Ouch

This is the first time I have been the first one up in a long time. Shinesalot and Littleman are here with us and I kept waking up all night long expecting A) a thunderstorm to wake up SkyWalker causing another screaming fit B) the boys to realize they were in the same room and could play at 3 am or C) the Princess to realize she had a guest as well who could get her out of her prison cell, i.e. the crib. I also woke up repeatedly with throbbing pain in my knee from my worst nightmare--my dogs escaping the kitchen with the big garage door wide open and me not being able to do anything because I'm holding my baby. Luckily they were more interested in Shinesalot than in freedom and she could corral them back and get them inside. But I still managed to bust my knee while attempting to grab one while holding on the Princess. Lack of quality sleep has led to a headache. I should have gotten up to take something in the middle of the night but I can't get up in the middle of the night because I am tracking my temperatures. And even though I am not trying to get pregnant right now I "need" accurate information so I can tell when my damn luteal phase goes over 10 days because if it doesn't I will never get pregnant again. Argh. 

That was a jumbled paragraph and probably why I'm not up at 6 am anymore. 

Oh! Exciting news! Yesterday morning the jedi and I went to Big Lots on the recommendation of a friend and guess what I found? I got 4 of those individual straw-like beach mats, a bigger travel beach/picnic blanket, and a better beach tote bag, ALL for under $20. I was very excited. 

We went straight from the store to the neighbor-friend's house because SkyWalker insisted. They had called in the morning and I said we'd call when we got back home but it was better to go there than to go home, unload the kids, get the kids back in the car and drive 2 houses away. SkyWalker played with his friend and it didn't take him 2 hours to do it! The only way I got him to go home was by reminding him that we had "people" coming over. I didn't tell him about Littleman's visit partly because I wanted to surprise him and partly because I didn't believe it was true until they were in my driveway. SkyWalker was prepared to stay at the neighbor-friend's house while I took the Princess home. He even said he would nap there. He's full of shit but it was still funny. 

I'm so proud of him. He's doing so much better with his friends. I wonder if somehow he can sense that I have finally opened myself up to people again and so he has too? 

My head still hurts and I should probably shower while I have quiet in the house. Shit. I always jinx myself. I think I just heard a child. Maybe it's not mine. Never thought I would say that...

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Edited 6:46 am. The boys are up playing in their room "until 7". I told them to play quiet and not wake up the Princess. Littleman responded "Okay, I have quiet farts" and pushed his little heiney out to illustrate. Classic

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My brain is in my other bag

We went to the beach today and as usual had a wonderful time. I don't know what we're going to do in the winter. I really hope we don't revert to our hermit ways... but our house is not the easiest to get to and we all know how much I just love driving in the snow. Anyway, SkyWalker played with trainboy and was even social with another boy who joined their party. Social as in didn't run away screaming. He did really well today and I was so proud of him. I still don't understand how he can be shy talking to people and yet pull down his pants and let his ding-dong hang free in front of complete strangers. 

The Princess was just unbelievable. She flipped and flopped and did everything she could to try to swim. She played in the wet sand and got as messy as she could. She was in heaven and had to be torn away as it was way past nap time. 

Mommy talked to friends and got to pee all by myself and just enjoyed being in the moment. I also discovered some members of my lurking audience...

But I digress.

When we got to the beach and I prepared to show my license I realized that I left my diaper bag at home. With my wallet. I drove 30 minutes away with no license. Luckily SkyWalker was kind enough to remind me to slow down when the speed limit changed. I explained to the girl at the check in station that I left my wallet at home and I gave her 10 dimes. Technically I should have given her 50, but I didn't have a license to show I wasn't a resident. Ha!

I've messed up simple speaking all throughout the day. Instead of saying "I'm glad it was nice today" I said "I'm nice." Um? What? When SkyWalker asked me for the 3rd time why I left my diaper bag and wallet at home I said "I don't know why I left my diaper at home." I guess it was with the wallet bag.

I forgot to give the Princess her amoxicillin before dinner and when I realized it I told SkyWalker to remind me to do it after. We both forgot. Luckily I remembered at bath time so she got it tonight.

Apparently I need to make a list of simple brain functions that I have to remember. Maybe if I write it down I'll remember to breathe and eat and poop.  

Good times man. Good times.

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Distressing

I have just heard the most distressing news. Vomit-inducing distressing. 

I have to do storytimes. 

Besides the fact that what appeals to me about working part time is NO FREAKIN RESPONSIBILITY and PROGRAMMING, the fact that the programming I have to do is storytimes just makes me want to hurl. I haven't done storytimes in nearly a decade. The last time I did them I worked at another library and often planned storytimes that no one came to so it was all good. When I got to EG I did a couple because of scheduling problems when only two of us worked the damn department. We very quickly decided that I would rather work two nights a week and let my boss (who is no longer at EG to protect me) do all the damn storytimes. And that was it. I never had to argue about it... it was understood that I did not do storytimes. 

