Too early. Too dark. Too Monday.

Waking up this morning was not easy.  For any of us, apparently...

Yesterday The Hubbs went fishing with Super-Bro again.  They left in the neighborhood of 9:30, with a promise from Hambone that they'd be back earlier than normal.

After they took off, I showered and got dressed before taking The Princess on a wagon ride/walk through the neighborhood.  On our way back we saw Kristal - one of my friends from back in the day - driving down the street to her house.  I had just found out that she's moved in right down the street from me...small world!

We hung out at home until it started getting hungry in there - time to take The Princess to Burger King in McHenry for lunch!  There didn't seem to be any high chairs, or even booster seats...which seemed odd.  But we did fine sitting together in the booth like a couple of big girls.  The Princess had chicken tenders and shared (okay, hogged) the fries that came with my meal.  We shared our raspberry-tea-monade and watched the bigger kids in the play area while we ate.

We had gone here with the intention of trying out the play area...however, the kids in there were so big, energetic and plentiful that The Princess had no interest.  Worked for me...I was a bit nervy that she'd get up in that thing and start freaking out, and I'm sure I'm over the weight limit (not to mention the Winnie-the-Pooh type images that come to mind when I think of myself attempting to shimmy into/out of one of those kid-sized tunnels!), so I was afraid I wouldn't be able to go in and get her if she needed me to.

From there we headed over to Aldi for a little bit of stocking up.  The Princess has been out of trail mix for over a week now, and that's just a disaster.  Trail mix is her favorite thing in the whole wide world, and everyone's lives are a little less shiny and happy when she doesn't have her fix.  Fortunately, the trail mix is within 10 feet of the door, so I was able to chuck about $20 worth in the cart before getting shopping-induced ADD (a common occurrence for me!).  Unfortunately, though, The Princess recognized the bags and started angling for an in-store snack.  I figured what the heck...I'm buying $20 worth, she can start in on it if it'll keep her happy.  So I ripped the top off of a bag and handed it to her.

She didn't make a peep through the entire store.  You should have seen her, clutching her bag of trail mix like she had found the holy grail and picking all of her favorites out first.  Too cute.

From Aldi we headed to Mobil, where I got a cheapo car wash...The Cab is no longer a filth-pot, though the wash didn't do as good a job as I had hoped.  I guess I should probably start washing the car more than once a season, eh? 

Home again, home again, jiggity-jig.

Pulling into the driveway I once again noticed the horrible looking dead plants hanging from my house and fence.  Something needed to be done!

In we went to unload the groceries, and I set The Princess up with her very own bowl of the special trail mix (a blend of four different kinds, so you get all the good stuff in one!) in the living room. 

And out I went to start the task of cleaning up the front of the house/yard/driveway.  I took down all of our hanging baskets, which had started slow and painful demises at the first frost.  Walking down the sides of the driveway, I removed all of the plant skeletons from the basket planters and realized there were a ton of leaves and branches on the driveway and in the front yard.

Out comes the leaf blower.

Every so often I'd peek my head inside and check on Kiddo...the bulldogs kept a good eye on her.  :)  After I had cleared the front yard and driveway I realized that the gutters really, really needed a good cleaning.  Actually, they've needed it for months.

Up on the roof with the leaf blower.

That's always fun.  I love to see the looks on people's faces as they drive by, watching me blowing leaves off the roof and out of the gutters!  You try living directly underneath five mature silver maples...you'll jump on that bandwagon soon enough.

Did you know that blowing the leaves off your driveway and front yard is not the best idea if you haven't done the roof yet?  Oops. 

Back down with the leaf blower for some touch-up work.

I'm proud to report that the front of the house looks a lot better now than it did yesterday morning, but it was a lot of work!!

Stinking of gutter sludge, I tip-toed inside and threw my clothes directly into the wash.  Careful not to get any sludge on anything that would hold onto a smell, I maneuvered my way into the shower and rinsed off to kill the odor and that all-over icky feeling you get after a good wallowing.

Feeling a bit more human, I climbed into my jammies and joined The Princess in the living room where we quickly became engrossed in Happy Feet on the Disney Channel.  We both relaxed for a while with the doggies, expecting Daddy to come home any time.

I was surprised to find that I had almost started gnawing on the arm of the couch...time for more food!  Since I had just been grocery shopping, I had my choice of any of the good stuff.  So what do I do?  Make the biggest bowl of cereal possible and share it with my kid.  Someone's got to pass on those traditions, right?

The Disney Channel continued to keep us company as we loafed around the house, waiting for the Mickey Mouse special to come on.  A little over half-way through the special, Daddy finally came home.

That was after 6:30.  A long day on the water, especially considering the fact that they got skunked all day.  Bummer!

The evening went by quickly...we were all in bed at 8:30 and probably asleep by about 8:37.  Hey, it had been a big weekend, and we were tired.

So, imagine my chagrin this morning when the evil alarm clock began stabbing daggers into my brain.  Ugh.  Too early.  Too dark.  Too Monday.

