2005 in review

Let's remember the last year:

January: Andrew learned to walk!
We replaced our 50 year old couch. Even the Mexicans wouldn't take it off our curb, that's how bad it was.
Jeff had an interview with the Louisville plant.

February: Great-Grandma visited us in California
We found out we were moving to Kentucky!
We gave away my Ginger-Pye :(

March: Sell our condo in California in 5 days for more than we asked!
Buy a new house in Louisville
Andrew begins to explode with words...almost a new word a day
Andrew loves looking for Easter eggs
Say goodbye to California...and all our good friends :(

April: Live with my parents in Cinci for a few weeks waiting for new house
Andrew gets 2 molars and 4 canines in one week!
Jeff starts his new job

May: Andrew begins saying "Another" as in "Another dog," "Another truck", etc
I mowed the lawn for the first time in my life...I stopped finding it fun a few minutes later
We throw out the birth control...are we crazy? Maybe.

June: Fly to California for Jeff's cousin's wedding, and leave Andrew behind
Jeff turns 28
We plan our fantastic cruise with our good friends in California

July: Go to Lake Cumberland with all my cousins and aunts and uncles
Drive to South Carolina to spend a week at the beach
Andrew starts to play pretend with play kitchen, etc

August: Celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary
I turn 28!
Andrew discovers Matchbox cars...Mommy discovers some peace and quiet
Go to the state fair

September: I see Brian Regan with my sisters
Book club starts!

October: Jeff applies for a transfer to Charlotte
My first fall since 1998!!!
Andrew is a construction worker for Halloween

November: We go on a fantastic cruise...oh wait...we go on a cruise. To the armpit of Mexico.
Andrew turns 2!!!
We have Thanksgiving in Ohio, with Jeff's family. It's our first Thanksgiving with our parents since we've been married!

December: Christmas with our families
Nephew turns 1!!!
Jeff finds out he was not considered for the Charlotte job
STILL not pregnant.

So much happening...

so little energy to write about it.

But I am not worried. YOU ALL may not be able to experience it, but I have an hour of video footage with which to relive the excitement of Christmas. Can you sense the sarcasm? No, really, I'm sure someday it will be really fun to watch Andrew peel postage-stamp-size pieces of wrapping paper off of each and every gift he received.

That was awfully negative. He was so much fun to watch at Christmas. He is just overjoyed with every gift. High-pitched squealy voice, wide open eyes, happy dances. So darn cute. You just want to keep giving him gifts so you can watch it over and over. Actually, we kind of got to do that. He had gifts the 25th, 26th, and 27th because of visiting all the families. Lots of fun!

Jeff did remarkably well this year. He purchased thoughtful and multiple gifts. I got scented lotion, special lip balm, a cashmere sweater set(which he picked out all alone), a sweatsuit (with help from his mother, but his idea), a labeler (I'm nerdy, I know), and more. After this, I may have to forgive him for the year he got me ONE gift (okay, 2 if you count the tin of popcorn). You think I'm joking? I'm not laughing ;)

We are at Jeff's parent's house and will head back to Louisville tomorrow. We were supposed to go to my nephew's birthday party, but Andrew seems to be coming down with something. So I will try not to spread the plague and take him home instead.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Opposites attract

I'm trying to be a good wife.

I don't know why I've decided to start now. Maybe it's an early New Year's Resolution.

I really want to talk, plan, conspire about what Jeff is going to do now that his company has treated him not so nice and he's stuck in the sucky job he hates. Sure, I know he can't really do anything until April (or we would have to pay back the moving costs...YIKES). Sure, he's only had 2 days (not quite) to digest the information. Sure, he's an introverted problem solver, who prefers working things out in his head.

I am the opposite. I want to talk talk talk until we figure out a plan. Or two. Or one for every possibility in the universe.

See what he has to deal with?

We discussed this difference in our Pre-Cana preparation for marriage. That's the little pre-marriage counseling they put us through so we could get married in the Catholic church. They warned me that according to the Meyers-Briggs personality test, Jeff and I were polar opposites on 3 of the 4 areas. They even predicted that we would drive each other crazy with me wanting resolve issues externally, verbally, constantly and Jeff resolving in his head, quietly figuring things out for himself.

