Cousins

Cousins Forever....Friends For Life

Thoughts for Thursday

-My mom is coming into town today and bringing my 2 nephews. The boys will be spending the night with Drew and I and my mom will keep all 3 boys tomorrow while I'm at work. This means I must be prepared for forced sharing, tears, LOUD boys, swimming, tons of laughing, endless pictures... and the rare opportunity to enjoy my 3 favorite boys. 


-The house is a disaster due to the remodel and my lack of a desire to clean... however, when my mom inevitably asks why my house is a mess, I fully intend to blame the construction guys (her dad & brother). 


-It's official, Drew will be starting private school on Monday and I have mixed emotions about this one. It's a non-religious and totally untraditional school... but my little man is up for the change.. so I'm going to have to force myself to be ready to.


-Having the "what if we'd done things differently" conversation with Drew's dad always leaves me feeling a bit sad and uneasy.... but after yesterdays "wonder what things would be like if we got together now" conversation, my heart hurts. Sensitive subject on every level possible.... 


-I haven't seen my nephews since Mother's Day... and they only live an hour and a half away... I am officially the worst aunt EVER.... sorry boys. 


-I want a laundry fairy. I swear that stuff is just endless. Wear, wash, dry, fold, put away...REPEAT


-Bored while at work is a HUGE understatement. I have gone through my collection of books at home..TWICE.. and keep buying new ones to read when I work. I know that right now this is a good problem to have.... but boredom and I are a bad combination.


-Drew has gone to the same daycare for the last 5 and a half years.... and today will be his last day there. We're going to miss some of these teachers and kids.... Have I mentioned that I HATE change?


-I have absolutely no idea of what type of job I would actually LIKE to have. No clue. However, for reasons I won't go into... I know I would be a GREAT private investigator. If your husband is cheating, or has 5 illegitimate kids you don't know about, I can find out VERY easily and quickly. If your mom used to be an exotic dancer or you want to find your birth parents, I can find all that info too. I told you boredom and I are a bad combination. 


-I've decided to hold of on getting my tubes tied. Not because I plan to have more kids... but because becoming a private school mama is going to drain every cent we have... and it looks like my insurance doesn't cover as much as I thought they did. 

Angels, Butterflies and a Bed Hog

This weekend little man and I went to yet another Angel game... We do enjoy going to these games (even though they lost this one) but I'm at the point where I think I've had enough baseball for one year... oh wait, Drew starts little league again next month.... Great!

We also took a looong over-due trip to the LA Museum of Natural History over the weekend. Just getting into the place was a little adventure (got distracted by a nature walk and the California Science Center). We had a good time looking at all the animals.

We checked out the dinosaur bones, the lions, bears and insects. They had a room that only had the skeleton of a HUGE whale and they played whale noises in the background. I thought it was kinda cool.... Drew however, was kinda freaked out. He has a thing with loud noises.... or weird noises.

We also visited their butterfly garden which was really pretty neat. Drew's class last year spent some time studying butterflies and had a few in their classroom that they got to release, so it was pretty cool for him to see all of these butterflies. As soon as we walked in the garden, an employee instructs us not to touch the plants or the butterflies. Drew was a bit disappointed... so he says to the lady "well are they allowed to touch US?".... She laughed and said yes. This kid was determined to touch a butterfly. If he had it his way he would have caught them all and brought them home. 

Drew had every intention of sitting on this bench in the garden until a butterfly landed on him.... but my stomach was growling and I was starving... so we went to lunch without touching a butterfly.

The museum was a lot larger than I expected (3 floors) and Drew is not a fan of walking AT ALL... so after lunch we left, without ever making it to the 3rd floor. Guess we'll just have to take another trip out there. And maybe he'll get to touch a butterfly. 

And this is my little bed hog... all bundled up in his cocoon. Our Cal-King size bed is not nearly big enough for the both of us.... this morning I woke up to his feet under my pillow, his head next to my knees, and both of us squished to the very edge of MY side of the bed.... while about 4 feet of space was left empty on HIS side..... Might just be time to move the munchkin into his own bed so I can actually get some sleep!! But isn't he adorable =)

Mr. Sensitive

I finally got my little man back home with me last night. I missed his little but like crazy! Here's a little recap of our slightly eventful evening.... 

