Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Mommy Group 101

So there's a new mom in our mommy group. I met her about two weeks ago, she'd just moved from San Diego. She seemed nice at first -- and don't get me wrong, she's still nice. I think she's just a bit too much. She's one of those in your face kinda girls. She's just got that personality. From day one almost, she was acting like she'd known me forever. It bothers me a tad, but mostly because of what I've been going through lately. A friend of mine posted an "FYI" thread on our play group message board about what had happened with me and to please not ask me about it because I don't want to talk, etc. Anyway, she was the FIRST to respond to it with this message "B-----....I have you and your family in my thoughts.. Take Care of yourself!!". The first to respond? I mean, at this point, I'd met her once. Stop me if I'm being harsh...I'm sure I am. It's my middle freakin' name. But still. THEN, at the Christmas in July pot luck last Friday she had her THONG hanging out and some kid came up and started playing with it. Can you imagine? And then she realizes it and says uber loud "OH MY GOD, MY THONG!!!!!!!!!" Announcing it to the world. First of all, she shouldn't be wearing a thong in the first place...I will be politically correct and not inject my opinion as to why she shouldn't. And then, SHE was the one who won the pot luck prize. Her dish wasn't good. It had no taste. I'll give you the list of ingredients and you decide. She's proudly posted her recipe on our group discussion board so that everyone can have it.

** Frozen CHEESE Tortellini

** Bacon Ranch Dressing

** Rotisserie chicken (canned chicken works well too)

** Black olives sliced

** Parmesan Cheese (Fresh Grated)

** Pepper to taste

Cook the tortellini cooked according to package directions. Shred up the rotisserie chicken into a serving dish. Drain and let the tortellini cool. Put onto shredded chicken. Add black olives, pepper and ranch dressing. Give it a good toss. Put in fridge for about an hour, covered. Add more ranch dressing if need to. Toss. Top with shredded parmesan cheese. Cover and cool another hour.

Not exactly my idea of tasty or culinary abilities. She says she would love to open her own catering business. This is coming from the woman who made banana pudding with no bananas. I know this rant sounds completely selfish and jealousy-induced (and could be) but here's the thing: She was an organizer of a play group in San Diego before she moved here, and from day one has injected herself head long into our group as an authority type figure. Then I hear that she was offered a position as assistant organizer of the group by the head organizer. And then I found out that the organizer has been talking with her about group activities, etc. that hasn't even come into my radar screen. I'm feeling a bit pushed out of the way. I mean, I guess I'm just not cool enough. Have I ever mentioned that I think mommy groups are too much like high school? You're hott one minute and cold the next. All cliquish and such. On top of it, she posts messages on our group message board with profanity in it. I mean, I have a sailor's mouth sometimes, but never on the mommy message board! That's a great way to give our group a good name. She also does things like post messages about getting her eyebrows waxed and getting such a freakin' deal on a hair cut for OMG, wait for it! The ultra low price of $85! And she was raving about what a deal it was to me today and I said "I don't dye my hair" and she gave me this "poor girl" look. OH and one more thing. She posted a short novella about why she "won't be around much this week" because her mother passed away in December from a brain aneurysm and blah blah blah. Not to be insensitive, but is she just wanting sympathy? If you've been a member of our group for oh, say 5 seconds, we probably don't wish to read about your own personal soap opera.

Okay I'm done with that rant. It was baseless and not interesting, but I do want to show the cattiness that is Mommy group 101.
On another note, why is it that people say the worst things with the best of intentions? I met a friend at the mall today early so that we could indulge in a Starbucks Americano (drip for her) and walk for a while pre-play date. I recently learned that she intends to have four children. Currently she has a boy who is nearly three and a girl who is about to be a year old in a few days. I was asking, casually, when she planned to try for the next. Casually, she slipped right into the subject of my recent miscarriage. Fine and dandy, but then starts complaining about how exhausting two (children) are. She looks at me and says "You know no one wishes for miscarriages, but maybe it's a blessing in disguise. Now you get to spend so much more one on one time with Adrien..." I know she meant it in the best possible way, but really. It was not was I wanted to hear. (People seem to be giving me all sorts of unwarranted tidbits lately)

Then, in another instance, I had decided to go to the food court for lunch early today. I wasn't feeling well and apparently the mall stopped believing in the AC. I was so hot from chasing Adrien around, etc. that I just needed to sit down and eat. Anyway, another girl decided to join me (shortly followed by the entire group). We were sitting and chatting and she mentioned how hot it was in the mall. I explained that was why I'd came up to eat so soon in the first place. She then went on to start complaining about how packed the play area was and how she was about to have a panic attack because her 7 month old was crawling around everywhere. She has MS and was apparently overwhelmed by his new-found mobility. I completely sympathized. Then, in the rules of conversation, I replied to her remarks with a short complaint about the heat and how Adrien wanted to run for the exit to the play area every 5 seconds and how he really did not want to sit in his stroller. She looks at me and half annoyed sounding says "I mean, you could have it worse. You
could have it worse." I could. She's right. I could live in Africa and have to rummage through garbage and river water for a meal...I could have it worse. But I wasn't making mountains out of my sorrows and mole hills of her's. I was just engaging in every day conversation. Her comment struck me as odd and hit me quite hard. I'm not sure if it was hormones playing a roll or what, but I had to hold back my tears and frustration for her at that moment. I'm not sure what she meant (exactly) by her remark...and I'm not sure I want to know. I'm not sure if she meant that I don't have MS and therefore don't have it bad...or what. Anyway, again with the unwarranted tidbits. Rubbish.

And just think, I'd be free of all this drama if it weren't for my Mommy group. I do, however, need the social networking it provides and enjoy my adult interaction. Of course there is that bit about Adrien getting socialized...but let's be realistic. How many moms join solely for that purpose?

In other news, I've decided to attend a Mary Kay meeting tonight. I haven't sold it in quite a while, but am still considered a consultant. With the recent events I've been feeling pretty down on myself and I really want something to focus on. Why not be able to make a little money while doing it? Also, while I don't support the war, I do support the troops and the Mary Kay consultants in my area are doing
Operation Sunscreen where a client can buy a sunscreen set and we'll donate one to the troops free on their behalf for every sunscreen set sold. (Or the client can choose to donate both sets) That means we make zero profit, but it's fine by me. They need that sunscreen in all the heat and sun in Iraq and Afghanistan. And yes, I used to sell Mary Kay. I had to have something to convince my husband that I was capable of staying home. Then I just sort of fell off of it and my Mom started driving me insane because she'd signed up to do it too and that was her new found passion. May as well give it a try again, what do I have to loose? And hey, it'll keep me occupied.