Add to that the fact that The Hubbs had another epic battle with the Tupperware cabinet, and we were a pair this morning.  I called a little while ago to check in, and he has assured me that he will not (as previously threatened) throw away everything in the cabinet today.  I checked...the garbage guys had already been there, so I think I'm safe.  I also made sure to mention the fact that I'd be pretty upset if I came home to a melted glob of used-to-be-Tupperware in the driveway.

When I opened The Princess's bedroom door to wake her this morning, she was splayed on her tummy...dead to the world.  I checked her Pull-Up, decided it wasn't worth a battle (she was in feetie-jammies...the kind you have to basically take completely off to go potty...she had just woken up and was all toasty-warm...definitely not an ideal time to be ripped from bed, stripped and plopped on the cold pot!) and took her directly to the car.  She and Dirt Pink gradually got through the waking-up process in the time it took to get to the train station.

I know this happens every year, the whole being-dark-when-you-wake-up-and-then-again-by-the-time-you-get-home thing.  But I will never - I repeat, NEVER - get used to it.

A Great Day at the Farm

Today The Princess and I headed out to Lemont to visit with Nana and Grampy, and as an extra added bonus, Auntie J and cousin K were in from Ohio so we got to see them too!

We started out with lunch at the grandparents' house, and weren't really sure where the day was going to lead.  The weather was iffy at best, but before long the sun peeked out and we all agreed it would be a great day to go to the pumpkin patch.

So off we went to Bengtson Farm in Homer Glen.

The kiddos started out together in the wagon, though The Princess would protest the injustice of her confinement many times throughout the day...

One of the main attractions was the pig race.  That's right, you heard me.  A pig race.  Here we are with Auntie J, K and Grampy before the race.  Once the festivities started, The Princess and I hightailed it out of there to roam the surrounding area...The Princess is not a fan of loud noises, especially those that come along with large crowds, so we figured it would be in everyone's best interest if we sat this one out.

Here we are roaming as the pigs did their thing.

Next up: pumpkin patch.  The Princess refused, as usual, to look at the camera...but I like this shot anyway.  She had BIG fun running through the pumpkin patch, trailing me behind her.  That monkey backpack kiddo leash is really for me...many times I wouldn't be able to catch her if it wasn't for that handy tail!

And here's a picture of my beautiful, sweet, smiley little camera-loving niece, K.  Isn't she a doll?

Here's K and her mommy, J, enjoying the train ride after we hit the pumpkin patch.  K was so cute, hanging over the front of their little train car, watching the tracks go by underneath them.  Grampy made a comment about it and another mom said it sounded like we had a little scientist on our hands...trying to figure out how it works.  Grampy thinks she was just trying to figure out how to take it apart!

There's one in every crowd...here's the smartass pumpkin dude who thought he was just soooo funny.

After the train ride, we ventured into the petting zoo after a little bit of meandering.  The Princess is not a big fan of petting zoos, thanks to some overzealous goats at the Milwaukee County Zoo.  As I had predicted, she wasn't having a good time here...so we decided to go back to the wagon and wait for everyone else.

When we got outside the petting zoo tent, I headed for the wagon and The Princess headed for the ponies, who were in the tent next door.  She watched intently for a good five minutes before Grampy, Nana, J and K came moseying over.

Nana offered to pay for a pony ride for The Princess, and we decided it was worth a shot.  I figured if she hated it I could just pull her off and get out of the way...no harm, no foul.

Those ponies sure were cool from outside the fence.  Up close and personal, they seemed kinda big and scary...she almost bailed on me before the ride even started.

Once we got moving though, she calmed right down.  It was amazing, really.  She loved the ride and actually seemed a little sad to have to say goodbye to her pony when it was over. 

It was a great time.  Thank you, Nana, Grampy, J and K for letting us crash your Saturday.  We had a blast, and The Princess and I think we all need to get together like this more often.

We've heard bits and pieces about hippotherapy (funny name, I know...it's therapy involving horses), but haven't really known what to think about it.  When you start looking into information for autistic kids it's really easy to get overwhelmed...everyone has an opinion or something that they say is a surefire method.  The hard part is that not all autistic kids have the same issues.  There's a whole spectrum to this disorder, and I'd be very surprised to learn that any two kids are alike in their exact symptoms (for lack of a better term).

This form of therapy helps a lot of autistic kids relax and concentrate on the task at hand.  Up until today I wasn't sure this would work for The Princess...I mean, she's a little ball of energy.  I didn't know how she'd react to being plopped on a horse.

After this pony ride today, though, we're thinking about giving it a shot. 

The Princess's annual evaluation is coming up with Early Intervention, and we'll mention this to our case worker and therapists then.  Maybe we can get on the waiting list somewhere...I've heard it's hard to get into these places, especially the good ones.  The good news is that there's one with a really good reputation less than 20 minutes from home.

All I can say is that we are truly blessed to be members of this family.  Everyone has been so great all along, including everything that's been going on with our little angel.  It would be so much harder to do it without them, and we know how fortunate we are.  It sure does take a village, eh?

