best weekend

10-12-09

I am not just saying this. I really did have a fantastic weekend.

Friday night, we went out to Chili’s and had a yummy meal. Ken had a few beers, which was entertaining since clearly he has not drank much in a while. It was fun watching him tipsy. It was even more entertaining for him to go ahead and take Dax when he had to use the restroom. I am a little embarrassed to say this, but I think I have more practice doing kid stuff with a buzz.

After dinner, we walked over to the Halloween store. Man, I wish I had gobs of cash. I would get the boys every single costume there. They loved so many! I also would have picked up one of every pair of novelty sunglasses. They had ones that the lenses were coffins, ones that had skull lenses, and some really cute tiny red ones. And they were all pretty decent and would probably last me some time. Then again, although I am pretty sure I could pull them off when I was in my teens, maybe even my twenties, as a 34 year old, not sure I can rock the giant spider web glasses.

Saturday morning was grand since I was able to sleep in quite a bit. The day was spent out back. We cleaned up the toys, played in the pool while we drained it out into our overly dry lawn. The boys really liked the pool when it was less full. Dax in particular found it less intimidating. They both floated around on these pool toys that we had just been given by the Braskins. These were the same toys earlier in the morning that Ken and I used to play “ring the kids”, which was endlessly amusing. Turns out, it is far easier to get an inner tube around Bobby then ringing Dax.

Sunday was a little more busy being that we had several errands to run. We went by Target to exchange the costumes for the kids. We got them the larger size, and sprang for the more elaborate version of each.

After Target, we hit up Toys R Us because Ken needed sets for a birthday party this weekend. I got myself a stuffed Dax doll. How could I resist? First off, he is too cute. A little red skeleton puppy with skull print and giant paw prints on his feet is so me anyway, but then add to it his name, I am jazzed. I feel the need to purchase anything and everything with Dax’s name on in as I know how upsetting it is when you can’t find pre personalized items with your name. I know that the first time we go to Disneyland, we are going to have to get them mouse ears just so I can get them to put Dax on it.

After Toys R Us, we headed over to Costco. Dax has this uncanny ability to find the worst time to need to use a toilet. So Ken and Dax went to the bathroom, and Bobby and I chilled in the electronics section. We had told Ken we would just go really slow, thinking they would be back shortly.

So Bobby and I looked at iPods, since we want to get him one. We watched one of the trailer DVD’s which included some hockey. Bobby thought this sport ruled, and was very excited at it. I told him we could go to a game, which made him very happy. Clearly this will be an upcoming outing.

The DVD also had animal footage from some zoo in Japan. I love watching Bobby fawn over cute animals. He coos and giggles and you can tell he just wants to hug all these cute animals. Last night, when we were reading before bed, he saw a pic of a hamster and was pretty jazzed that you could actually own one. He also really liked the iguana.

After about 10 minutes, I was really starting to wonder where Ken and Dax had wandered off to. So I texted him, asking where they were. He tells me they are in the meat area. Dude! He must have passed us ages ago! So Bobby and I booked it over to where he was. We didn’t see them so I kept moving forward, thinking they had gone on. Instead, they were approaching us from that direction. Turned out, Ken thought that Bobby and I had already gone through the whole store. Oops! Since we had not, we all headed back to the start to actually shop the Costco.

Thank goodness for samples! The boys love the idea of them and actually tend to try most things presented to them in sample form. Not that there was anything gross yesterday. They enjoyed fruit bars, cereal, oatmeal, and some fantastic soup. They even got to have one of their dinosaur chicken nuggets, which happened to be one of the things being sampled.

Dax did have a bit of a breakdown when he dropped one of his fruit bars. They were tired and hungry (look, I know they ate a lot of samples, but those only go so far!). We determined that the smoothies we always get them after we are done at Costco should probably be purchased for the actual shopping trip since then it would keep them content the whole time.

Dax took a really long nap when we got home. Bobby has pretty much determined he is too old for naps. He does have quiet time, but rarely does he actually sleep.

During quiet time/nap time, Ken and I watched Marley and Me. I had read the book, so yes, despite having even warned myself about the ending, I still opted to watch the film. I cried so damn much it wasn’t even funny. I cried when she miscarried. I cried when the dog was in the hospital. I cried when the oldest son was watching old videos of himself when he was a baby with Marley as a young dog. Oh, yeah, and then the damn dog dies, and I lost it. I really should have stopped the movie when he was just an old dog, chillin with his people. I didn’t need to see the little kids sobbing at his grave. I didn’t need to see Owen Wilson hold his little foot as they injected him with the meds that would end his life. Seriously, that was rough. I actually had to have Lycos at my side. It was tough, too, since our friend Jason just lost his dog over the weekend, and I knew Brandy was having a tough time with Clorox. The movie, honestly, made me never want to get another critter. I don’t know if I can deal with more dead ones.

I let Bobby out of his quiet time and he went outside to actually play with Lycos, which warmed my heart. I had a hard time not crying while I watched the two of them play. Ken ran out to the grocery store for me to get me bouillon for dinner.

Bobby came in from playing and actually asked me if I needed help with the laundry. So cute!! So he helped me a bit until Ken got home. Ken then took him around the block so Bobby could ride on his scooter.

Dax finally woke up while they were gone, and he watched me make noodles, which cracked him up. Watching mommy make a mess is always fun. When Bobby and Ken got home they all went outside as I finished up the soup prep.

We ate outside and the kids played until close to 6:30. It was really one of those perfect afternoon/evenings. The kids laughed, we laughed, the dog got tired from gobs of ball fetching. I don’t know that I could ask for much more.

