Inspired

My kid is a wonderous, funny, and odd little creature.

Today he and I went to the car wash to..well, wash the car. He's been asking to do it now for a couple of days, ever since Big Daddy took him in his car to get it washed. It wasn't the first time that he's been. In fact I've taken about four or five times in the past few months, but you'd never know it from Critter's reaction.
I always do the automatic car wash when I have the critter with me. I've always felt uncomfortable with getting out of the vehicle while he is still strapped in. You just never know what could happen.

So there we are driving down the street and as we near the car wash, Critter starts getting excited and talking about going to the car wash, "Mama wash car. Wash car Mama now". I had no idea he'd be this excited about washing the car (I'm hoping that the desire will last a few years until we're able to get a couple of manual car washes out of him at least). So we pull in. I pay and pull on in. As I turn off the car, I take a look in my rear view mirror and I recognize the look on my son's face. Suddenly the machines all start and the looks grow, but he doesn't say a word. Not a peep. His eyes get all big and wide. His mouth forms a tiny circle and he begins to shake. You'd almost think that the boy was having a seizure or something, but no. Critter was sitting there..terrified! This from the boy crying out for the car wash. I'd ask if he was okay, he'd smile and then go back to making the scared expression. I tried to get him to pretend with me that we were fishes in the ocean having a bath, but I hardly got a response from him. He was too caught up in what was going on outside the car.

It was silent inside the car, if you took away the loud whirling noises of the brushes cleaning my vehicle and me periodically asking the little critter if he was okay. Not a word came from the back seat until we had pulled out of the car wash. By then, my boy had come out of his little lull and was again asking to go wash the car. I had to chuckle a bit. I was amazed that my child, though certainly affraid of the machines, loved to get the car washed regardless. I found it inspiring to be perfectly honest. I hope that the next time I am faced with one of my fears, that I will be able to handle myself as my son has, and perservere. I love it when my son teaches me something. What a great day.

What a Morning

I awoke this morning to the sound of objects bouncing of the window of my bedroom. I jumped up with a bit of a start because Big Daddy was away working this weekend and it was just critter and I all alone. I'm typically not paranoid about possible intruders, but this morning I was a little frightened. We have an alarm system that I keep armed when Big Daddy isn't home, so I figured if it was someone trying to get into the house, the alarm would scare them off quite possibly.

The sound started getting louder and louder and I realized after a couple of seconds of rubbing my eyes and really focusing, that it was hailing and the house was being bombarded with pea to ping pong sized missiles. As soon as the hail started so did the thunder and lightning! Usually that isn't a good sign here in tornado alley, but I knew that we hadn't had warm enough weather the last day or so to make the storm really threatening. So I did what any stupid person would do and grabbed my camera and headed for the front porch. In my excitement, I forgot to turn off the alarm so within a second's time the thunder, lightning, and pounding of the hail was joined by the deafening sound the house alarm going off. I was a touch embarrassed as you can hear the siren throught the neighbourhood. It's a good thing no one was home next door. I'm sure I would have woken up Superstar and his folks.
So..again like idiot, I get the alarm turned off, talk to the alarm company..reassuring them that I'm the only person dumb enough to be outside during this storm and not needing any assistance. I grab my camera once more and head for the door. I went to front porch first because it has the most coverage and it was semi dry, which means that my camera and I weren't going to get pounded by the hail. I didn't take the lightning into account and so I didn't last long out there. I'm scared of the lightning here in the mid-south. It's different then the lightning that we had in Canada. It's bigger, brighter, faster, and closer. Big Daddy says the same thing (he grew up in Ohio). So..well..I got a few pictures, but nothing that really turned out as it was only 7am and I was pretty jumpy. I know..if I were a really photographer, I would have gotten the shot. But hey! Not giving up, though I probably should have, I tried the back porch instead. The conditions weren't favourable their either, but I managed to get a couple of pictures (see above).

All this time, Critter continued to sleep. I was amazed! I wish I could have been so lucky! Thankfully the rest of the morning was a great deal less eventful and I went back to sleep myself. At least Critter picked a good morning to sleep in. Maybe I'll get lucky tomorrow as well?! Who knows.

