Do I have to prefice this with, "I haven't blogged in a while, but"

So, I think it's been what 2 years since I blogged last. I sometimes blog on myspace. But for some reason it doesn't seem like the greatest forum to blog on sometimes. I used to use this blogspot stuff, but I had forgotten my password. Turns out all I had to do was type the browser into the little address line and poof, all my blogs back in my life. SWEET! So I'm back into the blogging. I figure why not, it's fun.

I don't suppose I"ll do a this is what I've been doing since I was here last sort of post. Those get long, and are mostly boring. So I'll just fill in while I go.

Have you ever noticed how awkward business break rooms are? I work in your typical corporate America sort of place. I have a tiny cubicle with a few pictures to personalize my "cube." I once called it an office and got laughed at for a week. I don't know why, I was just being positive about the situation.

Anyway, like most professional American's I have a buttload of work, not that buttload is a really "professional" term, but stick with me. So this mountain of work comes with only 8 hours in the day. That's not enough. So today, I chose to take a short lunch in the break room. Me, my ravioli and my Dean Koontz novel.

I choose to eat in the bigger of the two break rooms to ward of feelings of claustrophobia. Upon entering the break room I came to the conclusion that no matter how big the room is, break rooms are just uncomfortable places to be.

Our break room has four tables. At one table was a woman I did not know. She was eating Whataburger, and it looked delicious as most fat laden things are. At the other table sat the janitor guy who throws my trash in the evenings. I sat at a third table, but unwisely chose to sit opposite to and facing the janitor. I still question my seating rational. The smart thing would have been to sit back facing the others. That way I didn't have to worry about being stared at, or feeling the need for polite conversation. But I guess I feel uncomfortable leaving my back to the guy who has to deal with my nasty trash every evening. My saving grace was my book, because intent on my story I didn't have to worry about making eye contact with either of these individuals.

The problem is it's hard to read when the only sound around you is slow self conscious chewing. So I peered over my book at my peers. The woman was having chicken nuggets and tator tots. I wondered if she felt guilt over her lunch option. As my waist expands on a daily basis I have guilt over everything I consume. Of course this doesn't stop me from eating any better. After all, then the guilt would be gone, and I grew up in a mostly Catholic aread. They are good at guilt, so I partake in my fair share as a tribute to my humble upbringing. The janitor guy was doing the thing where you stare at your phone, willing someone to text or call you. It's funny how being alone is so uncomfortable that people have to make themselves look busy, look loved I guess. Eventually the Whataburger woman was joined by a friend, the janitor gave up on this silent phone and left. I was left able to concentrate on my book, but out of time. 30 minutes goes by fast, even when it's in spent in the uncomfortable surrounds of a break room.

PURISE

The other morning Yoda came to me all excited.

"I have a PURISE for you," he say's.

"A Surprise how nice." I reply.

I expect a toy, a piece of food, a crayon. Some sort of game he's been playing.

What I did not expect was a tampon he found while playing under the cabinets in the bathroom. "Oh, wow, thanks," I say trying not to laugh. Hoping I can just take it and put it back upstairs.

"OPEN IT!" He exclaims. "You have to see what's inside."

His face is eager with anticipation. I laugh thinking, wouldn't it be grand if it were my Dh recieving this gift. I manage to open it, and play it off as a great gift, but how about a treat in the kitchen. Gift gets trashed, we get snacks and the world is peaceful once again. Until the next embarrasing situation.

TEETHING

So I think Enick is teething, that is the only way to explain the almost constant crying, the almost constant nursing, and my almost constant headache. But, there might be one other cause for my headache anyway.


He's not the only one teething. My jaw has been hurting for the last 6 months. I thought it was due to a tooth I had a root canal on a while back and never capped. I was so afraid it had been infected and that's why it hurt as much as it did. There were a few times when my entire right side has been swollen. That's why I finally fixed the darn tooth.

When I went to the dentist they said, oh so you've had your wisdom teeth out already? No I said, I've never had them. Hmmmm.... they said, well I don't see them in here.

Okay, then how do they explain two weeks later when I look in the back of my mouth to figure out why it still hurts and there is a part of a tooth sticking out. How did they not notice that, I mean that's what they do. So I'm not impressed with the dentist I go to.

And I'm not impressed with this wisdom teeth business. No wonder babies get so cranky, it pretty much bites. No pun intended.

Sick Saturday

So it's not the greatest weekend so far. Yoda is sick. He's had a fever since last night and a stuffy nose. He say's his head hurts. I might suspect that he has a sinus infection because that's the only thing that makes sense to me.

