Another jewel in the crown of the City Fire Department...

So my weekend was most certainly not the stuff dreams are made of. Well, my Sunday at least. Saturday actually was quite enjoyable. We made the trip down (again) to the farm, this time with my in-laws in tow. Daddy G has this obsession with an Amish painter who lives 15 minutes away from my mom down in God’s Country. So every May, after his birthday, he makes the drive down to get more of the Amish man’s work. Since BabyDaddy and I have now been together for five years, and his parents have never been to my house, we thought now would be as good a time as any to have them over for a BBQ on the river.

We spent the morning and early afternoon stuck behind various horse-drawn vehicles, but managed to make stops at the Amish Painter’s, the Amish General Store, and their Greenhouse as well. Then, we headed down to the holler at Mom’s for a fish fry. My friend Jess got to join us, which was lovely, and we ended up not arriving back home until after midnight.

Then comes Sunday. To preface, the Muffin was in a stormy mood all day. I think it was a mix of allergies and him being dog-tired from all the excitement of Saturday. He woke up early, and I got the cartoons started and his breakfast ready. (None of that “t.v. is bad for kids” dialogue now, I’m sick to death of it. If he wants to watch Sponge Bob all day, then darn it, he shall. ESPECIALLY when he’s in a rotten mood to start with – it keeps me sane.) When we finished that, I stepped outside to water the flowers we had gotten at the Amish Greenhouse. I’m normally not a very good plant person, all of mine most usually die, but I was determined to keep these alive since we just bought them. I could have sworn that I made sure the door was unlocked….. as soon as I stepped outside, I heard the door slam, and a maniacal giggle. My first thought was “OH CRAP”. Then my stomach dropped. I ran through the back gate and to the patio doors. Locked. He ran up, laughing and waving like crazy. “MaMA! MaMA!” (Yes, my sweet, isn’t this fun?) I ran to the bedroom windows, banging on them like a madwoman. Also locked. I see his little fingers pull at the blinds and he maneuvers himself in between them and the window. “Hi Mama!” I went so far as to ask him to unlock the window, then I realized, “Heck, my kid’s smart, but he's not THAT smart…”. I ran over to the neighbor’s house to use her phone (in my rattiest pajamas as you could have guessed). I call BD and go back to the house to wait. We played peek-a-boo through the front window until I could hear sirens screaming. BD and crew rode up in full glory -- as soon as the Muffin saw the firetruck, he started jumping up and down, and screaming "DADADADADADADA!!!" Yay. Of course, all the firemen roll out of the truck and up the driveway to belittle me while BD unlocks the house and picks up the Bebe'. BD's good friend patted me on the back and said, "Glad we could be of service to you ma'am." I gave him the finger. "Dada Truck!" said the Muffin, pointing to the fire engine, pleased as apple pie.

It's five o'clock somewhere......but not here.

It's Friday, and it's raining. Again. I'm feeling especially draggy today. The nastiness outside just makes me want to curl up under a quilt and read until I fall asleep. I'm staring at Red (the office fish). He just puffed up and gave me his best fighting fish-face. Guess he's feeling gloomy too. Shall I whine some more, or shall I actually talk about something with substance? Hmmm. Feel like whining.

IwanttogohomeI'mreallytiredofbeingheretodayI'vehad
acrazylongweekandit'sstillnotoverWhenwillitbeover
Idon'tknowprobablyneverthat'showifeelrightnowthissecond
IjustlookedattheclockandthoughtSURELYit'sfivebynowbutitsnot.

**SIGH** I feel much better now thanks. I just took a swig of the world's worst coffee, and as soon as it hits my veins I'll be fine. I left the house in a wreck this morning. BabyDaddy finally came home from his training/farting around in Tennessee. I watched him as he surveyed the damage. I saw him take in the over-turned laundry basket, the congealing dishes in the sink, the dog gnawing on a stale rice cake, and a little trail of rainbow goldfish crackers leading to the Muffin's closet.... His eyes got bigger and bigger, and then he looked at me and I calmly said, "I have been a single parent for 4 days. In those four days, company came over twice, your son cut three teeth, and the dog ate my toothbrush. DO. NOT. SAY. A. WORD. He didn't. :) Smart man, that BabyDaddy.

Whiskey Bent....

