Sorry to have been MIA for so long. I just couldn't muster the thoughts to write out our recent exploits. Chalk it up to a crawler. It adds new dimensions to an already busy day.
I had a girlfriend and her daughter over to the house this morning, and when we finished lunch, SHE CLEARED THE TABLE. Part of me felt guilty because Amy is about seven months pregnant and clearing my table, and part of me rejoiced at the fact that the table was cleared, wiped down, and ready for the next meal. The dishes were rinsed and waiting to be stacked in the dishwasher, and aside from a full sink, the kitchen is clean.
This never happens before four in the afternoon. I usually excuse everyone from lunch, and since they eat off glass dishes like big kids now, I don't ask them to throw, er, put their dishes in the sink. Some thing do have to wait, you know. Then I rush through the routine of fresh diapers for the girls, read a book to everyone, give Elizabeth a bottle, potty Thomas, and tuck 'em all into bed. Soanyway, clearing and kitchen cleaning usually just wait until after nap when we are all rested. I could cry, knowing that this little detail of my afternoon is taken care of for me. It's funny how something so simple means so much. Thanks a ton, Amy!
We had a great visit, too. We chatted back and forth about just the little things in life, tossed around a couple of the bigger things. Mostly, as Amy said once, it was just nice to talk to someone else who is dealing with many of the same issues. While we can't always solve the others problems, though she does give great advice and is a wonderful example of a Godly woman, we can just listen to each other. Extra ears to hear, extra shoulders to bear, and extra prayers to pray. What a blessing to have such a friendship in my life!
Thanks again, Amy and Emma, for spending your morning with us!
Friday, November 30, 2007
Thursday, November 15, 2007
A Different Perspective
If you are like me, you don't remember much about being a pre-schooler. I have only a handful of memories from when I was two and three years old. Not that they are separated into which year they occurred in, but I know they were during those two years due to the fact that my family was living overseas. Once we moved stateside, my memories are almost all wrapped up in the hype that lead up to my first sibling and the aftermath. All memories after that age include my sister Amy. Well, maybe not all, but you know what I mean. Her birth was one of those world changing events in my little life.
Anyway, all that rambling to say that I am enjoying the discoveries of my children and how they view the world. Admittedly, I roll my eyes sometimes, but then I shake myself a bit and remember that new experiences cause us to do and say things in wonder at the new found whatever it is that other folks have experienced so many times that they are desensitized to it. And still, I ramble! Let me skip this pondering and just get to the point(s) that I have in writing this entry.
Last Friday, we had a cat burglar visit our home. I probably would never have noticed were it not for the high pitched sirens that came running in on short legs shouting at me. I was busy gearing up to leave for a night of no children and lots of talking with good friends. A whole twenty four hours of chocolate, chatter, and childlessness. Does it get any better? Needless to say, I had turned the kids out into the backyard while I diligently crammed all my chocolate into a bag, and a few clothes, too.
Suddenly, the back door comes flying open and Thomas and Sarah Grace come screaming and crying into the house. They were so hysterical that it took me quite some time to figure out what the problem was. Since nobody was bleeding, I wasn't to concerned. Finally, the nasty, scary truth came pouring out of them. They had been the victims of a surprise attack.
The beastly Sadie had jumped the fence to steal the bits of lunch that were scattered about the picnic table. Sadie, the most fearsome of all domesticated cats, was immensely enjoying her pillaging until she saw me and the camera. I guess she is camera shy because she shot across the fence into the neighbors yard. By then, of course, my children had surmised that she was not going to hurt them. They bravely chased her to the fence while throwing bread at her.
While I went about my lovely girls weekend filled with chocolate, chatter, and near childlessness, Joshua took Thomas and Sarah Grace on a grand adventure. Folks, I contend that my dear husband wins the Daddy Of The Year Award hands down. The man took a three year old and a two year old camping. Truly camping. Tent, sleeping bags, lantern, camp fire, the whole nine yards. And, AND, he didn't cheat. No prepackaged meals for this roughin' it crowd, so sir-ee. He took sausage, fresh veggies, bacon, eggs, and I don't know what all else to make their meals from. Just him, the skillet, and the campfire. Frankly, it looks delicious.
I ate Arby's on the way to Birmingham. I almost feel jipped. Almost. I did have three other women, a bag of chocolate, and two cutie kiddos (Elizabeth and Ellen fall at the age where they get to stay with the Mommys).
