Chicken bits in my hair

It's no secret that I love to watch TV.

Wait, no.  I take that back . . . it comes as a surprise to people who don't know me all that well, because it's a bit of a guilty pleasure that I don't advertise that much.  But if you really start to engage me in conversation, it's bound to come up and my secret is out.  Whether it be something I saw on the news or a quote from HIMYM, the truth always comes out.  Please don't judge.  Are you judging me?  If so, just keep reading, because this post has very little to do with television. 

I have a trusty DVR to keep me entertained as I work, cook . . . or breastfeed.  One of my favorite things about the first few months of my baby's life is the excuse to lock myself in a room with just her and watch whatever I'd like.  Because of my love/hate relationship with breastfeeding, this is sometimes my motivation to keep it up.  It's well documented that I think the best time of year to have a baby is right before network sweeps.

Obviously, with each subsequent child that gets more difficult.  Right now, I'm often nursing while quizzing Jack on spelling words, pondering Ben's "what if" scenarios and/or reading "Are You My Mother" to Claire for the 55,000th time.  But during those late night nursing sessions, or when Kyle's home and I get that chance to sneak away and watch something, I savor every moment.

One show I added to the lineup this time around is the Pioneer Woman's cooking show on Food Network.  I love her blog, so I was sure I'd love her show.  I can bake pretty well, but I'm not much of a chef.  Watching her in the kitchen, though, makes me think that I can do it, too.  You just throw a little of this and a little of that into the pot, give it a stir, and viola!  A culinary masterpiece!  It's truly mesmerizing. 

On last week's show, she made chicken and noodles.  As I watched her cook and create, I was inspired.  It seemed so simple. In a moment of pure stupidity, I added it to my menu as tonight's dinner.  Why would anyone with a newborn add to her menu a meal that requires more than heating and serving?  I really don't remember how it happened.  I'll just blame Hattie.

The recipe calls for a whole chicken already cut up. They didn't have that at our local grocery stores.  I probably could have looked harder and found one, but when your baby is on a feeding schedule, and your grocery shopping trips have a very specific time limit, you take what you can get.

I asked the guy at the store if it was pretty easy to cut them up.  He looked me up and down and replied, "For me?  Yeah." 

Um, excuse me?  Challenge accepted, buddy.

I asked google for information on "how to cut up a whole chicken" and found this tutorial from the New York Times Food section that made it look so simple. Just cut here, and pop there . . . it just kind of came apart for the lady in the video.  Oddly enough, it didn't do that for me.  The fat lines are not, in fact, a "grid for where to cut", and the joints do not just "appear" when I pop bones certain directions.  That tutorial is full of lies and I'm vowing here and now to never subscribe to the NY Times. 

It was a disaster.  At one point, I considered chucking the whole thing and making something else, but this chicken gave its life for our sustenance and it would be totally ungrateful to just waste it (see that right there . . . that's from watching too much Naked and Afraid).  I got the legs off (kind of) and then just decided to throw the whole thing in the pot, NOT cut up, to see what happened.

I let the whole thing boil, and it seemed to be working out okay.  When it came time to take it out of the pot and shred the meat, I grabbed a slotted spoon that I THOUGHT would be strong enough to support the chicken, but as I was lifting it out of the pot . . . SPLASH.  That sucker fell right back into the broth, leaving my whole kitchen, and me, covered in little bits of chicken.  And chicken fat  Oh, and not to mention . . . boiling hot water.  You don't realize how greasy chicken is until you're having to wipe it off of your floor, cupboard doors and counter tops. And let's not forget that moms of littles don't get to take showers whenever they feel like it.  In fact, this post was inspired a few minutes ago when I pulled a tiny bit of chicken out of my hair. 

The meal was tasty and Jack even asked to take the leftovers in his lunch. So all's well that ends well, am I right? 

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take the first of the 1,000 showers that it will take to get the chicken smell off of me.

The worst weeks

The last two weeks have been my worst weeks.  I've been trying to think objectively about whether they've been mostly the result of circumstances, pregnancy hormones, the crazy time of year or fatigue.  I'm sure it's the combination of all four.  In any case, they've been really bad.

