Wednesday Wonderings

Why is it the more tired they are the harder it is to get them to go to sleep?

If I have to hear about Jeremiah Wright one more day this week, I think I will cut my ears off.

Do you ever wonder if some psychologists/psychiatrists went in to their chosen field because they know they are a little wacky themselves?

Am I crazy for letting Peanut Butter just go to town at the playground. I don't put anything really off limits, I will let her try just about everything, but I stand there with her so she doesn't crack her skull.

I am wondering if you all are congratulating me on actually starting to like running or the fact that I worked at a prison for 12 years. If it is the prison part, you should be smacking me up side the head saying what were you thinking?

12 years

Today marked 12 years of walking the mile, walking the mile, walking the green mile. Well, we don't have a death row here in WI and only some of our hallways are green. But I would like to think I'm a bit like Brutal from the movie, pretty easy going until you piss me off. I still do not know how I ended up here. I don't know why I'm still here. Well, the fact that I finished college and I having scored as well on other service exams, would be a couple reasons.

I cannot believe I am actually going to admit this, but running is getting a little easier. I don't know if it was that while mental need to get over a mile barrier, but of the 1.7 miles I was out today, I think I ran at least 1.4 of it. I did stop in the library and grocery store, but I ran to and between and from them. I really only think I walked 4 blocks total and 2 of those where for my cool down.

I think Peanut Butter thinks that is her real name. I might have to start calling her by her real name for awhile.

the 6000 dollar question

I took the boy today to the orthodontist and it appears he's finally ready to start the process of getting braces. The Orthodontist was extremely nice when he said it will probably cost all together $6000 dollars. I gulped and almost fainted. I was thinking 3 grand, but not 6. The next visit is only going to cost a measly $250, for castings and such. Then they will decide how they will have to proceed. He said nothing has to be decided today or in the next year for that matter, it is up to us if we even want to do anything. I was starting to think they boy's teeth really aren't that bad. I mulled this over on the ride home. I dropped him off at his mother's and then called him back to the car to ask him a question. At this point, I not only notice how crooked the bottom teeth are, I also notice how nasty they are. They were literally caked with god knows what making them appear like someone slapped mortar on them. I said I want you to go in that house into the bathroom and pull your bottom lip down and take a good look at your teeth. He gives me the "I wonder how bad it is look", gulps and says ok. I cannot believe how hard it is to get that boy to brush his teeth. Then I'm thinking if he doesn't care enough to brush them, why are we straightening them to have them fall out. Oy! I can just about imagine what the orthodontist thought.

A Mile

I finally reached my goal for April and ran a whole mile nonstop today. Peanut Butter and I celebrated by playing at the park. My goal for the end of May is 2 miles.

It is amazing how much time you can waste in a store when you don't have a child in the cart. I went to wally world for a couple items and it took me almost 2hrs.

I forgot to post this, but PB turned 20 months on Thursday. I can't believe how fast this time has flown.

I know some of my MN blogging friends experienced this already in the last couple days, but they are forcasting possible snow tomorrow. UGG.

Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting

I just wanted to use a catchy title.

My official last day of utility was today. I start my new post on Tues, so I have the next 2 days off. WHO HOO. Though it is only going to be in the 40's with rain.
Something is up with Peanut Butter, I think it is molars. She's drooling like crazy and has been running a bit of a fever. But she also has the nasty runny nose. There is nothing I hate more than the nasty runny nose. Especially when her hair gets stuck in it. Blech!
I ate horrible tonite, but I don't care. I've almost given up on losing weight. I have actually been exercising and I gain freaking weight. The boy and J try to be nice and say well, muscle weighs more than fat. Whatever, don't care, fed up. So we went to quaker steak and lube and had lots of awesome wings. After I bought a crap load of healthy stuff from whole foods. So, no I haven't completely given up. Just frustrated. I mean I've actually started to like plain yogurt in a sugar cutting effort.