Grelvis, the Butt Grind, and Other Assorted Adventures

This weekend was wonderful.  I really needed the time off, though I'm paying dearly for it now. 

T came up for a visit on Saturday and we spent much of the afternoon loafing around the house.  Chinese food was ordered, and consumed, in large quantities.  And when The Hubbs and Hambone came back from fishing, an impressive dent was made in the leftovers.

Neighbor Man came over in the early evening, and the fun commenced.  We all started acting like 21-year-olds, swilling booze in our own unique ways.  The Princess was running around the house being as cute as ever, and the grown-ups were engrossed in good conversations and good food.

Good times.

After I put The Princess to bed, I headed out on the town with T and Neighbor Man. 

First stop: Horizontals.  I love this bar because it's small and for some reason it smells like a roller rink to me.  It was completely dead...odd for a Saturday night, but what do I know?  Last time I was out at this bar was six months ago when we stopped over for a drink after The Princess's birthday party.  We each had two drinks before deciding to move on.

The place to be: Lizzard Lounge.  The entire town was there...apparently this is the new place to hang out since they've redone some things in the old China Girl building.  Continuing the "smell" theme, this place had an odor of Play-Doh and olives...think dirty martini gone terribly wrong. 

And from there it got worse.  Grelvis, I kid you not, was singing in the restaurant side of the place.  If the name doesn't spell it out for you, he's an Elvis impersonator.  Who can't sing.  And uses a karaoke prompter because he can't be bothered to learn the lyrics.  Oh, and who couldn't swivel his hips to save his life.

Naturally, the Tucky Trash was all over this shit.  The place was packed.  I'm talking sardine-style.  And there was this creepy middle-aged broad running around and grinding on people.  I am sad to report that I am one of the many casualties of this particular evening.  I'm not sure I'll ever be the same after having that saggy old butt ground into my hip.

Eeeewwww...I feel so violated!

Each of us a little more emotionally scarred than when we went in, we chugged the dregs of our current drinks and decided to get the hell out of Dodge.  Walking out to Troy's truck, we were giggling like schoolgirls about the whole Grelvis situation.

Wait a minute...

Apparently Grelvis is such a must-see around here that the whole parking lot was full.  So what better idea could a Tuckian have than to start blocking other people in?  Morons.  Fortunately we were parked by the curb, right next to a grassy area that butted up to the road.  Troy popped us up over the curb and we off-roaded slightly on our way out of there.  We'd be damned if we were going to go back inside and be subjected to that again!

Back across town to Horizontals, where we played pool for a couple of hours and generally had a great time.

When we'd had enough of pool we all headed back this way and stopped off at Troy's (did I mention he lives across the street?) to let the doggies out.  I got a tour too...have lived here for four and a half years and this is the first time I've been inside a neighbor's house.  Weird.  But Troy's place is pretty.  And his dogs seem sweet, especially Elsie the border collie mix.  Fifi, the pit bull, can be a little scary at times, but that's her job after all.

When I finally looked at the clock on the stove after we'd been back in my kitchen for a few minutes, I saw it was 1:30.  No wonder I was fading.  Sleepytime!

T took off on Sunday, and we were left with a little chill time before The Hubbs' folks and grandparents got here.  It's been a few weeks since they've seen The Princess and they wanted to take us out to lunch for our anniversary.

For those of you who weren't there, our wedding reception was at the Warsaw Inn in McHenry.  That's right - the Polish buffet.  So that's where we decided to go for our little lunch gathering, not knowing there was a wedding coming in and a rotary club luncheon going on.  And we had a party of seven. 

After waiting for what seemed like forever, The Hubbs did his patented get-up-and-march-out move, and we all followed suit.  We rolled across town to the Village Squire where we were seated immediately.  It was a very nice meal.  I love hanging out with smaller groups - The Hubbs' family is so big that when you get them all together it feels like a revolving door of hello-how-ya-doin's, rather than actual visiting.  So it's really nice when it's just his folks and grandparents.  Thanks, guys!

Back home after lunch, Nana and I decided to dress The Princess up in her Halloween costume and push her into the living room to show everyone.  Here she is trying to rid herself of the velcro-hoodie part:

Our little piggy pranced around the room for everyone, at least for a little while...

...before it got too hot and she had to get into her jammies:

So, all in all it was a wonderful weekend.  We ended up going to bed early on Sunday night, all of us starting our recovery from the last few busy days in a row. 

I love long weekends.

The Princess's Medical Diagnostic

Today was the day we'd been waiting for: The Princess's medical diagnostic.

Last night before bed I went online and printed directions to get to the Pediatric Developmental Center in the Big Scary City.  According to the directions (and a couple of people I'd spoken with), it should take about an hour and twenty minutes to get there for our appointment at 10:30.

We decided to leave at 8:30 to be safe.

Good thing, too.  It was fairly easy to find, and we found parking almost immediately (insert any cheesy version of the Hallelujah Chorus here).  Still, it was almost exactly two hours from our door to theirs.  We arrived a couple of minutes early and sat in the waiting room for half an hour.

