Christmas 2007

Christmas is over. All those weeks of preparation - baking and shopping marathons all come to an end. In a way, I'm sad it's over, but a part of me is kind of relieved that normalcy can return once again.

Christmas Eve was fun. From my earlier post, we headed downtown to see all the decorations and the Christkindlmarket at the Daley Center. Then we came home and I made 2 dishes - a corn casserole and mashed potatoes - to bring over to my mom's. Mark took Ricky to pick up the eggrolls at the local Filipino store and then we all went over to my mom's to celebrate Christmas Eve. Besides us, we celebrated with my sister, brother in law & his parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was a nice small, intimate group.

The cookies and appetizers were so good that I didn't think I would have enough room for the main course. Then when it came time to open presents, Ricky took center stage and we all watched him open his presents. Mark and I managed to take Ricky to 10pm mass - as my parish does not have midnight mass anymore. As you can imagine, Ricky was nutts as it was waaaaayyyyy past his bedtime. He sang many carols at the top of his lungs in a quiet church - complete with the Chipmunk Christmas song. I was trying very hard to stop laughing but it was hard. I don't even think I was able to pray for more than 30 seconds, but oh well.

We got up early Christmas Day and opened presents from Santa. Ricky was so excited. Then we got ready and went over to Mark's sister's house for the entire day. Needless to say, there was lots of eating and not as much sleeping going on so we are all exhausted but happy that we had such a great holiday. Nothing better than having your family all around you - and thankful that nobody is sick or has passed away. All in all, lots to be thankful for.

Checking Out the Christmas Windows & Missing Marshall Field's

Mark and I decided to take Ricky downtown to see the windows, decorations, and stop by the Christkindlmarket at Daley Plaza. It was 25 degrees F, but we just bundled him up and went down early - the morning of Christmas Eve. It wasn't too busy down there at all - probably because it was early, cold, and the windows weren't all that exciting.

I remember going Christmas shopping downtown at Marshall Fields as a kid, and loving the windows and eating lunch at the Walnut Room. The very last Christmas that Fields was still Fields and not Macy's (2005), we took Ricky down along with my mom and ate our last Walnut Room lunch. It was good - and they had Mister and Missus Santa Bear and a big Elf came to our table for a visit.

Although the Nutcracker windows were nice, I remember the windows being more exciting in years past, with Harry Potter and other exciting themes. The inside of Macy's was decorated nicely, but I suppose I won't ever be happy with Macy's in general. In fact, my mother was missing Marshall Fields also, commenting to me that she bought ALL her gifts there - clothes, food, trinkets. It was her one-stop-shopping place. And now, this year, she really had a hard time running around to find appropriate, quality presents that matched those she used to buy from Marshall Fields each Christmas.

This time, we just walked around and looked at the windows which had the theme of The Nutcracker. I regret not planning in advance, because we ended up having lunch at McDonalds - which Ricky was just fine with - but with all the scary people at the restaurant, I would have preferred something a little nicer. Then we headed to Christkindlmarket at Daley Plaza.

This was actually my first visiting the Christkindlmarket. Even when I worked downtown, I never found the time to go take a look. They have a huge Christmas tree, and lots of little shops that have all kinds of gifts, yummy chocolate, and ornaments. I was hoping to have the spiced wine, but it was so cold I didn't feel like it anymore - I wanted to make a run for our car in the parking garage.

In all, I found it to be a fun family day. Wished my sister and brother in law could have made it with us, but they had last minute shopping to do also. Maybe next year.

A Good Reason To Drink Your Milk

Ricky sometimes wanders into the bathroom when Mark is taking a shower during the week and talks to his dad while playing with some toys. This is a good time they spend together even if it lasts just 10 minutes. Sometimes when Mark works late, he spends a total of 15 minutes with Ricky in one day because by the time he comes home, Ricky is in bed sleeping. So of course, while he is playing with his toys on the bathroom floor, he may notice his father's private parts.

Mark told me that Ricky said "Daddy, you have a big penis. I have a small penis. I want a big penis. I should drink my milk!!!" Needless to say, I wrote this in his baby book just so I remember to tell him about it when he's a grown man.

Baking Myself to Death

For the last week, I have been baking baking baking! I do enjoy it though - and since I was crazy and decided to give 14 people/families baked goods for Christmas, I have been a non-stop baking machine. I have to bake right up until Christmas Eve. I am screwed.

Crushed By My Childhood Sweetheart: Nick Rhodes

Last Friday, my cousin was able to get me some Duran Duran tickets. Since my husband was at his holiday party for work, I was able to beg my mother to babysit Rick, I went with my cousin to the show.

For those who know me, I have been a fan since grammar school - listening to my big sister's vinyl records with her back in 1984. I loved their music and I loved them - despite all the fluffy hair and make-up, I thought they were hot (well except for Andy -sorry man). My favorite guy was Nick Rhodes - the keyboardist. I thought he was handsome, liked his disposition and bookish ways.

I last saw them a few years back when they played at the House of Blues and I was able to squish my way up to the very front with my husband and only had 1 person standing in front of me. It was my childhood dream come true. It was an amazing show.

This show was good, but nothing prepared me for what I witnessed:

At the end of the show, when the guys came to the front of the stage to take a bow, a girl in the front row handed Nick Rhodes a bouquet of flowers. He seemed to take them reluctantly, and walked off the stage holding them downwards (as opposed to upwards- as you would carry a bouquet you actually cared about) and then he threw them like a piece of garbage across the stage into the back behind the curtains. He didn't even wait til he was out of sight to trash them!! I gasped.

This kind of tainted my larger-than-life view of him all these years. That was really rude to do and I felt so bad for that girl. I suppose I never tried to get backstage passes or tickets to meet & greet because I didn't want my perfect view of them to be tarnished in any way.

This doesn't mean I think he sucks - I guess he is human and has the ability to be a rude jackass just like the rest of us. I guess I just expected more.

Whispers

When I started my part-time job at the library in April, Mark and I were very nervous about how Ricky was going to handle not having mommy or daddy around for hours at a time. To our surprise and delight, it seemed that Ricky adjusted very well. No crying when we left, nothing. He was happy as a clam to have the attention of whoever was watching him that day - be it my mom, my aunt, or my cousin.

For the last few weeks, things have changed. Now Ricky cries and latches onto my leg whenever I leave for work and I can hear him as I lock the door saying, "I want my mommy! I want my mommy!" It really breaks my heart.

Besides the crying, he has started answering back and telling his babysitters really awful things. Here are some examples:

1. Ricky tells my mom, "Come here Grandma - I have a secret." So my mother leans over and says, "What is it?" Cupping his hand, Ricky whispers in my mother's ear, "Get out of my house!"

