I’m Beautiful Like Me.

Monday, I went to get T from the airport. I left the house at 11:25am to get there on time. Did the usual: park, go in, get a gate pass, pass through security check-point and walk 3 miles to the other end of the airport. Her flight was early, which under normal circumstances would be great, but I timed it to arrive on time, so she had already gotten off the plane and found a bathroom. I was ready to start panicking when she came up behind me. I gave her a quick squeeze and told her to dial her mom to let her know she arrived safely. After speaking to her myself briefly, I confiscated the cell phone. Gave T the rundown of the rules at our place and her restrictions for the first couple of weeks. We collected her luggage and headed home.

Later, we hit the library to get her a card and some books. She’s really into ASL and signed the entire conversation we had. Something she’s passionate about, awesome. We discussed the possibility of her being homeschooled for the remainder of the year. Sounds like something we will do. I grabbed some highschool homeschooling books and she grabbed some sign language books.

Back home, we ate dinner together and T crashed early. Joy asked if she could be homeschooled, too. Husband and I finally concluded that we won’t be doing that again with the girl - she’s just not self-motivated enough and I am not patient enough with her. I wish there were a way that it could work out, but I just can’t see us having any success.

Tuesday, T and I drove to Seymour, Indiana to meet up with my OL buddy, S (aka Monkeytoes). We met at Chili’s, had good food, less-than-stellar service and great company. We must’ve hung out there for a couple-three hours. Afterwards we hit up some outlets that turned out to be pretty disappointing, but S and I took a lot of goofy photos. These are my favorites.

I had a great time meeting her and hope that we can hang out again soon in warmer weather.

On the way home, I started feeling pretty icky again. My throat was hurting (from all the talking?) and traffic was fucking hell. I was so happy to get home. I really missed the boy! Husband made pizza for dinner and the girls chowed down, but the boy threw his small bites across the kitchen. Sigh. He was really hard to get down to sleep last night, too.

I had an early morning appointment with the doctor today. I told her about not being able to sleep, but she refused to give me any prescription. I got a strep test which came back negative, but she still gave me a ’script for amoxicillin and 2 ’scripts for Diflucan (because a YI is inevitable - God, I just hope we don’t get thrush, too). They drew more blood for thyroid panels and also to check my cholesterol. Also told her about the lump in my breast and she felt it and ordered me to get a mammogram and ultrasound. Okay? We can’t afford that! I told her I’d see my ob/gyn and have him check it. Frankly, I think it is just hormones and normal female changes from childbirth, nursing and getting my menses back. So I made an appointment to see him tomorrow afternoon. I will also ask him about something to help me sleep while I’m still nursing. Meanwhile, I also scheduled an appointment for Buddha’s one year check-up. I need to make an appointment with a dentist, too, but I am too damn chickenshit for alladat just yet. Plus, we still have outstanding bills from labs I’ve already had and will be incurring more bills with all these upcoming appointments. The state of health care in this country is depressing.

The boy is in a terrible mood today. He’s really taken to throwing food, but screams like he is starving to death. I figured he might be interested in nursing more, but no, he isn’t. He nurses for maybe 3-4 minutes and then wants to get up and play. He gave Husband absolute hell about a nap this afternoon. They are both still sleeping.

D and I have talked daily since T arrived. We think we’ve found a good solution for getting her homeschooled online. We should know relatively soon, too. I just hafta get some things done, D has some things to do on her end and then get her enrolled. Shouldn’t be too hard. In any case, it’s nice to hear from D so often. I miss her fiercely. And T looks so much like her sometimes, it’s almost like having D here. I just wish my throat didn’t hurt, so I could talk to her longer on the telephone!

Happy Valentine’s Day

The past several days have been busy.

Monday, Husband was off. We had a WIC appointment. The boy weighs 21 lbs. 8 oz. He made an amazing dinner of steak and baked potatoes and rolls. I made salad. A good day.

BHF and her family visited for the night on Tuesday. We had fun shooting the shit, half-ass watching movies and having a few drinks. I made a pot of veggie chilli especially for them (turned out really yummy, too!). Her husband is really nice, her daughter is as cute as can be (and loads of personality, too) and their dog was sweet as can be. Joy enjoyed entertaining BHF’s daughter for a bit and the boy didn’t know what to make of all the extra people. He was pretty cooperative, though and went right to sleep when bedtime came. The next morning, Husband made a huge pile of French Toast. We ate, hung out for a bit and finally said our good-byes. I’m super-jealous of their travels.

Cleaned up a bit after they left, made lasagna for dinner. Husband returned to work last night. After he left, I went out to the Jeep and got the Valentine’s candy I bought for him out of hiding and left it, along with a card, out for him to find when he got home. Had a hard time falling to sleep last night.

This morning, I woke up late and Joy was running late, too. We got halfway down to the bus stop before she realized she’d left her Valentine’s cards on her desk in her room. I came back to get them, but the bus came before I could get them to her. So, when the boy went down for his lunchtime nap, I went up to the store, bought her a carnation, a lovey and a bag of candy for her to share with the class and took them, along with the gift Husband got her up to her school. It made her feel pretty special.

After getting back from the bus, I went back to bed for another hour or so. Woke up and found flowers, chocolates and a card from Husband. He’s my favorite! I rewarded him with hugs and kisses.

The boy was pretty cranky today. He slept well at both naptimes but whined a lot all day and gave me hell at bedtime. I now have a headache and am getting ready for sleep. I haven’t read in a while (still on Chapter 3 of The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams). The girl has a few appointments tomorrow and I will bring my book - maybe I can squeeze some reading in then.

Today was shaped (as most days are) by my mood. Not good.

I’m really loving the Diva cup, but second day visits from Aunt Ruby are heavy and there was a mess. Helluva way to wake up, lemme tell ya. All things considered, the Diva cup did a damn fine job. At least I got to clean up before the boy woke up.

Joy and her cousin were already up and already had breakfast. They went out to play. The temps were mild today. The boy ate like he’s got a tapeworm again today. Pint-sized garbage disposal, he is. He had fruit and bread and Chicken & Dumplins and biter biscuit and two(!) slices of pizza. Husband woke up at around noon, just after getting the boy down for a short nap. I laid down for a nap, too. Just feeling headache-y and generally ick all day. I read 2 chapters of “Restaurant at the End of the Universe” before conking out.

Friend stopped by and picked Joy up for a short trip to the park while I was asleep. Later, Husband prepared and made dinner and washed dishes while I entertained baby. He packed his own lunch today, too. But I did make him coffee, so I wasn’t totally useless to him today!

Buddha’s late afternoon nap didn’t go as well this time. It took 20 minutes of standing beside his crib before he fell asleep and he only slept for 20 minutes. I figured it was just as well, since it was so late in the day. We played a bit, he played with sister and cousin a bit more, I gave him a bath and laid down with him to nurse and then I put him to bed. An hour and a half later, he is still awake and not cooperating. Sometimes, it seems my kids pick thee worst possible time to be difficult. I sat down on the bed and cried from frustration. I finally walked away and let him cry to sleep. I felt (and feel) bad for him… but worse for me.

I’m not typically a very patient person and I exercised so much patience this week, getting him to sleep in his crib. Tonight was such a challenge. I think Aunt Ruby’s visit plays a part in it.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day.