boogie man

I have my own boogie man, I named him Ralph. He's got a runny nose that won't quit. The tip of his nose is raw from being wiped, poor little guy.

We're going to OKC this afternoon and last time I got in trouble for not being ready on time but having an updated blog. Since I'm making a blog entry today I have to be sure to be ready on time.

This year is flying by. It's strange because it seems like forever since we've been in Germany. Home is home now.

I'm on to the boogie man, he poops himself every time I get on blogger! Shoot.

frozen buns

I walked Schmitty to school today and froze my buns off. It was about 28 degrees outside, I thought it'd be fine once we got moving. I did work up a bit of a sweat but my face and legs are frozen! Poor midget, he was glued to the stroller.

The diet program is back. We lost it in one of our computer crashes so Yago got the 15 day trial and we'll probably buy it again. I lost a pound yesterday so that's good.

We're heading down to Okalahoma tomorrow for Thanksgiving. I dread the drive with the baby because after a couple of hours he just hollers. I wish you could let kids out of their carseats these days but you can't. I think he'd do better if he could just MOVE. Pinned in a five point harness for eight hours isn't fun for anyone.

It looks like Schmitty will take his test and interview at B-T a week from Thursday. I know he has mixed feelings about changing schools.

Well someone messed their pants and needs to be changed.

mrs garrett

This afternoon we're touring Brownell Talbot. I'm excited, I'm not really sure why. It's not like I get to go to the school! I'm trying to come up with intelligent questions for the admissions director. Yago asked what I was wearing to the meeting, it seems like we should dress up to make a good impression. I want to look good without looking like I'm trying too hard.

I can't wait to see if it's what I expect. The school has a Headmaster which conjures up imagines of Eastland from The Facts of Life.

privacy please

Well, Friday Yago and I are going to look at a private school for Schmitty. It's more expensive than in state college tuition. I'm just so displeased with the attention he gets at his current school and the test scores of other nearby schools.

If we wind up paying thousands of dollars a year for this school I'm going to blame Mickity for sending me the link before we moved. ;^)

turn off the radio

Why does Sean Hannity hate public transportation? Why is he opposed to Americans being able to receive basic medical care? Why is he opposed to affordable college education? How is that American?

to our house grandmother comes...

Yago is at the airport picking up his grandmother, she's going to visit us for a few days. We're excited to have her come. I can't believe Yago still has grandparents! They're always so happy to see the boys.

Ralph said "orange" today without prompting! He has a book of colors and I've been working with him to learn orange and yellow the last couple of weeks. Today Yago was reading the book to him and he said "orange" on the orange page. FINALLY! That is one stubborn kid.

Gotta go finish sprucing myself up before Grandmother gets here!

Et tu, Oprah?

Mickity called me yesterday to tell me about a great offer on oprah.com. She said it was a show about organizing your house. I dvr'ed it and watched it this afternoon.

Here's the thing... I was curled up under a blanket on the couch watching a show about messy houses. I couldn't stop looking at the baby toys scattered around the living room. How am I supposed to relax and watch Oprah if she's doing a show about housework?? It just makes me feel guilty that I haven't done the housework yet! Thanks for ruining my hour of relaxation!

It was like trying to eat a bag of potato chips while watching The Biggest Loser!

cheesy creezy

Yesterday Yago and I MADE cheese. We freakin' made mozzarella cheese! How cool is that? We bought some organic milk that wasn't ultra-pastuerized and got to work.

The article we read a few months ago claimed it only takes an hour and is delicious, it was true! We ate it all last night in a risotto I made but we're excited to do it again. We're going to look in to making different (more complicated) cheeses too. It's just so neat to turn a gallon of milk into a little ball of fresh mozzarella.

forgotten innocence

Last night we watched Air Bud on the Disney channel while Yago worked his mid. I popped popcorn and everything. Schmitty cried when the dog was taken away from the kid by the evil antagonist. I felt bad for him and put my hand on his leg to try to comfort him. At the end there was the inevitable championship game and he sullenly said he knew what was going to happen... The team was going to lose the big game. It hadn't even occured to me that the team would lose. I know that the dog will come back and the team will win when the kid takes the winning shot in the final seconds. I thought of how nice it would be to actually be surprised by the happy ending.

the new mids

Yago found out Thursday that he has to work mids over Veteran's Day weekend and Thanksgiving weekend. He spent about five minutes convincing me that he wasn't putting me on. I thought it was a joke or something.