Until now. 

We're talking about the fall and only once a month but I still want to vomit. I should be able to spread the word and discourage people from coming. I'll have to perfect my mean face. Shouldn't take long. 

Completely unrelated SkyWalker got up at 6:45 this morning. He came downstairs and got in bed with, coughing in my face, and I said "Dude, it's not even 7. You're supposed to stay upstairs until 7. Go back to bed, you need the sleep!" He left, shut my door and apparently went back upstairs. He came back down at 7, hopped on my bed and said "Look Mommy! I got dressed all by myself." Sure enough the boy who needs to be wrestled and cajoled into putting on clothes picked out his own shorts and shirt and underwear and socks and not only put them all on, he put them correctly. Nothing inside out or backwards like he usually does when he's being silly. He even got his socks right. It was amazing. It was the start to a perfect day.... until we went to the damn library!

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When husbands are right

It really really sucks. 

Vader was opposed to us getting the pool. He didn't want to do any work, although he wound up doing a lot of it, but didn't complain when he was getting sand and moving sand and doing the physical labor. It is now all up to me. We've had the pool full since Thursday. By the time I get the chemistry right it will be September and we will take it down. I check the chlorine and the pH every day. At first the chlorine was too high (naturally, since our well water is chlorinated) and the pH was too high. I added pH decreaser (acid) and think I finally got that in line. Then the chlorine was virtually non existent so I added some chlorine but it still wasn't enough and the pool analysis I checked online said I had to shock it so I did and now after 2 days the chlorine is still too high. Here's the thing though, I have two different test kits--one is the aqua chem 6 way test strips and the other is the aqua chem OTO chlorine test with the drops and the vials. They both give me different readings. 

This is a 3 foot vinyl pool. I really shouldn't have to worry about all of the chemicals. I think I'm going to stop using the  test strips and just wait for the chlorine to go down. It would help if we could get some damn sun instead of rain. At least there's no real desire to go in it right now with all this rain. Once the chlorine is safe I'm going to stop obsessing and trying to get it perfect. We have a month and a couple of weeks of potential swimming right? As long as the chlorine and the pH are okay, I really don't care about everything else. 

We had friends for dinner last night so I did all of my cleaning yesterday. I am now relaxing on the couch while SkyWalker plays Elmo downstairs on his computer. The Princess is taking an early nap. SkyWalker is coughing today  and sounds a little congested, but is not covered in snot like he usually is when he gets a cold so I'm not sure what's going on with him. His train buddy from last week has a cold so I thought we'd be getting it too. Maybe they do have it and it's just mild. The Princess is getting her molars so that could be why she's a little snotty and cranky and tired. 

Isaac is limping again. Bad. We had a playdate on Friday and the dogs were in the bedroom and Isaac jumped up on our tub to see out the window. I can only imagine that's what happened. I really hope he has not done permanent damage to his leg. We paid a lot of money for that surgery and if he's screwed it up... ack. I wish we could just keep the dogs out with us and not worry. For the most part we can but they get so excited and want to play with everyone and lick everyone and if anyone is skittish around them (as a couple of people were which is why they were in the bedroom) then it just gets me nervous. One of the kids actually wound up opening my bedroom door on Friday (the one who is the most afraid of them) and let the dogs out and they wound up being outside with us and were "okay". Most of the kids/parents that come for the big kid playdates are actually pretty good with them. They're much better outside when Isaac has his crazy ball and I can throw a stick for Haze. But inside they just get annoying trying to sit on everybody and kiss everyone and when they try to kiss a toddler they can knock him right over. I keep waiting for them to calm down as they get older. It's my fault for being so antisocial for so long and probably for working as well... they used to be alone for 8 hours every day. Now there's people and they get so excited. What I should do is try to tire them out before people come over, but I can't throw the ball for Isaac because of his leg and because he's an idiot who just wants to eat the ball and not give it back. And I can't tell him to play by himself while I throw it for Haze. He'll play with the crazy ball by himself if we're all out there and if I throw a stick for Haze, but if I throw balls he has to be involved. I still want Vader to hang some kind of rope so Isaac can play tug of war, which is what he really likes to do. 

So dinner last night was great. The Princess's little jobber friend came over, with his Mom and Dad, for pizza and wings. The Princess played with her friend when she wasn't clinging to me regretting not napping very well. We had a great time and as I was getting the Princess ready for bed I heard Vader say to SkyWalker "Wasn't that fun?". I think the funniest part of the whole evening was at 7 pm when both babies said "Enough's enough, we need to sleep!". The Princess started rubbing her eyes and yawning. The little jobber walked to his Mommy and fussed and all but said "It's bedtime woman!" 

