Walking the Walk: Part One

On May 21, The Princess and I ventured into the Big Bad City with family members to take part in the annual Walk Now for Autism Speaks event at Soldier Field.  I fully intended to write a post about this the following day, but things just didn't work out that way. 

On Sunday, The Princess started a whole-house round of the worst flu I think I've ever had.  Last week was spent either tending to a sick Princess, a sick Hubbs, or being sick myself.  I'm extremely happy and relieved to report that we are all feeling back to normal, and we can even stay awake for prolonged periods of time...without necessarily even trying too hard!

So...that's my excuse for not posting until now.  You got a problem with it?  Keep it to yourself.  I'd like to see you do any better in that situation!  :)

Without further ado, I present to you the first installment of "Walking the Walk."

The night before the Walk, The Princess and I hopped in the car and headed to Nana and Grampy's house.  JAK were coming from out of state, and we all planned to drive together on the morning of the walk...which, of course, resulted in a super-fun slumber party at the in-laws' house. 

After our hour and a half in the car, The Princess was ready to move.  I opened her door in the driveway at Nana and Grampy's house, and she was off like a shot...careening toward the front door at a breakneck pace.  When Nana greeted us at the door, The Princess looked up and was all, "Oh, cool, yeah, here I am, ain't I cute?  Oh, Grampy, you're here too?  Sweet!  Wait a minute...what-the-heck-is-THAT???"  Well, you know, if she talked.

Nana and Grampy had a 10x10 dome tent set up in their great room, and The Princess was all over it.  She proceeded to claim it as her territory, going so far as to systematically push the grown-ups out one by one until we finally got it through our thick skulls that this was her place, darn it.

While we were waiting for JAK to show up, Nana suggested a trip to this wonderful little ice cream shop.  Who was I to say no?  So off we went to The Fluffy Pony.

When we got there, the place was an absolute madhouse.  There were people crammed in like sardines, and boy was it loud.  My sweet little Princess was a champ, though.  She did so very well while we were stuck inside with all of the people and noise, but you should have seen her when we got our ice cream and went out into the garden to eat it.

I had gotten two scoops of butter pecan in this fabulous-looking waffle bowl that had been dipped in chocolate.  I know...heavenly, right?  The Fluffy Pony, by the way, just happens to be one of those places that counts a pint as a scoop.  I had no idea they'd be giving me that much ice cream, or I never would have ordered it in the first place.

Good thing I had The Princess with me!

She sat on a bench with Nana and me, and proceeded to eat almost every single bite of my ice cream.  Thank goodness for the waffle bowl, or I may have starved! 

Once my services were no longer needed, she took Grampy's hand and galloped around the garden, dragging him along with her, twin grins on their faces as their hair blew back in the wind and they did everything they could not to run over the other people in close proximity while they were traveling at such high speeds.

After The Fluffy Pony, we all headed back to Nana and Grampy's house, where The Princess held court in her tent before crashing out for the night.

JAK showed up late in the evening, and I'm happy to say that we were able to slightly gross out Grampy at least a couple of times with our immature joking during the wee hours.

After some winding down and visiting, it was time for bed.  We had a big day coming up, after all.

Up next: Part Two

Tornado Sirens, Power Outages, and a Pathetic Little Princess

I had intended to take this evening to upload my pictures and at least start to fill y'all in on the amazing experience we had at Walk Now for Autism Speaks in Chicago, but apparently the universe had different plans.

After the power went out and the tornado sirens went off in our little town, The Princess proceeded to get violently ill all over her room. While she was giggling away in the bath tub as though nothing had happened, The Hubbs and I notified school and the transportation company that she would be staying home tomorrow.

Not even a half-hour after her bath, it happened again.

Needless to say, we were all exhausted by this point.

And then, all cleaned up and in another fresh onesie while her sheets and my clothes were in the washer, she looked ready for bed. We gave her kisses and laid her down, and she got sick yet again.

As I've been typing this on my iPod, it happened AGAIN.

It's gonna be a long, hard night, folks. Wish us luck.

(I'll get to the walk eventually, I promise. Just not tonight.)

Three Days

We've got three days left until the Walk Now for Autism Speaks event at Soldier Field in Chicago (a.k.a. The Big Bad City). 

This fundraiser is taking place on Saturday, May 21, bright and early.  It's a three-mile walk along Chicago's lakefront, starting at Soldier Field.  There's no fee to join the walk, which will be followed by an after-party and family resource fair, but you do have to register if you plan to walk.