We came in so the boys could take a shower and get ready for bed. We watched a show and had a muffin and then tucked the boys in for bed. I folded a bunch of laundry, and did some cleanup in our bedroom. I figure when I get home today I will have it done. I want the house in order for Thursday. I figure I don’t need to stress about a messy house when I have a kid who will have just a procedure. Plus, Friday, he and I are just going to sit around and watch movies all day. I am a little bummed that of course, it is cold all week except Friday (it is supposed to be in the 80’s!!). I was hoping to be able to have a rainy day so I could make him hot chocolate. I may have to figure something else out.

I am thinking of taking Bobby bowling on Wednesday night. I think he would enjoy it and it would give him a fun active night before the big day. The kid loves bowling. He was Wii bowling and actually got a 226! He also got 170’s. It was crazy! He is a natural.

We are probably going to do a Sunday bowling again soon. I was thinking this weekend, but with Bobby’s procedure, that may be put off one more week. All 3 of my boys miss the Sunday ritual and I may need to just suck it up again and do it. I have enjoyed these last few weeks of sleeping in and no stress Sunday mornings. They are really the highlight of my week lately. But I think some kind of compromise can be arranged.

I am excited that my mom had a bottle of the cool nail stuff that she didn’t use anymore. I had been planning on going out and getting some, but since she had some it saved me the trip. So last night I put my first coat on, using a different top coat that hopefully should still work ok. I am hoping that my nails stop being so damn brittle. It is mostly my thumbs, but overall, they all seem to suck. We will see if this helps.

After watching Marley and Me, one of the non sad parts was the way the guy got himself a column. He just wrote about his adventures with an idiot dog, and being a family man. He never planned on it, and his whole life ended up being well written in the form of a few hundred words twice a week. I was so inspired. I don’t know how to get to that point, but I am mulling over themes and writing styles on how to actually turn my adventures with my little family into a fun weekly column. Clearly I can’t include all the mundane stuff like my nail woes. I can however include things like Bobby thanking me last night for his Buzz Lightyear clock (that we got him 6 months ago) and then proceeding to thank me for getting Dax a Mater one, also. It may be something where I have to jot down notes and ideas and then put it all together at the same time. A week’s worth of material may be more interesting then daily, so need to work on all of that.

OMG-they have a cute Dax purse, Dax wallet and Dax coin purse that I want. I will use them all together. I need to order them all. I need them!!! Seriously, I not wanted something so bad in a while.

Last week, they opted to make the parking upper parking lot free parking. This meant there was no more assigned parking. I had considered parking there in either my boss’s “spot” or even the VP, but opted out since truly, it was more inconvenient than it would be fun. Lucky for me, several other people have taken it upon themselves to do the messing with. Of course, I knew it was only a matter of time before someone whined.

This morning, I came in to find we had a new “schedule” of parking there. Instead of it being first come first serve, only certain people are allowed to park in the lot during a 3 month cycle. There are 12 people listed for Oct, a different 12 people for Nov, and the last 12 people in the building for Dec. In Jan, the Oct people can park there again. No joke. They made a round robin of parking. How fucking lame! Especially since what this does is punish a couple people who get here at 6 am every day, now he isn’t allowed to park there every day except on his month! Lame! They did this because people who are showing up after 8, who still expect their spot to be there are pulling in, having no where to park and then they have to back out onto Wilmington, which is a little scary. Why not just say to people you are on your own with the danger if you choose to park in there after 7:30. Dude, enter at your own risk!

My new snack food is peanuts and I couldn’t be happier! I have had a craving for them, and I figured that those are probably better than a lot of things. They are still shelled, so they will be a bit messy for work, but I will manage. I know something like almonds would be better, but I just don’t like almonds. Such a shame.

LA Unified just called me. I now have a parent interview on Friday morning at 10 am. Perfect since I will be home with Bobby. He is going to ask me a bunch of questions as to why I think he needs this assessment. I may ask my mom tomorrow for some better ways to describe what is up. I still struggle with how to explain all of this. I mean, I don’t have a lot of experience with 4 year olds, so I don’t know if he is delayed or just a boy. Kasey told me that it is possible that he is just a little behind because he is a boy. She told me a lot of kids may seen behind until they get in school, then they mostly all catch up. Plus, she said not to stress even if he has a slight speech problem since there are so many exercises now and such good people that can help him out that he will be fine in no time. Either way, it is a slightly nerve wracking week for me since Bobby has the procedure the day before. My poor kid.

It sounds like in fact we are not moving now. It has not been official, but even if it happens, it won’t happen until sometime next year. I am happy as it means I get to keep my little corner. It isn’t a real office, but sometimes it feels like one since I am by myself about 90% of the day. I would spread myself out, but there is no real reason to. I am pretty efficient when it comes to space here. It does mean if I bring in a fake Christmas tree as planned, I will have gobs of space to make my own little winter wonderland, which pleases me greatly. I would like to decorate for Halloween, too, but I think I may hold of on that since I don’t have the money to get the crazy cute decorations I saw at Target.

Sure enough, it was my boss who started the whole hoopla regarding parking. LOL! He bitched about someone being in his spot, claiming he didn’t see the email that it is open parking. He bitched at his boss, who got pissy with the guy (my new hero) who purposely parked there. So he may end up mentioning all of this to HR since they are the ones who were very specific about the no assigned parking. This whole schedule would truly go against all of that. Either way, I gave my spot to my one friend (who said he was going to talk to me about it anyway, so it was nice I offered first!). Cracks me up, though. Especially when people here actually think my boss doesn’t complain, when in reality, he is the biggest baby of them all!

My day has started to drag and I am not happy about it. On the plus side, it is almost noon, so it should be all down hill from here. I just keep seeing the gloom outside and it makes me all kinds of happy and all I want to do is get home, get on some warm jammies and curl up with a good book. Of course, the book will probably not happen, but at least comfy jammies is in the plans.