SkyWalker was a complete goofball throughout all of dinner trying to hide under the table and being shy because there was someone new. He'd never met the Dad before and he told me earlier he was nervous. He didn't say nervous. He said "I don't want his Dad coming." But then after dinner as we played in the living room the Dad broke his shell with a measuring tape and the next thing I knew SkyWalker was giggling and being silly asking him to measure every body part imaginable and being a total goofball but in a good way this time. It was so nice to see... SkyWalker is so shy but I'm glad that he can be reached. In less than 3 months he will be in preschool without Mommy and it will be a bit of sink or swim for him I guess. He's going to have to talk to his teacher and talk to other kids and not be so shy. 

I cannot believe the Princess is still napping. She never naps this early. The dogs are napping. SkyWalker is still downstairs. There is an eerie quiet except for the occasional sound of Elmo or Oscar the Grouch that finds its way up the stairs. 

I was going to lament my dying iPod but I can hear the Princess stirring. I'd better get the laundry in the dryer before it's too late.

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Renovating

In addition to renovating my psyche I am also renovating my house. Not so much renovating as sprucing up. We've gotten the floors done and I had the wallpaper removal guy come today to give us a couple of estimates. One for just removing the wallpaper, one for that AND painting. In theory Vader could paint... it will just take a year. Or two. I think we should just spend the damn money and get it all done now. We'll see how much it winds up being. I said I could wait until October because he can give us a better price then. It's not like we're painting because we're selling the place. I want it to be done before I'm pregnant again and before it snows because the dogs will have to be outside a lot. I should hear from him in a couple of days.

We also need to replace our curtains in both the kitchen and living room. I'm really not a fan of curtains and the way my dogs and children play with them let's just say my curtains are not long for this world... I'm *thinking* about getting blinds instead. I know what you're thinking. But I'm thinking VERTICAL blinds. Faux wood vertical blinds. Just for the windows that face the front yard. The sliding glass door will have to be curtains because I'm not having floor length blinds. I guess I don't really need to replace anything until after the painting is done but I'm itching to do it now.

Particularly since today was the day I have been waiting for for a long long time. No, that's not messed up, read it again slowly.

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Our new couches came today. Sofa and loveseat. I loves them I do! Aren't they pretty in their leatherness?

This is how they are now:

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Yes, we had to cover up the lovely leatherness. But I splurged (in a big way) and got suede covers that have TWO parts. The main cover and then a separate slip cover for the cushions. Why? For little boys (and eventually girls) who pee on the couch. (See the one trying to figure out how she can do some damage?) Now I can just take the cushion cover off and wash that instead of taking the whole thing off. Sweet!

(A horde of teenagers just came in here and tried to get me to eat bugs. No, I'm not at home. That would be *really* weird.)

In just 3 long weeks we can put the ottoman back in the living room and it will look like a real living room again! Once the floors "cure" or harden we can put the little rugs and such back on it.

Anyway, the couches came at the *same* time as the wallpaper removal guy. That was fun. My MIL was over so she helped with that. Despite saying that they couldn't move my old couch because of insurance reasons, they moved my old couch to the office for me (all I needed was a pretty smile.... and some money). So Vader didn't have to do anything. Which was great since it was a surprise to him. He obviously knew we were getting them but when they called for delivery he wasn't home and SkyWalker thought it would be great to surprise him. And it was! So now we have a couch in the office/playroom.

The bugs are back and strangely I am hungry. But I am going to the vending machine.

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This might be rambly

Feel free to get yourself a drink and pee first. Or you know, skip reading altogether. :-)

Things are going really well. 

It's amazing how a simple change in perspective can change things. But it's more than that. I think for a long time that I always had this picture in my head of what happiness was and how I had to get there. I always needed more. When Vader and I were first together I needed to get married in order to be happy. When we got married, I needed a house. When I got a house, I needed a dog (or two). When I got the dogs, I needed a baby. When I had one baby, I needed another. And so on and so forth. In addition to that I had this vision of my life's path--drinking a cup of tea while my kids and Shinesalot's kids played. I put all of my friendship eggs in that one basket. And when that was taken away from me I was pretty much devastated because my life's happiness depended on that. 

A new friend's signature is this quote : Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.  ~Abraham Lincoln

I think this is the key element. I always relied on outside events or other people to determine my happiness. And those things are not reliable. The only person I can truly rely on is myself. (Of course I can rely on my husband, but not to keep me happy.) I am the only person who can truly keep myself happy. And by happiness I don't mean the blissfully ideal happiness I once thought of... I mean a more realistic down-to-earth happiness. 

