Back to Normal and More Stress

It is good to have Jim back home. We picked him up from the airport last night. His plane was about 30 minutes delayed so Jack had a whole lot of fun running all over the airport waiting area entertaining the other people there. I also think they were laughing at ME running all over trying to catch up to him and make sure he didn't go out the door or up the escalator or ride the baggage carousel. Yeah Jack and I provided a good 45 minutes of entertainment for those people that is for sure. And when Jim showed up, Jack was a smiles to see Daddy. I mentioned in the car on the way to the airport that we were going to see Daddy and he kept saying "Dada" over and over again. I think the boy missed his Daddy.

We also found out tonight that we are going to have Laura live with us again indefinitely because her mother is not doing very well. I do really love having Laura with us because she provides a sense of a complete family when she is here. However, it does bring a lot of stress. Namely getting her to and from school and her cheer practice. Her school is 20 miles away in the opposite direction of both of our works. So getting her to school and picking her up after school can be a problem of logistics. Also she has cheer practice for 2.5 hours every Monday and Wednesday. I am thinking she may just have to drop that because I really don't know how all that is going to get done while trying to work and also take care of Jack. But we will see and work it out. My heart goes out to the girl because I can't imagine how scary it is for her at this time. Her mother has this dreaded disease that could take her away forever and she is shuffled from one house to another. She is coping pretty good on the outside, but I am sure she is keeping things inside a lot. It is a lot to take for a 9 year old girl. I hope that we can provide a sense of stability for her that she really needs at this time and that her mother does let her live with us for awhile and not do the back and forth thing that she has been doing. But I will stop right there in talking about her mother because I could write a book about the woman and ya'll don't wanna read that book I can assure you.

So its gonna be a bit stressful around here and I will try to see the humor in it all and relate all the stresses and frazzled mommy moments on here. I am sure there are going to be a lot of em.

The Wait Is About Over

I have to go pick up Jim from the airport in about an hour. I swear it has been over 2 months instead of the 2.5 weeks that he has been gone. Since he has been gone, I have fought a serious sinus infection, dealt with serious staff shortages at work making work a very hellish place, dealt with Jack and his tantrums, took him to the doctor for his checkup, and spent a weekend at Disneyland. Yep it had to be 2 months or it feels like it anyway.

So I picked up Jack today from daycare and she told me that he hadn't had much of a nap and he was about ready to go down when I got there. I thought it was perfect since we have to go to the airport at 8:00 tonight. So I come home and he is crying and grabbing my legs (The Signs of Naptime). I put him down but of course no go. No nap! But instead I have this incredibly whiny toddler on my hands. I am sure when we are ready to walk out the door, he will then be ready to go down.

Just when I thought that summer was over (thank goodness), it came back in full force today. It has been only in the low 80's around here - absolutely perfect weather. But today it went back up to 103 and along came the Santa Anna winds. Those strong winds that just blow all the hot air all over the place. Oh Joy, I get to turn the air conditioning back on and spend another gazillion dollars on that. Yay!

Well I am off because I have a certain toddler screaming in my ear and trying to take over the keyboard.

Stories From The Hurricane Devastation

Every night, I have been talking to Jim on the phone. He has been relating some of the stories of the sorrow and devastation. They are really truly horrible and so sad how people who had houses, cars, stability one moment and the next moment - nothing.

But the one he told tonight is one that just rendered me speechless. He said that one older lady came up to them and said that she never had a bank account in her life. I guess she didn't trust em or something. But anyway, she said that her entire savings were in 2 trunks in her house, which as you guessed it, was completely destroyed. But here's the kicker. The amount of her entire savings? TWO POINT FIVE MILLION DOLLARS IN CASH!!!! Can you even imagine? I guess she told Jim that she has been trying to find these trunks, but can't (DUH). My guess would be looters suddenly got very very happy or the trunks were just blown apart and the cash is somewhere in the Gulf right now. After hearing that story, I was completly speechless and aghast that there were actually people out there like that! Yeah well that is one worry I will never have - losing 2.5 million dollars in cash. Again - Speechless!

Well I am off to watch Gilmore Girls. Happy Happy Joy Joy.

Yay! Jim's coming home this week.

Jim called me at work today and told me that he will be flying in on Wednesday night. I think he is quite tired of the FEMA business and really wants to come home. They moved him today into the Air Force Base and for the first time, he got a hot shower today! Good Grief, I would have left oh about 2.5 weeks ago if it were me. Yes, I am a wimp. You don't have to tell me, I know it already.

I was really mad today when I saw how much his paycheck was this time. It was SUPPOSED to be time and a half for this entire time and he was working 12 hours a day. Yeah good money! But, he only got his base pay with no extra anything. I was counting on the extra money to pay our Disneyland credit card bill! Man. Sometimes, I really hate the federal government. They are soooo disorganized. I mean if they were a corporation, they would have been put out of business soooo long ago, its not even funny. So this means that Jim has to probably submit about 25 reports, talk to another 6 people, and wait another 6 months to see the money. You think I am exaggerating? HA! Sorry, we will probably have to wait more like 9-12 months to get the money. Yeah. It is that bad. It took us over a year to get paid for days worked when Jim was at the academy when I was pregnant. I think we got the money when Jack was turning about 9 months old. Yeah. It is that bad.

But I am really happy that Jim is finally coming home. It has been a VERY LONG 2.5 weeks.

