Chick-Fil-A

TOMORROW. I will have it. Tomorrow. I think I deserve it after getting my house quasipresentable and 90% of my laundry done. Also, I've been dealing with sick baby and husband. DAMN IT I DESERVE CHICK-FIL-A. If not tomorrow than Friday.

I did my marathon "getting ready for the brief holiday" errands done today. Somehow, despite having done at least 6 loads of laundry today, there are still more. I'm not sure how this happens. I'm pretty sure laundry was one of Hercules' trials and he never finished it. You just don't hear about it because it's not a good ending to the hero's journey.

SPEAKING OF WHICH. I ended up with an A in my American Lit course. I'm not sure how this happened and I'm hoping that it's high enough that my GPA doesn't fall too low. Right now I have a 3.42 or 3.49 or something and I need a 3.5 to get benefits for transferring to Worcester State. I really need to get on that too...crap.

This semester has been hell. I'm so glad it's over. I'm glad that I have only 3 classes next semester and I'm eternally grateful to have an awesome new friend that agreed to watch Jack while I'm in class. Even though he's a few months older than her son and keeps progressing in that fashion that babies do. You know...when they learn and get big :(

Jack is mostly crawling now. He gets up on all fours, takes two "steps" and then reverts to army crawling because it's faster, I guess. Still trying to figure that one out. I'm pretty sure he'll be crawling full on by next week. I'm excited!

Another thing that bugs me

I'm going to start out with a complaint: Please, PLEASE listen to everything I have to say and don't put words in my mouth. Instead, listen to what I actually say. This is really a continuation of things that bug me.

I wrote about this particular pet peeve a few blogs ago (I'm lazy, search the links) about how people take something that I say and twist it around so that it offends them.

Tonight's topic: Leashes. For your children. For little HUMAN BEINGS.

My stance: Vehemently opposed.

Other's stance: Necessary evil.

I was once told by my parents that if I EVER leash my kid, I will be out of the will/murdered. This was not said in a joking fashion. However, prior to this particular pearl of wisdom, I had already been opposed to leashing a child.

Would you like to be leashed? (and no, not in some freaky S&M way-get your damn mind out of the gutter!)

I wouldn't. I believe if you can hold a leash, why not the hand? I honestly think it should be classified as a form of child abuse. Just because it has a monkey on it doesn't make it right.

Anyway, beyond the leashing (which you should never, EVER do) I made a comment about how humans have gone millennia without leashing their children and over the last few generations, people have become lazy. This offended my physically disabled cousin and apparently I deserved to be reprimanded for being too "general" and my words were hurtful.

Please review the above statement. Prior to this comment I did specify which types of people leash their children and in which context. It was horrible stereotyping and I will not repeat it in written form. Ask me about it. Maybe I'll tell you what I said.

Maybe not.

It was bad.

I'm not going to say anything bad about my family, but seriously. Do you really think I would deliberately offend you? Am I not entitled to expressing my own opinion? You did. If so, maybe I'll just skip out on the next family party.

On a lighter note, the cupcakes were awesome as always.

Things that bug me...

I will try to keep this short as there are many, many, many things that drive me up a wall.

Today, my issue is this:

FBuser: is going to be induced tomorrow!! YAY!!
LoserSkank1: OMG I WAS INDUCED AND IT SUCKED SO BAD.
LoserSkank2: inducing makes your labor longer and more painful
LoserSkank3: Like, this one time...
(btw, these people obviously aren't really named "loserskank" nor are they losers or likely skanks, but for dramatic effect I'm naming them so)

You get the point. There's nothing NOTHING scarier than the unknown of giving birth. Having had given birth just 7 1/2 short months (OMG 7 1/2 months?!?!) ago, I can say this: It's not that bad. There's pain medication for a reason as well as many, many pain management techniques. Of course, it's quite possible that I just had a kick ass nursing team, but my labor rocked. And I suffered through it for close to 36 FREAKIN' HOURS. And I'm a total wimp. Seriously, you should see me stub my toe. Or smash my elbow on the bookshelf. Or when Amy runs into the back of my ankle with a shopping cart at Target.

Also, I have friends that have gone completely natural and swear it's not that bad. It's a matter of perspective. I went into labor thinking it was going to be horribly painful. Contractions suck. They do, but here's how I went into it: They only last a minute or so and you can survive anything for a minute.