a wee bit o rain

So it was a fairly crappy day here. It thunder stormed most of the day, but when I got out of work things seemed to be looking up the sun was peaking out. I thought, ok there is no excuse not to go on a freaking run even though I walked almost 2 miles at work. I needed some reading materials from the library and something for dinner. After getting everything set, it is looking gloomy again, so I check the radar and it looks like I'm in the clear for the time being, maybe a sprinkle or two.
I get to the library and am perusing the books when the boy comes up. He said he was out and it started raining so he stopped in. I asked how hard is it raining. He says oh it's really coming down. You would think he was the child of the wicked witch of the west. Some girl comes up and gets his hormones going and he says he's going to stay for a while. Yeah, ok, you'd better wait out the downpour. I check out and get outside and it's barely sprinkling. I don't know what the son of Elphaba was thinking, really coming down, pfht.
I stroll on over to the grocery store and curse living in a semi small town with a small selection of healthy food. I know I must drive to Whole Foods tomorrow. I cannot pay 4.19 for a half gallon of organic milk or 4.39 for yogurt, when I can buy a gallon for 5 there and yogurt for 3. I buy more than enough when I am there to cover the price of gas. Any who, some lady says something about it looking nasty out, and I'm like wtf, I checked the radar. I had no intentions in taking Peanut Butter in the stroller in the rain. I quickly grab some stuff and check out. The checker says oh we aren't taking credit or debit cards, the satellite is down. I said well I only brought the debit card. They fill out the old fashioned carbons for me and we brave it out of there.
It is raining, but not too bad and incentive to run home, so I start and whammo torrential downpour. PB is screaming I'm doing all I can to get moving, and like that it is over. I'm waiting at the light completely drenched, trying to wipe all the water off of my face and PB is still screaming. I'm only 3 blocks from home at this point so I'm almost sprinting just to get home. I pull PB out and she is soaked, the poor thing. We get changed and all is well again. I don't know what that freaking radar is good for if it is going to trick me into thinking I have it made for at least an hour or so.

Thoughts for Thursday: Social Butterflies

I'll be the first to admit that I am not the best in social settings. I usually get told how "quiet" I am. I find it very hard to open up and just talk to people until I get to know them. Even then I feel like conversations are forced. Which may be the reason I don't have a whole lot of friends. I have a few people that I gab with and consider good friends, but nothing like we do lunch sort of stuff. This may be the reason I enjoy blogging. I can spit it out a lot easier than having a real conversation and may also be the reason I bore you all to tears writing about Peanut Butter, because I don't do much else. I am trying to break out of this, I did go to a crop where I knew no one, except for on a scrapbooking message board. As much as I tried to converse I was still called quiet. I remember being told not to be a pest and not to annoy people when I was a kid. I don't know if this has something to do with it or not. I also have for the most part had mostly males as friends and we know how talkative they can be. I know people who socializing is so easy for. They walk into a room and will introduce themselves and chat away. I sometimes envy them. So are you a social butterfly or are you a wallflower like me?

Wednesday Wonderings

Why do bad things happen to the nicest people? My heart is breaking for Nicole and her strength to post about. Send her some thoughts if you can.

What part of running is supposed to be fun? I pushed my self a bit today and almost completed a whole mile straight. I rewarded myself by cutting the walk off and playing at the park with Peanut Butter and walk/ran the the way home. Ok, I feel good that I did it, but dang I'm starting to doubt this whole 5 mile thing.

Monsanto, bad stuff here people. I don't want everyone of my TFTs to be tree hugging, but I may have to go into this one. Stay tuned.

Julia Roberts doesn't wear deodorant. How the !@#@! does she not offend, to steal a line from Pretty in Pink. Oprah was surprised and said she always smells so good. I'm rank if I forget after a half an hour. I am afraid to try the tree hugging deodorant for this reason.

To rummage or not to rummage? I know I can make some cold hard cash if I just get it together. I have half of the girl's stuff marked.

Happy Earth Day

Have a Happy Earth Day.
A huge Thanks to Jessica for my new Header. I love it. I hope ya'll do too.