2. Ricky says to my aunt, "Come here, I have a secret." My aunt leans over and says, "What?" and Ricky cups his hand and whispers in my aunt's ear, "Go to your car and go home!"

3. My cousin is sitting in a chair and Ricky (of course) wants to sit in that very same chair. I tell him to stop pushing her and he sighs very loudly and says, "UGH - I cannot move this BIG ROCK!!!"

Although quite funny, it is really bad. He shouldn't be telling his sitters to go home and answering back. Like everything else with him, I am hoping this is just a phase that will last for a few months and change. Until then, I guess he will just have to suffer through all the time-outs!

How Big is My Stocking?

Today a Twitter friend asked "What gift that doesn't come in a package would you wish you received this holiday season?" And I thought, a baby. Of course.

I looked for a pic of a baby in a stocking and saw this cute one. If only Santa could put a baby in my stocking! If my stocking were hung by a fireplace though, that would be kind of dangerous!

My History With Santa

As a child I always had magical thoughts of Santa up until one Christmas Eve when I was 5 years old. That year I was in kindergarten and was exposed to all kinds of germs, so I ended up having chicken pox over Christmas.

My parents and sister all went to midnight mass with our other family members - leaving me at home in bed with my Grandma to care for me. I asked my older sister how the heck Santa would be able to leave us toys if we lived in a Chicago bunglalow and did not have a chimney? Who was going to open up the gate for Santa and let him in the house? Did Grandma know that she needed to do that? I couldn't sleep because I was so concerned.

Since we did not have a chimney at that house, we put our stockings around our bedroom door knobs. So my stocking was hung at my door knob. I saw my Grandma coming up to my door and I pretended to be sleeping and I saw her load up my stocking while she was standing there looking at me the entire time. My adrenaline was pumping - where was Santa? I didn't hear the doorbell ring!!

The following morning, when my sister and I were looking at what was in our stockings, I confided to my sister what I had seen. In a feat so impressive for a then fourth grader, she explained to me that Santa was so fat that he got stuck at the gate - so he had to give Grandma all our presents for our stockings. Looking back now, she was pretty smart - and did not require any prompting for lying from our parents. She came up with all that on her own on her feet. Not bad!

But I knew she was full of crap. I continued to pretend to believe in the big S man to keep getting my stockings filled every year til my parents figured out that I knew better.

She is also the one who told me about the Stork and made up my fake adoption papers in later years. But those topics are for later.

Anyway, now that Ricky is 2 and a half years old, we always warn him to be good because Santa is watching, etc. Our house is your typical Chicago-style raised ranch house with no chimney - so we keep our stockings on our door knobs. There is no other place for them. Ricky is pretty smart and I am afraid he might catch us filling his stocking. He's so little that we would like to keep the Santa thing going as long as we can.

I can't wait til we move next year - to a house that has a chimney. Then Santa will have no problems.

Too Old to Breast-feed?

I breastfed my son Ricky for his first 14 months. I did it for all the reasons the doctors say to do it - it's good for the baby, it gives the baby his immunities, it supposedly increases the baby's IQ, and helped me drop those 45 pounds I gained during pregnancy. Although kind of painful at times, I found breastfeeding to be very rewarding.

There is nothing wrong with mothers who choose NOT to breastfeed. That is their own personal choice or sometimes their breasts cannot produce milk and they have problems nursing so they cannot.

I take Ricky to his Toddler Tumbling class every Wednesday and I saw the following:

Three toddler boys had a mild collision on the trampoline. Two of the boys walked away shaken but okay and one - Nathan, a 3 year old- was crying. He went to his mother and just wanted a hug. She put him under her shirt and breastfed him for about 15 minutes in the middle of the floor for all to see! My mommy friends and the other mommies were grossed out. It certainly did not helpthe situation that the mommy is very obese.

I noticed that the mothers who never nursed their kids were especially grossed out. The mothers who I know did nurse their kids were grossed out as well, but were not as obnoxious as the ones who never nursed. It was interesting and sad to see the stigma associated with nursing but with the older age of the child, I kind of understood it at the same time. In a way, I felt like I was betraying all the nursing mothers of the world.

Nathan is three years old. I used to nurse Ricky once in a while to comfort him if he fell or hurt himself during those 14 months of nursing, but at three years old I just hug and kiss him. I tried to explain this concept to the moms who never nursed - but it didn't matter. They were still disgusted.

I guess it's a personal matter. Ricky says BOOBS now and then and he has acquired a habit of touching mine and reaching for the breasts of my mom, aunt, and cousin also. I think that if the child can say "breast" and giggle about them, he is too old to be nursing. But then again, who am I to say? I guess I am not sure how old is too old so... How old is too old?

A Not-So-Bad Christmas Shopping List

When I was younger, I used to LOVE Christmas shopping with my mom and sister. It would be so much fun. Now that I have a toddler, it is really hard to grocery shop - let alone roam the mall looking for that perfect trinket for this person and that person.

Luckily, at Thanksgiving, my family decided that we would not buy for the adults, just the kids (2). But if you would like to buy a Christmas present for someone, you can do that - but do not exchange at Christmas Eve. This is kind of a wacky arrangement - you are allowed to show favoritism - as long as it is not viewable at the family gathering.

With Mark's family, it was decided that we would not buy for the adults, just kids (4). My sister in law and husband can buy gifts for their mom and grandma if they choose. This could be a slippery slope since my mother in law babysits for her (and has not babysat Ricky for even 5 minutes in his lifetime) so of course my sister-in-law will want to buy her something wonderful (super duper expensive).

So in all, here is my Christmas List:

Ricky, my toddler son - toys
Cousin (age 13) - money
Nephew (age 15) - money, maybe clothes
Nephew (age 12) - skateboard, skater clothes
Niece (age 9) - clothes, art supplies
Neighbor (age 3) - toys
Neighbor (age 5) - toys

My mom (major babysitter) from Ricky
My aunt (major babysitter) from Ricky
My cousin (age 26 - minor babysitter) from Ricky

My mother-in-law
My grandma-in-law

My 4 mommy friends & their families - homemade sugar cookies in xmas tin from Michaels
Ricky's toddler friend grab bag
My 9 co-workers(???)
My boss (??)

Not a bad list by any means. It's been a lot worse in the past and with the recent threats to malls by Al Qaeda, I am glad my list is so small.

I am screwed with my co-workers and boss. This is my first Christmas working here. I was told that everyone gives gifts to everyone. The knitters made scarves and trinkets for everyone. I am lost. Can't give homemade treats - that's too many people. I wouldn't be sleeping - I'd be a baking zombie. Guess I better brainstorm quickly!!!

