So yeah my day is going to suck...

It's Monday... I work at 4... my car has a flat tire... my husband has a meeting from 3-4.
I see several things going wrong today.
First off, Austin's meeting was scheduled after he already had my schedule. He says he had forgotten to mention it to me. Like I really believe that... So anyways, he called this morning and said he already talked to his mother about it and she will be over at 3:30. Um... HELLO... my house is no where near M~I~L ready. I worked all weekend.
Second I had planned on taking his car to work because, hello, mine has a flat tire. I ran over something on the way to work yesterday because I know it wasn't low when I left the house. Why you ask, because I had to drag out the air house myself and do it because my husband is worthless like that. He thinks I should take care of my own car. I tell him he should be taking care of me and that includes things on my car. We go rounds and rounds. I told him last night after he accused me of 'forgetting' to check that tire that from now on I was taking it to a mechanic to even put windshield washer fluid in it.
So that leaves me with the truck. You remember the awesome green truck. That is if the stupid thing will even start. He changed the battery just a couple of weeks ago when we were way below zero and I don't think he got the battery cables tight. He says he did. Let me put it this way; If they were tight you wouldn't have wiggle them before starting the damn truck.
Honestly. I think he just likes to argue. Yes I realize that they could be tight but still have a bad connection because of corrosion etc. All I have to say to that is fix it right and then you don't have to worry about it. Don't tell your wife 'Well if it doesn't start just wiggle this cable and then it should.' Do you know what that gets you.
Just guess.
That's right Shit on a stick for supper all week.
Let me tell you he is one lucky guy.
I got off topic...
Third- His mother. I didn't want to spend my whole day cleaning. The living room needs picked up and vacuumed, along with the dining room, the kitchen needs swept and mopped and dishes done. (I think my husband is allergic to dishes) The bathroom needs picked up also. Austin decided to give Mason a bath last night and now all the towels that were clean are now dirty. He had taken two of the folded ones on the shelf and unfolded them until they were just halves and laid them in front of the bathtub for his knees. It's okay I laughed too. Then he said he was getting Mason out of the tub and somehow dropped the towel into the water. So he got another one and got him out but Mason wouldn't let him use it to dry his hair. So instead of getting out a hand towel for his hair he got out another huge bath towel.
That is all 5 clean huge bath towels. We have more towels but we mostly use the huge ones and there is only the 3 of us so we don't need a huge number considering Mason has his own towels but Austin obviously doesn't know where they are. I really need to get back to that re-training. He is driving me nuts. I actually got mad at him on Friday and told him it doesn't matter how bad he actually does it still needs to be done and he will get better at it. Perfect example was the bath. Now if I could only convince him to do the dishes. I wouldn't even care if he did a really bad job. Sometimes effort counts for a lot.
Those are just the obvious things I see that are going wrong today. It does not take into account the whole multitude of things that will go wrong. Like Mason getting on the dining room table a hundred times or the dog marking my fridge because I forgot him outside. And Austin wonders why I want to paint the office pink. I am horribly out numbered by these inconsiderate jerks. I think I need a vacation.
Well I better go get my butt busy. I am only going to get as much done as I get done. I am going to start on my usual Monday stuff. The bedding is already in the washer. The bathroom is back to looking like my bathroom and not a truck stop. The living and dining rooms are ready to be vacuumed. The kitchen is ready to be mopped. There is a rank smell coming from the stove. Like actually from the stove. I have this sinking suspicion that my husband forgot something in it. I really don't want to open the door on the oven but it is unavoidable. I will have to. Next is to get the dishes washed and put away before M~I~L gets here. If I don't she will put them away and then I won't be able to find anything. Last time she actually rearranged my cabinets and forgot that I am short I couldn't reach the plates. Literally. Couldn't reach them.
Hope everyone has a better day than me.

...

Every once in a while my son will come close to the office door and bend over. I was pondering this because he doesn't actually come over and look in. Nope he is going to that specific spot for a reason.

I looked out the door and there is a little bag of Cheetos. My husband had some Cheetos last night before supper in a little sandwich baggie and he evidently didn't finish them or put them away. (I know huge surprise) My son instead of taking the whole bag with him into the living room is coming and just getting one at a time.

I really need to get on my husband about not putting stuff away. This is what my son did yesterday...

