Monday

3-16-09

The weekend was a mixture of awesome and crazy. I don’t know if I can even recap it all!

Friday night was Bobby’s sleepover. Ken got a call from Aaron at 2 where he asked Ken where he was since the movie was starting. Nice. Ken still had Bobby, so Ken brought Bobby to me at work since I was leaving soon anyway, and I didn’t want him dropped off at daycare. I wanted him to help me pack for his night. Bobby seemed happy about putting his stuff in his new bag for the occasion.

Bobby was practically pushing us out of my parents house when Dax and I left He was so jazzed to stay with Grandma. He actually tried to get my dad and brother to go, too. LOL! Dax and I headed home where I made us some dinner, and we watched shows he wanted to watch. I gave him a bath, which he loved since I gave him this bag of animals he had not seen yet. The Braskins gave us a ton of toys that were more hand me downs. There were some good ones, some ok ones and some trash, but enough good that it was cool.

After bath, Dax and I played Backyardigans Memory, which he had so much fun doing. He had some cookies while we watched one last show. Ken got home in the midst of this, and we both then were able to read to him. He was quite happy.

The morning came quickly, or so it seemed. I could not get comfortable all weekend. I don’t know what it was. Makes for a sleepy Monday morning, that’s for sure.


Dax got up around 6, but stayed in his room till 7. I got up with him and he and I watched some of the Spongebob movie. I also worked on some light housework to prep for Stephanie and Sabrina, who were coming over around 11:30. We also had to prep for Dish Network who was coming over in order to install this other receiver, and reset the satellite dish. Plus, I needed to go get Bobby. I swear, I never have one thing happening at one time. It is always like 50 things, or nothing. Maybe I need to spread out my life a bit more.

It worked out fine, though. Luckily, with the recent guests that have been at the house in the last few weeks, the house wasn’t too bad. I didn’t have to do too much, and I was able to go get Bobby around 8:30 or so.

Bobby had a blast. He slept well, he didn’t eat much, but he was so busy playing, he didn’t notice. My mom gave him a bath this morning, which he loved. My mom’s tub has jets, and this one part that looks like a slide, so they had little guys sliding down in the tub. And in keeping with tradition, my son came home from my parent’s house covered in tattoos. Yes, they were the temporary kind, but it was still funny.

Stephanie and Sabrina showed up and we had lots of fun. I had made the kids some sandwiches and a BBQed some hot dogs for grownups (we fed the cable guy). They played and played, which was awesome. Out backyard really does look like a preschool what with the toys and playground. It is very kid friendly. Sabrina was very sweet and quiet. My boys were loud and, well, normal. But they all got along great. Dax crashed out towards the last hour or so of the visit, but Bobby was my charming host kid, which was fun.

Dax didn’t get up again until after they left, which was late afternoon. Ken made us the most fantastic, mouth watering, yummy pancakes ever. Holy crap they were good. The boys ate 3 each! I lost count on how many I consumed. They were that good. We also had not eaten much in the day, and had all played hard, so our appetites were huge. So couple that with the fantastic grub and we were set!

Ken set up the device that would allow us to put my old video tapes onto the computer. He worked on Hooker and Doughboy all night and much of yesterday. He cut out the stuff between “skits” and added titles and dates and a bit of commentary. He was having way too much fun with iMovie. Either way, very soon, I will have copies of these videos on DVD, which is great fun.

Saturday night, we watched Iron Man. Wow, that was a great movie. I loved the hell out of it. Robert Downey Jr deserves this new success. I always liked him as an actor, and was sad when the drugs plagued him. I am so glad he is better.

Sunday was a morning of hell.

Ken got up and told me that he had poked his eye with a spatula the night before. We had the BBQ spatula on this cooler near our shelf, and Ken had bent down to get something off the shelf and poked his eye. The pain from this had kept him up much of the night. It was decided that we would go to Urgent Care after bowling.

We got to bowling, and within the first few frames, Dax had managed to spill his milk all over his playpen. Not good. What was funny is that I had planned on getting them out pretty early just to try it out. Not that early, but what are you going to do?

I had to run to the bathroom at least 6 times for things like paper towels for spills and changing Dax. I felt like I was just running the whole time. The boys were fine, and based on how well they did, I will probably let them be out next week. But it was still hectic, since there is logistics of figuring out where they should be.

Ken was grouchy in the beginning. I am sure tired and in tons of pain didn’t help. Plus, Matt was feeling particularly feisty and argumentative, so that just added fuel to the fire. I was frustrated. It felt like so much was going crazy, and the morning had just begun.

