Birthdays, mushrooms, etc.

Ok, I've been slacking again on posting. But, the last week I've had another project with my other blog www.anatomyofascam.blogspot.com

I had a small (family only) birthday party for Wyatt on Sunday. I think it went over pretty good. I have a video of him chasing bubbles that I will post later.

We also let him "hunt" his first mushrooms today. I'll load the video for that as well this week.

Here's his birthday cake.

Dead Goldfish Fun

Here's What I've Been Doing

How fitting is this that Michelle sent it to me? I think it explains what I've been doing instead of posting to my blog:

Truth in Advertising

Ok, I've been bad and not posted for almost 2 months. I have lots of stuff that I want to post, but never seem to have the time or energy to post them. But, I am back on the bandwagon . . . I think.

Here is a listing for Bloomington, IN on www.craigslist.com that a coworker shared with me. It seems normal enough until you get to the last part . . . it sounds like something I would say:

Great outdoor dog, gets too hot inside. Large dog, needs room to run but not good with chickens. 7 mo. old. Call for info. 325-XXXX

New Year's Resolutions

My second entry for my "dream weird road trip".

Anchorage, Alaska - Fishing Reel Bridge

New Year's Resolutions

Ok, in the spirit of my New Year's Resolutions:

I am starting my list for the world's weirdest road trip across America.
Since I've been procrastinating (as usual) I'll have to do 2 a week for a while until I catch up.

Brundidge, Alabama - Big Rooster Made of Car Bumpers

Fishing in the Tub

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

American Idol - My dirty little secret

Ok, so it's not really a secret that I LOVE to watch the American Idol auditions. I typically only watch the actual contest until the person who seems the most "country" gets knocked out of the contest. Then, I boycott. Last year, after watching a few nights of the actual show, I just couldn't get into it and dropped it.

But, now I've had two nights of auditions for the new season and I'm ready to go again.

There was one absolutely crazy woman on there that was weird to start with, but then her reaction became hilarious. I laughed out loud so hard that Scott was worried I'd wake up Wyatt. If I could figure out how to insert the video here, I would, but I can't so you'll have to go to the link.

YouTube - American Idol Auditions - Philadelphia - Alexis Cohen

Ok, so the Queen of Procrastination has finally decided to upload last year's Halloween pics. Better late than never, right?

Wyatt did not dig getting dressed up for Halloween. He also didn't care for going to the two neighbors' houses to trick or treat.

What he did like was the Skoal can (go figure) and eating candy with Daddy.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Hibernation

I think I'm going to go into hibernation from now on during the winter.

I managed to get up early enough to get the car started this morning so that it would warm up before we had to leave.

I also picked up a blanket of Wyatt's just in case we got stuck somewhere.

I did not remember to get my hat and gloves out.

So, I noticed that it was pretty slick on our road. I didn't think twice about it and took the path to Nana's that includes a pretty steep and winding hill. That was a mistake.

I stopped at the top of the hill knowing that I wanted to go as slowly as possible down it.

It didn't take long before we started sliding sideways and wound up in the ditch. We hit the ditch pretty hard actually. I turned on the interior light and checked to make sure Wyatt was ok. He was upset, but ok.

Then, I had to figure out what to do. If we got out and walked the rest of the way to Nana's (out of cell phone service), I had a blanket for him. But, if another car came down the hill and lost control, we would have nothing to protect us. I decided that it was safer in the car.

So, I turned on the hazard lights and managed to get us out of the ditch. But, we kept sliding sideways every time I let off the brake.

So, I just kept steering the best I could, tapping on the brakes and we finally made it down to the bottom of the hill.

By that time my legs and hands were shaking. But, no harm done. We made it to Nana's. I remembered not to take that way back from her house to work. I'll have to remember not to take that way back to her house now this evening.

Not a fun way to start a Monday.

