Little Business Man

November 20, 2008 by maggieroe

This morning Jim had a conference call that started at 7:00.  He was downstairs on the call and I was upstairs getting James and myself ready for school. 

Sometime into the call Jim put it on speaker and came up to empty the litter box and gather all of the trash upstairs.  I took James downstairs to search for his shoes.  I could hear the call going on, but I knew that it was on mute.  Jim started to pull all of the trash to the curb, and I lost track of James for a second while I was concentrating on finding his shoes. 

All of a sudden it dawned on me that the sound I now heard was not the mundane sound of someone talking about something that I didn’t know on this conference call, but James talking saying, “Hi Chandra!” 

I ran into the office, grabbed the phone from James, who was now trying to say hi to Chandra again, put it back on speaker, hit the mute, and then hung up the headset.  Now… back to normal and whoever it was continued to talk about whatever it was that he was originally talking about. 

I then dragged a kicking and screaming three year old, who just didn’t understand why I ripped the phone out of his hand and shushed him into the other room to get his shoes on.  He was so sad, so mad, and so frustrated with me that he refused to put on his shoes and was pouting that he wanted to talk with Chandra. 

At this point Jim came back in from taking the trash out and I had to expain to him what his son had just done before someone on the call did.  Luckily, the response that Jim gave was much better than I anticipated.  He controlled his laugher quite well, but I could tell that he just wanted to burst laughing.  He came over to James, who was still pouting, and explained to him that Chandra wasn’t on this call and that we could call him later. 

He was satisfied with that and finally put his shoes on. 

Whew… I’m really glad that Jim wasn’t too upset about that.  I was mortified.

This is why I shop here…

November 19, 2008 by maggieroe

I have mentioned a time or two that I am what some might call a Publix junkie.  Sad, I know, but yes, my favorite store to shop at is a grocery store.  Not a department store…not one of those discount stores that I call by a french name rather than a synonym for a bulls-eye.  A grocery store.  And when I am at said grocery store, I am happy. 

Last night just confirmed all notions about my Publix.  I say MY Publix, because that’s just what it is…mine.  It’s where I choose to shop.  I will go into other Publix’s if I am away from mine, but chances are high that I will drive out of my way to go to MY Publix if at all possible. 

I picked James up from school and he remembered that I mentioned we would go to the grocery store on the way home.  Keep in mind that I have to pass our Publix to get James, then turn back around to get to it.  But they give free cookies to the kids and he really likes their cookies.  Plus, it gives us a few more minutes together after a rough (which wasn’t so rough) day. 

One of my friends made a comment on her Facebook that she was on her way to Publix to watch her son’s chorus sing.  Then I remembered that it was their annual Holiday Tasting!  WATCH OUT! 

They had turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, broccoli casserole, corn casserole, apples with caramel, chilled shrimp cocktail, little hot dogs on toothpicks, egg nog, peppermint ice cream, chocolate covered pretzels… and that’s just what we ate!  There was even more than that.  And all of my friends (I say friends because that’s what they have become… not employees of Publix, but friends I get to see while shopping at Publix) were dressed up in their Holiday best.  I just got one plate, no need to be greedy, and was going to share it with James.  Little did I know that he would eat ALL of it, and then some.  Yes, my kid ate a dinner of free samples at Publix.  And he probably ate more there, with more variety, than he would have if I would have cooked him dinner at home. 

But here is where they made my night.  Santa Claus was there.  Yes, I know, Santa comes to all of the Publix’s each year at this time, but James doesn’t know that.  James saw Santa and squealed!  I’m talking ‘three year old, can’t contain his excitement, wanted out of the cart’ excitement.  Santa came over to him, chatted with him for a few minutes, gave him a candy cane, and we went on our merry way.  (Pun totally intended there.)

We made our way around the store again, eating casually as we shopped, and finally, after an hour (yep… a full hour) of chatting and sampling and just having a good ‘ol time we made it to the check out.  We were unloading our cart with the groceries I had collected along the way and all of a sudden this scream, this joy, this squeal of delight comes out of my three year old little boy.  “SANTA CLAUS!!!!”  I’m not lying when I say that time stood still for about five seconds in all of the check out lines in the Baker Road Publix.  Cashiers stopped swiping, baggers stopped bagging, and customers stopped loading their groceries on the belt.  Every eye was turned to this little boy, who was shaking with excitement, ecstatic at having seen Santa Claus for a second time in one evening.  Calling this magical is not even close to what it actually was.   