Living Next Door To Jimmy Appleseed

I have been a bad bad girl and have not blogged for a long time. Never mind the fact that I am a NaBloPoMo drop-out. I have been saving lots of things to write about, namely, the fact that we live next to a man who has tons of trees on his property - he told me once that they came from seeds he planted years ago. That is all fine and dandy. I love trees. But the man refuses to clean up after them. In the seven years we have been living next door to him, we have never once seen him rake his leaves. They just keep blowing onto our yard - then onto the neighbors' yards and pissing everyone off.

He does not own a rake!! He must not, because it's never been used.

Here are pictures of our front yard. Mind you, our landscapers completely cleaned our yards the day before - and not one leaf was seen. Because of the winds, these leaves you see are from our neighbor's yard - and are now our headache.

Mark and I complain about this every fall - and since this is our last fall in this house, I am glad we won't have to deal with again - because our future next door neighbors are thankfully very anal about their yards. The only bad thing there is that we are afraid they will complain about us. We plan on keeping the landscapers - there would be no way to keep up with the neighbors otherwise!

A Librarian's Initiation

Before I worked at the public library, I was the type of person who would get sick maybe once a year. There was actually a year there when I went the entire year without a cold. I had migraines - but no viruses of any kind. I look back on that immune systen with fondness because I am getting my butt kicked!

I am sick for the third time in less than 2 months! I *just* finished my antibiotic from my last cold last week and had 5 days of feeling fine and clear. Then I woke up yesterday with the itchy throat and running nose and thought, "NO NO NO!!!!"

You would think that I roll around in public restrooms or eat off the floor at a rest area. But no, it is simply my first flu season working at the public library and my immune system is getting a workout. Two librarian friends of mine all say that their first winter working at the library had them sick constantly - so I guess I don't feel too bad. I suppose this is my initiation. I guess this is better than drinking a whole keg or performing sexual favors for upperclassmen.

The part that drives me crazy is that Ricky has a cold again too - after just getting over one two weeks ago. The minute we are both not sick I am taking us both to get flu shots. The poor kid is exposed to all these germs because of his mama. Mark's building downtown offers free flu shots so I told him he better take advantage of it and go when they are offered.

Today is the coldest day of the year. I don't mind hiding under big sweaters and my fuzzy boots, just as long as I am healthy.

Library Adventures, Part 3

Just when I thought I've seen it all here, something happened when I worked last Thursday.

I was sitting at the Adult Fiction desk in the basement and had no idea that the following was taking place upstairs in Circulation:

Apparently, an older man burst through the front door of the library and locked himself in the Staff Kitchen and took a shit *everywhere*. When he came out, his pants, underwear, and excrement were around his ankles and he left a trail for about 20 feet before someone intervened. Many policemen were here and some said that this man had actually done this to a few businesses in the area before.

Very sad. I learned from my supervisor that this man was about to start a road trip and his family was waiting in the car. I also learned that he has done this before in 2 other businesses in the neighborhood. So I guess he's not the Crapping Bandit I thought he was. Time for Depends. Poor guy. How very embarassing. Don't know who to feel bad for more - this guy or our maintenance guy who had to clean up the mess!

Progress

I am very happy to report that Ricky has been improving = spending more hours in the night in his own bed instead of ours.

The first night was bad - he woke up at 12:30am crying and I spent an hour trying to get him to go back to sleep. Then he was up again at 4:30am asking to come into our bed and I gave up - and threw him in our bed. I was a zombie the whole day.

The second night he got up at 1am and he went back to bed after I spent half an hour with him. He was crying and whining that he wanted to go in our bed.

The third night (last night) he slept the entire night - but woke up at 5:30am. I threw him in our bed and we all continued sleeping til it was time to get up.

Not perfect but it's progress. I don't want to jinx myself, but I thought it would be a lot more painful than this.

Not sure this NaBloPoMo was a good idea for me. I already missed a day. I didn't even make it a week!

Accidental Co-Sleeping Hell

We have a huge problem. For the last 3 months or so, Ricky has been getting up in the middle of the night - usually between 12am and 2am, and yelling, "MOM-ee...mom-EEE??" over and over again, until I go to his room, pick him up, and bring him to our bed.

He has his own room and his own big boy bed. However, over the summer, Mark and I have been guilty of joining Ricky for his after-lunch nap and inviting him to share our bed. So much so that gradually Ricky has come to view our bed as *his* bed and has been expecting to come into our bed every night since. So this isn't partially our fault - it is completely our fault.

We have a queen size bed, so there's not a whole lot of room, and I typically lose - with only a few inches on the very edge to my name. Ricky is a swatter, kicker, and puncher in his sleep and I have awoken several times to believing someone was attacking me.

This really sucked over the weekend. I worked Saturday and am still sick and Mark did lots of work at my mom's house and was just tired. Ricky came in our bed at midnight and proceeded to whine and talk and would not go to sleep and this went on and on throughout the course of the night. Not only are we sleep-deprived but this has impacted reproductive chances. You can't have sex when your toddler is in bed with you and if you do, then you are a sick mf-er!!

We decided that enough is enough.

Last night, when Ricky called, I sat at his bed, stroked his head and back and stayed there for as long as I could until he fell asleep. I have to wait until he is in deep sleep, you see, because our hardwood floors are the creakiest things in the world. One loud creak and I am up shit's creek!!

I think we will have to purchase a gate for his room as well. Since he has a big boy bed, he can just waltz right into our room or go into any room in the house. There is a paranoid part of me that does worry about not being able to get to him in the event of a fire, but what is the difference if he were still in his crib like his other friends? This has to stop. I am so tired all the time!

Baby Monkey's Bookshelf

This morning I joined NaBloPoMo and I am kind of scared. It seemed like a good idea at the time because I do talk a lot - but how the heck can I come up with quality every day, for 30 days? I guess I'll just have to see what I come up with...

When I was cleaning the bedrooms today, I was struck at how many library books Ricky has. So I decided to take a picture. Here is a picture of Ricky's bookshelf - in particular, the books I checked out of the library at the bottom of the bookcase. You can see the white tags indicating author's last names at the bottom. When I looked up my record at the library last night, it said that I had over 50 children's books checked out.

I wonder if I am crazy checking out so many books for my child. I guess since we read 5-10 books at naptime, then another 5-10 books at bedtime, another 5-10 books I read to him throughout the day, and rotate every day, variety never hurt anyone.

So yes, I do enjoy reading books to my son and I love children's books. I would like to think that all this reading has contributed to his language and verbal development. His sentences are 11-13 words long - not so shabby for a 2 1/2 year old. Oh yeah, and those 14 months I breastfed him too... all that breastmilk should have helped his brain...it better have!!

