Is It Over?

This month has been one thing after the other.

• The third bladder infection in three months. Possible concern regarding kidney problems.
• The gas gauge in my 4Runner intermittently works.
• My cell phone doesn't always send/receive text messages.  Apparently on it's own schedule.
• It also randomly loses email messages and/or deletes entire email accounts.
• I slipped and fell on a patch of ice, screwing up my back and ripping my go-to pair of jeans.
• The drain pipe for the washer broke on a Friday night, resulting in a flooded mechanical room and adjacent closet AND a Saturday service call for a plumber.
• Within hours of the plumber leaving, our furnace quit working.  Resulting in another Saturday service call and a new circuit board.
• While sequestered in the bedroom to avoid annoying the service guys, one dog chewed the corner off my 20 year old afghan.  Then puked for 3 days while C was out of town. 
• The carpet cleaning machine spewed dirty puke water all over my bathroom floor. 
• Both kids were sick.
• C was sick.
• Our babysitter bailed for our anniversary dinner, leaving me scrambling to find a new sitter.
• A factory reset of my phone wiped out business mileage I'd been tracking. That I was too exhausted to remember to back up before the reset. 
• A 60+mph wind storm blew shingles off the roof.
• The other dog cut his tongue and proceeded to lick himself bloody for hours on end. 
• The garbage disposal started making funny noises.
• My sewing machine randomly locks up and has to be completely shut down to get it to restart. 
• The kitchen aid mixer makes a metal-on-metal grinding noise when used and gets really hot to the touch.
• Seventeen days after the first service call, the furnace guy was back again. This time a bad thermostat, hopefully. Which could have been the reason for the bad board before (the ailing thermostat shorting the board).

I hope the door doesn't hit February on the ass, on its way out.  My luck I'd have to replace the stupid door.

Growing Up

There are days that I wonder, at what point in one's life, do you become too old to throw on a baseball cap in lieu of doing your hair?  

This week isn't going to be that week for me.

Looking Back

This time of year always makes me nostalgic -- it was about this time that I started my adventures in Nepal back in '99.  So when the day dawns on January 15th I try to take a few minutes to remember things I desperately want to hold on.  And I do the same every day for a week or so afterwards.  I'm fortunate that my best memory of my trip kisses me every day before he leaves for work, hugs me every day when he comes home and sits next to me at the dinner table every night.  But the other memories fade a little more as the time goes on.  Photos help -- bringing back the sights, sounds and smells that one will only understand if they step foot off an airplane in Kathmandu.  It saddens me though that the details continuously become more obscure.

Question of the Day

After what timeframe, if at all, does the presence of a shoe in the dryer with albeit clean, but wet, clothes change their status to dirty and demand a do-over?

Little girls about 12-months in age, make for the BEST laundry helpers.

Dietary Confessions

Somewhere after lunch today turned into the type of day I convince myself I'm okay with the number on the scale and the strength/tone of my body (which I'm really NOT) in lieu of finding the motivation to eat well and take care of myself.  

I'd like to transition into evening with a glass of wine and a bowl of popcorn.  The bigger, the better.  For both.

Please excuse me, I'm off to raid the pantry to see if anything even remotely resembles a cheeseburger.

My hope is that tomorrow is better.

The Beginning of the End

When both of my girls were born, I set a personal goal of being able to nurse them until their first birthday.  

With KT, we hit a horribly rough spot about 9months in and she self weaned.  Honestly, I'm not sure what came first, problems with my supply or her not wanting to nurse.  Whatever the case it came to an end much more quickly than I'd hoped for.

This time around we encountered some bumps along the road but we made it to Baby Girl's 1st birthday on Sunday.  There were days I wasn't sure we'd make it, but we did.  And as her birthday has come and gone, so begins the process of weaning.  She was only nursing twice a day and biting more often than getting any nourishment so the decision was made to taper off completely.  We've started dropping the session before bed and it's going well so far.

It's sad to see this part of our relationship come to an end but in the same breath I love watching her grow up.

A New Year, For Me

This last year has been crazy.  New baby, heart condition, trying to run a business with two kids at home...seems like I have little time for this blog anymore.

But I miss this.  I miss this space.  The ability to sit down and dump my feelings out.  For me, it's therapeutic.

I'm not one to sit and make resolutions.  I know that by mid-January I'll be booking a one-way guilt trip because I've tossed them to the wayside.  This year though, I honestly do want to make some changes.  I need to do a better job of managing my time.  I need to do a better job of finding MY time.  As in, finding time for myself.  Doing things for myself.  And yes, that means coming back here more often.

I need it.  I need the outlet and truthfully, I miss it.

Happy New Year!

Lessons from the Road

1. Changing tables are few and far between in certain stretches along I-80.  This includes places such as rest areas, gas stations AND restaurants.  When the temperature hovers in the single digits it doesn't allow one to lay a child on the seat and change a diaper while standing outside the car, leaned over said baby.  It causes one to come up with creative ways to change diapers.