At one point I went up to the desk to ask one of the chickies if The Princess and I could use the restroom.  I said "excuse me" about three times with no response before I realized she was asleep.

Honestly.

A minute or so later, a woman poked her head out and said they'd be with us shortly.  She apologized for the wait and said she'd be back to grab us as soon as she could.

This tore Sleeping Beauty from her slumber, and I finally asked if we could use the potty.  She buzzed me through the door and I accompanied The Princess back, armed with a new Pull-Up...it'd been a two hour drive and we'd been in the waiting room for twenty-plus minutes by this point.  Hell, I'd come close to peeing myself...figured she'd need one.

She was dry.

And when I set her on the toilet, she grinned at me and started tinkling.  And tinkling.  And tinkling.  This kid had held it all the way from our house and she was so proud of herself!  When she finally finished I helped her down, pulled up her pants and Pull-Ups and let her flush.

Coming out of the potty, we ran into the nice lady who told us they were ready and apologized again for the wait.  After grabbing The Hubbs from the waiting room we all headed back for The Princess's evaluation.

I know they all told us their names, but I can't remember a single one at this point.  There was a doctor, a speech therapist, a psychologist and a developmental therapist.  They played with The Princess for about 45 minutes to an hour, then left the room to make their assessments.

Can I just say my daughter was a trouper?  She did everything they asked with hardly a whisper of a tantrum.  While they were doing their thing, we set her up with a snack.

Everyone filtered back in the room as they finished their parts, and we were informed that The Princess is autistic.  They are recommending the continuation of speech therapy twice a week, and adding occupational therapy twice a week (once alone and once with the speech therapy as a joint session), physical therapy once a week, and developmental therapy once a week, among other things.

They want us to meet with a social worker who can help us find programs in the area for kids like The Princess and to help us along with the process.

And there was some other stuff I didn't catch.

We have a folder with all sorts of information and web sites they recommended.  The full report will come in about a month, but the short answer is that The Princess could use more help than what she's currently getting. 

And we may decide to switch speech therapists while we're at it, to someone who specializes more in the PECS system and working with autistic kids.  They learn differently...they need teachers who know how to get through to them.  I really like Julie, but I've been wondering for some time now if it's not a barrier between the way Julie teaches and the way The Princess learns that's causing some, if not all, of the tantrums while she's here.

We'll see.

For now, we wait until The Princess's annual evaluation with Early Intervention to find out what our next step will be.  One thing I can say for sure...things are about to change around here.

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Yesterday was great.  We got up in the morning when we felt like it, and The Princess had just started stirring.  Nice, peaceful morning.  Can't ask for more than that!

Hambone came over to pick The Hubbs up - paint shopping!  The boys came back from Epco with all of the paint for the walls, wainscoting, trim, chair rail and cabinets.  Oh, and the backsplash.  It's gonna be fantabulously beautiful.  :)

While they were out I decided to bake a pan of banana bread.  I mixed everything up, slopped it in the pan and threw it in the oven.  We didn't have any walnuts or pecans, so I put raisins in the batter.  Ten or so minutes after I put the whole schpiel in the oven, I walked back into the kitchen to get myself a drink.  The display on the microwave was flashing *END*...oh crap!  I had left the butter in there after softening it.

I quickly removed the pan from the oven -- not quite solidified around the edges yet - and put it on the stove top, plopped the butter in, and promptly got the giggles.  You would have too.  It was like this big gelatinous mass of quivering goo with butter smears on top.  I don't care who ya are...that there's funny.

I figured I'd better mix it in, so I grabbed a whisk from the utensil drawer (also known as the Swirling Vortex of Death) and got to it.  If it sucked I could always throw it out.

I threw the pan back into the oven, reset the timer, and went out to the living room to play with The Princess.  The timer went off, I checked the bread, it wasn't done.  I shut off the timer and planned to check again in a few minutes.  About 20-25 minutes later I was still playing with The Princess in the living room and realized I had left the bread in the oven.  Shit!

Ran into the kitchen, flung the oven door open and prepared for the worst.  Out came the most beautiful pan of banana bread I've ever seen.  But would it taste like dirty ape ass?

When the boys came back with the spendy paint, the whole house smelled of banana bread and the pan was cooling on the stove.  The Hubbs marched in, cut a piece and took a big bite.  He didn't hit the floor in body-wracking convulsions so I figured it was probably safe.

Hambone narfed a huge piece, hardly coming up for air.  He was laughing as he wolfed his food, awed by the fact that it was burning his throat but he just couldn't make himself stop eating it.

FYI - if you put the butter in later...like 10 minutes after you start the 9x13 pan...it, like, triples the yum factor.  There's this wonderful buttery crust on top of the bread that is just to die for.

After Hambone took off, we decided to go down by Spring Hill Mall for the day.  It was rainy and kind of all-around blechy, so doing something outside was out of the question but we wanted to walk.

Lunch at Red Lobster: coconut shrimp and clam chowder for me, and some fab looking shrimp fetuccini alfredo for The Hubbs.  The Princess helped us with our food because we hadn't realized there was a childrens' menu right on the table (oops!).  She was a good sport about it, though.