In the Jackaroo news department - the kid is totally wiped out from his weekend at Disneyland. Last night, he was soooo needing to go to bed around 5:30. I kept him up until about 6:00 (yeah that was the longest 30 minutes in history) and put him down then. He promptly fell asleep and the kid did not stir until 6:30 this morning! Over 12 hours of sleep! And tonight, he went down at 7:00 with no fight at all. Glad to know that it isn't just ME that gets totally wiped out at Disneyland, even the boy feels it!

The Remaining Disneyland Pictures

Meeting Goofy for the first time is a traumatic experience.





The jumping water fountain. A joy for all.




Just standing and taking in the shear joy that is a jumping water fountain.





Playing with the jumping water fountain. It was really funny because he just never knew where the water was going to jump out of.




Yep he got drenched!




The boy enjoying a Nestle Crunch Ice Cream. Yeah. There was chocolate and ice cream everywhere afterwards. This was AFTER the water fountain fun and AFTER we changed clothes.






Picture from the Block Party Bash parade in California Adventure park. Lots of singing and dancing going on.

Pictures

Well not sure what is up with the Blogger photo uploading thingy, but it won't let me upload anymore pictures right now. So, you get these two. They are of Jack on It's a Small World ride. See the concentration on the boy's face - and this is just at the beginning of the ride! I think this was his favorite ride of all.

Anyway, I will try to upload the rest later.

Disneyland Weekend!!!

We just got home from our Mommy And Jack Disneyland Weekend. And I have to say that we had a blast. It actually was very nice just the two of us. We went at our own pace and just had some good ole fun.

When we first got there on Friday, we went to California Adventure park. And we saw Goofy and let me just say that the boy was NOT happy to see Goofy and did not want any part of him at all. I have pictures that I will post later. We also saw the Aladdin show and what a great show that is. The genie in the show was HILARIOUS. Adult humor for the adults thats for sure. And Jack was mesmerized with the show for the entire 45 minutes. I really didn't think he would be able to sit that long, but the show held his attention - amazing!

Then we went to the Bugs Life area where we rode all the rides. And they had a water park where the water would jump out at random intervals. The kids loved it. And Jack was no exception. The kid got drenched! And I figured that I would just let him go for it and get totally soaked and then change him into his long pants for the night.

We also saw the Block Party Bash which was really neat with all the characters from The Incredibles, Monsters Inc, Toy Story and others. They got everybody dancing in the street and it was SO cute to see Jack dancing along. And wow the performers were amazing. Talk about a workout! Those people never stopped moving during the entire time. I can't imagine how horrible it would be during a 100 degree day. I hope they get paid the big bucks is all I can say.

After that we went over to Disneyland park and got ourselves a corndog and picked out a really good spot for the Parade of Dreams. The Parade was really pretty with all the lights and everything. Jack just ate it all up and was mesmerized by the whole thing.

After the parade, we went back to the hotel. And wow was that a nice hotel! The bed was amazingly comfortable. I shared a King sized bed with Jack, which he thought was totally cool.

Yesterday, we went to Disneyland park and rode most of the rides in Fantasy Land. Of course, he LOVED the merry go round, Dumbo ride, and the spinning Teacups (he was laughing his head off, and I was really wanting to puke! Those things seriously get to me). But he was really scared on Mr. Toad's wild ride, Peter Pan's flight, and Pinnochio's ride. They all had scary elements like lightning and scary voices. We then went on Small World (you know the one where the stupid song is stuck in your brain for 3 years afterwards). And he absolutely loved it and was totally enthralled with the entire ride. The lines were amazingly short. I think our longest wait was about 15 minutes. And the weather was perfect 75-80 degrees. Absolutely perfect weekend to go to Disneyland.

After Fantasyland, we hit up Toontown for a little bit. But I could tell that the kid was needing a nap badly. So we headed back to the hotel, where we both slept a couple of hours. We headed back over to Disneyland about 6:00 where we proceeded to get dinner and then watched the Parade of Dreams again.

Then we went on the Pirates of the Carribbean ride. Jack was so scared! He did not like the big drop at the beginning of the ride and then proceeded to keep his head buried in my chest most of the ride. We also hit up the Winnie the Pooh ride, the train ride around the park, and the Jungle Cruise. The Jungle Cruise is where I whacked my knee on the steel beam getting in the boat and man that hurt! It still hurts! Jack was scared on the jungle cruise. Of course the girl tour guide didn't help matters by being very loud about the "dangers" lurking around the bend and having the rhino come out of the water at the boat. That totally scared the boy!

After the jungle cruise, we watched the fireworks. They must have changed them for the big 50th celebration because they are really spectacular! We were right in front of Small World where they are done and it was quite a sight. Jack was got scared a little bit by the big booms, but for the most part, he was enthralled by the light show.

We were then herded like cattle out of the park. It took about 45 minutes to walk out of the park. And at one point, I REALLY wanted to do physical damage to some JERK who literally jumped over Jack's stroller to get ahead of me and in the process kicked his hand really hard making Jack scream. I yelled at him, but it didn't do any good. Man I was mad. People are just so rude in a crowd like that. I mean really people you can only go so fast and jumping over my kid's stroller and kicking him will NOT help anything.

