Red Pencil Diaries

According to Zack just now:

“I gone be on a food show and make pies! Momma! On the teebee. And Lola too! We gone be cookers! Good cookers! And when I say ‘boo,’ that makes Lola laughes. I gone make all kinds of pies on my teebee show. Strawberry, grape, cherry, strawberry, marshmallow, and chocolate. All kinds of pies.”

He announced this from his little table and chairs where he sits (and Lola stands) with two bowls full of cracker crumbs and raisins. They each have a spoon and they are stirring their bowls. According to Zack, these will be raisin pies.

God, I love the imagination of children! And now, I also think maybe we watch too much Food Network. Not that I mind—I mean, if he grows up to be the next Emeril or Duff, I wouldn’t complain one bit. Although, Lola had better not turn out quite as annoying as Rachel Ray!

Dave was off today, so we decided to hit the first day of the Kentucky State Fair. We arrived just before 1pm and Dave had his usual pork butt on a stick—essentially a giant pork chop on a stick. Zack had a corn dog, and Lola and I shared a pulled chicken barbecue sandwich. We took in some of the Pride Of The Counties boothes, the local boothes including the state police, the kids’ safety town, the TARC bus booth with a bus you would walk through, a horrid puppet show (which the kids loved for some reason), the decorated Christmas trees, the homebrew, the decorated cakes and candies, cows, goats, sheep, pigeons, rabbits, roosters, geese, ganders, ducks, chickens, fish, aquariums, and the midway. I saw a very unfortunate family of mullets—the mom had the wings with hair in the back in a ponytail, the dad had a bit of thinning mullet, the children had the “shaved over the ears” mullet that was long in back. One poor son even had a long tail. It seems in the year 2008, however, there weren’t as many mullets to spot as in years past. sigh We lastly headed over to the Mike Linnig’s tent for karaoke championships, yummy fish sandwiches, and then took in a dog/frisbee show on the way back to the truck. Dave wore the pedometer—we walked nearly 12,500 steps—nearly 5 miles—total today. Whew. All that while wrangling two kids in a big double stroller. Not a bad day. But dang, I’m tired.

Well, I went through this list once and loved it. Even forwarded it to Dave. I’m sure it’s not completely comprehensive. I’m sure there are things not on the list that some women prefer. Or there might be things on the list that some women don’t enjoy. But for guys who might be clueless (or just in need of help), it’s a good start. So get on it, already!

Last week, Zack saw Dave’s travel horseshoe set in the garage. He wanted to play with it, but it is heavy and I told him it was a game for big people and that it’s too heavy for kids to throw. Last night, he told me he was going to grow up big like me and daddy so he could play Daddy’s horseshoe game. lol

This morning, he was playing with his building set and he made this handle with this yellow disc on the end. I asked what it was and he explained that it was a sander! He even held it to the arm of the couch and made grinding sounds. So cute! And so smart!

When he wants you to wait a minute he says, “Any minute!” instead of “in a minute!”

Last night, he was watching a Transformers cartoon, and he asked me to name all of them. I didn’t know their names and he says “There’s Opimus Prime [Optimus Prime], and Bumblebee… but who’s the green one? Who, Mama?” I had to laugh. I honestly didn’t know. Apparently Transformers are his new thing. He even got a Bumblebee backpack from my mom for “school.” Later, Daddy watched it with him and they came up with most of the names. It’s just adorable to see him so fascinated with something and wanting to learn more about it!

The Dave Matthews Band concert was fabulous. Even Willie Nelson as the opening act was wonderful! Dave and I actually got to Slugger Field at 4 pm and sat outside at Brownings drinking beer. We shared a yummmmy cheeseburger and had several beers. Our favorite was the Bourbon Barrel Stout—had this amazing “bourbon” aftertaste, which I loved. The beers there were STRONG, too. After our meal and 3 beers, Dave and I were pretty toasty. Then we proceeded to our seats where we drank more. I think I had 3 more tall Bud Lights. By the time we left the concert, I was definitely in “happy” mode and so was Dave. We made Adam drive us (and his friend Tommy) over to O’Sheas for… yes… more beer. We ended up staying around there until about 2 am when I was “sober” enough to drive home. A grand evening. We don’t often get to go out like that and just stay out until we feel like coming home. We’re usually counting hours and stopping by an ATM to pay the sitter. Having the inlaws come by to stay the night was terrific! We hope to be able to do that again soon(ish).

