Switching it up

Erik and I have actually had that exact conversation (click on it to enlarge if you can't make it out). My OCD comes out and I just can't do it. I need my side of the bed. But Erik had to get up at 3:00 AM to get to work for Black Friday, and the alarm is on my side of the bed. From past experience, we know that if the alarm goes off before 5:30, I turn it off without realizing it and we've been lucky he gets up in time to get to work. Knowing this, I actually offered to switch sides so he would be to blame when the alarm was silenced and he stayed in bed.

Never again. There's just something about that other side of the bed that doesn't feel right. We've decided we will be investing in a second alarm for next year.

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Family Pictures

Last week we did a photo shoot with Meg, and she got some great shots, despite an uncooperative hound dog and antsy toddler. Thanks, Meg!


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How to Spend a Sunday

A how-to from Laddie:

  1. Follow your human around with Puss-in-Boots eyes 'cause they got out of bed before you were ready.
  2. When they won't go with you, give up and curl up by yourself.
  3. Look extremely offended when they transfer you to that bed on the floor they keep calling yours while they mess up your perfectly fluffed covers.
  4. Once they finish ruining your covers, ruin their hard work and go back to sleep. You may have to move periodically as you follow the sun across the bed. But the best part of the day is when it's right on top of all those pillows.

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Start of a New Era

Last week, Erik calls me from work and tells me he wants to trade in the Passat. He thinks the CVs are going out again and he's suspected the struts have been going for a while, so he wants to trade it in before we start shelling out all sorts of money to get it fixed. And he's already decided what he wants: a Hyundai Sonata. I was a little hesitant. First, I love my Passat. Second, I was skeptical about getting what we needed for the trade in. But we went to the Hyundai dealership anyway, consciously taking the truck rather than the car since we have a bad track record at "just looking."

And we did just look. Erik went back on Friday for a test drive and decided this was the car for us. He talked numbers with a salesman and was told a car with the features we wanted was at one of the other dealerships and would be here Saturday so I could test drive it and we could get everything finalized.

Four hours after they promised it would be here (that's another story I won't go into), I was finally able to test drive a deepwater blue Sonata. Of course there are always things you would change about a new car, like the placement of some of the instruments, and there's always those quirky little things you love about your current car, like the adjustable height of the center console, but I decided it passed my inspection and we sat down to sign the papers. My main concern was the payment. When we bought the Passat, it wasn't a pleasant experience haggling for the price. I think the salesman actually said, "What can I do to get you in this car today?" And then he proceeded to waste our time bringing us a payment that was more than we were willing to do. Maybe it was the fact that this is a brand new car and used car dealers have a bad reputation for a reason. Maybe it was the fact that we were getting a screaming deal through dealer and Hyundai rebates. Maybe it was the fact that we have awesome credit and they probably would have jumped through fiery hoops if we asked them to. Whatever the reason, the payment was actually less than we're paying now. I didn't need to worry at all. Everything just fell into place.

So here it is:

Complete with satellite radio (which, honestly, we won't be renewing after our initial free trial), iPod hook up (a selling feature, definitely), and new NEW car smell.

But I have to admit, I felt a pang of sadness as we pulled away from my cute Passat, its smiley face decal mocking me with its ever-present grin and showing no signs that we were just abandoning it. That car was the closest to luxury we will probably ever get from here on out, and even though it was just a sedan, it was my little version of a sports car with it's turbo (how I'll miss the subtle "weeeee" as it charges and smoking the guy next to me when the light turns green). I almost feel it was a symbol of our care-free 20s with the leather seats and hip German engineering. :) Now we have a car that we chose based on the trash-kicking warranty and for which we actually purchased the extra seat protection in case Lillian spills something on them...a definite sign of growing up.

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Life's not really that bad

After my bad week and ensuing pity party complete with woe-is-me post, I decided to look at the things that are good in my life.

I realized that despite Lillian's bedtime stubbornness, she's really a very happy kid and we have a ton of fun together. I love when she steps up on her little step stool and bounces while counting to three before stepping off. I love that spark of excitement in her eyes when she sees something she likes (like Laddie, a favorite book, or her baby). I love her enthusiastic YEAH! when you ask if she wants a banana or some crayons so she can color. I love how her smile wrinkles her nose when she's really happy. I love how she loves to give kisses...to me, to Erik, to Laddie (we always kiss him goodnight), to pictures of herself (is that vain?). I love how she'll just start laughing at nothing that we can see and how she'll go on forever, just giggling away.

I love that Erik likes to spend time with our kid. I love that he does everything he can to cheer me up when I'm grumpy. I love that he takes care of our family in too many ways to name. I love that he continues to try to infuse a love of everything winter despite my frequent protests to the contrary. I love that he thinks he deserves a medal every time he actually cleans up around the house (ok...so I don't LOVE that, but it's still kind of cute). I love that after 10 years, he still wants to keep me around. I love that we can still laugh together and enjoy just being together.