So, I've had a completely shoddy day here at the Office. I literally haven't had the time to get a cup of coffee. I noticed that alarming fact round about 11am when my hands started to quiver, and I got a shooting pain behind my left eyeball. Bear in mind that by this point in my day, I'm usually nursing my 3rd cup. So, after the shakes started, it was about time for lunch. I got in my car, turned the key, and the gas light came on. (I love my car, but at that moment, I wanted to give it the finger.) I coast down to the corner Marathon -- after I swiped my debit card, I happened to glance at the price, and I think I threw up a little bit in my mouth. $3.75 PER GALLON!!! I printed out the receipt so I can put it in my scrapbook. $10 got me 2.3 gallons. I had to laugh. If I didn't, I would have burst into hysterical tears. Feeling myself spiral down toward a minor depressive episode, I headed for the nearest McDonald's, where I ordered a double cheeseburger, a huge Sweet Tea, and 3 chocolate chip cookies. **Screw you diet -- I'm doing what I want today** I parked in their lot under some trees to eat and read my book. I started to calm down -- I was putting some crumbs from the hamburger bun on my side mirror and watching the cute little sparrows flit around. "This is nice," I think, slouching back in my seat. "I'm feeling better." At that point, I hear a "SPLISH! GLOOP! SPLAT!" The lovely little birds I had been feeding just shat on my windshield. Next time I'm putting out rat poison, the little buggers. After I shrugged that off, and thought, "Well, at least it's quiet here, and I can enjoy my book -- also succeeding in avoiding my poopy windshield for the moment, a car pulls up beside me. The windows roll down, and then I hear him put in a CD. Country twang explodes from his speakers, and ol' Hank starts to croon:

"Play me some songs about a ramblin' man, put old Jim Beam in my hand. 'Cause you know I still love to get drunk and hear country sounds.. But don't you play 'Your Cheatin' Heart', cause that'll tear me all apart. Then I'll get whiskey bent and
hell bound...."

Then, this freak starts to sing!!!! I AM NOT LYING. I burst into uncontrollable laughter. I'm not sure how the guy heard me over all the racket emanating from his jacked-up truck, but he did, and the look he gave me was not the brightest. I crammed the rest of my cookie in my mouth, and pulled out of the lot, still barking my head off. What a day. :)

I'm coming out!

I am no longer a closet Hell's Kitchen fan -- I'm coming out!! I am publicly declaring my love for this show! I have found that after the disappointment that is American Idol, (don't fret, I am still forcing myself to watch every painful second), I've found solace in "Hell". **Tee-hee-hee** My mom is SO not going to appreciate that comment. Being able to say something like 'Hell', let alone type it is a big deal. Just so you're aware, I grew up in a house where we weren't allowed to say "gosh" or "shut up". (I'm better for it too Mom!) But before I go on about that, can I just seriously express my total disregard for Idol? Holy cow -- can we not just skip to the final two and watch the David's battle it out?! I'm so SICK of Sayeshia (I still can't spell that girl's freakin' name), and I'm progressively getting sick-ER of Captain Jason my-dreads-make-me-so-cool Castro. He would actually be kind of hot if he cut those off, which is even more annoying than his singing. Such a waste of good bone structure.... **sigh**

Regardless, I'm happy that I can at least watch these poor souls scuttle around under Gordon Ramsay. (Even if he is a bit over the top in the drama department.)

Project Country Living is still in negotiations. Thanks for your input -- keep voting! And comments are welcome too! **Ches, your's was especially helpful. When ARE you going to spit that bebe' out by the way? You must keep me posted! ** After BabyDaddy called me from work the other day to ask me how many horses I thought we could fit in our back pasture, and "maybe I should go ahead and look at the supplies we would need for our new tack shed, (mind you, BD has NEVER been a horseman, so him simply using terms such as 'breed' and 'tack' caused me to suppress some giggles), I ordered that we suspend our talks to 'digest'. The last thing I want is for BD to get all carried away, and then blame me for rushing things. So, we've been trying not to think about it this week. We're supposed to head to the country this weekend for Mommy's Day, so I'm going to have a serious talk about terms/conditions with my Mom --Has everyone gotten their mother something? I have, but I never get what I truly want for her. It seems I always get my best ideas 3 days before, and then I don't have time to order whatever genius thing it is that I've dreamed up. And then I forget by the time the next one rolls around.

