Seven Quick Takes - 7/16/10

1. We've been attending a local, gigantic church for a few months now. We haven't really met anyone yet, mostly because the place is so massive. So in a fit of, 'I need to get more involved!' guilt, I decided to volunteer for VBS next week. And y'all, I had to fill out three pages of paperwork, including a BACKGROUND CHECK, and provide a copy of my driver's license. It's the most extensive work I've ever had to do just to volunteer to help kids with glue or serve cookies or whatever job I've been assigned. And Jack and I have to be at the church at 8 am everyday. Ha! Ha! Haaaaaaaaaaaa!

2. I'm sure y'all are dying to know the latest in the continuing adventures of hippie living. I am allergic to certain natural deodorants. Oh yes, you read that right. NATURAL deodorant. As far as I can tell, I'm not allergic to them all, but I am MOST DEFINITELY allergic to Tom's of Maine Long Lasting Deodorant. I think it's the zinc ricinoleate that did me in. I'll spare you the details, but know that an itchy, red rash on your underarms is NOT desirable. Did I mention the itchy part? Because ITCHY, ITCHY, ITCHY.

3. As a result of the rash, I've been trying to wear as little deodorant as possible to allow my poor, wretched armpits time to heal. As you can imagine, I am a DELIGHT to be around! I smell so fresh and wonderful in the 100 degree heat! What a wonderful time of the year to have a deodorant aversion!

4. I am incapable of spelling deodorant correctly. I put an "e" where the second "o" is. I have misspelled it EVERY SINGLE TIME I've written it in this post.

5. I parented solo for 3-ish days this week. And I am proud to report that it was not nearly as difficult as I thought it was going to be. Honestly, I was dreading it. Obviously I spend everyday alone with Jack, but I won't lie and say that I don't countdown the hours until Alex gets home. I need the break, ya know? Especially when it comes to bedtime, but if there is one thing that I absolutely loathe about parenting, it is BEDTIME. HATE. IT. But we survived! And Alex is back and I can now tell you about it without worrying that someone was going to come kill me in the night!

6. Wednesday morning, Jack and I were leaving the apartment to head to Gymboree when I realized that my car was uh, not there. I was like...NO WAY, SOMEONE STOLE MY CAR. And then I noticed it under the covered parking near our apartment. I never park there because you 1) have to pay for the privilege and 2) get towed if you don't. So I never ever ever park there. And yet, there was my car. I couldn't remember exactly where I had left the car, but I knew it had been directly in front of our place. Nothing was missing and everything seemed okay. Plus, Jack and I had been double locked in our apartment since 10:30-ish the previous morning. So there was no way someone had somehow gotten our spare keys. Alex and I think they started to tow my car because they missed our resident sticker and then realized and had to put it back. Why they didn't try to put the car back in its original space, I have no idea. But let me tell you, if you want to have a nice little freak out and question your mental capacity, have someone move your car without your knowledge. That'll do it!

7. I can't spell privilege either. There's no "d!" I can't handle it!

Ack!

So my baby turned 15 months old over the weekend. I have a big old list of stuff he is doing these days that I will post later. (Or never. Whichever.)

We had his well baby visit today, except that HA HA, he's not well at all. We took him in knowing he wasn't feeling awesome and surprise, surprise! He has strep throat. PARENTS OF THE YEAR, Y'ALL. We had NO IDEA he was that sick. NONE. The least the kid could do is ACT sick. But nooo...he just acts tired and we just had a big road trip, so we contributed it to that. So we bring him into the office and we're all...yeah, he's not quite himself, ya know?

And then the nurse is like...he has a fever.

And the doctor is like...his throat is really red.

And the strep test is like...POSITIVE.

So he's sick. For the first time ever. It's almost a relief to finally get this over with. Don't get me wrong, I've really enjoyed him NOT being sick, but I knew it was going to happen at some point, and I was really dreading it. But so far, so good. He was super extra snuggly this morning and went down for his nap with no protest, so I can't really complain, so really, him being sick has been AWESOME for me. But I felt just AWFUL when they told me had strep. Poor little baby! I got that ALL THE TIME when I was a kid and it sucks. And I had no idea! I am an idiot!

I picked up his antibiotics tonight and about 30 minutes after his first dose, he was HEALED COMPLETELY. Suddenly, he was no longer tired or snuggly or mopey. He wanted to run! And play! And throw things! I'm not sure what was in those 3.5 mm of white stuff, but it was MAGIC, y'all. MAGIC. And we've got 10 more days of it. Hooray?

