I finally figured. It was just one of those things that kids do, I guess.

He kept sniffing, mostly out of habit as he has pretty bad allergies, but I told him to cut it out and maybe the rock would come out. After all, snot can be a good lube, right? Sure enough, as we are walking into the Dr's office, the rock came on out. We kept the appointment to make sure that there were no more up there and that his nose wasn't too damaged. He did ok. He was a tad swollen but otherwise just fine and dandy.

He happily went back to school and I shuffled back to work.

Since he did such a great job of shoving a rock up his nose, I decided to reward him by taking the boys to Sammy's tonight for supper. They were actually really really good (and even earned a couple compliments!). I ran into a girl I went to high school with. She's going through a separation right now so we commiserated on single parent life. She felt really bad after she found out my single parenthood was not a decision that we made, but one that was made for us. I tried to make her not feel so bad but I have no idea if it worked or not. It certainly wasn't my intention to make someone feel like crap but if it helps her work things out for the better with her husband, that's fine by me.

Good thing that came out of it was that she told me that I looked great! HA!! That never ever gets old. For those who don't know, I've lost almost 30 lbs since October and it's been over 50 lbs since December 2006. I owe it all to Weight Watchers and hard work on my part.

Ok, it's 10 pm and I still need to bathe, wash nap mats and run dishes. I swear, it never ends.

Princess of the Chitlins

This week, I went to a training class for work. While I have known a few things about myself for some time now, it's interesting to see people pick up on them and their reactions. I know I'm spoiled rotten. This is nothing new for me. It's not some big revelation when someone points this out. It only makes me laugh to myself when people seem to be really annoyed with it. The thing is, I'm not spoiled to a fault. I don't demand things (items) from people, I just know that I require a lot of attention and I've been told by my best friend that I make her tired sometimes. She loves me anyway, so why shouldn't everyone else? Same can be said for my parents. And my husband. So, partly in response to one person's jaded view of me because I mentioned that I hate camping, I was really over-excited when my sister in law called to say that she was taking me to a "Chitlin Cookin". Here it is, my chance to prove to the world and myself that I'm not nearly as uppity as the image I apparently project to some. Back to the chitlins...By the way, chitlins are deep fried pig guts. And yes, it IS as redneck as it sounds. The later it got, and the more the alcohol flowed, the more fights broke out. It was GREAT. I really missed Mike. He is awesome at noticing little things that most people overlook, which makes any event all the more hilarious. Even without him there, it was like sensory overload. I learned that when everyone runs one way, Your choices are: 1. Get out of the way, 2. Follow the crowd, or 3. Stand on the highest point to get a good view because there's a fight somewhere.

I also got to buy my first pair of rubber boots to wear to this event. I've never worn rubber boots to a party before. Come to think of it, I've never been to a party in a barn either.

I also heard pickup lines that I thought had been long gone by about 1985. Him: "Do I know you?" Me: "Don't think so" Him: "You sure I don't know you?" Me: "Um, don't think so." Him: "Well I'd sure like to git to know you." Fell right into it. Wow. And to make things even sweeter, he had swollen bloody knuckles because he had been in a fight earlier. I watched the whole thing unfold because I was standing on a picnic table watching.

Maybe my view from the pedastal isn't so bad after all.

Unbelievable!

So Valentine's Day was last week and I was feeling pretty sad, since I'd be spending it without Mike. He called me the night before to tell me to go look in his bathroom cabinet, where he had hidden a wrapped present for me BEFORE he left!!! What man thinks about Valentine's Day in December???? I was so surprised and excited, I didn't know what to do! Especially since the bag had the name of my most favorite jeweler stamped on the front. As an aside, he bought me a gorgeous strand of pearls that are just unbelievable for Christmas. In the bag, the matching earrings!! They are so pretty, I can't even take them off, except to take a bath. I may be sad, but at least I'm decked out in pearls!

In any case, I was so impressed that he thought of Valentine's Day before he left. I love Valentine's Day and WHO CARES if it's a "Hallmark Holiday"??? People make me angry when they say that...I mean, for that matter, what holiday is NOT commercialized? Would it kill people to make an effort to tell the person they care about that they love them that day? No, I never claimed that "I love him more on this day" than any other day...that's just dumb and people sound as much when they are trying to justify their bitterness by saying that they don't need Hallmark to tell them when to say "I love you". All I have to say is, THANK GOD I have a husband who pacifies me and always goes out of his way to make me feel special that day. Ok, I'm stepping off the soapbox now.