From there we headed to the mall via Barnes & Noble, where we found the Ken Burns JAZZ DVD set for cheaper than we've ever seen it.  Score!  Add to that a trashy novel for me and we were happy kids.

Walking through the mall is always interesting.  You see all sorts of people, doing all sorts of odd things.  Yesterday was rather mild as far as the people-watching goes.  After all, it was Thursday.  The crazies usually don't come out in full force until the weekend.

After a couple hours of cruising the mall we decided we'd had enough and it was time to come home.  Sometimes you just can't beat snuggling up on the couch under a blankie and reading some terrible romance novel until CSI comes on.

All in all: a good day.

This data bitch is on vacation!

Twice a year at work we knowingly walk into Hell, otherwise known as audit season...which pretty much guarantees the fact that all issue closes will take roughly twice the time to complete. And that's if you're lucky.

How to explain what I do...an issue I've been struggling with for some time now.

Data bitch. That's the short answer.

The long answer is difficult to articulate. I'm like the right arm to circulation managers and directors across the publishing industry, creating and orchestrating every data-centric report or piece of information they could possibly dream of on a daily basis. But somehow that doesn't even begin to explain it.

At any rate, we're rolling through another busy audit season at work. I've been diligently maintaining the databases for which I'm held responsible, and have managed (so far anyway) to stay on top of things.

What better way to test my abilities than to take two days off in the middle of all of this?

I'm super-excited. Tomorrow is The Hubbs' and my fourth wedding anniversary and today is my Friday. I'm on the train headed for home, and will be spending scads of time with The Hubbs and The Princess (and, of course, The Girls) between now and Monday.

Tomorrow's all about laziness and fun. On Friday we'll head to the big scary city for The Princess's medical diagnostic. T is coming up on Saturday, and The Hubbs' family is visiting on Sunday.

In between things I'll inevitably work here and there, but only when I declare it's time. :)

This data bitch is on vacation, suckas!

Violent Shaking Chills, Sassy New Specs, and The Halloween Pig

You may have noticed, or not, that I haven't written in a few days.  I blame The Princess.  Stinker got me sick!

I was feeling a bit "off" when I got up on Friday morning, but ignored it and went to the office anyway...thinking it would get better as the day went on.  By 10:00 in the morning my skin was burning up and I had violent shaking chills. 

Awesome.

I called The Hubbs to tell him I wasn't feeling well, and to check in to see how he and The Princess were feeling.  I didn't want all of us to be in the same boat.  They were fine, and I said I'd call back later and let him know how it was going.

By 11:00, The Hubbs had called back and said he was coming to get me.  So he loaded The Princess into the car and made the 40+ mile drive to Northbrook to pick me up from the office.  I got in the car feeling awful, and was convinced that I was going to be sick no less than 30 times on the way home.  Don't worry, I didn't.

From Friday afternoon all the way through Saturday I was completely useless.  Bummer, considering the fact that T was up here and we had planned to get together for a while.  I slept and slept, getting up every so often to sit on the couch or have some chicken broth, but definitely not doing anything of any consequence.

Sunday I woke up feeling a bit better, but my throat was on fire.  We went out for a little bit to run some errands, but I didn't feel like I could stay out for too long so we came back after a couple of stops.

On Monday I reluctantly got on the train at 6:30 and let it carry me off to work.  I wasn't sure how it was going to go, but I'm glad we made that decision.  I was at least 85% better, if not more, and gained the rest of my regular energy by the end of the day.

While I was at work I found out that our new glasses came in - in Schaumburg.  So The Hubbs and The Princess came down to pick me up and we headed over to the glasses place right from there since it's so much closer than going from home.  And we were anxious to get our new specs.

Here's The Hubbs sporting his new specs and skinny face (he's been diligently dieting and working out, and has lost loads of weight recently -- Go Hubbs!!):

And here's my first (very professional-looking) shot.  These are my new red Oscar de la Renta frames...yep, that's a Red Vine sticking out of my mouth...

Here are my new black-and-pink frames, modeled in the kitchen before bedtime:

Did I mention we each got two pairs?  I don't have a pic of The Hubbs in his "spares" yet, but we went to one of those places where you can get two pairs of glasses and a free eye exam for $69.  Seems to be a good deal...we'll see how the lenses hold up before we make our final judgment.

Another internal debate that's been hovering 'round these parts is that of the Halloween costume.  I wanted to be a band of wandering hippies, but we just haven't been able to put the costumes together like we want so we've since given up on that idea. 

The Hubbs and I will be going as parents, and The Princess will be a pig.  Appropriate, right? 

Look down your nose at me for that joke if you must...but any parent of a toddler knows just how much these guys can eat!  The decision was also helped along by the fact that her best "friend" is Twinkle The Pig, a stuffed Winnie The Pooh Piglet character with a music box inside that plays Twinkle Twinkle Little Star when you push on his tummy.

We picked up her costume on lunch today, and all of the older gals in the household took turns trying on the hoodie part.  Gotta play dress-up from time to time, ya know!