The End of a Weekend

It's the end of my beautiful 5 day weekend. We had a pretty good time today. Peanut Butter and I walked to the library and ran/walked a new route home. I had to fight her a bit to take a nap, but then she didn't want to wake up. I often wonder how they get her to lay down on he sleeping bag at daycare. We played outside with the new hoop and she climbed all over the deck.
J called me from work with some good news. A position I signed up for has a good chance of getting to me. I am really excited. I hate being what we call "utility" I basically get assigned a different job everyday depending on who's on vacation, position vacancies, or construction escorts and you have to basically be an brown noser to get decent jobs. The position I might get is a split between our hospital unit and our mentally challenged/recovering bad boys. It's not the best job, but it beats utility. The timing isn't the best we have a bunch of positions coming open, but I'm afraid if I don't take this one, another one may not get to me. They go by seniority and once you take one you can't sign another one for six months. But this job's days off fall on just about every Holiday, mainly Christmas, WHO HOO.

Sunday

Our breakfast this morning was ok. Peanut Butter had her, "if I don't get fed right now I will throw everything off the table and put my cranky pants back on" attitude. Once breakfast came she was fine, she ate like a trooper. We did a sunday drive and gawked at houses for sale. Peanut Butter played with the basketball for awhile. We decided to get her one of those little tykes hoops, and which is still pretty tall for my shorty. I hope she learns some mad dribbling skills. J wanted to buy the tee ball set too, since baseball is on his brain, but we didn't. I might surprise him with it later this week. It was gorgeous out and It is supposed to be even better tomorrow. Since it is my last day off for seven days, PB and I will have to make the most of it. Maybe even put some shorts on since it is supposed to be in the 70s.
I must say I'm a little jealous of everyones banners. If anyone wants to give me the lowdown on how to make one it would be appreciated.

Cranky Pants goes to the Park

Miss Peanut Butter put on her cranky pants this morning and was not happy with anything until I took her to the park. J suggested Lakeshore park I totally forgot about that one and it is practically on my normal run/walk course. We ran/walked down there and she actually was happy and played. A grandmother had her 2 girls down there and they semi-played together. Suprisingly, PB did not want to go down any slide; she usually loves the slide. She was a monkey girl though she climbed up the stairs to the slide, she climbed this arch thing and would have probably gotten herself up on the connecting playset if she was a little more coordinated. All in all the park was fun, until the boundaries of the park were crossed. Peanut Butter discovered you could actually walk out of the sand area and toward the lake. This was fine, we walked along the shore a bit, even out on one of the docks. Our problem arose when she decided walking into the water was a good idea. She threw a pretty good tantrum and we headed back to the park. She played some more and then she was drawn back to the water. I literally had to carry her over my back to the play area while she howled in disappointment about now getting her shoes soaked with the nasty water of the lake. The grandma said she likes the water huh? Yep, today she does. I decided it was best we headed home and got her in the stroller and pushed our way up the giant hill and ran\walk our happyselves home for a total of 2.5 miles. We had mac and cheese for lunch and had a great nap. J is taking us gals for breakfast tomorrow it should be nice. I don't know if he sneaked a peek at my blog or what, but he has actually started being supportive, it is so nice not to have the sarcasm.

She's headed for the WNBA

Peanut Butter was out playing B-ball with her brother last night. She was having so much fun. She really wanted to put it in the basket, but sadly neither me or the boy could lift her high enough. I didn't want to lower the hoop, since the boy was playing. I had though about getting one of those playschool ones, but I wasn't sure she'd play with it. Maybe she would. I wanted to get this sand box yesterday. I went to Menard's to see what they had, because secretly I want to buy some sort of play set for PB, but J doesn't want one. I just want a small one with a slide. She loves the slide. He wont notice a teeny play set out in the yard will he? Well, Menard's has all this stuff set up that the kids can play on, and PB did NOT want to leave. She screamed all the way to the door. The really bad thing was they didn't have the darn sandbox in stock. I may order it from Wally World since I can get free delivery to the store. My hopes is playing in the water and sand of her own will keep her out of the freaking dog dishes. She stuck her $20 teeny kathy kruse doll in there this morning. I was not happy.