Soanyway (remember, one word now), Joshua recounted the tale of taking the kids hiking...at night. Don't fret, it was mostly flat land, they weren't scaling Monte Sano Mountain in the dark. He had Sarah Grace on his shoulders and was walking along when the following conversation took place:
SG: I see stars.
Joshua: Yes, aren't they pretty?
SG: The stars is moving! And the trees is moving, too!
Joshua stopped walking and explained to Sarah Grace that while the stars did move, we couldn't see them move. He showed her how everything got 'still' when they stopped. I gather she preferred the thought of them moving since the telling of that conversation stopped there. And of course, I did not think to ask further. I was still amused at the 'stars is moving' line. I love kid lingo.
My favorite tale of late is just this: Tuesday I had sent the kids outside. (I swear, I don't make them stay out all day everyday, it's just that outside is where the funniest things tend to happen. Not all, though, and I promise to post about some of those some day.) Even though I had made corn dogs, a favorite lunch treat, the kids did not eat very well for lunch that day. I excused them from the table and out they went. As I was cleaning up the leftovers, I decided to toss the corn dogs over the fence line towards the cotton field so that Sadie, or whoever else, could snatch them up. I opened the back door to see Thomas busily weaving grass and flowers and small sticks into the chain link fence. I smiled at his intense work and started tossing miniature corn dogs out to the field. The soft thuds caught the attention of Thomas and he looked up at the sky.
I saw him look, but didn't really see him looking, if ya know what I mean. I tossed out the last two corn dogs thinking he realized they were coming from behind him. (I forget that kind of logic hasn't necessarily developed yet) He very excitedly turned and started running for the door. He pulled up short when he saw me and started yelling, tripping over his words in his exuberance to get the story told.
'Mommy, I see da, I saw, there were, did you see? Mommy, da corn dog eggs, I saw dem, did dey, dey came from da sky! Corn dog eggs from da sky! Jesus frew dem to me!'
And that, friends, is where I had to work hard to reign in my laughter to keep from embarrassing my little man. Jesus throwing corn dog eggs.
I have more tales to tell, but not now. I want to keep you coming back for more, right? Besides, this is the second time I have tapped out this entry. My computer blitzed the last time and I lost THE ENTIRE ENTRY! That was two days ago. I have been pouting since then. Now I am going to go make hot chocolate and relax with a book during the rest of this peaceful time I like to call nap.
Anyway, all that rambling to say that I am enjoying the discoveries of my children and how they view the world. Admittedly, I roll my eyes sometimes, but then I shake myself a bit and remember that new experiences cause us to do and say things in wonder at the new found whatever it is that other folks have experienced so many times that they are desensitized to it. And still, I ramble! Let me skip this pondering and just get to the point(s) that I have in writing this entry.
Last Friday, we had a cat burglar visit our home. I probably would never have noticed were it not for the high pitched sirens that came running in on short legs shouting at me. I was busy gearing up to leave for a night of no children and lots of talking with good friends. A whole twenty four hours of chocolate, chatter, and childlessness. Does it get any better? Needless to say, I had turned the kids out into the backyard while I diligently crammed all my chocolate into a bag, and a few clothes, too.
Suddenly, the back door comes flying open and Thomas and Sarah Grace come screaming and crying into the house. They were so hysterical that it took me quite some time to figure out what the problem was. Since nobody was bleeding, I wasn't to concerned. Finally, the nasty, scary truth came pouring out of them. They had been the victims of a surprise attack.
The beastly Sadie had jumped the fence to steal the bits of lunch that were scattered about the picnic table. Sadie, the most fearsome of all domesticated cats, was immensely enjoying her pillaging until she saw me and the camera. I guess she is camera shy because she shot across the fence into the neighbors yard. By then, of course, my children had surmised that she was not going to hurt them. They bravely chased her to the fence while throwing bread at her.
While I went about my lovely girls weekend filled with chocolate, chatter, and near childlessness, Joshua took Thomas and Sarah Grace on a grand adventure. Folks, I contend that my dear husband wins the Daddy Of The Year Award hands down. The man took a three year old and a two year old camping. Truly camping. Tent, sleeping bags, lantern, camp fire, the whole nine yards. And, AND, he didn't cheat. No prepackaged meals for this roughin' it crowd, so sir-ee. He took sausage, fresh veggies, bacon, eggs, and I don't know what all else to make their meals from. Just him, the skillet, and the campfire. Frankly, it looks delicious.
