I'm pretty darn happy to have...

...just one child. Frodo is our one and only and will stay that way forever. Post partum depression sucks the big one and I really don't want to chance that road again. (Think 110mph down a narrow street in a convertible with the top down in a driving rain and sleet in the dark with no headlights and the car is headed straight for a brick wall and the brakes aren't working.... That's the road I was on. LOL. No desire to visit there again thankyouverymuch.)

Our bestest friends have one daughter that is 7 months younger than Frodo. She is spending the night here tonight. Her mom is an RN and had an opportunity to go to a conference for work so mom has the week in New Orleans. (Lucky beyotch!) Her dad is a paramedic and works 24 hour shifts and is working tonight. So I got a taste of multiple kids for the night - supper, homework, bedtime.... I really like this little gal, and she and Frodo are like siblings and get along even better than siblings. We've had a nice night and all, but it just reinforces for me how happy I am with our little family of three. :)

Note to self...

Don't attempt a "hockey stop" while ice skating again unless wearing a helmet.

Frodo and I went ice skating last night with a friend of mine (Jen) and a friend of his (Megan). Frodo is just learning how to skate this year. I've skated a few times before in my life, but am still learning the finer points. Jen is a very good skater. Megan has never skated.

So there we are - a beautiful winter night. Not too cold, no wind. The park's rink is empty except for the four of us. The lights are on and it makes the snow glow a bright white. The only noises are our skates on the ice and our talking and laughing. Jen is giving tips and pointers to the small ones. She's showing Frodo how to do a hockey stop. I think, "I'd like to try that!". And try I did.

Next thing I know I'm falling backwards and my head actually smacks then BOUNCES on the ice. (Ouch.) Jen comes zooming over, screaming at me, "are you all right?!?!?". I say yes. She asks, "are you SURE you're all right??!?!?" I say yes again, but that I really would like to just lay there and hold my head for a moment.... And could she please check and make sure there's not a puddle of blood? After laying and holding my head for a minute, I go to the side of the rink and get myself a handful of snow and ice my bump. I am now the proud owner of a mild concussion.

So, needless to say, I feel I do NOT need to learn how to do a hockey stop. Ever. Unless I get a helmet first.

Underwear.

One of those words you can walk up to any 7 year old boy and say and they will bust out laughing uncontrollably. I was at the mall recently with Frodo and my hubby. (Still haven't figured out what to call hubby online yet...) We walk past Victoria's Secret and you can see hubby eyeing the merchandise. Frodo looks at me. I tell him, "It's an underwear store." He busts out laughing. I clarify, "It's a FANCY underwear store." He thinks that's even funnier. Hubby interjects, "It's a fancy GIRL underwear store." And Frodo is practically laying on the floor he has the giggles so bad.

Another word to say to a 7 year old boy to make them giggle uncontrollably: butt.

Feel free to add to the list....

I am feeling MUCH better now.

*Aunt Flo* has come to visit, and with her, the worst PMS week EVER is now a thing of the past. OMG, I have never had such miserable PMS symptoms in my whole life!!! I was tired. I was achy. My boobs hurt soooo much. I was getting ready to call my *drug dealer* (my med doc for those of you that don't know my fond name for him) and get my prescription increased. If I didn't know better, I would've thought I was pregnant. (I thank my lucky stars THAT'S not an option in this household anymore!)

Good thing the really shitty day I had at work today didn't happen about 4 days ago or things would've been VERY messy.

Jammy Day!!

I spent the whole day in my jammies. It's not that I just laid around doing nothing - I did some cleaning, paid the bills, and even baked a batch of oatmeal cookies! But I just didn't bother getting out of my jammies. Of course for me, jammies are sweatpants and a sweatshirt, so when Frodo's friend came over to play, the friend's mom probably had no idea it was just jammies I was in. I even went out and got the mail in my jammies. Darn near froze my ass off though!

