unmotivated

that's what i am. don't wanna cook, nor clean, nor so nuthin. grammer, spelling, capitalization, none of that jazz.. just wanna sit here and sit. mmmmmmm. sit and that's it.

So, it's been awhile since I blogged about anything. I think I will talk about bullies. I was just watching out my window and this kid pushed this other kid on the ground. Then they had a little tussle, which turned into a big tussle. The bully got up and appeared to be kicking the other guy while he was still on the ground.

He spun on his heel and started to walk away like the "big shot" I'm sure he is. The "little guy" must have said something (or nothing at all...), cuz the bully turned back around and shoved him on the ground. Then he proceeded to saunter (and I mean SAUNTER) up the street toward his bully buddy and high five him like a CHEIF!!! Infuriating, to say the least.

I watched this all from my window, and thought "Why am I not saying something to this child?" I actually said aloud "Someone need to punch THAT kid. It should be me..." but I did nothing. There are two reasons I stood by:

1. The kid could be the next candidate for some weird orientation and I don't want him remembering my address.

2. His mom might come a'knockin and I have had enough in my lifetime of parents who turn the other cheek to their children's behaviors.

There is a book I used to read called "Teacher Talk." The premise being that children should be verbally nurtured (ex: instead of "DON'T RUN!!!", say "walk, please."). Additionally the author seemed to believe (as I once did) that there is no such thing as a bad child, just bad choices.

After 2 1/2 years in the public school classroom, I'll tell you something. Actually a few somethings...

1. "Please respect Darryl's space" is a poor substitute for "Get your hands off Darryl before I suspend your butt!!"

2. There IS such thing as a bad child-usually the by-product of a bad (or missing) parent.

Not that I have it all figured out, certainly NOT THAT. Just that it's upsetting to see people who do not care. Am I one of those people? I should have run out and grabbed the bully by the scruff of his neck. In the old days, that would have been expected and accepted by the community. If I'm not there, you get him for me!!! Kids these days have too many rights, in place of an ounce of respect. I guess that's all part of the plan. As the Word of God says:

"This know also, that in the last day, perilous times shall come. For men shall be...disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy...incontinent, fierce, despisers of God. Traitors, heady, highminded. Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God"
-1 Timothy 3:1-4

Yes, indeed. I can be pretty high-minded myself. If I'm gonna be honest, I have more than a few choice words and judgements for that kid AND his mom. Oh boy, the Lord still has some WORK to do on me... Thank God for another day!!!

r u serious

So, last might I made lasagna for the first time ever. It was delicious. I went to buy some ricotta cheese, but reading the label confused me. Who would want a "sweet dessert cheese" in their lasagna? Weird. Next I went to check out the Feta. Can you believe that a dinky little 4 oz container cost 6 dollars??!!! What?! It must have come from a pristine baby llama or something. So, I settled for good ole Mozzarella. Again, the outcome was "yum," so whatever.

I must say that I will be glad to leave behind the Jewel prices. A bag of Doritos was on sale for almost 4 dollars. No wonder we've been so broke...

Here's a list of things that I will not miss about Chicagoland:
-the worst and longest rush hour I have ever seen in 28 years (sunup to sundown)
-people honking at me to "DRIVE!" b4 the light even turns green
-the sun setting at 4pm in the winter
-the -20 windchill
-afforementioned prices at the Jewel/Osco

Here's a list of things that I will dearly miss about Chicagoland:
-Donna and Laura-these ladies are like kin to me, even though I never actually SEE them
-The Mt. Prospect library
-A park every mile or so
-A great job w/ a very understanding boss
-The mile long lake that is across the street from my apt. building (perfect for runs that I rarely go on.)
-The view from my balcony
-random glimpses that I catch of the Sear's Tower in the distance...
-an outstanding public trasnportation system (that I NEVER use, but it's nice to have options)

Motor City or Bust!!!

Well, excuse me (for real!!)

Manners. Somewhat over-rated, but always appreciated, right?

So, Carlton, Noah, Juan (my-brother-in-law), and I went downtown to pick up our nephew, Terrence, from the bus stop. The plan was to take them to Ed DeBevic's without telling them a thing about it. (If you don't know, Ed's is a burger joint where the waitstaff are totally rude to the customers.) We began to set the scene before leaving the house:

Carlton: "Honey, we could probably just eat downtown."

Me: "Sounds great, I really want a burger, I'm sure we can find something..."

