We’re man-less this month
Tony gone for the month to take some classes. Let me count the ways in which this SUCKS.
- I am now responsible for taking out the trash
- And cleaning the litter box
- And sweeping and mopping the floor
- And unloading the dishwasher.
- I have to get up in the morning with Eliana
- And feed her
- And change ALL of the diapers.
- I have to give her a bath
- And put her diaper on while she’s wiggly
- And her pj’s.
- If something breaks, I have to fix it or find someone who can.
- Eliana is a Daddy’s girl and she is going to miss him.
- Tony is sad because he’s going to miss us.
I think the part that sucks the most is knowing this is just the beginning. I mean, yeah, he was gone for a weekend when she was 1 month old, but she didn’t need anything other than the boob anyway. And he did get his eyes fixed a couple months ago, and it royally sucked ass, but that was only for a week. This is the longest he’ll be away from us yet.
I know I need to get used to it. Next year, Tony will have to go (alone) to training for 4 months. Then, sometime after that, he’ll be deployed. This is what I signed on for and this is how it is. I’ve been through it before, just not with a baby. I know I’m extremely lucky to have Tony home with us all the time right now. I also know that having him here now is only going to make it harder when he’s not.
Today, I’m sad. I miss him.
I could get used to this
Once Eliana got out of the “baby” stages, she stopped being cuddly. She requires her own space and is opposed to all things baby. She wants to walk everywhere we go. She wants to eat her food from a plate and use a spoon. She wants to brush her own hair and turn the pages of her books. She’s slowly pushed me away and doesn’t need my help for a lot of stuff anymore. I have wanted so much to grab her up and hold her close the way I did when she was teeny. I’ve tried, but she never lets me.
Until today. Today she wanted me to hold her like a baby while she drank her sippy. When I’d hand her to Tony, she’d struggle out of his arms and back into mine. If I put her down, she’d climb back up. She wanted her Mommy and it was perfect. She’s been so busy lately being independent, so it’s nice to know she still needs me and wants me around.
(This was not from today. This was a few days ago. Just so you know.)
My birthday rocked!
I just need to take the time to brag about my husband. I hit the husband jackpot when I married Tony. There’s a thousand reasons, but for this time it’s cuz he totally came through for my birthday.
On any occasion I can get away with it, I ask for 3 things. I want to sleep in as late as I can, I don’t want to change a single diaper, and I don’t want to cook a single meal. I got all of that plus more. When I woke up, Tony and Eliana were gone. There was a big bouquet of flowers, 4 birthday cards, and a small box waiting for me. Tony and Eliana got back about 10 minutes later with my cake. I opened the box and found earrings! Tony said Eliana picked them out. He said he asked her which ones Mommy would like and those are the ones she stared at. The cuteness could make you melt.
After getting everyone ready, we were off. Tony took me to a day spa where I got a really really long, relaxing pedicure. The nice lady brought me lunch and wine and I loved every minute. Then I got my hair shapooed and styled, which for me means straightened since it’s a huge luxury to have straight hair when all I ever have is curly hair. I would have got a manicure, except I hate them. I think I was traumatized by my first manicure when the lady made me bleed. I don’t do manicures. But I loved my hair and my toes were so so pretty, so whatever.
After they were done with me, Tony picked me up (he had driven Eliana around so she could take a nap). He had planned for us to go bowling (He even remembered to bring socks since I was wearing flip flops. How sweet is that!?), but I decided I didn’t want to go bowling. I liked my toes and didn’t want to cover them up and I was wearing a skirt and didn’t think bowling would work. So instead, we went to the mall so Eliana could run around. We ended up buying me 3 shirts and Eliana got a pair of shoes.
Then we went to an early dinner at my favorite Japanese restaurant. Eliana made a huge mess, but the food was yummy and I had a great time. We had to get home after that since it was past Eliana’s bedtime. She played for a while after we got home them we got her put to bed.
And I don’t know what happened after that. Probably something fun and birthday-ish. I think it was cake. But whatever we did, it was awesome. I had the best time. Tony always comes through for me. He turns 30 on his next birthday and I’m gonna have to come up with something amazing for him. Suggestions are welcome.
A friend
I have a friend who lives a couple blocks away. Tony is friends with her husband and they do house projects together. We loan each other things, like ladders and hedge clippers. She has watched Eliana a few times so Tony and I could go out. Eliana has stayed the night there (and no where else, not even with family). They came to Eliana’s birthday party. We have them over for dinner and they invite us to a BBQ. We’ve exchanged recipes and advice. Her oldest son mows our lawn.
She has raised 2 of the most polite boys I have ever met. Everytime we see them I can’t get over how well-behaved they are and I only hope Eliana turns out half as good. She takes them to their activities and home schools them and never complains. She is very dedicated and giving and the kind of mother I hope I can be.
