I’m So Darn Sick of Rain… and Everything Else

I am so on edge right now it’s not even funny… I’m waffling right now between wanting to rip someone’s head off and wanting to cry.  I know it’s the quitting smoking and the medication and the fact the guy in the suite next to us at work is a smoker and smokes in his office… which of course is making our offices smell like smoke… ugh!  But there is no smoking ordinance in the town we are in… and it’s not in his lease that he can’t smoke in his suite… and I don’t want to infringe on his rights… it’s just not making my days any easier.

Work is crazy.  We’re at year end so trying to end the year in the black is a huge focus right now… then couple that with looking at changing/expanding programming, applying for a federal grant we’ve never written before that would start a new program that isn’t even hashed out yet and it’s due July 9th which is not a lot of time… two special events in June… and that’s just my woes.  The other Sr. Managers have plates just as full… some of it the same stuff and then other things that I’m not in… like figuring out programs/budget for next year since our year ends June 30.

Jim was gone Monday through Thursday this week so that left me entertaining Robert and the fur kids.  All three of them are neurotic when Daddy is out of town.  It’s tougher now that Robert realizes that Jim is gone because of course that’s who he says he wants… but then Jim is home and the only person Robert wanted to climb all over tonight was ME!  HELLO!  A few days ago you were sick of me and only wanted Daddy.

It’s a good thing he’s so darn cute.  He wasn’t actually in time out in these pics… he just loves playing around on the bench.

Robert is also super into wearing our shoes these days.  This night he was sporting my Born loafers… they really are comfy!

He still LOVES his broom.  Monday night Cosmo laid down on it when it was in the middle of the living room floor.  Of course, Robert lost his mind when Cosmo wouldn’t get up.  I swear the cat was laughing.  Please don’t tell me I only have one child… the dog and cat have added an element of sibling rivalry to Robert’s life.

It stormed and stormed here this afternoon.  Lots of flash flooding which led to some streets being closed on my way home.  I hate driving in rain.  HATE IT!  I get home and am turning into my driveway when all of a sudden out my window I see a car on my left.  We are the second house from the corner and some asshole apparently didn’t like that I wasn’t moving fast enough so they were going to pass me… I was so pissed.  If I hadn’t noticed them they would have hit Robert’s door… it’s not like I’m in a real great mood to begin with these days… couple that with the stress of driving home in the rain and now you’re actions are threatening the safety of my child… I could have killed that person.

Sunday is the bridal shower Mom and I are throwing for our friend Jessica.  Tomorrow I have to go to City Market and get flowers for the main table, go to Things Remembered and get the rest of her gift, go to Archiver’s and get supplies to make the guest book, get the fixings for punch and artificial sweetener and load the car.  I hope I’m not forgetting anything.

Mother’s Day

Wow… what a busy week it’s been!  Actually make that two weeks. 

After going out to Mom’s for the Mother’s Day Tea I started thinking about what to do for her for Mother’s Day.  I had her gifts picked out but I wanted to do something with her too… but I knew my boys wanted to do something with me on Mother’s Day.  So I called Mom and told her not to make plans for Friday, I was taking the day off and it was all hers.

Thursday night my niece and nephew came over for pizza night (we really haven’t wii’d in a while) and we headed to the Hallmark store so they could get cards for Granny.  While we were there I found a grandmother’s book that you added like 7 pictures to and it had space to write the answers to three questions about what you think of your grandmother.  We decided to get it and the kids put it together when we got home.  They were incredibly thoughtful in what they wrote and they worked TOGETHER (they’re 16 & 17 so this doesn’t happen often) to find pictures of themselves to put in the album.  Needless to say, my Mom LOVED it.

Friday I took Robert to preschool and then came back home.  Mom got here about 10am.  She really wanted to do piddly errand type stuff all day which was fine with me.  We went down to the City Market and to Planter’s Seed and Spice.  I treated her to lunch at Harry’s Country Club and introduced her to “sea hogs” which are these fabulous bacon wrapped shrimp… mmmmm.  Then we ran to Crown Center so she could take care of some theater tickets and shopped a bit.  At 3:30 we were back at the preschool for the Mother’s Day party.  Robert made me a wooden box with his picture on it and a vase full of coffee filter flowers.  Then we met Jim for dinner at Roxanne’s.  It was so great to have a full day with my Mom and especially to have so much time just the two of us.