Toddler Tumbling Class

Before I started working at the library in April, I had Ricky taking toddler classes three times a week since last year. He had an art class, music class, and a playgroup at the Chicago Park District. Nowadays they have all kinds of classes for humans starting when they are in the womb! I didn't attend any type of formalized class until kindergarten - I just stayed at home with my Grandma, watching "One Life to Live" and "General Hospital" and learning about my world via the television set. So I guess it's not crucial that Ricky attends classes, but I suppose it can't hurt.

I signed up for this class along with 3 of my mommy friends and it has been a great way to get together every week. We did do playdates over the summer at people's houses or at the park, but now that it's getting colder and school has started, we are all a little busier.

This class is offered through the Chicago Park District and only cost us $45. It has 20 toddlers in it and they put out various stations that the kids can use as well as general open gymnastics equipment. The teacher does round us all up to do stretches (photo) and we also do the parachute thing-y which Ricky just loves. In the beginning I was freaking out because Ricky did not want to do what all the kids were doing - he would wander off if he was bored with the activity at hand (ie stretching) but now I don't care.

Mark took Halloween off - so he was able to attend the class with us and see what Ricky's class is like. I took the opportunity of this help to take some snap shots of the class.

My Mother, the Axe Murderer

This year is little Ricky's first year of officially going door-to-door and threatening tricks if no treats are given. This is his third Halloween. The first and second Halloween were spent going to specific houses of friends and family to show off our child in his adorable costume. This year he is old enough to speak in sentences, walk up and down steps, and hold his own pumpkin basket. He walked with his Dad while I captured every minute with my new camera and video camera.

We just walked up and down our block and visited the neighbors. Although we practiced the whole scenario of saying "Trick or Treat!!" and replying to the gesture by saying "Thank you" Ricky remained silent for more than half the trip and Mark had to do all the "work." As we neared the end of our trip, he actually *did* say thank you to a few women who Mark noticed were nice and nice-looking. They had to be both, not one quality without the other. Kind of funny!

We went to my mom's house to trick or treat and I convinced Mark to wear a scary mask and long hair wig to scare the pants off my mom. It worked. Very funny. After that visit, we were exhausted. However not too exhausted to do something utterly immature.....

With Ricky sitting in his car seat in back and Mark driving, I put on the scary mask (that Ricky is wearing in the picture above) in the passenger seat, rolled down my window, and screammed/growled as loudly as I could (with Mark's help) to anybody on the sidewalk, crosswalk, bus stop, etc. It was so much fun - if this is what boys do, it was a complete blast. The funniest incident was when we growled to a pre-teen boy alone riding his bicycle - he nearly shit in his pants. We laughed for blocks though and I do feel bad for him now, because he looked pretty scared - but the look on his face was absolutely classic.

I turned back to look at little Ricky and he was smiling at me and Mark and I have to wonder what he will say about this when he is older...if he will remember his crazy parents growling at people in the car, with his mother in the axe murderer mask?

Recovery

Mark and I were pretty happy with our Halloween party. Nobody called the cops, nobody puked in our house, and it seems that all our guests made it home safely.

All that preparing though - all those nights of rolling dough, moving toys and furniture, washing platters, and creating cobwebs left me absolutely exhausted and sick as a dog. I have a bad cold and cough and my doctor put me on some antibiotics. I must admit that I added the color green to my description of my mucus in order to get the prescription. I needed to be more convincing. This is the second time in 2 months that I've been sick. No sleep!!

The party was fun and preparing for it was fun too. But now that it's over, I am dying for our house to look like Halloween does not exist - even though Halloween is tomorrow! One thing's for sure though - I will make it a point to do more fun things with Ricky this week - the poor kid was ignored so much during our preparations and shipped off to Grandma's for the weekend. Now I realize why my friends with multiple kids don't have bashes like this.

Host With an Iron Fist!!

The last few days have been really busy. We are hosting a Halloween party this weekend and have been running around like crazy people trying to get things done - food ordered, house cleaned & decorated, sugar cookies baked, etc. etc... All the time, energy, and money is spent to have one evening to just have fun with our friends. Mark and I only get less than 6 hours sleep every night up until the event and then we will be awake for over 24 hours the day/night of the party. At least that's what happened last year at the Halloween party. I just hope and pray that my mother is willing to keep Ricky til Sunday afternoon so I can at least get a few hours sleep!!

Hosting an adult Halloween party is a pretty interesting endeavor given the whole costume factor. I guess I am a big dork who enjoys having to select and put together a costume for a party. Several of our guests actually tried to get away with *not* wearing a costume and tried to see if it would be okay with us and we had to be all punk-rock about it and say, "no admittance without a costume. sorry." The purpose being that if you are in a costume and everyone else is also, then all is well. If people show up in their ordinary clothes, then you feel like a big asshole wearing a costume...whatever it may be. Mark says that we are going through a lot of trouble and spending a lot of money to have a party and the very least our friends could do is dress up for goshsakes!! I must agree... we'll have to see..

On Pursuing Pumpkins

When I gave birth to Ricky, I vowed that I would do everything in my power (and as much as my wallet allowed) to give Ricky fun and enriching experiences. This includes vacations, trips to museums, parks, playdates, and an annual trip to a pumpkin patch.

My parents never took me and my sister to a pumpkin patch and for this I do not feel like I am any less of a person because of it. But I do think it is one of those fun, family activities that lets you take some time out to enjoy the fall colors, have some fun as a family, and stuff yourself at the local Crackerbarrel restaurant afterwards.

As we did last year, this year we went to Siegel's Cottonwood Farm. Not only does it have a pumpkin patch, but a toddler train, a train for adults and kids to ride (new), hayrack rides, pony rides, petting zoo, corn maze, bouncy thing, and a big scary giant. They do a great job over there.

The three of us had a lot of fun and it was a beautiful day. Unfortunately, my camera battery died when we first arrived, and I am so pissed off that I don't even have one picture to remember this day. But I guess I can just make up for it tonight, when I videotape Mark helping Ricky carve his big pumpkin.

The Halloween Party Stalker

Mark and I are hosting a Halloween party for some of our friends. Since we will be buying and moving to my mother's house next year, this party will be our last for a while. My mom's house isn't really conducive to parties - not like our current house that has a big open basement complete with an orange funky bar.

Our friends James and Katie just moved to Hawaii. While they were living here, they hosted barbeques, halloween parties, and new years eve parties. So over the last few years we've come to be acquainted with their friends. All of their friends are so nice and we have been happy to also invite them to our own parties. Except for one person.