We started getting our house ready to sell (which is all-consuming), only to find out that the amount of money we'd have to PAY to SELL our house is a lot more than we had anticipated.  So, by the time we pay to get out of our house, there won't be much left to put toward our new house.  And a new house?  We've found one that we really like, and we've heard there's lots of interest from other buyers.  It's not on the market yet, but when it is, I doubt we'll get it.

I feel so defeated.  I wish I could go back to 2005 Kyle and Sara and say, "They're lying to you.  Real estate IS NOT a good investment right now.  Just wait a few years."  And then yesterday afternoon, our neighbors began constructing a HUGE kennel in their back yard, right outside of our dining room windows.  To say that it sent me into a panic would be an understatement.  Maybe prospective buyers will really like dog-watching?  Last night, Kyle got up to get some water and when he tried to swivel the faucet on the kitchen sink, it just broke right off.  Right off in his hand.  So he spent the day replacing that.  If we DO sell our house, the new owners will have a nice, new faucet on the kitchen sink, so that's nice for them.

I have been at my parenting worst this week.  This is NOT an exaggeration.  I've yelled at my kids and made so many threats that I knew I wouldn't follow through on.  Did I mention that I've yelled a lot?  Screamed, really?  I can't take full credit for this, because they've been awful, but I'm not sure which came first . . . my issues or theirs.  I feel horrible.  I feel like when they think back to their childhood, the last two weeks are all they will remember.

May is always the most stressful month.  Once camps begin, the momentum just kind of carries us.  But getting ready for the summer is really hard.

On top of everything, when we signed Ben and Jack up for soccer in the fall, we didn't consider how their spring practices and games would affect baseball.  Fortunately (unfortunately?) they don't conflict.  But that means we have Soccer on Mondays and Saturdays and baseball on Wednesdays and Fridays. 

Have I mentioned that Brian and Debbie moved away at the end of April?  While I'm genuinely excited for them, it did kind of feel like I lost my only friend.

I have NOT been eating well and I'm positive that's contributed to my gloominess.  I've consumed too much junk, because it's what's easy during this time of year.  I need to do better about meal planning, but we do have a lot of meals at camp, so when I think about grocery shopping for just one or two dinners, I figure it's easier to eat out.  I need to stop that.  And I really should always carry healthy snacks so that I have no excuse for fast food.

Starbucks got my drink wrong 3 times this week.  They've never once messed up my drink, but THREE TIMES IN ONE WEEK.  I know, I know . . . first world problems.  But when you're paying first world prices for coffee?  You expect better.

The cashier at Meijer pointed at my belly and asked if this was my third child (Jack wasn't with us) and I said, "No, this is my fourth.  My oldest is at school."  She replied, "Yeah, I thought it looked like you probably had more."  Uh, thanks?  Ouch?  I don't even know how to respond to that.

I don't even want to get into how many people tell me that I look big for being due in August.  Yes, I was a little fat before I was pregnant.  Please let's talk about that more.

Because Kyle helps to coach Jack's team, it's just me, Ben and Claire sitting on the sidelines.  They're a handful.  Especially after 7:00, which is normally their bedtime.  After one game, another mom whispered (not quietly enough), "It looks like she has enough kids already."  And something about more than I can handle.  I didn't even bother to shoot a dirty look to let her know that I heard, because I probably would have cried.

One of the hymns Claire and I have been singing is, "What a Friend We Have in Jesus."  The last part of the first verse says:

"Oh, what peace we often forfeit,
Oh, what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer!"

I've tried to keep that in mind . . . that I don't have to carry all of this and that I need to be praying about everything.  But honestly?  On most days, I just can't get there.  Praying about things leads to ugly crying, and I don't usually have time to recover from that without before I have to be somewhere.

Tomorrow starts a new week.  But tomorrow is Mother's Day and I've had a long standing "dislike" for the "holiday" in general.  Getting my kids ready for church and out the door for the late service (rather than the early service) because we're meeting for lunch after it?  And then eating with all three of them in a restaurant during nap time?  Happy Mother's Day?  I don't get it.

Monday, though.  Monday is when it's all going to turn around.  It has to, right?

