I’m Beautiful Like Me.

Joy arrived home on Monday. It’s really nice to have her home, but the child is such a slob! No sooner than she dragged her suitcase into her room, it was a disaster area. She’s like a hurricane. Hurricane Joy.

Last night, P took both of the girls for the night. Husband and I hit the grocery store and came home for a quiet dinner. He entertained the boy for a bit and I nursed him to sleep. We enjoyed the quiet of the evening. It’s been rare this summer!

Some time in the past few days, Buddha has become a complete nightmare. He started squealing this high-pitched squawk that hits that nerve. He is into everything. I cannot leave the room to pee without him sneaking ink pens out of the desk drawer or trying to unplug the outlet covers. He climbs the furniture, knocks down the lamp, and whines incessantly all.day.long. Yesterday was awful. He fought nap time vehemently, nursing one moment and squirming off the bed the next. And our bedroom is so not child-proofed. There is the stereo (buttons for him to push which could deafen the neighbors), Husband’s guitar (which he likes to strike with whatever heavy object might be lying around), the box fans to help circulate the air (missing fingers, anyone?) not to mention the girls are terrible about keeping the bathroom door closed (let’s not even humor those thoughts). He’s crafty: he has managed to pass most barriers we’ve erected to keep him in or out. He’s fast, too. My sweet boy has become possessed by demons, I think.

T’s report of last night’s events at P’s house sounds standard. Joy and her friend, L bickered all night long. Why do these kids beg relentlessly to hang out when all they do is fight?!! I’m considering sending P flowers and a well-crafted letter of apology and thanks for tolerating that non-sense. The girls forgot to turn everything off and to feed the cat before they left last night, too. So when they returned home early this afternoon, I put them both to work.

While I scrubbed the bathroom and vacuumed the house, T cleaned the kitchen while Joy cleaned their bedroom. This morning, I cleared off the entire desk and dusted (while fending off the aforementioned persistently curious and grabby toddler). I got rid of Husband’s monster-sized stack of paperwork, which we still need to pore through. I balanced the checkbook, got our prescriptions filled and portioned for the next week, folded 3 loads of laundry and cooked dinner. I feel rather accomplished, thank you very much. But I am also grumpy. I’d rather be playing on Plurk or crocheting or spinning or reading or sleeping. And of course, by tomorrow, all of my work will be undone. I hate housework.

The rest of this week will be busy. On Saturday, I am going to Indianapolis to see Daughtry with Monkeytoes. I’d hoped we could all go, that we’d get an overnight room at a hotel with a pool and Husband could entertain the kids poolside while I attend the show with Monkeytoes. Unfortunately, things aren’t going to turn out that way and I will drive myself up and back home. Sunday, T is flying home around 2pm and afterwards, I am taking Joy to my mom’s for the night. Mom is taking her shopping for school supplies and uniforms (thank God, as we are so farkin’ broke). And school starts back on Tuesday!

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!