Seven Quick Takes - 7/2/10

1. Thank you for all the kind comments from Wednesday's post. Y'all are the best. I'm glad I have such nice friends/readers.

2. Many, many, many congratulations to my brother and sister-in-law who delivered a beautiful baby girl yesterday morning. I'm so excited to be an aunt!

3. Have I ever mentioned that there is a trainer at my gym who looks EXACTLY like my ex-boyfriend? It freaks me out EVERY TIME I see him. The resemblance is UNCANNY and in my head, this guy's name is totally the same as my ex. I hope I never have to interact with him because I'd probably accidentally call him that.

4. We watched Top Chef last night. And dude, this season's cheftestants are not very nice. I don't really like any of them at all. I miss Kevin from last season.

5. I went dress shopping yesterday for a shower that I'm going to this weekend.
Cute, eh?

6. Jack pooped in the tub this morning. So that tells you the kind of day we're having. Plus, he woke up around 1 this morning and was up for hours. I'm so tired and Alex is so tired and we have an 8+ hour drive ahead of us today. Caffeine IV stat!

7. So. Elmo's World. It's a little weird, isn't it? I really dislike Mr. Noodle. He is creepy. And Mr. Noodle's brother, Mr. Noodle? I can't look at him without thinking of his death scene in The Green Mile. Right now, Elmo is talking to a bicycle and a helmet. It's bizarre. And I don't think caffeine will help me make any sense of it.

Down

Somedays, I just can't do it. The kitchen is a wreck. The bathroom is disgusting. Baskets of (clean) clothes are piled up. Toys and books are scattered across every room. Our shoes (How do we own so many shoes?) are strategically placed for everyone to trip over regularly. The trash needs to be taken out. The mail hasn't been checked in over a week. I yell at the baby. I yell at my husband. I pay more attention to my computer than my child. I fail at being a good friend. I fail at making new friends. I wonder who I am beyond Jack's mom and Alex's wife. I vaguely remember there was a time when I had hobbies and interests of my own, but I don't know what they were or how to even access that part of my brain. Instead, I sit on the couch and cry and eat a few cookies. Also, I am very, very, very fat.

I know I should end this post with the positives. Point out that the baby snuggled up to me earlier and we laid there and read books while he rested his head on the crook of my arm. Or that my husband doesn't really care that the house is a wreck and insists that if it DOES bother him, he can clean it up himself. Or that my friends are awesome and forgiving and really great at e-mailing. Or that I have a (legal) copy of photoshop just waiting for me to play with it. And a stack of books beckoning me to read them.

But I can't. I don't want to. I just feel like a big fat failure today and everything I touch is ruined. I want to hide under the covers and sleep for a thousand years.

Seven Quick Takes - 6/25/10

1. The baby voluntarily went down for a nap today. An EARLY nap, no less. I really don't know what to do with myself.

2. I've completed week one of my 10K training. Today starts Week 2 and frankly, I am TERRIFIED. Pretty sure I'm going to die right there on the treadmill for all the world (read: my fellow gym goers) to see.

3. We went to Bass Pro Shop last night. I am not a fan Bass Pro Shop, BUT my husband is and he rarely gets to go to a store that only HE wants to visit. He went to look at guns and I was left in charge of the baby. He and I wandered around until we saw the best thing ever. Shoes! I had NO IDEA they had such a large shoe section. I told Alex that if he wanted me to go to Bass Pro earlier, all he had to do was mention the shoes.

4. I bought some brown Reef flip flops at Bass Pro.
I love them.

5. I found a blue doll stroller at Babies R Us yesterday. I've been wanting to get Jack a doll stroller for a while now, because he loves to push his OWN stroller around. So far, it has been a hit and it warms my heart to see him pushing his sock monkey around the apartment.

6. Jack and I colored today for the first time. I got him those funny little round toddler crayons. He doesn't quite get the concept yet. When he was tired of those, he grabbed a block and started rubbing it all over the paper. He seemed really confused about why nothing was happening to the paper. His face was the essence of "What the?"

7. I've been trying to use up the stuff we have at home before going out and buying more. (Novel concept, I know!) So I busted out some old Burt's Bees soap that I had been given a while ago. Everything seemed fine and dandy until I actually USED it the other day. It had an unmistakable smell. The smell of a MAN. I got out of the shower and told Alex that he was free to use the soap because I didn't want to walk around with a musky scent. So if you see me sometime soon and I smell a little...masculine. Be kind. I'm just trying to be economical!