Now that I'm all riled up, I think I'll go do a few more crunches.

Our Weekend

So we did end up getting to go to Camp Shelby this weekend to see Mike! It was so bittersweet to see him, for both me and the boys. We left Friday, at about 1:30 to drive up there. The boys were so excited to see him when he showed up to the hotel. We had a great supper and went back to the hotel. Grant and Mike were up at 6 and in the pool by 6:30 while Clayton and I slept til 8:30...We didn't do anything exciting the next day but hang out, which was plenty exciting for us, but not so much to blog about. We were all just happy to be together again. I wasn't feeling up to going home to an empty house so we hit I-10 instead of I-12 (I hate I-12 anyway) and went to Mimi and Pops' house. We went to supper and spent the night there and came home this morning. Now, I'm trying to get everything together so Ms Gail can come scrub us down tomorrow! It's funny how now that we have her, I clean so much more...Not that she doesn't do her job but she CAN'T do her job unless I pick up! So, off I go to spruce the place up, which basically consists of putting awat our stuff from the weekend.

I also feel like I should start a tally of illness while Mike is gone. So far, I'm up to 2 ear infections for Clay, 1 ear infection for Grant and a virus rash and pink eye. I'm not ruling out pink eye for Clay by the time he wakes up or something else. He went out at 5:30 pm with 102.5 fever. Lovely.

Kind of off topic!

An old friend of mine started a candle business up in Maine. I finally got around to ordering some and I got them in today. I can honestly say that they are the best candles ever. They are pure soy with essential oils added. They smell fresh and clean and you can definitely tell there's a candle burning in the house when you walk in, but it's not overpowering. He's got a few different scents to choose from and all of them smell really good! I got Lavendar, Sweet Orange, Lemongrass, Peppermint and Ylang Ylang. I definitely recommend them! www.ecologicalcandle.com is the site to get them unless you're in Maine. He's supposedly trying to work out something with Amazon to get them on there but that has not gone through yet.

Newest Adventure

So it's already February and Mike's been gone for a month now. It seriously feels like it's been months, not 4 stinkin weeks. For those not in the loop, he's been called to active duty with the 165th Headquarters Battalion. He's currently at Camp Shelby, Mississippi and will go on to Iraq in March, after a 4 day pass home. We're adjusting as much as we can without him here. The boys don't know what to think. Grant talks about him coming home every day, which is hard to hear. I think that he thinks this will end soon, and it won't. It's very hard to convey a concept such as time to a child that is only (almost) 4 years old. A concept that adults find simple when they aren't sitting down, counting time. When they don't have to use holidays and birthdays as markers throughout the year until their family is complete again. Clayton is confused...most of the time, I really do think it's an "out of sight, out of mind" sort of thing but it never fails...2-3 days out of the week, when we pull into the drive, he sees Mike's truck and yells, "DADDY!!!". It's truly heartbreaking, especially on bad days! Last night, he carried an old picture of Mike around, kissing it loudly and smiling. I truly felt for the baby.

We ordered a "Flat Daddy" for us to have throughout the year. It's a free deal for kids with deployed family members, except for the shipping, all of about $9. Of course, we are backlogged and will have to wait a while for it to come in. I was hoping he would be here for Grant's birthday but that may not happen. Basically, Flat Daddy is a life-sized waist-up foam board print of a pic of Daddy that can sit at the table, get in pictures, etc...I think it may help ease a few situations and knowing Grant, I can say, everyone be prepared for me telling stories of taking Flat Daddy to the Dr, grocery and other places...this is really up his alley.

We were supposed to have a weekend together next weekend but that was nixed by Lord knows whom...I'm really disappointed. I was truly looking forward to seeing Mike again. I miss him more than words can express. The hardest part of this all, believe it or not, is NOT when I'm so busy that I forget my purse places and am dealing with the boys, no matter how they are (mis)behaving...it's the time after about 8:30 pm. After the boys are asleep and I'm sitting there, wound up and no one to talk to. How absolutely depressing. This used to be our talk, rub feet, watch Dirty Jobs together time. Time that every marriage thrives on. The time when you're alone and happy. Just being. Now I just sit. I used to try to clean (HA!!!) but now that I have Ms Gail (a GODSEND!), she keeps me in order every Thursday and deep cleans us out every other Monday.

Valentine's Day is next week. At least it's another holiday, right?