Once we got back to the hotel, it was almost 11:00 and the kid was WIRED! I mean he was literally bouncing off the walls and did not fall asleep until after midnight. And what time do you think the boy woke up this morning? 6:15 AM!! The boy has THE most amazing internal alarm clock I have ever seen. He was up and bouncing on the bed and throwing the pillows all over and giggling. Joy! So we got up and got ready to leave. We went down to Starbucks about 7:30 and I got me a Venti triple latte (yeah I needed it!) and a muffin and the boy a sippy cup of milk. We went outside to enjoy the morning air and eat our breakfast. There was another family of four that came out to do the same thing. The weird part was they were dressed in their pajamas! Seriously! The mother had on a nightgown and slippers, the kids were both in jammies and the father had on running shorts and t-shirt. AND they had the gall to look at me funny when Jack and I were throwing crumbs at the birds, which Jack thought was the neatest thing.

So we are now home. I can say that was probably one of the funnest times I have spent at Disneyland. I thought it was going to be hard with dealing with Jack, but he was a really good boy. I came to love the Baby Care Center in the park. It is a place where you can change your baby on nice padded changing tables and there is a room for nursing mothers. I would walk 20 minutes past 3 public restrooms to go use that instead of the icky and crowded bathrooms. Oh yeah and when I first got there, I went to get my annual pass replaced and all I had to do was give them my sob story about how my pass was with my husband who was working with FEMA at the moment in MS and they practically laid the red carpet out for me. I got a "bless your heart" and "aren't you sweet"! I am not even the one in the hurricane! I just wanted to get into Disneyland for free! They gave me a two-day pass for free and I didn't have to pay for the lost pass fee. Yay!

All in all a good time had by Mommy and Jack. I'll post the pictures later. There are not that many since I was the one running around trying to corral my child and didn't really have a whole lot of time to click the camera.

Well I just put the boy down for a nap and since I got about 5 hours or less last night, I am going to go do the same thing.

Disneyland here we come!

Yep, it is all settled. Jack and I are going to Disneyland this weekend. There is one small snafu. Jim has the annual passes in his wallet in MS. But I looked online and you can get a replacement for just $25 - sure beats the $75 ticket cost.

I also reserved a room at the Hyatt (yeah I am going all out this weekend). It wasn't too bad for a rate at $129/night. I figure that I can spend some of that overtime money that Jim is making in the Gulf coast right? Anyway, we will be there Friday and Saturday nights. I am really looking forward to it. I plan on hitting up some of the shows that we don't normally go to when we visit Disneyland because we usually have Laura and she wants to go ride the rides.

I plan not to stress this weekend no matter what. It is going to be a time for me and Jack to have fun and do some relaxing at the hotel pool and who knows what.

Oh yeah and thanks to my friend Janet for saying she would take care of the dogs for the 2 days! She is the best friend in world! The cats can fend for themselves.

So Ciao until Sunday. And of course, I will be back with lots and lots of pictures. After all I am Mad Mom with Camera!

I have just won a 3 day weekend alone with a toddler, what am I going to do next?

Go to Disneyland! That is if I can a) find a neighbor to take care of the 4 leaches (err pets) and b) if I can find our annual pass to Disneyland. I am really hoping that they are NOT in Jim's wallet in MS right now. But, I really think if I can work it out, me and Jack are going to Disneyland this weekend and staying in a hotel for a couple of nights. I figure we can just take our time going through Disney and go back to the hotel for naps and maybe catch some swimming in the pool. Basically, just relaxing from this hellious week that I have had. We'll see if going to Disneyland by myself with Jack is actually relaxing or not (probably not) but it will entertain the boy. And since we have annual passes and it will be free to get into the park, I figure why not!

Stuff

I think I recovered from my night of no sleep due to the thunderstorm the other night. Last night, even Jack wanted to go to bed early. So I tucked him in bed around 7:30 and I headed to bed myself. Thank goodness for Tivo because last night was a must-see-tv night. I just watched last nights Gilmore Girls and I just have to say that show is awesome. Rory is being very stupid, but I guess we all have to go through a stupid phase in our life, right? Then I watched the finale to Big Brother. I knew that Maggie had won from reading the internet last night. But can I just say that it sucks! She was the meanest of them all in that house and totally does not deserve the 500 big ones, but oh well. I just hope that she realizes how everybody really thinks of her out here. I thought it was cute when Howie said they were America's last choice. He's so cool! Too bad either him or Janelle couldn't win.

So tonight I am recording Lost. I just got into that show. Pretty freaky stuff.

Not much going on here. I had to go into the office today. Yeah I know on my day off! But we are totally short-staffed and I thought that I would be the good employee (team-player) and help out. Damn I am nice! But I am not gonna be that nice on Friday. I love my 3 day weekends!

I talked to Jim tonight and it is looking like he is going to be there at least another 10 days, probably more. I really don't know how single parents do it because it is driving me crazy.

I would love to go away to someplace fun with Jack this weekend, maybe to the beach or something. I just feel the need to get away from the house and everything. If it wasn't for all the animals that reside in this house with us , I would probably be making reservations as we speak. But there is always that question of who's going to take care of the animals. They are so not worth it! But who knows, I may just take off and see if the neighbor kids can check in on the animals.

Well that is it. I am off to bed and then off to work again tomorrow.

B O O M !!!

That is what we heard all night last night. There were some serious thunderstorms here last night. They started about midnight and were just starting to die down around 6:00 am. And when I say thunderstorms, I mean shake-the-house thunderstorms with lightening. I have to say in the 7 years I have lived in California, I have never seen a thunderstorm like that before. Now in Michigan, I know they can do thunderstorms really well, but California...not so much.