Seven Quick Takes - 6/18/10

1. I love Netflix. We've successfully watched all of "How I Met Your Mother." So our next project is tackling "Veronica Mars." So far, I'm really enjoying it. Kristen Bell is so cute and likable.

2. In my never ending quest to be a hippie, I've decided to no longer use regular face wash. I am using my own homemade concoction of Extra Virgin Olive oil and Castor oil. Don't worry, I didn't make this up. It's called the Oil Cleansing Method and real people actually use this stuff regularly. I've only done it for two days, but I can already tell a difference. I've had three obnoxious zits on my cheek for at least a month now and this morning, I noticed that they were already smaller.

3. I attended my first Moms at Play small group at church. I was nervous that I would either 1) Make a fool out of myself or 2) Not get to talk because Jack would be too busy getting into things. Neither one of those happened and we both had a great time. Hooray for fellow moms!

4. I started training for a 10K last night. I downloaded this app and survived the first workout. I am grossly out of shape, especially when it comes to running. But I know I can at least do a 5K and I am DETERMINED to get my running stamina back.

5. I drove to Louisiana and back last weekend for a wedding shower. (The shower was lots of fun and had the best food EVER.) I enjoyed the solo time driving as well. In case you were wondering, I have 73 songs by Glee and it takes over 4 hours to listen to all of the songs in a row. Impressive or terrifying? You be the judge!

6. I've been doing a lot of reading yesterday. If you take a peek at my sidebar, you'll see I updated the "Reading" section with books that I have read this year. I'm planning on doing a more in depth book review post in the future, but all of the books I have read this year have been pretty good, except for "The Red Tent," which made me want to punch myself in the face by the end.

7. I'm thinking about signing up for this. The half. Not the whole. Am I crazy? I kind of want to hyperventilate just thinking about it.

Here and There

The other night, Alex turned to me and said, "Are you ever going to blog again?"

I guess I've been gone a while.

Jack and I were out of town for almost 3 straight weeks. And it's taken me a while to get back into the groove of things. And this week, we are implementing the great nap switch of 2010 and frankly, I don't know what to do with all the free time I have in the afternoon. Because only one nap a day is AWESOME. We eat breakfast and watch Sesame Street and get ready and then run our errands for the day. Then we eat lunch and Jack sleeps for 3-ish hours. THREE HOURS. In fact, we're working on Hour #4 as I type this.

So here's some random notes on things I haven't blogged about, but meant to. (The awesomeness of that sentence is overwhelming, I know.)

- We took Jack to the zoo for the first time while we were in Ohio. I think he liked it. He was more interested in walking around than looking at the animals, but he did notice them, at least. And he saw his very first manatee, which warmed my heart. He fell asleep about half way through, so Alex, my sis-in-law, and I enjoyed the rest of the zoo while pushing a sleeping toddler around.

- Jack is a champion flyer. His ears don't bother him at all and he even got to sit in his very own seat on our two flights home. I kind of want to give him a medal.

- I got my hair cut. Very short! It's just below my chin. I have a picture...somewhere. On my phone perhaps? I'll...probably never get to posting that, so why lie? But it's the shortest it has been in a very, very long time and I'm still getting used to it. However, it's finally blonde again and I don't look like I'm going for the two-toned hair look. Hooray!

- I did not work out AT ALL while we were out of town and consequently gained some weight. Weight that I had worked very hard to take off. And that has got to be one of the most frustrating things in the entire world. Alex has been 7 kinds of motivated to work out this week, but I just haven't been feeling it. I finally sucked it up and did Jillian's Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism workout today. And I am actually typing this post from the grave because that stupid DVD KILLED me.

- It's as hot as hades down here. (Shocking, I know. Super hot in south Texas in June? You don't say!) So we've been hitting the pool quite a bit. Jack loves the pool. Loooooooooooooooves it. He is definitely his father's child as I only like the pool if I can sit in a chair with a cold drink and a book. But I go in the water anyway, because he really likes it and I really like him. I haven't attempted the pool trip solo yet, but I'm sure that will happen as I get desperate for things to tire that little ball of energy out.

- Glee! Glee! Oh man, Glee. I love that show. I've watched the season finale four or five times now. And the Journey medley even MORE times. I am so sad there aren't any new episodes until September-ish. Even though it is sometimes wildly inconsistent, I still can't get enough of it.