So, in other words, I'm ticked about the new mommy on the block, I hate it when people say dumb things, I severely dislike it when people seem to think my complaints are unwarranted because their problems are
bigger, and I'm selling out to the pink lipstick peddlers again. God, I feel cheap.

Monday, July 30, 2007

Two cool random things (three things total)

Okay, so I don't have time (or much content) to post about right now.

HOWEVER, my husband found these two sites and I thought they were interesting. So I'll share them.

http://www.cookingbynumbers.com/frames.html


http://www.boredstop.com/shadow.htm


And this one is just plain mindless and sort of disturbing...but I'll post it anyway:

When cloning goes wrong

Friday, July 27, 2007

Effin'

I am so effin' tired. And I'm in such an effin' bad mood. I hate effin' everybody.

Seriously. There's a new woman in our play group who showed up at the pot luck today. Guess what? She's pregnant. She was introduced as "This is Ashley -- she's due in November!" Everyone was like "OHHHH Congrats." BARF. Go the eff' away.

I stubbed my toe on the fridge at the pot luck today and screamed fuckin' A at the top of my lungs. I mean, seriously. I do have a potty mouth. I wanted to punch multiple children at the pot luck today. They were pissin' me the eff' off.

When asked to vote for my favorite dish today at the pot luck, I said "I didn't really like anything. I vote for my pie." My effin' pie didn't win, dammit. Oh well, I knew it wouldn't. The winning dish wasn't tasty, and in my honest opinion didn't taste at all. It had zero flavor. The same person that made the winning dish (some sort of tortellini crap) also made a banana pudding. The supposed "banana pudding" had no bananas and no cool whip. How the eff' do you make banana pudding with no bananas? I mean, that's blasphemy.

I dunno. I'm just tired and cranky and my camera is out of batteries currently so I can't upload my apple pie pictures.

Oh, and I have one other thing to say: The mom with the child previously referred to as a "whiney little bitch" in one of my previous bitchy blogs was there. She always insists on talking to me, and I always insist on moving as far away from her as possible. She always finds me. Get a clue! Anyway, whenever the little girl would start whining her mom would go "want a cookie?" Ya, that's a great way to get your kid to eat healthier and stop being so obnoxious. Offer them cookies for being whiney. It's exactly what they need. It does a body good.

Anyway, I think Adrien might be awake. He's napped awfully so far today. I already had to rock him back to sleep once, and just a few minutes ago I heard some noises emerging from his room. They've stopped, and I haven't heard anything else, so I hope he's asleep. Oh well, unless I hear some more, he's going to be stranded in his crib.

My house is also a mess, but I have zero motivation to clean it.

Maybe I'll actually blog about something worthwhile later.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Mystery Solved

So here are some pictures of the big bouquet of flowers I got yesterday. My mommy group sent them to me with a card that some of the moms had signed at a previous play date that I didn't attend. Of course, it was from "everyone" even though not all were present to sign at the time. The flowers are so pretty! I really love the smell they're giving off. It's awesome. I am surprised (although I shouldn't be) that they would think to send them to me. The main organizer (the starter of the group) says they all "love" me. I think it's a sweet gesture. All but one of the lilies were closed when the bouquet was delivered yesterday. Now they're all open (at least a smidge). Every time I go into the kitchen, it seems like they're open a little more. Anyway, go over to i smell poop to see more pics. I went a little camera crazy with the bouquet.

Adrien and I ventured to the grocery store earlier to get the stuff to make my Mile High Apple Freakin' Pie. [This pie is for the Christmas in July Toy Exchange play date tomorrow] I was going to be tres adventurous and buy the stuff to make home made pie crusts as well, but I didn't realize the cost of real butter was so much. It came out to be cheaper (and less of a pain in the arse) to get the Pillsbury ready-made crusts. I did, however, indulge in a glass pie pan. I have a very old vintage metal one, but generally I just buy the wobbly tin ones when I'm going to bake a pie (mostly for the holidays). It's a Pyrex, and they had it on sale for less than $4. Who can pass that up? Plus, it's more eco-friendly. An added bonus is that I no longer have to worry about my pie pan collapsing under the weight of my enormous apple pies.

I really do not know what to do for the rest of the day. Adrien is currently down for a nap (obviously, or I wouldn't be typing this), but I really am worried about what do when he wakes up...which honestly could be any time now. He's been on a hunger strike the last few days, and doesn't seem interested in eating anything but crackers or puffs. I simply refuse to fill him up on fluff, so until he decides to eat real food, he can do without. He's getting plenty of milk, and I assume when he's hungry enough he'll eat. I think it's a combination of the heat and his two molars emerging. Plus, his grandparents fed him Buddha-knows-what while he was staying there. Andi's Dad proudly announced that for lunch on Tuesday, Adrien had eaten two hot dogs, some apple, green beans, and Cheerios. Later that night he barfed, and low and behold, there was some hot dog. I try not to feed him hot dogs that much. 1. They are a choking hazard, 2. They are full of nitrates, even the all beef ones we buy, 3. They're too much protein. Bad for the kidneys. So anyway, I think he's put himself on a self-detox diet. That's fine by me, as long as he's not actually going hungry.

Adrien has also decided (of late) that he no longer likes to be sat in his high chair or laid on his changing table. That means that he hates for me to change his diaper in the morning -- or at any time -- and then immediately following, he will not allow me put him in his high chair for breakfast -- or any meal -- without a good pouting, crying fit. It's genuinely a battle of wills.

So anyway, here I am (still), wondering what to do with Adrien after he wakes up. It drives me batty to sit here all day, but it's so hot outside. I don't like wasting gas just to go somewhere. Gas is such a limited commodity in this household when it's $3/gallon. I also don't feel like packing up to go anywhere. However, if we are here all day, it's the usual routine of trying to get Adrien to not climb up the couches and onto the bar. He did it this morning and spilled a cup of water. He then went after my coffee, but thank goodness I pulled him back before he tipped that over.

Such a conundrum. What to do? I think this must be the curse of the stay at home mom.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Quick Post


Adrien has taken to falling asleep on the couch watching T.V. lately. I really don't like this habit, however, I am glad I am not having to rock him to sleep much any more. It's sort of hell to have to wait for him to get quiet enough and still enough on the couch to fall asleep on his own. Our attempts to rock him to sleep with the lullaby CD last night were fleeting, and he kept crying and crying. So finally we brought back to the living room. He perched himself on the couch and started watching Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations with us. I noticed it was awfully quiet and I glanced over to see this. Andi and I could hardly stop laughing long enough to take this picture. Milk cup in hand, he was out cold. Soooo cute. Too hilarious. I feel like a bad mom though, for letting him like TV that much. Oh well. I think it's just that it catches his attention long enough to make him forget he's trying to fight sleep. Whatever works. I mean, he didn't sleep through the night until he was a year old. I'll get him to sleep any way I can. Honestly.