So I understand why we aren't talking about "THE FUTURE". I really do understand and I'm not mad about it. It's just the way it is. And I have no control over it. None. Never will have. I'm just the little stay-at-home mommy who is taken here and there and everywhere, dependent on her sugar-daddy. Oh, unless he moves me somewhere I don't want to go. Then I get depressed, whine, and generally make life difficult until we move again.

Seriously, poor Jeff.

I am a good wife for one reason. I knew he was bummed to be at work today, and he really wants to win the lotto so we can become independently wealthy and he doesn't have to work and stay home with his wife and watch boring middle of the day tv and pick his nose freely and cuddle Andrew and read him books and maybe even take him to the park sometimes.

So during a particularly loud temper tantrum today (Andrew's, not mine), I called Jeff and let him listen in on how great it is to stay at home with a 2 year old. I then said that I would gladly consider letting him quit his job and I'll go back to work full-time. With lots of overtime thrown in there. He hung up glad to be in a quiet office eating lunch alone. See, good wife. :)

*Some of you more curious readers want to know what the tantrum was about. Andrew, his dad, and Uncle Chad went to the Slugger museam yesterday. And brought home 3 miniature bats. Need I go on, or can you figure out the tantrum?

It's a no-go

Jeff came home at about 3 pm yesterday. He wrote to the Charlotte plant manager to ask about the status of interviews for their open position (which he applied for months ago). He knew he would get an interview because a colleague of his was told 2 weeks ago that he wasn't getting an interview. Jeff didn't get this e-mail, therefore... So the plant manager wrote back yesterday. The job has gone to someone in the Houston plant. No interview for Jeff. No info for Jeff.

We are pissed. This company is treating him like garbage. He can't realize his potential. California was the "fast track"...B--- S---...

What is next? Who knows? It's up to Jeff to decide what is a greater risk. Stay with the company that he has experience with, and maybe not be promoted as quickly. Or take the risk of going to a new company that could be better, or the same.

I HATE NOT KNOWING WHAT IS HAPPENING IN MY LIFE!

Random thoughts

I feel like I should post, since it has been since last Thursday. You would think I would have a lot to post about, with it being Christmas time, and more going on than normal. But I feel uninspired to write. So I'm just going to recap my weekend and see if there is any creative juice flowing in me.

Friday- Drove to Cinci to start the weekend early with my family. Jeff stopped by in the afternoon on his way to the airport. He went to Vegas with a bunch of his college buddies. I wish my college buddies would go to Vegas with me. -whine- Why does Jeff get the fun weekend away? Oh, wait, I've never asked my college roomies if they would like to. Guess I can't complain too much. Anyway, Jeff stopped by on his way. Isn't that nice? He could have spent the afternoon packing and enjoying some alone time but he instead rushed home from work and hurried to spend a few hours in Cinci. God, I love that man. (okay, sure, he probably wanted to spend some time with Andrew, not me, but I can pretend, right?)

Saturday am- Waited for Andrew to finish his nap before driving up to Dayton for the big family Christmas. I got to spend some alone time with Andrea's boyfriend while I waited (she took an ETERNITY getting ready...you would think she blow-dried every piece of hair individually or something). Anyway, it was nice to sit and chat with him. And he was a good sport and chatted back at me :) Big sis gives a thumbs up. Now if only Andrea would spend more time with our family...

Saturday pm- Drive to Dayton. Mayham ensues. Just kidding. There were about 11 kids under the age of 10 there, so it was WILD. Thank heavens the dogs weren't allowed this year! Andrew almost needed eyedrops by the end, because his eyes were so wide open the whole time. He just soaked in all those kids. I was glad he was relatively social. It also made me appreciate having a partner to parent with. I missed having Jeff to share kid-watching duties with.

Boy this post is boring. I'm bored writing it. Where are the funnies? All I want for Christmas is some creative thinking!

God, even that line wasn't funny. This is a drag.

Okay, I'll try again later. Perhaps Jeff is my muse. When he is out of town, life just isn't as funny.

Santa

I met the real Santa Claus the other day! I swear to you...I'm a believer now.