I turned 37 last week. Not sure how I feel about that. I don’t feel 37, that’s for sure. I’m hoping I don’t look it either.

Dave was on a camping trip from Thursday through Sunday. It was just me and the kids, which made for one very tiring long weekend. And now it’s Tuesday and I’m still worn out. I did manage to get back to water aerobics class last night, which was wonderful. I’ve lost a pound and a half since Saturday! And it felt good to get moving again. But today, I just can’t get in motion. I somehow feel like the wind has been knocked out of my sails.

I’ve just had this urge to go do something for the past week. I’m not sure what, but usually when the urge hits, I just need some time to get out alone. I don’t usually get alone time at home at all. I’m not alone in the truck, I’m not alone in the bathroom even. Usually, I squeeze in a 5 or 10 minute shower in the small overlap of time between kids’ naps. Sometimes I’m showering with my daughter standing in the bathroom banging on the shower door. Yesterday, I had some time when they both napped, but I had to clean the kitchen and then cook dinner. Lola woke up as I started dinner, so I had to entertain her while cooking. So I just feel frustrated and like I need a break.

Saturday is Dave’s birthday. He’s younger than I am, so I’m jealous. lol We also have tickets to see Dave Matthews Band on Friday. Can’t wait for that one. We bought the tickets back in like March or April, so we’ve been waiting and waiting for the date to arrive. And we could definitely use a night out together without kids. It’s been too long since our last date night. I just need a break and some fun.

This is what women need to remember when searching for the “right” man.

I will blog more about this later, but here is the sad, sad news. It will never be the same again. sniffle

I went to Patoka Lake this past weekend with some girls from a group I’m in. We had a nice weekend—I got to relax some and it was sure awesome to not change a diaper for more than 24 hours. I got a bit of a sunburn on part of my back that I couldn’t reach with my SPF 50 lotion—I did spray SPF 30 on it twice, but apparently that didn’t stay on or wasn’t enough. It’s painful, but not so bad. I was fairly hung over yesterday morning—or maybe it was a combination of hung over and sun poisoned. Who knows. I was totally exhausted and drained. I got a short nap yesterday when the kids napped, but when I finally was able to pass out for the night, Zack woke up three times during the night having nightmares. So, today, I feel more rested, but still a bit off.

While I was away, Lola started trying to take more steps. Last night, Dave and I took the kids to the park and we had Lola practice walking between us. She’d take about 3 steps before sitting down—so we’re making progress. She’s toddling between furniture and toys now. I’m hoping this will be the week she makes a break for it!

This weekend, we’re having some people over to hang out and maybe play some poker. My birthday is a week from today. It’s been kind of bothering me. I don’t feel old, but the number is bothering me. I can’t believe I’m getting so close to 40. I have a lot of friends who are younger than I am, and I feel like we get along well and relate, and they say I don’t look or seem my age. So it shouldn’t bother me. Maybe it’s just realizing that I’ve not achieved all I had hoped in my life—yet. This year, I’m going to try to do more. Dave and I want to do the mini marathon next year. And I am going to sell some jewelry and things that I’ve made—that’s a goal that I think I can achieve. I’m also going to find some type of “work” that makes me happy and feel like I’m contributing—even if it’s just freelancing or selling crafty items. And I’m going to continue to get myself in better shape. Those things sound doable. I just need to get on myself to succeed. And make my to-do list a bit longer.

I was sitting in the recliner, waiting for Lola to finish her lunch. Zack says he wanted a pink freeze pop. So I put down the footrest (but apparently not all the way) and stood up to go to the freezer. Apparently, the footrest closed on the back part of my flip flop, so when I tried to take a step, my leg was stuck. So I pulled really hard, but then tripped over Zack’s basketball goal playset and fell… I crashed down hard on my left knee—my bad one. So I’m laying there in the floor, holding my knee and trying not to curse about the pain, when Zack comes over asking what’s wrong. I tell him that I fell and my knee hurts pretty bad. He still wants his freeze pop “Weeally badly.” So he suggests that I just get up (and he demonstrates this in front of me) and just hop on one leg. Then it won’t hurt and I won’t fall down again.

Exactly!