We went to the sprinkler park today. Adrien loved it. He thought it was great fun! I just wish there hadn't been so many kids there. It should be better soon when kids go back to the school. There was some kid there who's mom was too much of an idiot to bring a swim diaper. The poor little fat kid was waddling around in a pull-up in all the water. I could see it starting to get saggier and saggier. The next thing I saw with a pile of the silica gel spread amongst the sprinklers. I am so glad I saw it so I could keep Adrien from eating it. Ick.

Friday we have a play date that is a Christmas in July Toy Exchange. That means I get to pack up my least favorite most annoying toy, wrap it up all pretty and let some other Mom release the hell that is this bilingual drum. I hate this toy. I don't really care if Adrien learns Spanish when he's 2. Really, I don't. We won't get into that though. I just hope we don't get something worse in return for that hellish fiesta drum. Anyway, I'm planning to take my famous apple pie. I better win the freakin best dish prize this time. I've never won, and I'm more than pretty sure I'm the best cook in our group. How much does that stink?

Andi was able to get the company he works for to counter offer the offer he got from the insurance company. Yay for him! Yay for more money! Hopefully it will be enough to help us out. We'll see.

Other than that, I've recently discovered that I'm recieving flowers from someone. I just got a call on the cellular from some Flowerbasket asking if I'd be home for a delivery within the next 45 minutes to an hour for a delivery. You bet your bottom dollar I will be. I hope this isn't like the build your own bouquet Andi got me for Valentine's a few years back from ProFlowers.com. How much does it stink to have to arrange your own rose bouquet? I mean, complete with thorns. Nothing says I love you like that. I wonder who the flowers are from? Oh well. I will let all know later -- as I find out.

Well that's just about it for now.

Oh, and there were huge explosions in downtown Dallas this morning. Never a dull day around here.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Spun

isn't it amazing that i took my medicine 14 hours ago and i'm still feeling the effects of it as we speak. at least that's what i think i'm feeling. i conked out at some point last night while watching something about caribou migration on discovery or some such channel. i woke up at 4am and i, myself, migrated -- to the bedroom. i woke up suddenly at 9:25am this morning, only to realize i was supposed to be at erika's house at 10am for a "minniest member play date" for pre/early walkers in the group. it was only three of my closer friends going, so i asked if it'd be alright to attend sans adrien for some social time. they welcomed me with open arms. and for once, i got to actually socialize and drink coffee while remaining seated the entire time. (as opposed to having to chase adrien around the entire time).

so at 9:25am i started to try to shake off the fog of xanax. i realized andi had my wallet in his car (at work with him) so there would be no stopping for coffee along the way to erika's. and i did not have time to brew any at my house. i'm sure i shouldn't have been driving at that point, but i got from point A to point B and back again just fine. so here i am, still feeling the effects. my heart is a little racy as well. i assume it's from the two cups of coffee and two dr. peppers i enjoyed earlier. possibly. maybe it's the mix of caffeine and downers. in any event, the room's a bit spinny, and i am probably spun myself. i'm drinking orange juice for the sugar and hoping that might help the situation out a bit.

my mom is in town for the huge mary kay convention that is going on, and as such has an awards dinner at a steak house to attend tonight. she desperately wants me to attend. she's supposed to be receiving an award or something. she wants me to see. i hope i can make it there alright. it's nearly 4pm and i am in need of a shower and hair straightening before i can go to some steak house. i would much rather lounge around here at the house in my anxiety medicine-induced fog...but i have to get slightly gussied up and make myself seem happy for all of these overly perky make-up peddling women.

andi got a job offer from the insurance company on friday. he said he would let them know on his decision by today. he's attempting to get a counter offer (of equal or higher) value from his current company so there's no lapse in benefits. his company has not yet let him know their decision. it's making me extremely nervous because what is going to happen if they let him know too late and then the insurance company with the offer becomes a null and void option? i really do hope they let him know soon. i'm itching to know what's going to happen and i don't want him to lose out on the extra salary he's being offered at the other company just because the place he currently works for is sitting around with their thumbs up their ass waiting to deny him. corporate assholes, i tell you.

i really do miss adrien. what did i do without kids before? the freedom is great, i mean it's wonderful. but andi and i sat around for what must have been nearly an hour yesterday trying to figure out what to do. we were literally playing with one of those little rubber bouncy balls contemplating all the things we can never do when we have adrien. that led us to leave to drive around and we ended up at IHOP for coffee and food. it was one we used to go to when we were in college.

and my OB just called. apparently pathology found no signs of pregnancy in the tissue they removed via the D&C. my doctor things they missed it or something and either i must have passed it prior to the D&C or it's still in there. he says the likelihood of it still being in there would be slim to none considering the method he uses (in his terms). so i have to go in tomorrow so he can take a look. i personally think i passed it before the procedure. while i was getting my ultrasound done, i went to the bathroom and passed quite a bit of something. the ultrasound tech said it was just a clot -- it felt like more. so i dunno. the saga continues. why does this have to be so drawn out? seriously.

won aye emm (1am) -- phonetically speaking

it's one o'freakin clock in the morning and i'm awake. i'm entired too tired to sleep. i'm entired too tired to make myself type with the CAPS where they're supposed to go.

three xanax later and i still can't relax. i was laying in bed thinking of possible food combinations for a possible next food network star audition tape i could send in. of course, once on the show, i'd be eliminated quickly, as my actual technical knowledge flounders. i am, however, prescribed the xanax if that's what you're wondering. my firefox spellcheck is picking up xanax as an incorrectly spelled word. it is not. of course.

i went to a pot luck play date the other day. the theme was finger foods. i made mini chicken tacos. i even took the time to make the mini taco shells myself. i meant to take a picture. i just didn't get around to it. you make these mini shells by cutting corn tortillas with a 3" cookie cutter...or in my case i used a wine glass. then you wrap the tiny cutouts in a damp towel and put them in the microwave for approximately 2 minutes to soften them. after they're softened, brush both sides with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and drape each cut out over a slat on a baking rack to form the shell's shape. i used my roasting pan and rack. i turned the rack crosswise over the pan so that the pan's sides held the rack up off the bottom of the tray. i'm sure that made a ton of sense. anyway, after the shells are in place, pop 'em in a 350 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes (or until crispy and not browned at all). you can then save them in an airtight container for up to three days.

