I’m Beautiful Like Me.

Yesterday, T, Buddha and I accompanied P to her niece and nephew’s birthday party. It’s so hard to believe these kids are 20 and 17 years old now - I remember when they were knee-high to a smurf! I love them like they are my own family. Little redheaded Leos, only not so little anymore.

We had pizza and P’s famous Mexican dip. P’s brother-in-law and I talked about our love for Tom Waits and he hooked up me up with the Box Set. T and I won the balloon toss and a water-balloon war ensued. I have battle injuries! I had a great time and so did Buddha. I’m betting T did, too, although she’d never admit it. Between T and I, we took over a hundred pictures! Here’s a less-than-three-minute slideshow of the festivities that took me over an hour to make. Enjoy!

Well, I finally dragged my pathetic self to the doctor on the 8th. The doctor was pleasingly sympathetic. She gave me Keplex (a broad-spectrum antibiotic), Medrol (a steroid) and Tussionex (cough syrup with hydrocodone). I felt markedly better the next day and spent most of that day vacuuming, spraying every touchable surface with Lysol and washing everything in the house, including our bed linens. Today is the last day of my antibiotics, and while I do feel so much better, my right ear and my throat hurts today. I am supposed to meet with the doctor again this Thursday to check out that the funk has, indeed, left. Keep your fingers crossed!

We’ve spent quite a bit of time focusing on getting T caught up in her classes. I was under the impression that she was doing fine. Not so much! She was so far behind in one of her classes that we pulled her out of it. She’s still quite a bit behind, but she should be back on track by this Wednesday.

Joy is almost finished with her school year. I have gotten several of her test scores back and she is either proficient or distinguished in all subjects. I’m quite pleased. She is a naturally good speller and while she struggles with math, she is capable of doing well in that area, too. If only I could get her to read more at home without the fight! Reading really is such a pleasure, it sucks that it’s an argument to get her to get started. Once she’s into a book, though, she usually finds herself really enjoying it. It is also a conflict to get her to do Plato - the free online tutoring the school provided. She doesn’t really need it, but it certainly isn’t going to hurt.

The boy has 3 molars now! He seems to be jumping dozens of hurdles on the daily. He danced yesterday! And he is saying more words. He still doesn’t sign much, but he seems to understand the words we are signing to him. And he has a very healthy appetite. I can’t get over it. I swear the time has just flown by. Seems like only yesterday I had a sleepy newborn. Now I have a boisterous and busy toddler. He is so full of personality. And he absolutely adores his sister to pieces.

We haven’t been doing much since we have been all burdened by this illness. However, my friend P insisted that we accompany her to the park last week. We went along and had a good time, but we did not stay for nearly as long as we normally do. We were all winded rather quickly!

And yesterday we joined P, her girls and our old friend S and her daughter to Forest Fest. It’s a bluegrass festival in Jefferson County Memorial Forest, the nation’s largest municipal forest. Legendary Bluegrass icon Dr. Ralph Stanley appeared and performed. We didn’t stay to see him, which both saddened me and was a relief. We were there for several hours and I was exhausted from chasing Buddha around. We did, however, see Bluegrass 101 and Kentucky Sassafras play.

The particular spot we chose was to the far left of the stage but near the road. About an hour before we left, Dr. Stanley’s tour bus pulled in just behind our spot and his entourage began congregating and crowding in behind us. They ended up setting up a table for CD and t-shirt sales right behind us.

T gets Joy with sunblock.

P is forever doing chores while we are supposed to be having fun. When we were partying teenagers, everyone would be goofing off and P would be in the kitchen doing dishes. Here she is paying bills. That’s S and her daughter in the background. Also, you can see some of Buddha and P’s youngest daughter C.

P’s oldest daughter, L.

S and her daughter, P’s youngest C and the boy.

S’s daughter and Buddha. He was really into this wagon. I’ma hafta get him one!

Joy standing in line for one of the activities.

Joy poses with a nifty stone chair and table.

T, the girl and the boy stand in line for organic coffee.

The boy found a pinecone.

The girl making a visor.

T entertains Buddha for a while. He doesn’t look very entertained.

Dr. Stanley’s tour bus.

Buddha and I take a break to nurse. Pay no attention to flabby, stretch-marked belly.

The boy and his fascination with the wagon. The people just beyond him are Dr. Stanley’s posse.

Joy and her best friend, P’s oldest L.

T gave the boy a tube of chapstick, which kept him busy for several minutes.

You can see the stage to the right.

No idea WTH T is doing. Weirdo.

A good shot of the stage and our view of it.

It’s Kentucky Sassafras up there playing. Great music! There was a pretty good crowd, too. We just stayed away from it as best we could.

I was pleased by the diversity of the crowd. There were hippies, old folks, rednecks, teenagers, a lot of kids. Turned out that I knew the people just in front of us, too! Small world.

Last Thursday was Husband’s 27th birthday. Unfortunately, he had to work. On the Monday before, we had a WIC appointment and afterwards, we talked about his gift. I wanted to get him a new stereo for his car - the kind with USB port and/or an SD card reader, so that he could play mp3s. None of us listens to the radio anymore and CDs are so cumbersome. Besides, it’s what he’s wanted since I met him. However, I have no idea how to pick high-tech gadgets for the pickiest of picky high-tech gadget dorks! So, I told him my idea but said that if there was something else or better that he wanted, that was alright with me too. He gave me a big squeeze and said that I was the best wife ever. Needless to say, this made me feel great since I had internal conflicts for weeks now about how to get him a gift he could love, use and appreciate! He decided he really wanted to get a PDA and that he would save up for it. I also set him an appointment to take the class so he can get his CCDW again. That made him really happy, too. On his actual birthday, I squeezed him and wished him a great day. I wish I could’ve done more, though.