Katie befriended Sandra in the fourth grade. Both of their parents were also from Germany, and they seemed to have things in common. Although Katie and Sandra have become so different from one another over the years, Katie has had to keep Sandra as a friend because of their history and because their parents are such good friends.

Sandra is oh so annoying. While she starts off as nice, after a few hours the nice thing wears off and she always ends up saying really mean things. I could probably write a short novella listing all the crap she has said but I must give you one example. At one of James & Katie's gatherings, I was telling an expectant mother, Nicole, that my breasts became so large when I was nursing Ricky that I was a Double D. Sandra was passing by and overheard me say this and looked right at my boobs, laughed, and said that I didn't even look like an A cup now. I'm a B cup you bitch.

Mark and I grew tired of her a year or so ago, but she always managed to squeeze out an invitation out of us one way or another and that always left me and Mark SO incredibly annoyed.

Well this year, even though she received a verbal invitation from me at our friends wedding, I conveniently forgot to mail her an invitation. If she came to the party, that would be fine since I verbally invited her. But Mark and I weren't going to encourage her strongly by mailing out an invitation.

While I was working at the library this past Thursday night, she came to the library to seek me out. I was sitting at the desk among our CD and DVD collection, and there she was approaching me and I nearly shit in my pants.

To make a long story short, she basically came to the library to check if we were having a party or not because she hadn't received any confirmation. She remembered my work schedule - and to this I really had to pity her - who the hell takes the time to remember MY work schedule besides those it affects like my husband or babysitters? I wanted to not invite her so badly, but she was OH SO NICE that I wanted to punch her - which I did not do - but I did end up mentioning the party and UGH...inviting her butt to the party.

So she is coming to the party - through the back door - much later than the set 7pm time as her usual arrival. When I ate dinner with Mark that night after work - talking about Sandra - we just decided that this is THE very last time she will be invited to any of our parties and if anything, I suppose it will give us a lot to talk about the next day...or several days...

Recommended Reading: The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri

I really couldn't put this book down!! This is the story of a couple from India who move to Boston in 1968 and create a life there and have children. The book focuses on their eldest son, Gogol and his life here in the States as a first generation American.

I, too, am first generation American and although my parents came here from the Philippines, I was able to identify with many of the same issues Gogol had. Up to now, I had never encountered a book that ever really addressed issues like this - the different language spoken at home, customs, friends, dating, etc.

I was really impressed with the author's style because the book is written in third person. I would usually regard third person to be very difficult in terms of maintaining reader's interest but I was proven wrong in this case. I think my college Writing professor would be very impressed by this book too. I won't really go into a lot of detail about this book because I don't want to spoil it for anyone. All I can say is that this should be on your list of books you want to read.

Library Adventures Part 2

Yesterday will be known forever in my mind as "Gross Day" because in the 4 hours that I worked at the library, I was continually encountering gross incidents. I understand this happens once in a while when you work, but one can only take so much in a 4 hour window. Really, there were only 2 major incidents but they were pretty bad.

1. When I came to the AV desk to sit down, I noticed someone had placed an un-opened (thank god) maxi-pad on my desk.

2. A mom approached me with a book saying that her 14 year old son couldn't read the book because about 7 pages were stuck together with BOOGERS. She even fanned the pages of the book so I could see the pages stuck together. Thank god I had already eaten my lunch!

I am wondering why and how the maxi-pad managed to make its way onto my desk. I wasn't about to put it in the Lost & Found - because who would go there - inquiring with hope - that her maxi-pad would be there?

The Book of Boogers is pretty self-explanatory. You take pre-teens and they are at that stage where anything with boogers is exponentially funny. Still pretty gross. I felt bad for the person in Technical Services with the job of cleaning that up. What's next - someone wiping their butt with a book? The disrespect for books these days...

Recommended Reading: The Kite Runner & A Thousand Splendid Suns

It's been a very long time since I've had the pleasure of reading a book that I couldn't put down. This happened to me while I was reading The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I was moved by the book so much that I tackled the book he wrote after that one titled A Thousand Splendid Suns.

I picked up these books without really knowing much about them so I will do the same for those who come across my blog and decide they want to read the books. Khaled Hosseini is a wonderful story-teller and probably one of the best I have come across in the last few years of reading fiction.

I don't really get too much time at home to read, but I was addicted to these books so much that I was "stealing reads" of paragraphs in between washing dishes, folding laundry, and other household tasks. Little Ricky's nap-time has traditionally been my short window of opportunity to tackle chores - or a shower- and I was using his nap-time to get a few chapters read.

I'm thirsting for more books that I can't put down...

My Dear and Loving Husband of 5 Years

Today Mark and I are celebrating our 5 year anniversary and I must say that I could not have found a better mate to share my life with. He has been so good to me and we have shared so many good things together. I love him with all my heart.

I must thank Mark for everything he has put up with from me all these 5 years of marriage and the 6 years of courtship before. Namely:

1. My messy desk that I have been cleaning....for 7 years

2. My procrastination habit

3. My long long hair that seems to land on every space of flooring in the house

4. My fear of bugs & insects & the fact that I yell for Mark to do it instead of doing it myself

5. My habit of getting American idioms wrong and Mark not saying anything when I pull the "my parents were immigrants" card

6. Living with my bad habit of putting my foot in my mouth around people we do not know ("So you live here with your mother," (when the guy lived there with his WIFE) "I'm sure your daughter walks just fine now..." (when her daughter was sitting in a wheelchair - I didn't see her) "So are you putting on your burka for your mother-in-law's benefit?" etc etc etc

7. My fear of the squirrel trap

8. My inability to understand ANY foreigners with any type of accent - even if they are speaking English

9. My love of seafood, books, and foreign films (not bad things, but things Mark's not really into)

10. blank - I'll let Mark fill this one in because I'm sure there's something I'm forgetting - although he may claim he needs more than one space to fill...

We had a great weekend to celebrate our anniversary. Little Ricky spent the weekend with my mother and we got a hotel room downtown. We walked around and went shopping, stopped to leisurely sip coffee - which I never get to do anymore, went out to dinner and had a blast. We also had brunch at the Signature Room - which I highly recommend. We had our wedding reception there and felt like going up there for a nice meal. The food was great and we stuffed ourselves so much we napped for 4 hours that afternoon!!

I love this time of year!

Happy 34th to Me

Yesterday was my 34th birthday, but I wasn't able to blog because of a great night of celebrating the night before - ahem...We went to see Metric play at the Metro and our friend works at that club and is friends with the bartenders. I just had 2 vodka tonics and 1 shot of some fruity yummy stuff and before I knew it the room was spinning, my words were slurring and everything was funny. 11 pukes later, I was a-ok to celebrate my 34th! I haven't puked from alcohol in about 4 years!