Juan: (unsuspecting)no comment


Once we got to the bus stop, the Chicago natives helped with the set-up:

Bus Security Officer: "You all unloading? Well you're gonna have to hurry up!!!"

Cars and Taxi Drivers:(HONK!!!!HONK!!!!!HONKHONKHONKHONK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Terrence to Juan: "Dang, they honk a lot."

Carlton: "Yeah, they do that here." (additional conversation about the fast paced and self-centered life in a big city)


So, we arrived and went inside the restaurant. Carlton and I couldn't wait to sit down. We actually had to sit next to each other, or we would have DIED laughing and spoiled the whole thing.


Long story short, the waiter REALLY cut into Juan. Here are a few of my favorite pictures:









My brother-in-law is incredibly patient and sweet, but the guy was very good at his job. At one point, Juan jeered and threw a napkin toward the man in utter disgust. Here's a pic just before the throw...



"Big Chopper" the rudest dude in town (really, he was THAT good!!!)



We had EXCELLENT burgers, Noah ate a ton of sweet potato puffs, and we never did tell Juan or Terrence what was going on. They are completely convinced that Chicagoians are some of the rudest folks around!


(First time in a restaurant high chair-thoroughly sanitized by yours truly...)




If you know anyone with a short fuse or a really good sense of humor, I highly recommend Ed's- on the corner of Ontario and N. Wells. Happy eatin'!

Well, EGGSCUSE ME!!!!!

So, really. Has it come to this? I know we're all about conserving and cutting costs and all, but this is absolutely ridiculous!!

I went into the gas station to buy some gallons at $2.14 a pop, and my eyes beheld a fantastic sight!! The Cadbury Creme Egg "station" is back!! I love, and I mean LOVE those things. I don't even want to imagine what I'm actually ingesting into my body when I eat them, but that's beside the point.

So I investigate to see if they have the Snickers kind-which are almost as good as original. They don't so I grab a beauty-ful blue, red and yellow aluminum egg and go to pay. The guy's like "If you buy 2, you save 50 cents." Talk about a steal!!!!Actually, I just heard the "buy two" part. He could have said "Buy two for $5.00" and it would have been fine by me. (There is no exaggeration when I say the things make me drool. profusely.)

As I'm walking back to get an egg compadre, I notice that this egg seems kinda skimpy. I comment on it and the guy's like "Yeah, I noticed that, too." He proceeds to ring me up for, like, $1.39 or something outrageous like that.

I look down at the pair and it hits me that the two combined are not as big as I remember one being. What are they, selling chocolate JELLYBEANS now??!!! I am sadly disappointed as I walk to my car "weighing" my purchases in each hand. There can't possibly be enough of that confectious-sugar artificial asbestos filling to satisfy my craving-this is a travesty!

Seriously, didn't the eggs used to be 50 cents each? The thing that gets me the most is that the company is so cheap they're using the same size wrappers and they're all big and crunchy-looking around that teeny, tiny, ripoff, cheapskates, oozy, mouth-watering, cadbury bunny/chicken noises, yummy, delicious, indulgent, oh so delightful...ok, ok, I'm a sucker for cavities, what more can I say?

PS If you see any of the Snickers ones, get me some-I'll pay you back with interest!

One more time for the man in blue...

Oh little Noah...child of mine...sweet little darling..you love to drive mommy bonkers...yum, bonkers...

Yesterday morning I had a serious case of De'Ja'Vu (however you spell that). My munchkin began waking up and whine/grunting at 2 am. He whined/grunted his way into the wee hours of daylight, and then began to whine/grunt/cough. I say DJV because this exact order of events occured three weeks ago when the stinker wound up in the ER with pneumonia...

And here we are again, our favorite top of the line children's hospital. Tonight is night 2. This time he managed to pick up the RSV virus, in addition to viral pneumonia. Like I said "oh, child of mine."

He's already an active little guy, so when they decided to pump him full of steroids and breathing treatments every 2 hours, I couldn't have been more overjoyed. I mean, who wouldn't want their baby to ingest the equivalent of a double espresso every 90 minutes??

Yes, I am being sarcastic- I'm actually SO glad I have the opportunity to spend these visits with him (as opposed to having to work, or whatever and leave him by himself).

Long story short, we both are good, neither of us have slept more than 4 hours in the last 36, but he's getting his last dose of "baby coffee" as we speak. My pillow's lookin extra cozy and I'll keep you all updated. He is still smiley and happy as ever, he just sounds like he's drowning when he breathes. (My friend used that to describe when HER son had RSV- it is a very accurate description). Love you guys!!!

fun fun for everyone!