Today I found out that my friend was diagnosed with breast cancer. She’ll have surgery next week. My heart is just broken. Thinking about what she must be thinking and feeling makes me ache. Her husband. Her boys. Her family needs her.
I am so pissed that this happened to her. She doesn’t deserve this. (No one does, but today I’m talking about my friend.) I want her to beat this. I need her to beat this. If you’re the praying kind, please pray for my friend and her family. If you’re not the praying kind, then send her some get well vibes and good thoughts.
Just a bump in the road
Yes, I have every intention of doing a post about my very awesome birthday (with pics!) and how lucky I am to have a husband who would plan such a very awesome birthday.
But I can’t.
See, my laptop? You know, the one I bought less than 3 months ago? Died. On my birthday. No amount of restarting or troubleshooting could touch it. So it’s on it’s way back to fix-it-land. I should have it back in about a week. But until then, I have no where to put my pics.
Our desktop broke a few days before the laptop. We took it in today and yay! Fried motherboard. Apparently this is not good news and given the age of the computer, isn’t even worth fixing. We’ll get everything off the hard drives and sell the parts. Thankfully, we do own an ancient Mac that works perfectly fine and is good enough until my laptop is fixed. And Tony still has his laptop, which I have shamelessly stole until he has to leave for a class that is not here. Imma cry.
Also, It’s almost 11pm and Eliana is not sleeping. What is up with that? Go to sleep, you baby.
August 21st
On this day however many years ago, my friend Coty got married. I knew her before then only because she was getting married. That sounds weird, right?
So here’s what happened. I was on some Yahoo Navy wives group because I was about to move to Washington or something and I didn’t know anything about it. I think I was concerned about traffic or something just as dumb. So off I went in search of the famous support of the military wife. Really, I wanted to find what i was looking for and promptly leave the group because I used to be a big weenie about that kind of thing.
So Coty did not live in Washington and she wasn’t a Navy wife at the time, but rather a navy fiancé and she was getting married a few months from then. On August 21st. So I replyed to her intro “Oh hi, imma marry me a sailor” post and said, “Hey guess what! You’re getting married on my birthday and how funny is that?” I don’t know what happened after that, but here we are, however many years later and we’re still friends.
And it’s her however many years anniversary. Sweet, right? So go say Happy Anniversary and Best Wishes and Happy Nookie and all that stuff.
Also, it’s my birthday. I’m however many years old (really, just 28. Yeah, I said it.) I will eat some cake for all ya’ll.
My house is a black hole
It has the ability to suck to energy out of it’s inhabitants. I’m not even joking. I used to think I was just excessively lazy, but Tony’s feeling the effects too. And he is not lazy. He’s just been home too much.
I keep thinking if I can just get up and take a shower first thing in the morning, it would motivate me to get off my butt. But at 6:30 in the morning, I don’t have much get-up-and-go. The best intentions, not executed so good. I’d much rather lay on the couch while Eliana plays with her toys. The I lay on the couch while Tony feeds her breakfast. Then I lay on the couch while she plays some more and then Yay! naptime.
I don’t think I really get up for the day until 11:30-ish. Then, of course, Eliana needs lunch and then email must be checked and various other internety type things. Maybe Tony and I have lunch and Eliana might watch Signing Time and after a while it’s time for her to have another nap. The entire day just slips away. By 5:00 I have to start dinner and we kick ourselves for not accomplishing SOMETHING.
Then it’s hanging out with the baby some more, then bath time and bedtime. Then we clean up a little (for not doing anything, we do manage to keep the house looking decent most of the time) and get sucked into more various internety type things. We stay up far far too late (It’s 1:30am right now), which is why we can’t get up with any energy in the morning.
So you see the problem right? Obviously my house just sucks it right out of us.
A few suggestions
With the economy being what it is and gas prices being insane, I think it must be pretty hard to sell cars these days. Tony and I are in the market for a minivan. We need the cargo space and it’d be nice to put Eliana in her carseat without breaking my back. We’re not actually planning on buying until the end of the year (hoping to get a good deal), but we’re weird about research. I hate regretting purchases, especially big ones. So we never rush into these things. So last week we went to a few dealers to check some out.
First of all, I’m an idiot. It was 96 degrees and I was wearing pants and a black shirt and I have no idea what I was thinking. Eliana was with us and being a crazy girl trying to run around all over the place and getting hot and sweaty. She sucked down most of her sippy at the first dealer. We didn’t bring any water for us because we are dumb.
So I have a few suggestions for any car sales people that might come across this.
1. When a potential buyer is wearing pants and a black shirt and it’s 96 degrees and sunny and is very obviously pouring buckets of sweat, offer her a cold drink. Perhaps invite her into the office area where the air conditioning lives. I guarantee she’ll stay longer.