I've made a new friend and although she has some sadness in her life right now I think it's going wonderfully. And on Friday our neighbor-friend is bringing her kids to my bi-weekly big kid playdate. I have a close friendship with someone I never would have expected but we chat a lot (when my kids don't interfere and her job doesn't interfere). I have great co-workers. I'm trying to spread out my friendship eggs instead of concentrating them in just one person and I think it's working. I think I resisted making real friends out of some kind of loyalty to Shinesalot, that I would be betraying our friendship if I let myself be friends with other people. But I can't think like that anymore. Shinesalot will always be my best friend forever but I need local friends too. And not just local playdates but local *friends*. 

And since my life-changing attitude my luck is changing too. Of course it's not to my luck, just my perception of it, but whatever. The couch is being delivered on Thursday--the day we were scheduled to go to the beach with my meetup. I was afraid we'd miss it so I asked my new local friend if she wanted to go on Tuesday with just us. We met there and I brought my mother's helper and it was wonderful. SkyWalker had a great time without me. The Princess and the little jobber swam in the water and held hands occasionally and I talked to my friend and I let myself just be happy in the moment. It was a great day. And what's happened? Looks like it's going to thunderstorm all day on Thursday. We got our beach day in perfectly. And normally I would be upset about rain ruining my plans... but I could use the rain to fill up the pool and not drain my well dry! It's all how you look at things. 

Today I babysat a 2 1/2 year old for the first time. Trainboy has been mentioned here before... and SkyWalker did GREAT. He's so much better one on one. He played so nicely and talked to him and played WITH him. There were no arguments or awkward moments at all. It went really well and I think it helped us as much as his mom! 

The only thing not going well right now is the Princess is refusing to take a second nap. I think I'll have to get her up for snack and try again after. I've let her whine for quite a bit now and she's just not giving up. Despite her rubbing her eyes and being cranky. I will be glad when these molars are done! 

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crashing

I took an imitrex about 15 minutes ago and it's hitting me now. It's a preventive measure. I have a headache but not a migraine yet and I'm hoping to avoid it. But the imitrex just beats the crap out of me anyway. I should leave all the typos in here instead of fixing them because it would illustrate the serious lack of mental functioning I have right now. 

Random things in my head:

Our power went out Friday night around 11 and didn't come back on until 1 pm Saturday. And then went  back off Saturday night. That sucked. 

The pool collapsed. That sucked too, but it wasn't looking so good, hence the imminent collapsing, so at least we got a chance to fix it. We have to wait to start filling it up again because our water is all dark and cloudy now. We took too much out of the well at once and the F86 filter system couldn't keep up. 

Why can't I find beach stuff in July? Don't people go to the beach in July? All I wanted was a foldable beach blanket that I could carry easily. I guess I should look in February. Screw you NYS wacky retail stores. I wonder if they have this problem anywhere else. Can you get seasonal stuff in their proper season in states that don't have more than one season? Hmmmmm

i am definitely crashing now. methinks it's time for some sleepy-sleep before i fall asleep with the laptop on my lap and get discovered my vader when he gets home frm shoppping. won't that be funny?

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Fun with water

We had the best baby playdate. I am so glad that I decided to split my playdates up into big kids for SkyWalker and babies for the Princess. It's working out really well. There are only a couple of other babies that come so it's a much calmer atmosphere than when there's a bunch of big kids running around. The Princess gets a little overwhelmed when that happens. She had the best time today. All three "babies" played with the water table and had the greatest time splashing each other and themselves. It didn't even matter that the Princess was the only girl... they all had a blast and so did we watching them! When SkyWalker wasn't whining about wanting to be pushed on the swing he enjoyed watching them play and I think he liked having the little jobber following him around. He looked like such a big boy and I got a little vision of what it would be like for him to have a little brother in addition to his sister. Although she's certainly no girlie-girl. SkyWalker whined a little bit and I always hate when that happens. I know that I just have to stand my ground and be firm and he'll be fine in a few minutes, but it's still just embarrassing when that happens when we have company. 

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I'm waiting for Vader to finish working out so we can watch a movie. It's almost 9 already which means I will probably fall asleep during the movie. I might fall asleep right now actually.

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I've been bitten

by the Dr. Horrible bug. Go check it out: www.drhorrible.com

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Open up and say Aaaahhhh

Unless of course you are my son.

The jedi went to the dentist this morning. I got my usual lecture about flossing my teeth and gave my usual response of "ehnhhhnn" because there was a water thingy in my mouth. I think the spin brush I got is working though because she said I was doing better with the plaque. Yay. The Princess was fascinated and sat in my lap and let them look in her mouth about as well as she lets me do it and that was just fine. She didn't enjoy it or cooperate but she didn't freak out.

Is it really any surprise who did?