Yes that is a whole new box of Cheerios. My husband didn't forgot to put away after he ate breakfast.

Where was I you ask. Well I was in the shower. I know I shouldn't be allowed anytime away from my child. I usually stick him in the highchair with a snack but he had fallen asleep watching CARS (he loves this movie) so I thought I had enough time before he woke up again. I would have too if the stupid hairless mutt Hyde hadn't gotten out of the bathroom and woke Mason up by jumping in the chair. My stupid hairless mutt sweet little dog can't get a normal door open even if it is ajar but has figured out the sliding pocket door on the bathroom. Go figure.

Thanksgiving...

This year for Thanksgiving we are staying home and having friends over. Well friends and Austin's parents.
I decided that I didn't want to drive for 3+ hours to see my family for an hour. Luckily our friends felt the same way so we are all meeting at my house.
I love to cook so we are going all out. The only thing I am not making is the pies because Austin's mom wants to. That is just fine with me I don't especially like to make pie. Especially pumpkin pie.
I am really surprised that his parents decided to join us. I think they are even more antisocial than Austin. They say they don't like to come over when we have friends over because they feel as though they are intruding. Mind you, I am a sweet and wonderful daughter-in-law when they are around. Sweet and wonderful dammit!! So much so that it is just wrong, sometimes I am afraid my face will break. It really doesn't go with my personality.
We get together with our friends and their parents all the time. So it isn't like it is an unusual occurrence for one or more sets of parents to be at our gatherings. I think it is just something they will have to get over.
Thursday should be fun. Busy but fun. Austin has decided that we need to have turkey and ham. I think he just doesn't want everyone eating his turkey. Which is odd considering I have made 4 turkeys this year. This will be number 5, I figured he would be tired of it by now. I spoil him shamelessly. I really should stop. I guess it probably makes up for all my other... um... "good wife" behavior.
Now I just have to hope that Mason's black eye is gone by Thursday. Poor little kid is Austin's, that is for sure. So. I will set the scene. We were all in the kitchen and I was making supper. Austin, Mason and Hyde are all playing with a ball on the floor. I go to the fridge to get out the butter, it is one of those fridges that has the freezer on the bottom, so I had the door open and Mason gets up to chase the ball and runs right in to the corner of the fridge door. He cried a little bit but then got distracted when Hyde tried to run off with 'Mine', his bear. So his eye is to the ugly brownish greenish stage.
I realize that little kids get hurt and I wouldn't be afraid to take him to my any one of my family because they know things like this happen and aren't judgemental. They wouldn't ask where I was when it happened. Then look at me like I was the devil when I said right there beside him. So just to keep everyone happy on Thanksgiving I really hope it is gone. After all I am just the 'spoiled princess' who married her wonderful son.
It's alright I am laughing too. At least Princess Hateful Raquel isn't coming this year. I am afraid I won't be as fortunate come Christmas. She better not even think she is controlling Christmas this year. She might run her husbands families holidays but she has to remember I am the only daughter-in-law on this side and I run things. I can't wait for the fight that will ensue. It should be monumental because she wants to get together on Christmas at her parents house that is 3+ hours from where we are going to be. Can you tell I am excited just thinking about it. I really can't wait to show her who is boss exactly. I think it is about time to remind her that I always get what I want by being sweet and wonderful dammit!!
I know the holidays really bring out my... um... yeah... good side... yeah that is what it is called.

Today...