I won't pretend to be an expert. After all, I've only done this once and my situation wasn't ideal (story later, it's in the works) BUT it's important to put a little enthusiasm and less fear into new mothers. It's bad enough that they know the basics about birth, so why scare them more?

teeth and new words

I decided after sounding like such a whiney little snot yesterday, I'd share some awesome news!

Last night, in front of witnesses, Jack said "dada"! And, it wasn't just a quiet "ada," it was "DADA!!" Todd didn't hear it and just thought he said "aga" so he missed it :(

On top of that happy little tidbit, Jack is also sitting up from his belly. After the initial crashing (seen above) Jack is now a pro at going from belly to butt. This morning, Todd went into Jack's room because there were big "whack" noises that sounded like Jack was punching the wall to find the baby sitting up rocking back and forth into his crib bars. No tears, just loud noises.

This week has been a series of firsts and it's just amazing to watch the baby grow up before my eyes. I LOVE it and it's such an overwhelming feeling to know that I have impacted his development in some manner.

wow. just...wow

So, I went to message a (ex)friend today to inform her that, after a particularly grueling semester in school, I finally have the time to work on her gift. (I make crocheted baby blankets for friends expecting little ones) I found out she unfriended me. Now, this may have been the result of a message sent telling her that she needs time to herself and not to feel bad about leaving her asshole husband to take care of the baby (I left the "asshole" out of the original message; however, now that we're no longer "friends" I am entitled to speak my opinion-please don't think less of me).  I've seen him on Xbox, I assume he spends his "working" time on Fcebook since he frequently comments on Todd's statuses, etc,. I don't think Todd logged on Xbox or anything for the first few months after Jack was born and he was an easy baby without any health concerns and I wasn't a neurotic mess. I just needed help from my husband. And he was happy to help because he's not a dick. Really, at her age, comments like "you deserve a break" followed up by sharing a story of someone in a similar situation (which was meant to make her feel as though she is not alone and it's possible to not go insane from it) should not be construed as "OMG I HATE YOU AND YOU'RE A HORRIBLE PERSON/FRIEND/MOTHER AND *INSERT RANDOM PERSON HERE* HAS NO IDEA WHAT THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT AND CONSIDERING I'VE NEVER BEEN IN YOUR SITUATION I OBVIOUSLY KNOW WHAT'S BEST" or whatever possibly offensive thing you can imagine.

I've known said person for approx. 4 years. We were friends of convenience. However, my bluntness and her low self-esteem generally ended up as me saying something offensive. I should not have to censor myself with a supposed friend. I never said anything like "omg, you're fat" or "you suck in every way possible" yet my comments somehow always had underlying meanings that were generally negative.

So I will lay it out for everyone to understand: If I mean to offend you, I will. If I say "hmmm, well that sounds odd" DOES NOT MEAN I THINK YOU ARE ODD OR THAT YOUR SITUATION IS NOT AS IMPORTANT AS ANYONE ELSE'S. It's simply me pondering the situation aloud. I'm sooooo sorry for offending you. That being said, I appreciate it when people call me on my mistakes when I make them. Not a week later; three weeks later or (as once happened) MONTHS later. Seriously, you've been dwelling on the issue for that long? Get over it. You're THIRTY YEARS OLD. Put on some big girl panties and suck it up. Not everyone is out to get you.

Now, considering I just wrote a rant about growing up at our age, I should mention that I'm also not 12. I just can't stand when people can't just grow up and tell me what's up. However, I can now enjoy my winter break between semesters by not working myself into a carpal tunnel attack. Although, I do know someone that is having a baby girl soon and perhaps be appreciative of a hand made baby blanket (actually, I KNOW she would be.)

I'm funny?

I found out that I have more readers than just my six followers. This is awesome. And a bit...well...intimidating. I'm now nervous that my sense of humor and overall funniness is going to go away. However, please keep reading. It may take a while for my stage fright to go away, but I will eventually return.

JACK'S TOOTH CAME IN!!! Last night at a cookie swap! It's so cool. I think he has both of his bottom teeth in. But, seeing as he won't let me look into his mouth, I'm going by touch. Other new and exciting news is that he's climbing UP on things. He climbed the diaper changing whatchamadooder today and was so proud of himself. He gets up onto his knees and it's just awesome.

Today was the MOM's club Christmas party and Todd was SANTA!! It was AMAZING! I can't quite figure out if Jack knew who he was, but here are some pictures:

I can't wait for Christmas, where we will hopefully see Santa again. I just have to get through this last week of homework and submit all of my finals and then I'm done with this semester. I don't think I did as well this semester as I have in the past, but that's to be expected seeing as I had a baby and all.