If I had a scanner, I'd show you the picture of Andrew sitting on his lap. What?, you say? Andrew sat on a stranger's lap? Yeah buddy.

We went to JCPenney to pick up Andrew's 2 year old portraits (which turned out surprisingly well). Andrew was in a FABULOUS mood, so we decided to walk the mall while we were there (time killer). Andrew ran from one end of the mall to the other in the eternal search for fountains. I had no change, so this was a slight damper on the experience, but again, he was in such a good mood he dealt with it with smiles.

We did the other normal mall things like dancing outside Hollister Co. And I mean hip swiveling, hand pumping, GET DOWN dancing. White man may not be able to dance, but Andrew's got the groove, baby! We jumped on the beanbag bed display set up in the middle of the store (and by "we" I mean Andrew). He also did cute things like walking in front of me clasping his hands behind his back. Like a little 3 foot college professor.

We're having a GREAT time walking around when we see Santa's lair. Andrew runs towards it. He likes to wave at Santa and point out Santa and Ho Ho Ho like Santa, but please don't take him too close. This is a child that has a hard time making physical contact with the 2 year old across the street. Expecting him to cuddle up with a 300 pound stranger with a fuzzy face is illogical.

Andrew waved at Santa. I asked if he wanted to go in (there was no line at all). No thanks. Santa called out asking me his name. Once Santa called out "Andrew, Santa wants to say hello. Come here and see me, Andrew", my boy was game. So we walk through the maze of Christmas cheer that leads you into Santa. And then I became convinced that this was the real Santa.

This man had no false parts added on to enhance his appearence as Santa. He had a nose like a cherry and two round red cheeks, and a belly of jelly, and a real white whispy beard. He was the real deal. And he was so KIND to Andrew, it made my heart melt.

He got Andrew to stand close to his chair. He held one hand and started talking to Andrew. What is your name? How old are you? Is it snowing outside? What did you do at the mall today? Finally, What can Santa bring you for Christmas? Through all of these questions Andrew is looking stony faced. Then Santa points at Andrew's shirt and says "I see you have a car on your shirt. Do you like race cars?" And Andrew's dam was broken. He started jabbering away at Santa about cars and race tracks and ramps, etc. Santa eases him up onto his lap while he's jabbering away and we snap a picture. Andrew seriously was best friends with Santa by this time.

I bought the super expensive picture. You know why? Because that nice man spent 5 minutes with my kid, and now Andrew will have a good feeling about Santa. Sure, there was no line and the guy was probably bored out of his mind. I still think he went above and beyond the call of duty for a minimum wage job.

So believe...there IS a Santa.

Oh, and as a note. Now when people ask Andrew about Santa, he gets very excited. And he always tells them that he wants cars from Santa. I wasn't planning on getting him more cars for Christmas (he got about 20 for his birthday in this huge car carrier thing). But it looks like I'll be adding something to my shopping list!

Cookie decorating

In an attempt to bring on Juvenile Diabetes, Jeff and I just decorated cookies with Andrew (I know, diabetes isn't funny...) In truth, Jeff and I decorated and Andrew ate. And ate. And ate.

First Andrew and I rolled out the dough (no, I didn't make the dough...come on). Andrew actually was really good about cutting out the shapes...for about the first 3 cookies. Then he wanted to pound it with the rolling pin, stick his fingers in it, and sneeze all over it. We plan on sending a big batch to my sister. Just because Colin can't see Andrew doesn't mean we won't be spreading germs! Because of the "toddler" handing of our little cookies, I soon discover that we will be decorating the most festive of all Christmas cookies. Christmas amoebas!

I soon got frustrated with his manhandling the cookie dough. By this time, a batch was ready for icing and decorating. Jeff was in charge of this particular chapter of our creating masterpieces.

Jeff soon suggested that next year we just give him a piece of cardboard and put icing on it and he'd be happy. I don't think much cookie even made it in his mouth. He kept "decorating" the very same cookie over and over. Then he would lick off the icing, sprinkles, and mini-M&Ms that he decorated with. Jeff and I decorated the all the rest. And Andrew was the gatekeeper of the sprinkles. In between licking his cookie, he would dole out the sprinkles. "Need green sprinkles, Mommy? There you go!" When we would finish and hand them back, he would say "Thank you! Need red sprinkles, Mommy? There you go!". Refusing sprinkles was not an option. If Master Andrew offers, you take!