New Year's Resolutions

Ok, I did pretty good with last year's. I keep the stroller in the car. I've only lost my debit card a few times (the last time was New Year's Eve, ironic, isn't it?) and I have relaxed and enjoyed Wyatt more and worried less about him.

But, this year, Michelle sent me a list of resolutions that I absolutely loved and may have to adopt:

Attainable New Year's Resolutions:

This year, I resolve to...

1. Gain weight. At least 30 pounds. Why not? I might even add to become an alcoholic. One leads to the other leading back to the other if you do it right.

2. Stop exercising. Waste of time. See #1

3. Read less. Makes you think. Ok, not so much on this one. I actually have a plan to pick a topic and read 5 books on it. I'll post more about it later. See #5.

4. Watch more TV. I've been missing some good stuff. Particularly TruTv which used to be CourtTv.

5. Procrastinate more. Starting tomorrow. Yes, I'm the Queen of Procrastination. I should make myself a crown . . . maybe later.

6.Spend more time at work, surfing with the T1. Quality lunch time for me. Have you played Wedding Dash yet?

7.Take a vacation to someplace important: like, to see the largest ball of twine. I don't have a plan to take a vacation, but I have a plan to list places I'd like to go . . . like see the world's largest ball of twine. More of that in later posts. Refer to #5

8.Not jump off a cliff just because everyone else did. Yes, that's right. I walk to the beat of a different drummer. Or maybe I walk a different pace to the same drummer?

9. Stop bringing lunch from home: I should eat out more. Again, not a problem. Can you say "Bean burrito and large Mt. Dew"?

10. Get in a whole NEW rut! I think I could do this one with a little inspiration.

11. Start being superstitious. I'll work on this one. I'll have to find out some more superstitions though. See #5.

12. Personal goal: bring back disco. This one was made for me.

13. Buy an '83 Eldorado and invest in a really loud stereo system. Ok, this one, not so much. I think the 1995 Blazer that I bought for $150 and then Scott spent almost $500 on a stereo for covers this.

14. Get the windows tinted. Buy some fur for the dash. I love this idea . . . but will I get around to it? See #5. I'm thinking either camo or hot pink fur.

15. Speak in a monotone voice and only use monosyllabicwords. This will never happen. I'm too easily excited.

16. Spend my summer vacation in Cyberspace. Shouldn't be a problem. Do I need a passport?

17. Not eat cloned meat. I think I can do this. Do they even have cloned meat? Note to self: Ask about this. See #5.

18. Create loose ends. I'm all about this one.

19. Get more toys. With a toddler, this is not an issue. It'll happen.

20. Get further in debt. - Ok, not so much onh this one.

21. Not believe politicians. Not really a problem on this one either.

22. Not drive a motorized vehicle across thin ice. I don't even like to go outside if it's below 50 degrees.

23. Avoid transmission of inter-species diseases. I think this can be done fairly easily. I can't recall the last time I had sex with another species . . . or even kissed them.

24. Avoid airplanes that spontaneously drop 1000 feet. Can't get the hubby to fly. Not a problem.

25. Stay off the International Space Station. See #24.

26. Not swim with pirhanas or sharks. Not really a problem. See #24.

27. Associate with even worse business clients. I don't think that's going to happen, but it's a good goal. Do redneck construction people count?

28. Spread out priorities beyond my ability to keep track of them. Not a problem.

29. Wait around for opportunity. Again, not a problem.

30. Focus on the faults of others. Again, not a problem.

31. Mope about my faults.
Not a problem. Maybe I should become Catholic. Then, I can mope AND confess. Or, I could not confess and then mope about my faults and not confessing. See #5.

32. Never make New Year's resolutions again. I could just ask other people what theirs are and copy them.

My Favorite Time of the Day

Since I won a new digital camera at the company Christmas party, I can finally take short videos (that are good enough quality to post here) and show them on the blog without having to drag out our actual video camera.



Since Wyatt has decided that he doesn't want me to rock him before he goes to sleep anymore, I have a new favorite time of the day.



