There was something...

Y'all, I just can't remember.

There was something going on today, wasn't there? Something I needed to do or someplace I needed to be. And something about today felt strange, there wasn't any traffic, people were late to work, and there were crowds all over the place.

But still. I just... I can't seem to put my finger on it... I don't...

Oh well, it must not have been too important. Like Scarlett, I'll think about it out tomorrow.

(Oh, I'm kidding. I'm so kidding. I was in line at 6:45 this morning, thanks to children who are still on DST and were up at 5:15. But really, thanks to the people and posters EVERYWHERE reminding me, I feel like everyone thought we were all going to forget. I'm so glad this one's almost over.)

(Oh, and by the way, don't forget to vote ;0) )

Really.

The Weather Channel website has a candidates tab with an article titled "25 things you didn't know about your candidate." A quick look showed that it covers things like their office decotations and high school mascots.

This is relevant to the weather how?

No pineapple for you!

Tonight while we were eating dinner Mimi (Hubby's mom) called. When the phone rang Mess 2 was screaming because she was hungry, Mess 1 was singing some song or another, and the beagle was barking at the dog next door.

Norman Rockwell has nothing on us.

After I started feeding Mess 2 and the decibel level dropped Mess 1 started talking to Mimi. She asked him why his sister stopped screaming and he told her "My mommy is feeding her."

Mimi asked what she was eating, so he proceeded to tell her everything that was on his plate. After he told her he was eating pineapple Mimi asked if Mess 2 could have pineapple. Mess 1 very calmly replied:

"No, she's a girl."

Apparently we are not doing a very good job explaining the differences between boys and girls.

Morning serenade

The dyslexic version of "You Are My Sunshine"

Are you my sunshine?
Only my sunshine?

A combination of two versions of "The Wheels on the Bus"

The wheels on the bus go vroom, vroom, vroom

Sung to the chorus of "The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock"

The light turned green so we ca-an go
The light turned green so we ca-an go

And a variety of others, along with the running commentary about the COWS!, the HORSES!, the LAKE!, the BOATS!, and the TRAIN TRACKS! (BUMPITY-BUMP MOMMY). It's our own little morning variety show, executed with great enthusiasm.

We're going to have to start keeping the video camera in the car...

My smiley girl

We see this face a lot these days. It's so fun!!

But her Daddy's going to have to do something about this one, before she gets old enough to make this face at boys...

Where does he come up with this stuff?

I'm going to have to start an on-going series called "Conversations with Mess 1." The things that come out of his mouth these days crack me up and boggle my mind by turns.

Here's this morning's installment.

As we were on the way in this morning, I was thinking about the meeting with the staff from our Federal oversight group and how much work had to be done before the meeting started at 1:00, when my sweet boy commented on the pink clouds from the sunrise. He then told me about the airplane and asked where it was going.

"To the airport."

"Oh, where are we going Mommy?"

"Well, you and your sister are going to school, and Daddy and I are going to work. Then Daddy will pick you up this afternoon and we'll all go home and have dinner together."

He was quiet for a second, and then said "Oh, that sounds like a lovely day."

Yes, my baby, it does. Thanks for the reminder.

More stories to come...

Anybody??

This whole year has been kind of a roller coaster, but since Mess 2 was born 11 weeks ago it seems like we are going from one "now what?" moment to another.

We have had:

• jaundice, requiring the use of a billy blanket (Mess 2)
• pink eye, a bi-later ear infection, a sinus infection, and an allergic reaction to the eye drops treating the pink eye, all at the same time (Mess 1)
• gallstones, an ERCP, and a gallbladder removed (well, you know that one)

all of which required 13 visits to six different doctors, three visits to the hospital for labs/radiology, one four-night hospital stay, and more needles than I want to think about, but thankfully only one IV).

If you had asked a month ago I would have told you there was no way one IV would last me four days. Of course it took three sticks to get it started. Anyway.

We have fixed and/or replaced:

• the A/C in the Civic
• the battery in the Pilot
• the bathroom window
• the Pilot's rear bumper (a lady backed into me in the Publix parking lot)
• the irrigation system for the yard
• the laptop
• the seal around one of the windows in the living room
• the drainage area around the air conditioner
• the upstairs air conditioner

We still need to fix/replace:

• the irrigation system (it's still leaking)
• the evaporation coil for the upstairs air conditioner
• the water damage from the leaking window
• possibly Hubby's cell phone
• the laptop, but it's going to have to make it one more year

I have talked to my health insurance company, the home warranty people, the other lady's car insurance company, and my insurance company for both the Pilot and the water damage to the house.

We also have the "Things you are magically supposed to know" category:

• That you don't actually have to call the health insurance company every time your hospital stay is extended, even though you are told that's what you need to do. You actually have a 10 day grace period during which they will automatically cover it as long as the doctor deems it medically necessary. I was told this after I called for the third time.
• That moving to SC and changing your residency as required by a GA, you still have to pay out of state tuition once you no longer have said GA. To avoid this Hubby needed to file for Legal Residency status six weeks prior to the start of the semester. Since we didn't know that we were being charged out of state tuition until the bill became available three weeks ago, and the first phone call to the bursar's office informed us it was a computer glitch that would be fixed prior to the start of school, we found out we needed to fill out the form last week (school started today). I spent yesterday faxing copies of my driver's license, voter registration, car registration, SC tax return, and a letter from my employer stating that I do, in fact, work in SC and have for three years, to the bursar's office. Yes, all five were required, and yes, they all had to be copies of my information as he is my "dependant," regardless of the fact that his name is on the mortgage, car registrations and tax returns. We haven't had to send the children's birth certificates yet, but I'm not holding my breath. The funniest part of the whole mess? Even though Hubby doesn't have a GA this year, he's actually an adjunct faculty member teaching Music Appreciation, but that apparently doesn't count for anything.
• That the home warranty people have 24 hours to have someone call you to schedule a time to come look at the broken A/C unit, but if you want to call someone else they will cover repairs as long as the repair is authorized prior the work being done, except that when you and the repairman call to get the repair authorized they tell you they won't authorize an emergency repair to an air conditioner unless it is more than 95 degrees outside, so they won't authorize any repairs until one of their people looks at it so they'll have someone call within 24 hours. Of course it doesn't matter that a 10 week old baby sleeping in a 90 degree bedroom is dangerous. Thank goodness the downstairs unit still worked, and the guy from the company we called was able to "patch" the unit till we can get it fixed. Right now they have said they will cover $70 of what is already a $700 repair, and it's still not complete. Additional calls to the warranty people have indicated that this might change, but if we don't have a paid for repair by tomorrow we will be writing a letter and cc:ing one of our attorney friends.

I'm also trying to get caught up at work, since I have only been in the building three weeks since May 12, and of course there's a whole list of fun things happening there, including a new PM who, after a month on the project, can't decide what he is actually going to do making it very difficult for me to figure out what I am supposed to do.

Also, Hubby didn't get a "real" job and the house is still on the market. Jobs for next year should start showing up soon, so we get to start all over again soon. We are going to leave the house on the market for now, but may pull it off for a few months and start over in January. Which means for the time being I still have to make my bed everyday.

So for those of you who saw my FaceBook status, these are the reasons I would like someone else to come be the adult. I am tired of dealing with all these people (not to mention writing checks) so if you would come do it that would be great (and if you would like to pay for some of it that would be fabulous!!).

I need a vacation...