Today is my birthday. Normally I don't like my birthday. The whole getting older thing just doesn't agree with me. There have been some years that I have forgotten it was my birthday until later in the evening. I just have not put any special emphasis on this day.
This year was different though. It was just a feeling I guess. A couple of weeks ago I started to feel some anticipation for this day. I don't know why. It isn't like we were going to do anything special today. I wasn't and am still not anticipating a gift or anything special. So I am asking myself why all the anticipation. I still don't know why but am hoping it passes quickly.
Austin and I are going into town for an early supper and some shopping. I know your thinking it is for my birthday but it isn't. A couple of weeks ago I found out that Austin was going to have today and tomorrow off and it had been awhile since we had gone out so I told him we were going to. He thought it was for my birthday so he asked where we were going to go and what we were shopping for so I told him he could pick where we eat and that we were Christmas shopping. He looked at me like I was crazy. I don't know maybe I am crazy.
Which brings me to something confusing. Austin got me a birthday card. We have been married for almost 9 years and he has gotten me a card exactly 3 times now. He wrote my age wrong in it. You would think he would know how old I am. I am 17-12 and he wrote 17-13. So I of course pointed it out and he said it was a 2fer card. I get it this year but it also counts for next year. I will admit that was some pretty quick thinking on his part. It left me wondering just what he is wanting.
So now your wondering about the 17-12. Well, when I turned 17, I decided that I wasn't going to get any older. I figured 17 was as good as it got. Really I could drive and work but had no real responsibility. I think it works pretty good.
As soon as Austin gets home from what he is doing we are going to go into town and eat do a little Christmas shopping and buy some fish for our fish tank. I think those two little goldfish are getting lonely. I still haven't decided what kind of fish to put in it but I am sure Austin will have his own opinion as to what should go in there. I think I am looking forward to the pet store the most out of today. I told you I was crazy.

What did he call him?

Mason recently has been into renaming things and has decided to rename Hyde, Sid. The sad thing is that he actually comes to it. Mason loves to watch Sid, the Science Kid on IPTV in the mornings. It is so cute he tries to mimic him. I have no clue why he thought that Hyde needed to be named Sid but I guess whatever works.
For the longest time Austin couldn't figure out why Mason was calling the dog Sid. I finally had to explain it to him. He actually asked me why I didn't stop him. Um... because... he is one and doesn't care what I say. He wants it his way and only his way and I am sure he will grow out of it... eventually... I am sure of it.
Mason has started to call me Momma Rura. I am not a huge fan of this. Austin thinks it is hilarious. At least until Mason started to call him Papa Oney (Honey). I sure have got a lot of laughs out of it. I swear sometimes Austin has no sense of humor.

Shelving

This last Sunday Austin and I put up some shelving and we didn't argue or anything. He didn't even make a squeak when I told him I wanted to paint them red. Not just red but hormonal red.

I couldn't believe our teamwork/cooperation. No one lost a finger or anything. There was no unnecessary yelling. Very unusual for us. We were all done in about 4 hours. Best yet they cost us literally nothing. Everything was re-purposed. I think that is my favorite part.

The long black thing you see to the side is actually the level that I was using to hold up that support because I was not tall enough to reach it on even a chair and Austin was already on the ladder.

Before we put the supports in this was just empty useless space behind the door to the stairway across from the bathroom.

Here are the shelves in and unpainted. There is enough room under the bottom shelf for 2 stacked totes.

I left the blue painters tape up in some spots because those areas need a second coat. Now I have a designated spot for my laundry detergent and misc. My bath mats are in the plastic sack waiting for my bathroom to get done. The white little tote is for Austin's stuff. He was shocked when I showed him that he would only have that little tote out of all these shelves. He has been trying to convince me that he will need one entire shelf. I very calmly told him that he has whole shelving units in the garage that are empty. He was less than thrilled with me. I then had to explain to him that it is not my intention to just keep junk on these shelves. If we did that we wouldn't ever be able to find anything.

Clear up on the top some misc baby items that we no longer need, guest bed bedding, Austin's old toys that he doesn't want Mason to play with collectibles.

The next shelf has all my sewing material. Someday when I am able to find time to sew again I will finally get a couple of projects done. I know I will have to find the time somewhere in the next couple of weeks to get some curtains made for these shelves so that you can't see them from the kitchen. It wouldn't be so bad but we painted them to match the trim in the upstairs not the trim in the kitchen. Hind sight is 20/20 I guess.

The 3rd shelf down is pantry. My kitchen cabinet shelves are not tall enough for a box of cereal so I have designated this shelf for cereal and whatever other pantry items I want to put on it. I will also be putting some of my PartyLite stuff on it. The Global Fusion Hurricane usually sits on my dining room table but I have my fall centerpiece out now and next month I will have a Christmas one out. Eventually I will get my stuff organized into totes and put below the bottom shelf but I will have to do that on a day that Mason is spending over at the grandparents because he is just too much help.

As of right now the bottom two shelves have no designated purpose and I'm sure that Austin will fill them with junk. As long as he knows that anything that spills out of his tote can be thrown away at any time he can put whatever he wants on them. I have learned that he needs to be aware of his boundaries and reminded often.