So I'm playing hooky today. It is one of my weird days, I had yesterday off work today and have sat, sun, & mon off, it's called a split weekend at work. I really need to get this pit cleaned up with no one underfoot or dumping everything once I pick it up. So I'm taking a lovely five days off and hopefully get the house looking decent for 1 day.

Thoughts for Thursday: Change and Structure

It maybe the nature of what I do. It maybe the need to control everything, but I don't do change or unstructured things well. At work everything is on a specific schedule, it is all done at the same time everyday and on the days it is scheduled. I have issues when I have to drop Peanut Butter off at daycare before work, because it runs me late and it sometimes puts my eating of breakfast into "count" time, I hate it. I am not as bad as some people at work, who are almost down to the minute. When we plan anything I like to have at least a loose schedule of what is going on, from what time are we leaving the house, to an estimated time of return. I try to keep PB's day the same regardless of if she is at home or goes to daycare. I know she naps from 12-2 at daycare so I try to keep it the same here. J doesn't, he's a fly by the seat of his pants for the most part. He'll make plans to do something and then does something totally different. It drives me insane. If you say are going to the grocery store go, don't stop and clean out the garage for 5 hrs and then decide maybe you should go before they close. I'll get home from work on the weekends and ask if PB has napped yet and I get "no, I don't think she's tired yet." Then I'm fighting her to take one at 3 in the afternoon, and hope she'll go to bed at night. If I know J isn't going to be home for dinner, I will make dinner for PB and I at five, if he is going to be home I usually expect it at 6 and if he's not home I start without him.
Are you a structured, plan it out person, or do you fly by the seat of your pants.

recess

It is friday and all I did at work today is watch other people work. It was nice. I came home and it was gorgeous out. I decided to get the dreaded run over with right away, so I loaded up Peanut Butter and headed out. It was so windy! It was really hard to get the stroller going and run against the wind, I ended up walking a lot more than I wanted to. What I did run must have got my insides moving and I had to hold on to get home. One thing that was nice is PB seemed to enjoy the ride today, or the music choices. She was clapping and babbling most of the trip.
I made mini quiches for dinner. I actually got them to turn out pretty good this time. I have been having issues with excess water from the broccoli, but I used asparagus tonite and I like that much better.
It pains me to write, I actually agreed with Elizabeth Hasselbeck on the view today, that so rarely happens. I have almost stopped watching because of her, but she surprised me today by saying they shouldn't ban tag on the playground, and that kids learn social skills there. I agree, I don't think games should be banned. I do think it is how kids work out their issues and get along. Yeah, yeah, I know the games can get out of hand, but I would hope there is some sort of supervision overseeing recess. I've been through the whole, "I hate you, therefore we all hate you and you can't be on the swings with us." You learn to kiss and make up and decide not to really be friends with to many girls as you get older. Am I condoning bullying, no, but I think the coddling of kids has almost gone too far, we are not all winners, life is not fair, you have to fight your own battles, and not everyone plays nice.

A Little Support

No, I'm not talking bras. I'm talking about my stinkin husband. I am mustering all I can to get my hinder out there and and running. I know it will take time to build up any distance. I have been reading about every issue of the past year of Runner's World to prepare, get tips, and stay motivated. I even read The Courage to Start, which was pretty good by the way. I just wish J was on board. He scoffs as I say we're leaving and always asks, "just how far do you have to run?" I tell him it's a bit over 5 miles. He laughs, I say what, he says,"c'mon Robyn, five miles, really?" I feel hopeless and ask why he just can't be supportive. He says its not that I'm not supportive, but 5 miles. Yes, dear 5 miles, not 100 not even 6. I can walk five miles it would take me over an hour but I could walk it.
If you are wondering what the heck I am talking about, my brother is getting together a relay team for a marathon and I said sure, I should be able to run 5 miles by August. I am now thinking, "wtf was I thinking." It is enough pressure knowing I will be on a team that is way more conditioned than me. My brother has some how brainwashed his girlfriend in to trying the tough guy race, though she said she'd probably only do the summer one. He's actually got it in his head to go back and try and win the thing. So, not embarrassing myself in August is my main goal. Hey, if I can actually run the whole 5 miles, maybe I'll try the tough guy.
So I'm putting it out there for you my loyal blogger friends to be my support and when I say I ran, ran/walked. Just give me a shout out saying, keep it up, you can do it, it would be much appreciated. I really think I'm going to have to use Zoe's theory of big reward when this is all done. And a big thanks to Amy who already gives me a shout out when I mention I ran.
By the way this is my rest day so I did a lame 1 mile walk.