Bubbles wasn't too happy about it, but she's a good sport:

Sookie sure can be a ham sometimes!

And who let the crazy pig lady in here?  We really need better security...

I'm considering the possibility of absconding with this part of the costume after Halloween is over...I could use a new winter hat.

They Want Me To Put Her On A Bus

Once again I find myself amazed at the amount of time that has passed since I last wrote.  It's crazy, this life of mine...I swear someone is stealing hours out of my days.  But then sometimes I am convinced that the days stretch on forever - how is it possible that I just wrote yesterday?  It seems like it's been a week.  What's a gal to do?

First and foremost, I feel I must mention the fact that The Princess is feeling much better.  Tuesday was kind of a wash...cancelled Julie Time because of the fever on Monday night, and she was out of sorts all day.  Not eating like herself, overly tired...just a little off-kilter.  You know what it's like when you're trying to get over a cold or the flu.  I envy her ability to bounce back, though.  So my little princess is back to full-force terrorization of the house. 

Yesterday we dropped her off at my folks' house for the evening so we could attend a seminar in Crystal Lake.  It walked us through the transition we'll be working on shortly, where The Princess will be "graduating" from the Early Intervention program and entering into Early Childhood Education through the school district.  Lots of info was provided, but one thing and one thing alone sticks in my mind.

They want me to put her on a bus.

That's right.  When she turns three, my little angel - barely three feet tall - will begin riding a bus to Harrison School for her preschool sessions.  The first step of the bus must be somewhere in the neighborhood of her chest.  I am having a very hard time envisioning this, though I have a friend at work whose hubby drives one of these buses.  Thanks to Betty I have more info and confidence about this than I would have going into the meeting unaware. 

But still.  A bus?

I'm sure it won't be a big deal for her.  I, however, will make no guarantees that I will not be the cuckoo crazy mommy who follows the bus to school every morning.  I mean, she'll be three.  I never got on a bus until I was five.  It just seems so soon.

When we got home from the seminar Super-Bro was bangin' away in the kitchen, installing the wainscoting panels.  The Hubbs finally started to get a good idea of what Hambone and I have been planning, and he loved the look when we showed him the new trim and chair rail.

Today, being Thursday, was crazy.  This is the day each week when I drive to the office and leave at lunch time to come home for afternoon Julie Time.  Since The Princess spent the night at my parents' house last night, I had to make time to swing over there and pick her up on my way home.  In the rain.  With a bunch of idiots who completely lost their minds due to the harrowingly damp streets and overcast sky.  Damn, it's hard to be a North Shore Bitch.

Sometimes I'm so glad I live out here.  Like, well, every day.

The Princess was a perfect little angel for Julie.  She was cooperative and cheerful, and did a great job.

The minute Julie left, The Princess started up with The Grogs.  This is what we call the fist-to-eye-socket action with which all parents are intimately familiar.  This girl was seriouslybeat.

After poking and prodding her for as long as we could in good conscience, she walked across the room and fell asleep standing up.  That was it.  The kid needed a nap and there was no stopping her.

She crashed on the couch for an hour or so, ripping us a new one when she was rudely awakened from her slumber at dinner time.  I don't know what those Grumps do with this kid, but she's always close to comatose when she comes home.  I'd love to be a fly on the wall...I bet they're like kids in a candy store, trying to do everything they can in the few hours they have her all to themselves!

Surprisingly enough, she made it to about 8:00 this evening before she sprawled out on Dirt Pink in the middle of the living room floor.  Rolling onto her side and shoving her thumb into her mouth, she snubbed all attempts at interaction.

The princess went to bed, we watched CSI, Hambone stopped by for some fried rice, and I typed a blog.  Now?  Time to let the eyes slam shut, since they've been trying to do so all day.

Who Am I Kidding? I Just Want to Knock People Over.

Well, would you look at that?! With all of this hullaballoo about The Princess in the last few days, I completely forgot to tell y'all about my wonderful weekend with The Hubbs.


You already know about my oofer - oversleeping on Friday to the point where it would have been a fruitless effort to even try to get to the office. In the interest of saving time (and my ass!) I worked from home. Good thing I had the laptop there from Thursday afternoon, eh?

It was eerily quiet in the house with The Princess gone. Seemed like the old days, before she was born, but her stuff was all still there so at least I had a mess to clean if I wanted to feel mommy-ish. :)

After work, The Hubbs and I decided to go out for dinner. Hey, we'd earned it...we could count on one hand the number of times we've gone out in the last year to someplace where your dinner isn't handed to you through a window in a paper sack. McHenry is beginning to get with the program, and we recently got an Olive Garden. Score!

The dinner was fabulous, and it felt good to get out and just hang at the bar while we waited for our table. No diaper bag, no impatient little person wanting to run around, very odd...but good. It's great knowing that she's with her grandparents - they'll bend over backwards for this kid and she always has a fantastic time with them. It's possible to actually relax.