The culmination of the decoration eating came at the very end. I had bought these gel icing tubes to make colored icing decorations on the cookies. Andrew had been trying to decorate with them. He finally just put it in his mouth and DRAINED it of icing. Slurped it all out. Jeff and I are almost rolling on the floor laughing. That is one way to cut out the middle man. Who needs cookies? Icing tastes darn good on its own.

Here are some pictures. Enjoy!

Oh, and here is Giselle's tip of the day: Don't eat the sugar cookies at the Spurgeon house.

Par-Tay

I am the party woman! It makes me love the holidays...especially because these parties were not at my house, so there is no prep or clean up! The best!

So Tuesday and Wednesday I was contemplating bashing my head through the walls. Why, you ask? Because I'm living with a tormentor, a demon, a aura of frustration enough to make anyone pull their hair out. Some may call it a "2-year-old", but I think this name doesn't give him justice. In talking to my mother-in-law, AKA "Guru-of-all-things-toddler", children are super sensitive to barometric pressure changes and full moons. So that storm system that came through last week not only created ice and wind, it created record numbers of "time-outs" in the tri-state area. Interesting.

I was READY for my first party on Thursday night. One of the mom's in my neighborhood decided to throw a "mommy-only" dinner party. She is a really classy southern lady, so I had a feeling this was going to be quite a shin-dig. So I pulled out the weed wacker and shaved my legs, dusted off the hair-brush (not for my legs, for my head), and even cracked open my make-up. The final preparation came with my, sit down for this one, wearing a skirt and panty-hose! God only knows how old these pantyhose are.

The party was Soooo classy. Sadly, I had no idea it was a dinner party when I was invited. So I ate dinner with my family, and then showed up to see a lovely spread at her house. I did what any self-respecting, polite, and overweight guest would do...I ate dinner again. With dessert. Such a nice evening, just us ladies, chatting about anything other than our kids just so we could pretend for a few hours that we have other things going on in our lives.

Last night I went to another dinner party with the moms in my Mom's club. This time I knew it was a pot-luck, because I was expected to bring something. :) I am much closer with this particular group of ladies, because they all have children Andrew's age. I was there until 12:15 last night!!! And as I write this with toothpicks propping my eyelids open, I understand why most mom's don't stay up that late. Did you know that even if you go out the night before, your toddler will still wake up at 6:30 in the morning? Unkind. ;)

Anyway, it is so nice to have groups of friends to get a night out with. It makes me REALLY sad to think about moving away from Lousiville, because I know it is not this easy to make friends everywhere. I guess I'll just enjoy it while I can. Now when is the next night out?

Suburban Hell

I've been inspired to discuss Christmas decorating by my sister's last post. Get ready for some whining!

We live in a really nice neighborhood. Sidewalks throughout, 3 playgrounds, 4 pools, a big pond/small lake, etc etc etc. We get a newsletter every month filled with activites. Like this Sunday, they are having cookies and cider in the lodge with Santa and carriage rides around the neighborhood. Why would you want carriage rides. Oh yes, to look at the unbelievable decorations.

People have been decorating like crazy. Oh wait, let me rephrase. People have been hiring professionals to decorate their homes like crazy. The end result: house after house of beautiful, brightly lit, gigantic homes. I think our neighborhood must be visible from space this time of year. "Oh look, I see the Great Wall of China. And there is Lake Forest, in Louisville" (that's an astronaut talking, in case you were wondering)

In the middle of all this oozing Christmas bliss is one dark house. The owners are relatively new to the neighborhood, but they have already begun to neglect their landscaping. The grass is dying, and now covered with leaves. The bushes look overgrown, as if they have cancelled the landscaping service needed to keep up with these things. You can see a lit Christmas tree through the front window, but the rest of the house is Bah-humbug dark, without even a wreath on the door. What is wrong with these people? Can't they see they are putting a damper on the perfection that is the Lake Forest Christmas Decorating?

Oh wait, that house is ours.

