Some miscellaneous thoughts from this morning

1. This is my 200th blog post.  I feel like it should be something profound, but honestly, I lack the energy.   Whoot!   There you go.  A wee bit o' celebration to kick it off.
2. I'm out of deodorant.  I started to look for an extra, and then I remembered I only buy extras for Chris.  I swear the man eats the stuff.  I have to buy 2-3 at a time.  Almost every other shopping trip.   I have this nagging little fear that one day, wandering around in the depths of our basement, I'm going to unearth his true life's work - a full-sized, shower-fresh sculpture of Henry Ford.  Or something equally disturbing.  One thing I have to give him credit for - if you EVER, EVER smell something the least bit unpleasant in his vicinity, I can GUARANTEE you that it's not him.  Sometimes he puts more on before he comes to bed at night.  I think he does that just for the repellant effect, though.  I can't stand to cuddle with an armpit full of chemically concocted "Morning Fresh" man. Ugh.  It's his way of making sure he's got plenty of room to sleep on his side of the bed without getting crowded out, is my theory.  Anyway, my point of this story was that I need to get some deodorant next time I got to the store.
3. There's no spell check on this new blog editor.  Unless they have sneakily inserted it where only those smart enough (surely) to spell their words correctly would be able to locate it.  Therefore, I can accept no responsibility for misspelled words at this time.  I love you all, but not enough to get out my dictionary and double-check.  You will all have discovered that I am not the perfect speller you have come to know and love, and I will be forever ruined.  Or not.  Moving on...
4. While, at our house, we love and respect the "Baby Einstein" videos for their toddler-entrancing powers, I do have a beef with the new one we got  - "Baby's First Moves".  I usually put these videos on while Hayden is eating her breakfast and I'm scrambling to get ready - this cuts my interruptions down to only about 20 a minute, and I make a little progress here and there between the need for me to hold her newfound treasures - a sock, my shoe, my other shoe, that teeny piece of dirt that was on the floor, bunny bear, a coat hanger, a dirty diaper, a clean diaper, a soggy cheerio she just coughed up, another soggy cheerio, a dirty tissue, the hairbow I just put in her hair, the other hairbow I just put in her hair, her paci, a book (a book I need to read RIGHT NOW), and so on and so forth.  So this new video is great, and gets her moving along with the video - "where's your nose? Touch your nose!", "clap!", "roll over!", "peek-a-boo!","sit up!", "jump!", "KICK!".... Kick?!?!  What the?  What the crap do you expect my child to kick?  While watching a video?  In the house?  In a room with lots of breakable items?  Why? Why? Why would you... why?   Just why?  I could go along with all the other activities - no props required, no real worries of damage or destruction, to the child or their surroundings, and here you freaking Disney nuts go and insert "Kick!" in your little video, showing this exhuberant (see, thanks to Blogger, I have no idea if I spelled that word right! Point proven!) young boy kicking a huge bouncy ball in an EMPTY studio set.  After you've just convinced my child to clap and roll and sit and jump along with you, you tell her to KICK something.  FYI, Disney.   We weren't prepared.  We didn't have a BALL ready.  We weren't adequately prepped for this part of the video.  So you know what my wonderful 16 month old (brilliant kid by the way) decided to do? Improvise!  Lovely! I am so proud that she put two and two together and figured since she couldn't kick  a ball she'd have to find something else.  I just wish it hadn't been her toy keyboard.  Or anything, for that matter.  We already struggle with the 'dropping/throwing things for fun' game, and now, with your encouragement, we've learned a new variation - the kicking the crap out of things for fun game. :) Joy.
5. Do I need a 5th thought this morning?  I feel as if I've been sufficiently witty, sarcastic and bitter to get me through the whole day.  Maybe I can end on a sweeter note.  Actually, I do have a good thought to end on.  When Hayden and I got to school, I got her out of her seat and was preparing to set her down to walk her in (she walks into school now! On her own two little legs! It kills me a little everytime.  Too FAST, she's growing up too fast!), she decided it was a good moment for a hug.  So she leaned in and wrapped her tiny arms around my shoulders, rested her head on my chest, just right where I could bury my face in her sweet hair and take in her perfect smell. She was in no hurry to dash off my lap and run in, so I just sat, as long as she was willing, and held her close and soaked in the precious moment.  I try to do that - take the time, when she decides it's time - to hold her close and love her and enjoy her, because I know that all too soon, those moments will become fewer and farther between and I'll wish for them in earnest.  So there we sat in the parking lot, hugging one another and resting our heads together, enjoying that tender moment.   And then, before I knew it, we were off again!