Good Morning Sunshine

That is what I thought when the alarm went off at 4:30 am this morning. After barely sleeping, I was kicking myself for the awesome 3hr nap that Peanut Butter and I shared yesterday afternoon. I just could not force myself to get up and I had an even harder time getting PB to roust out of nappy time, she wasn't having it. As I tossed and turned trying to fall asleep last night, I was still happy about the nap, kind of.
The girl and I went for a run/walk today. I did 2.3 miles. I felt much better running. I do think I need a better pair of shoes, but they will have to wait a bit. PB gets bucky here and there like she wants out. I get her home and she doesn't want to get out. It is crazy.
A photo from yesterday. It was the boy's last basketball tournament of the year. PB was playing between courts with Daddy's hat. She'd put it on take it off. It was pretty comical.

Photos from the Wedding

Here's a sampling of photos from the wedding last night.



Peanut Butter thought the salad was delicious.













The Cake was really good too.

















She was a little upset she couldn't run around during the first dance.















So we took pictures of ourselves to occupy the time.















Nana and Aunt B. Had fun dancing with PB.














I can't believe my Brother's girlfriend got him to do the YMCA.

















They did a candy toss for the kids.













She really wanted this little fella to dance with her. The flower girl whipped her around the floor. I can't believe I didn't get a shot of that.





































Peanut Butter After a long night of running around and dancing like a fool. T-I-R-E-D!!

Shout

She tore up the dance floor last night. I'll be adding more photos tonite.
It's to bad you really can't see the pig tail shake she does, it was hilarious.

We have a wedding this weekend. My cousin is getting married. It doesn't seem like he should be old enough, but he is. The bride to be seems extremely nice. They are Disney fanatics, he did the whole engagement get away at Disney World. I can't wait to see Peanut Butter tear up the dance floor. She has some mad skills. I have so much to get done this afternoon. I'm getting the spot checked out, I have to get shoes for PB and myself and probably her some tights and something for her hair. The boy may need to go to urgent care with an earache. Make dinner, get the boy off to practice, try and get a walk/run in. It doesn't seem like much, but throw getting PB in and out of the car all those times and ugh, it seems like a lot. I took tomorrow off to got to the wedding so I didn't have to go from 4:45 am til midnight or so, but J decides he should work then, so he'll be up at 3:00am and hopefully we'll make it to the church on time. It's about a 2hr drive. But hopefully it means he won't get all smashed at want to stay out til all hours. The party has left this girl a long time ago. I just can't do it anymore.

It will be nice to see my brother he's flying in from Jersey. It's a little weird we used to be super close and talk all the time, but as life happens we don't talk much and when we do it's a lot of dead air. We catch up and I think we feel bad that we don't have more to say like we used to and sit there.

It is going to be tight on the groceries for a bit, I and going to have to keep this budget in check. I know I should do meal plans, and I try, but with J's schedule, it goes awry and there are time the food gets wasted. I may have to start making the meals with out worrying if J is going to be home and let him eat leftovers. I really need to keep my spending in check, I've been trying, but food is killing me.

