Monday, March 21, 2011

Weekend Update!

It's been a while since I did one of these weekend updates, so after a weekend that I thoroughly enjoyed I thought I'd type this up.

My weekend began on Thursday. I took Jack to go see my Grandma in Hudson. I rarely get out there, but I just happened to be in the area that morning, so we made the trip. Jack had a good time. My grandma, my aunt Nancy, and my cousin Melissa all got to hold Jack. I got to eat a good plate of food and a big bowl of collard greens. (Everyone, take a moment for the greens. They were delicious.)

After a great time with Grandma, I went to get Annie. We then headed home to begin our preparation for St. Patrick's Day. I invited Sadia and her husband to dinner and so in addition to cooking, I needed to make sure the house looked decent.

Suddenly, it was 7 o'clock and dinner was ready (including my, now famous, Shamrock Cake.) Everyone ate and then we played some video games. I asked Sadia's husband to help me through a part of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. It was then discovered that my son had saved over my game! SERIOUSLY! I was unhappy, but I decided to let him live. It is, after all, only a video game. (Besides, Sadia's husband played and got me just about back to where I was.)

Friday, Annie and I went out for one thing. I stopped by the bank to make a deposit. Guess what?! The bank closed the account I needed to make a deposit to. They're reasponse was "Oops. Let's open another one." I shouldn't have, but in the interest of simplicity, I did. It took an hour and a half. This sucked because I had planned to have Jack at home and playing so that when we went to get Max he would be good on the way home. No dice.

As usual, he was fine on the way there and screeched the whole way home. I was forced to jump off the interstate and into the ghetto at one point because Jack got himself so worked up that he puked all over himself and Max was sure he was choking to death. I didn't care where I was. I was in that mood that if someone had bothered me I would have glared them to death. I get that from my mother.

We pulled over as soon as possible. Jack was removed from his car seat and passed up front. I then asked for his spare clothes that were in the diaper bag. They were handed to me, but they were completely soaked. It turns out that Annie had tossed an improperly closed bottle of water in the diaper bag, upside down. I went with plan b. I found a pair of pants that were stuffed in the side of the diaper bag from some time where Jack was too hot. He went topless, because I didn't have a choice. I used another spare pair of pants from the side pocket to place in the seat under Jack since he had soaked it with spit up. I snuggled Jack and he was laughing and playing. I knew he was physically fine and that when placed in the car seat he would flip out, but there was nothing I could do. We had to get home.

Sure enough, when placed in the seat he went ballistic. Max and Annie got the giggles about it. This drives me insane. I do not understand why Jack being miserable makes them laugh, but they do. They just sit there hysterically giggling. I guess it's nervous laughter, but it makes me feel like a pressure cooker about to explode. Jack's screaming, the kids are laughing, and I am trying to not kill everyone due to an excess of noise and traffic. Luckily, we were half way home and on the interstate. The road side break made the rest of the trip bearable.

Saturday was a very relaxed day. We did nothing. I heated frozen spaghetti sauce from some other time they were here. It was towards the end of the day when James and the kids went into the garage and found the controllers for Buzz Trivia. This was the best possible thing. After dinner, we ALL sat down with our Buzz controllers and played. I won! (I know it's bad to celebrate beating children in an adults trivia game, but I beat My husband too!) I think I will buy the kids a kid version of Buzz Trivia for Easter.

After dinner and Trivia, the kids and I went outside and played with a basketball while we waited for the Super Moon to become visible. It was so much fun. Granted, I accidentally nailed Annie in the face, but she took it like a pro. We walked through our subdivision and looked between the houses and then it was visible. What a sight. It was beautiful. We walked around the entire development and saw it from as many angles as possible.

Sunday, since Max didn't have corned beef and cabbage at his house, I made it again here. It was even better than the first time, I think. The kids had eaten the shamrock cake by this time, but the spirit was still there. Max said that he wished the cabbage was done more, but I hate soggy cabbage. 

After we ate, it was time to start taking everyone home. I took Annie home first since I was planning on visiting my mother before taking Max home. While heading to my mother's Jack flipped out again and spit up everything he had ever in his life eaten. Luckily, it was just before we got to Mom's so we just parked, stripped him down, and gave him a bath right away. His car seat needed to be hosed down, but what can you do? It has to air dry and I didn't see that happening in time for us to get home.  We just had to put another towel down and hope for the best.

On the way home, Jack slept peacefully. I was grateful because I spent an hour parked on the Courtney Campbell Causeway due to an accident. He was up all through the night, but it was worth it. Nothing is worse than a screaming baby when you can't fix the problem.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Sadia hates my eyeballs. [NSFW]

DO NOT GOOGLE THIS TERM. 
You have been warned.

Sadia: OMG, google blue waffle
Sent at 9:56 AM on Thursday
me: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
NO!
NO! NO! NO! Bad.
Sadia: HAHAHAHA
me: Cannot be unseen.
Sadia: I'm sorry
I had to
me: MY VAGINA! It needs to be held.
Sadia: I'm laughing so hard I'm crying.
me: I'm crying because there is a need for this term.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Oh Great. It's Monday.

This weekend was wonderful for me. It was our anniversary weekend and the first time we had allowed anyone to babysit Jack.

Saturday night we went to Acropolis Greek Taverna. It is sort of new to our area though I had been to the one in Ybor. My mother came to our house and babysat Jack while we ate and went to Target and that was really nice. I was nervous, but my mother sent me a picture of Jack sleeping in his play pen halfway through our dinner so I was able to relax.