We left bowling and headed to the Urgent Care site. We were smart, though, and stopped by home first to get the DVD player. It was brilliant, really, since the wait was 2 hours. The boys and I considered going home figuring we could come pick him up when he was done. I decided that was more trouble then it was worth. So we went in search of a McDonalds so they could play in the playground. We were in Signal Hill, and I can safely say I have not been there much. I have now. We drove all around that area, making sure I always knew how to get back to Ken. We found every food imaginable. Even a McDonalds. But not one with the playground. Found lots of “parks” but they were for golfers and dead people. Not great for kids. Then there was the circle.

Who the fuck ever thought it was a good idea to have a revolving door as the model for a road? Look, I know it works great in lots of places, but not where I am driving. There are no fucking lanes, and it is hard to tell where to spin out. I know the second (yes, that’s right, folks, my sorry ass had to drive through that thing twice!) time I went through, I almost took out a Prius. So not good on any level.

The boys were pretty content just watching the movie, really. We did go inside to see Ken when we first got there, and we walked around the block, but over all, we were in the car. I went and got us some lunch, and as I ran inside to take some to Ken, he was just going in to be poked at. Hooray!

He came back out not long after, and I have to admit, I was a little disappointed. No patch! He did scratch it, but I guess not patch worthy. They put stuff in it, and gave him a prescription for antibiotics. He has to go to our regular doc, too, since it was bad enough they were worried that it needed to have another look at. So hopefully he can get an appointment today.

After a stop at the store to get the prescription and the standards of milk and bread, we went home to get them into nap time. It took a while for Dax to fall asleep, but when he did, he was out. Bobby just stayed and played quietly in his room. Ken and I watched Superbad. Fun little movie, but not the best in the world. I laughed at quite a few moments, but I don’t know that I would watch it again.

When that was done, Bobby and I went outside to play. I set up the bouncer, and the rest of the afternoon was mostly spent in there. Dax got up and he too came out and bounced. Ken and I grilled some chicken and the day came to an end.

Luckily, the boys seemed happy with me. Sure, it wears on me when they won’t let anyone else do anything for them, but it is gratifying that they don’t think I am so crazy that they are tired of me. When I tucked Bobby in to bed Saturday night, I asked him if he had fun at Grandma’s. He tells me, “You weren’t there to read to me.” I told him that he stayed at Grandmas’s but that I missed him so much that I cried. He looks at me all confused, and he tells me “But I didn’t hear you crying. You need to cry louder!”

This was followed up by the next morning when I was getting him ready for bowling and Dax came in, I told Dax to go find Daddy so he could get in the car. He said no. So Bobby says, “Dax, don’t you want to go bowling?” “Yes.” “Ok, then go get in the car.” And he trots off. Then Bobby turns to me and says, “You just have to now how to deal with Dax. You have to talk softly.” This kid is something else.

I am now in the midst of trying to figure out what I did wrong on running this stupid report. It is driving me batty. The good news is that it isn’t like it is bad if I don’t finish today. But I do want to get it done ASAP. I don’t want to tinker with the variants until this one test runs, but I think I will be tinkering very soon. Not good, since that is where mistakes are made. So we will see how it goes.

If Ken goes to the doc, I will probably need to take him, now that I think about it. If they put a patch on his eye or dilate his eye in anyway, he won’t be able to drive. So I guess I may end up leaving early. It all depends on when he gets an appointment, I guess. We will see how it goes. He might have to do it after classes, anyway, so then we can go to the doc after I get off work. Plus, I can take the boys since there is the little play block there that they love. Should be fine. I am not at work next Monday since I am taking Bobby to the doc, so I would like to not waste too much time off of work now. Although, I would gladly not be at work.

I need to do research on the museum at lunch this week. I want to see the hours and all that jazz. If his appt is done by 10, we can probably go for a couple of hours before Ken has to be back for his classes. It may mean two cars. We will see.

Ken looked at my hair, and it looks like if I cut off about 6 inches of my hair, it won’t make it too short, but it will cut off the yuck at the bottom enough to keep it healthy. So this is in my future. I am thinking that I will do it in another month or so, to see if I can grow out the good hair a bit more. I washed my hair this morning after having not for the last few days. I can’t tell if it is mad at me or not. I should brush it out again right now, but it is starting to get my good curls, so I hate to mess with it. I still want to get that curling iron and the curlers. I need more money.

Ok, good news, the report actually looks like it is running correct. I jumped the gun on it. It wasn’t quite ready for me, so the totals didn’t work. If I wait, then it will be good. Crossing my fingers now!

I don’t know that I have any green for tomorrow. Crap!

I just broke the news to Tammy that 6 inches is going to be hacked. She wasn’t happy about it, but she said she understood. LOL!

