Road Trip

My dad's side of the family is having a reunion later this summer, so Matthew and I will be taking our first road trip together to go back to my hometown.  Aside from two of my cousins spending about 15 minutes with him, nobody on that side of my family has met Matthew.  There seems to be a lot of excitement about him coming, and I'm looking forward to having an adventure with him.

When I make the trip by myself, I can make the drive in less than 9 hours.  I make one pit stop to get gas, use the restroom, and grab a snack.  My drives back home have always been about (safely) making the best time possible.

I have no idea how the drive will be with a toddler in tow, but I know it's going to be different.  The drive will take longer.  There will be more stops. Matthew will need diaper changes, drinks, snacks, and time to stretch his legs and burn off some energy.   There are always such pretty and fun places that I blow past when driving home.  I sometimes, think about stopping, relaxing, taking some pictures.  Ultimately though, my desire to make good time wins, and I just keep driving.

I'm looking forward to having an excuse to enjoy the journey a little more.

"I Want To Go Home!"

Last month, I received a recall notice in the mail for my car.  It sounded minor, so I wasn't overly concerned about taking care of it.  I called the dealership and arranged to drop off my car Friday morning before work. They would then give me a shuttle ride to work and pick me up once my car was ready.

After dealing with the service department, I was told to sit in the waiting area, and a shuttle driver would be there to get me shortly.  A few minutes later, one of my co-workers called my cell phone.  The girls at work knew I'd been planning to hit the dealership and then grab a shuttle to the office, but she wanted to make sure I was fine and didn't need a ride.  I thanked her but declined, since the shuttle driver would be there soon.

Pretty soon, a gentleman approached the waiting area and asked, "Did somebody need a shuttle?"  I said yes and stood up, informing him that I needed to get to work.  I thought we were going to leave right then, but an elderly man who was also sitting in the waiting area suddenly announced, "I want to go home!"

The shuttle driver asked him if his vehicle was in for a repair or oil change.  He replied that he his was in for the recall.  The driver explained that the gentleman would need to speak with his service adviser to determine how long the repair would be, as a shuttle might not be necessary.

An elderly woman who had been sitting with us chimed in, "I want to go home too!  Will you come back to my home and pick me up then?"

The shuttle driver, seeming a little flustered, politely responded, "Well, that is my job."  He once again explained how shuttle service had to be coordinated with a customer's service adviser.  "Okay, let's check!"  She got up from her seat, and we walked into the service area.

While the two people spoke with their respective service advisers, a customer next to them declared, "I want to go home too!"  A service adviser stated that he had a customer who needed a shuttle home, and then another person chimed in with (you guessed it), "I want to go home!"

I've utilized the shuttle service for this dealership several times, and I have never had this happen.  I was a bit frustrated because I was needing to get to work and getting held up by all of these people who just wanted to go home.  It was pretty funny though, having all of these people announce one after the other that they wanted to go home.  This seemed like such a novel idea to all of them.  I don't think most of them were aware that shuttle service was an option at the dealership.

With such a group forming, a second shuttle driver was summoned.  I ended up in the shuttle with the two elderly people who had been in the waiting area with me.  My destination was the closest to the dealership, so mine was the first stop.

I feel like I should send a letter of apology to the dealership for causing the daily fuel cost for their shuttle service to skyrocket.

Books and Puzzles

My mom is constantly on the prowl for goodies for Matthew.  She and my dad recently made an awesome score at a garage sale.  They found several great books and puzzles.

I've been keeping track of Matthew's book collection with an account at Goodreads.  After adding this latest haul, his total number of books owned is at 179.  Several of those books were ones that my sister and I enjoyed when we were kids.  I'm glad our parents kept them all these years!

The puzzles have been providing endless amounts of fun.  My favorite is the one with the pets.

Wish List: Being Selfish

Ernie and I lived together for several years before we got married.  We both pitched in financially but kept our money separate.  He had bills he paid every month, I had bills I paid every month.  Whatever money was left from each of our paychecks was our own respective business.

I really didn't buy anything too extravagant, but I did enjoy my disposable income.    I spent many Tuesday lunch hours driving out to Best Buy to load up on new release CDs.  I'd eagerly peel the packaging off in my car and pop in a disc to begin listening while I cruised back to work.  Every Saturday, I went to Barnes & Noble to load up on music magazines.  I browsed other magazines and books too and usually found more things to purchase.  On my way home, I'd often stop for a strawberry pop.  I loved going to the mall on Sundays.  Sometimes I just window shopped, other times I left with things like a lipstick, a skirt, or some fancy cupcakes to share with Ernie.