Popsicle Days

I love Popsicle Days. Today was the first one of the summer. The Muffin ended up looking like a mini Jeff Dahmer when he was done, (BabyDaddy didn't like that analogy, but it was either that, or a bloody brain-munching zombie...maybe the zombie would have been tamer come to think of it.) Regardless, we've had a lovely day. One of the Muffin's little play-mates had his first birthday party today, (my head still hurts). My dear friend JH really kept her cool, which I admired her for. My eyes were crossing as I watched all the little tots run from one corner of her house to the other. Then, we all went to the park to finish up the afternoon. Funny enough, we ran into another little Muffin Buddy. I didn't recognize either of the people he was with, and neither looked to be especially upstanding members of society. I had a momentary, "Oh-my-God-someone-has-kidnapped-BabyB!" thought, but then I realized, "Oh-my-God-that-scrappy-looking-fellow-is-BabyB's-daddy!" We know BabyB through his mother who recently started dating one of our friends, and even more recently announced their engagement. Now I know why she was in a hurry. She's definitely moved up the Man-Ladder. Good for her -- not sure how it all ended with BabyB's daddy, but I'm sure her new guy will treat her loads better, simply from the looks of things.

So those of you who wanted more information on Project Country Living, you've gotten it, so change your doggone votes to yay or nay. I am taking this into consideration you know!

You asked -- I'm delivering....

So, it seems some of my faithful out there want to hear more about "Project Country Living". Here you are:

Background Items you need to know --

1) I'm super-close to my family, (God love them, even if we are a bunch of dysfunctional misfits, we love each other!). My grandparents have been a huge part of my life, as obviously my mother has. Of course, after the loss of my brother, we became even more tightly knit. My grandparents have always wanted me to move closer to home, as have I, because I know they won't be around forever.

2) We are currently squeezed into a tiny house (think 1100 sq feet), with literally no back or front yards. Where we live, a nice 3-bedroom would cost around $140, 000 to $150, 000 (this is still in a subdivision with no yard space), and the type of house we'd really like would be upwards of $200,000. (Read -- I-M-P-O-S-S-I-B-L-E).

3) My MIL (mommy-in-law) watches the kiddo. However, she has told us that she will not be able to watch 2, both because she thinks it would be too much, and her and Daddy G would like to travel once he retires in the next year. (This means we will not be able to have another baby until the Muffin is in school, because there's no way we could afford daycare for two.)

4) BabyDaddy is a country-boy at heart. He's a huntin'/4-wheelin'/fishin' and campin' kind of man. (I tell him if he works on his tan a bit, takes some 'roids, and agrees to wear flannel, we could put him on Brawny Paper Towels). His dream is to have a farm where he do his country-boy thang.

5) I have now lived "in the city" for 7 years. This means I am used to being able to dash out to the Wal-Mart (pretty much across the street) when I need something, and having pretty much any store I need within 5 minutes. For anything else we need, there's a major city 20 minutes away, and two more even larger cities, each within an hour. Not so much gonna have that if we move to the country. The nearest Wal-Mart is 20 minutes away (the town is comparable to where we live now), and the nearest "bigger" city is an hour. Needless to say, there will be no "five minute runs" to Wal-Mart anymore. (Obviously, this is of more concern to me than BD).

6) I'll have to find a new babysitter, because my mom still works, (but I was going to have to find one anyway if we wanted another bebe').

7) BabyDaddy is a career Fireman. You're not going to find many paid FD's in the country. He says he could drive to the department he's currently at from our new digs (2 hrs--but he only works 2 days per week) until he can get on at a closer department. There is a smaller FD 20 minutes away, and then two departments (one comparable to here, and one much larger), one of which is 40 minutes away, the other an hour.

The Potential Scenario -- We would sell our house, (which we were planning to do soon anyway), and put whatever money we made in the bank. We would move into my mom's house, and if we loved it there, we would take the money and use it toward building our new house. If we hated it, we make it the down payment on a house back up here.

Summary -- The Ups: We could afford pretty much our "dream" house (within reason of course), we would be near my family again, we would have land to play on, and we could afford to have another baby soon. The Downs: We wouldn't have the conveniences of living "in town", we would have to find a new babysitter, I would worry about BD until he could be closer, I would miss my friends, and we would now be further away from BD's family.


There's my story -- What would you do??