Vader was with us so I thought things would go better than last time. Nope. He sat in my lap while the dentist tried to look at his teeth. The only way he saw them was while SkyWalker was screaming. Tears in his eyes. Then the hygienist tried to clean his teeth. She was a very nice pretty blond and he was a little distracted but not enough. He let her put some paste on one tooth and that was it. It was pretty embarrassing. We're going to try again in 6 months. Hopefully the Princess will be better by the time she is his age. Although if she keeps seeing him crying and screaming maybe she won't be!

We attempted to put the kitchen set together. We, meaning SkyWalker and I. They left out the instructions but luckily I am a child of the internet so I found them. Unfortunately the internet cannot produce the nuts and washers and screws that they also left out. SkyWalker was very disappointed, as was I, but secretly I would rather Vader do it anyway. I'm not so good with the following of directions and the putting together of things.

Five minutes before I had to leave for work SkyWalker decided to lock himself and his sister in my bedroom. He's been locking doors lately but he always unlocks them rather quickly. He did not do that tonight. Later he said that he was hiding on me. Vader came home to find me banging on the door. He finally unlocked it when he heard his Daddy's voice. We opened it, knocked down the Princess who had been standing on the other side of the door (oops) and Vader threw SkyWalker in time-out immediately. So I got to leave for work with the Princess crying, SkyWalker crying AND begging me to just stay home with him. Good times. Yes, I know some moms would be glad to leave the house but not me. Even in the middle of chaos and crying, I would rather be there to comfort them when it's over.

Tonight I get to clean the guest bathroom when I get home from work. I decided there was no sense in doing it before because SkyWalker would just pee all over the toilet again anyway. Actually since my playdate is at noon tomorrow (it's for babies) maybe I'll wait until tomorrow morning.

Last week the Princess was down to one nap. This week? Two. AND today she missed her morning nap because of the dentist so I thought I'd get a nice long one out of her. Nope. She slept an hour and a half and was cranky later on. I tried to put her back down at 3:30 but she pooped in her crib and then just didn't want to sleep. Of course she was rubbing her eyes at 5 when I was leaving. I guess she still does need her morning nap. Although the dentist did say that her molars are coming in, so it may not matter what I do, she'll still be a mess. She used to be so consistent--awake for 2 hours, nap, awake for 2 hours, nap. Now she's all over the place.

I am hoping that we get a call tomorrow from the couch place saying that our new couches are in and ready for deliver next week. The couch was out of stock and they were expecting a shipment on Friday. I'm also hoping that the wallpaper guy I've been playing phone tag with calls me tomorrow. Although the conservative side of me says that we should just do everything ourselves, there is a big part of me that wants this done now and not in 2 years. Which is how long it would take Vader to do anything.

It's been 6 months today since my FIL died. Time flies huh?

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Wow

I've come back to work to two surprises. One I knew was coming but didn't really think I'd see it... a vending machine in the staff room. This will good. And bad. The second I also knew was coming but didn't think I'd see it so soon... the director is resigning. Crazy days at the library.

I know I'm pretty strict about our sleep schedule. I let the kids stay up for the wedding but that's it. No 4th of July or New Year's Eve. No staying up late because we're out at a friends or at dinner or something like that. Which is why it constantly amazes me when I see people bringing their little kids in at 8:30. Dude! And you wonder why your kids are having a tantrum now? Could it be that they are supposed to be in bed? Hmmm....

I called the doc today to schedule the deflux for the Princess. Hopefully we'll get a call with the date soon. Hopefully it will not be on a day I work or my boss will hate me forever. I think he does things on Tuesdays though, so it should be okay.

I cannot wait until I am just working one night a week. I may actually see my husband during the week! Woo-hoo!

I think my brain might be officially fried.

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Things are going swimmingly

No, really. 

Since I've changed my outlook on things and decided to be more proactive about certain things, everything has gone well. Even when SkyWalker did everything he could to drive me nuts yesterday, it was fine. Not great, but fine. 

We went to a local beach today, one that I had no idea existed before now, and had a wonderful time. It's on a lake so the Princess was slightly disappointed with the lack of waves or salt, but she still had a grand time in her float, as did SkyWalker. There was a boy there who decided to help SkyWalker by pushing the back of his float. SkyWalker did not like this. Nor did I. When I saw SkyWalker with the "I'm going to cry because I'm scared/freaked out" look, I went over and told him to stop pushing the float. SkyWalker stopped using it and was in the water by himself when the kid (roughly the same age, maybe a little older) decided to push HIM instead. I ran as much as I could in water while holding the Princess and said very loudly that he'd better stop pushing my kid. If I knew which inattentive parent he belonged to I would have had a few words with her, but alas, she was not stepping up to identify herself. 

