a shitty little tale

This morning when I grabbed Hunter so we could leave for work and daycare I smelled THE SMELL. I’d say about every third day or so, I have to change him before we leave for daycare, so it’s normally no big deal. But this morning when I picked him up, his pants were wet – uh oh. So I grabbed a diaper and we headed over to the couch. As I start to peel his pants off I see it; poop… and it’s everywhere. It’s on is pants, his shirt, on him and oozing out of his diaper with every wiggle. Well as any Mom will tell you, there is an art to getting poopy clothes off without getting poop on you or the pooper: I haven’t mastered that yet.

NOW there is poop everywhere. Him, me, the couch… good thing the animals didn’t get to close, there would have been poop on them too! Well I got him (and me) cleaned up and into some new clothes. Off to daycare and work we go.

Normally people (including me) might be grumbly about the poop-fest, but I wasn’t. It almost felt like a rite of passage. You know, peed on – check; barfed on – check, nap together – check and poop-fest – check. It sorta felt like… yep, I’m a Mom… and I love it!

Oh, in related news (or at least I think it’s related). Hunter has an upper tooth peeking through.

May 12 of 12 and a few shout outs.

May 12 of 12

Here is my monthly 12 of 12. It’s a cool project coordinated by Chad. Check out his sight for more info and a ton of links to other participants. It’s quite cool to get a glimpse into people’s day’s from all over the world.

6:05 AM - Apparently Hunter doesn’t care that it’s Saturday. The door opens… it must be time to get up. “Mom, you up yet??”

6:15 AM - My new morning routine… what you expected to see numbers… hahahahahhahahahahahahhaha… whew, that’s funny!!

6:52 AM - Grumplestiltskin not happy about breakfast… cereal and peaches.

8:42 AM - The running begins, but before we made it to the car I heard this really cool bird singing. When I looked up I saw this Oriole and actually was able to get a decent shot before he changed trees.

10:53 AM - Just leaving the coolest fruit market by my house: Nino Salvaggios. Yep, it’s already busy.

3:11 PM - Hunter sitting by the door moments after banging on the door to get out. Is the the look of a mischievous little boy or what?

5:17 PM - More errands to Hubby’s favorite store.

5:24 PM - Jakey-Jake waiting for us to come home.

6:21 PM - I was washing dishes when I got totally side-tracked. I was looking out the kitchen window and I saw a coyote come our from behind these trees, but by the time I got my camera and got outside, he was gone. Yes, this is a view from my kitchen window. I love my yard!

6:27 PM - I made chocolate covered strawberries for Mother’s Day. This is a pic of them in the fridge while they were cooling (No pics from making them , I didn’t want to get chocolate on my camera).

6:56 PM - My family (including the pets) amuses me. This is my version of “Chukita” (Dooce’s dog with a banana on his head). I’m certainly no Dooce but Tyler can take Chuck any day!

Well that’s it, hope you enjoyed. I didn’t do the bonus pic this month. I forgot to check what it was until today.

I do want to wish the beautiful and amazing Xander a very happy first birthday!!!

Also, all of my blogging buddies who are Mom’s: I hope you had as wonderful of a Mother’s Day as I have had. Mom’s are amazing!

And the winner is…

Today was the final weigh-in for the Fit with Finance contest here at work. Are you ready?

Drum roll please…

I have lost a total of 21 pounds!!! That’s 21, baby! In addition to being 21 pounds lighter, I am $170 richer! I can’t tell you how excited I am.

In other related news, we had a health fair at work today. I stopped by the nutritionist’s table. The lady there had a “private practice [she] owned and operated”. She is a “Registered Dietitian / Nutritionist with more than thirty years of experience.” I’m thinking, great I will stop by her table and see what I can learn. Then it occurred to me that this woman was quite heavy and really didn’t look very healthy(sorry if that doesn’t sound very nice, I’m just being honest). How am I supposed to take nutritional advice from this woman?. One of her flyers (advertising her service) said, in big bold letters “Feel Look Work Better through Improved Nutrition”. I gotta wonder if her advice works – it really didn’t seem to be working for her? How am I supposed to take nutrition advice from a person who obviously wasn’t passionate about what she was teaching. Wouldn’t that be like taking drivers’ education from someone with a suspended license?

Don’t forget tomorrow is 12 of 12 day. I may even snap a pic of my new 21 lb lighter body.

Posting frenzy

2 days in a row… it’s a posting frenzy!