He left tonight right after an early dinner and Schmitty actually teared up. I reminded him that it was only three nights and at least it wasn't Iraq. With wet eyes he said, "It feels like Iraq. Will I see him tomorrow?"

linus(ed)

I was officially pumpkined out yesterday. I bought my third and final pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks. I spent $4.50 on a darn cup of coffee. Really, paying for it was I moment I decided never again. I should mention we have a super-snazzy expresso/coffee maker at home. When we're watching every dollar we spend I can't justify spending nearly $5 on a coffee. And? The syrup was at the bottom of the cup so I couldn't drink the last 4 or 5 ounces. So, like Linus on Charlie Brown, I'm not waiting for the Great Pumpkin again. (Well, maybe next year I'll be suckered in again.)

i hate the weekend a month, two weeks a year

I've been busy working out my Reserve schedule and looking for daycare. What a pain! Yesterday Yago and I went to the MOST depressing daycare I've ever seen. It was horrible, I can't even explain it. Yago said it had the saddest playground he's ever seen. You'd only have to step inside the door to understand. I think we've found an acceptable place and a workable schedule, two days a week for about three months and then my annual tour. I should be starting in December.

Yesterday while I was inprocessing I ran in to someone I used to work with years ago. It's an odd friendship/acquaintanceship. He invited us over to his house Sunday, Schmitty asked why we weren't going. I explained that although we're friends I think he would spend the afternoon/evening saying things to embarrass me in front of Yago and it would make me feel bad. He'd joke and try to be funny but eventually it'd be mean. I asked Schmitty if that made sense, if he understood. He said he understood perfectly. He's a good little guy.

I need to clean my house and get things started for dinner.

more treats than tricks

We had dinner guests a couple of weeks ago and someone mentioned their affinity for pumpkin spice lattes. Later that night I told Yagopuchae that it sounded disgusting. After a week or so I couldn't help myself and I ordered one, it was delicious! Now I feel guilty about my insult.

I went to Schmitty's Halloween parade yesterday. What a zoo. You get a bunch of excited third graders together dressed up and costumes and it's pandemonium. I finally gave up on trying to keep order just went with it.

I found out that we are the ghetto house on the block. I bought the cheap bags of mixed candy for Halloween for a couple of reasons: 1) I didn't want to spend the money and 2) I didn't want to be tempted to hork it all down. Turns out our neighborhood gives out the good candy bars, I think our neighbors even take a little bit of pride in it. One house was giving out little Cheetos snacks in special Halloween themed bags. We gave out mostly Tootsie Rolls!

from both sides

I went to the courthouse today to get an official copy of the custody and child support agreement for the adoption case. Don't get me started on why I'm doing what I paid a lawyer to do... it's just easier.

I called to order the documents yesterday, they were ready for me today after noon. I had Yago come home to watch the midget while I drove to the courthouse. I'd like to know what it is that makes a person feel guilty just going to the courthouse? I had to go through a metal detector which is widely practiced but still makes me feel weird. I just felt like everyone assumed I had either done something wrong or was associated with someone who broke the law. It wasn't pleasant.

I found the office I was looking for. The clerk asked if I wanted regular copies or certified copies, "Certified, please." It occurred to me after the request that I'd have to pay for them and I didn't have any money on me. I found an ATM and went back up to pay $7.50 for the certified copies. I left the building from a different door than I entered so it took me a few minutes to find my car. I finally found it... with a gosh darn parking ticket on it! Three minutes. Are you kidding? $16. I guess that's why everyone feels like a criminal at the courthouse.

fall

Last weekend the inlaws came up for Schmitty's birthday (parents, brother and sister-in-law). We all went to Vala's Pumpkin Patch for the party. It was really fun, we rented a campsite for a couple of hours. We roasted weenies and marshmallows for s'mores. I stuffed myself beyond belief. It was kind of a harvest theme park. There were train rides, pig races, bouncy pads, all kinds of things to keep everyone entertained.

This Friday is Schmitty's Halloween party at school, I volunteered to be a room parent. I'm supposed to bring a canister filled with candy and have the kids guess how many candies are inside. Gumballs painted like eyeballs were recommended so I've been searching all over for stupid eye/gum/balls and can't find them!! I'm taking Ralph with me to the classroom, we'll see how that goes. I'm dressing him in Schmitty's old dinosaur costume. He'll be in to everything, I'm sure.