After downing a couple of drinks, a gigantic entree and dessert, we figured what better time to go try on clothes. I know, odd, right? Well, that's us in a nutshell. :)

Off to Lane Bryant, where I scored some major deals. Three new tops, three pairs of pants and a new vest for $100 or so. Yippee! I have some new cuteness to show off at the office!!

Hambone came over on Friday night after our shopping trip, and we all sat around bs-ing for a couple of hours. I think we watched something on the idiot box, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was. Before he left, we made plans to go out to breakfast on Saturday to discuss the kitchen remodel.

Saturday morning: Hambone called and we all met up at the Busy Bee. Talked about kitchen stuff, and about his fishing day-trip with his buddy Kelly, and we were off on our own again.

Faced with another whole kid-less day, we decided to head out to Algonquin via Crystal Lake. In CL, The Hubbs visited his fave music store while I dropped my Uggs off for repair/cleaning/waterproofing at the local shoe repair shop. We walked through the farmers' market before heading back to the car and out toward Algonquin.

First stop there was Guitar Center, as always. We really need to remember to hit this place on the way back...it's on the left side at a messy intersection where it's impossible to get out going left. Had to backtrack a little, but it was worth it.

From there we headed over to Algonquin Commons for a walk. We got drinks at Borders and headed next door to Archivers - a cute little scrapbooking shop - for some paper. The Hubbs was a champ, sticking it out in the girly store without complaining even once. Ladies and gentlemen, this is how you know you've found a keeper.

But we have decided that whoever designs these shopping centers needs to get a little more innovative. Why not have the scrapbook place next to Guitar Center so we can both go do our thing and meet in the middle when we're done? At least it's not as bad as dragging the poor guy into a fabric store!

Back home for a couple of hours to hang with The Girls. While we were there, I took some time to research wing joints...I was jonesing for some good BBQ chicken, and we needed to get out to the movies.

Mmm...Buffalo Wild Wings. Neither of us had ever been there before, but I can guarantee we'll be back. Good shit, Maynard, as my Pop would say.

We finished dinner with time to spare, so we headed over to Barnes & Noble before the movie. Where we proceeded to spend $134 that we really didn't need to spend. So fun! And now I have the first eight Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris, so that's a bonus!

From here we headed to the theater to see Whip It - Best. Movie. Ever.

I grew up in a roller rink, and they wouldn't let me race the girls; I was too fast. I had to practice with the boys. A couple of the chicks we used to roll with got into Derby for a while, and I'd love to have that opportunity now. Just think how skinny I could get if I was back into speed skating and knocking chicks over.

Martin Luther King, Jr., had a dream. Well, I have one too...it's just not as profound. I have a dream, that one day my fat ass will get back on skates and race until I'm skinny again.

Who am I kidding? I just want to knock people over.

You'd Think I Was Twisting Her Limbs Off One By One...

What a day.

I woke up this morning to the soothing sounds of a screaming alarm clock. Nothing like awakening to the sensation of your skull splitting in two. I literally could not get out of my bed, my head hurt so much...I haven't had a headache like that in years. Yay, allergies.

After sending a quick email letting my group know I was down for the count, I flopped back in bed until somewhere around 10:00. I gingerly opened my eyes and when I realized I was, in fact, still alive and kicking, swung my legs over the side of the bed and braced myself for the return of the misery. Surprisingly enough, I felt pretty okay.

I got up and had some breakfast without falling over. Bonus.

After depositing myself on the couch in front of HGTV, I heard a creative expletive from the kitchen. Turns out The Hubbs' left lens had popped out of his glasses because the frames snapped.

Nice.

Off we headed to Schaumburg to get our annual eye exams and pick out new glasses. We usually go to my family's eye doc in McHenry, but we just can't afford the glasses there anymore. We figured we'd try one of those places where you can get two pairs for $69, so that's why we had to go all the way out by Woodfield. I'm reserving my final judgment until I get my new glasses. The frames are definitely cute, though. :)

By this time I was feeling nearly human again and we thought we'd take a walk around the mall. We popped The Princess into her stroller and wheeled her around for an hour or two.

On the way home she fell asleep almost immediately. She snoozed most of the way back, only waking up as we cruised through McHenry. Life seemed good.

We pulled into the garage, I opened The Princess's door and undid her harness, and then walked around to the trunk to grab our stuff. The Princess got out of the car on her own (one of the *best* things she's learned so far!) and I let her into the kitchen.

She reached up for a hug, so I scooped her up. And she was *scalding* hot.

I took her temperature. 102.

Tylenol was administered, and she was plopped in the bath tub. She screamed. Bloody murder.You'd think I was twisting her limbs off one by one, judging by the shrill banshee shrieks emanating from this teeny little person. Did I mention this lasted over an hour?

Her fever has dropped slightly - but it's still over 101.

And she's stopped screaming for the moment, so that's a plus.

This is Ridiculous

Well, it’s 10:00 on Sunday night and I am still waiting for The Princess to come home. This is ridiculous. I had a great time hanging out with my hubby this weekend, but I want my kid back. We had thought she’d be home somewhere between 3 and 5…turns out they left at noon instead of mid-morning as we had originally thought.