I ate Arby's on the way to Birmingham. I almost feel jipped. Almost. I did have three other women, a bag of chocolate, and two cutie kiddos (Elizabeth and Ellen fall at the age where they get to stay with the Mommys).
Soanyway (remember, one word now), Joshua recounted the tale of taking the kids hiking...at night. Don't fret, it was mostly flat land, they weren't scaling Monte Sano Mountain in the dark. He had Sarah Grace on his shoulders and was walking along when the following conversation took place:
SG: I see stars.
Joshua: Yes, aren't they pretty?
SG: The stars is moving! And the trees is moving, too!
Joshua stopped walking and explained to Sarah Grace that while the stars did move, we couldn't see them move. He showed her how everything got 'still' when they stopped. I gather she preferred the thought of them moving since the telling of that conversation stopped there. And of course, I did not think to ask further. I was still amused at the 'stars is moving' line. I love kid lingo.
My favorite tale of late is just this: Tuesday I had sent the kids outside. (I swear, I don't make them stay out all day everyday, it's just that outside is where the funniest things tend to happen. Not all, though, and I promise to post about some of those some day.) Even though I had made corn dogs, a favorite lunch treat, the kids did not eat very well for lunch that day. I excused them from the table and out they went. As I was cleaning up the leftovers, I decided to toss the corn dogs over the fence line towards the cotton field so that Sadie, or whoever else, could snatch them up. I opened the back door to see Thomas busily weaving grass and flowers and small sticks into the chain link fence. I smiled at his intense work and started tossing miniature corn dogs out to the field. The soft thuds caught the attention of Thomas and he looked up at the sky.
I saw him look, but didn't really see him looking, if ya know what I mean. I tossed out the last two corn dogs thinking he realized they were coming from behind him. (I forget that kind of logic hasn't necessarily developed yet) He very excitedly turned and started running for the door. He pulled up short when he saw me and started yelling, tripping over his words in his exuberance to get the story told.
'Mommy, I see da, I saw, there were, did you see? Mommy, da corn dog eggs, I saw dem, did dey, dey came from da sky! Corn dog eggs from da sky! Jesus frew dem to me!'
And that, friends, is where I had to work hard to reign in my laughter to keep from embarrassing my little man. Jesus throwing corn dog eggs.
I have more tales to tell, but not now. I want to keep you coming back for more, right? Besides, this is the second time I have tapped out this entry. My computer blitzed the last time and I lost THE ENTIRE ENTRY! That was two days ago. I have been pouting since then. Now I am going to go make hot chocolate and relax with a book during the rest of this peaceful time I like to call nap.
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Go, Elizabeth, Go!!
A Pictorial Review
It has been a bit of a busy week around here. Lots to keep up with... but I will post on that one in a minute!! ;-) So, here is a quick picture synopsis of what we have been doing...
Thomas and Sarah Grace helped Daddy carve a pumpkin. We even roasted the seeds, but Mommy put to much garlic on them! I have no idea why they have their mouths covered in this picture, but it is cute, eh?
Here, you see Thomas in a sleeping pose that, well, words just can't define.
Elizabeth has been taking a morning bath lately, and here she is cuddled up in Mommy & Daddy's bed keeping warm afterwards. She cozied right on down and made herself comfortable!
Sunday morning, I thought I would try to roll Sarah Grace's hair. She got a kick out of walking around with the rollers in her hair, but the end result was hardly noticeable. She, however, pronounced herself 'preddy'.
Since Elizabeth is beginning to sit up a little better, I have been known to toss her in the tub with the other two. They think this is just THE coolest thing ever and love to 'swim' to her.
Thomas loves his cowboy hat that he got for his Halloween costume, and the felt hat I used to love so much has been resurrected as one of Sarah Grace's favorite accessories. Here you see Maw and Paw taking care of Baby while they enjoy an episode of Sesame Street. 'Hewwo, Dorofee' they say to Elmo's goldfish, Dorothy!
And there you have it. The cutest kids ever!
And there you have it. The cutest kids ever!
Saturday, November 03, 2007
If Things Really Do Happen In Threes...
Then I don't even want to think about what will be next up in this set. Being a stay at home mommy with three very little kids, I don't get out much. I do as much as possible on my unchilded outings, delegate quite a bit to Joshua, and utilize every internet service I possibly can.