anyway, i took these scrumptious too cute creations to the pot luck. but that's beside the point.

the point is that there as a certain woman there with her bratty ass daughter. her daughter does nothing but screech and whine constantly. adrien was pushing around a toy vacuum and the stupid little shit was fuckin' scared of the vacuum. adrien would come towards her and she'd squeal at the top of her stupid little lungs and cling to her mommy. her mommy is equally as annoying...although she doesn't squeal. her mom was all like "she doesn't like the vacuum..." well i'm soo freakin' sorry, lady. my son does. your little bitch of a daughter can get over it. anyway, said daughter won't eat anything. her mother complains constantly about her horrible eating habits and has acted astonished on many occasions that adrien enjoys eating green beans and the like. she's absolutely beside herself because her freakin' spoiled little brat won't eating anything but crackers, cheese, cookies, and your basic junky fluff.

so anyway, it came time to eat at the pot luck. instead of saying to her daughter "you can have some grapes or cucumbers with dip" she gets a bowl, fills it full of goldfish and mini vanilla wafers and gives this to her daughter to eat...oh with a big sippy cup full of (what i'm sure is fully sugared up high fructose corn syrup containing) juice. then the mom sits there and talks about how she just can not get her to eat anything else. well have you offered her anything else lately? dumbass. d-u-m-b-a-s-s. if she doesn't want to eat the healthy stuff you offer her, give her a while. toddlers aren't that strong willed. soon hunger will kick in and they'll put their hand to their mouth with the food you're allowing.

this stupid woman also irks me, because she always seems to want to be interested in acting as if we're actually friends on some level. i barely consider her an acquaintance. a few weeks ago, another mom asked if i was pg. she said she'd sort of heard. that was fine. this woman was actually bordering on being a friend of mine. this all occured in the mall play area mind you. the sutpid woman i was talking about before was a pretty good distance away from me and the friend who were having our own conversation. a few minutes later, the annoying one slithers up to me and says "so i hear you're expecting...?" idiot. if i wanted her to know i would have told her. i smirked and said yes. then i had to run after adrien thank God.

this dumbass of a woman (who is one of those very gruff and obnoxious no class types) had to the nerve to say something to me about being pregnant on thursday night. i know she has no idea when i went through on thursday. but still. just don't say anything at all to me please. if you're a generic person in my book, please keep any and all conversations with me generic. better yet, just skip the conversation with me.

it's like the pregnant xray tech they sent to take my chest xray before my surgery on saturday. i mean, what the fuck were they thinking? honestly. i truly had to hold back from asking her if she was pregnant or just fat. when i thought of actually asking her, i truly did laugh out loud. she looked at me strange. i think i may have glared at her for a bit. oh well.

oh gosh, i've got that fuzzy feeling only alprazolam can bring. i can't believe i used to be able to take this stuff and function on a normal level. God, i must have been really stressed out then. i'm stressed now. i really am. i thought about throwing a good ol' fashioned screwdriver into the mix, but figured i'm probably still a little too dehydrated for vodka. plus, after my last experience with OJ, i figure i should steer clear of the acidity in it.

i am, also, utterly convinced i may have lupus. hypochondriac.

high-po-kon-dree-ack.

it's really amazing how quickly you can relapse to insomnia.

and if i've gotten anything out of this experience, it's that if i can't have a baby i want a puppy. and i have this huge urge to spoil adrien to pieces. good thing i'm not loaded. i'd be on a spending binge. i have the urge to binge eat again too. too bad i have no appetite. i was never lucky enough to get the bulimic side of things. always the ana here. always the loss of appetite.

ever read wasted by marya hornbacher? that pretty much my life until i met my husband.

so was taking my lovely medicine and listening to brand new or pink floyd.

i could possibly be teetering on that brink again. teetering on the days when 4 baths a day couldn't even keep me clean enough. teetering on the days when all i wanted to do was stay in bed all day. teetering on the days where one bite of cantaloupe sent me into a spin of whether or not i should immediately expel it from my body. whether the purge would have been from fear or from self inflicted torture on some level, i'm not sure. that, i believe, would have depended up on the day. i do however have a tiny tether named adrien to keep me grounded to my non teetering life.

tidbit: cantaloupe are rarely found in the united states. what most americans refer to as "cantaloupe" are actually musk melons. maybe my technical knowledge isn't floudnering.

i feel disconnected from andi...i want to be cuddled and adored and doted on and all in all fawned over. i really do crave that. but it's hard for me because he has to have such a different spin on this whole situation than i do. and i just can't seem to let my own selfishness past that part of this whole scenario. i can't get through the fact that all in all i have no idea how he feels about all of it.

the room is spinning and i'm surprised i'm doing quite as well as i am alliterating. my typing hasn't quite fell off yet. but think i hear the nerdy shows on discovery or tlc or possibly national geographic calling to me. i love educational programming. especially when i need to fall asleep.

my feet are cold.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Happier Days

I don't know what else to do, so I will post pictures that make me happy. I am also eating a banana split. I love emotional eating. I tend to involve everyone around in my emotional eating. I got Adrien a Happy Meal earlier. It made him very happy. A little trans fat won't spoil him forever.

Adrien's "Are you kidding me?" look


Watch out, David Beckham! **Pic courtesy Keith Austell from Adrien's 1st Bday party.


Adrien and Mommy Sharing a baby-sized ice cream cone at his 1st Bday party. **Photo Courtesy Keith Austell


My Puca eating his cake that Mommy made especially for him on his big day. Double layer devil's food cake with a big fat #1 on it. Yum! **Photo courtesy Keith Austell


Aww, Family picture at the big shebang. **Photo courtesy Keith Austell

Adrien the other morning. Who needs expensive styling products when you've got bananas and oatmeal lying around? Step over Toni and Guy.



Sunburned Smile.

Sugarbutt's first day on Earth. Wow, he's changed so much.

I love my Pookie.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Buzzkill

DISCLAIMER: As the title may imply, I apologize in advance if this post is a bit of a buzzkill. This is, however, pretty much my diary (I don't have a physical diary, so this is it); and whatever happenstance brought you to my blog, you happened upon my diary. So if this post is TMI or too personal, I apologize. I'm not trying to get sympathy. I just need to vent, and what better place than a diary -- right?