Santa, the good jolly old soul that he is, put down whatever it was that he was doing and headed straight towards us.  James’s eyes were the size of lollipops, and he just couldn’t handle it.  Santa was coming back to talk to him. 

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He gave him a hug and asked James if he would like for HIM to push him out to the car with his groceries.  Would he ever!!!!  It was all I could do to keep James from climbing out of the cart and on top of him.  He chatted away, telling him everything that was going through his mind at the time, and once we got to our car, gave him the BIGGEST hug that a three year old could muster up.  He let Santa pick him up out of the cart and put him in the truck.  Then he told him, “I’ll see you on Christmas Eve… You be good now.”  Oh… complete MAGIC.

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And that, my friends, is why I love my Publix.

This too shall pass… and it did.

November 18, 2008 by maggieroe

life-is-good2Yesterday was one of those days.  It started out bad, it continued to go bad, and it ended just as bad.  But you know what?  It really wasn’t all that bad.  It just felt bad.  It wasn’t like my child was deathy ill.  It wasn’t like my husband was in a war torn country fighting for us.  It wasn’t like I didn’t have food to put on the table for my family.  It wasn’t like I didn’t have a warm, cozy home to come home to.  It wasn’t like my body couldn’t grow such a precious gift from God and I was childless.  And it wasn’t like I didn’t have a bed for each member of my family to fall asleep in, nice and warm and snug as a bug.  But it sure felt bad. 

As I tucked James into his new big boy bed and we said his prayers, thanking God for all that we have and asking him to watch over everyone we know, I put into prospective how good of a day it really was.  Sure, I forgot to dress him in his holiday clothes for his picture with Santa at school.  And sure, I wasn’t copied on something at work and it didn’t get done and I had to explain that in order for it to get done I first had to know about it.  And sure, this little man growing inside of me felt like he was trying to poke his foot/hand/elbow out of my belly button and join us a few weeks early.  And sure, when we got home we were almost out of milk, the bread was old and crusty, and our freezer was out of every type of fast, frozen meals.  But, a good friend took James an outfit to school and he got to sit on Santa’s lap, that project was complete before I left the office, the baby decided to settle down and go to sleep, and waffles make just as good of a dinner as they do breakfast. 

So I crawled into my bed, cuddled up and watched some TV with my husband.  And I thanked God for allowing me to have a good day.  And I slept well, too.  And this morning I asked God to grant me another good day… because hey, life isn’t all that bad, is it?

I am whooped…

November 16, 2008 by maggieroe

Whew, what a weekend.  And, so you can stop reading now if you want, I don’t have any pictures of it, either. I’ll warn you, this is a long post.  It really won’t hurt my feelings if you stop reading now. 

Friday Jim re-imaged my computer.  It had been slow, so very slow, for weeks now, and I was just plain tired of it.  I told him that there was nothing on here that I wanted OTHER than my pictures.  I can usually keep about a years worth of pictures on my computer before he needs to put them on the hard drive.  Well, remember way back when I lost all of my pictures on the blog?  Well, I vowed to get them all back up by the end of September, but that was 14 months ago.  I don’t have ALL of them back up, but I do have a lot. 

Needless to say, he wasn’t easily able to get them back on here so they are on the hard drive in the basement.  My new goal is to have all of them back up by the time my maternity leave is over.  That give me until March.  Hopefully I can do it. 

OK- back to the weekend.  The reason that I don’t have any pictures isn’t because of my computer being re-imaged, it’s because I worked myself ragged this weekend and didn’t stop to take any.  Here’s what I did (most of which felt like, at many time, should have sent me straight into labor). 