I had been doing pretty well on this diet thing. That is up until a week or so ago. I’ve hit a plateau (wtf?). Tomorrow is the final weigh in for the contest (not that my diet ends tomorrow). But I have been in 1st place by several pounds for the entire 8 weeks. Well since this damn plateau, the second place girlie has just about caught up. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great that several of us are losing weight that was the whole point of the contest. However, it is hard to disregard the 200 bucks that the winner gets! But in light of all the money crap-o-rama going on lately, I just can’t allow myself to get all caught up with the money part of the bet. Plateaus suck!

~*~

One of the pleasures I have given up on this diet is Starbuck’s Caramel Macchiato (380 calories). However, on occasion I still allow myself a Soy Latte (270 calories). Hey, if this is going to be a lifestyle change than I have to be able to treat myself on occasion without too much guilt. Plus I figured a bit of caffeine may get me off my plateau (yes, I gave up caffeine too!) I decided I would like to get a Soy Latte this morning. So before dropping Hunter at daycare I swing by the Starbucks. Now this counter person has been there forever! I know she remembers me, I was in there when I was pregnant! So can someone explain to my why she looked at Hunter and said “Are you and Grandma spending the day together?”

“What the fuck, bitch!” on the inside.

“Uh, he’s mine.” out loud.

“Oh, I am so sorry”

“That’s okay, no big deal” out loud.

“Dingy biotch!” on the inside.

I know people in retail must see tons of people a day. But come on, I’ve been going to this Starbuck’s for years and she has been there the whole time. Perhaps she’s just one of those people who skim through life on the surface and never really pay attention to details. Who knows.

~*~

This week the lovely Rhonda left a couple of comments on my blog. I can only assume she found me through our mutual freiend* Radioactive Jam who is obviously now Annika’s feiend.

Anywaaaaay… I spend quite a bit of time on her site last night and several posts made me laugh right out loud! This is one funny chick. She does a WTF Wednesday that I am seriously considering stealing borrowing. And I think she’s a redhead too – added bonus! If you get a chance, stop by over there, you won’t be sorry.

*as any friend of RaJ knows, you are a feiend, not a friend. It’s his world, humor him ;).

Money - the root of all evil

Rant Warning!

I’ve really been struggling lately.

When my Dad died in January I had no idea that he would have insurance policies. So when my brother called me and told me there was a policy naming my brother and I as beneficiaries – it was kind of a pleasant surprise. My father had two other children with his second wife, so my brother and I have a half-brother and a half-sister. My brother and I decided that the right thing to do was to split the money four ways, so that each of my Dad’s children would get something from him. I still stand by the fact that it was the right thing to do.

In the meantime, my Dad’s second wife had asked me to make some additional phone calls regarding my Dad’s pension check. Dad’s pension is from a Michigan organization and my Dad’s second family is all from Tennessee, so it’s easier for me to deal since I’m local. Since she was also divorced from my Dad, the pension bureau wouldn’t send the checks to her. Based on their divorce decree, she wasn’t entitled to any of his pension. I guess they didn’t realize she had been stealing getting them and cashing them the whole time my Dad was in a nursing home. She has been very upset, because she doesn’t know how she is going to get along now that her source of income is gone. I really felt sad for her.

There is a lot of history and unsaid stuff, but none of that history really matters to me (or my brother). We never received anything from my Dad after he left (I was 3 when Mom and Dad divorced). And I am certainly no worse for the wear. Actually, I believe my life only benefited from his absence.

Well, while I was making these phone calls I found out that several policies have been paid out to my Dad’s second ex-wife and my half-brother – one policy was approximately the same amount as the one my brother and I split with everyone else. No one bothered to mention it, they just happily took our checks and said nothing.

I feel like a big giant sucker. Really, it’s not about the money. As I said, I never received anything from the man and could have lived the rest of my life without receiving anything. For me it’s a principal thing. I just don’t understand how people can tell you that they love you but turn around and treat you like they really couldn’t give a shit about you. I think the part that pisses me off the most is that perhaps they thought we (my brother and I) would never have found out. I hate it when people think I’m stupid. And this brings to the surface a horrible trait of mine: getting the last word. I so want to call and cuss them all out!! But I know that will not really do anything to make the situation better, so I won’t. I can tell you, I have driven to Tennessee to visit relatives for the last time.

Grrrrrrr arrrrghhhh!

Shit, this was supposed to make me feel better.