Aside from the beach bully, it was a great time. SkyWalker played a little with TrainBoy and said he had fun and wanted to go back. And he did talk in front of other people if not to them. The Princess enjoyed seeing her friend, the little jobber, and would have gladly stayed all day--as long as she was in the water and doing what she wanted to do. It was hard for me to sit and talk to anyone because most of the time I was being led by the Princess. But I did manage to talk to a couple of moms and that was nice. Next week I'm going to bring my "mother's helper" (how sweet is that? To get paid to go to the beach??) to help me keep my eyes on the two of them. 

Aside--I am totally JD. Scrubs. I give everyone nicknames. It's not really a privacy thing, although I don't like the idea of someone being able to recognize a picture of my kids and knowing their names as well, I think I just nickname people. Except for myself. But I don't often talk about myself in the 3rd person. Often.

When we got home from the beach we had snacky-snack and then the Princess took a two hour nap (after napping an hour in the morning). She must have been wiped out. I woke her up at 5:30 for dinner. SkyWalker played Elmo on his computer and I had some peaceful moments to myself to cook our chicken nuggets and green beans and carrots (requested by SkyWalker). It turned out to be a lovely afternoon.

I still have laundry to fold and swimsuits to wash out. And I really need to clean the bathroom before our playdate on Friday. But I highly doubt that will get done tonight. Vader should be home from the store soon. Which means I need to clear off the island for all the grocery bags too. Instead I am blogging. Really just blathering. Blather blogging. Ha.

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Patience

My patience has run out. Coming back from a vacation is always difficult for us. My children go from having LOTS of attention from LOTS of people to um... just me. The very same person who also has to do all of the laundry that built up and all of the cleaning that was ignored and all of the unpacking and generally everything. Leaving little time for two  creatures who want attention every single second. The Princess has been tolerable but SkyWalker has done everything he could to make me crazy. He got up at 6:30 this morning after swearing that his monkey clock said 7 (well, yeah, you MADE it say 7.) He went back upstairs later and stayed up there as the Princess and I ate breakfast. Just as we were finishing up he wanted breakfast. Then we all went upstairs to get dressed and what did I discover? He DREW on the CARPET with MARKER. 

I got the steamvac to clean it and when I went to the tub to fill up the thing what did I discover? POOP. I *think* it was  from last night's bath and Vader didn't see it. I could be wrong. The steamvac worked so-so on the marker. 

All day long he has been a pain in the neck. Playing with things he's not supposed to, spilling water on the new floors, not listening. I put him to bed at 6:45 because I couldn't stand it anymore. He not only refused to clean up his room, he REFUSED. He screamed "NO" at me. It's not about picking up puzzle pieces. It's about not listening and making me repeat myself a million times and showing a total lack of respect. 

It is 7:39 now. I just heard the all-too familiar "I poooooooped" in his after-bed sing-song way. I went up there. There was no poop. He tried but he didn't really have to poop. What caught my attention though was the first aid kit in the sink. He opened it all up and wasted band-aids and tape and all sorts of things. Luckily he did not realize there were packets of tylenol in there. And then. Oh man. And then. I see the suppositories. He opened up a box of baby suppositories and squeezed out 3 or 4 of them. On his shirt. He claims they were nowhere near his mouth or any body parts. I told him that he could get sick or hurt from playing with this stuff. Tomorrow I will clean out the ENTIRE medicine cabinet since he is clearly not to be trusted. 

I put him back to bed and told him he'd better clean up his puzzle pieces tomorrow morning when he gets up and he said "I will. I'll be a GOOD BOY." in such a sweet voice. I swear he's trying to drive me completely crazy.

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We're back

I did not fall.

I did, however, sit when I was supposed to stand and slacked on my train-fixing duties, but both of those can be attributed to the fact that I thought I was going to DIE up there. Yes, my friends, karma struck once again and I got my you-know-what the day of my sister's wedding. I had to suffer through the Priest talking about love and falling in love and the difference and blah blah blah and I would have paid my BIL $20 to tell him to just skip to the good part. I think I probably will be going to the doctor soon because I shouldn't be in so much pain that I can't stand. That's just not normal.

Other than that the wedding was great, my kids did not witness the actual ceremony (the Princess was thirsty and needed to get some water), but they did great at the reception, staying up until past 10 pm! (After staying up late at the rehearsal dinner the night before). The Princess would have been on the dance floor if she would only start walking, but alas she was stuck chair-dancing and then leading me holding my hands as she rocked her body and toddled after other kids. My sister looked beautiful and everything went well. I was reminded numerous times of how much I love my SIL. 

Yesterday we went to the beach and it was the Princess's first time in the water (last year she cried and cried because she was working on a big poopy and her bathing suit was too tight). She LOVED it. I put her in a chair-tube and she bounced and bopped and laughed and stuck her head in the water and loved every minute. SkyWalker did pretty well too, but nearly as well as she did. 