So during the 6 hour siege of booming and banging of thunder and lightening, the animals were terrified! The dogs were barking at the thunder and the cats were quivering under the bed. I was trying like mad to sleep between all the chaos. At one point, we lost power and didn't get it back on until this morning about 7 am. Oh yeah and the boy? I went and checked on him a couple of times during the night and I can only say this one thing - He is TRULY his father's son. Because the boy never even flinched during the whole thing. Never woke up once, he just kept on on snoring away. Yep, that's Jim's kid alright. Jim who can sleep through ANYTHING.

So that was MY night last night. How was yours?

Big Thumbs Down

These SUCK! Why you ask? Well let me just tell you. I picked these up at Target thinking how cool, something new to play with during bathtime (Jack's favorite time of the day). BUT let me just explain how the little bathtub crayons are made. They are basically a wax crayon that are inside this little plastic "shell". They say that your little future artist can draw all over the walls in the bathtub area and it will just come right off, which is true. They do clean up very easily. That part is very good. However, that little plastic "shell" that houses the wax crayon? That part doesn't work! You take a crayon out of the box and give it to your little future artist and what happens? The wax crayon falls out of its little "shell" and promptly falls into the warm water. And what happens to wax in warm water? Yep, it melts! So tonight I gave Jack 3 of the 8 crayons to play with and within 3 minutes they were gone and I had a crying future little artist on my hand. Yeah and good luck trying to find a slippery, in-the-process-of-melting crayon underneath the soapy water. So we are left with the pretty little "shells" with no crayons.

Yeah. Do. Not. Buy. These.

Confession

I have a confession to make and give kudos to those stay-at-home Mom's out there. I admit that I am actually looking forward to going to work tomorrow! Now that is something that very rarely happens with me since Jack came around. But since it has just been me and Jack for the past 3 days solid, I am soooooo looking forward to adult interaction. I am looking forward to all the purchase orders, billings, dealing with angry vendors, payroll to run, bills to pay, and having ADULT conversations!

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my son to death. I love playing with him and watching him learn and grow. But, after 3 days solid with no other adult conversations except for a few hours on Friday night when we went to visit friends, I am ready to go bananas. I mean there are just so many lego towers you can build, sidewalk chalk designs you can make, and cars to play with. When bedtime came tonight, it felt like freedom!

So you won't hear this many times, but Yay! tomorrow is Monday! Not sure how all the stay-at-home Mommies do it. You have my admiration!

Just in case you wanted to see even MORE pictures of the boy, well here they are

These are the JcPenney pictures that I had taken and complained mightly about. They finally uploaded them onto the internet and I also picked up those that I purchased. They are cute, but I still stand by Sears as the best for customer service and just over all the best photo studio. This kid is so photogenic and he sure didn't get that from me.


I really liked this one of him laughing. It shows the Jackaroo personality so clearly.

He looks like such a big boy here! No longer a baby (sniff sniff).

He looks so much like Jim and this picture sure proves it. No doubt who the Daddy is with this one.






This could be called "Boy in Thought". You better take a good long look, because he VERY RARELY ever sits still like this. In fact, here it was only long enough to click the picture!

Doesn't he look like he's got something mischievous up his sleeve?

Drugs, Shopping, and Naps

Those are the keys to surviving these days. And no I haven't succumbed to the urge of the Vicodin bottle, but Sudaphed and prescription-strength Motrin are my little miracles in pill form. That combo can pretty much wipe out all the sinus pain for about 6 hours!

Shopping is what I am using this weekend as a form of entertainment. I figure if I am not home to see the disaster area also known as my house, I won't have to clean it. Sound good to you? Jack and I went to the mall this morning. His pictures from the infamous JcPenney photo session were in. They are cute and I will post them on here later. So I also took advantage of that "being financially better off with Jim gone" thing and bought a few things for myself, which I very very rarely do. I bought this really CUTE denim jacket and cute top. Also a pair of jeans and 2 t-shirts at Old Navy. Oh and I can't go clothes shopping without getting the boy something, especially since they were having Baby Days Sale at JcPenney. He scored 2 tops and 2 pants and 2 pairs of jammies.

Of course while at the mall, we played in the playland. Or I should say Jack did, I just ran after him all over the place. About 30 minutes of that and the kid is wiped and ready to go home.

Which comes to my 3rd key to surviving. Naps! The past two days, I have said screw it to the housework and every other type of work there is here and have taken a nap when Jack goes down. Let me tell you, it is heaven! I think I could get used to that. Of course nothing gets done, but then theres always that shopping thing to do. If you're not home, you don't see the mess.

See it all is like a big equation. Yeah yeah I know. Shut up. I do know that at some point, I do need to do laundry (unless I go shopping some more hehe) and clean this disaster area. But as Scarlett said "there's always tomorrow". Ha!

Back to Semi-Normal

Well I think I have calmed down a whole lot. If you read earlier in the week, you were probably wondering what in the world is going on with Dawn?!? I admit, I was a raving lunatic. BUT, I feel I do have a bit of justification for some of it. First of all, my husband left to go help all those poor people in the south devastated from the hurricane. I know I know, it was a GOOD thing he did that and I admit that yes it was a good thing that he wanted to help all those people. However, the timing and the way he did it sucked big time.

