Something has got to be done about that child

Leave it to a three year old to take a good shot at ruining your day.

For the first time in my life I had to push a full cart of groceries and a screaming three year old to the front of the grocery store, past the president of the PTA, park it by the lottery machine and drag my children out. We sat for awhile as older parents smiled knowingly at me as they walked in and the three of us sat in the cart area while Carter screamed it out, slobber drooling and snot hanging from his nose to his chest and exiting patrons glaring at me. After not too long he quit and said he was done and agreed to go back in and we walked quietly hand in hand back to the full cart of groceries and I thought my parenting had been a success and then as I picked him up to put him back in the cart that same loud full blown screaming began again and I promptly told customer service I would be back after I took my child home and I left. He did not want to ride in the cart. I did not want him running up and down the aisles anymore.

I dropped him off at home and went back to finish my shopping with Anna. By the time I got home we couldn't make the recipe Kevin wanted for his birthday (and I couldn't find the short ribs because they are beef but I was looking in the pork section so I didn't have the meat anyway).

I went upstairs to check on Carter after putting the groceries away. He had fallen asleep on the floor. Right next to where he peed on the carpet. He woke up. The crying picked right back up where it left off. After I cleaned the carpet I gave him a bath where he splashed water everywhere at me and screamed the entire time. I drained the tub and removed all toys so there was nothing to splash. He wouldn't let me treat his eczema spots of course. Got his pajamas on (after being distracted to see the six deer in our backyard) and fed him a PB&J. This was the quietest he was all day. Then off to bed. He lost his priviledge to read a book because he punched me in my chest a few times. I repeatedly took him back to his bed about 30 times before closing the door and coming downstairs reluctantly. With all the paint supplies still strung about the room it's a dangerous chance to take.

I ordered chinese food for Kevin's birthday dinner and went to pick it up. Got home and realized they didn't give us our crab rangoon. Back to the chinese restaurant to get it. Meanwhile back at the house Kevin explained to Carter he can hear him walking around upstairs and if he hears footsteps he's going to get a spanking every time. That happened once and then he seemed to stay in bed.

After dinner I lit candles on the cake and Anna and I sang Happy Birthday to Kevin. She wrote the cutest stuff on his envelope of the card she picked out. It said

To DADDY
How Old (arrow down)
33
*heart*

Super cute.

So I'm desperate to "fix" my three year old. He's just too tired but it takes me two hours to get him to go to sleep. It perpetuates the cycle. He won't take a nap on the weekend unless I were to drive him around in the car late in the afternoon for extended periods of time. He can even self diagnose himself. He'll say "I'm tired."

Then just sleep!!

Sorry today was probably not the happiest birthday Kevin!

I would not recommend

any of the new recipes I made this week. Especially not the Jambalaya. It tasted what I think cat food would taste like. We ate frozen pizza instead. I love the idea of a crockpot dinner - coming home and just eating - but to be honest I only have one, maybe two recipes I would make again. And I really don't understand the ones that you cook everything in the morning and put it in the crockpot to sit hot all day. By the time I'm done cooking it I could eat it, why wouldn't I just cook it when I get home so it's not all mushy?

I moved my desk today at work. This is the fifth different desk I've had in the six years I've worked there. This one will last me about 6-8 weeks and then I get to move to a new space we are acquiring upstairs of our current office. I've found it's good for me to move every year. It forces me to throw away crap I don't need to be keeping.

My back right side has been hurting more and more this week. Sometimes it hurts through to the front right side. It is aches and pains from where I had the two lithotripsy procedures last summer. It has bothered me since about six weeks after the last procedure. They said it would go away over time but this week it has been almost constant during the day and sometimes very sharp and more painful. I'm sort of in denial but it is getting closer to where I can't be. I don't have the energy to deal with this right now so I'm putting it off until it hurts more. But inside I think something is not right.

Ahh, the joys of home and car ownership

On Thursday I took my car to the dealership to have the environment protection package applied. They discovered I have a nail in my tire. sideways. and the tire can't be repaired it has to be replaced. and these tires are hard to find. and cost $300 each. of course.