SkyWalker is whining and crying right now, no doubt from the lack of anyone but me to pay attention to him. Vader is out mowing the lawn and the Princess is sleeping. I still have unpacking to do but SkyWalker wanted a snacky-snack.

One more thing--I dreamed that we had to kennel the dogs (we didn't--my MIL fed them) and that when we came back my husband went to pick them up and Isaac only had 3 legs. I said "What the hell happened to Isaac's other leg?" He didn't think to ask. Vader let Isaac out when we got home (for real) and when he came back in I noticed that he's limping. He must have hurt his back leg. 

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Success

I got the pool drained and moved to the garage (I had to use SkyWalker's wagon to help me move it. It wasn't too heavy but just unwieldly). I didn't clean the bathroom but if my MIL wants to pee she'll just have to do it at her own risk.

All in all yesterday was a very successful day.

We leave in just over an hour. My sister's wedding is on Friday. The 20th anniversary of my aunt's suicide. I wonder if anyone else will remember that? I think I'm more nervous than I was before my own wedding. I hate church shit. My children will probably do something inappropriate ("Why that man say god? He listen to Lamb of God too?"). I have to walk down the aisle by myself. I will probably fall. I am so glad I will never be in a wedding again (hear that single coworker?!)

I slept great last night and I think it was because Isaac was in the bathroom. He came in when I was taking a shower and fell asleep on the floor (just like old times) and just never got up. I didn't hear any scratching or shaking or any nonsense. It was great. His skin is in such horrible condition right now. I think he needs a spa treatment. We're giving him prednisone again because it's so bad. He's been doing bad for a while now, since he was cooped up in the crate after his surgery. He had been doing so well before that and didn't even need prednisone. 

I'd better start loading up the car and organizing the breakfast dishes. Maybe I'll get some vomiting in there too. Not in the breakfast dishes. That would be gross.

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Bedtime can't come fast enough

I have a million things on my to-do list today. I have already swept up Isaac's dead skin, so now I still need to do laundry. And then more laundry. And clean the pee off of the guest bathroom floor. And straighten up the kitchen. And pack. And drain the pool. 

The Princess is not cooperating. 

The past few days she has skipped her morning nap and taken a nice long 2 1/2 hour nap in the afternoon. Glorious. Not today, the day I need to get a million and one things done. She slept a tiny bit in the car this morning and I wonder if that has thrown her off. She only napped for about 45 minutes after lunch. I can't drain the pool with her at my side. And I don't want to let her crawl around outside since it just stopped raining. Which also means that there's more water in the pool for me to drain. Gah! 

Vader came home last night and looked at the pool. He's going to get some sand and help me set it up. In the meantime I need to drain it so it doesn't become a malaria breeding ground and get it back in the garage so it doesn't blow away. I'm not sure how I'm going to get that done today. 

In the loose thread section, I have stopped nursing the Princess. I made it to July and am very happy about that. July 1 was our last day. It was a little sad but I'm enjoying her 8 am wake ups. :-) (As long as big brother doesn't wake her up earlier by slamming the stair gate on his way to snuggle in bed with me).

SkyWalker is demanding that he be allowed to do his e-mail now. Let me leave you with this gem from my son after releasing gas from some part of his body: "People burp, fart, cough and say happy birthday to your HAIR! HAHAHA"

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Redefinition

I've been getting entirely too angry and disappointed lately. I think I need to redefine a few basic things. I think for a while now that I have been a bit like Angel during the fourth season, when they did that spell to make him become Angelus and he needed to have all of his ducks in a row to be happy. Remember that? At one time all he needed was Buffy, but the second time around he needed a lot more (to fix his relationship with Connor and Wesley, "love" with Cordelia, saving the world). Anyway, I think I have been expecting a little too much so when things like this friggin' pool or my stupid-ass town don't go right I get really REALLY annoyed. 

I am hereby lowering my standards. I am redefining happiness to be the lack of negativity, rather than needing certain requirements to be met (i.e. perfection).

Futhermore: 

Any day in which nobody dies is a good day.

Any day in which I eat 3 meals is a good day. 

Any day in which SkyWalker poops BEFORE bedtime is a REALLY good day.

Any day in which the Princess climbs on me and gives me a little kiss is a good day.

Any day in which SkyWalker looks at his sister and says "What a pretty baby" and gives her a kiss is a good day. 

Any day in which the three of us laugh at each other more than yell is a good day. 

Therefore today was a good day. (But not REALLY good, because of the after-bedtime pooping. At least it was in the potty though.)