Anyway. Yesterday evening I noticed that I was sort of spotting. Not a whole lot. It wasn't even the bright red color you fear. Just a brown clump. Unnerved, and after hours, I called my OB's emergency line. He quickly returned my call. I explained the situation and he asked me to come in the next day (today) for an ultrasound to make sure everything is alright. He said it's not out of the ordinary (which I know it's not), but he wanted to be sure everything was alright. I had zero spotting with Adrien, and I rarely ever spot after papsmears and the like, of which they say spotting is "common". I'm not a spotter. I've been spotting since yesterday. Once again, not the bright red. Just the brown. I still fear it.

Anyhow, I can't go to the doctor. I do not have the gas to drive all the way up there (a good hour drive with traffic). I don't even have access to a car today. Andi's car is so low on gas, we're wondering if it will make it to the station. We still have a little gas in a gas can for the lawnmower, so it can be used if need be. So, with his car out of gas, he took mine to work today. My gas gauge is hovering just above E. I truly hope he makes it home safely. Even so, how will he ever make it back to work tomorrow? If you're wondering -- at this point -- why we don't just go and get more gas, I'll let you in on a secret. We have no money left until pay day, which is Friday. In fact, we have so little money left that we have negative money. So yay for me. I'm not sure how all of this happened, exactly. I'm really not. I suppose, if it weren't for bank fees, we wouldn't have [as much] negative money. Most of the reason we're overdrawn is because of stupid fees they seem fit to charge when you're already broke to begin with. We had a check returned. We don't know which one yet. It's either the one to the IRS or the one to the water company. The water company I can handle. The IRS? Not so much.

Our only hope to get out of this before tomorrow so that my husband can drive to work, is a PayPal payment pending from someone Andi did some design work for. However large the amount of money we are expecting via PayPal, we will surely still have very little left over after all of the bank fees we've apparently accrued. Hopefully, we will have enough to buy a little gas with. We do have food though, and that is what we really need to survive. And PayPal is so slow. Slower than my Mother. On top of PayPal being so slow to deposit the funds into your checking account, the guy who payed Andi the money to begin with took his sweet time with it. And to add salt to the wound, Andi owes half of the money payed to him to another designer he works with who took half the work load and helped him out. I hope she doesn't mind waiting until Friday for her share. Well, she doesn't really have a choice.

So there's all that and the bills keep coming. Andi interviewed with a company about a week ago. He had a second interview yesterday. He hasn't heard anything yet. They were supposed to let him know either way within a week. The only thing is that even if they do offer him the job, they haven't talked salary yet, so Andi doesn't even know if all of his efforts were in vain. He's talking about getting a night and weekend job. I really don't want him to do that. All in all, I'd rather go back to work than see that happen. But even Whole Foods didn't call me back for a cashier position I applied for. What's with people. I have a college degree and am qualified to do many things. No one will even give me an interview. I don't know what's wrong with me. I feel really inadequate most of the time.

I remember in college, I was the girl who always had the best projects turned in. I had the best grades. At jobs I've always gotten top ratings by my employers. Even when I worked at Cartier for the biggest bitch ever, she thought I was the tops. Every employer has loved me...that is until my last one. I worked for this guy. I was his assistant. The guy I'm speaking of is named Alakazia. He's horrible. He's selfish. I'm sure he is taking more than his credit for the Baby Phat line (you have to read the story linked to previously). Anyway, he treated me like crap; got me to trust him; took me away from a stable job (Cartier) by hyping up the position I was moving into at the new company; and then fired me before my first 90 days were up because he didn't like me. Never mind the fact that I worked my ass off. He got pissy because I was his assistant (not his maid) and I wouldn't do things like clean his office after he'd tear it up in a fit. That was not in my job description. But that's a whole other story. Anyway, the point is, since my experience with Alakazia, I just don't feel like I'll ever be able to do anything (career wise) again. He really made me feel like shit as a person.

So all of that aside, even if I applied to every job I came across that I was qualified for, I doubt I'd even get a call back for an interview. Because believe me, I have applied for almost every job I see that I'm qualified for in the past and no one seems interested. They don't even give me a chance. Besides, I want to stay at home and raise Adrien. With having another baby, it seemed like there was no way to go back to work for me. Now I'm not so sure I'm going to be having another baby.

I called the nurse at my OB's office today and explained to her that there was no way I could make it up to the office this week because of car issues, etc. She understood. She set me an appointment for Monday. I hope everything is alright. I'm just a little freaked out. I've been having dreams about miscarriage, actually. The night before last (the night before I started spotting) I had a dream about it again. I've noticed my pregnancy symptoms start to disappear (about a week or so ago) and I got a little worried. My breasts aren't as sore as they were (or at all anymore) and I am not nauseous at all any more. The only symptom left is that I'm very tired and very fatigued all the time. Generally I'd be happy about the nausea going away, but I know when I was pregnant with Adrien I was sick for 3 months straight. So something just doesn't feel right.

The only thing the nurse could tell me was to "take it easy and stay off your feet. And don't have sex." She doesn't have to worry about the sex thing. But how am I supposed to "take it easy" when I have to chase Adrien around?

I just hope everything irons out soon. I truly don't know how we got in this situation. And I don't know what to do to get out of it. We could sell the house, but any apartment or rental property we got into would cost as much or more than our mortgage...so what would be the point of that?

I just don't know what to do and I can't seem to talk to anyone about it because it's so embarrassing. I'm sure none of the playgroup moms would care about this. I don't really have any real friends that I can unload on. So I have to do it here. And I apologize for that. I really just want to lay on the couch and cry all day.

Monday, July 16, 2007

Yellow dots, anyone?

My birthday cakeI turned around from the cake for a brief moment. When I looked back at it, my Mother had dotted it with yellow icing, making it appear as though it had gotten hold of the same rash I was currently suffering from.

Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake. Homemade buttercream chocolate icing, made with Ghirradelli chocolate. PS: I know I most likely spell Ghirradelli wrong.

Flying Stinging Things

These two pictures pretty much say all that needs to be said about Saturday. Adrien fell asleep on the couch watching Bicentennial Man. That is very strange for him. Generally, getting him to take a nap is more than an Act of Congress. He must have been conked out, though. He just dozed off. It was the cutest, funniest thing ever. The other picture is of my husband "stuffing his face" as he says. He was eating ice cream -- out of a tupperware container! We were in really bad need of running the dishwasher. Saturday was such a lazy day. Andi and I took naps while Adrien slept. Before we knew it, it was 7pm.