Sunday, we stayed at home and pretty much did nothing. It was comfortable though and I wasn't terribly bored. I wanted to go out and get some strawberries at one point, but it was obvious that my husband was not going to do that, so I opted to relax and see if I could adventure out sometime this week instead. Annika is coming on Thursday, so if we are berry-less at that point then maybe we will have to go Friday morning.

Now that Monday has arrived it's decided to be a pain. Jack woke up at 6am, which would be okay normally. However, in the wake of Daylight Savings Time it was awful. Jack was pretty happy about it though and that helped. It's hard to be mad around a giggling baby.

Jack has fallen asleep repeatedly for about 5 minutes at the absolute longest. His teeth have been bothering him and I know that's what this is about in addition to the mega drool and super snot. I thought that I might be able to get a nap if he took a longer one, but I sat on my bed this morning and was greeted by a popping sound and then a sudden shifting downward. Apparently, I popped out a support beam. There will be no nap for me.

Monday! I'm making the best of you! I've got leftover brownies and a decent attitude. 

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Recently Watched

I never used to watch TV, but now that I am home all the time I find my butt in front of the tube more and more.

Today, I watched Stigmata - Marked for Life from the History Channel. (Please don't confuse this with the Patricia Arquette film Stigmata, though I watched that recently also.) Jack watched part of the documentary with me. There was one monk in particular that made Jack giggle and grin every time he was on screen. He was very thoughtful and serious, but Jack found him amusing.

We also watched The Order of Myths which is a documentary about Mardi Gras in Mobile, Alabama which is still segregated. It was a very strange thing to see, but I recommend the film. I was surprised that though both groups claimed that the segregation is by choice, only the white group denied admittance to African Americans in their official functions. This policy even applies to interracial couples, the African American spouse is denied admittance.

My DVD for tomorrow is on Algebra. I'll spare you the details.

The Music That Moves Me

I am home all the time now.

Correction: I am home with Jack all the time now.

I used to listen to all kinds of music, but Jack only seems to love the music that I sing with. He's not big into rap, mostly because I have a speech impediment and rapping is hard for me, even if I wasn't the honkiest person alive. (I have absolutely zero street cred.)

Jack really seems to enjoy the musical stylings of Glee. I like it also, but it's really easy to sing with since most of it is meant to be sung by a group of people. It's easy to find your place and really belt it out. Jack thinks that is the funniest thing ever. If we dance while I'm singing he thinks that is even better. It seems that his favorite song is "Hello Goodbye" originally by The Beatles.



Even as I play the video now, Jack is kicking his legs like crazy.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Busy Tuesday

It's been a terribly busy day. I suppose in the scheme of things it was probably a slow day for normal people, but I didn't collect one sewer crystal in Ratchet & Clank today.

Instead, we:
  • Went to the library for baby time.
  • Went to the grocery store. (I forgot the cucumbers and bananas somehow.)
  • Finished the laundry.
  • Did the dishes.
  • Worked on my blog for Perky Pet Supply.
  • Did research for future updates.
  • Checked every email account I have.
  • Spent some time on Twitter.
It's been busy, but pleasant. I miss working a real job and having a real paycheck. It's frustrating to not be able to do what I normally can, but I know this is good for me and especially good for Jack.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Casa Tina

Two weeks ago I had to drive to Dunedin from Riverview because my son forgot his backpack at my house. This is not a short journey. On the way, my little brother Cameron called and decided to join me. This meant we would have an adventure. You can't go out with a dude man, a baby, and myself without having an adventure.

Dunedin is one of my favorite small towns in Central Florida. It's full of beautiful old buildings and quirky fun restaurants. Cameron and I love food, so we decided to cruise around and find something to eat on Main Street. I told him that I was not eating at Kelly's after my last meal there and Cameron agreed. Suddenly, we saw it. There, in all it's quirky Dunedin glory, was Casa Tina.

If you have been to Dunedin at night you could not possibly miss Casa Tina. It's the place with the Cirque style dancer hanging from the ceiling. During the day it has a more laid back feel. It's decorated in a very cool, cluttered, Dia de Los Muertos style. We arrived pre-lunch rush and we were immediately seated by the lovely Heather H. (There are two girls named Heather, we were informed.)

We decided to start with an appetizer. You are provided with complimentary chips and salsa, which were great. (The refill basket is $2.) We ordered Monterrey Nachos in addition. They were crazy good.





I ordered Flutes with one Peep Peep and one Moo Moo. It was yum yum. (Sorry. Check out the menu. They really say "Peep Peep.)  Everything was fresh and seasoned perfectly.





Cameron ordered the Mole Poblano. Mole, in case you don't know, is made from chocolate. It's difficult to make, a fact which Cameron could not let go. Every few moments he would moan in delight and say "Do you know how hard it is to make this stuff?!"





For dessert we opted for the plantains. They were coated in corn flakes. I thought Heather H. might be mysterious about it, but she told us flat out that they were corn flakes. They were really good though. The plantains were super sweet, as expected, but the ice cream mellowed it out and it was very good.





Casa Tina is Vegetarian and Vegan friendly. Simply notify your server if this is the case and they will be more than happy to assist you. All of the sauces, rice, and beans are vegetarian friendly.





After our fabulous lunch we walked around Main Street. Cameron took a moment to feed Jack. I know posting this photo is wrong, but it's hysterical and he doesn't read this blog. He was so focused on doing not hurting Jack.





It was incredibly windy, but we strolled through Edgewater Park anyway. Winters in Florida are so rough!

The moral of the story is that you absolutely must visit Casa Tina. They have a very friendly staff and wonderful food.

Casa Tina