10 Things I'm Grateful For Today

1. The way Hayden says "uh-oh" right after she throws or drops something (more often throws).  That little face is so cute and sweet, and it makes me want to laugh everytime, even though I can't let her see.
2. The sun is out this morning, and I didn't have to wear a coat to work!
3. Daylight Savings Time - loving the longer evenings!
4. Getting to spend a wonderful weekend with friends, family and good food.
5. Getting to watch Hayden play with her Poppie yesterday.
6. How easily Hayden goes to bed at night, and how wonderfully she sleeps now!
7. Hayden's love of books and reading.
8. My new low-maintenance haircut.
9. Hobbies that make me happy.  Right now, I'm hooked (no pun intended) on crocheting.  Next week will be scrappin' time again!
10. My dear, wonderful Husband, whom I love unconditionally and trust unequivocally.  At a time when we are witnessing the devestation that crumbling relationships can wreak on our friends' families, I am grateful for the rock our marriage is built on, and for the relationship we both work hard to maintain.  For our child's sake.  For our sake.

Have a wonderful Monday, everyone!  I hope you can find 10 things to be grateful for this beautiful morning.  May God bless you and keep you all!

Hunger Pains

You know in the cartoons, when they were in the dead of winter and two characters were starving to death, one would eventually start to picture the other one as a gigantic, talking roast turkey leg, or a steaming pork chop?

Well, last night as I was changing into my pajamas, Chris walked in the closet with Hayden, and I swear they were both giving me the same exact look. I think Hayden was even drooling a little, but that kind of comes with the territory when you're her age.

It was a little disconcerting, to say the least.

The Key to a Happy Marriage

Last night, as I was getting ready to go to the grocery store, I called Chris to see if he needed anything. He had a couple staples to add to the list, and as we were getting ready to hang up, he threw in, "oh yeah, get me some raw peanuts. You know, those ones that I like."


"Oh yeah. of course I know, those ones." What I know is, if I had sent my loving husband to the store with that same set of instructions, it would have been hours before I'd seen him again. He'd have been lost in the aisles for hours, randomly picking up anything that looked like peanuts, and calling me at least a half dozen times for more specific information.

"What's the name of them?", "What does the bag/box look like?", "Where are they in the store? What aisle?", "Are the on the left or right side? Top or bottom?" Oh, and heaven forbid I tell him to ask a store employee. AAACCCKK! That lands right up there with stopping to ask directions. Speaking to another human. Especially one getting paid to help you. Just can't do it. Not in his programming.

I pointed this out to him last night after his "those ones that I like" comment, and he admitted I was right. I noted that I remembered exactly which "those ones" were, where they were, and would be home with them shortly, and probably wouldn't even get a thank you as he tore into them for all my heroics.

"Well, here's your thank you in advance, then, since you're probably right about that too."

You know, Chris will laugh at the fact that I texted him our complete dinner order (with notes about condiments for each - including his, and drink reminders) after we've just hung up the phone going over the same information. He laughs that I'm that particular, and I laugh about the fact that I secretly know he'll flip open his phone to read the order when he pulls up at the drive-thru, because otherwise, I might not get my barbeque sauce. And we know how I get about my barbeque sauce. (Well, you may not, but let's just say there was a certain incident when I was pregnant regarding some barbeque sauce, and I was perhaps not the most reasonable human in the world at that time, and we'll just say that Chris rarely forgets barbeque sauce now, God bless him).

You see, that's why our marriage works so well. We know exactly what to expect out of the other and are willing to meet them there, instead of trying to get them to become our envisioned versions of them. We also know how to laugh at ourselves and each other. Really, we've got a good gig going over here.

Happy early Valentine's Day, Hon. Enjoy the peanuts!