Sunday, we got up and went to Church as usual. It was the usual rigmarole of trying to get Adrien distracted in the nursery long enough for me to be able to sneak off to Sunday School without a fit or anxiety attack on his end. There was something odd about Sunday though...oh yes. We had a different Pastor. Apparently good ol' Dr. Wilbanks (our usual) was on vacation. His replacement seemed to have everyone in the congregation yawning. His sermon finally picked up mid way through...but I'm afraid it didn't save us from near boredom. It was a good message -- truly it was. But I could have done without all the words being said nearly 30 seconds apart. He was definitely one for that southern drawl thing they talk about. I will be delighted to have Tom (Dr. Wilbanks) back next week.

After Service, we came back home and had to WRESTLE Adrien into nap time. He didn't lay down for his nap until 1:45pm. That is so incredibly late for him. Then we set out to make up for all the things we didn't get accomplished Saturday. We began to weed our landscaping. That was such a chore in itself. We didn't even get half way done. With all the rain lately, grass and weeds have set up shop (thoroughly, if I may add) among the mulch. It was so ridiculously hot. I covered myself in SPF 50 and could still feel the sun scorching my skin. Andi also mowed and weedeated the front and back yards. I am making a strong effort to stay out of the back yard. There are huge black spiders (wolf spider too) back there, and apparently some wasps have made themselves at home inside a hole in one of our fence posts. This post happens to be part of the gate we go in and out of. Andi sprayed them...I hope they don't return. He says he'll have to get some wood puddy. Good riddance. I hate flying stinging things.

Speaking of wolf spiders, there seem to be a huge colony of them in our garage. They're so huge, brown, spooky, and gangley looking. I killed two the other days (huge monsters, I tell you). Andi killed three more Sunday. All in our garage. I realize that these spiders are not harmful to humans (they actually kill other spiders and bugs) but I just can't have those huge big-as-a-Volkswagen spiders lurking about in my garage. Plus, they could get in the house. I would scream and wet myself if that happened. Oh, and yay of yays, I found a dead one (smaller though) by our the baseboards in our living room this morning. I vacuumed it up before Adrien could go pick it up and poke at it. We're infested I tell you.

And now I'm back to the land of the weekday. I hate weekdays. Andi leaves for extended hours during the day (well, no more extended than anyone else's working husband), and I'm left to my own devices with a toddler. I truly do get tired of thinking of things to do. I get sick of play dates. They're all the same, really. And honestly, they cost quite a bit of money if you don't pack your own lunch every time. I do pack our lunches, but that in and of itself is a huge feat. Also, I am getting so incredibly tired of the mall. Adrien has discovered the exit to the play area there and so every opportunity he gets, he runs straight for the exit. It's tons of fun, I tell you. It's entirely too hot (and flying stinging thing infested) to do anything outside. It was already 85 degrees at 9am this morning. No wonder I was sweating all night long last night. Earlier in the summer, I loved to head out to the parks...but now the sun is so hot and the ozone is in full spring (orange alert for today). I decided to go for a walk around the neighborhood this morning around 10:30am. I took the short route and got back home ASAP. It was so ridiculously hot outside! I mean, we were only out for 12 minutes, and already Adrien had started to pink up on his little legs, arms, and face. He was cooking faster than a sausage during a barbecue. The entire neighborhood is swarming with wasps. People think it's a great idea to plant those huge flowering bushes right next to the sidewalk. They're magnets for flying stinging things.

Thanks alot, people, for planting those flying stinging thing meccas.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Yay for stretchy waisted pants

Not that I'm "showing" yet, but I made Andi get in the attic and pull down my box of maternity pants yesterday. I have some on right now. I have to say -- I love stretchy waisted pants. I mean, really...they're the best. I know that by the end of the pregnancy you can't wait to get back into normal jeans though. But for now, I am happy with them. I can wear jeans all day and actually be comfortable. The waist band isn't cutting into my post-last-baby jelly belly. (Icky, and TMI, I know.)

So anyway, my Mom is officially on her way back home. Can you believe we didn't argue the entire time? I really can't. All in all, my birthday was pretty uneventful. Tuesday night we (Andi and I) left the house around 7:45pm or so and headed to Burger Street. I'm a cheap date, I guess. And generally I'd ask to go somewhere a little nicer to eat...but I was really craving a good burger. Mostly I was craving the curly fries. I had a burger, curly fries, and a chocolate shake that was so thick it should have been eaten with a spoon. It really was heaven. Then we went to the theater, where we waited three hours for the movie (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) to start. The theater was nice enough to let the ones of us first in line sit down in a theater and wait. I really did not realize there would be so many teenagers there. There was a girl in front of us wearing a shirt that truly made me feel old (and I'm not old at all). Her shirt read "Class of 2010". That just seems unreal to me. We were out of the theater by 2:25am or so. Of all of the Harry movies, it was shorter. It was the best by far though...in my opinion anyway.

The day of my actual birthday (7-11) the only time I ventured out of the house was to go to 7-11 to get a free Slurpee. The cup actually said Squishee on it...paying homage to the Simpsons. When we got to the 7-11, I found out that all the "free" Slurpee cups were gone. I had to pay for mine, but it was worth it. I would have gone for anything cold in my mouth by that time. Why would I have gone for anything cold in my mouth? Well I'll tell you...

Last Sunday I drank some orange juice. That was harmless enough. Well after I drank it I noticed I had a sore on my tongue. I thought it was from the acid in the OJ. A little while later my tongue began to hurt so bad, that my throat felt like it was hurting. Now I have sores all over the inside of my mouth. They hurt like hell. I also have a rash on my hands. It starts as little red dots on my hand and then the dots turn to little red hard spots that hurt when they are touched. I called my OB yesterday and he told me to come in first thing this morning.

He seems truly perplexed by my condition. He took a look at my mouth and said to gargle and rinse with warm salt water. He said there's medicine he could prescribe, but he prefers not to in pregnancy -- and especially not in the first trimester. I'm really against taking anything while pregnant at all, unless absolutely necessary. So I will just wait for it to go away I guess. Meanwhile, it hurts to talk, chew, swallow...be awake. My mouth and throat just hurt. I've got sores so far back on my tongue that it feels like my throat is on fire. For some reason, eating everything stings.

I didn't enjoy my birthday cake at all...it was too painful to eat. I'm sure it was great though. It was a dark chocolate fudge cake with home made chocolate buttercream icing. My mom insisted on decorating it with some sort of yellow dots on top. I don't know why. But I let her.