I wonder....

How many times it's okay to use the same title? I really want to write "I should be doing homework..." but I think it might be tacky.

Got two weeks of work done tonight. I have 5 weeks of "work" in my science class, including two labs and two exams. I think the last big exam is a culminated exam, but I'm not sure. In my English courses, I have some discussions and my final "Jack Story" work-in-progress due. Art has one paper left. I hope I don't have to do a final project in the class because this semester has kicked my ass. I've said it before and I will gladly say it again: I AM NEVER EVER TAKING ALL ONLINE COURSES AGAIN. I have a nice study plan to do one week of science a day for the next week and be done with it. I hope this works out for me.

Next semester will be crazy busy as I will be preparing myself to transfer schools, take my MTEL and of course, the most important item on my list: caring for the baby. I'm seriously considering graduating, getting my Associates degree and then applying for a teaching assistant job. At least until I get some moneys and can contribute to the student loans that I have been accruing for the last three years. I can't do this another three years. I really need to get my ass in gear and finish my Bachelors in two years. I would like to enjoy my child without schoolwork before he goes off to school himself.

Okay: I just looked up to see what Todd was doing (playing Call of Duty, of course) and I see the Joker in a gilly(sp?)suit. Weird. That image will now haunt my dreams (and hopefully yours so that I don't have to suffer alone.)

I'm so off to bed. Getting up early (at a whopping 8:30AM) has kicked my ass. However, I'm waiting for Jack to wake up so I can get him dressed in jammies. He fell asleep in the car on the way home and Todd just threw him in bed (not literally guys, he gently placed him in bed with a smoochie on his forehead) so I'm sure he's bound to get uncomfortable. Oh well, maybe I'll just kick Todd to the floor and snuggle with my munchkin. God, he's cute.

Too many updates?

So, here's the deal. I LIVE ON FACEBOOK. I very rarely leave my house (except recently because I actually made a friend) and therefore, I do tend to post. A LOT. But see, rather than making fun of me for it, Facebook has this nifty "Hide" link. Don't like reading WHEN I WOULD RATHER BE DOING SOMETHING FUN, Hide me. Better yet, if you don't care what I'm doing, unfriend me. I won't be offended, honest. Why not? Because you obviously don't give a shit.

I'm really, REALLY sick of being told that I comment too much. I DON'T LEAVE MY HOUSE. I can't go do anything during the day without taking my son and his millions of accessories out with me. I LIVE on Facebook. I have more chat conversations during the day than I talk to actual LIVE people during the week. I really shouldn't have to justify to every other person why I post so much. I am BORED. I have NOTHING in my life other than Jack right now. When he's asleep, I have NOTHING going on.

There, that's the actual "sad" truth of my day to day life. I get excited when I finally have a moment to myself. It's ridiculous that I have to justify myself.

Is Santa Claus a wizard?

This was written 10.10.10 (at astonishingly 10:08pm)...but I thought I should wait until Christmas to post it!

Every night we read Jack Harry Potter. After reading yet another Potter-filled Christmas story (so far, we're on book 3), I had to wonder aloud "why aren't there any Jewish wizards?" Well, Todd, being as incredibly smart as he is explained it this way:

Well, the witches and wizards probably celebrate it differently than Muggles. It's probably not religious the way it is for Muggles...it seems to be mostly about the presents (and the food!).

This sparked an entire conversation about how Santa is probably a wizard. Of course, this sounds silly...but follow along, it makes sense:

How else could Santa hit every house in one night? He obviously apparates AND uses a time-turner, guaranteeing that every house around the world gets hit. He would also have to use an invisibility cloak. Or, perhaps he's like Dumbledore and can render himself invisible if need be. On top of that, he can use the alohomora spell. This spell allows the user to open any door, unless it's magically sealed. In that case, he can just use a knife that is meant to open any door (similar to the knife that Sirius gives Harry). Even if he can't apparate into certain buildings (unplottables-like Hogwarts, those hidden by the fidelius charm, etc) he can use owls. Owls appear to be brighter than any other creature, and who would think to stop an owl from entering their home-especially if they're carrying gifts from Santa? I'm sure arrangements could even be made to have the gifts delivered to a friend, or perhaps Santa is all knowing and the ultimate secret keeper?

Of course, considering the wizarding world of J.K. Rowling's imagination is completely fictional, you have to admit, my logic makes sense.