He didn't bother to consult with me before he volunteered to go help. However, to his defense, they didn't leave him with a whole lot of time to make up his mind when they were asking for volunteers. So I was furious at him for doing that without thinking of me and Jack. I let him have it pretty bad over the phone. And there's something that you should know about our marriage is that we NEVER fight. Which is weird because in the my past marriage, well it was pretty much a daily occurence. But Jim and I have this almost perfect marriage. We really are each other's best friend.

The timing sucked for a couple of reasons. First of all, I was sick with a sinus infection of monumental proportions. I mean, I have NEVER felt sinus pain like that. It was so bad that I just wanted to take some knock out pills and go to bed for a month, never to wake up. Seriously, I was eyeing the Vicodin that I got from when I delivered Jack, but never used. Who can be popping Vicodin with a newborn I ask you? But because I had Jack to take care of and my husband was gone, I couldn't do that. I was feeling like I was a terrible mother because I was not paying any attention to him. I just wanted Jim to be there and take over the Jack duties. And that got me even more angry.

It was also PMS time and as you all know that can cause any normal sane woman to lose it at times.

So all that combined, has made my last week a nightmare. However, I have felt better the last couple days and hopefully that stuff doesn't come back ever. Jim and I have made up over the phone. He realizes that he should of consulted with me and I apologized for talking to him so badly.

And actually there are some advantages to Jim not being here. Financially we are doing so much better because he's not driving a thousand miles a week at $3.00/gallon. Also he's making lots of overtime pay while working down there. And even though the house is a mess, I don't care because really who is gonna see it besides me and Jack? And Jack likes the mess! All his toys are right where he wants them - strewn ALL over the house, including the pots and pans. The animals like Jim being gone because they get to share the bed with me. Seriously, every night I have had 2 cats and 2 dogs in bed with me. Not a whole lot of room for me, I tell ya. Oh and also, no cooking! Not that I do a lot of cooking when Jim is here, but there's always that question of what to make for dinner. Now dinner time is so easy! One night, Jack and I had cereal and cookies!

But I am really proud of him to be helping people like he is. He told me that it looks like a nuclear bomb went off in Biloxi and how everybody is living just day to day with the hand outs that the Red Cross is providing. It is just so sad and I am ashamed of myself for reacting so badly to him earlier this week.

Thank Goodness I am back to semi-normal. And if you are reading this Jim, I miss ya and love ya.

CopyCat

Jack has become a copycat lately. I will say something like "Mommy is going to go get dressed" and he will come out and say "get dressed" and then say it over and over again. So Funny! He also was pushing my laundry basket all over and I asked him if he was going to play with it. And then he said "play with it" over and over again. He is just so funny these days.

Another thing he does that I am not sure I mentioned on here before is that when he is listening to music he will start moving his hands like he is a conductor. He LOVES music. And when we are in the car listening to a rock song, he will start to move his arms and then rock his head up and down. My little rocker!

28 Lbs!

That is how much Jack is weighing these days. I actually thought it was more than that. The kid is solid I tell ya. He is 28 lbs and 33.5 inches. I could of sworn that they told me he was 34 inches last time, but they had 33 inches written in his chart. So he has gained 2 lbs and a half inch in the last 2.5 months. He is in the 80 percentile for both height and weight and 60 percentile for his head. He checked out fine and he got 2 shots, which he was not a happy camper about. His appointment was at 10 am today, but we didn't get to see the doctor until 11:15! We waited in the waiting room for over an hour. He was having fun with a little red-headed girl. They were running all over the place and screaming. He likes the girls! So by the time we were all done, he was very cranky. He was hungry AND tired. We came home and I fixed him a quick lunch and off to a 3 hour nap. Heaven!

I took the opportunity to nap myself. I am thinking that my sinuses are now infected really bad, along with an ear infection. My ear has never been the same since I flew home last week and my sinuses are now starting to bleed. Anyway, I have felt like crap for a week.

And of course all this doesn't do my attitude toward my DEAR husband any good. Everytime I want to just go lay down, but can't because I have to take care of HIS son, my blood pressure starts to rise rapidly. And to make matters worse when I called him just now, he "couldn't talk" because he was out with the other people. He's in Orlando at the moment just having a good ole time I bet. He leaves tomorrow to go to Biloxi and since the phones are still down in most areas, I won't be able to talk to him. Oh well, I really don't want to talk to him right now anyway.

A friend offered to take Jack for a couple of days for me. It was really nice of her and I may take her up on the offer for a day or so. The problem is that Jack has been so needy of me since Jim left. He won't let me out of his sight without whining. And he insists that I carry him and hold him all the time. I am sure he is sensing my stress and feeling it himself. So me dropping him off with a friend might really stress him out more.

Feeling Better

I had my Gilmore Girls fix last night. It was the season premier and as you can recall, I missed the last minute of the season finale in May. Phew! Luke and Lorelie are engaged! Rory is being stupid. Yep, I am in my happy place with Girlmore Girls.

Jim and I are doing better. I apologized for being the bitch that I was to him the other night. I do have to chalk it up to that excuse all us women can use - PMS. I started yesterday, so I know that was a partial reason I was so angry. Don't get me wrong, I am still mad at him for just leaving without discussing with me first, just not THAT angry anymore.