On 2013

I know that a cardinal rule of blogging is to never acknowledge an absence.  However, my  blogging absence says more about 2013 than any blog post could.  In general, 2013 has not been good.  It's been uncomfortable, frustrating, and at times, downright heartbreaking.  It's stretched and challenged us and has brought more tears than laughter.  Those are just the facts.

I know what you're thinking: "You have a home, jobs, three beautiful, healthy children, etc.  Why are you complaining?"  The good things in life aren't lost on me.  I know that it could be worse and that I'm relatively fortunate.  That doesn't change the fact that this year has just been a bad one.  All last January, February and March, I kept commenting on how I couldn't wait for winter to be over because I was sure winter was bringing our misfortune.  But it continued through the spring, summer and right on into the fall. December has kind of been the grand finale.

I regret not writing as much this year, because I haven't documented much of the kids' lives during this year and they've all changed so much.  Jack is 6, going on 12 and really is amazing.  Bennett is one of the most creative, compassionate 4-year-olds I know.  And Claire?  She's incredibly fiesty and so, so, smart.  We've had so many good moments with them this year and I wish I'd written about those.

The fact is that every time I sit down to write, my mind draws a blank and tears fill my eyes.  That's just how it's been.

I wish that I could write about how much we've grown and learned through the challenges of this year . . . and I think we have.  But it's hard to see that clearly when you're still in the middle of it.

I do know, that despite all of the stress and misfortune of this year, that God is good and that he loves us.  I know that even if every year for the rest of our lives is like this one, we can still consider ourselves incredibly blessed.

I'm just hoping that 2014 is our year.

Losing it . . .

Oh. My. Goodness. In preparation for a workshop I'm doing this weekend, I stumbled across my old photo-a-day blog. Oh, how I wish I still had time to do something like that. I loved looking at these daily glimpses of our lives from 4ish years ago.

I could look at every photo and pick it apart technically, but I can honestly say that I love these photos more than anything I've taken in the last year. I feel like I've kind of "lost it." I don't feel inspired when I'm behind the camera. Ugh. I hate that.

I feel like my photography has become way boring and my post-processing has become rushed and sloppy. I think that might even be part of the reason it took me forever to send out Claire's announcements . . . I'm not thrilled about any of the photos I've taken of her. The photos I used to take told our story. But now they're just kind of blah. I have the most beautiful subjects living right here in my house, but my mind feels like it's been sapped of all of its creativity.

I wonder what it'll take for me to get my motivation back . . . more time, perhaps? More sleep?

In over my head

I'm having one of THOSE weeks. The kind of week that reminds me that there's very little I can do apart from the grace of God. You know the kind, right?

The first week back from vacation is always stressful because there's so much catching up to do, and like I mentioned earlier, we were coming off a crazy drive home. When I got home on Sunday night, I was fried. Then upon return, I was hit with one thing after another for about three hours straight that seemed to make the outlook for this week even more difficult.

Late Sunday night, I sat at my desk looking over my to do list, calculating how long it would be before my head would hit the pillow and taking deep breaths in an effort not to panic. I think the only phrase that can accurately describe how I was feeling that night is "in over my head." I spent a good portion of that time wondering how on earth I'll cope with a third child.

The next morning, I was looking through photos from Ben's birthday party (that have yet to be processed) and found this family photo. We don't have many, and this photo is not all that great . . . but I've found myself staring at it for a few minutes every day this week, wondering who that pregnant grown up is in the picture. Because although it's been 11 years, I sometimes feel like I'm still very immature and fresh out of college.

Side note . . . Kyle loves this picture because the word "HOT" is right over his head.

These last 11 years have passed so quickly. And the next 11 will likely move faster. This stress and craziness is temporary. Wiping bottoms and breaking up screaming matches won't last forever. And neither will the cuddling and the chance to train these boys "in the way they should go."

I love that picture because I love the people in it so much. I might be in over my head, but I don't think I'd have it any other way.

It could always be worse . . . no, really.

This is turning out to be one of the worst weekends I've ever had. Actually, the last two weeks have kind of been a comedy of errors leading up to this weekend.

