Kitty Cat Chef

Why does my lovely daughter feel the need to fill the cats' food bowl with water over and over and over again after she's been told not to do so and that they do not like water mixed with their food?

"It looks gooooood like dat," she says, seconds after she's emptied their water bowl into their food bowl.

Maybe I should feed her that for dinner since it looks so "gooooood."

The Clothes

God blessed me with a little girl, and as a result, a huge dent in my pocketbook!

The clothes for little girls are absolutely adorable! Of course, I pay no attention to the boy clothes because, right now, I don't have to. And, well, they don't seem all that cute either.

I've never been the best dressed in town. And, frankly, I don't have much of a sense of style (for myself that is). Mostly because I can never find anything that fits me properly in my size (either too long, too big or both)! And, I'm too darn cheap to spend a lot of money on clothes for myself. Now, my daughter is a different story!

One trip to Gymboree, and I've spent the year's budget! You've got the dresses, the leggings (in the winter), the tights, the socks and the cutest matching barrettes and hair bows! How can you not blow your budget?

And, Annabelle is learning very quickly. I am afraid of the mess of a little girl we are going to have on our hands in 7+ years! Shopping with her today was a challenge. The girl has got an opinion. Does anyone know who she got that from? If you ask her if she likes something, she will tell you, and it doesn't take her long to decide.

While in Gymboree redeeming my Gymbucks for the least possible amount of money, Annabelle found three bracelets at $9.95 each, two sets of barrettes (one with butterflies and the other with flowers) at $7.00 for the set of two and approximately 10 pairs of big girl panties that we needed to buy (according to her) at $3.49 each!

"We need to buy dese Mommy," she would say.

Then, "Dese are pity!" Translation: These are pretty!

She walked away with nothing that she wanted to buy because her taste is NOT located on the sales rack.

As we walked out of the mall, she felt the need to touch everything in her sight that she could reach. Again, not sure who she gets that from! We passed some very big girl (teenage) belts that Annabelle thought were "pity." I hope her tastes in belts changes in a few years or we're going to have to watch the boys. That dimple is already going to get her in enough trouble!

Perhaps I should pray that my next child is a boy!

P.S. I have apparently always been known to touch everything in a store just in passing. I know I do it, and I even touch things I'm not even looking at just to feel them. Sometimes I think I do it subconsciously. Hubby noticed this himself very early on in our relationship. So, now you know who she gets it from! I'm afraid I cannot deny this child. She has my personality inside and out except she may be a tad bit more outgoing than me.

Random Thoughts

Because I know you all really care about the following!

1. Country music soothes my soul.

Whenever I am feeling unmotivated, overwhelmed, sad, lonely or even just plain happy, country music lifts my spirit. That probably doesn't make any sense whatsoever either. I mean, have you listened to the lyrics to most country songs? Depressing, right? But, regardless, it keeps me going and on some days, I need my country music to motivate me to clean, empty the dishwasher, declutter, etc.

Honestly, I think country music has always soothed my soul. I remember listening to country music in my room during those boy troubled teenage years and sometimes just crying to the lyrics, but, it still lifted my spirits!


2. Knoxville, Tennessee - Those were some of the best days of my life! I didn't realize it then, but I sure do miss Knoxville now.

It was great to literally have to drive an agonizing 15 minutes across town to meet with friends. It takes me that long to go to the grocery story only 2 miles away now!

The commute to work for both of us was just as awesome! We worked less than 5 miles away, and it took 15 minutes at the very max. I would often come home to our very tiny one bedroom apartment for lunch. Hmmm. Very tiny living quarters. Seems to be a recurring theme for us. One day, maybe one day!

The view from our apartment was breathtaking! Mountains in the distance, and the price was even right for this outstanding view. Too bad we didn't sit outside and enjoy it more.

We had so much more time for each other then. And, I know, a child changes the dynamics of everything, but even before Annabelle was born and we reentered our "old" life in Hotlanta, life seemed to move 20 X's faster.

And, we made some lasting friendships. Some of our Knoxville friends were very quick to invite us into their home and lives. Thank you Chris and Vonda! It took awhile to get to know others, but we still made some great friends. Just wish we had time to make more while we were there.

And, I'll never forget football! Go Vols! I miss those relaxing days of nothing to do but attend a football game for free. Well, sort of for free. Hubby's tickets were free. My spousal tickets were $100 for the entire season.


3. Work (for pay) is overrated, and I'm about ready to call it quits completely, forever, or at least until my children are all grown up!

I mean, seriously, why am I working anyhow? So the government can take everything from my retirement accounts when social security runs out? It is hardly worth working to save to retire early only to have some slacker or over spender take it later (through the divine intervention of the government). I'm going to go spend more time with my daughter who is growing up way too fast!