Recently, in my quest to better 'utilize the internet', I changed banks. Why? Because the one I was with, while advertising a great online bill pay system, was useless. It never showed me as having any money in the account to pay the bills with. The bill pay page is different from the account overview page, as I am sure it is with most banks. The main page showed funds, the bill pay page showed, well, no funds. After much frustration back and forth with Bank A, I threw up my hands and applied to Bank B. Online. My criteria for a bank with which to place my personal account were simply this: Free checking, Free ATM's, Free Online Billpay Services, local branches with real people working in them in each of the three towns I am in the most, and anything else FREE they would throw in with the deal. Now, understand, this is my personal account, not our household account, and let's just not even get into the discussion of how many accounts does one couple need. So, I applied. I was approved. I authorized a wire transfer from Bank A to Bank B. I got all the paperwork in the mail, signed it, sent it off, got the handy-dandy check card, went through with my brand spanking new account number and set up all the online bill pay stuff and was ready to do business.
Except that Bank B was not showing where the transfer went through. Because Bank A never sent it. So I couldn't pay the bills. Still. Grrrrrrrrr. Hang on to this scenario. Let's just jump over to Thing 2, mmm-kay?
As several of you who know me in real life are aware, I lost my phone a couple months back. It was found twenty four hours after I called in for an insurance claim to replace my lost phone. Found at Lora's house. Good thing I called in the claim, too. It had made it outside and gotten itself rained on. Didn't work anymore anyway. Go figure. All that aside, I got the new phone and got it activated all from the comfort of my own home. No problems.
Until earlier this week when everyone that called me complained that they could not hear me. Oh, I could hear them just fine. Better than fine, because people think that if they can't hear you, then you can't hear them and they tend to talk LOUDER. But truly, I could hear them just fine. I have aggravated several fine folks with my phone problem, including myself. Yesterday, I had had enough.
High on the list of Stupid Mommy Tricks, I loaded up all three kids at noon-ish and hauled them off to AT&T to talk to someone about my phone. Since I obviously couldn't call them. They would hang up on me. Others have. Soanyway, (yes, that is officially one word, soanyway) I take all three children into the store and sit the older two down on the floor with a couple of books to keep them occupied. The sweet lady at the store took my complaint (I told her that this was an insurance replacement phone, not the original, so it's not as old as the contract says it is) and my phone and did all that I had already done. Take out the battery, the SIM card, and then reassemble the contraption. She then proceeded to call people that did not answer their phones. Finally, she called one of her coworkers, who was standing about three feet away.
'Can you hear me?' asked the lady with my phone.
'Yes,' replied the kind coworker.
DUH! They were standing in the same room, just inches away from each other. FOR THE LOVE!
'Um, maybe if you went over there,' I said, trying to maintain my composure. I mean, part of me wanted to laugh at the situation and part of me wanted to shake these ladies.
Kind Co-worker crosses the room, and the Verizon commercial continues.
'Can you hear me now?', asked my case-worker.
'What? I can barely hear you.' said Kind Co-Worker.
Oh, good, I thought. It never fails that when I say something is wrong with something to the technician, then the something that was supposed to be wrong with the something magically fixes itself. Know what I mean?
Now we can officially put it the call to the fine folks off in 1-800 land and we all wait on hold. (My children are being SO good, charming even.) After many minutes of really nice music, Brenda comes on the line and speaks to my case-worker. Once the preliminaries on the problem at hand have been covered, it is decided that this is not a warranty issue. And besides that, my warranty was out.
Okay, who ever said anything about warranty? Not me. I told her that it was a new phone issued to me after an insurance claim. However, we finally got that straightened out and the powers that be decided to send me a new phone. But this was not under warranty. Sigh. Do they really hear me, or maybe it's not the phone after all, but in fact, I am mute. I say the words, hear them in my head, but no one around me seems to notice these utterances.
So, my new phone is on it's way. Would I like to pay some exorbitant amount to have it overnighted? Um, no. Thank you, though.
And we leave the lovely folks at the AT&T store and I drive us to Bank B. (Remember, from Thing 1?) Where I simply want to deposit into the new account. Which I can't do through the drive thru because they do not provide deposit slips. So in we go, the troops and I. Bank B thoughtfully provides chairs that are separated by tables so that my children don't have to sit either on the floor or beside each other. Oh, glory be! I direct Thomas and Sarah Grace to their chairs then continue on over to the little table that houses deposit and withdrawel slips and pens and the funky little thing that tells you what the date is. Not a calender, but one of those block things that says Friday, November 2, 2007. I wonder if they have to change that manually or if it is somehow electronic. Soanyway, I get the deposit slip filled out and present it and the money to one of the kind tellers.