Thoughts for Thursday: Family Dinners

Today on GMA, Robin Roberts interviewed Stephanie Hirsch, the author of Mother Nurture a book about how parents of successful people raised their kids. The one common thread was family dinners. Growing up that was the one constant at our house, we always ate at 6-6:30 and were expected to be home for supper. It was the time we talked about "what we learned" today and to find out what how we were doing. I think my brother and I turned out fairly well. We both got into very good colleges, well him a little better, I mean, I can't top Princeton. Sure I'm no Steven Spielberg, but my family is very important to me. I try to do family dinner at our house. Sometimes it doesn't always happen since J doesn't have set work hours, but Peanut Buttter and I will sit together and eat dinner and the boy will eat with us if he's at our house. I think it is a good time to talk and have family time, since is about the only time we have it. Everyone goes in their own directions after that. I going to hope that even with our busy schedules we will sit down as a family and have dinner the majority of the time.
Are family dinners important in your house? Do you think they make a difference?

A Long Day

Peanut Butter had a long day today. We left the house at 9am and went to Madison. We stopped to get my car aligned. She must have had a store of poop, because as soon as I changed the first diaper, she filled another one. And as soon as I changed that one she was grunting again. After the hour and a half there and an estimate of 875 for the rest of the work that needs done, we headed over to Target since we now really needed diapers. Then Best Buy for 101 Dalmatians, I had $10 in rewards, old navy to find her a dress for the wedding we are going to this weekend. We went to Panera for lunch and then grocery shopping, where the total gave me a heart attack since I still need to get quite a bit. As I'm packing the car up with groceries ready to head home, my mom calls and is in Madison too. We meet and I look for a dress for myself while Nana hangs our with PB. We have some ice cream, and PB is ready to call it a day. It's almost 5 and she hasn't napped yet. This rarely happens as soon as we get a couple blocks out of the lot she's out. We get home and I unpack the car and pull her out and lay her down on the couch. She usually will not go back to sleep once you pull her out of the car, but she zonked right out. Now the trick will be to get her go to bed tonite.

In the kleenex

Peanut Butter has an obsession with pulling out kleenex and baby wipes when ever she can get her grubby little hands on them.

House for Sale

J and I like to house dream. We look at houses for sale and dream we had never purchased our money pit. We'd love to sell it, but now the market sucks and I don't think we'd find as big of suckers as us. On Peanut Butter and my walk/run yesterday, I went by this house and saw it was for sale, knowing full well there is no way we could possibly afford it, I was wondering how much it costs, because I love the look of outside of it and it's got an awesome location on the lake, and a great lot. But after seeing some pictures of the interior, I only semi liked the photo of the living room. I was disappointed, knowing what they were asking for it. Especially when there is this house for less half of their asking price that seems to be updated a bit more and if we had no car payments could possibly afford. This one isn't on the water, it is across the street from the lake. And if you have half a mill and are looking for a steal, there is this house. This one is across the street from the lake too. It looks stunning, I oogle it every time I walk past. The rumor is the doctor that owns it is going through a nasty divorce and needs to get rid of it to settle. It has been on the market for over a year, though half that time he was trying to sell by owner. It is kind of funny that our firebox is only about 3 blocks from the upper crust of Lakeshore drive. But it does give me something to look at while I'm walking, and adds to our property tax bill.

Friday on a Monday

Is there anything better than leaving work on Fridays. I actually got up to got to work for 7 days in a row, I did leave early on Saturday, but I still had to drag my hinder out of bed at the crack of dawn. It has been really hard for me to get up this week I was practically sleeping through the alarm. I am looking forward to sleeping in til 7:30 and napping with Peanut Butter tomorrow.

I'm a bit mad that we didn't get out and play yesterday, it was beautiful again. J gave me PB in the parking lot at work and took off golfing. She hadn't had a nap yet, and instantly fell asleep on the way home. We snuggled up in the chair when we got home and napped a bit. We did walk to the grocery store so we did get some fresh air.

I was watching this interesting show on these "earth ships" in Taos. A guy bought all this land and started building self sustainable homes out of "garbage" the walls were old tires and concrete. They actually didn't look too bad. The were considered "off the grid" since they were not hooked up to any water, sewer or electric. All of this was done by solar, rain collection, and I'm not sure how they did the sewer, but it was done some how, one of the home owners talked about a flushing toilet. The county was really ticked off about it since the houses weren't conventional stick homes, therefore didn't meet building codes. I fell asleep went the battle began, so I'm going to have to catch it again. I'm sure you all are thinking I'm a big tree hugger, I'm not a radical or anything, I'm just concerned about the future.