When I think of the number 34, it almost sounds middle-aged, but I can't be middle-aged yet for sure! I remember that show in the 80s called "Thirty-something" and I thought all those people were so old! But now that I am in my 30s, I don't feel old - I still feel like I'm 26. I think my 20s were spent figuring out who I was and my 30s seem to be about growing my family. I'm just glad that all seems to going well in my world and all the people I love are safe & healthy!

A Trip to the Botanic Garden

Last week Ricky and I went with my friend Liz and her daughter Helen to the Botanic Gardens. Helen and Ricky are one week apart in age and they play together very nicely. Ricky had a great time and tells me he wants to go back there.

I've been there a few times but never truly appreciated how great it is for toddlers. They can run and run and discover nature in a nice, friendly environment. Not to mention the fact that the mommies get lots of walking time in there - exercise.

The only bad part about the trip was that Ricky had some type of allergic reaction and his face got a bit puffy and he was scratching his arms and neck like crazy. So I had to give him some benadryl and the following day he had a slight fever. So I guess we won't be able to go back to nature too often.

Movie Recommend: The Painted Veil

This is a movie based on the novel by Somerset Maugham. I never read the book, but I like actors Naomi Watts and Ed Norton, so I took it out of the library. My husband made a comment a few weeks back that he thought this would be a chick flick and the evening I watched it he was conveniently busy at his computer. But that's ok.

I liked this movie more than I thought I would. I did suspect it would be a hit for me because it had all the elements of a movie that the Chipper Librarian is drawn to: sadness, love story, against a beautiful backdrop (China), and historical elements.

It is the story of a woman who marries a doctor without really loving him first. He practices in China and she has an affair while they are living there. He then decides to take her further into the country in the middle of a cholera epidemic.

The book is on my list of Books To Read Before I Die, which I will post at a later date. But I think I liked the fact that this movie stressed the fact that we should love and appreciate those we love in the here and now because nothing lives forever.

Maybe a chick flick, I don't know. I don't want to prevent the men out there from seeing it because it's quite good. I hope that when I feel the urge to watch it again that Mark will be watching it right next to me. Even if he is rolling his eyes.

Good in Norway, Obscene in America

My mom came back from a nice tour of Scandanavia recently. As one of her souvenirs for my husband, she bought him a hat of Norway's football team but I think she really bought it for the Carlsberg logo on the side. Well the front of the hat, as you can see, says "FCK".

So the fans of this team walk around Norway wearing this hat to support their team. Well that's just dandy. I can just picture a bunch of people walking around wearing "FCK" hats like it was no big deal. I think I would snicker for a while but eventually get used to it and feel so immature for laughing in the first place.

My mom is pretty innocent, and seriously bought him the hat and expects him to wear it. When she brought it over, we saved our giggles until she got in her car and drove away. My husband certainly does not want to go out in public wearing that and neither do I. If I wore it I am sure I'd be getting lots of unwanted attention.

Thomas the Train Day

The rear-ender story completely made me forget to write about the Thomas the Train event we attended a few weeks ago with Ricky. Goes to show that details can get in the way of focusing on the things that *really* matter!

Anyway, Mark and I took Ricky to see Thomas the Train at the Illinois Railway Museum. The Thomas train tours the United States like a rock band so you can only go when it's here. The engine of this train looks exactly like Thomas and you ride it for 20 minutes and get to walk around the museum grounds and look at all the old trains on display and you can ride old trolleys too.

The only part of the outing that wasn't so great were the lovely port-o-pottys and the fact that the food sold was carnival-like quality. But beggars can't be choosers - they didn't have to provide food vendors I suppose.

It's an all-around nice family event. Ricky seemed to enjoy the day a lot. We had to ride a school bus to and from the event from the local high school due to recent flooding from heavy rains so that was an added plus. He still talks about that day we went to see Thomas so it was definitely worth it.

Whoa Think Twice, Just Another Day for You & Me in Paradise

Another librarian in my department was offended that our resident homeless man was playing with the zipper on his pants for too long and she complained to the Administrator (=big cheese). The Administrator told the homeless man that unless he is looking at books/magazines, etc. he has to stop using the library as his hotel.

I know I have complained about his BO several times, but this is SO SAD. I spent all night at the library wondering what he was doing rather than sleeping in the middle of Fiction like he usually does every day since I started working there 5 months ago.

I was afraid to give him some of my dinner thinking that he would then expect me to give him food every time I saw him - just like Max, our neighborhood outdoor cat. I regret not trying harder and I just hope that he found a new place to hang out in peace. I actually miss seeing him - and yeah BO and all. =(

Wah Wah Wah

Today is a sucky day. Today was my due date for the miscarriage I had in January...sniff sniff... I'm letting myself feel sad today and then no more. Life goes on!

In honor of that, I am listing the Top 5 Things You Should NOT Say to your Friend When She is *Trying*

1. "Did you get your period this month?" Say what?

2. "You guys ARE having sex, right?" No.....

3. "Are you pregnant yet? Any luck?" Shut up....

4. "My friend so-in-so had a miscarriage too...blah blah blah blah" Hearing about the misfortune of others does not make me feel better.

5. "There's something wrong with you. What does the doctor say?" Shut up....


I know my mommy friends mean well, but sometimes they should just shut up. Yesterday I went out to lunch with 5 of them and our toddlers - hoping to keep my mind off of what today is. Two of them are newly pregnant and I am very happy for them and the day I wanted to be away from pregnantpeopletalk was the day I got snowballed. Everything was pregnant around me - even things on TV. Everything in the world seems to be pregnant but me.

Sorry this entry is so freakin' whiny.

Rewarding She Who Hits our Behinds

We took Ricky to see Thomas the Train this weekend in Union, Illinois at the Illinois Railway Museum. This train travels the country so this was the only time we could go.

We set out in the morning all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and I thought we would make it in time to eat lunch out there. We were on the tollway, in the cash only lane, waiting our turn in line. We were behind a guy on a motorcycle, who wouldn't move up because he was digging through his leather jacket for his money to pay the toll.

Suddenly, we got rear-ended. It didn't really occur to us at first - it was just a strong jolt. Mark said, "What the hell was that?" It felt like a very large bird hit our car, but I knew we got hit from behind.

I jumped out of the car and there was a woman - maybe in her 30s with her earphones on, in a green Dodge Neon just sat there looking at me. She came out and said, "What happenned? Did you back up?" What a complete dumbass.... apparently, her son likes to take off his seat belt and she was turned around telling him to keep it on when our car appeared out of nowhere.

I took out a crayon and paper to write down her plate number and my mood got worse when I saw 'NEW DRIVER NEW BABY" on her rear window. When I see cars that advertise NEW DRIVER I take it to mean STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME BECAUSE I'M A SUCKY DRIVER.

