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.