Hey, here's a little trick question for you:

If the thermostat in your house is set at 73 degrees and someone says "Turn the air conditioner up", what do you do?

A. Set the thermostat at 75.

B. Set the thermostat at 71.

C. Tell him to do it himself, he's got legs.

The answers I posted first, because then they will be below this post when you scroll down. 

 Oh, and by the way, since I'm already asking very important questions, here's another one.

You come into the bathroom to find that someone has put on a new roll of toliet paper. It is aligned in such a way that the free end is farther from you/closer to the cabinet the roller is mounted on. Do you ...

A. Think nothing of it, that's the way it's supposed to go.

B. Become annoyed and turn it around, because that's not the way it's supposed to go.

C. That's not the way it's supposed to go, but ignore it because you have more important things to worry about.

D. Ha, that would never happen. I'm the only one who ever changes the toliet paper around here.

1. Ok, C was not the answer I'm looking for here. See, I hear that and think of making the air conditioner (the actual subject of that sentence) work harder, thus would turn the thermostat down (So the answer would be B). Rob thinks that since the thermostat controls the air conditioner (and so they're joined in his head), you would turn the thermostat up (Thus the answer is A) To me, "turn the air conditioner up" and "turn the thermostat down" meean the same. It a big communication problem.

2. D is the most likely, but I alternate between B and C. See the toliet paper should never roll away from you. Then in the middle of the night, you could turn the damn thing til you drip dry because at every turn, it rolls itself back up (assuming that is you turn it by pulling toward you). However, if you put it so that the free end is out toward you, it will unroll itself, and you will always be able to find the end.

I didn't have time to tell you all about the non-maddening part of Monday. The non-maddening part of Wednesday got in the way. Well, not really, but... oh nevermind. Let me just tell you about it.

Monday we (Rob, me, Ally, and Anya) went to the state fair. (For any stalkers out there looking for me, well, this should give you a big clue) The weather turned out gorgeous, and Rob called me when he got off work (I was at the ear doc getting Ally's recheck that took 5 minutes,  but had to sit in the office for an hour. Btw, her tube is fine, it was just all crud-ed up, so she couldn't see it very well last time. Yay) and asked if I wanted to go. Of course we did. How often do you get a mostly cloudy 80 degree day in the middle of Aguast at fair time? So, when I got home, we packed up everybody and everybody's 50 pounds of stuff, and off we went.

Ally got to see and pet a bunch of goats, horses, cows, pigs, and rabbits. She got to ride a pony (which she did all by herself for the last part of the ride. The beginning, she didn't think she could, so she insisted that Rob hold her hand, but then she got braver). She got to see a really lame lion and tiger show - buy hey, there were lions and tigers. We ate some food, and walked around a bunch, and then went to the rides.

She loved it, of course. She rode the Tilt-A-Whirl with Rob. The Tilt-A-Whirl!! That's a big kid ride. Not for little 2 1/2 year ollds. She loved it. In fact, Rob had to make her get off (That was a common theme though for all the rides) Anya and I stood around quite a bit just talking to each other. She sat very well in her stroller for most of the evening. Ally rode a bunch of little kid rides, and whined about not being about to go on the sky ride. it's one of those things that mostly looks like a ski lift and runs about half the length of the fairgrounds. Not happening with 2 strollers and 2 kids. We'll go tonight instead. She played a fishing game and won a couple little things and a stuffed dog. She named it Chloe. This is the first thing that she's actually given a name. Mostly things are just called dog or baby, etc. She's growing up. Of course Chloe is a day care friend's new baby sister's name, so she didn't make it up by herself, but still...  So, that was nice, but when we got home, Anya wouldn't go to sleep, so I went to bed WAY too late.

So, Wednesday I left early and didn't have time to finish typing this, because I was going back to the fair. Mom's family (That looks weird. I know I'm her family, but I meant the fdamily that she lives with) and my uncle were going to be there, so I grabbed Ally out of day care early and we walked around some more. No rides yesterday, lots of animals, and some more whining about the sky ride. Very tiring.

Tonight we have a babysitter coming for Anya, so we can go with Ally by herself, and ride anything she wants too. I'm sure the sky ride will be first. I'm also planning on more fair food, because , really, what's a better reason to go to the fair for adults? Yummy. Then, that's it. no more fair. We've already spent far too much money this week there. It's just so hard not too, when it's been gorgeous weather and Ally loves it so much.

Okay, so the last few days were a  madhouse here. Except part of Monday which was only a little crazy, but that is a happier story, so I'll tell it last and can leave you all on a happy note.