Just when I thought "Yes, we made it through cold & flu season..." The little guy started to choke on his medicine. I have to mix the newest one with water, and he can't seem to handle the "thin" consistency. So, he sputtered and spattered and I continued to force it down the hatch.

Less than 36 hours later, I was driving him to good 'ole Lutheran General Hospital. He had developed a case of Aspiration Pneumonia, with 2 (yes, TWO) cold viruses, and a high fever in tow. Thankfully, the pneum was caught VERY early, and the fever subsided overnight.

We have been here for 3 days and 3 nights this time. He's had multiple breathing treatments, a slew of meds, some pricks, pokes, and tons of fun setting off the monitor for 5 1/2 hours straight (no exaggeration). Right now he's trying to figure out how to unhook his lead while standing straight up against the bars of his crib. At least he'll come home with some new tricks to keep us on our toes!!!

Rub A Dub Dub

Three kids in a tub, and who do you think they be?

Ethan, Ryan, and Noah.

Turn them out!

Knaves, ALL THREE!!

Well, the little stinkers had a field day last Friday (at the near expense of my sanity!!). Let's start with a bit of background information, shall we?

Culprit #1: Ethan, 3 years, big brother, frequently goes through "I don't like Kelly, she's scarrrry." stages



Culprit #2: Ryan, 1 year, little brother, gets veerrrrryyy quiet when making large messes



Culprit #3: Noah, 10 months, son of nanny, watches the big boys like a hawk and crawls all over the place

Nanny: Me, 27 years old, has issues with perfectionism, slightly intimidated by father of first 2 culprits (due to issues with perfectionism, coupled with the fact that he is my employer's husband aka "The Man of the House")

So, Friday AM started off like any other Friday. The main difference was that Linda (the mom) would be working late and Alex (the dad) would be taking the kiddos to someone's house for dinner.

Noah and Ryan were crawling all over the floor (and each other),
when Ethan entered his latest stage. "Ethan, do you want cereal, or oatmeal?" I asked. "I don't like you Kelly," he said. "It's time for breakfast" I replied. "I don't like Ryan. I don't like Noah. I don't like Kelly." Oh boy...I thought.

I decided to give Ethan some space for awhile, and he and Ryan went upstairs. Following at a safe distance, I peeked in at them. They were running around their parents room, but playing "nicely" with each other. Leaving the door slightly ajar, I went back downstairs to make sure Noah hadn't crawled off down the street.

The big boys reappeared shortly and went into the sun room. Ethan eyeballed me as he shut the glass door to close them in. I took a deep breath and thought "detach, he's only three, don't join the battle..." I finished up the dishes and walked into the living room. I couldn't physically SEE the big boys, but also didn't hear any yelling or crying, so I settled down on the rug with Noah.

Suddenly I realized that I didn't hear ANYTHING. At all! Remembering Captain Destructo (aka Ryan) and his amazing mess making talents, I jumped up, and found myself face to face with this:





Ethan was quick to explain: "We're pirates!!" Well, it certainly looked like Ryan had an eye patch. Eye patch, black eye, same difference. (You can see it WAY better in the bath pictures below).



In to the tub they went...

(Ryan kind of looks like a member of ICP. For those of you who don't know, ICP is the Insane Clown Posse, and they have scarrrry make-up. Their music is pretty scarrrry, too!)

For some odd reason, soap does nothing to remove lipstick from a child's skin. Ryan's blonde hair had turned into dark pink bangs, and I began imagining Alex coming home to take the little "pirates" to their dinner plans. My blood pressure was on a steady rise as I called my mom, my husband's mom, and finally, my friend Donna. She hopped on the internet and advised that I find some baby oil, and give it a whirl.

Unfortunately for Ryan, mommy's lipstick was extremely long lasting. I say unfortunately because he has very sensitive skin, and despises for his face to be wiped, or even touched (let alone SCRUBBED THREE TIMES throughout the day). Needless to say, he was more than ready for his nap:


In the meantime, Noah found a way to have some fun of his own.
>



Of course, it was Alex's dresser drawer, and my little refluxer left a signature puddle on the floor in front of it. Aye, yaye, yaye! The handle was tricky to get back on, and he immediately went for it again.

Like I said; KNAVES!!! (Not that I know what that word means, but judging by context clues, I think it fits!)