To Hell in a Handbasket

Fortunately, hubby has traveled for business very little this year. And, I say "fortunately" because the misfortune that comes with him traveling is always fun!

He left last night around 7:00 p.m. to catch an 8:55 p.m. flight.

The following resulted today (in this order):

1. I was a little chilly this morning (even though the temperature in the house was 68 degrees, and I never go above 68 degrees in the fall/winter). So, I decided to crank up the heat just a bit for the first time this fall. And to my surprise, it blew only cool air. The furnace never did kick on. The best part...the fan would NEVER turn off by itself, no matter what I did. I even changed the setting to cool, and the air conditioner kicked on, but after I turned the air conditioner off, the fan continued to run. You probably think I'm crazy, but we've had this problem several times before. The last time was a week before Annabelle was born back in October 2006. Poor child came home from the hospital to space heaters because our heat was not working. Turns out it was a faulty part on the unit which was replaced for free because of past issues with that same part with other people. Fortunately, the part replaced in 2006 has an extended five-year warranty on that part. Have I mentioned that this happened another time (maybe two times) before the year Annabelle was born? Yep! That's right! So, I'm hoping for warm weather because we have no heat, and the space heaters are packed away neatly in the shed.

2. I realized late morning/early afternoon that a bib I had left on the washer to dry before we went camping this past weekend was still wet. No, wait, it was completely soaked! And, the threshold between the office and "laundry room" (aka closet) was wet and warped. And, the drum in the washer was filled slightly with water. Just as a visual, we have a front loader.

3. Annabelle learned to break a circuit (if that is what you call it). She basically learned how to use her bathroom stool to open the door to the circuits in the hallway (which is still really high off the ground in the hallway, mind you, even with a stool) and flip the switch to an "off" position. It took me forever to figure out why the washing machine wouldn't work when I tried to run it at 11:00 this evening.

So, as for the fortunately, my parents came to my rescue! And on their 46th anniversary to top it off! Thank you, thank you, thank you Mother and Daddy! What would I do without you guys?

My Dad helped remove the doors to the laundry room and unscrew the threshold. And, once we determined that the water hadn't leaked underneath the washing machine and had more than likely just leaked internally (which he thinks he can help hubby fix with a $50 part) and as a result leaked on the bib which then just leaked the excess on the floor, he held the flashlight so I could clean all of the dirt, grime and mold out of the inside of the seal at the door. Gross, huh? Yes, pretty disgusting! Especially when you didn't realize until just recently that your washing machine was housing such nastiness. If you have a front loader, be sure and clean inside that seal on a regular basis or you too will have the same problem in 8 years! Holy cow we're getting old! I cannot believe we've lived in this house for 8 years! Well, I guess a year and a half don't technically count since we lived in TN while hubby got his Master's degree.

As for the furnace, my Dad just recommended I flip the circuit since the fan wouldn't cut off on its own.

And, that, my friends, resulted in a new lesson for Annabelle. Flipping the circuit breakers! What do you think I thought when my washing machine wouldn't start this evening after I spent at least an hour cleaning the darn thing this afternoon? Too bad Annabelle wasn't awake. She probably could have resolved the issue on her own immediately by flipping the circuit back to the "on" position.

So, hubby is no longer allowed to go out of town without me! Because apparently, major appliances break and water leaks are inevitable when he travels.

Last October, when he was out of town on business, my kitchen sink decided to leak quite extensively. I had quite a mess on my hands in the cabinet under the sink, and I never could figure out the problem. We didn't figure out until Christmas that our Corian sink somehow had a huge crack until the huge crack showed its ugly behind!

So, I'm off to bed and praying that nothing else breaks tomorrow!

Be careful what you say

Because little ears are listening, but most of all, they are understanding, even at the ripe young age of almost three in just a few short weeks.

And, a child's self-esteem apparently develops at an early age too.

Yesterday evening, we attended a Sunday School BBQ. Very shortly after we arrived, Annabelle spotted a little girl very close to her age and height, but probably a tad bit older and taller. The little girl was running towards the picnic tables (probably to find her parents). Well, Annabelle took off after her. As soon as she reached her, she patted her on the arm to let her know that she was there.

The little girl paid her absolutely no attention, and she took off in another direction. Annabelle once again followed her. I think at that point (a) the little girl was too quick and Annabelle lost sight of her or (b) Annabelle was distracted by something else or (c) we called her over to discuss eating dinner.

I never did see her try to play with that little girl again though. But, on the way home, I had the following conversation with hubby.

Mommy: (Repeated a version of the same story above laughing as I talked about it). She wanted to play with that little girl, but the little girl wanted nothing to do with her. She didn't want to play with Annabelle.

Annabelle: Who didn't want to pay with me Mommy?

Apparently, the expression in her voice when she asked that question was enough to break hubby's heart. He looked at me with such sadness. Then, I had to tell my sweet daughter a white lie because I realized then that I had hurt her feelings with my comment.