This weekend, Anya decided to get pissy again. Not constantly, but enough that I couldn't really put her down very long without her crying again. She's got a little runny nose and stuff that she got from me, after I got it from Ally (And it seems, she also gave it to Rob - She sneezed in his face the other day) I thikn that's it. She's just feeling puny. Not a big deal. Although, when she does this it drives me up the freakin wall!

First of all, there's the constant neediness. Then the ache of carrying around a 15+ pound kid all day for days. Not to mention the headache of listening to the husband whine because she's driving him up the wall. And to top it all off, Ally is feeling left out, so she whines and crimbs on us and just generally tries to get in trouble just to get some attention. When I'm standing up jiggling Anya to get her to calm down and for-the-love-of-all-that-is-holy please just go to sleep already, Ally is running circles around my legs doing her damndest to trip me, all while singing some non-sensical song that she just made up with words like bloupes and grish, like I'm some Maypole at a backwoods county fair where they make Maypoles out of halfdressed, dishelved moms with murder in their eyes. No one ever shuts up, and it's just so LOUD.

I hope I get some sleep tonight. I can't take to many more days of this.

Let me set the stage:

Anya sitting propped on the couch with a little toy ball between her legs. She has her hands on it. (It's one of those balls with another ball suspended inside with lots of pegs sticking out, and lots of little beady things in there, so they roll around between the pegs and make noise when you roll it) She's sitting kinda un-steadily and mostly leaning forward.

Ally is standing beside the couch "helping" Anya roll the ball.

Rob is supervising.

I am making grilled cheese.

Ally takes the ball away. Rob tells her that it's Anya's toy, and asks (tells) her to give it back. Ally ignores him, and Rob repeats himself. (You can see where this is going can't you?) Ally puts it on the couch and gives it a shove (passive-aggressive like. "If I have to give you the ball, HERE take it" implied in her actions). BONK! Right in Anya's face. SCREAM! SHREIK! AHHHH! Next thing I know, Anya is in Rob's arms, screaming her freakin' head off and Ally is sitting on the couch, crying her eyes out. Anya didn't even get a bruise (just a few little traces of blood in her snot that went away within 5 minutes), but it sure scared the crap out of me. Oh, the screaming!

Rob had to have a talk with Ally about expressing her feeling and not hurting Anya while she was mad at him. It was very obvious that was what had happened. 

Is this what I should expect between sisters? It seems to me that I remember similar circumstances from my youth (at a little older age than these 2 of course)

We went to see a parade at our state fair the other day. It was looong. I had thought maybe we'd let Ally ride a couple rides before going home, but we didn't even get to stay for the end of the parade. It was bedtime. (Ooh, those of you who live here, you'll get a kick out of this. It's the republican gubernatorial (sp?) candidate's float. The theme for this year's fair is "Experience it") She had a good time though.

To start with, we asked her if she wanted to go. She got really excited. I asked "What are we going to see at the parade?" Her reply? "Um... candy" "yes, but what else?" We went through firetrucks, and bands, and floats, and all kinds of stuff. She was excited to see a couple schoolbuses there too. We were toward the end of the parade, though, so she didn't actually get much candy. I'm glad. She still hasn't been allowed to eat all the candy from the last parades we've gone to.

Saturday (or maybe Sunday) she wanted to talk to Grandma on the phone, so I called her. Grandma asked her what she saw at the parade. Her reply? "Uh... candy" <sigh> She also told grandma that I wouldn't let her ride the rides. I wasn't nice. I guess I'm doing my part to teach her that life isn't fair. And anyway, we're going back 1 or 2 other days to let her run around as much as she wants. She can't wait.

So, Anya finally figured out the rolling thing Thursday (Yeah, I know. It takes me a while to report these things. I actually have work to do now. Actual work! anyway...) I say "figured out" but I guess that's not exactly accurate. She did it in her sleep. but then she did it again the next night (in her sleep) and did it wide awake on Saturday morning. She was kind of  a grump the rest of the weekend, so she didn't get a lot of down time. My back hurts.

She rolls from her belly to her back. She also scoots along on her nose. She can get pretty far if she sets her mind to it. I've wondered about this before. When does it become crawling? Is it when they can move themselves on purpose? Does it require the belly be off the ground? Is it elbows and knees (If so, I don't think my nephew ever crawled. He did the whole elbows and hips/toes thing)? Anyway, I don't call it crawling yet. I think there needs to be less nose involved before it becomes crawling, but other than that, I don't know where to draw the distinction.

Tuesday night, Anya almost rolled over. She tried so hard. She screamed and yelled with the exertion, just like all those karate people do. In the end, her shoulder just kept getting in her way. The last weekend in July when we went to Darra's, she scooted halfway down the couch all by herself (in her sleep). Almost every night now, I find her in a different place than I laid her down. She mostly scoots on her face. Pretty soon, she'll start rolling and moved with a purpose.