-I hugged, kissed and cuddled my munchkin like crazy as soon as I picked him up, and was excited to see the ever-growing gap in his mouth since he lost his 2nd tooth while camping with his dad this weekend. 

-Over the weekend I cleaned up an old bike that my uncle had given Drew and got it ready for him to ride when he got home. I also added a set of training wheels so this can be the bike he learns on before I buy him a new one for his birthday. Apparently my skill level with tools is pretty minimal.... I thought I'd done a good job (even though there were some how a couple extra pieces when I was done), so Drew starts riding it around and all the sudden one training wheel falls off... and I see a trail of nuts and bolts behind it... OOOPS... Drew was a bit afraid of the bike after that, but I put it back together and he tried again for a little while.   *We're taking a trip to the bike store tonight and I think I'm bringing the old one to let a professional put the wheels on right


-Drew told me the following riddle/joke:  (he told me this one before on the way home from Vegas, but it had me laughing so much last night, I had to share)


           *There are 5 fish, 1 drowns. How many fish are left?






               - 5, fish don't drown.  Hahahaha.... he cracks me up =)

-And last but certainly not least... we were watching America's Got Talent last night while we were in bed. It was just about over and they had the last 2 acts up on stage waiting to decide who was being eliminated. They asked the first contestant why he should stay, and he began to give his speech and became a little emotional. 

I made the comment of "oh please, why is he getting all dramatic?".... and I look to my right, and Drew is in tears. WHAT??? I'm very confused at this point. So I ask him what happened and why he's crying. He won't answer me. (Now this kid has a huge habit of refusing to explain why he cries) so I got frustrated and told him to go to his room until he was ready to explain. And when he came back a few minutes later, he had me in tears with his explanation. Drew said he felt sad for the guy... that he had traveled all that way (the guy never even said anything about TRAVELING) and what if he loses then the man would be so upset....awww... my sweet boy. So he's crying and I'm crying because he was just so sweet and caring. 

Fresh Foods Stress Me Out

As I've recently admitted to discovered, I have some weird and pretty irrational (at times) fears about pretty much everything.... and this morning I discovered my fear of fresh foods (veggies, fruit, meat..ect). 


I'm not a big fan of cooking... actually, I should say, I'm not GOOD at cooking. I'd like to be, sure wish I was... but I'm just not. Cooking requires talent and patience.. neither of which I posses. But I've been trying to do it more because I am so sick of processed food. I'd rather just skip a meal than make something that came in a box. So on this weekends trip to the grocery store I decided to load up on the real stuff... 


And so far there have been 2 mild panic attacks over this food.


Saturday night I had no plans, so I started marinating chicken in the afternoon and was prepared to make some kabobs for myself. Then around 3:30 a friend calls and invites me to come over that night. **The panic starts** In my head I'm thinking "how in the world can I go anywhere, I have chicken waiting to cook, I don't know how long it can marinate before it needs to be used, I don't want to waste this FRESH stuff I just bought, but I haven't seen this friend in a couple weeks, is it weird for me to stay home on a Saturday night because of chicken, should I tell her my dilemma, should I just eat before I go over?"


*I decided to just stay home. Pathetic, I know... but my pulse was racing and I was starting to sweat...seriously. 


And then this morning episode number 2 happens... 
I wanted to bring a bowl of fruit to work for a snack. Seems like a simple concept I'm sure... but not for me. I have strawberries, bananas, 1 peach, pineapple and grapes laying out on the counter... **The panic starts** "which fruits should I chose, there's only one peach so do I use it for this or save it for later, should I just make a smoothie instead, what if the pineapple juice makes the bananas soggy, should I make extra so Drew can have some with dinner?"


*I decided not to use the peach because I might want it later... and used a minimal amount of the pineapple..and didn't make any extra because I didn't want it to get yucky before we got home. 


And as I sit here at work, I am now trying to avoid panic number 3.... 


I bought boneless ribs (which I've never made in my life) this weekend and thought they'd be good for dinner tonight. Not sure of how to cook them, I decided to throw them in the crock-pot with some BBQ sauce and leave it on low. **trying to avoid the panic... but** "is 9 hours too long to leave them in for, what if they're burnt then what will we eat, are they going to turn out weird because they haven't been flipped over all day, was there enough sauce, what if Drew doesn't like that sauce?"