I started out Saturday morning by taking the mattress off the queen iron bed in the big guest room and taking apart the bed.  Now, this sounds like something that I shouldn’t be doing, but really, all I had to do was slide the mattress to the side and prop it against the wall.  It’s not like I lifted the thing or anything.  And taking apart the bed was easy.  Next I vacuumed every square inch (with the exception of under both dressers) of that room. 

Then Jim dragged that mattress and box spring down the hall and he took apart the full bed and mattress from guest room number two.  He pulled that mattress and box spring into the big room, which is now James’s new room.  We put together his new (old/antique) bed, added new sheets, comforter, and pillows, and someone had a ball jumping on his new bed. 

Then we put together the iron bed that was in the hall in what was then guest room number two, but is now just the guest room.  (Somewhere before that I vacuumed every square inch of that room, too.  I did move the dresser though because it’s one of those antique dressers on wheels… made it easy.)  Once that room was done and Jim took James to the store, I decided that I just didn’t like the way that it looked.  I got those little orange mover men out and put them under the legs of the bed and muscled that bed around three different ways before I was satisfied.  (This, as compared to moving the mattresses off the bed, is something that I probably shouldn’t have been doing, but Jim wasn’t home and even if he was, he probably would have said that it looked fine just the way it was, which it didn’t.) Then I put new sheets and comforter on it.  The room looks great! 

We also moved all of James’s things, with the exception of his clothes, into his new room.  His train table, rug, and all of his toys… it was a task.  But he loves it.  It’s in no way what I envisioned, but for the time being, it will have to work.  He likes it, and honestly, that is what matters right now.  One of these days he’ll have bunk beds and his own dressers, not the dressers that were part of the guest room suite.  It might be next summer, but it will happen. 

In the meantime I washed sheets, comforters, and blankets galore.  If it was on any bed before, it was washed this weekend.  My new machine definitely got a run for it’s money this weekend.  I am pretty sure that all items of bedding, whether new, old, or just folded up next to a bed, was washed. 

Today I vacuumed every square inch of the baby’s room.  I moved the crib, the dresser, the changing table, the book shelf, and the rocker and vacuumed under each one of those items.   (Again, some easy, some not so easy.  But I’m not in any pain, so all is good.)  Everything looks great!  Now it just needs a baby!  (Well, I have a TON of other things to do like pull all of the clothes down from the attic, wash those, get the swing, bouncy seat, and whatever else is up there for him.  That is just going to have to wait until after Thanksgiving though.)

What I did not get to was our bedroom.  Jim painted our room last week and it looks great.  I did iron the new curtains and got those hung, but that’s it.  He measured the wall and went to Home Depot to buy the crown molding that he’s putting up.  And he also bought wood for the washer and dryer stand that he’s building me.  (long story… I’ll post pictures of that once it’s done, too.)  I decided that it wouldn’t be wise for me to move any more stuff so I’m waiting on Jim to take the mattress off the bed so I can put the new bed skirt on, then put it back on for me so I can add the new sheets, comforter, and pillow shams.  Then the room will ALMOST be done.  I need to vacuum every square inch of this room, clean my bathroom (which is in DESPERATE need of a cleaning), and switch one antique dresser in this room out for an antique dresser in the guest room.  Then, with the exception of the crown molding, this room will be done.  Oh- and hang a mirror.  THEN it will be done. 

All of that and I was still able to squeeze a two hour nap into each day.  I am also quite pleased to say that while James didn’t want to fall asleep in his new room last night, he did stay in there all night once I made the switch, AND he took a three hour nap in there this afternoon WITHOUT me!  Woo Hoo!  And, he went to bed in there tonight like a big boy, only calling me once because he couldn’t find his sea turtle.  It was in my bed.  He’s growing up!

OK, so I lied.  Here is one picture of Jim and James in the garage this afternoon.  They are putting together the stand that is going to go under my washer and dryer.  Jim put hinges on the front so it opens up with storage underneath, and put the first coat of white paint on it.  Not sure how he’s going to get the washer and dryer out of the laundry room, this in there, and then the washer and dryer back in, ON TOP, of this, but he’ll manage.  I’ll supervise. 

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Warrrr Eagle!

November 16, 2008 by maggieroe

James tried on his daddy’s helmet on Friday.  He looks so damn cute in it, words just can’t describe it.