I was going to have him go to his soccer game this morning anyway. Were going to miss three games, which means including today, he only had 3 games to play this season. I figure if he felt bad enough he would not have to play, just sit and watch in support. Of course he didn't seem like he was feeling to bad, considering he was jumping on his bed before we left. But as we were leaving the skies opened up an it started raining. I guess that is a sign that he wasn't supposed to be playing.

So we've just done our grocery shopping and now were home watching nonstop episodes of Little Einsteins. Hopefully Chi is better soon. I don't like seeing my baby suffering.

I'm a soccer Mom

So I've been meaning to post for a few weeks. I originally thougth I would post daily. A short little blog about what were up too, funny anctedotes, short and too the point. But that doesn't happen were just too busy. So it's more of a bi- weekly couple of page wrap up. So put some time aside if your reading; this might take a while.

First and foremost I've become a soccer mom, minus the mini van. My 3 year old is playing soccer. Well not so much playing as stading around looking confused. Someday's he gets really into it. If it's a matter of him kicking the ball around on his own then he's fine. But when the game or scrimage actually starts up things don't go so well. I think he's afraid of getting kicked, which is silly since he has those nifty shin gaurds. We've only had one game, and the only way to make him play was to bribe him with ice cream after the game. He's impoved a lot though, and Dh or I don't have to be within arms reach of him anymore while he's playing. It's pretty cute. Dh and I have realized that Yoda is just not the althetic type. If they had 3 year old chess clubs or speech and debate he would be a prime candidate. But they don't, and there is that whole childhood obesiety thing, so we will try to keep him active. Who knows, maybe one day he will amaze us all and be the star player.



This is him at his first game.

On the wee-bit front, he's now getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth. Not long until he crawls I'm sure. He's so active. The other day I was walking around Target and everyone commented on how much he moved about. He will be 6 months next week. Yoda crawled at 7 months, so I guess he might be beating him. Wee-Bit is also trying desperatly to cut some teeth. He has been for some time now, but I can see where his gums are starting to make way for the little tooth. He's been pretty crabby because of it, and of course I think 6 months is a big seperation anxiety age. Which will be hard for me considering big bro has had seperation anxiety since the day he was born. Wee-Bit has also started this new thing where he screams loudly. He learned this trick the other night at bedtime and was so tickled with his new sound. It's hard to be mad at him when he screaches and then laughs at his accomplishment. Even if it is nearly midnight. Oh and he now sits up all by himself. Which is awesome it opens up a whole new world of shopping carts, high chairs at restaurants, and bath time is so much easier.
Tired out after a night of screaming.

As a family we have been really busy. DH has a ton of work at work. Which I guess is why they call it work. I think he could put in tons of overtime and still be swamped. He has a work conference coming up soon that will allow us to travel to a new place. It's a four hour plane trip so it will be interesting with two small children. The other day DH was in a car accident. Luckily no one was hurt, but some idiot ran a red light and then claimed that the light was green. Things like that make a person realize how great their lives are and how much the little things should be appreciated more.

I've been trying to get out of a rut so to speak. I go through periods where I'm really on top of things. Cleaning like a madwoman. But lately has not been those times. I'm just burnt out and I would rather get out of the house. Which isn't so easy with the kids. Yoda is still battling the potty training. On a daily basis he pee's in his car seat. Which means I have to take the whole damn thing apart and clean it on a daily basis. Or my car smells like pee. Now my car has smelled like a lot of yucky things, but pee really takes the cake. So my house is looking worse and worse. I am trying to get back on track. This week I've really stepped things up again and have gotten Chi to the park and things of that nature. I even renewed our car registration which had been expired since February. When I started actively avoiding cops I decided it was time to get back on this side of the law.

Fun things we've been really hanging out and having a blast with our new friends. We have had game night, a football party, basketball night, and lots more. And then of course we have G and C who we get to hang out with. I'm so glad to have them for friends. The other night we went over and ate pizza and then played hide and go seek! What other adults do you know would play hide and go seek with your 3 year old?

Well both kids are crying. It's taken me 4 tries and two hours to do this blog. How do people work from home when they have kids? I don't get it.