These are seriously the thoughts that are going through my head... about FOOD!! I may be sick of eating the processed crap, but at least it's not giving me a freakin' panic attack. 


ANY suggestions of how NOT to freak out about food would be greatly appreciated.... otherwise we're probably going to move in to McDonalds....

Living on Love

It was another long weekend spent missing my baby boy.... 


and when I called him yesterday he was proud to announce that his 2nd tooth fell out that morning... I was happy that he was excited about it, but sad for myself that I missed it, and that I wouldn't be playing tooth-fairy that night... I just hope his dad doesn't have a problem handing that precious little tooth over to me when I pick Drew up today. 


I had a lot of cleaning planned for the weekend... but only got about half done. My motivation to clean was just non-existent. I can't wait for the living room to finally get it's makeover so I can take EVERYTHING out of that room and start over fresh. 


I did manage to run some necessary errands and add to Drew's ever growing wardrobe... my little man is growing.. slowly but surely, he's growing.... and it was time to replace some of those itty bitty clothes I keep trying to hold on to. Drew will be 7 in a couple months and most of his shirts were size 4 or 5 and his shorts were size 3 or 4... he can wear most size 6 shirts now and his shorts are a 5 or 6 if they have that elastic button thingy on the inside to shrink the waist... because this kid has the tiniest waist EVER. While putting away some of his laundry that I had just washed, I checked the size of his pajama shorts.... one pair was a size 18 MONTHS.... and he had just worn them 3 days ago!! They were kinda short on him, but fit his waist perfectly.... 


Yesterday I went to lunch with 2 of my girlfriends and their kids..... one of the women has a 3 year old son, and the other has a 9 month old and an 18 month old.... let's just say lunch was very eventful and LOUD... luckily we were at my uncle's restaurant... but I still felt bad for the other customers. Watching these women deal with their kids made me realize even more that I need to get my tubes tied ASAP.


I called my sister last night to catch up with her since we haven't really talked in the last 2 weeks which is strange for us since we usually talk practically every other day. After listening to her catch me up on whats going on in their VERY CHAOTIC lives, I realized why we haven't talked. She's too busy to even breathe.... and hearing about all their chaos always makes me anxious, nervous, paranoid and exhausted. My sister has my 2 nephews, a step daughter, a husband, 3 dogs... and a pig (that's a whole separate story), and they are all very active and busy people. Between work, school, sports, raising the pig, vacations, and summer activities.... they've now decided they need to buy another house (they already own 2). During the conversation I explained to my sister how overwhelmed I felt....literally, by just hearing all that's going on in her life, so she decided to diagnose me (since she's going to nursing school) with anxiety and paranoia. It does make sense for a lot of reasons, so I'm thinking about seeing my doctor soon to see what he thinks about it.....  

Finally Friday

While I am EXTREMELY thankful to have my job..... 
I am also OH SO thankful when the weekend finally rolls around. 


The little monster will be gone camping with his dad and their whole family for the weekend.... which sucks for me since I'll miss my monster like crazy.... 


But the weather is supposed to be gorgeous and there is plenty to do around the house.


With the remodel still in process our house is a complete disaster. My dining room table was just put BACK into the dining room after having spent the last month in the living room... fun times! Everything in the living room is covered in a few inches of dust since they can't seem to decide which room they want to work on each day, so they kinda start in one room and end up in another by the end of the day. The window in the bathroom was removed and the wall was patched up, but not completed, so there's a giant plastic sheet coving the plaster so it doesn't get soaked during showers. The ceiling in the living room is supposed to be started soon, so I've been advised to remove everything from the room that I don't want covered in paint and plaster.... ummm that would be EVERYTHING. And my house is already tiny, so there's not much room to move said furniture to. 


Tomorrow I plan to get up early as always, and get all my errands done before it gets hot. Then head home and get started on some of that cleaning and rearranging, before heading out to the pool in my continued effort to get as dark as possible. Ok, it's not really intentional, but I sure do LOVE laying out by the pool.... especially alone, with a good book or the radio blasting. 


And there's a slight chance that I'll be adding a new tattoo to the collection on my body at some point this weekend. There's one I've been meaning to get for about 10 years.... and the other I just came up with last week. I will fully admit that this isn't the greatest decision financially.... but.. well... I want another one!