Scott gets him undressed in the living room and he runs buck naked to the bathroom.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

It's a Daisy!

We finally decided that Wyatt is ready for a dog.

So, here she is . . . introducing Daisy.

My karma needs a caffeine boost

Apparently, I have not been doing enough nice things lately. Today, my karma kicked my butt.

It started off with me hitting a rabbit on the way to Nana's. That's not enough to really make me think my karma is off kilter. I hit 3 squirrels in the last week too. Still didn't make me think about my karma.

However, when I went to the gas station to get my morning Mt. Dew, I picked up a cup, checked it to make sure there were no surprises in it (Don't ask, it's part of the OCD) and then decided to get something to eat while I waited for the pop machine to clear out a little. There were several people all trying to get their morning dose. Well, I whipped around and stepped towards the snacks and walked right smack dab into some guy's armpit. He apparently was right behind me and leaning (ever so quietly) over me to get a lid.

I got quite the laugh about it and STILL didn't think about my karma.

Then, I got into my car, drove a few blocks, picked up my styrofoam clad Mt. Dew (to hell with the environment, I like my pop REALLY cold) and the bottom cracked and broke. I managed to miss my lap with it, but the passenger side floorboard got quite the bath.

Oh well. I guess I need to be nicer.

Things Done and Marked Off THE LIST

I keep a never-ending to do list in my mind. I try to put as much of it as possible on paper, but that would be one more thing to do . . . and doesn't usually happen except on the weekends. But, here is what I've done since Friday. WARNING: Not a whole lot of exciting things, but some good things.

1. Friday morning I got most of the way to Nana's and realized I didn't have my cell phone. No big deal since Friday's are a half day at work during the summer. EXCEPT, we were due to close on refinancing our house. So, in the spirit of not wanting to miss the person doing the closing if they called, I trucked back to the house, got my phone, and then decided to make a second stop at the gas station. The first was for gas. The second was because I needed some caffeine right away.

2. Worked. Ok, not exciting, but I did it.

3. Trucked BACK to Nana's. Said good bye to his great grandmother since she's been visiting with Nana all week.

4. Went back home, fed Wyatt, closed on the house.

5. Went to Martinsville and saw Trina's new house. It's great! Lots of space and a really awesome floor plan.

6. Went to Rural King to get two 6 volt batteries for the hubby. Don't ask.

7. Went BACK to Nana's to deliver the batteries to hubby.

8. Went BACK to Martinsville to pick up dinner.

9. Put the child to bed and fell into bed absolutely exhausted.

10. Saturday, I got up, did a load of laundry, unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher. Did a few other random chores, started the vacuum robot and headed out to meet hubby at a friend's house for lunch. This friend lost his wife last year to cancer. He has a new girlfriend and it was my chance to meet her. It was also our friend's chance to see Wyatt for the first time.

11. Called my mom.

12. Came home and did more random chores, including washing the sheets and taking care of the child.

13. Made a coconut cheesecake, baked beans and deviled eggs for Sunday after running into town to the store.

14. Cleaned and put several bags of green peppers in the freezer.

15. Sunday I did some more chores, including unloading and reloading the dishwasher and and starting a load of laundry.

16. Went to Nana's for an awesome cookout. Besides what I brought, there were fresh green beans, ribs, deer meat, brats, mashed potatoes, blackberry cobbler and squash pie.

17. While at Nana's, got the chance to help with the garden. We picked corn, green beans and tomatoes.

18. Went BACK to Martinsville for baby supplies for Nana.

19. Came home and did more chores. That included the whole week's worth of clean laundry that needed to be folded or hung up and put away.

20. Packed Wyatt's bag for Nana's house today.

Ok, so I WASN'T Back

Time flies . . . we went to the Indianapolis Zoo a few weeks ago. I'm going to post the pictures here. It was a beautiful day and we all had a lot of fun.

The new Waters building was a bit disappointing . . . and the petting zoo is gone, but overall it was a great day.