If you've been following me on twitter, you're probably annoyed by my incessant whining. It must just be a rough time of year because last year during this same week, Kyle and I both ended up at the hospital back to back days. While I fully intend to outline yesterday's events in detail (because yesterday was almost too disastrous to believe), I'm not going to go into it right now.

What I will say now is that the last two weeks have shown me that I'm incredibly blessed. Yesterday, as bad as it was, was nothing compared to what a REALLY bad day could be. My mantra yesterday was "it could always be worse" and it's true.

So, we're down to one car . . . without air conditioning . . . the majority of people in the world can't afford even one car. And a tree fell on our house . . . but some people don't have a house for a tree to fall on.* And yeah, my job got really stressful this weekend . . . but A LOT of people don't have jobs right now. It's all about perspective, I suppose.

I still find myself grumbling a little. And my blood pressure is probably a tad elevated. But I'm well aware that if this weekend's the worst weekend we ever have, we'll be fortunate.

*Yes, I ended a sentence with a preposition. I don't care.

I didn't even say it out loud . .

I was had such a productive morning at work. I left for lunch feeling great! I picked Jack up at my mother-in-law's house today and it went really smoothly. Usually he fusses as the thought of leaving her and his cousin, Emma. But today, he went willingly. When we got home, I gave him a glass of milk and he told me he was tired and wanted to rest. Wait, what? My child was asking for a nap?! Unbelievable!

I put him down and I made my lunch, preparing to head to my office and continue my work day. As I was putting the chicken salad onto the bread I thought to myself, "Wow . . . this has been a really great day. Glad I didn't say it out loud because that might ruin it." Those were the exact words going through my mind.

And within five minutes, my computer crashed. Well, not crashed, exactly. It won't boot up. So I think I have to re-install Windows, but Mozy hasn't backed up in 28 days. And there is no way I'm going to lose my 200+ templates, PLUS the files for the customers I've been working with over the last 28 days whose files haven't been backed up.

So, I have customers waiting patiently and I have a tearstained face from the frustration. I've now spent about 10 hours working on this and have figured out a way to back up my files without actually booting up. I've got everything I need to reinstall Windows tomorrow once I'm sure my files are safe and sound. I just hope everything goes as smoothly tomorrow morning as I'm envisioning it.

My biggest disappointment is that the time I had carved out for Jack tonight was completely overshadowed by my stress. On top of that, my house is a wreck because Jack just kind of had free reign while I was hunched over a computer. It's shocking how much mess a toddler can make in an hour. Especially one prone to moving stools and chairs wherever he needs to if he can't reach something.

I'm trying not to let this get me down (anymore than it already has). Here's to a better day tomorrow . . . but I'm certainly not going to wish for it out loud.

Keeping it real

I have a dozen half-posts waiting to be published, but I can't put any of them out there for the world to read. First, I can't think in complete thoughts right now. Second, it's been an ultra-frustrating week and there are some things that I can't say online without being cryptic and vague. So they're better off not posted. Maybe it's just the pregnancy hormones talking. Or, maybe things have really been this frustrating. Or both.

Instead of telling you about all of the things and people that are driving me crazy and raising my blood pressure with their ignorance, selfishness and total lack of moral compass, I'll tell you what I'm thankful for this week.

• I had a really good haircut yesterday. I've found a stylist in Jackson that I love, and it's so nice to not have to drive to Ann Arbor anymore. I mean, my hair still pretty much looks the same as always, but she does a nice job and doesn't leave my hair looking uneven (a common problem). And, it doesn't cost me a full day's paycheck to have it done.
  
  
• I found a box of 96 crayons that are probably about 15 years old . . . I didn't even know I had them. It was like Jack's own little Christmas when I pulled them out on Monday.
  
  
• Bethany couldn't babysit for Jack this week until Thursday, so I thought I'd have an fairly unproductive week. Fortunately, SAU had spring break so Jodi was able to fill in. Awesome. This alleviated a lot of would-have-been stress. She was here Tuesday and Wednesday and Bethany will be here Thursday and Friday. These girls have saved my week!
  
  
• I've had some really sweet customers this week. Cute kids and really nice to work with. That always makes life enjoyable!
  