I can't wait. I want so badly to see her become mobile, so that she can look around and reach her toys. This is the beginning of one of my favorite baby stages. The age of discovery. I want to see her find her toes, and grab toys and wave them around. I love watching her tense her whole body trying to get the right muscle to work so that she can. just. get. that. toy! And the shrieks of delight! And the grunts and straining with effort. I love it. Not to mention that she actually gave me a real belly laugh the other day. I wish I had all the time in the world just to lay next to her and experience it too.

Okay, got no great 500th post ideas, so instead, you get the normal weekend update. Our 4th annual family cookout was this weekend. Every year, we have both sides (moms and dads) of both sides (Rob and me) of our families over for a pool party/bbq gathering. This year, we had a grand total of 36 people, with 13 of them under 14 years old.

Rob and I very nearly got divorced on the spot many times on Saturday and Sunday while setting up, so there may not be a 5th annual (Two of my uncles failed to even RSVP to anyone for the 2nd or 3rd year in a row, so they aren't invited next year even if we do have one. *) Rob had an idea of how things were going to be set up, and I had an idea, and they clashed. HARD. It seems that when he continually insists that things be done a certain way, he's just discussung his ideas, but when I insist, I'm being obstinate. Anyway, after countless arguements, he decided that he just didn't need to argue with me, because he didn't care as much as I did, and things went smoother.

And that's enough about the fighting...

Everyone seems to have had a wonderful time. My grest-niece (2 months older than Anya) loved sitting in her little boat and splashing the water in the pool. They have a pool at their house, and apparently, it's her favorite thing to do. She rolled around on the floor too, and played with Anya's toys, and was a wonderful happy little baby. My niece (a month and 10 days older than Anya) did pretty much the same. The little babies all got passed around and confused sine they were all wearing pink (after they got out of swimsuits) again. At one point, my sister (step-sister, but I'm dispensing with all that crap, 'cause my "steps" have been family for about 20 years) thought I was nursing her baby.

Rob wanted everyone to eat around the same time, so we could all have a chance to talk and stuff, but it just didn't work out that way. People came over to the grill and took the hamburgers as they got done, and everyone ate when they felt like it and Rob and I ate when we had time. But, I don't necesarily think that was bad. Everyone still mingled and had a good time.

Ally was in the water or outside from about 10:30 in the morning til about 6 at night. Everyone got out of the pool, and my mom was trying to get her out and failing. I had to go outside and bribe her with fruit snacks to get her to come in. Then, she ate her dinner outside on her little picnic table. She loved having everyone over. She was hording some of her toys until Rob told her she had to share, and then she started passing them out to everyone.

The weather turned out not to be as hot as we thought it would be and we had a little cloud cover, so we didn't sweat our butts off. But it was still hot. UGH. Thank god for the pool. If anyone wants pictures, email me with your address and I can send you a link to my Walgreens pics. Anyway, that was it. Our weekend was busy, and I have work to do. c-ya

*And I even tried to get ahold of them. Both got emails, and one got answering machine messages. If they can't be bothered to at least drop a "no, thanks" reply email, Screw them.

OKay, so I know some of the people that read this crap that I write, but I know there are some strangers out there, cause there are more people reading than I know in real life(cause I don't have that many friends). The only thing I can see from Tripod is ipaddresses, and they're not really that useful. For example, if I plug mine into a lookup program, it says "Private Network / blocked address" or if I put someone else's in there (not that I do this regularly or anything, I was just trying to see if grandma read something the other day, and I couldn't find any addresses that matched her city, so I still don't really know - Are you there grandma?), half the time it tells me it's guessing, and we all know that servers aren't always located in the same place that the users are anyway...and...

What I'm trying to say is, introduce yourself (if you're not family - if so, just say hi), so I can go read your blog too, and we can be the best of stranger-friends, and I can pretend that I have more friends than I actually do. then I can feel really good about myself, until I see that you don't come by anymore and I can obsess over it and wonder what I did to piss you off (Were you a cashier at Walmart that asked how old my kid was instead of ringing up my groceries? I'm sorry - uh- I was only joking - heh, heh) and get all depressed and write depressing things until no one reads anyone. Doesn't that sound like fun?

Ooooh, this is a good one "... actually we haven't a clue." helpful little bugger isn't it?

BTW, the next post is my 500^th one, so whle you're introducing yourself (please) if you have anything that is worthy of a 500^th entry, help me out here. I wouldn't want a special event like that to be wasted on potty talk or some such hum-drum daily life. But it probably will, because my boss isn't here today, and I may just be bored and write one later anyway.