'I would like to deposit this into my account, please. It is a new account,' says I.
'Certainly.' *pause* 'Ma'am, this account has not been activated.'
'What do I need to do to activate it?' I asked, wondering if maybe all my online finesse had been for naught if I had to sit down and do still more paperwork.
'You will need to make a deposit.'
Okay. This is not happening. Didn't I just say that? I-would-like-to-make-a-deposit. Did Elizabeth hit my mute button as she was grabbing for one of my earrings? Did I mention that throughout the entire AT&T store visit and Bank B visit she was making swipes at my earrings, my eyes, my nose, trying to grab my tongue, and various other annoyances that a seven month old will carry out if you prop them up on your hip while you try to conduct business???
'Well, is this deposit large enough?' I asked. Maybe you had to start out with more money than I was offering this time around. I didn't see anything to that effect online, but I have been known to overlook more important issues than that.
'Oh, of course.' She carries out the transaction and hands me a receipt. 'Here you go.'
'I would like to order checks, too.' Free ones were supposed to come with the account.
'Okay. Would you like the standard free ones?'
'Yes, please.'
I will give her that one. Some folks want fancy-schmancy checks with their free checking accounts. Not me. While she was pulling the information, I glanced over my shoulder to see if the kids had been kidnapped yet. No. The scene I was greeted with was Sarah Grace standing in her chair (note that it was the same one I assigned her to earlier) mashing her face up against the glass cubicle inspecting the bank worker on the other side. Thomas was slouching in his chair LICKING the arm of the wanna-be leather. I briefly had images of one of those Lysol commercials where you see the cartoon germs covering every square inch of the doorknob/telephone/keyboard/etc. I knew in my head that there had to be some not-so-cartoon germs yucking around on that chair arm. Ew.
'Okay, you should get those checks in the mail in a few days, ma'am.'
No 'thank you', no 'Can I help you with anything else?', no 'Have a good day.' I am sure she is glad to see us go and not have my children and their body fluids in her place of work. Not that I blame her on that point. Not that she should care all that much. I am sure there is a janitor who gets to do all that cleaning. I was appalled at the fact that Thomas and Sarah Grace were being so gross, but at the same time, I was interfering with their nap time and I was just glad they were being nice and sweet and not lying on the floor squalling.
Yeah, I was proud of the little chair lickers. I took them out for a milk shake to celebrate their goodness on my insane errands.
There you have it. Thing 1. Thing 2. I am waiting to see what Thing 3 is. I mean, I really need another unbelievably unreal conversation in my life. One where Captain Obvious doesn't get a role.
Recently, in my quest to better 'utilize the internet', I changed banks. Why? Because the one I was with, while advertising a great online bill pay system, was useless. It never showed me as having any money in the account to pay the bills with. The bill pay page is different from the account overview page, as I am sure it is with most banks. The main page showed funds, the bill pay page showed, well, no funds. After much frustration back and forth with Bank A, I threw up my hands and applied to Bank B. Online. My criteria for a bank with which to place my personal account were simply this: Free checking, Free ATM's, Free Online Billpay Services, local branches with real people working in them in each of the three towns I am in the most, and anything else FREE they would throw in with the deal. Now, understand, this is my personal account, not our household account, and let's just not even get into the discussion of how many accounts does one couple need. So, I applied. I was approved. I authorized a wire transfer from Bank A to Bank B. I got all the paperwork in the mail, signed it, sent it off, got the handy-dandy check card, went through with my brand spanking new account number and set up all the online bill pay stuff and was ready to do business.
Except that Bank B was not showing where the transfer went through. Because Bank A never sent it. So I couldn't pay the bills. Still. Grrrrrrrrr. Hang on to this scenario. Let's just jump over to Thing 2, mmm-kay?
As several of you who know me in real life are aware, I lost my phone a couple months back. It was found twenty four hours after I called in for an insurance claim to replace my lost phone. Found at Lora's house. Good thing I called in the claim, too. It had made it outside and gotten itself rained on. Didn't work anymore anyway. Go figure. All that aside, I got the new phone and got it activated all from the comfort of my own home. No problems.