  
• I bought some of those wire mesh shelves for Jack's toys in the basement. I feel like we have so much space back now that they're not spread everywhere.
  
  
• I've been feeling little flutters that I'm almost positive is the little guy living inside of me. Not kicking . . . just shifting. It's a familiar, comforting feeling. Which I'll need to be reminded of in 20 weeks when he's using my internal organs as a punching bag.
  

Ok, I'm going to put Jack in bed and do something to readjust my attitude. I'll be back when I'm more cheerful.

So, how are you feeling?

There are a lot of people out at camp today, so I was asked that question a lot. I always replied, "I'm feeling good." Because that's a lot nicer than saying, "Tired and hormonal, thanks for asking."

I really am not feeling too bad. But I do feel like I'm losing my mind sometimes. I've noticed a lot of mood swings this week, and an increase in fatigue. I thought the second trimester was supposed to bring relief from some of these things, no?

We didn't have a babysitter for Jack today, so I had him all day. I had a whole list of errands to run. First, I went to the local mall because I wanted some very specific items from The Children's Place. I put Jack in the stroller, walked all the way down the mall corridor (it's a small mall) and then realized that this mall doesn't have a Children's Place." I knew that. I just wasn't thinking. Lovely.

Then we took Jeanette's photo CD to her

After that, my plan was to go to the fed ex drop off place in Jackson, go to the post office and then head to camp for lunch, so that we could eat before Jack's nap. I knew I had to pay close attention to him so that he wouldn't fall asleep in the car. I headed in the direction of the Fed Ex drop off. I had only been there once before, but I remembered the general location. 10 minutes later, I was driving around the hospital parking lot looking for a parking spot.

Wait, WHAT?!

I have no idea how I ended up there or why I went there. I never go to that hospital for anything. I don't have doctors that use that hospital. I think the last time I was there was when my niece was born 1 1/2 years ago.

So, shaking my head, I continued on to the Fed Ex drop off. I know that it was on Michigan Ave around K-Mart or Meijer, but I drove up and down that street 10 times and never found it. I was in tears by the time I decided to just head home.

By this point, I decided to skip the post office and head straight to camp. I was doing a great job keeping Jack awake . . . until there was a tractor I needed to pass. I spent maybe two minutes concentrating on finding an opening to pass the tractor. By the time I passed, I looked back and he was asleep. I woke him up for lunch and that was it. Today's nap was over.

I'm actually coping much better than I did yesterday . . . but let's hope that Friday will be a little better . . .

In which I'm stripped of my mother of the year award

I just made a batch of this, and I'm pretty sure I won't be eating anything else until it's gone. It's amazing. And I deserve it after a day of malfunctioning computers, a disobedient, shrieking child and a disobedient, puking dog.

I spent my entire morning at camp, trying to figure out a minor computer problem. Well, it seems minor know that I know what was causing it. At the time it was major.

I'm using the television as a babysitter right now until Kyle gets home from practice. You may call it bad parenting. I call it my coping mechanism.

Jack said, "Dang it!" when I saw Murphy puking on the carpet. Nice. I know it could be worse, but it's not exactly what I wanted to pass on to him. And it pretty much cancels out every "I love you" and "thank you" that he said today.

I want to take a picture of my belly at 13 weeks, but I'm embarrassed. Because it's half 13 weeks pregnant and half 21 months post-partum baby fat.

When Kyle gets home, I will ask him to take care of bedtime, and clean the kitchen, so that I can go to bed early. Like at 7 PM. And I will pull out the "I'm carrying your second born" line if that's what it takes. But I don't think it'll get that far.

I'm about to start my second apple's worth of taffy apple dip. We'll call that dinner, I guess.

Just lovely

We're supposed to get 11 inches of snow tomorrow. We're under a winter storm warning. Schools are already calling off for tomorrow.

Tomorrow. The day that Kyle and I are scheduled to drive and hour to drop Jack off with my parents in Detroit, and then 3 1/2 hours north to where we're staying. The really expensive place that doesn't offer refunds if you don't cancel a week in advance.

Why didn't we go somewhere south?