I'm tired of people stopping me to ask stupid questions and things that are none of their business or even compliments. (Not you. I like you!) So I've formulated a couple things that I'd love to be able to say in response to things I hear often. I guess I could say them, but people look at you funny when you are "rude" to complete strangers. I maintain that they are the ones being rude by pissing me off, but not everyone has my enlightened point of view.

Q: "How old is she?" (from checkout ladies - for some reason men don't care)
A.1: "Getting older by the minute..."
A.2: "Older than she was when we got here..."

Q: "She doesn't like her car seat, does she?"
A.1: "No, what she doesn't like is standing in line waiting for you to shut up and finish ringing up my groceries, so we can pay and leave. "
A.2: "Oh... is that what the screaming means?"

Q: "So when are you going to have another baby?"
A.1: "Whenever I feel like puking for 3 months straight, fighting with my husband for 9 months straight, and having my abdomen cut open again"
A.2: "I'm not even keeping this one. I'm shipping her off to an orphanage tomorrow"
A.3: "I just had a miscarriage. Thanks for pouring salt in my wounds" (You know this happens. Why don't poeple just keep their big fat mouths shut occasionally?)
A.4: "Whenever I can find another sperm donor"

Q: "So, are you going to have more kids?"
A: "I can't have kids. I stole these from some lady in Arizona. Shh...don't tell. [big smile]"

Remark: "You don't even look like you just had a baby"
A.1: "Why, because I'm not fat?" (I know it's supposed to be a compliment, but WTF)
A.2: "I didn't. She's adopted. " (You know this happens. Why don't poeple just keep their big fat mouths shut occasionally?)

Q: "How does she sleep?"
A: "with her eyes closed"

Any unsolicitated (That's the key word. Someitmes I do need advice, but I try to ask for it ) offers of advice:
A: "Oh thanks, but I don't need advice, I have a brain/enough already"

So, how about you? What unfriendly things are you thinking while people ask unwelcome questions, or otherwise waste your time? Or is this just me?

I've read this on a couple different people's websites recently, and thought I'd copy it too. Not that I have many readers, but hey, it's a good warning anyway (Except that I, personally, know the whole Slim Jim issue was before the current administration. I lock my keys out of the car quite often. Maybe they should have called a locksmith as well as EMS. Really, is $ the issue here? thought not. and some insurance companies reimburse for that kind of thing anyway):

<quote>

Today at work, a woman came and picked up her sixteen-month-old, carried the child (holding her car keys) to the car, strapped her into her carseat, and, hoping to avoid a tantrum until the last possible second, let the child continue holding the car keys while she got herself into the car, intending to reach back and retrieve them after sitting down and buckling her own seatbelt.

In the split second between the mother shutting the back door and opening the front door, the child pushed the "lock" button on the remote. The heat index here today was something like 110 deg F. (43 deg. C.).


The mother at first tried to get the child to unlock the door, but the little girl laughed and threw the keys onto the floor. The mom ran back to the building, and we called 911. It took five minutes for the police to respond, and then they said that due to some kind of civil-liberties b.s. from our buddy Dubya, they were not allowed to have "Slim Jims" anymore. They didn't want to break the window except as a last resort, because they were afraid of injuring the baby with flying glass. They wanted to wait for the fire department to arrive; apparently the fire department still has "Slim Jims." It took another five minutes for the fire department to get there. They tried the "Slim Jim." No luck. They tried a very long, fluorescent plastic thingy, which didn't work either. The director of the center ran inside to look for a hammer, because we were all starting to think about those ads that say how your dog can die in a hot car in something like fifteen minutes, even WITH the window cracked (the windows of the car in question were fully closed; fortunately the woman had parked in the shade, but it was still f#@*%+# HOT). I have a rescue hammer in my minivan, and mentioned that, and we were just on our way to get it when, after nearly ten minutes of trying, the fire department guys were able to pop the lock on one of the doors and get the baby (who was sweating profusely and not all that happy, but fully alert and apparently none the worse for wear) out of the vehicle. Fortunately, our staff R.N. and L.P.N., and a parent who is a doctor were all standing by; they took the child inside and put ice packs under her armpits, and gave her a bottle of Pedialyte. Everybody neglected the front desk and swarmed into the nursing center sniffling and cursing the useless police and our idiot president, and assuring the distraught mother that we had all, countless times, done pretty much the same thing.

Never again. My kids aren't touching my car keys until they are old enough to drive. Maybe not even then. And don't you let yours, either.