Until earlier this week when everyone that called me complained that they could not hear me. Oh, I could hear them just fine. Better than fine, because people think that if they can't hear you, then you can't hear them and they tend to talk LOUDER. But truly, I could hear them just fine. I have aggravated several fine folks with my phone problem, including myself. Yesterday, I had had enough.
High on the list of Stupid Mommy Tricks, I loaded up all three kids at noon-ish and hauled them off to AT&T to talk to someone about my phone. Since I obviously couldn't call them. They would hang up on me. Others have. Soanyway, (yes, that is officially one word, soanyway) I take all three children into the store and sit the older two down on the floor with a couple of books to keep them occupied. The sweet lady at the store took my complaint (I told her that this was an insurance replacement phone, not the original, so it's not as old as the contract says it is) and my phone and did all that I had already done. Take out the battery, the SIM card, and then reassemble the contraption. She then proceeded to call people that did not answer their phones. Finally, she called one of her coworkers, who was standing about three feet away.
'Can you hear me?' asked the lady with my phone.
'Yes,' replied the kind coworker.
DUH! They were standing in the same room, just inches away from each other. FOR THE LOVE!
'Um, maybe if you went over there,' I said, trying to maintain my composure. I mean, part of me wanted to laugh at the situation and part of me wanted to shake these ladies.
Kind Co-worker crosses the room, and the Verizon commercial continues.
'Can you hear me now?', asked my case-worker.
'What? I can barely hear you.' said Kind Co-Worker.
Oh, good, I thought. It never fails that when I say something is wrong with something to the technician, then the something that was supposed to be wrong with the something magically fixes itself. Know what I mean?
Now we can officially put it the call to the fine folks off in 1-800 land and we all wait on hold. (My children are being SO good, charming even.) After many minutes of really nice music, Brenda comes on the line and speaks to my case-worker. Once the preliminaries on the problem at hand have been covered, it is decided that this is not a warranty issue. And besides that, my warranty was out.
Okay, who ever said anything about warranty? Not me. I told her that it was a new phone issued to me after an insurance claim. However, we finally got that straightened out and the powers that be decided to send me a new phone. But this was not under warranty. Sigh. Do they really hear me, or maybe it's not the phone after all, but in fact, I am mute. I say the words, hear them in my head, but no one around me seems to notice these utterances.
So, my new phone is on it's way. Would I like to pay some exorbitant amount to have it overnighted? Um, no. Thank you, though.
And we leave the lovely folks at the AT&T store and I drive us to Bank B. (Remember, from Thing 1?) Where I simply want to deposit into the new account. Which I can't do through the drive thru because they do not provide deposit slips. So in we go, the troops and I. Bank B thoughtfully provides chairs that are separated by tables so that my children don't have to sit either on the floor or beside each other. Oh, glory be! I direct Thomas and Sarah Grace to their chairs then continue on over to the little table that houses deposit and withdrawel slips and pens and the funky little thing that tells you what the date is. Not a calender, but one of those block things that says Friday, November 2, 2007. I wonder if they have to change that manually or if it is somehow electronic. Soanyway, I get the deposit slip filled out and present it and the money to one of the kind tellers.
'I would like to deposit this into my account, please. It is a new account,' says I.
'Certainly.' *pause* 'Ma'am, this account has not been activated.'
'What do I need to do to activate it?' I asked, wondering if maybe all my online finesse had been for naught if I had to sit down and do still more paperwork.
'You will need to make a deposit.'
Okay. This is not happening. Didn't I just say that? I-would-like-to-make-a-deposit. Did Elizabeth hit my mute button as she was grabbing for one of my earrings? Did I mention that throughout the entire AT&T store visit and Bank B visit she was making swipes at my earrings, my eyes, my nose, trying to grab my tongue, and various other annoyances that a seven month old will carry out if you prop them up on your hip while you try to conduct business???
'Well, is this deposit large enough?' I asked. Maybe you had to start out with more money than I was offering this time around. I didn't see anything to that effect online, but I have been known to overlook more important issues than that.
'Oh, of course.' She carries out the transaction and hands me a receipt. 'Here you go.'
'I would like to order checks, too.' Free ones were supposed to come with the account.
'Okay. Would you like the standard free ones?'
'Yes, please.'