2. When those temperatures continue to hover in the single digits, water pipes freeze at Wyoming rest areas.  With 20+ miles to the next exit with a gas station, 42 miles to the next rest area and a 2nd cup of coffee causing your bladder to utter curse words you take your chances with non-flushing toilets. Gross, but a necessity.


3. $4 pillows from Wal-Mart are a life saver when you log 4000 miles.  And you feel less guilty about it when you open the back door to the truck and they fall out onto the parking lot.


4. Tantrums are not only for children.


5. With two small, impressionable children in the backseat and thousands of asshats pulling asshat-like driving maneuvers in front of you on the interstate, you come up with creative ways to curse at them.  Like calling them portholes.


6. Breaking stuff is a gift children and dogs demonstrate.  Even if you don't think it's possible for them to reach it or cause any damage to it, they will.  Quickly too.  Houseplants and baby gates seem to be highly favored items to destroy.


7. Five year olds can get tired of fast food chicken nuggets.  Almost unimaginable, I know.


8. One who thinks it's a good idea to give a 5-year old a bag of marbles while in the truck should not be allowed to get mad and yell when said marble bag gets dumped.  Especially when the dumping is accidental.  It does however cause other occupants of the vehicle to laugh at the creative ways implemented to prevent marbles from spilling out into parking lots when doors are opened.


9. If you find yourself with 5 bottles of Michigan wine and 4, 6-packs of Michigan brewed beer in your cart at Wal-Mart throw a couple of bags of chips in with your alcohol.  Other shoppers will look at you as though you have a problem but you'll fool yourself into thinking otherwise.


10. Upon waking from a nap, don't ask why the driver is waving an open pack of gum around.  Please, just don't ask.  Just pray you never experience it.


11. After 20ish years, one can still remember the words to the most popular song played at 8th grade dances.  Thank you, Extreme, for those eternally ingrained lyrics.


12. Two adults, two small children and 2 fifty-pound dogs in a small hotel room makes for a tight space.  Add in a pack 'n play, two dog kennels, 3 suitcases, 2 computer cases, 1 camera case, 3 rubbermaid storage containers, a small wooden rocking chair, 1 diaper bag, 1 preschool backpack and 2 boxes of childhood momentos and that tight space becomes suffocating.  Mix with exhaustion, impatience and restlessness and everyone is *almost* grateful to get back in the truck when the interstate reopens.


13. Dogs, albeit man's best friend, may not always appreciate thoughtful gestures.  When the forecast is calling for single digit, if not negative, temperatures please refrain from taking your beloved sweatshirt and putting it on a pet.  If you chose not to refrain, don't be surprised at the next gas station when you find the dog has escaped from your generosity AND chewed some air conditioning vents in it for you.  Those holes can not be fixed.  Add another $25 to your trip tally.  And once again, be prepared for other occupants of the vehicle to laugh.


14. My husband is still the most awesome person to road trip with. I may get frustrated with his antics, his vocabulary, his grumpiness and his desire to listen to NPR at 1am but he keeps me sane and he makes me laugh.  Oh, does he make me laugh.  Sometimes it's with him; sometimes it's at him.  No matter the case, it reminds me why I fell in love with him almost 13 years ago and why I still love him more than words. (Yeah, you guessed the song right.  And no, I don't feel badly that it's now streaming through your head. I can't hear you cursing at me over the volume of the verses blaring in my skull.)

Holiday Countdown

The countdown has begun.  

Just imagine it: 2 adults, 1 preschooler, 1 infant and 2 dogs journeying almost 4000 miles round trip in the span of 10 days.  As much as I love road trips -- and I used to really love this one pre-kids -- it's so much more involved now.

This is where I wish we had a bigger vehicle (a full size SUV with a 3rd row seat would be nice, instead of a double cab pickup or my ancient 4Runner that we don't trust to make the drive).  Or a bigger bank account to afford the $800+ per person airfare.  Or even a spouse with unlimited vacation time so we could set a more leisurely pace.

C seems to think we'll be able to drive straight through.  My thoughts?  Bwahahahahaha!  Straight through is doubtful.  I'm pushing for 2 days, with a hotel stay somewhere around Omaha to give the kids time out of the truck.  They might not sleep well but it will be better sleep than in carseats.  Maybe.  

As always, we'll do everything on the fly.  I'll be equipped with a list of pet-friendly hotels in major cities from Kearney, Nebraska to Davenport, Iowa.

Twice now we've been stuck somewhere in Wyoming on the drive back West due to inclement weather.  At this/that time of year it's always a gamble.

I'll be praying for sanity, clear roads and docile kids.  The chances of all three are slim but one can hope, right?

Not That Old, Yet

Twice today I've gotten emails regarding AARP memberships.  Twice.  Granted I feel (as in my body physically feels) like I should be hitting retirement age but my feet are firmly planted in my 30's.  Early 30's for another little bit.

Gotta love junk mail.