A welcome lull

I only had 9 10 sales today in the shop, so I'm enjoying this little lull.

Kyle, Jack and I went to Ann Arbor tonight to commiserate with the rest of the depressed Michigan fans to shop. We finally got Jack a winter coat that fits AND didn't break the bank (finally, after two weeks of freezing temperatures . . . we're awesome parents).

We also got his first Christmas present from Tree Town toy store. It's probably a little too advanced for him, but I like getting him gifts he'll grown into. And, I love Melissa & Doug toys. We were going to get him Lands' End boots as his second Christmas gift, but Sears didn't have them in his size. I think I might order them online.

I don't think I've mentioned this, but on top of all of the card craziness, I have been sick this week. Or maybe the sickness is because of all the craziness and my 2 AM bedtimes. I don't know. But I've had a fever, achiness and the worst sore throat that I can remember. Perfect timing, huh? I'm finally starting to get over that today.

So, with a slower day, why am I not in bed at 9:30? Because I have extra time to do things like process my own personal photos that have been sitting on my memory card for a month and go through video clips. I haven't updated the photo blog in 18 days. Yikes. Do you know that last year in October I started the photo blog and made it to February without ever missing a day? Seriously, I had so much time back then.

Anyway, you gain from my unwise decision to not go to bed because I'm hoping to post video clips from this month sometime this week. You can thank me later.

Buckle up

I spent a lot of time working on a video to show at our fellowship dinner that we had at camp tonight for our donors. Throughout this week, entire video interviews with people disappeared, my program crashed a bajillion times and I had to restrain myself from chucking it out the window. Finally, I had it done, and we played it at the dinner. And it stopped about 60 seconds from the end. Just ended. It didn't burn correctly. I burned two copies and the other one played fine, so I didn't even bother checking this one. This project gave me so much trouble over the last week and that was a disappointing end to the whole thing. It's uploading as I type, but will be available for viewing here soon.

It's been a roller coaster week. And I feel like I've been riding the roller coaster without a seatbelt. There's been so much to do and so much going on . . . and Thursday I had a huge disappointment that has left me . . . well, down. I might share about that here someday if I ever feel the urge, but for now, just know that it's left me feeling a little defeated.

Lately, it feels like all I ever do is complain and whine, and I don't mean to be a donna downer (Debbie prefers that I not use the phrase "Debbie Downer" so we changed it a few years ago). I guess it's just one of those off times.

I have a lot to be grateful for. Jack has been in a great mood the last two days. He's slept through the night the last two nights (at least we think he did - he dropped his monitor in his water table when he was playing outside this week and it didn't survive - and our room is at the opposite end of the house than his is - we slept through the night anyway). This upcoming week should prove to be fairly relaxed, compared to the last two weeks.

Oh, speaking of Jack . . . last night when I was working on the video, Kyle dropped him off for me to watching him in my office for a while so that Kyle could attend to one of our guest groups. After pulling everything down from every surface that he could possibly reach, he directed his attention to what I was doing. The opening song in the video is "Wish you Well' by Thousand Foot Crutch. You know the one, right?

Anyway, he started trying to sing along and it was precious. I just checked the video that I took of him and it's not really that great, but maybe I'll try to get another and post it.

Cavity free since September, 2008.

So, I had my final dentist appointment (at least until March) today because . . . drum roll, please . . . I am cavity free. However, I do have two places they are monitoring. I'm so sick of dental work.

As the lady was cleaning my teeth, she kept going on and on about how clean they were. I told her I was obsessive about flossing and brushing and rinsing, though you wouldn't know that from the number of fillings I have. She told me that my saliva was probably very acidic . . . whatever that means. All I know is that it's a bad thing for people without dental insurance.

She then made a comment about how much easier her job was because of how well I took care of my teeth.

Hmmmm . . . don't you think that warrants a discount?

I need a vacation.

We're in Chicago visiting my sister.

The only thing more hellish than trying to corral your 15-month-old to your sister's non-childproof apartment full of small trinkets and breakable items, is trying to push him in a stroller through the narrow passages in a Crate and Barrel or a Pottery Barn without his arms reaching out and knocking something over.