I think he is a bit bummed because it looks like all he is going to be doing is filling out FEMA claims for people. He has been in Orlando for the past two days in training for that and I guess all the officers who volunteered to help are pretty upset because they thought they would be involved in actually helping people, not being insurance paper handlers. He finds out where they are sending him today and he still does not know how long it is going to be. He told me that he is going to do two weeks and then that is it. But we'll see. I do know that some things are going to change when he does get home. Things like him helping out with Jack a bit more. He has absolutely no idea how hard it is to be with him by yourself day in and day out with no breaks. He is going to be finding out when he gets home because I may just go somewhere for a weekend and leave the boys to fend for themselves. HA! I think that it has only been 3 or 4 times that Jim actually had to be alone with Jack all day long, let alone for days at a time.

Today is Jack's 18-month checkup. I get to find out how heavy this kid really is, because he has been breaking my back these days when I carry him. Last night he went down really easy at 7:30, which was so great because I was so exhausted myself. His daycare lady said that he didn't get a nap in the afternoon. How she gets 2 naps out him, I will never know. He only does one for me. But anyway, I will post back all the Jackaroo "stats" later.

Shitty

Jim left yesterday morning to go help with FEMA. I am not happy about the whole thing. You could say that I am in a pretty shitty mood (I know that I very rarely swear on here, but that is the way I am feeling right now). Jim VOLUNTEERED to go without discussing with me first. He just goes off leaving me and his 2 kids for weeks, possibly months. How he could do that is beyond me. I would cut off my arm first than volunteer to leave Jack that long. But hey I guess fathers don't feel the same way as us mothers? Anyway, he and I had a very LONG phone call tonight which left me feeling like, yep shit! I am also battling this shitty cold and my sinuses are infected. So being alone having to take care of a toddler, 4 animals, and a house, and try to work is a bit hard. You could even call it Shitty!

MIIINNNNE

Mine! That is the word I have heard all day today. It has started - the sibling rivarly thing between Laura and Jack. Laura picks up one of his toys and suddenly Jack HAS to have THAT toy that is in his sister's hands at THAT moment. And he then screams MINE until she gives him that toy. And then it starts all over again as soon as she picks up another toy of his. It doesn't matter if he hasn't played with that particular toy in days, he just doesn't want his sister to have it. Oh boy! This phase is going to be fun. And what makes it even more fun is when you are suffering from a head cold and you have a headache that is gonna explode your head any minute. Yeah it is just loads of fun!

Jim got the call

He's going down to help with the FEMA relief effort on Sunday. He doesn't know how long he is going to be gone, but I bet its gonna be awhile. I wonder if it is just coincidence that he finally got the call to go on the very day that they "fired" the head FEMA guy Brown? Makes ya go hmmm.

He showed up at my work today at 1:30 to tell me the news. He knew I would be upset, so he wanted to tell me in person. I am proud that he is going to help because God knows those poor people need the help. But at the same time, I worry about his safety and I am going to miss him - a lot. I know it is part of his job and I should be used to his being gone. He was gone for almost 4 months during the early part of my pregnancy, in fact he left a week after we found out. He went to the academy for training during that time. But now that I have Jack, it is just that much harder to be alone. It just seems like I have no breaks from working or taking care of Jack. But I will quit having a pity party because there are people down there who have absolutely nothing and I am here whining about not having my husband for a few weeks. Okay, I will shut up now.

The four of us went out to dinner tonight to celebrate Jim's birthday, which is on Tuesday. I haven't shopped for a birthday gift yet either. He is just so hard to buy for - typical guy. My parent's bought him a Michigan hat when I was there, can I call that good enough? hehe.

I am also trying to fight this stupid cold. It is really annoying and it doesn't seem to want to go away. Also, my stomach has been totally messed up since I got back from Michigan. I am just a basket case, aren't I? Maybe I should have titled this post - "Some cheese with that whine?".

Going on vacation just doesn't pay

Today was my first day back to work. It was a whole week gone. Boy oh boy not sure I'll make that mistake again...vacation that is. What a hectic day and it seemed like everything just went to hell while I was gone. I wasn't even in my office for more than 5 minutes and I felt like I wanted to run out the door and hide. But I did manage to catch up a bit today.

I had a meeting today with one of our packaging suppliers. He was telling me that because of the hurricane, all the plastic jars/lids/bottles that we buy from them are going up in price 20%! All because they are petroleum products and the refineries are shut down. Ouch! That was something that I never even thought of, but I guess plastic needs the oil (how do they make plastic outta oil anyway?). I think we are all gonna be in trouble financially in more ways than just at the gas pump unfortunately.

Anyway, I got home from my crazy, hectic, chaotic day and just needed to go for a walk. It actually is starting to cool off here. It was only about 85!!!! I know amazing huh? So Jack and I took off to walk around the neighborhood. He had to bring his sidewalk chalk with him on the walk. It was so cute that every few feet, we had to stop and he had to mark on the sidewalk. I am sure the neighbors are wondering what the heck all those white marks on the sidewalk are for. I think we will keep it our little secret.

When we got home from the walk, Jim was just pulling in the driveway. Poor Daddy, he was exhausted. He put in a 12 hour day with no breaks today. We love him for working so hard. Right now both Jack and Daddy are sleeping. It is nice. I think I may just curl up on the couch and read some Erma Bombeck - again thanks Amy. She is too funny!

Sears Pictures

When I was in Michigan, we went to Sears to get more pictures taken. I wanted some taken with Grandma and Grandpa. I was very pleased with how they turned out and the people at Sears were so nice. It took 2 sessions because Jack was just NOT cooperating the first time, so they let us come back the next day. Oh and they posted on the internet the same day. The JcPenney pictures I took almost 2 weeks? Nope they are not up on the internet yet and I paid $5 for that service! Sears...free. JcPenney, you will not be getting my business again, that is for sure.