Not to leave Laddie out, I love that he's the biggest moper some days and doesn't want to leave your lap. I love that he's psychotic and has to suck on his security blanket. I love that he'll play with Lillian and is the ever-patient puppy with her.

Finally, I love that we have friends and family we know would be there for us if we ever needed anything, including joining in my wallowing so I feel a little better.

And I really do love the fact that the biggest problem with my life is a bad day at work or an adorable little girl who loves to be with us so much that she'd rather stay up than go to sleep.

Now that's a lot of love, and apparently, life is actually pretty good.

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Want to come to my pity party?

So this week has been kind of crappy.

First, work just plain sucks. If I wanted to become a travel agent, I would have applied for a job as one. But that's all I did this week and most of last week. It wouldn't have been quite so bad if another person's trip hadn't been added every time I thought I was done. I try to keep myself as organized as possible; then someone skews all my work. So I end up making other people work more than necessary and make myself look unorganized.

The next highlight of my week was receiving a statement from IHC showing a balance that amazingly matches the missing October payment...plus interest of course. So much for working itself out. I decided near the end of October I was going to pay off the remaining balance minus the missing payment and hope against hope they got their act together and fixed it. But when I still saw a balance online the first week of November, I called. Yes...I actually called and by the end of the call was pretty bitchy. But I was frustrated and felt justified. I called my bank the same day and faxed all the information they needed the next day. Almost two weeks later, I received a statement and was fit to be tied.

After being cranky all week, the last thing I wanted to do yesterday was go to the gym and be tortured at boot camp. I know it was my idea to submit myself to the torture, but I really just wanted go home and eat some more of the ginormous batch of cookies I made Monday night. (I tend to bake when I'm upset.) Not to mention I haven't seen any real "results" from the torture, so why bother, right? But I went, and I actually felt better after we were done. That's what usually happens: I always feel better after working out, but that's usually the last thing I want to do when it's what I need most. Honestly, if I hadn't had Tina there waiting for me, I probably would have bailed; thank goodness for a workout buddy. But any feel-goods the exercise gave me slowly went away about bed time...

Thanks to Lillian's new stubbornness at bedtime. Well, I guess I should clarify that she's only stubborn with me. She used to go to bed so easily. In fact, when other people would put her to sleep, they were always so amazed at how easily she would go to bed. But since her bout of sickness, she refuses to go to sleep without rocking in the glider for several minutes (several can be upwards of half an hour some nights). And then, even if she's completely out, as soon as she hits the pillow, she's wide awake and protesting (very loudly) about going to sleep. I can go back in a million times and give it another try with the same result. But Erik can go in, and two seconds later, she's asleep.

This was the case yesterday. After an entire day with nothing but a cat nap on the way to Brigham (this is what happens when Daddy is in charge for the day), I tried to put a very sleep-deprived, stubborn toddler to bed. I think I'm now partially deaf with the amount of yelling and crying. How can so much noise be produced by someone so small? Since nothing I did seemed to be helping, I handed her over to Erik, who left her room less than a minute later with no repercussions. Needless to say, I went to bed last night feeling like my daughter hates me and I've already failed as a mother. A mother should be able to get her kid to sleep, right?

So looking back at my week, I'm thankful it's over. I truly think I'm done with travel or at least I shouldn't have any more surprises next week (but if I knew they were coming, they wouldn't be surprises, would they?). When I stepped on the scale this morning, I was actually lighter, so maybe boot camp is making a difference and the soreness is worth it. I just called IHC, again, and was told they received my fax. They have to research it, but I can disregard the statement. Not exactly the answer I wanted, but it's better than some alternatives. And Lillian just went down for a nap without too much of a fuss. So maybe the weekend will be infinitely better than this week was. It has to be.

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As promised. Did you?

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Halloween


Yesterday, Lillian dressed up in her pirate princess costume and we went trick-or-treating at my office. She made a great haul and was happy to see everyone...once she realized they would put something in her bucket.

Then last night, we headed over to the Mullahkhels' house for a great party. Erik wasn't originally going to be able to go, but he worked it so he could be there. Unfortunately, it was so last minute that costumes were scarce, and he didn't want to make an effort to come up with something. Somehow, though, he ended up winning a costume prize - Nerdiest Costume. :)

Everyone looked great. We had Homer and Marge (Greg and Shayla), Barbie and Ken (Karina and Buzzy), and Paris and Nicole (Eric and Tina). Not to mention Jared and Ashely as Almond Joy and Mounds. I'll let you figure out which was which, but remember: Almond Joy's got nuts...

There was tons of food, including three kinds of chili, a chocolate fountain, a cheese fountain, and desserts galore. We also had a donut eating contest, and I'm proud to say I took home the grand prize...a pack of mini donuts.

Thanks, guys, for a fantastic night. Next year, I promise to get Erik into a costume!


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