Love Stinks

I'm a romantic. I want to be swept off my feet every now and again. I want to be surprised with flowers, cards, caring gestures that say I am cherished and appreciated. I don't want to have to remind anyone that it's Valentine's Day or Mother's Day, anniversary or birthday. I don't want to give my gift and have my partner say "Oh, I didn't think we were getting each other anything this year" with this dumb, deer in the headlights, stunned look on his face. I don't want lame presents like a crockpot, iron, kettle, or pair of tongs. So why is it that I marry a man that doesn't know the first thing about romance?

In case you didn't read between the lines or "hear" a certain bitterness in my words..Valentines Day was a bust, again. I'm not sure why I expect a better/different response from Big Daddy each year. He is the way he is or at least that's what he tells me when I ask him why he can't be just a little bit more romantic.."I was this way when you married me, you know that" (that's his response for everything). It's a response I find completely lacking in validity, but he's an old dog and I'm not about to teach him new tricks. If he hasn't learned after 11 years what it means to romance me, he's never going to learn.

But Big Daddy is a good man with plenty of fine qualities and I love the big lug. I just wish he would make an effort once in a while to make the embers burn a little brighter if you know what I mean.

There is 2 months to our 6th wedding anniversary. Anyone want to bet that it will be a similar situation then too? Oh well. I can always dream I suppose.

Desperately Seeking Sleep

Desperate sick SAHM of one precocious and energetic toddler, wife to a not so energetic and less than tidy man seeks at least 8 full hours of uninterrupted sleep. Is tired of endless nights spent waking up in a coughing fit, runny noses, and days of being congested. Takes medication and goes to bed early. Wears warm jams, keeps the room at appropriate temp, and isn't too hard on herself. Looking for at least one night of 8 full and continuous hours of sweet, blissful, heavy, uninterrupted sleep.

Finally..

Big Daddy has a "confirmed" date for his departure to China. I hesitate to even mention it really because when I do, something seems to happen and he is delayed yet again. As it stands now, he is scheduled to leave March 2nd but I'm holding my breath until he is actually on the plane.
There have been so many delays. He was originally slated to leave in July of last year, but that was an overly ambitious guess by his company. Then it was September/October..again too ambitious. Shortly after Christmas Big Daddy got the call that said it would likely be the second week in Janurary. No more then a week later it was again delayed for another week and the next day it became the end of January. The day after that..it became a "well, we don't think you should go because of Chinese New Year. It could be too dangerous. Give it a couple of weeks". I'm very grateful that they were concerned about my husband's safety, but come on people..we are trying to have a life here. Make up your dang minds already! During this lull, the Bejing area had it's worst winter storm in history! It dumped tons of snow in the region and the new office that Big Daddy's company had just built, had the roof cave in because of the weight of the snow. So that delayed things yet AGAIN. Do you see a pattern here?

So here we are. They are finally ready for Big Daddy and his co-worker; Chinese New Year is over and they should be safe; and the weather has improved from what I hear. I'm holding my breath, but today..everything is still a go. We'll see what tomorrow holds.

To Whom It May Concern..aka Nintendo Company

I'd like to take a moment and thank you for all of your help (ya right) in resolving my Nintendo Wii situation.

By the grace of God and a set of eagle eyes on Mother, I was able to obtain my very own Wii system! It is a terrific day in my house. I'm finally at peace (that is until the neighbours come over for game night)! Thanks for nothing

Sincerely,
Muffy in Texas

My Very Dearest Nintendo Company

Guess who?!

I know that y'all must be very busy people there at Nintendo headquarters. You have your little jobs to do all day long and then you spend time with your families (probably playing Wii) at night. I get that, I do! But I want a Wii too darn it! I just want to play Wii with my family and friends toooooo! Help a lady out would you please?????

What if I said my grandmother was on her death bed and all she wanted to do was play Wii (on my Wii console only), would you send me one then? What if I said I would do anything..well almost anything? Okay..so I won't do almost anything even, but what if I DID say that?

Please? Please? Please?

Your Forever Best Friend,
Muffy