Did I mention the fact that the cottage is five to five-and-a-half hours away? What the hell is taking so long? Here I sit in the living room with the TV on very low for background noise, jumping every time I hear a car door. Every few minutes I walk into the kitchen and watch as a few cars pass by our street, increasingly disappointed with each false start.

The Hubbs went to bed almost an hour ago…he just couldn’t stay awake anymore.  We haven't seen our kid since Thursday, and we all have to be up at about 5:00 in the morning.  So much for hanging out with Kiddo for the evening.

I. Want. My. Kid.  NOW.

I Can't Remember the Last Time He Peed His Pants

It's 9:30 at night...do you know where your kids are?

I don't.

Well, I have an idea, but I couldn't say for sure.  She's somewhere in Wisconsin, sharing the backseat of Nana and Grampy's Intrepid with Auntie J, Cousin K, George the monkey and Twinkle the pig.  Not a bad place to be, if you ask me.  Which you didn't, but whatever.  You're reading my blog, so I figure that shows an interest, right?

I came home from work early today, like any other Thursday.  The main difference?  The fact that Julie was not coming because we had to get The Princess ready for this trip.  Good thing, too.  We ended up needing that extra couple of crank-free hours to get our shiz done.

After going through all of her clothes yesterday and bringing up the fall 2T stuff, I felt like I was pretty well set as far as clothing went.  Then I realized I didn't have any jammies for her -- uh-oh!  I seem to be missing a box of clothing, because I know for a fact she has a pink 2T Bears hoodie (Go Bears!), and I'm fairly certain there are a few pairs of fuzzy feety jammies right along with it.  Unfortunately, that box has decided to hibernate and laugh maniacally at me from its dusty dungeon lair.

Figures.

Turns out I had some 2T jammies already in the drawer in her room, and Nana had bought some bigger ones in case she needs them this weekend.  We figure if The Princess doesn't fit into them, K probably will soon.  :)  K is 1, and she's the polar physical opposite of The Princess...I believe she's wearing about the same size, though she's considerably shorter.  I had to laugh the last time they were here...I was putting one of The Princess's bibs on K for Banana Time, and it barely fit around her neck!  She's extra-super cute and cuddly.  It's really funny, though to see such a difference in the way our kids are growing.

Shirts?  Check.
Socks?  Check.
Jackets/hoodies?  Check.
Pants?  Um...crap.

I realized half-way through packing that The Princess currently owns exactly two pairs of jeans that fit her, one of which is waiting to be washed (and not even close to salvageable from the hamper due to the extent of the nastiness that was previously unleashed on them, causing their recent trip to the hamper in the first place).  The Hubbs pointed out that he, too, has only two pairs of jeans...and he's doing fine.  At this point I felt the need to commend him on his stellar record of late...I can't remember the last time he peed his pants.  The Princess, however...

Over the river and through the woods, to Wally World we go!

Before tackling the shopping aisles, we decided to stop for a quick bite in the built-in Subway.  So we grabbed a table and split a footlong Spicy Italian and Raspberry-teamonade (for those not in-the-know, that would be raspberry iced tea mixed half-and-half with lemonade...the only way to drink fountain raspberry iced tea in my opinion!), and The Princess chowed some excellent apple slices.

From there we headed back to the kiddo section where we procured two new pairs of jeans (tres cute, btw), and stocked up on Pull-Ups for the princess's impending trip.  Between here and the checkout we managed to rack up $157 worth of useless stuff we didn't really need, but my new jammies are comfortable and I now have a couple of new bras that will help to keep my boobs off the floor.  That's always a plus...I get so embarrassed when I step on them in public.

After Wal Mart we headed straight home without passing go or collecting $200 (bummer!), to finish packing The Princess's worldly belongings into two small bags.

The Princess was very helpful, checking to make sure I had packed all the essentials...juice, cups, trail mix, her tools...I don't know what I'd have done without her.

Here's my little angel, running around the room trying to make sure I haven't missed anything:

"Hey Mommy...don't forget my blanket!" 

Here she is, standing on the table and letting me know what a great job I did (with her help of course!):

A bit later, Nana and Grampy showed up with Auntie J, K and George (can't forget George!) to whisk Princess The Princess away on her grand weekend adventure to the Land of Beef Jerkey.  ((I feel I must insert a note here to explain the odd name I've given to the town where the cottage is located...Minong, WI, is home to the Links family.  As in Jack Links.  As in the bestest beef jerkey this side of Mars...hence the Land of Beef Jerkey.))

I quickly installed The Princess's car seat in the back of the Intrepid, drooled over K's travel seat -- it's a simple folding booster with a full harness...coolest thing evah -- and came back in to say goodbye to everyone.  Plopped The Princess and Twinkle in the car with Dirt Pink (her fave blankie, pictured above) and sent them off for a fun-filled family weekend.

I personally plan to make the most of it by sleeping like a teenager.  When, and if, I decide to get out of bed this weekend, the Hubbs will be taking me out to dinner and to see Drew Barrymore's first attempt at directing...Whip It...should be fun!