2. When you are dealing with a married couple who are looking at minivans, don’t ask the woman which color she likes and proceed to talk to the man about horsepower. It’s insulting. It doesn’t matter that I don’t know much about cars. Frankly, neither did the man in this situation. And furthermore, no car will be bought without MY approval, so getting on my bad side just lost you your commision. WTG, jackass.
3. When someone declines a test drive because of the carseat/baby hassle, don’t keep harping on it. No means no.
4. Just because someone informs you that this is just for research and they won’t actually be buying a car TODAY, doesn’t mean you should act bored and too busy to help. I will conveniently lose your business card and give the sale to someone else when I do choose to buy.
Talking to customers about options and features they’re interested in? Good! Having a play area where the baby can burn some energy? Good! Inviting them into the wonderful, wonderful air conditioning? Good!
I’m just sayin’.
200
It was my 1 year blogoversary a few days ago and this is my 200th post. I think the 100th post sneaked by me and I completely missed it. Eh. It happens. I’ve spent the past couple of days trying to think of something special to celebrate this semi-milestone. And I got nothing.
Well, I do have a couple of blog topics, but they just don’t seem 200 worthy. And then I was all, “But what if I can’t come up with anything and then my 200th post is all about nothing. That would suck.” And since I typically suck that way, that’s just what you get. Nothing.
And not that you asked, but here’s what I want. I’ve been feeling a little sorry for myself lately and I desperately need the ego boost. So, just this once, I’m asking that any lurkers and nonlurkers alike leave a comment. It doesn’t even have to be anything. You can just say hi. And then I’ll be all, “People really do read my blog sometimes! Yay!!” And then I’ll do a happy dance.
You really do want to see my happy dance. It’s pretty awesome.
Last night
Current time: 10:44pm
Laptop power level: 65%
Temperature in house: 81 degrees
Status: Hot and Sweaty
The electricity has been off for almost 5 hours. The power company doesn’t know when it will be back on. There was no storm or accident to cause this. We wait patiently. The temperature has gone up 5 degrees since the power went out. That may not sound like much, but it’s a lot. The only way we managed to get Eliana to go to sleep was putting a lantern in her room and a battery operated fan facing her crib. It’s working well for now.
Current time: 10:53pm
Laptop power level: 58%
Temperature in the house:
Status: Hotter and sweatier
Tony is home with dinner and ice and drinks and another battery operated fan. He tells me I have to help bring everything in. I help and am feeling very bitter. He got to sit in an air conditioned car and go to an air conditioned store. I got to sit in a hot house and sweat. Very very bitter. Hey! Why do the neighbors across the street have power? I think Tony will call the power company again soon.
Current time: 11:33pm
Laptop power level: 55%
Temperature in the house: 81 degrees
Status: Enjoying the fan
Tony called the power company and they said it should be back on around midnight. Counting down the minutes. Something about a cable under the pavement whatever. Eliana is crying off and on, but I can’t tell if I should go back there. I have a battery operated monitor, but I am a useless parent without my video monitor. Must learn to rely on that less or never ever lose power. I pick the second one. Blackberry lets me visit the internet, but takes forever to load. Also, tiny screen. Time to check on the baby.
Current time: 11:53pm
Laptop power level: 52%
Temperature in the house: 81 degrees
Status: Kissing the fan’s feet. Love the fan.
Eliana was thirsty. Remedied with half a sippy of water. Possibly asleep. Can’t be sure without the video monitor. 5 minutes until midnight. I have very little faith in the power company. I don’t think they’re going to make it. Thinking of ditching the house for an air conditioned hotel. Maybe a cool shower. I don’t function well when I’m hot. I tend to whine like a 3 year old. I might cry. Send ice.
Current time: 12:05am
Laptop power level: 45%
Temperature in the house: 81 degrees
Status: Hot, tired, and bored
I kick spider solitaire’s ass. The power is still off. They lie. I hate liars and lack of power. Would not have made it in the olden days. Tony and I are going to play cards. I hope the power comes back on before I die of heat crankiness. Send more ice.
Current time: 1:00am
Laptop power level: 42%
Temperature in the house: 81 degrees
Status: Hot and tired and hot
Tony called again and they don’t know anything. They never know anything. Tony is mad and says things like “displeased” and “do your job”. It makes me giggle when Tony gets mad. I remembered a way to keep cool from my no power for a month straight on Guam days. Cool, damp washcloth on the head and neck. Much much better. Going to try to sleep now.
Current time: 2:43am
Laptop power level: Charging
Temperature in the house: 81 degrees and declining
Status: happy and sleepy
The power is back on. I woke up because my fan came on. I woke Tony up too to tell him. We are happy people. Back to sleep.