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Berry Patch Farms, take III

November 12, 2008 by maggieroe

I was adamant that we take the kids to Berry Patch Farms that weekend.  Normally I wouldn’t have planned so much for one weekend, but with all that we had going on in October, this ended up being the only time that I could take him, and I really wanted a picture of him with the pumpkin that I had gotten the previous two years.  When we pulled into the parking lot I told Sandy that if all we did was take a picture of him next to that pumpkin I’d be happy.  When the picture was done (five minutes after we arrived) I turned to her and said, “OK, we can go now.”  She laughed. 

Since I have already posted the picture of him next to the pumpkin, here is one of him and Hannah. 

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I think this picture is cool. 

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Of course we HAD to ride the tractor… LIKE 3 times!  I didn’t mind though.  I love to see how excited he gets at things like this. 

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Fall festivals and pumpkin patches

November 12, 2008 by maggieroe

I mentioned in my last post that we had a party on the 18th at our house.  Gerry, Sandy, and Hannah came down from Chicago to celebrate with us.  We had a grand time, and James still misses little Miss Hannah Rose.  The two of them hit it off and were inseparable the whole weekend. 

While they were here we went out for a fun Mexican fiesta with the Newton’s and Mark McDonald (who ventured in from New Mexico) and a good time was had by all.  We attended the fall pumpkin patch in our neighborhood and Hannah and James got to jump on jumpies, ride a hayride, bob for duckies, and get their face painted, among other things. 

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Spidey and Tinkerbell were quite the couple, I must say.

Yard of the Month

November 12, 2008 by maggieroe

Our neighborhood has over 1700 homes in it.  Within Legacy Park there are actually 11 or so different subdivisions that make up those 1700 plus homes.  Each month the HOA picks a yard in each subdivision that is Yard of the Month.  We have lived in our house for almost four years now and have never come anywhere near getting yard of the month.  That is until this Halloween. 

Two April’s ago (18 plus months ago) we bought 17 azalea’s to plant in the front yard, among other plants and shubbery.  Not two months after that we were hit with a rather large drought here in the south.  Because our plants were more than a month old, we did not qualify for the landscaping exemption during the water ban.  Needless to say, the money that we just shelled out to Home Depot went right down the drain and all of our plants died a miserable death. 

I have been asking Jim, our designated lawn man, to please pull those dead plants out of our front yard for at least a year.  And at least a year has gone by where he says something to the effect of, “Nah… I’m hoping that they’ll come back.”  Unfortunately, he’s been wrong so far. 

BUT- all that being said, those dead plants did wonders for our Halloween decor this year.  Knowing that we were having a party at our house on the 18th, I told Jim that he could spend a little bit extra on outside decor.  This is what it looked like when he was done. 

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He and James were quite proud when we came home one day and saw this in our yard. 

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Full of Life

November 11, 2008 by maggieroe

This picture was taken last Friday night.  Just wanted everyone to see how “full of life” I am, according to Jim. 

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I am feeling pretty good, with the exception of this cold that I have.  Last night in the middle of the night I had an asthma attack that scared the crap out of me, but once I was breathing normally and I stopped coughing, I was calm and able to get back to sleep.  All is well now.

Sequence of events…

November 6, 2008 by maggieroe

When we got into the car to go to school yesterday James said this to Daddy. 

“Daddy, yesterday (if it happened in the past it was yesterday… if it happens in the future, it’s tomorrow) I went to the airport and got on an airplane.  Then I went to Grandmas house.  And then I got back on the airplane and flew home to you and Rennie.”

I was quite impressed that he knew the full sequence of events that happened two weeks ago.  Not that I didn’t believe that he knew what happened, but the fact that randomly he would just tell us (or Daddy) what happened, and in what order it happened.  Jim asked him if he went swimming while at Grandmas house and he told him yes… and that it was cold.  Which it was.

Maybe I’m naive for thinking this, but I was quite impressed at his memory and his ability to recite it to us.  I know that he remembers a ton of things, things that I have completely forgotten about, but it just blows my mind the things that this kid will come up with.  May seem simple to you, but I was quite pleased.