PB and I got venturous today, I was falling asleep and feeling bad about all the M&Ms I ate today so we went out and did 2.2 miles, I think I ran about half of it. I did a mix of running and walking. I feel so much better now, I've been such a slacker. The only bad thing is, PB has a horrible diaper rash, and she had a semi runny poo as we were on the way home and was crying her I'm uncomfortable cry, dumb me couldn't figure out what the problem was until I get a whiff after we got home.

Saturday

I was a beautiful day out yesterday. Peanut Butter and I went to the kids fair at the mall while J was doing baseball registration. She kept trying to steal everyone's toys. We then went to watch the boy play basketball. They lost the game we watched. We have some time before the boy's next game so J decided to run to this store about 25 min away from the tournament to order baseball uniforms for one of the leagues. PB and me went with him, since I figured it was perfect timing for a nap. I sat out in the car with her while he "ran" in. I put Harry Potter on and 30 min later I'm falling asleep. By the time he gets back out, we won't make the other game. Then he's trying to talk on his cell or look at the invoice while he's driving and we miss our exit. It drives me batty, just pay attention to driving for a minute, we will be on the expressway in 5 min can't it wait? His driving just plain drives me insane, but he seems to think he's the perfect driver. His favorite line is," I do this for a living." Yeah, well, transporting convicts in huge vans or a bus with star plates that people kind of move out of the way of doesn't translate to real life driving. Anyway we head home and get a few things done before we go to dinner. After dinner we hang out outside. J blows the leaves left over from the fall. PB runs up and down the block, up and down the block, up and down the block. J chases her with the blower, I pick up the some of the nastiness of dog poop in the back yard. I can't believe how much is back there. PB runs away, we go in and she watches 101 Dalmatians, the new have to watch over and over movie. I may have to buy it since this one is from the library. I was hoping she'd like Jungle Book because I like all the music in it. But she hasn't caught on to that one yet.

randomness

I took the stroller out for a spin yesterday. Yeah, I'm not sure about this whole running thing. I'm doing the beginner stuff, run a couple blocks, walk, run, walk. What was I thinking? We'll see how it goes.

Peanut Butter is still playing in the @#$@ dog dishes. Yesterday she must have decided that her jacket needed a cleaning and thought, hey, the dog's water. I picked it off the floor and it was soaking wet. I go look at the water and it's full of kibble that she transferred over. She'll run through the living room, shirt soaked with a handful of dog food. I don't want to gate it off again, because the dog drives me crazy about it. And I hate going over the gates. I was so happy not to be putting them up anymore.

Day 3 of no allergy medication. Yesterday my nose ran a bit, today I have a sinus headache, but it is bearable.

I've had crazy dreams the last couple nights. I tend to dream about what happened or something I watched in a weird freaky way. I watched Bad Voodoo's War Wednesday, and dreamed I was in Iraq that night. J and I were discussing money last night and I dreamed that I was checking out at WallyWolrd and my total was $1250. I kept taking things off to get it under a thousand. I had a Brita water pitcher for $60? Must have been from my THT post, crazy stuff. I was almost in tears when I was just down to just food items and it was still over a grand. But I do feel like crying sometimes checking out, how did basic groceries get so expensive? The one good thing is the only brand of ice cream that I will buy has gone up $1.50 in the last 6 months, so I don't buy it anymore. I ate the last of what I had in the house last night. Though J seems to think we only spend $150 on groceries for 2 weeks, he's lost his mind.

If you get a chance try and catch Frontline's Bad Voodoo's War on PBS. It is really good. It is about a platoon of reservists in Iraq. For a few of them it is their 3rd and 4th tours. They are on convoy security which is something they are new too. I will let you watch before I go into more detail and I will probably use it for my Thoughts for Thursday next week.

Thoughts for Thursday: Plastic Soup Anyone?