And with that I am going to speed around the house in the next 10 minutes and clean up the ginormous mess they made so that I can watch my "girlie" movie (defined as ANY that Vader does not want to see). 

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This birkett has been chucked

I bought a 3 foot pool when I was on Long Island. One of those blow up the ring and the water sets up the rest types. My MIL heard that you need a permit for it in my wacky town so I dutifully called and checked and sure enough you do. Since I am a law-abiding citizen I got the paperwork online and all the ridiculous stuff I needed (a plot plan?? for a 3 foot pool??) and the jedi and I headed out to town hall this morning. 

We did not get a permit. 

Why? Well, we need an alarm (roughly $40) in case I'm an idiot and let my kid go near the pool without me. We need a fence around it (so the dogs can jump on it and rip a hole in it?? No.) And then the permit fee is $35. So the $100 pool would wind up costing at least $75 more. Um, no. The fee is for the inspector to come out and make sure you did everything okay. No thank you. I was so enraged when I left that I had to call Vader. He agreed to just screw it.

We went to Target to get some stuff including a picnic blanket that folds up nicely with a little "handle" so you can carry it easier when you're also carrying children. Guess what? Nobody goes on picnics anymore. I'm 2 weeks late. All of the back to school stuff is out. I'm sorry, but didn't school just end last friggin' week??

We figured we'd check WalMart (nope, none there either) and I asked about the pool alarm just for the hell of it. They had none and were astonished that I would need one. They had never heard of needing a permit for one of those pools, let alone an alarm. So like I said, screw them.

We came home and got the Princess done for a nap and attempted to put up the pool. We got the ring blown up. That was about it. Apparently there's just no level ground in my back yard. But it's not really obvious until there's already too much water in the pool so that moving it is impossible. We drained it, moved it and tried again. No good. I need Vader to probably put some sand under the pool and even it out. Did I mention that Vader wants NOTHING to do with the pool? He helped me put the filter together last night because he found me crying when I couldn't understand the stupid instructions.

I cannot do the pool myself. Who am I going to call for help now? My 70 year old MIL? The only people who would help (and could help) are hundreds of miles away. 

I'm going to make dinner and get these children to bed early and then I'm going to watch a dumb movie by myself as Vader goes food shopping. Then I'll work on looking as sad and pitiful as I can and cry a little (shouldn't be difficult) so he feels sorry for me and agrees to help just put the pool up.

Oh and we went couch shopping yesterday, decided on what we want and did NOT buy it despite my saying that we were going out to PURCHASE our couch. Why? Because Vader thought maybe we should get 2 couches since the difference between the loveseat and the couch was only $30 but we had to go home and measure first. And we can't get two couches because we don't have enough room. Had we just done what we had agreed on initially we wouldn't have to find the time to go back. When we got home I got to put two crying children to bed (one of whom did not actually stay in bed until after 10 pm)  all by myself while Vader installed the grounding rod. Happy Birthday to me.

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Let me sum up

I am just too wiped out to speak in complete sentences. So highlights of the last week:

We cleared everything out of the kitchen and living room in preparation for the floor guys. I put the DVR cable box in the bedroom and hooked it up in there. After over an hour of it still not coming back on despite numerous reboots I called TW. While on the phone with a very nice lady I discovered my problem. Instead of taking the cable wire from the floor, I took the cable wire from the OTHER cable box after I had unhooked that. So I had two cables boxes hooked up to each other. Much laughing ensued. 

On the ferry I ran in to an old friend. Literally. I got out of my car wondering how I was going to get two children out by myself and keep them safe and carry the umbrella stroller and diaper bag and get the tickets. I hear my name, turn and look at the car right next to mine and discover an old high school friend. He helped carry the stroller and stuck with us the entire time. He threw in a bonus of doing a healing prayer for the Princess since he now goes around performing miracles. 

Monday night SkyWalker used every excuse he could to not go to sleep at my parents' house. At 9:45 he left his room and started to go into my mother's room to sleep with her. What was significant about this is that he was entirely naked. He took everything off including his diaper and put it in his sister's travel bag. 

I got my dress fixed and I think I'm going to write a letter asking for at least a partial refund from the first lady I went to. She apparently used a tuxedo machine instead of a dress machine. There were ink marks on the bottom of the dress. Excellent.

I also got my hair highlighted and cut.

We have an hour before we can put anything on the floors. The jedi and I have been stuck in their bedrooms. Now we are down in the office playing/crying while Vader hand-vacuums all the dust off the counters. The dogs are still at the kennel. We'll clean and get as much stuff in today as we can and that will be our 4th of July.  

I have a really bad pain in my neck right now (literally) and I'm not quite sure how I'm going to help with the couch or the kitchen table or anything else. This weekend, my birthday weekend, is already shaping up to be as sucky as the last 3. Good times. 

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