Long story short: Everyone was fine. State trooper came and filled out a report. The trooper took forever to get to us so Mark and our Rear-ender ended up shooting the breeze while I waited in the car with Ricky. Basically she has been in the U.S. for 10 years, has a 3 year old son with a man who she is currently divorcing. She *just* got her drivers license 4 days ago and just bought her car a week ago and needed to drop her son off at the airport to catch a flight with his grandma to Texas. Her husband has schizophrenia and tried to KILL their 3 year old son. Her beast of a mother-in-law (who is waiting at the airport) is in a custody battle with her.

Mark took pity on her life - and yeah, her current situation does suck. But Thomas is waiting! Ricky was sitting in the backseat patiently saying, "Mommy, I want to see Thomas!!! Where is Daddy?" Our car was perfectly fine - we just got a little scratch and you'd never know we ever got hit. Her car on the other hand, looked totalled to me. Glad to know that our last car purchase was a smart one. We may drive a tank and gas guzzle (not proud of that) , but at least our son is A-OK.

She seemed nice overall but...SHE RUINED OUR DAY. We lost 2 hours! So my Care Bear of a husband decides we should drive the Rear-ender and her son to the airport!!!!!! So we did. And all the while I kept thinking that I never would have driven a stranger anywhere if I were alone - that my husband is possibly *way* too nice, and that I may possibly be a major beeyatch.

Are we stupid, nice, or both? Mark blames the motorcyclist for not moving up - which I will never agree with. And hello - I don't know about you, but I endured several months of practice behind the wheel before I attempted driving to the airport (or expressway) by myself!!

How Can She Be Married to Him???

For the last few months, there has been a man in his 50s coming into the library, using the internet 10-minute express terminals and having a tantrum maybe once or twice a month. He is always wearing the same blue t-shirt and jean shorts. Always. Yours truly has been the lucky librarian on duty to witness these lovely fits.

One time he was pissed that there were kids using 2 of the Express terminals and was shouting at me (yes, shouting) that I needed to banish them to the kids' department. I asked him if they were bothering him? He didn't answer me but continued yelling that those computers are for adults only. He started to piss me off - and the children's extremely tall and muscley father stood up - maybe 3 feet over him. I told the man that these kids are patrons also, that their parents pay the taxes for the library as well, and as long as they are not disturbing anyone, they have the right to be there. I actually told him that he needed to calm down or I would call the security guard and have him escorted out of the library. I couldn't believe I was saying that to someone. But I had to. He kept yelling for a bit, but when the kids' huge dad looked over, he cowered and angrily sulked.

Then last week he came in again and started yelling that there was an express computer that had a reservation on it. He said that they should not be reserved. He is right but that doesn't mean he can be an a-hole about it. It was a glitch in the system. He was the only person using the computers - and there were a total of 5. He was standing with Barbara, an old co-worker of mine who works in technical services. She is a cataloger. She is a really nice lady. I thought she was helping him - and I was rolling my eyes at her and my face said "Do you believe this a-hole? What a jerk!!".

I couldn't believe it when Barbara left the library for the day with this guy. The mean sweaty guy in the blue t-shirt. I then realized that the a-hole is her husband!! She could have done better than that! She has 2 kids (in their 20s) with this man and I wonder how she lives with someone who gets so upset over such little things and is verbally abusive. I think I would die if Mark came into my place of employment and had tantrums and wore the same smelly outfit day in and day out.

The funny part is that she didn't seem the least bit embarassed by his behavior - she didn't tell him to shush or anything. She acted like that behavior is acceptable. She is a nutt herself, I guess.

I guess my question is what the hell did she ever see in this guy? Maybe she loves being abused and gets turned on by it. Who knows? This part time library gig has showed me how looney people are and I think I've stopped being surprised at what I see, hear, and UGH...smell.

How Long to Bye, Bye, Binky?

Ricky has been using a binky (pacifier, paci, etc etc) since he was born and now that he is almost two-and-a-half years old, it's time to say goodbye to a beautiful friendship.

I started cutting the ends of them (ok, just one so far) which renders them useless. I have convinced him to give them to the two babies in our playgroup and he has agreed - so I took 2 binkies away for those babies (supposedly) and put them away in the cupboard. He has one binky left.

I want to cut it tonight and I am afraid of what will happen. I am afraid he will be an emotional wreck. I am afraid he won't be able to sleep. He has no other attachments to anything besides the binky for sleeping. When he's not sleeping, he has to wear his Cubs or Boston Red Sox hat.

Any suggestions out there from parents whose kids gave up the binky after the age of 2?

Toddler Class Registration Drama

I love my mommy friends. And this is a big deal because it's so hard to find good girl friends. Girls are mean. Last fall, I registered Ricky for a toddler interaction class at the park district and made some friends. In all, there are 4 of us who are close, and then about 3 moms and 1 dad who like to get together for playdates at the park, but basically nothing else. Maybe I'll call them Satellite Mommy Friends.

Anyway, this past monday was the online registration for fall classes. There is a spectacular (so I hear) toddler gymnastics class offered at a gymnastics center and the classes fill quickly. My mommy friends and I were talking about the class all last week, back and forth, trying to figure out who was registering for what class, etc. etc. By Sunday at lunchtime, Amy and I were going for the Tuesday class and Lori and Michelle were going for the Friday class.

I thought I would nice and let the Satellite Mommy Friends know what we were doing so they wouldn't be pissed off at us later when they find out that we went for a class and didn't tell them. Never mind the fact that they never call us or that they come to a playdate every 2-3 weeks.

So I called 2 of them. I spoke to Shaun and told her who was going for what class. I left Rachel a voicemail and said that if she is interested, to give me a call.

By Sunday at dinnertime, the 4 of us Mommy Friends decided to all go for the Wednesday class and then if we couldn't get in, to go for the respective Tuesday and Friday classes we were eyeing.

I remembered the Satellite Mommy Friends at 10:30pm. Too late to call Shaun, who goes to bed early, and manages to have 2 year old twins who sleep til 9am. Rachel didn't even call me back. So I took that to mean she wasn't interested. I was tired of being the group secretary and thought that they were lucky I even let them know.

I will spare you the drama of the stupid website and all the problems we all had, but basically all 4 of us were able to get our kids into the Wednesday class. yay.

Shaun calls Amy and finds out that she and I got into the Wednesday class. They had a playdate together yesterday with Michelle - who managed to avoid telling Shaun that she got into Wednesday also. OOPS. Shaun hasn't called me. When we move next year, she will live 3 houses away from me. EEK.