The cookies are yummy. I was craving them because someone brought some oatmeal raisin cookies into work the other day, and they were soooo good, but I hated having to eat around the raisins! (I hate raisins. Yucky!!) So I made some today without the raisins. Although, I think putting the raisins in would make it a good diet trick for me - I'd have to eat them a lot slower as I pick out the raisins, lol.

Anyone know why....

...my "Other Blogs I Read" list over in the sidebar >>>> doesn't space properly? I even tried deleting the whole blogroll and re-entering it. I'd appreciate any suggestions.

I'm just so darn tired...

...the past few days, and that puts me in a *non blogging* mood. I don't feel very talkative. (Is it *talkative* or something else when I'm typing here? Hmmm...)

I'll think about that one later. It's 9pm. I'm going to bed.

So I find out today...

...from a local police officer, that it is actually considered LEGAL for one car to overtake and pass another car on a RESIDENTIAL street (namely, MY street!). I live just 4 houses down from an elementary school. Today as I'm walking Frodo to school, a minivan decides the car in front of it isn't driving fast enough and passes the car. This isn't the first time it's happened and it just pisses the heck outta me. This time I was able to get the license plate and a description of the vehicle and driver. I call the police station to file a complaint and he tells me there's nothing illegal about doing this "as long as it's done safely". WHAT?!?!?!????? I don't think any passing is safe unless you're on a highway or multiple lane business street! Ugh.

I am sooooo ready to sit outside (in my crazy ex-postal worker neighbor's driveway) and pelt the offending vehicles with snowballs or paintballs or other non-damaging objects. (Hey, I don't wanna get thrown in jail for damage to property! Although, it's starting to look like an acceptable risk to take to be able to get my point across!) Actually, I was talking about this with some neighbors of mine this past summer and we were thinking of sitting with a whole bunch of soccer balls and rolling them out into the street in front of cars to get the drivers to think about slowing down. Maybe this summer we can make a party of it! I'll bring the potato salad!

Happy Anniversary to us!

Today is our anniversary. Hubby and I have been married 11 years. :) We went to dinner and a movie tonight, and are waiting for Frodo to fall asleep to commence further anniversary activities. (Nudge, nudge, wink, wink!)

I'm irritated

My right ear is bugging me. It hurt this morning when I woke up and it's all plugged up. I work in a doctor's office, so one of the *many* (ha!) benefits of that kind of job is that I can whine to one of my RN coworkers about my ear and she looks in it for me. She says, "Holy shit Mel, there's a lotta wax in there! Let me flush it out for you."

Let me say right now, I am NOT fond of people doing *stuff* to my ears. I hate, hate, hate having someone whisper in my ears. (If you ever wanna really piss me off, just whisper in my ear. I'll lose it. Seriously.) I hate when hubby tries to nibble on my ears. And I even hate having my hair touching my ears. (Can you say ~weird~? I think I'm a freak.) But I thought, oh, if it makes my ear feel better, I'll go for it. It can't be *that* bad.

She gets out her supplies and starts working on it. For starters, it's going ok. Partway through the third syringe full of water, I start getting dizzy. Not just a little dizzy, but suddenly VERY dizzy. I start tipping off the exam table, lol. She catches me and has me lay down. I nearly puke. (Isn't this a nice way to react to a coworker that is trying to help you out!???) Needless to say, I am DONE having my ear flushed, lol. But it's still plugged. Waaaah!!!!

So I approach the doc I work for (he is a pediatrician) and he kindly gets one of those scooper things and tries to dig the wax out for me. OMG, that HURTS!!! No wonder the kiddos scream when he does that! And I consider myself to have a high threshhold of pain.... He couldn't quite get all of it out, and now I have a piece wedged up against my eardrum and I can't hear a damn thing out of that ear. So that's why I'm irritated.

Tonight, I'm loopy on Sudafed and have some of those ooey gooey ear drops that soften the wax. I had to shove a cotton ball in there to keep the drops in. I can't stand how it feels. I hope these drops work fast to get my ear cleared! (I'm not just a freak, I'm an impatient freak, lol.)