I finished another blanket, which I gave to an online buddy of mine. It’s just like the blanket I made for my niece, only the border is different (scalloped edges instead of the braid). I mailed that to her on Wednesday. I’ve been meaning to get started on another project for another internet buddy, but haven’t gotten to it yet. I need to type out the instructions for it since all the abbreviations confuse the hell outta me. I have enough yarn to make two of these blankets. I intend to keep one of them for the boy. It’s a granny square project - my first one! - and I’m ready to learn how to do that now. I have no idea what I’ll do after that, but I have gobs of yarn, so it’ll be something.

March did not leave like a lamb. April has lived up to it’s rainy reputation thus far. Erg. The storm last night was so bad it knocked out the cable (and phone and internets, too) for several hours. I’m so glad it’s back now. I don’t know how else to entertain either myself or the boy without one of these three things!

My glasses finally came in yesterday. I think they look pretty great, but it is taking some adjusting. I feel very weird, almost like motion-sickness. I’m amazed at how much better I see, though! I always thought my sight was decent (and it’s not bad - 20/30), but turns out I have astigmatisms in both eyes and the glasses really help sharpen everything. Hopefully they will reduce the amount of headaches I get, too.

The girl goes on Spring Break tomorrow. T already left to go to my mom’s for the duration to earn some cash helping out with all the extra boarding animals during the week. Joy will join her tonight or tomorrow morning. Husband and I will hopefully get some quality alone time! T’s birthday is tomorrow, too, so we are going to brainstorm for a gift and shop for it. She likely won’t get it until after she returns home to us, though. We are so mean.

The boy has been extra whiney and not eating solids well lately. Sure enough, he’s got a molar coming in. Poor thing. Poor me, too, having to deal with his incessant howling and squawking! He’s happiest at the boob, sleeping or in the bathtub. When the days were sunny enough to go outside, he’s happy there, too. Hopefully it will pass soon.

I have been pretty absent around here lately! So much has been going on. The kids keep me pretty busy. I haven’t spent much time online at all. So it’s catch-up time!

The boy had his birthday party on the 9th. My brother and his oldest daughter came, as well as my mom, the girl, T, and my friend C and her babe K. We sang “Happy Birthday” to Buddha and had cupcakes and opened gifts. It was a fun time.

My little Prince

An online pal of mine inspired me to learn how to crochet. I made my first afghan and gave it to the girl. This is the beginning stages of my first piece.

And the completed blanket.

My next piece is going to be a baby blanket for Buddha. I’m doing the basket weave stitch. I adore this stitch, even though it is much more tedious and requires some concentration. It makes a great texture. I’m thrilled to be learning new stitches. After this project, I’m going to make my neice a blanket for her birthday.

Today, the girl and I had a date. We went to the salon and I got my eyebrows waxed while she got a great new cut. I was very reluctant to let her get such a dramatic change, but I’m really pleased with how well it turned out. She loves it, too. Because her hair has the tiniest bit of wave, I got her a flat iron. It took no-time flat to straighten out those waves/frizz.

The Princess

Aunt Ruby is here for a visit. That explains a lot, particularly the boy’s recently grouchiness when it comes to nursing. And my recent voracious appetite (particularly for chocolate) and frequent headaches. In any case, my cycles seem to be back to their good ole 28 days.

Met with Dr. M today. I brought T and the boy along. The nurses were all tickled pink to see him, disbelieving that he could walk or that he’ll be 1 year old in 4 short days. Even the doctor was all “No way!” So, he agreed with me that the lump I found was nothing serious. And he gave me something to help me sleep - thank goodness. I just hafta remember to call the other doc tomorrow and let them know that I’m not interested in the mammogram and/or ultrasound and also make them aware of the other meds the Dr. M prescribed me.

I’ve spent a good part of the day teaching myself how to crochet. What little I have seems kind of pathetic to me, but it’s a good start, too, I think. I’ve successfully learned the single crochet, double crochet and half double crochet. There are four or five additional stitches (of which I am aware) that I haven’t learned yet. It’s a slow process, learning from the net and a book. But I’m enjoying it.

T and the girl went to Oma’s house for the weekend. There’s no school tomorrow (professional day), so it will be a long weekend without them. I will see them again on Sunday at P’s house for Buddha’s birthday. Which reminds me, we still need to get his gift! We’ve decided to get him a toybox.

I’m really tired and feeling yucky again this evening. And the prospect of the impending winter storm does not make me feel any jollier. Blech, I’m ready for Spring! Don’t we set our clocks ahead this weekend, too? Well, whatever. I’m hoping to get some decent sleep tonight and waking in the morning feeling refreshed and rejuvenated.

It hit me really hard today that in less than 2 weeks, my son will be a year old. It’s physically painful. I realize that I still have a lot of life in front of me, but it smacked me upside the head that 30 years have got behind me, I’m married and have two children and my youngest is hitting his first big milestone. This time will never be recreated with other children. My baby is moving into toddlerhood.

Sigh.

I ordered his birthday crown and tee-shirt today.