You can see the fat lip he got from his trip down the 3 stairs. I figure it just adds a good story to the pictures!








There was one of me, Grandpa, Grandma and Jack. However, I totally hated it so it will not be shown. The 3 of them look nice however.

The Last Set of Pictures from Michigan...I Promise

One of Jack's favorite things to do at Grandma and Grandpa's was to pick the flowers and then shake the flower until all the petals fell off. Really fun stuff!





View of my parent's backyard. Nice huh? I really like how this picture turned out with the morning light over the lake.







Jack and Grandpa.





Jack and Grandpa taking a stroll together. I think they were searching for acorns, which wasn't hard because they were only about a million of them all over the place.






Of course Jack couldn't stay off of Grandpa's tractor. This tractor is the small one, the other big tractor was at the neighbor's. Maybe next time, he will get to ride in the big bucket on the big tractor like I did when I was a kid.

We Made it Home!

We got home last night. It was a grueling flight that lasted about 28 hours, or maybe it was only 4.5 hours, but it sure seemed longer. I did buy Jack a ticket for the trip home because I just couldn't do it again with him on my lap. I thought that because he had his own seat, things would be easier...wrong! He screamed for about 3 of the 4.5 hours. I could not console him. I knew he was exhausted, but he would not go to sleep. I also think that his ears were bothering him because I think we both picked up a head cold at some point. I know that my right ear was really painful and totally plugged from the pressure. And add to that Jack screaming made for a very long flight!

Jim was actually able to pick us up at the airport. He was such a sight for sore eyes standing there. It was funny, he was in uniform and everybody was asking for directions like he knew LAX and little did they know he knows nothing about it. I guess FEMA never called him to go help with the hurricane relief effort. I think that FEMA has totally screwed up in this case and they don't know what the hell they are doing. Thank goodness the military came through like they did and those poor people are getting the help they need. I know that about 1500 people were bused to Michigan and were very happy to be there, even though they will be living in old military barracks for awhile. Sure beats nothing that they had!

I have more pictures to post from Michigan. I will try to do that later tonight. Some pretty cute of Jack and Grandpa walking in the woods together.

Pictures from Michigan...Part 2

Some more pictures from Michigan. As you can see Jack is being spoiled by his grandparents. He's been a good boy on this trip.


Jack and Grandpa enjoying some watermelon together - AGAIN. It has become quite a daily tradition with them two.






Below are pictures from yesterday before we went to church. Isn't that a handsome young man?

Nice picture of Jack and Grandma

Here Jack was too busy being moody to sit with Grandpa for a nice picture.

Jack and Grandpa enjoying some Michigan blueberries together. Notice Jack sitting at the table like a big boy!

We went to the zoo today. Jack had soooo much fun. He loved the giraffes and even fed one, which sent him into a fit of giggles. We went into the children's zoo and went to the sheep's pen. One of the sheep walked up and went "Baaaaa" to us. And what did Jack do? He screamed back at the sheep "Baaaa". And continued to scream "Baaaa" at it. It was the funniest thing and had us cracking up. He checked out everything and when he saw an animal he would point and look back at us and just babble on about that animal. I would say that he had a fun day for his 18 month birthday. And he even got a new t-shirt from Grandma and Grandpa with a giraffe on it! But the boy was tired when it was time to leave! He is out right now thank goodness, and so are Grandma and Grandpa. I think they were a bit worn out also.


Jack with Grandma on the moooo cow.



Jack wasn't too sure about the goats. He didn't want to get very close. But he did end up feeding the goat one of his cheese crackers.



Grandma and Jack had fun feeding the giraffe.

And now in the Jackaroo News Dept

Jack is having fun at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I think he is still on California time and getting him to sleep has been a bit challenging to say the least. Friday night, I put him in bed with me around 11 pm and he giggled and flopped around the bed for about an hour. In my parent's guest room (my OLD room) there are pictures with ducks hanging on the wall and the boy is OBSSESSED with these pictures. He stands on the bed and points to them and talks about them all the time.

Yesterday morning we went to church with Grandma and Grandpa. He went to the nursery for Sunday school like a big boy. He was not scared at all when some strange lady carried him away! When I went back to retrieve him, he walked out to me and handed me his papers he did. She told me that he did so well, like he'd been going there every week for months! Not sure I am too thrilled to know that my son would just happily let some stranger carry him away, but it was nice that time!

On Saturday, my nephew and his wife (yes I have a 30 year old nephew!) came over to visit. And Jack just loved "performing" for them. He gave them kisses and went walking in the woods with them. They have said that they do not want kids, but come on with a cute kid like Jackaroo, how could you resist?

He has been eating a lot of watermelon with Grandpa. He sits outside and will eat the watermelon and Grandpa even taught him how to spit seeds! Grandpa also cut up some lumber for him and made some cool blocks. They have been making towers and then smashing them down. Fun stuff.

I guess he did really well Saturday night when he was all by himself with his grandparents. I really did think that after 6 hours of alone time with Jackaroo, that I would come home to find my parents in some kind of shriveled up mess telling me to take him away, far far away. But nope, he was good for them and it sounded like they had fun. Even though, my parents were subjected to watching Thomas the Train video a few times. That alone can make anybody crazy!

Jack turned 18 months today! Where has the time gone? To celebrate we are going to the local zoo here. It should be fun and of course I will be Mad Mom with Camera! Don't worry!