We have a snowblower for a reason....

I *try* to get hubby to split the chores with me a bit. (Bits of this information are all for other posts on other days. This is the first.) He's allergic to grass, so I mow. The trade off is that he's to shovel snow in the winter. (He has the MUCH better end of the bargain than I do! I have to mow MUCH more often than he has to shovel.) The first winter in our house he insisted on buying a snowblower. Ok fine. I have a lawn mower instead of those little handheld electric shears, he could have a snowblower instead of a shovel.

That first winter, he used the snowblower. A lot. Since then, when it snows, he usually shovels instead. Whatever. His choice.

We finally get the first snow of this winter starting yesterday. (Happy Dance!) This morning, there is a few inches on the ground and the snow is letting up, so I try to start the snowblower and it won't start. I try again. It still won't start. So I end up shoveling. Then I go about my day of helping at the school library, going to a staff meeting at work, etc...)

It snows more during the day today. After I get home from bringing Frodo home from school, I try to start the snowblower again. It still won't start. I figure, "hey, maybe the spark plug is old and it needs a new one". So somehow, I actually know how to get the old one out (don't know why I know that) and go buy a new one and install it. (I'm that kind of gal. I like that kind of work and challenge. However, I do NOT like the work and challenge of a pile of laundry or a layer of dust. I just haaaaaate doing that kind of stuff. I'm not your Donna Reed type. I think I've mentioned my aversion to domestic *crap* in the past. But in case you missed it, I can sum it up briefly: I hate cleaning. I hate laundry. I hate cooking. Back to our regularly scheduled program....)

After installing the new spark plug, it still won't start. I begin to get irritated. I tried. And tried again. So I came inside and told hubby it was his turn to tackle it. He gives me this look like, "what the hell am I gonna do about it???" I tell him he's not *getting any* if he doesn't start acting like a manly-man and go fix the automatic power equipment and get the snow up since it's his damn chore anyhow!" He decides to give it a shot. (Wise choice.)

After multiple attempts, and a call to his dad who comes bearing gifts of knowledge and starter fluid, the snowblower is running! I'm just glad hubby used the snowblower instead of just leaving it and using the shovel.

Ooooh!!!! Lookie!!!!

It's snowing! We're finally gonna get some snow!!! I'm so excited!

Unless Frodo gets a snow day tomorrow - then I won't be quite as excited....

I suppose the New Year means...

...I'm supposed to post what all I accomplished the past year, what was good, what was bad, and what I hope and dream for in the coming year. But you know what? I don't feel like it. I'm one that never makes New Year's resolutions because I feel it's just setting me up for failure. (Exercise? Ha! I'm in hibernation mode! Eat right? Are you nuts? There are so many goodies left over yet! Get out of debt? Not with all the great after christmas sales!) I'll set little goals to meet throught the year when the inspiration strikes. This is NOT an inspiring time of year for me.

And I still wanna bitch about the crazy, messed up weather!!! (I'm such a whiner!) Twice this past week it has RAINED. And not just little sprinkles, but actually a pouring rain! Last night it was freezing rain that glazed everything. But it's all warm enough for it to melt again today.... Ummm... Hello Mother Nature?!?!?!? This is the upper Midwest!!! We're supposed to have *S*N*O*W* in the winter!!!! I wanna go for a hike in the snow and hear it go ~crunch crunch~ under my boots! I want Frodo to be able to build a snowman. I want all the dead grass and plants covered up with the pretty white stuff.

Now you can raise your hand if you're thinking, "Yo! Crabby Chick! Quit yer bitchin' and be happy it's relatively warm out!" (Heck, I'll even raise my hand to that!) It's just that it messes me all up to not have things predictable. (Ooh... Little insight into Mel's brain!)

I'll leave it all there for you to ponder.