Patience is a virtue

And it's not one that our society seems to posses. This weekend we went to the Aquarium with some new friends. It was great. The aquarium is really nice, it's huge and has a lot to see. They even have monkeys, which is not something I would expect to see at an aquarium. We took our double stroller which is enormous, I will admit. It seems wide, but really it's able to fit through most doorways. And it's handy, I can pop both kids in when they are too heavy, tired, or acting up. And although rare, there are instances when both ride happily and that is a real treat. The aquaruim was really crowded, people stood in lines waiting toget by in certain area's. Sometimes there was more space, sometimes less and it was difficult to manuever the stroller around. It was a mistake to take it I suppose, but that's our mistake, our problem right? WRONG!!

People all around us gave us dirty looks as we tried to make our way past. In the broader area's I made sure to park the stroller out of the way so no one had to deal with it. In the narrower area's we waited until others were out of the way, but yes in worst case scenario's we had to move along with the herd. Problem is, the herd is impatient. DH was at the wheel of the wheel of the stroller, and being the patient man he is, he waited his turn, let others by, and never so much as threatened to run anyone over. And yet people remarked as we went by. "Those people, why did they bring that in here? How do they even manuever it?" Thier dirty looks casting a cloud over our fun fish day.

A week later I still don't understand how rude people can be. I will be honest and say if I were at the wheel, if I overheard those comments, believe you me, heels would be getting clipped. Not the polite people heels, but those who felt the need to complain about WAITING THIER TURNS. What if the stroller was a wheelchair. They are about the same width, would people be so quick to criticize? I fear the answer would be yes. People are just so rude.

Blessed, my two homes

It's funny how one week you can feel alone in this world. And a few weeks later you can realize how truly blessed you are with people who care. There are topics on CHBM, writing collaborations and they prompt you with a subject to write about and link back to their website. This months topic was home, and while I didn't think I would participate in it I think that it's relevant to some things that I've been feeling lately.

When I think about home I think about New Mexico. I confused my husband the other day. Were were leaving Olive Garden and I said, I think I want to go home for a while. "Home?" He asked. We were planning on going to the store and he wasn't sure why I suddenly wanted to change course.

"Yeah, HOME, New Mexico. I think I would like to go visit my mom for a while." I replied. You see, I still consider my mom's home my own. I have friends who are still there, my very best friends who I have known for years. All of my family is there, and while were not close, we are still family. New Mexico is the place of my upbringing, my heritage, my memories good and bad. And for those reasons I consider this place home.

When I moved to Texas I told DH that I would never consider it home. I didn't like Texas. I didn't like the people in Texas. Or so I thought. Unfortunately the only experience I had with the people from Texas were the rich snooty kind that shopped in the Santa Fe Plaza. As it turns out, those are the minority in this great state. And really the people are some of the nicest you will find. The state itself is beautiful and after a while, fighting as I was, even I started to get Texas pride.

But whether this was my home was still in question until recently. We moved a few months ago to a new house, a new neighborhood. I had always wanted to live in a neighborhood, one with sidewalks and close neighbors. We were the first house here, and let me tell you I LOVE my house. It's big and the fanciest place I've ever lived. We painted it and decorated it with our personalities. We moved our little there person family here, and within months our family added a new addition. But while family is the most important thing in my life, I figured I can always move them with me, and the only friends that I had here were also from New Mexico. So even with a nice life here, I still considered NM my home, one in which even my friends from Texas were incorporated with.

Slowly neighbors started moving into the empty houses, and houses fill the empty lots. The people who moved in went quickly from strangers to friends. The reasons our evening walks are so enjoyable, the people we go to for fun, and occasionally for help. It's been great. Slowly this place has started feeling more like home.

This last weekend my son had his third birthday. I was going to have a party, but it seemed as though everyone we were going to invite had something else to do. Which is not unusual at the end of the summer. People are all trying to finish up summer plans, have their last hurrah before the colder temps take over. So I cancelled the party, feeling slightly defeated. DH's parents came down to help celebrate Yoda's birthday and it was nice to have family here.

Then Sunday came along, August 27th, Yoda's birthday. We planned on going to Chucky Cheese with G and C, our Texas/ NM friends. We had fun, the first time any of us had ever been there. Then we came home. Waiting for us at home were some of the neighbors. They came bearing Birthday wishes for Malachi. It was so neat. To think that people cared enough to remember my son's birthday, much less having people be so generous to give him presents. I was truly touched.

I've also had the opportunity to meet another SAHM who just moved to this state and is trying to adjust to the Texas way of living. Things seem so much nicer now that I have people to share my thoughts, and evenings with.

So as of lately I've learned that I am not at a loss for a HOME. In fact I have two homes, one here and one back with my family and old friends. Now that is being truly blessed.