If you've been thinking about it - or even if you haven't until now - there's still time.  You can sign up to walk with the One Mom's Journey team by clicking on the puzzle piece graphic at the top of this page.  When you see my smiling face on your screen, click on the "My Team Page" link right above my head.  Then click the link to "Join Our Team."

Like I said, there's no registration fee...but this IS a fundraiser, first and foremost.  Each and every walker who raises $150+ by walk day will receive their very own snazzy tee shirt with the walk logo on it.  I'm psyched to get mine, and I'll likely be sporting it while dragging The Princess and her cousin in their two-seater wagon on Saturday.

Can't join us, but still want to help?  Click on the puzzle piece above to make a donation on my page.

Don't want to join OR help?  That's cool, too.  I'm an easy-going kind of chick. 

Free

Last night, I took my last final of the spring semester.  I'm very proud of the fact that I was able to maintain straight A's, even though I had one of the butt-head-iest teachers of all time in an already challenging class.

I'm also excited to be entering into the final stretch of classes for my associate's degree.  10 credit hours over the summer, 7 in the fall, and then graduation.

But first?  A whole month of freedom.  Freedom to leave work and go home, play with my kid, hang with my hubby, kick back, and do nothing.  I want to see exactly how much nothing I can cram into this brief reprieve from my self-imposed hectic-as-heck schedule.  Wish me luck!

Happy Mother's Day

Normally, I'd toil away in an attempt at the perfect post (ha! like that's ever gonna happen!), but I'd rather go back outside and play in the dirt on this gorgeous afternoon.

To all the mommas out there, The Princess and her crew wish you the very happiest of Mother's Days.

Chewy

chew·y   

[choo-ee]

–adjective, chew·i·er, chew·i·est.

(of food) not easily chewed, as because of toughness or stickiness; requiring much chewing.

**********

Also, oddly enough, Chewy is one of The Princess's nicknames, bestowed upon her by her wonderfully adorable little cousin, K-Bear.
 
While K's fabulous nickname for The Princess came from little kid pronunciation fun, it is becoming apparent to us exactly how appropriate this nickname really is.
 
The Princess has always had oral fixations, shoving everything she can into her mouth and screaming like a banshee when inappropriate items are taken away.  We've kicked around the ideas of chew-tubes and Chewelry, but are honestly so broke and clueless that we've never taken that next step.  It's possible that she'd love them, but wouldn't that just mean we'd have to keep buying them?  Sorry, Chewy...simply not possible on the current salary, if you know what I'm sayin'.
 
Last Friday, The Hubbs, The Princess, and I ventured out to Wal Mart to pick up an online order (too cheap to pay for shipping to the house, don'tchaknow).  Naturally, they put the pickup area for these items all the way at the back of the store so that you have to walk through everything on the way there and back.  You know, just in case there's anything you've forgotten or didn't know you needed.
 
So, we hoofed it across the store, through garden, grocery, clothing, baby items, and home accessories, without a hitch.  We steered our cart (a.k.a. The Princess's Chariot) into the pickup area and proceeded to wait. 
 
The Princess, seemingly out of nowhere, wanted out.  Like, NOW.  She clawed at my shoulders, scrambled to free her little legs, and acted as though the world was coming to an end.
 
Finally, I realized she was trying to get to something over my shoulder.  Turning around, I saw it: the giant red gumball machine with the fish-bowl-like display of gumballs; the entire thing was about two Princesses tall and wide, and she wanted it.
 
The Hubbs took her hand and led her to the machine, where they promptly disposed of a perfectly good quarter and watched the orange gumball roll down the spiral track to the little door at the bottom. 
 
The Princess popped that thing in her mouth, and it was all over.  The biggest chipmunk cheek you could possibly imagine, followed by absolute elation when she figured out she could actually chew on this ginormous thing.  Best quarter I've ever spent.
 
If you know us in real life, you know that our outings are carefully planned, and always ready to change at a moment's notice depending upon The Princess's demeanor, attitude, melt-down-o-meter, whatever you want to call it.
 
So you'll understand how momentous an occasion this was when I tell you that we proceeded from Wal Mart to a garden center (where she can never be trusted) and at least one other place before heading home.  She didn't make one single, solitary sound that was anything other than happy during this entire time.
 
She chewed and walked and smiled and chewed.  She sat in the car and smiled and chewed.  She giggled and chewed and chewed and giggled.  We got home, and she happily gave up her gum in exchange for a sippy cup.
 
Saturday?  Yeah.  She picked out her very own package of Bubble Yum.