High School Reunions are so Weird!

I had my 20th on Saturday nite. What a weird experience. First of all, I want to give a shout out to AMY! HI AMY and family! Thanks for reading my blog. And thanks for that book you gave me and the really nice card! That was so nice of you!

So reason I came to Michigan THIS weekend was to go to this reunion. And I swear as I was driving there, I almost turned around. I thought that I hated high school when I was there, why am I going now?!? But I did have fun when I got there. Unfortunately there weren't too many people from our class show up (about 12 out of 120!). Yeah our class sucked pretty bad. You can say it. It was good seeing the people that I recognized. But oh my gosh, 20 years changes people! And if it changed THOSE people that much, what about me? Do I look 20 years worse? Ack! 20 years!

Unfortunately the close friends that I had in high school (all 3 of them) did not show up. I was there with people that I HARDLY ever spoke to in the 11 years I went to school with them. And what is it about high school that you start to revert back to that shy, insecure person you were when you were sitting in Math class? Huh? Tell me that. I mean, I think that after 20 years, I am a pretty confident person, successful in life and professionally. But put me in a room full of people that made me feel so inadequate 20 years ago, and I am a shy little 9th grader again. What is that?!?

But it was fun. It was good to see Amy, Stefanie, the other Dawn (hehe I'll remember you every April 8th probably until we are 80!) and Kim. It was fun to reminisce about stuff. And I found out that I have also blocked out almost all of those years. Either that or some people have some amazing memories! It was fun to hear about what other people were doing the past 20 years. But it was also just plain Weird!

Lazy Saturday Afternoon

Jack and I are having fun with Grandma and Grandpa. He has been really good here. I think however that he is still on California time because he was still wired last night at 11pm! I put him to bed with me and he just giggled for like a half hour before falling asleep. I finally put him in the playpen at 1 am. He is now napping-thank goodness. He looks like he has been in a big ole fight since his fall down the stairs. He has a bruised lip and cheek and his neck is all scratched. But I couldn't believe how fast he got over that fall. In about 2 minutes he was laughing again. Me? I would of complained for a week!

I just heard from Jim and he still doesn't know when or how he is going to get down to help with the hurricane relief. I am proud of him for going and have calmed down since I found out about his little trip. I am also scared for his safety as the images on the news seems like there is complete anarchy down there. It is so sad that some humans have to turn so animalistic in times like this and make it that much worse. I am going to be sending a big care package of Jack's clothes down there when I get back home. I have two huge bags of his clothes that don't fit anymore and figure instead of selling on ebay, they need it much worse down there.

Tonight is my 20th high school reunion. I am looking forward to seeing how everybody has changed in 20 years. Should be fun.

Oh yeah that the weather here is sooo nice. No hot triple digits. Nice cool air - fall is definitely in the air. So nice.

Pictures From Michigan

Here are some pictures from Grandma and Grandpa's house in Michigan. As you can see, the boy is having fun. Below he is enjoying some watermelon with Grandpa. The boy never says no to watermelon.



Jack and Grandpa and watermelon.

Jack and Grandma and Grandpa.

We made it!

Jack and I made it to Michigan yesterday. Let me tell you that having Jack on my lap for FOUR HOURS in a cramped seat with no place to go, is NOT FUN! Traveling is so not fun with him, especially by myself. After we arrived in Detroit, it took a good 2 hours to get the luggage and then take the shuttle to the rental car place. Yeah that was fun loading the luggage, stroller, carry-on bag, and Jack on the stupid shuttle bus with no help! Geesh what is it with people today don't you think they could take 20 seconds out of their rush to get wherever to help somebody out who needs a few more hands? Geesh! When we got to the rental car place, there was an hour wait just to get to the counter! Now I understand the importance of those rental car gold service plans. So then we finally get through the line and trudge out to our car in the huge lot, rolling both the suitcase and stroller mind you, only to find that they had put an infant rear-facing seat in the car! I then emit a few swear words and realize that I had to trudge back to the counter (picture Steve Martin in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles and that was me) to tell them that I needed a car seat for a toddler. They made their little call and said that they will replace it. So again, I trudged back out to the car (again picture Steve Martin) and voila right seat is installed. Yay!

So I think to myself okay all I have to do is get in and drive the couple hours and I will be home free. But Jack starts screaming. He is hungry - super hungry and come to think of it, so am I. So I pull off at McDonalds and get him a Happy Meal and me one too. And he's starts to eat in the backseat. All is good. For 10 minutes. Then because we are driving west and well it was sundown time, the sun was straight in his eyes. He was NOT a happy camper. I don't blame him. He was tired and had been through a rough day and was such a little trooper through it all. I really was proud of him yesterday.

But we finally made it to my parents house. Jack had one bad fall this morning. The sliding glass door was open and he thought it was closed and went to lean on the glass and took a tumble down 3 steps. He now is sporting a big fat lip and bruised cheek. Poor thing.

Also, I found out last night, that Jim volunteered to go help out with FEMA down in New Orleans. So he is leaving sometime this weekend and will be gone for at least 2 weeks, probably more. I know I shouldn't be upset, but I was. He was going to pick me up from the airport and now he can't. I was pretty mad at him on the phone. But he said to me today that he has it all covered and is having one of our friends pick us up. And another thing, it is soooooo hard when he is gone. That single-parenting thing is tough! I get no break it seems. But I do know that it is for a good cause and all, it is just going to be tough.