Luckily! Kevin reminded me they threw in the road hazard package when I bought the environment package (like a sucker). So it should all be covered. They have to order the tire from Chicago and it will be here in five days. Is all that shit really true? who knows. bet they wished they'd said they would just repair it after they found out they get to buy me a new tire. now who's the sucker?

Yesterday we also had the heating & cooling people come to replace the part on the furnace that they ordered a few weeks ago. A few hours after they left we noticed it was set to 68 but only 65. So we called and they came back this morning. Apparently the part they replaced was a piece of electronics that got wet when they put it in (because it was raining) and doesn't work. Sooo they get to order another one and come back again next week to replace it. Meanwhile they said the gas heat should kick back on and be fine. I went to work. Fast forward to end of day Kevin gets home and calls me and said it's 62 in the house. So he called and they told him how to fix a setting on the thermostat to tell it to flip over to gas. This is an ongoing saga for what seems like an eternity and honestly they need to FIX IT (said like SNL skit on the housing crisis and failing economy).

I was going to paint Carter's room yesterday but after removing all the pictures, wall plates, curtains and shelves I realized there were a lot of big holes in the walls. So I just taped and Kevin spackled and we let it all dry. Carter freaked out cause his room is a mess but he's at my parents tonight and I'm planning to paint tomorrow.

It's supposed to be cold and raining for my first outdoor run tomorrow. awesome. maybe I will run a little faster. It ends at a Starbucks so I've got that going for me.

And if you were thinking about renting Serve and Protect (aka The Other Mall Cop) go ahead and skip it. I'll save you those 90 minutes of your life.

Back to Running

After a three month hiatus I am back to running this week. 20 minutes for 1.5 miles on Monday and 30 minutes for just over 2 miles today. Both on treadmill, today at an incline of 5. I am surprised at how sore I am and how much I couldn't catch my breath today after just three months off. I plan to run the Hospital Hill half marathon. My first group outdoor run is Saturday. We'll see how that goes.

Last night Carter told me he wants to be a teacher when he grows up. That's a good job I told him. He said he wants to hand out name tags. He also told me he wants to go to a baseball game. I asked if he's ready for the Royals to start? Yes he said. Me too. Me too. That means April which means spring which means no more winter. It has been foggy for a week. It's very depressing.

Anna came home with her latest report card which was all good. She is really reading well. So much for spelling words to speak in secret code with Kevin. She's reading billboards, TV ads, everything. I've been writing a note in her lunch everyday and she really seems to like reading these. She told me it's her favorite part of her lunch. Of course that melts my heart.

The tree and stockings are finally down.

I have a team of five including myself at work right now. I'm about to bring six new people on board in the next two weeks bringing our total to eleven. So things are a little crazy and if I think about it too much it can be a little overwhelming.

Hence the back to running endeavor.

Paradise Park - Foam Factory

For those of you who didn't already see this on Facebook...

Paradise Park is in Lee's Summit. We have a pass to the Edutainment side but on Saturday we checked out the Foam Factory on the other side. Here is my first attempt at video blogging with my new Flip Mino that Kevin got me for Christmas.

I haven't used the camera much over the last few months so I'm hoping this will help me continue to document my kids - and activities in KC.

The music gets a little annoying but I didn't want to resave it cause it takes awhile to process, so just turn your volume ;)

Listen close when Anna runs up the stairs - she gets to the top and says "I'm gonna get those boys!" Hilarious. I didn't catch this until I edited the videos.

Paradise Park - Foam Factory from Cara on Vimeo.

Snow Snow Go Away. Don't Come Back Another Day.

I took these pictures out the window by the front door. We had drifts that were two or three feet deep. It took me 20 minutes to get out of our driveway to go to the airport last Thursday. It is still taking me about six attempts to get up the driveway. Yesterday morning the windchill was -30.

In summary: it's awful.


Bunny?!

Breakfast Conversation

Overheard on Sunday morning.

Anna: My brain isn't working. Is yours?

Carter: Yes. (eating breakfast bar)

Anna: (starts to quiz him) Who is the blue character on Sesame Street?

Carter: Mickey Mouse?

Anna: No, it's Cookie Monster. Your brain isn't working either.