Mommy: I wasn't talking about you sweetheart.

Hopefully I've learned my lesson! She picks up on just about everything I or anyone else says!

When is she going to learn not to tell me "my heiny is tiny, your heiny is BIG Mommy!"

By the way, is "heiny" a real word? I cannot find the spelling anywhere!

The Office

I took Annabelle to the office with me this morning to drop off a tax return that I spent all night finishing up for the 9/15 deadline! Lovely!

As a side note, I am STILL trying to figure out why some people are still employed in this economy. And, I've wondered many times why they keep me around for the 0-5 hours I work every week when they've actually had to let other people go due to lack of work.

Well, now I know! A tax return that should have literally taken me 3 hours max from start to finish ended up requiring 14.15 hours of my time (beginning the work Sunday at 1:20 p.m.). The tax return was not finished until 2:00 a.m. this morning (deadline day)! Nothing was clean, and like I said, I am still trying to figure out why some people are still employed in this economy!

And, this big of a return should never have waited until the weekend before the deadline! Again, this was no fault of mine. I have been waiting on the financials from this employee since a month ago.

And, just for the record, it did take me only 3 hours from where the financials should have been when I first received the work from this employee. So, it isn't me! I'm not that slow! Why would anyone leave $14,000 in Miscellaneous Expense for a check written to "Cash" and not question it? Sheesh!

So, once again, I digressed. Now for the story I logged into blogspot to blog about.

While we were walking from the parking deck towards my office building, Annabelle was once again enthralled by my very tall office building. I don't blame her. If you are familiar with the Atlanta area, then you are probably familiar with the King and Queen buildings. I used to always want to work in those fancy, tall buildings. I don't know why, maybe because they seemed impressive like you worked for someone really important. Well, I got my wish, but by the time I got my wish, I didn't really care any more. You see, working is more of a hassle now because it adds to my stress level and my life seems to completely fall apart during tax deadlines. I ask myself often, "Is it really worth the additional cash?" And in all honesty, it isn't the cash, it is the security, just knowing that if something tragic were to happen, I would hopefully at least have a rather part-time job, if not full-time job to pay the bills.

So, all that being said, as we were making our way down the walkway, Annabelle had the following to say.

"When I'm a Mommy" *pause* "and have babies" *pause* "I want to work in an office too."

Really? So, she thinks working in an office is fun.


Dear Annabelle,

I hope you'll learn that you should become independent and take care of yourself. I hope you'll do your best to never depend on anyone else, financially that is. And, that is besides your husband, if you do choose to stay home. Hopefully you'll still have that freedom and choice when you have babies of your own. I'm doubtful these days though as our freedoms seem to be taken away one by one and no one even notices.

I do hope that you will have the opportunity to watch your babies grow every day. I hope that you'll take the time to enjoy your children (if you do decide to have children of your own).

I wish I knew what the future held for you. I hope you'll always follow your heart. But, I hope you will learn that some things are just not that important. I am still trying to figure that one out!

I am very thankful that I have been fortunate enough to stay home with you. There isn't a day that goes by when I'm at the office that I don't question myself, "Is this really worth it?" I feel that many precious moments with you are lost because of those tax deadlines. And, sometimes, it is simply because I don't have the patience with you that I normally would have because of the stress and lack of sleep.

I don't think it is possible to be "great" at many things. I've always tried to be "great" at everything I've done. But, as a mommy, I realize how difficult that is now. There are just too many things to strive to be "great" at when you are a Mommy.

I hope and pray that you'll be happy in life no matter what road you take.

Love you forever and always sweet girl!

Mommy

Cookie Cake 2009

Annabelle is already planning for her 3rd birthday party. She found a picture of her Great American Cookie Cake from her 2nd birthday party, and she said, "I want a cow dis year."

Her cookie cake in 2008 had a huge horse head. And, believe me, I did NOT pick it out! That is a story in itself. I tried to persuade her then to choose the one with the cute teddy bear or even the Piglet one since she was Piglet for Halloween last year.

Oh no! She wanted the huge horse head! And, I'm trying to encourage her to make choices at an early age, so it wouldn't have been right for me to take her to choose the cookie cake to only make the decision myself. Of course, I probably shouldn't have tried to persuade her otherwise either. Maybe I'll learn a thing or two before the next child comes along!

Do you think I'm thrilled about the cow? All I can say is that means more icing, and that my friends is a good thing! Ditto on the horse head! That may be the only good thing though. Well, besides the joy that horse cookie cake has brought to my sweet girl over the past year just in looking at pictures alone, not to mention the joy she had when she first saw it. I guess that makes it all worth it!

On second thought, is the Great American Cookie Company still in business? If not, I don't know what we're going to do! I am definitely not making a cow cookie cake!