Saturday a local motorcycle club held a fund raiser for my agency so I had to spend a lot of time at that.  It was not the raving success  they had hoped it would be but it did at least make some money.  The toughest part of the day for me was being around nothing but smokers for the longest time.  The last hour or so was at a bar where I think I was the only one NOT smoking… almost broke me it did.  After I got home Robert, Jim and I headed down to Crown Center for Fiesta Latina.. a nice little free festival.  Robert loves a festival and I was craving some Mexican food.  We weren’t there a long time but we had a good time.

I was asked to be dressed and ready to go at 9:00am on Mother’s Day to an undisclosed location.  All the boys would tell me was to wear comfy shoes.  We wound up at the zoo.  Yeah!!!  We had such a good time.  You could actually see a lot of the animals (Kansas City residents know what I’m talking about here).  We were there early so for the first part of our day we were out of the crowds.  Most of the time was spent chasing Robert who seemed to want to go whatever direction we weren’t!  I had such a good time.  We couldn’t have asked for better weather

Robert really had a connection with this elephant.  They both kind of followed each other along the fence.

Robert really thought this ramp was a slide and bumped himself all the way down it.

There were two rabbits in this field.. not really part of the zoo but Robert had a lot of fun chasing them.

You would have thought the train was a roller coaster by Robert’s reaction… of course he loved it (it did actually go pretty fast)

This was my favorite part of the day… Robert’s first carousel ride.

We were all quite pooped when we left the zoo!

Monday Jim left for a four day trip… ugh!  Monday night we got home and Robert was not happy.  I kept trying to get him to let me know what he wanted so I’m asking him and signing:
ME:  Do you want a drink?
RC:  No
ME:  Are you hungry?
RC:  No
ME:  Do you want to play?
RC:  No
ME:  Do you want me to read you a book?
RC:  No
ME:  Do you want a hug?
RC:  NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ME:  Fine, then you’re just going to have to tell me what you want because obviously I do not know.
RC:  (doing the sign) Da da!

I knew then it was going to be a long week.  He really blows hot and cold when Jim is out of town.  One minute he’s playing happily, the next NOTHING makes him happy.  Yesterday he would NOT let me buckle him in his car seat to come HOME!  I’ve devised a way for him to talk to Jim on the road while I make dinner.  I put him in his high chair, put the handset on speaker phone and set it on the tray.  They talk to each other while I make dinner… when it’s time to eat I can put the phone up with minimal fuss from Robert.  Last night we had dinner and then went straight to the tub… partly because he needed it and partly because I knew it would make him happy.  Afterwards he was playing in the living room and that’s when it happened.  The biggest display of sibling rivalry between a cat and a boy you have ever witnessed.

Robert loves brooms.  Especially his toy broom because he knows it is HIS… he’s very possessive about this broom… we all know it and respect it.  Apparently Cosmo also knows it and decided not to respect it because he flopped down right in the middle of the broom.  To put it mildly Robert lost his mind.  He was jumping up and down and waving his arms and yelling and Cosmo just sat there.  If Robert moved towards the broom Cosmo would flick his head and twitch his tail… never showed claws or teeth… but of course it would send Robert into retreat where he’d jump up and down, flail his arms and yell.  It was actually quite funny. 

Today Robert was a bit of a bully at school… pushing, laying on kids, etc.  He melted down TWICE at Target… he never melts down at Target.  I tell ya… it just gets progressively worse each night Jim is gone.  Luckily once we got home and settled he did pretty good… kind of fell into his usual routine.  We’ve had quite a bit of snuggle time and the past two nights he’s fallen asleep in my arms.  I am REALLY ready for Jim to be home tomorrow though!

The bridal shower for Jessica is this weekend and I have a lot to do before Sunday morning to finish getting ready.  Robert and Daddy will have some time Saturday to re-bond so that I can work on my projects!

Family Time!

They were having a Mother/Daughter Tea at my Mom’s church yesterday so she invited me to go with her.  My Aunt Barb joined us too.  IT was a lot of fun.  The boys hung out at the house while we were at the tea and afterwards we had a little Kentucky Derby party where NONE of our horses did worth a squat!

Of course, my Mom had “talked with Robert” and helped him get a Mother’s Day gift for me.  I love it and can’t wait to fill it with treats!

He also arranged a present from Aunt Barb.  He is really into giving gifts.

Robert was all over my Mom… following her around, loving on her.  I love this picture of him kissing her.

Robert played in the yard with Aunt Barb & Uncle Ward.  It’s rained so much lately the grass was knee high for him!

Robert had a lot of fun trying on hats to watch the Derby.

After a great dinner Robert really liked the strawberry shortcake… actually, he really liked the cool whip on the strawberry shortcake!