Ok, I'm back . . . I think

So, I've been feeling guilty the last several weeks for not putting anything on the blog. . . and lots of things have happened. But, I was having problems posting the rest of the pictures from the trip to the Children's Museum and my flash drive is full. I need to unload it on my computer but that means I need to properly label and file all of the things on it and it just seems like too much.

But, I'll do a quick fill in.

Last week, Wyatt appeared to come down with a pretty bad cold. We were due for a check up (post-surgery) with the pediatric urologist. And, since we see him in our pediatrician's office, I made an appointment to see the Nurse Practitioner right before seeing the "winkie" doctor.

The nurse said it's just a cold basically. Ok, nothing I can do but treat the fever and the cough/runny nose. By the way, that was on a Friday and the fever didn't break until Monday.

The "winkie" doctor said he was done with us. Everything looked great and he said that we had no more use for him. I felt like someone had just dumped me suddenly. But, it's a good thing. It was just weird walking out of the office knowing that we were done with something that took up so much energy in the worrying part of my life.

On Sunday night we got a call from Nana. Her dad was in the hospital again and they were sure he had spinal meningitis. Ok, so now we've all been exposed. Great.

I called into work to deal with Wyatt's fever and to await the test results on Scott's grandpa. It came back negative.

Then she called to say that the hospital called to say he probably wouldn't make it thru the night and for the family to come say their last goodbyes. I couldn't take Wyatt because he was sick.
And, he wasn't responding to anyone, so I felt it would be a moot point. I told Scott to go if he wanted and I would stay home with Wyatt. He chose not to go.

Tuesday I finally got back to work and found out that his grandfather had lived thru the night, but is living on borrowed time.

I picked Wyatt up from Nana's on Tuesday and she thought he had the chicken pox. I called the urgent care clinic and they said it was probably chicken pox and it would just run its course. I wasn't so sure that it was chicken pox.

So, I ran home, got a bottle and headed to the clinic. They made us go thru the back door and stay away from all of the other patients.

It's hives. The child has encountered something that he's allergic to. I can't for the life of me figure out what it is except that they gave him Albuterol to soothe his cough. I only gave him one dose of it.

So, no chicken pox.

On a lighter note, I have decided to join the scrapbooking world. I bought a magazine and spoke to a coworker about what I needed to get started.

I made a trip to Hobby Lobby during their 50% off sale and bought quite a bit to get me started.

And, she was selling some stuff so I bought quite a bit from her.

Now all I need is the time and space to get started. . . we'll see.

The Children's Museum

This weekend

I got up Saturday morning and randomly decided that we should go to The Children's Museum in Indianapolis.

After some frantic packing (having Wyatt on milk instead of formula throws everything off), we set out around 10 am.

We got there and had lunch in the food court and toured the museum. Most of the stuff is really geared for closer to 3 and up. But, we had fun as a family. Daddy even turned off his cell phone after taking 2 phone calls before we got out of the food court and into the museum.

We stopped at the museum gift shop on the way out and bought Wyatt a stuffed dinosaur. I have pictures of the trip to the museum (just a few) but need to get them off of the camera.

Yesterday we spent around the house doing not a lot of anything. We did drop Wyatt off at Nana's for about an hour while we went fishing. I can't say that the fishing was that great. It was really windy and the fish weren't biting a whole lot. I took a couple of pictures and then just sat there and vegged out for a while.

Last Thursday we took Wyatt to get his 1 year shots. He weighs not quite 24 pounds and is a little over 32 in. tall. Since he's walking, I'll call it tall and not long.

Other than that, it wasn't a very exciting week. Hopefully this week will be quiet too. I think we might go to the zoo this weekend . . .

The Swing Set

Daddy decided that Wyatt needed a swing set . . . after I suggested that we just buy a swing for outside. So, off he went to the store and spent an entire day getting everything and putting it together. Here are some of the pictures of Wyatt taking it for a test drive and just wandering around the yard.