Once visions of having a child entered our heads, and we got engaged, my selfish lifestyle came to a screeching halt.  I realized that my $15 here, $40 there of fun added up, and our money was going to be needed for more important things.

Last year, I only bought one CD.  I also received one as a gift, so that doubled my haul.  When I do leave Barnes & Noble with a bag, it's usually filled with books for Matthew.  I swear my heart rate increases when I enter the children's book section, I could easily sift through books for an hour.  It's a magical place.

My priorities have changed, but I did enjoy my selfish single girl time.  I think if I could have a day to flashback to those carefree times, I would treat myself to:

1. Lazaretto - Jack White

2. Upside Down Mountain - Conor Oberst

Jack and Conor are two of my absolute favorites.  My CD rack is filled with material of theirs.  Well, my rack was before I packed my CDs up into empty diaper boxes to stow away in the basement to make more room in the house.  Back in the day, I would have been at the store the day these discs came out.  Now, I'm just patiently waiting until I can get my hands on them to load onto my iPod.  You'd think I'd just embrace digital releases by now, but I still love getting CDs.

3.  I love drinking out of mugs.  For some reason, it seems more leisurely.  I feel funny drinking anything but coffee or hot chocolate in a typical mug though.  I think this Tervis mug would be great for any kind of beverage.

4.  Last winter, I often borrowed (or, if you ask him, stole) Ernie's big, puffy slippers.  I want my own pair for next winter.  Until then, I'd love a lighter pair of some cute slippers for lounging at home.

5.  Summer is beautiful, but I don't handle heat well.  This time of year, I'm often pulling my hair back to help me keep cool.  I tend to be pretty sloppy with my hairstyle when I'm not at work because I'm usually too hot to be bothered.    This headband would be so fun for at home and running errands.

6. This Close: Stories - Jessica Francis Kane

7. One More Thing: Stories and More Stories - B.J. Novak

I love reading short stories.  My favorite time to read books is in bed before falling asleep.  Usually, I shouldn't be staying up too late, so to be able to complete a story start to finish in a small time frame is really satisfying.  It's also nice for those sad occasions where I put down a book and don't pick it up again for a few weeks and then need to be refreshed on what the heck is happening.

Brake Job

I had an oil change recently and was told that my brake pads and rotors were pretty worn and should be replaced.  Tears in my eyes (as there are any time large sums of money are requested), I texted Ernie with the info and the amount of the estimate.  He simply replied, "Nope."  Yes, I did need those things replaced, but Ernie was able to buy the parts and do it himself, so it didn't cost as much.  Free labor!  I love having a mechanically-inclined husband.  Matthew supervised the work.

A moth landed on one of my tires which, from the right angle and distance, made it look like I had a major issue with my tire.  I freaked out for a split second.

Last weekend, we got a few goodies from my cousin that her son had outgrown.  One of them was an awesome wagon.  Matthew and I had to take a couple of trips around the neighborhood.  He had a blast!  

Ernie took Chewie for a couple little trips too.  She loves riding in the truck.

On Sunday morning, I finally got to make biscuits and gravy for breakfast.  I had bought pork sausage earlier in the month with the intention of cooking this favorite of Ernie's for Father's Day, and then I got sick.  I guess it's not fair to say that I made biscuits and gravy; I made the gravy, and I threw frozen biscuits in the oven.  We can't all be Martha Stewart.  I made barbecue beef patties and mashed potatoes for dinner, but Matthew pretty much just ate a little bit of the potatoes and then scarfed a bunch of watermelon.  He's so appreciative of my cooking.

Weekend Recap

What a weekend!  I'm an admitted homebody; I love being home. We spent a lot of time elsewhere though, and it was great.

Saturday started out bright and early with Mom helping me work our first Mom 2 Mom sale to get some of Matthew's old stuff out of the house and make us a few bucks.  How does one child accumulate so much stuff?

The sale was a lot of fun, and all we ended up not selling was some clothing and a baby monitor.  We sold lots of clothing and bigger items like activity gyms, bathtubs, a swing, and a high chair.  It made us a little sad to see some of the stuff go, but there is really no sense in keeping it.  The atmosphere at the sale was wonderful though, and it made me really happy to see other people so excited about their purchases.  Feeling some sadness about seeing an adorable little jacket of his get sold is eased by seeing the excitement of the person buying the jacket for their little one.