</quote>

Okay, everybody is talking about how unbearably hot it is, and I just am not really noticing it that much. Yeah, it's hot out. But, we keep the thermostat in our house set at 73 and it stays around 68 in Ally's room downstairs (we judge the necesary setting based on the temp in Ally's room. She's very cranky and won't sleep if it's too hot)

My problem with summer is not the heat (except in that it causes large power bills) but the cold. As I am typing this, I am sitting at work wearing blue jeans (Give me a break - it's Friday) a short sleeve shirt and a thick sweater jacket. Everyone else in the world is hot, so they turn up the air conditioner** and I freeze. It's horrible. I walk inside a store from the 102 degree weather and a blast of frigid air hits me. Then I shiver as I'm walking around shopping.

We've spent some time outside of course, but that time is usually spent in the water. We have our large pool, but that's a big hassle to get in and out of, so we also have a couple little kiddee pools set up on the patio. Anya even likes to sit (when it's not stiffling hot out). By the time we get home, the patio has been in shade for a couple hours, so it's just really not that bad. Plus, Ally usually makes it her mission to make sure that every inch of the cement gets watered, so it's not too hot on my footsies. (Edited to add: Here are a couple pics

Ally has about 10 swimsuits. What is it about little girls and swimsuits? They all look so cute. At least 4 are bikinis. I love it. I had to force myself to stop buying them for her. But, I have to admit that it does make it easier, as I don't have to do laundry every night so she can swim the next day. (Not that I wouldn't let her wear a swimsuit 2 days in a row, but I usually throw them in a pile on the floor in the kitchen near the laundry pile when I take them off, so they usually aren't dry, and sometimes are kinda stinky.)

This weekend is our anual family cookout, so I'm hoping for a little break in the weather. We have at least 26 adults, 6 school age kids, and 8 not in school yet coming over - maybe more. We have 2 couches inside. We have 3 kitchen chairs - 4 card table chairs - 4 upper deck padded chairs - 6 folding patio chairs - and a pool lounge. Oh yeah! and a couple of those folding canvas camping chairs. That means most of the people will have to be outside if they want to sit down, and even then, a lot of people will have to be in the pool or hot. Keep your fingers crossed.

OK, we saw the ENT last night, and Surprise! Ally has an ear infection. Her tube is still present, but looks like it's working it's way loose. Dr Fowler will see her again in 2 weeks after she finishes her antibiotics and decide then if something needs done about the tube. She also suggested Claritin for children to try to dry her up since she keeps getting this horrible cough and runny nose. If that doesn't work, we might try a Zyrtek or something. Benedryl gives her screaming nightmares. It's very bad!

Last night, she woke herself up in the middle of the night coughing (as opposed to the other hundred times she woke us up coughing, but slept through it) Then she was screaming, then she was puking. Poor kid. So far, every time she has puked, we basically just hold a towel under her head. She's old enough now that she needs to learn to puke in the toliet, but now she's confused. When she feels like puking, and I bring her a towel, she cluthes it to her like a lifeline. It makes her feel better to have one near.

Anya just about got thrown out the window last night. I couldn't get her to sleep, and was about out of my mind. I knew it would be a bad night and just wanted to lay down before Ally woke up. I hate it when Ally's sick. Mostly for her, but I'm not above hating it for my interupted sleep either.

Just once, I'd like to get to the end of the day, and not have to make a choice between doing something I need/want to do and sleep. Some nights, for every minute Rob spends talking to me (or trying to seduce me, or anything else that happens after the kids go to bed for that matter) I hear this little voice in the back of my head saying "Oh come on. The longer this takes, the more sleep I'm missing" It was getting better, but it doesn't take long to get worse when the kid is sick.

To whichever asshat reads this:

We've had issues before. I call - You put me on hold - I wait. Btw, if you're going to put me on hold for 10 minutes, perhaps it would make sense to have a snippet of music that is a little longer than 26 seconds. I can't even make an appointment without talking to a nurse, yet you insist on a non-nuse answering the phone. This, I have learned to deal with. I'm not happy with it by any means, but dealing.

My daughter has had umpteen million ear infections. Enough in fact, that I have my very own otoscope. I know the signs. I know what they look like. I have a refillable prescription for ear drops. So when I call you up and tell you that her tube is possibly missing from her left ear, that she has had a consistant fever, that she complains that her ear hurts, that a nurse looked at her ear and says it's inflamed, that I have been in twice in the past month because she has had a nasty cold/bronchitis, I kinda expect you to do something about it. She's out of town, so I can't bring her in. I need an antibiotic most likely, but I understand you might not want to do that over the phone. So, what I'm asking for, at the very least, is a referrel to the ENT. I'd be happy with a referral AND a prescription, but I understand.

What I refuse to deal with is your refusal to actually do anything with the information that my child is sick once I do get someone on the phone. So when you just tell me to go the the ER, it kinda pisses me off. You want me to spend $200 and an hour of our day to get a prescription that you're too much of an asshat to prescribe yourself without seeing us? You dismiss the last 2 years of ear infection-inspired experience we've had as worthless and refuse to prescribe based on the obvious symptoms. There is no reason for us to come into your office, excepting that you want to collect your stupid insurance payment and my $15. I need to see the ENT about replacing the tube. You have nothing to do with it further than the referral.