That's about all I've got going on this week.

tmi

Schmitty had a friend spend the night last night, he's still here. I feel like I've gained a whole other insight into Schmitty's life. He has a "girlfriend" in his class and other such things. I see his innocence diminishing before my eyes, he's almost like a different kid. Why couldn't he just stay five?

I'm preparing dinner for another guest this evening. It's really difficult with the friend still here because the place is a wreck! I have them pick up but it just gets destroyed again as soon as they're finished. I mean that's what boys do, right? There are tinker toy weapons strewn across the house.

I'm going to go continue my futile attempt at cleaning and picking up.

lil' shopper

I went grocery shopping with Ralph today, which is always an adventure. We got the kiddie car cart because it usually keeps him entertained, he steers and honks the horn. Today he couldn't keep his little hands inside the cart, he pulled item after item off the shelves. He smuggled two pad thai bowls, a bag of dried beans, and a can of yams into his front compartment.

Sam's having a friend spend the night tonight, there's no school tomorrow. He's very excited, I hope they have fun.

i'm a jerk

Last week I totally blew off the piano tuner. I had an appt for him to come over and tune our piano last Wed morning but was so preoccupied with my suspended license I forgot. I didn't realize it until Thursday night when Yago asked me how it went.

It took me until today to screw up the courage to call the tuner back and try to reschedule. He wasn't happy or eager to make another appt with me, I can't say I blame him. It was an uncomfortable phone call and I couldn't decide if I should launch in to the ridiculous DMV story or just bite the bullet. I mean, does he really care why I wasn't here? Probably not. I just sounded a little pathetic.

I'm not sure what's wrong with Blogger but I'm going to try to post this for the second or third time.

there was a gorgeous lady who lived in a shoe...

I met my neighbor three doors down last Friday. She saw Jacob staring at her jack-o-latern one morning and came out and introduced herself. While making small talk she disclosed she'd recently miscarried at 32 weeks. She told me the story about how she went in for a regular checkup and they couldn't find a heartbeat. They induced labor and she had to deliver the baby stillborn. Her memorial was on Sunday. We both stood in her front yard with tears in our eyes, it was a strange moment we shared. We apologized to each other profusely and she invited the midget and me in.

Since we have the same floorplan she asked what I did in this room and that room. They (her and her husband) had turned in the keys to their apartment the day before and he'd invited 15 people over that evening so she had a lot of unpacking to do. I told her I'd kill my husband if he ever did that to me!

I invited her over to our house to look around and she said she'd come over when her husband got back from the hardware store. I hurried home to clean up the breakfast dishes and waited like a girl on prom night. She never came.

This morning when I saw her she explained she planned on coming over but was so busy with everything she didn't have a chance. She said maybe she'd stop over today after school but she hasn't. It's weird to feel stood up by someone you barely know, I think I'm too eager for a neighborhood friend.

I'm sure the moment my house is in a shambles the doorbell will ring. My mistake is probably picking stuff up, no one ever stops by unannounced when your house is tidy.

i don't believe it

I went to the DMV this morning to get a current Nebraska license. (I still have my Texas license with my maiden name on it.) I was feeling unusually lucky this morning because the clerk reluctantly agreed to use a photocopy of my marriage certificate showing the name change since I also had my military ID. Plus, when I got there I was the only person in line.

Things changed when she entered my information in to the data system. She asked if I ever got a ticket in NC and I couldn't immediately recall. Let's be honest, I could have an outstanding ticket in several states and a couple of countries. I said, "I don't think so." Turns out someone with the exact same name and birthday (except she was born in '73) got a ticket (or something) in NC. On a military installation.

The clerk couldn't verify it wasn't me and I'm not sure she really believed it WASN'T me so I couldn't get my license. She gave me a phone number of the DMV in Onslow, NC, to call. I have to prove to NC that it wasn't me who got the ticket. How am I supposed to do that? I don't know, they don't know. I called and after getting passed around three times the supervisor said she'd call me back. It might be tomorrow before she has an answer of what I need to do.

My main concern in this whole thing was registering to vote. The Nebraska clerk said I needed a clearance letter from NC before I could get my license and god only knows how long that would take! I asked about voting and she said no problem and took my registration form without question. I thought that was odd. I can vote without proving who I am, and I can keep my TX license and drive around until 2010 but I can't get a current license.