Rachel called me yesterday (3 days late) and says thanks for telling me about the class and she got into the Friday class with Lori and Michelle. I told her that I said to call me back on the voicemail and since she didn't call me back, I took that to mean she wasn't interested. So actually the 4 of us are all in the Wednesday class. Thankfully, she wasn't mad at me - she is actually going to be in the class with a girlfriend of hers.

I don't think there should be so much drama regarding a toddler tumbling class. But I guess we are human and we are a bunch of GIRLS. Mark always laughs - but he wants to hear all about it. I am glad I married a guy who enjoys gossip - otherwise I would be one lonely girl.

Library Adventures

In the last 2 days that I have worked at the library, patrons have approached me and turned in the following items:

1. a blank check left at the xerox machine (not signed but still bad enough)
2. a full wallet (I mean thick with money and cards)
3. a cell phone (a really nice one)

I know it's hot outside and all, but people, let's be a little smarter!! I am just happy that people in this community are honest enough to turn in the stuff.

Also, when I worked a few nights ago, a female patron in her 60s approached my desk and told me that the handicapped stall in the ladies' bathroom had a problem - lots of TP everywhere and she suspected a plumbing issue. I didn't investigate as I was afraid and we have our own staff restrooms. Besides, bathroom duty was not on my job description and I wasn't going after extra credit. So I emailed the maintenance guy with the problem. He fixed it but was utterly disgusted by what he saw. He is not saying hello to me anymore.

And the Winner is...Butt Girl

My work day did not start out well. Because of the heat, I decided to wear a simple cotton dress to work. We have rain and wind today and as I was walking toward the entrance to the library, my dress blew up in the back - and the 60 year old man walking behind me got a clear view of my ass. In a thong.

He came in and actually came up to me a few times and asked questions. I do believe that my face is still purple-red - even after a few hours.

I was pretty annoyed in general and that continued when I observed that some of my co-workers were in bad moods. My mood did a total 360 however, when I logged onto my work email and discovered that I won an Ipod from our summer reading club contest for staff. Yay!

I never wanted an Ipod - I don't commute on a train anymore now that I'm a mommy and all. And I can't very well use it during the day and completely ignore my toddler. WHAT?? WHAT DID YOU SAY?? YOU WANT DIEGO?? I'll have to see if I can somehow hook it up to my car stereo - now THAT would be cool...

Try, Try Again

Mark and I have been trying for our second child since June of last year - so that would mean that we have been trying for over a year. We were able to get pregnant in December, but ended up having a miscarriage in January of this year. We didn't think it would be so hard for us afterall - since we didn't even formally consciously try to have Ricky. He just came and it was great. So we kind of took our fertility for granted and assumed that when we were ready for another baby, it would magically arrive. Not.

I have been using those pee-on-a-stick thing-ys that you can buy at the store - 7 tests for roughly $15. You are supposed to not drink too much and hold your urine for 4 hours - or use the first urine of the day. Since I can never *hold it* for any length of time at all, I have been opting for the first urine of the day. Either my urine sucks, I am not testing properly, or I am not ovulating, because I never have a positive result. I told myself and my husband that I am never buying those things again.

So I bought a basal thermometer.

These things are supposed to let you figure out your most fertile time and I am supposed to be taking my temperature every morning before I get up from bed and recording it. I will start doing this at the end of this cycle. Hopefully this will work. It has to.

My doctor says that a fertility specialist won't see me until it's been a year since my miscarriage. With every period and month that passes, the age difference between Ricky and his sibling gets bigger and bigger. If we went to Disney World, I don't want to be at Dumbo with one child while Mark is on the big-ass roller coaster with Ricky. NO NO NO.

I Love My Cubs Hat

Ricky is absolutely obsessed with his Cubs hat. He had been wearing it off and on but since it's summer and I want to keep his perfect complexion perfect, he's been wearing it a lot more. He's become so fond of it that even when we're just hanging out at home, he refuses to remove it.

He sometimes asks to nap with it and has slept a whole night wearing it. I hope it doesn't do anything bad to his hair, although my sister tells me he will become bald if he keeps wearing it. She also pointed out that we need to let him know that he can't wear it when he starts pre-school next year. So far, I think he gets it. We went to a wake yesterday and he didn't complain that he couldn't wear his Cubs hat.

Oh and did I mention that he loves to sing the "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" 7th inning stretch song?

Flying With Your Toddler

We just came back from visiting my sister and her husband in Boston. It was a great trip and we wish we were still there. The flight was roughly 3 hours and I can't tell you how many days I spent going over the what-ifs with little Ricky in my head. What if he has a tantrum? What if he barfs all over the place on the plane? What if he tells the lady at the counter that she is chubby?

I am happy to report that the hours in flight were wonderful. The only time we were worried was when we all had to take our shoes off in security. Ricky started to cry and say "No mommy, keep shoes on" and he started to cry VERY loudly. After trying to redirect his attention in a multitude of ways, the only thing that worked was reverting to my grandmother's strategy of fear and telling him that the policeman standing over there will take me and daddy away if he didn't stop crying. It worked, but I still regret telling him that and I cringe whenever I remember it.

The trick to flying with a toddler is buying those tiny sticker books for $1.50, coloring books, and a portable DVD player. We thought we could avoid buying the DVD player by occupying him with other things but it ended up saving the day in the end. Ricky was so engrossed in books and DVDs on both flights that nobody would ever guess we had a toddler with us.

And no, he didn't barf, but I had 2 changes of clothes just in case!

So it Goes...

So here I am again. I did have an old blog, but I got tired of it. I hope to use this one as an outlet - mental and what-have-you. I used to be a big journal writer - from second grade until I turned about 25 and realized that if I died, someone would be reading all my secrets. Ironic that I am doing this now and all is available to world to peruse.

I am at work now. At the public library. Trying to hold my nose as the B.O. seems to drift by. So far today the worst offender was a woman. She smelled just like an old man who hadn't showered in weeks. I had to do a Mapquest request for her. I did it as fast as I could because I just wanted the smell away from me. I was secretly wondering if she had a husband who would tell her "Honey, you might want to take a shower."I like my new job a lot. It is so darn easy and I can't believe that people actually need a MLIS to do this (shhhh!!!). I like people - most days. As long as they are nice. And don't smell. Oh and take my reading suggestions.

I have a fab husband named Mark who I have been with for 11 years. We'll have our 5 year anniversary this year. We have a 2 year, 5 month old son named Ricky. He knew all his letters when he turned 18 months old and now he knows every truck on the road. By type - flatbed, tow, tanker, tandem, bulldozer, excavator, loader, digger, roller, etc etc etc. Funny, I don't think I could rattle off anything like that when I was his age. I must be dumb.