My Ordinary Day!

Now that we have finally slowed down enough to be home for one whole day I can now tell you about an ordinary day. At least in this household.

7:30 to 9:00 Wake up. This all depends on if the sun is shinning or if it is cloudy. I like the cloudy days.

7:30 to 9:00 Mason goes potty and we change his diaper and clothes if he leaked. Breakfast. Cereal with a half banana and a sippy of milk.

10:00 to 11:00 I check my email and blog. If I don't get finished I will steal a couple of minutes here and there to finish by the time Austin gets home.

Breakfast to 11:00 Mason plays and destroy the house and let the dog in and out a million times.

11:00 Lunch. Sippy of milk. Fruit and sandwich. (meat or cheese depending on what is in the fridge)

1:00 Story time. Lately the favorite book is Bubbles, Bubbles. (I have nightmares about this book.)

1:30 Austin gets home to go to his 'hobby'. He changes and then roughhouses with Mason and Hyde until he leaves at 2.

2:00 Mason chases Hyde around the house. (I think I need to change nap time because he does this everyday and I think it is just him being tired and trying to stay awake)

3:00 Let the dog out grab 'Mine' and go take a nap in his crib. Let dog back in.

3:00 to 5:30 I wash dishes, do laundry, pick up the house, vacuum, sweep the kitchen and bathroom, mop the kitchen, clean the bathroom sink mirror and toilet. Time permitting I jump in the shower and start supper. All while letting the dog in and out another million times.

5:30 Go wake Mason up give him a snack of 1 pear half cut up and sippy of water.

5:45 Austin gets home from 'hobby' and takes Mason. Changes diaper and weather permitting they go outside and play or roughhouse until supper is ready.

7:00 Eat supper. He finally eats what we eat. No more special meal preparations.

7:30 to 8:15 Mason destroys the living room again playing.

8:15 Bath jammies and story. Grab 'Mine' and go to bed.

After Mason goes to bed I rinse the dirty dishes and put them in the sink. Let the dog in and out another million times and 30 minutes after Austin heads to bed I go up to bed also. Mason no longer wakes up in the middle of the night but Hyde does. Around 2:30 Hyde wakes up and has to go outside. I am still at a loss as to why this has to be me, really Austin's alarm goes off at 3 and there have been numerous times where Austin's alarm has been the reason for Hyde waking up. Try as I might Austin will not let him out though.

On this particular day Mason woke up grumpy. Most days he is a happy little smiley thing.

It might have taken him awhile to wake up.

On this day we watched Bob the builder while eating breakfast.

Right before lunch and he has destroyed my living room.

My wonderful Husband came home from work after Mason was down for his nap he saw my camera on the table and decided to catch me unawares. I think I said something along the lines of 'You BUTT'.

Yes those are paint brushes you see beside my sink because he forgot to bring them inside and it had started to rain and I wanted him to be able to find them without me.

He usually wakes up from nap in a good mood.

A very good mood.

This is what I get when I ask him to smile.

I caught him playing with my card reader that was in my camera bag in the office. He has learned to climb over the chair. I think I need to invest in more gates.

I didn't get all the laundry folded during nap time if you notice the couch in background.

Mason waving Bye Bye

This wasn't taken on our 'Ordinary Day' but I thought it fit perfectly.

Wednesday...

How is it that Wednesdays always sneak up on me? It is halfway through the week and I feel as though I have got nothing done. Mason woke up late yesterday and I got some things done before he woke up so I know that at least a couple of things got done. Last night I washed dishes. All the dishes. Very rare. Sometimes when I think I have all the dishes done my husband will bring in a bowl from the living room and put it in the sink and that is where it sits until I do dishes again so in all actuality not all the dishes were done.

I have been trying to convince Austin that he needs to start helping out more around the house. I don't care if the only thing he does is bring in his supper dishes. That would be wonderful. He doesn't seem to care. I think he should start caring. For years I have been trying to get him to start emptying the trash can and taking it out. I figure if my father can do at least that that he can also. I think I am almost there with it. I have started to leave the trash in the can until trash day. Don't get the wrong idea I don't let it start overflowing. I get out a trash bag every morning and use it sitting beside the trash can I take it out to the trash can before he gets home from work. So far he is none the wiser. Last week he actually emptied the trash on Monday (trash day) and Wednesday. I think that is a huge improvement. Someone should really write a book on how to train a new hubby or better yet on how to re-train a hubby. I got lack somewhere and he is being difficult.