I was exhausted after the sale.  My poor mom had to drive home to Ohio right after, but I was fortunate enough to be able to go home and crash on the couch.  Ernie kindly let me sleep but finally woke me up to get going to a graduation party.  My co-worker's daughter graduated high school and was having a big party at her house.  A lot of my co-workers were there, and we had a really good time.  Her house and yard are beautiful.  Matthew loved running around the huge yard.  He also enjoyed the food.  He basically had a little bit of meat sauce, a bread stick, Goldfish, and cookies for dinner.  So healthy.

Matthew fell asleep on the way home, and then he of course got his second wind once we got home.  After playing for a little while, he was ready for bed.  Ernie and I watched some Breaking Bad on Netflix before we went to bed ourselves.

On Sunday, I got grocery shopping out of the way, and then we hit the road to go to my cousin's house.  She lives about an hour and a half away and had kindly offered us a free tricycle, wagon, and basketball hoop that her son had long outgrown.  Matthew has none of these things, and we have particularly been wanting a wagon, so we were obviously pretty excited.  Another one of my cousins (they are sisters) was visiting from Green Bay with her husband and sons, so we got some bonus relative visiting.  They had also never met Matthew before, so it was nice for them to see him.

As we left, Ernie called his cousin who didn't live too far away to see if she'd be up for having us pop in for a visit.  She agreed but admonished us upon arrival for not giving her more notice about our visit.  She was not mad that we'd shown up with little notice but said if she'd known we were coming, she'd have cooked us dinner and got Matthew presents from Toys R Us.   She still managed to be quite the hostess.  After we had called her, she quickly called to order pizza and salad.  She also had some strawberries and mini eclairs and presented Matthew with a brand new Batman t-shirt.  I was highly impressed!  None of that was necessary, but it was flattering and appreciated that she fussed over us.

Matthew and I snoozed on the way home, although I'm pretty sure I slept longer than he did.  I used to never be a napper, but since having a kid, I sure do love naps now.  Ernie mowed the lawn when we got home and then rode into town with Chewie to get some gas in the truck and pick up some Chinese for dinner.

Now, it's Monday morning.  Where did the weekend go??

Toy Story

I've been sick since last Thursday, which has obviously been a bummer.  I used to rarely get sick, but now that I have a toddler, it's hard to avoid the germs.  Yes, I'm blaming the kid.  I've been told that's what they are for.

Managing to go to work (aside from wimping out and taking one half day last week) has been about all I've been able to do.  Ernie has been doing most of the parenting duties, and I've been alternating between sleeping and watching shows on Netflix.  I'm currently working my way through Breaking Bad, my show of choice after finally finishing Dexter recently.  Not having cable really makes me behind on popular culture.   I started watching Dexter back in December and was so excited about how awesome it was but kept it to myself to avoid becoming the butt of jokes.  "When you're done watching Dexter, want to put on powdered wigs and listen to records on my phonograph?"

I'm starting to bounce back though.  I still have a slight cough, but it no longer makes people get wide-eyed and instruct to me to stay away from them.  That's a definite improvement.  I'm having more energy to get stuff done at home too.

My favorite daily chore happens after Matthew goes to bed.  I've pretty much turned our living room into a playroom, and I take great enjoyment in tidying up Matthew's toys at the end of the day.  I have a spot for everything.  Certain toys go in certain containers.  Any item missing, even a small puzzle piece, is hunted down with determination that can be borderline crazy to anyone present. But it makes me happy to bring him downstairs each morning to a nicely arranged play area with everything in its place and waiting for him.  I know it will be destroyed in 10 seconds, but those first 9 seconds of him wandering around and deciding where to begin makes me happy.

This task was kicked to the curb while I was sick.  I laid on the couch and looked at the tornado of toys scattered throughout the room (and spilling into adjacent rooms), but I just didn't have it in me to pick up.  It made me feel bad that when he woke up in the morning he didn't have a nicely arranged area to dive into.  Ernie regularly points out that Matthew probably doesn't even care.

I'm willing to bet that Ernie is right.  I care though.  It makes me happy to spend a little time each night getting ready for our next day of fun.

I'm disappointed this morning because there are two items that are missing.  One of them is a book, of all things.  How does a book go missing?  We're also missing a guy from the farm.  I've been scouring the house with no luck.  I feel incomplete.  Matthew, of course, is fine.  I'm clearly the only one troubled by this.  It's just so vexing!