Home vs. Anywhere

We're having a bit of a problem with Her Highness. She will not play at home. RxMan says this is normal, that he did it, too. That, however, doesn't make me feel any better. His mother, as you know, is a psycho. She went on band trips with him. She chaperoned field trips when he was too old for it to be cool. I've met the woman, if she were my mom, I would stay away, too.

But am I THAT mom? The one who is mean and no one wants to be around? The mom who always yells and complains at friends? Am I the embarrassing mom? Already?!

I try to be cool. I make lunch for them and try to only serve peanut butter once a week. I offer them ice cream after meals. I try to joke and laugh at their riduculously un-funny humor. Sooner or later, though, I get sick of them. They're messy. And loud. And irritating.

That being said, though, I want HH to want to be at home. We spent a small fortune on making a raised playhouse thing with two slides for her. She's been on it maybe 8 times. We have swings. We have an electric scooter. So, what is it?

AAAAHHHH! Seven year olds! And to think, she'll be a teenager in 6 years.... ugh!

Isn't she lovely??

This is a photo of Her Highness taken a few weeks ago in preparation of the wedding of my second cousin and friend. I am continually amazed at her beauty- inside and out.

Do you ever wonder what if...?

On Monday evening, my mother gave me a copy of an advertisement that my high school boyfriend (now a Chiropractor) had mailed out. It was a full-sized sheet of paper, front and back, detailing some crazy new back crackin' machine that he has at his office. Included in this were glowing recommendations from patients who can now walk pain free, etc. (Okay, is this machine Jesus or something?) There was also a picture of former boyfriend working said machine. Okay, here's the thing.

HE'S BALDING.

Am I really old enough to have a former flame who is balding? Surely not. The picture was very poor quality and grainy but it was obvious that Dr. Boyfriend islosinghishair and rightquick. So, I chuckled and pointed with my mother; saved the ad for my friend who lives in Toledo to see and thought nothing else of it.

Until I went to sleep. Isn't it strange how your mind works? I was sleeping along, minding my own business when WHAM! Dr. Boyfriend shows up in my freakin' dream. Now, I don't know about you but I dream in living, vibrant color. RxMan's new Sony LCD has nothing on the real-life, 3-D quality of my dreams.

Get your head out of the gutter, though. There was nothing beyond G ratings in my dream; we were back in high school in class and a myriad of other old faces show up. It was a nice little reunion- now I don't have to go to my 15th (gasp!) next summer. So, very soon, The Conqueror wails out and my sleep is interrupted. However, a seed was planted.

A few times yesterday, I found myself remembering my dream and the inevitable question arose: What if? What if he and I were married now? My gut reaction? (After the vomiting.) It would have been a disaster; see, Dr. and I were not nice to each other. In high school, I liked him but was embarrassed by his dorkiness. And the fact he thought he was Batman. No, really. He did. Think. He. Was. Batman. (do you get why it didn't work out?) So, I ignored him. And taunted him. And did kinda mean things to him. Like make fun of him for saying he loved me. As I said, not very nice.

Then I broke up with him and (you know how this goes), suddenly, I wished I hadn't. Thus began an infatuation that lasted the better part of the next 2 or 3 years. We went off to college and remained friends. We visited each other occasionally and all was innocent until the kegs were tapped. He led me on and I fell for it. Over and over. And over. Again. He told me on several occasions that he was crappy to me because of my treatment of him back in high school. Still, I hoped.

Finally, I got tired of giving him advice about other girls and got on with life. Always, though, there was that smallest little inkling of hope and affection. Maybe someday, right???

Well, as you know, life took a different turn for me. I met RxMan and, as is said, the rest is history. So, what if.... I am perfectly content with my life as it is. I have a great husband in the RxMan and two rotten, wonderful kiddos, too.

As Garth Brooks sang, "Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers...."

I Suck!

I am the worst blogger in the world. It is no wonder nobody reads this; I never post with any regularity. I could make excuses: my grandmother from NC was in town, The Conqueror is not sleeping again, school work, etc. I will not, however. The main reason I haven't blogged (well, besides the reasons mentioned before) is I am not always convinced that my life is exciting enough to share on the world wide web, unlike my friend Allie, whose life is very, very interesting right now.

I live a fairly boring existence. I get up in the morning and take care of Her Highness and The Conqueror until evening when we go to bed. Occasionally, there is a trip to the Mall or Wal-Mart or (yikes!) Starbucks in there but my days are mundane. I think, though, this is pretty common for those of us muddling through the early days of babydom. RxMan and I are of the school of thought that our children (right now that means The Conqueror) and their schedules dictate our lives.

In other words, if The Conqueror is tired, we stay home. If he is fussy? We stay home. Happy? We stay home because that could change at anygivensecond. Seeing a pattern here? It is a lonely existence in many ways. Her Highness has her friends to visit with and really doesn't mind the fact that we go nowhere because she has free reign (get it?) of the neighborhood. RxMan goes to work (for 12 hour shifts again. Ugh!). And I am here. Alone. Many, many hours a day. Alone.

At least this time I have my school work. When Her Highness was born, I was a full time stay at home mom. No hobbies to speak of. No internet knowledge. No neighbors. But a nice case of postpartum depression that kept me pretty good company. Thankfully this time, I am not battling so fiercely with PPD. I'm not sure why but things are better the second time around- at least for me.

No, things aren't perfect. I still wait for RxMan to come home at night and chew him out simply because I had a rotten day. I still dream about hitting the Powerball and having a nanny or manny like Britney Spears (don't you have to play to win, though? sigh).

There is not a lot of drama in my neck of the woods. Unless Her Highness has a spat with another Princess. Or RxMan's crazy boss does something even more stupid than usual. Or The Conqueror gets another tooth. He did! On Friday morning he awoke with his second tooth.

So, for those of you who do read, I apologize for the boring nature of this post.

I'm Back...

So sorry I have been gone from the blogging world. My grandmother from NC is in town for the first time in 7 years and that has been taking up a great deal of time. It is very good to see her; we are all trying to convince her to become a Buckeye again and she seems more than willing but I have an aunt with bipolar disorder who is keeping her in the south for now. Keeping my fingers crossed....

UPDATE:

The Conqueror has been sleeping much better. (Not sure if I should be acknowledging this; am I jinxing it?) Was it teething? I don't know but I am now putting him in his own room for all naps and that is going very well. Plus, we had another night with no awakenings two nights ago. Is there truly light at the end of the tunnel? Dare I hope?

Also, The Conqueror was six months old on July 3. Is it possible? Some days it seems as if he has been with us for ever and other days I will forget about him for just a sec. Regardless he is here and is a wonderfully frustrating addition to the family.