Anyway, as for the rash on my hands, my OB said that it was strange. He referred me to a dermatologist. That was sooo much closure. I just have it in my head that this weird rash and my sudden crop of canker sores in my mouth are related some how and I have some strange virus or something. Ick.

Why is it that you don't crave anything healthy (for the most part) while you're pregnant. All I want to eat are french fries, curly fries, waffle fries...anything potatoes. I have also been craving tomato soup. When I was pregnant with Adrien, I wanted Tom Ka soup all the time...and sticky rice. Thai food rocks. Gosh...satay sounds good too. Man, I'm hungry. But I can't eat anything and get pleasure from it right now.

I will post pics of my bday cake and whatnot later.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Don't you just love mothers...I know I do.

Okay, so I know it's been a while. I have had zero motivation to do anything. Really. I've had raging headaches and the extreme need to be in a constant state of nappishness. And yes, I just said nappishness.

Anyway, My Mom is coming into town today. Tomorrow is my birthday, and my husband and I have plans to go see the midnight showing of Harry Potter 5 tonight. So I asked my Mom to drive 4 hours (three and a half for her, because she drives like a bat out of hell) to come "watch" Adrien while we're out tonight. I mean, he'll be asleep the whole time...it's such hard work for her, I'm sure. So anywho, on with my story: She calls me this morning and asks if she can have lunch with her Mary Kay sales director (yes, she sells Mary Kay -- ugh) tomorrow at Mary Kay Corporate. Tomorrow of all days. It went a little like this: (Yes, note my cattiness. But honestly, I had a right. Right?)

My Mom starts by very passive aggressively asking, "So I know Andrew has taken off of work tomorrow...does he have anything planned for your birthday tomorrow?" [Andrew is my husband, btw]

"No, not that I know of. I mean, we're seeing Harry Potter tonight and that's about it. We don't really have the money to go do anything else very extravagant."

"Oh, well maybe I'll just call Andrew and ask him."

"No, Mom. I'm really pretty sure we're just doing the movie tonight."

"Well, I mean, he did take off tomorrow."

"Ya, he took off so he wouldn't be tired after watching a three or four hour movie at midnight! But why do you ask?"

"Well, Tanya wants to take me to lunch at corporate sometime and I thought tomorrow would be great."

"Well if you don't want to see me on my birthday, I understand."

And then my Mom kicks it in hard core, "SEE! YOU MAKE IT SO HARD FOR ME TO DO ANYTHING BUSINESS RELATED WHEN I COME TO DALLAS!!! I CAN NEVER DO ANYTHING BECAUSE YOU GET SOOOO JEALOUS!!!"

"I don't get jealous. It's my BIRTHDAY!"

I mean, really. That was the conversation. She got off the phone all huffy and acted like the "I love you" at the end of the conversation was forced. I mean, am I wrong to get a little upset that she'd want to drive all the way across town on my birthday to have lunch with her friend/sales director? She'd be gone for a good two or three hour jaunt just for that. Not to mention that she moves slower than Methuselah in the morning, so by the time she got up and drank her pot of coffee, I'd get very little social time with her before she shot off to discuss the goddess that runs her life, AKA, Mary Kay. On top of it, I haven't seen her since Adrien's birthday in May. AND, in addition to all of that, she was originally going to come up yesterday and stay until Thursday morning. Then her trip suddenly got shortened to being here this afternoon and then leaving tomorrow evening.

Now she's magically back to staying until Thursday morning and then leaving from here to go have lunch with Tanya on Thursday.

After our little argument this morning, Andi (my husband) got a call from her not even 10 minutes later. I'm assuming she was asking about his plans for me tomorrow...which are of course NONE. But She also berated him with the usual questions about why we never drive four hours down there to see her. And, he also said she tried to get him in the middle of our little feud while complaining about my supposed "jealousy" to him. He says he refuses to get in the middle. It's fine -- I know he's on my side anyway.

So then not even thirty minutes later, she calls me all cheery and happy and announces she has some great idea to pick us up sushi on the way over so we can have a late lunch. I can't tell her I'm pregnant yet, because I'm waiting to do it in person...so I just insisted she bring me the California Rolls with zero sashimi...I really do love sashimi though.

So everything is peachy keen to her now, I suppose. I really don't understand her sometimes. She'll be here anywhere between the next 30 minutes to an hour. Yay.

So anyway, other than that, I haven't been up to much. Fourth of July was sort of fun. It was a little dreary and drizzley out. My SIL, Aerobics Barbie, was there. She ate her hamburger with no bun, thank you. I mean, Carbs Kill, right?

We went to the mall twice last week for play dates and then we were right back at the mall today for another one. I really do get sick of the mall, but it's been raining nearly every day here lately. On top of it, if it's not raining, it's basically a sauna outside.

I saw "Sheila" at the mall today. She was looking as gaunt as ever. She informed, again, that she'd formed a new play group and left the old one. I guess she forgot about our meeting at Target. Maybe it's the heroine or lack of calories consumed. It was very strange for two mommy groups to be meeting at the mall at the same time. It was almost like some strange cliquish competition. There was one of our members who was attending that is also a member of their group. Strange.

We went to another pot luck yesterday. It was very strange, indeed. It was held, last minute, at a new member's house. I think only one person from our group had met her previously. She's lived here in Dallas for only 4 weeks. When the original hostess was unable to host due to a death in the family, this girl piped up and offered her house up. I think she must be a robot. Her house was perfectly unpacked and in order for just being there for only 4 weeks. As an assistant organizer of our little play group, I wondered if this woman knew what she was getting herself into when she offered to host the pot luck. Apparently she did not. She has a four (nearly five) year old. Nothing was baby proofed. She had no ice for the drinks. She had only a few paper plates to eat off of. She had no plastic cups or flatware of any sort. There was nowhere for anyone to sit at. Everyone sat with their toddlers, trying to feed them on the floor. That worked out soooo great for Adrien...(sarcasm...) I was ready to leave.

Well Adrien is now awake and my Mother will be here shortly. I really have to go...as if this post isn't long enough. I promise not to hold you all in suspense for that long of a time again.