I was pissed off this weekend when you refused to give me a referral. Instead you told me that we could address that on Monday. You are very lucky that you didn't give me the runaround today when I called with my ENT appointment details and gave the referral (finally). However, next time I see you in person, I will have a few things to say.

Katie

If any of you people reading have stalkerish tendencies, I'll share a little something with you. Rob is absolutely garaunteed NOT to be home during tornados in our area. There have been 3 or 4 times in the last 3 or 4 months when the sirens have gone off and every single one of them, he's been at the ambulance service. Last week we had one, and it was the only day in the past 3 weeks that he worked for the ambulance. He's back to part time after getting the day job. I tell you this - it's a pain in the ass to round up both kids and the radio and flashlights and stuff by yourself and especially when the little one wants to eat.

So anyway - if you're planning on coming over to stalk us and stuff, come when there's a tornado in the area. (But be warned that I have a gun)

I sent home a note last week inviting all of Ally's classmates over to play with her on Saturday. I did the same last year, and 3 kids came over. This year only 1 did. I really would like for Ally to have some friends she can play at home with sometime. She enjoys her toys so much more when there is someone else to play with. It makes me very sad. Hopefully when Anya gets older they can play together, but what do I do until then. I don't know anyone who has kids her age, and don't know of any playgroups. That idea makes me cringe anyway. I'm just not that outgoing - and have trouble making friends because of it. That's one of the main reasons I'd like for Ally to have kids around. I don't want her to be a social outcast like I often feel. At least not until she becomes a teenager and it's "cool". Do you think I should try again?

For the last 4 years, I have not expected anything for my birthday, nor have I done anythong for Rob's. Basically we just treat them as another day. However, we haven't gone out much lately, so Rob decided to use my birthday as an excuse to go out. So Friday night, we spent 6 hours without kids. 6!!! He surprised me. He got one of my firends to come over after work and babysit. He wouldn't tell me where we were going, but just to dress nice, but not real fancy. I got to wear a beautiful dress that another friend had grown out of, and gave to me, but I had never worn before because we never go anywhere. He got all cleaned up and we went out. (Oh, and he even stopped on the way home and bought me a cake. I LOVE cake!!)

We wandered around the mall for a little while, waiting until it was reservation time. I bought some shoes and swimsuits that were on clearance (and he didn't even complain about shopping). We bought tickets to a 10:10 movie, and then went to dinner. The food was great - although I didn't eat a whole lot since I had stuffed myself sick at lunch. I wish he had warned me - although it was nice to be surprised. Then we had some more time to kill, so we went to Barnes and Noble. It was so relaxing. We grabbed some magazines and sat at a table in the peace and quiet. We talked off and on, but mostly spent about an hour in peace and quiet. Did I mention the peace and quiet part yet? 

Then, we went to see Clerks2. Yeah, it's not exactly a date movie, but we aren't exactly dating either, right? We both love Clerks and some of Kevin Smith's other movies were good. Clerks2 was freaking funny! I was prepared to be disappointed because Clerks was great, but the sequal was at least as funny as the first one.

Some of the high-lights:

• Jay and Slient Bob return
• dance routine featuring the song to which Selma Hyack danced in Dogma (too lazy to look it up)
• racial slurs with appearance by Wanda Sykes
• inter-species erotica (beastiality)
• jail time

Very funny.

Plus, did I mention that we got an hour of peace and quiet? It was even worth not getting to bed until 1 am

This is a meme that a lot of people have been doing. Thought I'd jump on the bandwagon  Very cool to see what other folks have done and not!  

Bold the ones you've done.  Comments are in italics.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink

02. Swam with wild dolphins

03. Climbed a mountain

04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive

05. Been inside the Great Pyramid

06. Held a tarantula

07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone

09. Hugged a tree 

10. Bungee jumped

11. Visited Paris

12. Watched a lightning storm at sea

14. Seen the Northern Lights

16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa

18. Touched an iceberg

21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon

22. Watched a meteor shower

23. Gotten drunk on champagne  (Yuck)

24. Given more than you can afford to charity

25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope 

28. Bet on a winning horse

30. Had a snowball fight

33. Seen a total eclipse  (I think so. I have a vague memory of being in grade school with these little cardboard box thingys)

35. Hit a home run (I am so NOT athletic)

37. Adopted an accent for an entire day 

40. Visited all 50 states

43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country

44. Watched wild whales

45. Stolen a sign (Once my friends and I went around town stealing most of the signs under the no Parking signs that said “Any Time”. Hey, we were in high school. It was fun at the time)