Speaking of re-training. I am in the middle of re-training our little 6 year-old dog Hyde. He has started to think that it is okay to mark my fridge, trash can and cabinet under the sink. I however do not think that this is acceptable. It is really aggravating.
I do not know why he has decided to mark these things. Nothing has changed, he is outside enough. It isn't like he actually pees on these items. Nope just a couple of drops, enough to smell. I have tried all the doggy marking products and nothing has worked. If anyone has any ideas send them my way. For now I will just keep spraying them down with my vinegar and bleach.
I guess I should add that it isn't an everyday occurrence that he does this. I don't want everyone thinking that I just let my dog pee all over the house or get away with marking things in my kitchen. I keep a clean house with everything in its place. True occasionally there are dirty dishes but that is about it. Everything else is put away. For crying out loud I mop and vacuum just about everyday. I cannot stand to have clutter which is why the bathroom thing is about to drive me nuts. I no longer have a dining room table it has been taken over by his tools and misc things from the bathroom.
I think it is more of a vindictive thing. I just can't figure out what we did to him. He gets just as much attention now as he did before the baby. He isn't home alone very often and when he is it is usually for less than 2 hours. The only thing different around here is the bathroom but I wouldn't think that that would upset him. I do know that I am at my wits end with it. If we can't find something to get him to stop then we are going to have to leash train him again. As enjoyable as that sounds it isn't something we want to have to do. Then again we don't want him marking my kitchen.
Any ideas on re-training hubby or dog would be greatly appreciated.

It's Tuesday!!

How did that happen? Where did my weekend go? That's right. It was spent working on the bathroom and other stuff.
So it is Tuesday and I am not done with the newsletter for MOPS on Thursday. I really should be finishing that instead of what I am doing but who really cares.
Mason has made it impossible to do anything. I have caught him licking the dog 4 times today. 4 times!! I have no clue why he would want to lick the dog. Totally gross!!
Tomorrow I will be posting the paint color we I decided on. Austin may not like it but I LOVE it.
So for now I am off to finish my newsletter. Any MOPS members in the North Central division of Iowa should come to the North Central Conference held in Webster City at Asbury Methodist. I know I'll be there. There was even some talk of us steer team leaders wearing some kind of crazy hat but I think I will put an ax to that. It should be a fun time anyways.

How Do I...

I know how to get the dog to stop licking the kid but how do I get the kid to stop licking the dog?
I would really like to know the answer to this.

Farm Progress Show

Yesterday Austin, Mason and I went to the Farm Progress Show. It was so big with so many people. There is no way one person could see everything in one day.
Mason did surprising well. He now likes to yell to get people's attention. We were walking thru the varied industries building and he is just yelling. People would turn around and smile at him so he would smile back. As soon as that person looked away he would start yelling again.
Mason was good and Austin misbehaved. A husband misbehaving is much more embarrasing than your child being naughty. It was a farm show so there was a lot of women. Let me rephrase that a lot of farm wives and I could just hear them "Well I never. How can she let her husband behave that way. Doesn't she have him trained?" It wouldn't have been as embarrasing but there were several people around that I knew. I am almost afraid to go to the store now because I know I will get looks. Maybe I will just refuse to go and make Austin.
We got there early, around 9. I know you would think living only about 15 minutes from there we could have been there earlier but nope. Didn't happen.
We parked in row 12 so we weren't that far from the gates. Stupid state patrol blocked the quickest way home too. I don't know if they were worried about people parking on the railroad tracks or what but they closed about 6 miles of highway 17 north of the show. Austin and I had to turn around and go clear into Boone to get home. Believe it or not it was a whole lot quicker than having to go clear into Ames and then north. O'well. We got over it. Well at least I did.
Mason and I only got a little bit sun burned. Mason today is just a nice golden color while I am still pink. I won't be tan until tomorrow.
We got home about 3 and then did nothing all afternoon. Austin didn't start working on the bathroom until right before supper. I think just so that he can say he worked on it.
I am just glad we went yesterday and not today. We only got about half an inch of rain but that is enough to turn the Farm Progress Show into a mud pit.