I will give her that one. Some folks want fancy-schmancy checks with their free checking accounts. Not me. While she was pulling the information, I glanced over my shoulder to see if the kids had been kidnapped yet. No. The scene I was greeted with was Sarah Grace standing in her chair (note that it was the same one I assigned her to earlier) mashing her face up against the glass cubicle inspecting the bank worker on the other side. Thomas was slouching in his chair LICKING the arm of the wanna-be leather. I briefly had images of one of those Lysol commercials where you see the cartoon germs covering every square inch of the doorknob/telephone/keyboard/etc. I knew in my head that there had to be some not-so-cartoon germs yucking around on that chair arm. Ew.
'Okay, you should get those checks in the mail in a few days, ma'am.'
No 'thank you', no 'Can I help you with anything else?', no 'Have a good day.' I am sure she is glad to see us go and not have my children and their body fluids in her place of work. Not that I blame her on that point. Not that she should care all that much. I am sure there is a janitor who gets to do all that cleaning. I was appalled at the fact that Thomas and Sarah Grace were being so gross, but at the same time, I was interfering with their nap time and I was just glad they were being nice and sweet and not lying on the floor squalling.
Yeah, I was proud of the little chair lickers. I took them out for a milk shake to celebrate their goodness on my insane errands.
There you have it. Thing 1. Thing 2. I am waiting to see what Thing 3 is. I mean, I really need another unbelievably unreal conversation in my life. One where Captain Obvious doesn't get a role.
Friday, November 02, 2007
One Quick Rant
I love fall. I love the cool, crispness of the air. I love pulling out the sweaters and warmer clothes. I love how the trees burst forth in color. I love football season (not that I watch much, but still). I love seeing the stores pull out the autumn decorations and even the Christmas stuff (five months early).
I am learning to appreciate the shorter days. My kids run on a solar schedule, meaning they are pretty much up with the sun and ready to go down shortly after it gets good and dark. This means that they enjoy playing outside in the mornings much more (or maybe it's just the fact that it is no longer ninety degrees by 10 am) and they take great naps. This means that at bedtime, I don't get much fuss, and if I sneak them down a few minutes early, they don't know because not only is it dark, but they can't tell time yet. Well, Thomas can tell you if it is eight something, but we just don't let him look at the clock.
I love making soups and stews and spice cakes. Yes, I love the fall. It brings on so many different and wonderful things.
And the not so wonderful things. Snotty, drippy noses. And there is the rub. Because, I HATE BEING A HUMAN KLEENEX FOR MY CHILDREN.
Yes, yes, I am sure there are oh-so-many things you can tell me I will miss about toddlerhood. I willingly agree with you. But not this part. Nope. Not at all. I can't wait until it occurs to them, without me saying it five times fast, that when their little noses are dripping that nasty stuff that they should simply go and wipe it on a piece of paper. Not Mommy. Not my nice, clean clothes that I just put on half and hour ago. Leaving me looking like I have already been in the Mommy Trenches for the entire day, when really we haven't even crossed the breakfast hurtle yet.
There, now that I have that off my chest, I am going to put on my second shirt of the morning. Because I do NOT have to wear spit up and snot before noon. Despite my wonderful title as Mommy.
I am learning to appreciate the shorter days. My kids run on a solar schedule, meaning they are pretty much up with the sun and ready to go down shortly after it gets good and dark. This means that they enjoy playing outside in the mornings much more (or maybe it's just the fact that it is no longer ninety degrees by 10 am) and they take great naps. This means that at bedtime, I don't get much fuss, and if I sneak them down a few minutes early, they don't know because not only is it dark, but they can't tell time yet. Well, Thomas can tell you if it is eight something, but we just don't let him look at the clock.
I love making soups and stews and spice cakes. Yes, I love the fall. It brings on so many different and wonderful things.
And the not so wonderful things. Snotty, drippy noses. And there is the rub. Because, I HATE BEING A HUMAN KLEENEX FOR MY CHILDREN.
Yes, yes, I am sure there are oh-so-many things you can tell me I will miss about toddlerhood. I willingly agree with you. But not this part. Nope. Not at all. I can't wait until it occurs to them, without me saying it five times fast, that when their little noses are dripping that nasty stuff that they should simply go and wipe it on a piece of paper. Not Mommy. Not my nice, clean clothes that I just put on half and hour ago. Leaving me looking like I have already been in the Mommy Trenches for the entire day, when really we haven't even crossed the breakfast hurtle yet.
There, now that I have that off my chest, I am going to put on my second shirt of the morning. Because I do NOT have to wear spit up and snot before noon. Despite my wonderful title as Mommy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)