It's been quite a day.

I would say that this stage of parenting, thus far, is the hardest. Yep. Even in the first few weeks when I was working full-time and bringing a newborn with me. Harder than that.

I fought back tears today thinking about how I will never make it through the terrible twos if I'm having this much trouble now. And the kicker is that Jack is a pretty good natured kid. I realize that I actually have it pretty easy. What would I do if I had a more challenging kid? A few weeks ago I made a comment about how incredibly easy he is. I feel like I'm eating those words. I know that he's testing his boundaries. And in some ways we've setting him up for failure, because there are different expectations depending on where he is (i.e. home, camp, grandparents' houses, etc.) and we need to do something to help him out there. He's such a stinker sometimes.

Today's woes, however, were compounded even more by our collective lack of sleep last night . . . we didn't get into Chicago until after midnight. Jack didn't sleep well in the car, and there's nothing like getting dropped off on a busy, downtown Chicago street and taking an elevator up 5 floors to wake your toddler up enough that he doesn't want to go back to sleep.

I think the single most frustrating part of this stage we're going through with Jack is diaper changing. I've always said that I wanted to put potty training off as long as possible. My rationale for this is that it's a lot easier to change a diaper at our earliest convenience than it is to find a bathroom NOW! But I've changed my mind on that. You see, 15-month-old toddlers who have been laid down to have their diaper changed develop a super-human strength that often requires at least two people to overcome. No matter how stern we are with him, he thinks it's a game. Ugh.

My sister was able to check a pass to the aquarium out from the library so we're going to head there tomorrow . . . hopefully he'll really enjoy that. Especially since one of the words he knows is "fish."

On a different note, I was looking forward to seeing Annie while I was here this weekend, but she went ahead and had her baby a little early . . . congratulations to Steve, Annie & Alex and welcome baby Elijah! Hopefully we'll get together when we're in town next!

Why does Canon hate me?

You know the camera that I bought back in June? As of October, it will be so outdated.

Stupid technology. I supposed it was bound to happen eventually.

D-Day

I'm headed to the dentist today. It's going to be expensive.

Ugh.

Rest in peace, ipod mini.

My ipod died today. It's not really that huge of a deal, because I have an ipod mini. I know that you're thinking I mean an ipod nano, but you're wrong. I'm talking about the mini . . . which they stopped producing 3 1/2 years ago. But I loved it. It was sturdy and dependable and did exactly what I needed it to do . . . play music. It wasn't too big and wasn't too small. I'm going to miss it.

My birthday's next week and Kyle and I were thinking about buying one of these as a combined birthday present (his is at the end of August). But I think it might be time for me to get one of these instead.

I'm really wishing I hadn't just purchased a Blackberry.

Venting

Over the last few months, I've discovered a few sellers on etsy who have almost identically copied my designs. But what can I do, right? I just let it go.

Tonight, I found a seller who hasn't copied my designs, but uses the same wording (almost word for word) for her item descriptions. And she charges $1 less than everyone else out there. It's so frustrating to me. What do I do? Call her out on it? Where would that get me? I know I need to just let it go.

She's got great stuff and seems to be very talented. I don't know if she's just lazy and couldn't write her own descriptions, or what. She also doesn't need to charge $1 less. She's cheating herself out of profit there.

Ugh. It's so frustrating.

Thanks for listening.

Home! Sweet home?

Returning home from vacation is bittersweet.

The sweet . . .

• Sleeping in my own bed
• Getting back to camp
• Getting back into a routine
• Reliable internet access
• Enough heat to not care what the overnight low will be tonight
  
• Not having to wear flip flops when I shower
• 3 CF cards of great pictures (about 30 - 50 of which will likely get my approval)
  

The bitter . . .

• Traffic from up north heading back south on the Sunday after a holiday weekend
• Piles and piles of laundry with a dryer that finally quit for good . . . and no money to buy a new one.
• Trying to re-establish routines
• Bills to be paid
• Going back to work
• No more sitting on the beach
• 3 CF cards full of pictures waiting to be judged and edited
• Discovering that my carpet didn't self-clean while I was gone at that the vegetable oil stains are still there