I can't do it. I won't hire someone to come out, I can't do the lights with Andrew during the day: we live on the busiest street in the neighborhood, and I have visions of my ornery 2 year old dashing in front of a truck just to spite me. We have no time on the weekends due to Thanksgiving, Andrew's b-day, fencing tournament, and furniture drop-offs. We can't put a damn wreath up because there is a window in the top, so one of those hooks won't fit, and the door must be made of platinum or tooth enamel or something, because a nail won't penetrate it.

So Bah-Humbug. I could throw a pitiful strand of lights on one of our overgrown bushes (reminiscent of my Dad's decorating ability in my childhood). But I think that would look worse than nothing at all.

Maybe I should really throw in the towel and just buy one of those huge inflatable snowmen and put it in the yard. Sure, Shadow may never pee outside again for fear of the "White Ghost of Death", but at least we'd be festive!

Weekend observations

Since I've been bad about posting lately, here are some random happenings and observations of the weekend:

1) You know you don't clean your dog's dishes enough when... Shadow was TERRIFIED of her food bowl after I washed it. But only when she got to the last couple of morsels. She must not be used to seeing her reflection in the bowl. Poor dog.

2) I am a bitter, selfish wife...Jeff had fencing on Saturday, and it turned out to be ALL DAY SATURDAY. A good wife would have been thinking how good it is for him to have a relaxing activity that he enjoys to help get out the frustrations he has with his job. But yours truly was sitting at home with her two year old thinking that my weekend was just taken away and replaced with another boring day at home. (Jeff did come in 8th place at the tournament...and earned his first rating!)

3) Andrew is damn cute! He woke up coughing on Saturday and hollared out "Have bad cough, mama". Then Sunday he woke up coughing and yelled out "Have bad cough, mama. Medicine not working!"

4) Christmas is just more fun with a kid. Andrew helped us put ornaments on the tree yesterday, and he had a BLAST!!! Every ornament he picked out of the box was reason to squeal, "Look, Daddy, LOOK!". He couldn't get them to stick to the branches like Mom and Dad, so he just pushed them back as far as he could reach to keep them on the tree. Jeff and I had to pick up a bunch of "middle of the tree" ornaments and re-place them. Also, Andrew loves Christmas lights. When we leave the house during daylight hours, I swear he's disappointed. He says "Too much light, mama", as if to say he won't be able to see the lights on the houses.

5) Free furniture ROCKS! My Memere is moving into a much smaller place, so we inherited a hutch, twin bed set, 2 dressers, a few china tea sets, a mirror, and a bunch of garage tools. Hooray! We're going to set up one of the twins in Andrew's room and see what he does. So far it is "No big boy bed mama". Whatever. I LIKE that he's penned in when he sleeps :)

That's all my deep thoughts for the weekend. I hope all of yours was nice!

Andrew-isms

Here are some new, and cute, things Andrew is saying/doing these days.

"Wanna play soccer?"....said whenever there is a lull in our activity. Sometimes it is basketball, but yesterday it was always soccer.

"Member this, mom?"....as is remember this book, remember this toy, remember doing this.

Pretending to sleep. He was falling asleep on the way home from the mall, and I screeched at him to keep him awake (I DON'T want a 5 minute nap to suffice for today). He thought it was so funny, he kept squeezing him eyes closed until I would screech at him again. He did it twice before I figured out he was faking (to give me credit...I was driving at the time)

"Feel better?"...as in whenever I seem to get hurt or upset. Andrew will pat me or give me kisses and ask if I feel better. Can I get an "Awwww"?

Jumping to reach something that is impossible to reach. Like the hot air balloon we saw outside yesterday. Andrew starts reaching as high as he can saying, "can't reach". He knows it is silly...I hope.

"Big Boogers", and "Need nose wipe"...can we say Mr. Drippy-nose? I love how he says Boooooo-gers. I know it's rude, but it's so darn cute!

That's all I can think of today. I'd post some cute pictures of Andrew, but I don't really have any. He's at the age where I'm enjoying what he's DOING so much, I just don't think to take any pictures. What a loser mom. At least #2 won't feel deprived in comparison. As long as we keep all the photos from Andrew's 1st year put away. :)