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Fuzzy Wuzzy Spider

Adrien kept asking to go outside yesterday, and it was -- of course -- raining so I couldn't allow him to. After all the talk of 3 hour naps in my blog yesterday, it served me right for him to only sleep a good hour and forty-five minutes. Needless to say, he became quite cranky when I wouldn't allow him to go outside. So we compromised. I thought I would hold him and we could open the front door and look out. I saw a tarantula sitting perched on the back side of a pole that holds up on the awning to my front door. Spiders truly creep me out. I slammed the door and retreated back inside...The door safely between me and the icky fuzzy HUGE spider. I googled "texas spiders" and came up with a list (with photos) from Texas A&M University's entomology department. I could hardly bare to the look at the pictures. Although they list tarantulas as living in Texas, I didn't see a picture or description of one like I saw. They list the run of the mill black to brown ones, but did not like any black and orange ones. The one I saw (although I saw it only briefly) was clearly brightly marked. I wonder if someone's pet got out. (BTW, this pic is of a Mexican Redknee Tarantula I found on GoogleImages. The page this pic is from states that this is a picture of their pet. I do live close enough to Mexico though. I wonder how many miles that is in spider miles?)

I know it's horrible, and very anti-reincarnation, but I was going to bug-spray the beast. I really do not want it getting into the house because I think I may faint if I were to see it creep around. And knowing Adrien, he'd be chasing it around; or even worse yet, gnawing on it. So I got out the bug spray and opened the front door, but it was gone. I really do hope it doesn't turn up inside.

So, due to my little arachnid encounter, I had dreams of spiders all night long. It really did ruin my otherwise good night's sleep.

I remember when I was in high school, I dreamed of a huge spider one night. I dreamed that a large spider with a bulbous abdomen was attempting to crawl over me but I kept wiping it away...it kept trying and trying. When I was getting ready for school that morning, I moved a pile of dirty laundry to find the spider I'd dreamed of run out from underneath the dirty clothes. I wanted to climb the walls to get away from it. I smashed it with the bottom side of my trash bin. OHHHH SO SCARY! And to think, It probably was crawling on me all night. (I mean, it was seriously a good 2 inches long from tip to end.

Spiders really give me the heebie jeebies.

Anyway, we went to the mall for a playdate this morning. We needed a boat to get there though. (Not literally) It was pouring. I waited for it to let up at home before we left. It didn't matter because it was really coming down at the mall. All in all it was pretty fun. I had boiled eggs for lunch with some grapes and Adrien had a PB&J with some raisins (and of course some of my boiled egg). The food from the food court smelled soooooooo tempting. I was really wishing I could get some Sbarro...MAN the pizza smelled great. But, I am determined not to gain 60 pounds with this baby. Yes, you heard me. I gained 60 pounds with Adrien. I was a bit underweight when I got pregnant though -- so I think it's typical. I'm at a normal weight now. Honestly, I wouldn't mind having a bit more meat on my bones haha. But NOT 60 pounds of meat.

We are heading out to the in-laws today. They're having an Independence Day bash, and we thought it would be nice to go down tonight, as opposed to driving and returning in the same day. It is, after all, a two hour drive. I will take some pics to share!

Head over to my photo blog to see some awesome sunset pics I took yesterday. I really amaze myself with a camera! LOL, I'm just kidding...not really. Okay, a little.

Well, there are quite a few showings of Miami Ink on today, so I'm gonna go back to the TV before Adrien wakes up.

I hope all of you have a happy Fourth!

Monday, July 2, 2007

A big fat blog about big fat nothing.

There's not a whole lot to report on. Not much happened this weekend. Saturday we just sort of hung around the house all day. Adrien napped from 12-3:30pm as usual, and that sort of cuts our day in half. So the morning was spent waiting for him to nap and the early afternoon was spent letting him nap. My husband finally got a chance to mow our yard (between Friday night and Saturday)..the rain finally let up enough. I'm pretty sure it has been a good three weeks since the last time our yard was mowed. It was looking mighty bushy. The grass was so monstrous that our lawn mower could hardly make the trip across our lawn without wanting to die. Now there are six bags of wet, mildewed grass in our garage awaiting pick up from the waste collection service. Our garage smells hideous.

Saturday afternoon we went to the duck park. My husband's such a wanker -- we only walked around the pond once and he was ready to leave.

Sunday we went to church and then waited for Adrien to take his 3 1/2 hour midday nap. My husband and I watched the Nascar race (well he did, mainly) and I took a nap. Yay for napping. So the whole day was pretty uneventful.

Adrien's currently taking his midday nap and I'm left to my own devices. I could clean, but I don't really like to do that in my spare time. I feel like nap time is my time. There seems to be a marathon of Little People, Big World on....I'm really hooked on that show (It comes on TLC). I have a ton of laundry I could be folding. My husband felt entitled to wash most of our laundry this weekend, but not to fold any of it. I hate folding laundry. I think he's leaving it to see if I will fold it. I sincerely abhor laundry folding.

We went to the duck park earlier, and there's not much more to report on than there was the other day. I was accosted by at least a dozen ducks, a dozen pigeons, two geese and some finches upon leaving the park. I was packing Adrien back into the car and they all seemed to congregate around me. I assume they were waiting for some stale bread or something....I felt a little bad that I had nothing to feed them, but then I was sad that they'd come to rely on humans to feed them things they shouldn't be eating in the first place. That reminds me: I wanted to scream at the park authorities (or whatever idiot was responsible) when I saw some of the tiny ducklings pecking at a cigarette butt this morning. I can't imagine how horrid the tobacco must be for them. The little cove these duckies stay in was horribly polluted today. It really makes me sad. Isn't it the city's job to keep it clean? And what moron would throw their cigarette into the pond in the first place?!?!

Other things that bother me today include the fact that I had to close my blinds because my neighbors were outside mowing their yard. I know they can see straight into my house when my blinds are up. I hate that we live so close together, although as suburban neighborhoods go in Dallas, I don't have it half bad. The houses in our neighborhood are a great deal farther apart than they are in most other neighborhoods around here. It just feels a bit like an invasion of privacy in a way. I don't want them to see my living room floor littered with toys. I don't want them to see me camped out on the computer or on the couch napping for the 3 hours Adrien will be asleep. I just genuinely dislike that they can see the goings on in my house.

However, at least those neighbors are compelled to mow their own lawn. My other neighbors pay a service to do it weekly. Every single week on Thursday mornings, my husband and I are awoken at 6:45 or 7am by their lawn service. I really think they're the laziest people on earth. Their yard is not that big. Couldn't the guy manage to mow it himself? I guess it's too much work. But it really ticks me off to be woken up so early by either a lawn mower, weedeater, or a leaf blower. That was one reason we moved out of an apartment complex! Oh well, I guess they have the money to keep their little topiaries perfectly ball-like.

In other news around here, apparently an 18-wheeler blew up on the interstate that is about a football field's length away from my neighborhood at 12:30am this morning. I heard nothing. Man, I must have been sleeping good. (The driver was not injured, by the way) But honestly, how does one sleep through something like that?