I think that my biggest bad habit with my hair is the one thing that I like about this long of hair. I tie my hair up into a bun without using a hair tie. I bed that isn’t good for my hair. In fact, the 6 inches that are fried are the 6 inches that get the brunt of the tied up stuff.

I think I may need to talk to my folks about watching the boys on the 3rd. I think I may also need to make some reservations at the Melting Pot that night. Even if that is all we do, it would be good for our anniversary.

Happy birthday Victor Garber and Eric Estrada. What a good day!
So there are these new commercials that they are playing on the tv. It is an ad for eggs, but that isn’t what bugs me. The campaign is that look at these people who do amazing things, and they eat eggs. Ok, that’s cool, way fun. But one of the so called “amazing” things was cup stacking.

What the fuck? I have seen this phenomenon of cup stacking before, and I rejected it then. It is not amazing? It isn’t even note worthy. So you can stack cups fast? Oh, good, it means you will have an illustrious career in a cafeteria. How is this teaching kids a good thing? Why in the world should they be wasting hours on end stacking and unstacking cups? Sure, it looks kind of cool the first time you see it. Then really, how much more can you do with it? They actually sold cup sets for this bullshit. I saw them at Target. Oh, because god forbid you use just some plain ol Dixie cup. Are we officially out of things for kids to do that we are now encouraging cup stacking? Look, I understand that it may help with hand eye coordination. But it is stacking fucking cups! It is actually called Sport Stacking. Are you fucking kidding me? Sport????? I am telling you right now, if Bobby comes home and tells me that he wants to do this cup crap, I may disown him. Play video games, kid. At least that has something interesting. Play the drums, kick a fucking ball. Hell, sit in front of the tube and let the networks fry your brain. But stop it with the cups. I reject you totally, cup stacking people. Unless you are trying to quickly catch a spider, no one needs to move a cup that fast.

I wonder sometimes if my kids are just loud. Not in a bad way, mind you, just loud in general. After spending time with Sabrina, and really, it hasn’t been long since I saw Liam, both of them were quiet kids. Sabrina is a sweetie, and smiles a lot, Liam just seemed to always run. Although, I was pleased when I made him giggle at one point. That was pretty awesome. Because of this lack of exposure, I really don’t know how kids are supposed to be. I have seen kids in Ken’s classes, and they are older, so that is hard to tell. I have seen the kids at Ken’s daycare, and they are loud, but they are comfortable. It is easier to be loud when you know everyone. But see, my kids, even in their shyest moment, are loud around anyone who comes in contact with them. Perhaps loud is the wrong word. They are chatty. They both say hi to anyone they see. They want to show you their room. They want to tell you who they are. They are, well, Brenans. And to a lot of degree, they are Bowlbys. I, in this instance, am neither. I don’t like new people. I will smile at folks I see, and sometimes chat it up with a total stranger, but it doesn’t come natural. I have seen my dad talk with anyone he sees. Same thing with Ken’s family. Granted, that isn’t just Brenan. It is Hiner, too. The whole lot of them are friendly. I must come from the Horton blood when it comes to that. But still, I wonder if it is because of genetics, or just their age or what? I know we have taken them a lot of places. They have been in lots of restaurants and been around people. It is nice that I haven’t influenced them to be too shy. I am super curious if this will carry them into school age. Bobby is already pretty bossy. He can tell anyone to get him something, and what is really the most disturbing part is that people do anything he asks. He gets a little pissy if they don’t, which is why he gets into the most trouble. He asked Dax for something he had yesterday, and Dax said no. Instead of saying, Ok, no problem, maybe I can see it later, he slugged him. Perhaps he will just be a polite bully. Or a charming brat? I think they will be fine, it is just funny to see the potential and the characteristics. Will they run with the same crowd? Will they have lots of friends? Will their friends look to them or will they look to their friends. Will Bobby tire of having a kid brother? Will Dax tire of having an older brother looking out for him? So many questions.

Ken called and he has Bobby. Bobby said that he would like to have lunch with me, so they are coming at 11 to take me to lunch. That is fun. I think we will go to Jack in the Box or CJ’s, but we will see.

The report is lame. I may have screwed up, so we will see. I made the variant run as of today’s date. The problem with that is that today’s date is fluid, therefore causing the totals to fluctuate. I will probably re run it tomorrow as of the 13th since I think I figured out the proper way to do it now. If not, I will have to call in for help.

Rerunning the report with the right date right now. Keep your fingers crossed.

Ken and Bobby will be here in about 10 minutes. YAY!

I am way jazzed! My coworker just gave me a $10 gift card to Subway! I helped her out with some accounts last week, so she got me this as a thank you. YAY!!!!