46. Backpacked in Europe

48. Gone rock climbing

49. Midnight walk on the beach

50. Gone sky diving

51. Visited Ireland

52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love

53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them

54. Visited Japan

55. Milked a cow (felt like a cow milking myself)

60. Posed nude in front of strangers (Well, played cards at least. uh, Mom – forget you saw this. Please don’t ask.)

61. Gone scuba diving

66. Visited the Great Wall of China

67. Started a business

68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken

69. Toured ancient sites

71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight 

73. Been in a movie

74. Crashed a party

75. Gotten divorced

76. Gone without food for 5 days (I’m not sure I’ve ever made it 5 hours. I love to eat)

78. Won first prize in a costume contest.

79. Ridden a gondola in Venice

80. Gotten a tattoo

81. Rafted the Snake River

82. Been on television news programs as an "expert".

85. Been to Las Vegas

86. Recorded music

87. Eaten shark 

89. Gone to Thailand

91. Been in a combat zone

92. Buried one/both of your parents

93. Been on a cruise ship

94. Spoken more than one language fluently

95. Performed in Rocky Horror.

97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour

98. Created and named your own constellation of stars

99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country

101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge 

103. Had plastic surgery

104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived.

105. Wrote articles for a large publication

106. Lost over 100 pounds

107. Held someone while they were having a flashback

108. Piloted an airplane

109. Petted a stingray

111. Helped an animal give birth

112. Won money on a T.V. game show

113. Broken a bone.

114. Gone on an African photo safari

115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced

120. Had a snake as a pet

121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon

122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours (seems likely, although I can’t remember when)

123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states

124. Visited all 7 continents

125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days 

126. Eaten kangaroo meat

127. Eaten sushi

129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about

131. Parasailed

132. Petted a cockroach

133. Eaten fried green tomatoes

136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (Every year when we were little, we killed and prepared about 50 chickens. I don’t think I ever killed them myself, but cleaning them? check. I did kill fish, and helped my step-dad kill our pet rabbits. Yummy.)  

137. Skipped all your school reunions (Does it count if you weren’t actually invited?)

138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language  (Do your infants count?)

139. Been elected to public office

140. Written your own computer language

142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care

143. Built your own PC from parts

144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you 

145. Had a booth at a street fair

147: Been a DJ

148: Shaved your head

149: Caused a car accident

150: Saved someone's life

Anya is 3 months old today. She is very happy. She smiles and coos, and has long entertaining conversations with anyone who looks her way. If you happen to catch her by surprise (like if the day care lady gives her to you, but she's too busy looking at the spot on the wall to notice when you start talking to her and hug her and then give up and put her in her carseat where she finally notices you exist, for example) she yells in delight. She's a squinty smiler, so when I try to take her pictures she sometimes looks like someone just punched her in the right (edited to add: Oops. That's her left. my right. Did I ever tell you guys that I don't know my right from my left?) eye. She sleeps relatively well, and nurses just fine. She loves her bath and would sit in it for hours if I had the patience to continually squeeze warm water over her body and feet. She loves to see Ally blow raspberries at her. She drools all over everything. I love her so much. She's my little munchkin and Ally's little pumpkin.

But, I have a confession to make. I didn't like her too much when to start with.

I wanted to have a second child. We talked and planned about when would be a good time. We both thought 2 and a half to three years spacing would be ideal. I was overjoyed when I got pregnant. But the pregnancy was so hard. I constantly felt tired and wasn't able to do anything about it. I felt too guilty about Ally. I felt like I was short-changing her by having another kid. I wanted to do everything - be everything for her for the little time we had left. And then I'd get worn down. Those days, I'd sit Ally down in front of a Dora tape and just doze on the couch. I felt bad for not being there for her, and I took it out on Rob. Because if I couldn't be there for her, I expected him to be. But he still worked 24 hour shifts and went to school full time and wasn't really a part of our daily routine anyway. I (and circumstances) made it impossible for him to take over, but resented him for not doing it anyway.

When I finally got to feeling like I couldn't take it anymore, I started seeing a counselor for the stress. It helped being able to talk about it. But, it didn't really change anything. It was everything going on around me that stressed me out. Those things couldn't really be changed. I just needed to be able to deal with it better, and the hormones were making it hard to do. I quit going and just decided to hold on as long as I could. Rob finished school in May, and Anya came in April.

But, when Anya came it was so different than I had imagined. Rob and I got along much better, but our lives changed in so many different ways than I had planned on.