I should really stop watching some programs. This week, along with an interesting Frontline on Bad Voodoos War about a platoon in Iraq, I tivoed Nightline since it's on past my bedtime. I was interested in the segment about the nonchurch for nonbelivers. But got sucked into to Under the Sea. It was about all the garbage in the sea, specifically the Pacific Ocean. And well if you have seen Finding Nemo, which I have about 100 times this month thanks to Peanut Butter, you know all drains lead to the sea. I couldn't believe the crap they were pulling out, a basketball, suitcases, tons of toothbrushes, and umbrella handles, all from the middle of the ocean. There is a portion of the Pacific Ocean that has basically been labeled a garbage dump due to the currents. It has become "plastic soup" from all the plastic bags and such breaking down. In some places the plastic outnumbered the plankton. There are beaches that instead of sand are becoming plastic pebble beaches it was crazy when they showed a hand full of plastic beads from off the beach. My real fright is it entering the food system, which I'm sure has already happened. Will crabs start having a plastic shell, jellyfish becoming floating plastic bags.? This is what happened with PCBs they entered the food chain at the lowest level and when it gets to us the food has high concentrations of the nastiness. A real interesting book is Our Stolen Future. I do not eat the same after reading that book. It gives some reasoning on why out fertility rates are dropping. So after seeing Nightline, I am going to think more about what I am buying, is it throw away, or is it going to last. I looked around my living room at all the plastic toys strewn about and I just felt awful. Is plastic the true evil? How do we live without it? Since we can't how do we contain the waste, or recycle it better? Any thoughts on anything?

Looky What I Got

I have no excuses anymore. PB can't get enough of it. If it wasn't bath time I'd take it for a spin.

Wendsday Wonderings

My Wonderings

• Why are the dog dishes so fascinating to Peanut Butter? She plays in the dog food and tries to carry the water dish getting water everywhere, she even dips containers into the water it is so gross.
• Why don't people vote? I understand that "they are all going to screw us over" as someone told me, but at least go vote for the one who will do the least damage. It only takes a few minutes. Pick up a paper before the election or go on line and see who's who. I voted yesterday. I've even been called for jury duty and I still vote in every election. Though I didn't have to report any of the days I was called for.
• Why is it when you are really waiting for something to be delivered it takes the longest time of the estimated shipping? When you could care less it shows up before the earliest estimate.
• Big Oil.
• Is scratching and biting normal reactions from a angry toddler? She just grabs a hold of my face by the cheeks, and scratches, holy crap does it hurt.
• I have been craving/needing sweets. It's killing me. I actually ate year old girl scout cookies, since that's all I had left in the house. They were really bad ones too, the coconut caramel ones. Shaking head in shame. No, I'm not pregnant either.
• My sinuses are shockingly good today, without taking allegra w/ decongestant or Claritin. I did a sinus cleanse last night and am going to see how long I can go without meds for it. Usually it's running as soon as the medication wears off, but so far so good. It may change when I am around the dog for a period of time though.

A Spot

I have this spot on my arm, mole like. It is itchy, but that could be just dry skin, but it has be bothersome lately. J has even asked what the heck it is. I'm thinking I should have it checked out. I have a lot the high risk factors for skin cancer: fair skinned, been seriously sunburned at least twice, I don't always wear sunscreen. I'm probably making a mountain out of a mole, but I'm going to get it checked anyway. The thing that stinks is I don't have a doctor right now. My last one just left the clinic, just when I was happy with him taking over from my other doctor. He was great. Can I be so lucky to get a third good doctor? I've got my fingers crossed on that one.
This reminds me of the boy in kindergarten. He has J's skin tone and gets pretty tan in the summer if he's outside. I went into school to pick him up and the kids had all made life sized drawings of themselves in the hallway outside class; I'm looking at them and I noticed one kid colored brown. I thought oh, they must have a new kid, since this was a pretty whitebread town. So I take a closer look to see what his name is, and it is the boy. I'm wondering why he colored himself dark brown; we get in the car and I ask him about it. He said, "I am the tannest kid in class!" I had to laugh.