First of all, I was worried about Ally's feelings. I had to have a c-section, and any of you who read back then already know what a hard decision that was for me. I was so worried about how it would affect Ally. How she would feel about not being able to climb on me and me not being able to pick her up. Whether she would feel abandoned when I had to stay at the hospital. Whether she would act out in frustration and what I could do about it if I coudn't pick her up or really do anything except talk to her. What if she just ran away from me? I couldn't run after her. Would she mind if we set up her crib for Anya?

It turns out that none of those things were really a problem. We explained that mommy's belly hurt, and Ally couldn't hurt me. We had to do it often, but she accepted it without much question. She sat on my lap instead of me holding her. She loved coming to visit at the hospital because she got to ride the elevators. (I actually felt more abandoned than she did, I think. Everyone was trying to help with Ally, and I got to feeling a little left out.) Ally wasn't really interested in me or the baby a whole lot at the time. She did have a few "trying" moments. She was testing if her boundries had changed, and most of the time I was able to show her they hadn't. There were rough times when she knew I couldn't do anything because I was feeding Anya, but once we explained to Darra how we wanted it handled, she and Rob handled it. She hasn't even noticed that her crib is set back up. She just doesn't care that much.

(I just re-read the above paragraph and it doesn't exactly give the right impression. She does care. Anya has seriously disrupted her life. We had many screaming fits and tantrums thrown. But she has also adapted a little. She still has days that she is pressing my buttons for the sole reason that she wants to be the center of attention instead of the baby, but they aren't as often. Kids are adaptable.)

I thought about day care and bottles and carseats and clothes for Anya, and all the other parts of running around with a baby again. I figured I'd be tired, and I figured that it would be okay anyway. After all, I've done this before, right? It can't be so different.

The real problem was that I had forgotten how hard it is. Having a newborn sucks ass most of the time. The only redeeming quality is that the few redeeming moments are SO good that they overshadow the far more prevalent crappy ones. But, with Ally, I could nap when she did. I could lay down on the floor and talk to her. I could sit her on the couch and watch tv over her head - I could get a little break occasionally. I didn't have to be constantly explaining things or disciplining or planning meals or doing as much laundry or any one of the other 500 things that I am already doing with Ally. It takes a lot of time and energy away from me and away from my interactions with Anya. I feel so guilty sometimes that Anya doesn't get the attention that Ally did. Guilty that Anya gets attention intstead of Ally. Guilty that Ally gets attention instead of Anya. Even guilty when I interact with both of them at the same time. It's imposible.

Plus, Anya started out as a monster. She screamed all the time. From about 5 in the evening to about 9 at night, someone had to be constantly attending to her. She wouldn't lay down. She ate every 2-3 hours, and would wake up in between feedings screaming when she had to poop. When she woke up, we'd look at the clock to figure out whether she woke because she was hungry or pooping (Rob would ask me "Is she hungry, or is this the 90 minute poop?"). Plus, she'd scream for an hour if she had 5 drops of pee in her diaper. I can't even count the number of diapers we'd use per day. She was very high maintenance. Since I sent Ally to day care in the daytime to give Anya and I some guilt-free time (and to keep Ally's schedule un-interupted and keep me sane) it seemed like I never got to spend any time with her. Anya interupted everything we did - even our bedtime stories sometimes. It made Ally very cranky, and me very cranky. Rob couldn't take it. He has a central-auditory-processing-something that makes it hard for him to distinguish sounds and has a constant ear infection on top of that. Ally and I were grumpy and Anya screamed all the time. He tried to help, but he got very cranky too.

If she ever did stop crying, I'd usually set her down. I'm sure that didn't help. But, holding her and trying to get her to stop for hours at a time was just too much. Ally was suffering, my head was suffering, my back was suffering, and also, my personal hygeniene was suffering occasionally. So every chance she gave me, I walked away. I rationalize all this by saying that Anya won't remember it later anyway (of course by writing about it, she won't have to remember - she can just read it) I didn't like her. I loved her so much it occasionally left me speechless, but most of the time, that love was hidden behind the angry lady in my head yelling "Why won't she just shut up for a little while?".

Rob and I think she was a little too early. They did the c-section a week ahead of my due date, but I just think it was too soon. Her digestive system needed some more time. She didn't smile as soon as Ally. She was late looking around and focusing on things. (Although her size has always been at tthe top of the charts. Just look at those cheeks!)

About 6 or 8 weeks old, Anya finally started to settle down a bit. She turned from a monster into a baby. She started smiling, she started sleeping (a little better than Ally did I think), she started paying attention to things. She started to pay attention to people. Ally and I play games making faces at Anya to see who can make her laugh so hard she gets hiccups. Ally sits on my lap and holds her. She gets very posessive at day care when any of her friends want to touch Anya. Anya stares over my sholder at anyone walks by. I love tickling her multiple chins. I am so glad that she's 3 months old.