Baltimore...

I went to to pick up my neighbors at BWI Airport yesterday. They had taken their kids to Disney World. They were due to arrive by Southwest at 3:50 pm. I knew the flight number, so I checked the flight info before I left to pick them up. I also had SW send text messages to my cell phone with flight info. At 3:22, I got a message saying that the flight was still on time. So I get to the airport five minutes early and rather than parking, I looped around the airport waiting for them to arrive. I drove around for about 30 minutes and they still did not arrive, so I called Bob at work and had him check the flight. According to SW their flight was delayed and would not get in until 5:25, so I had to pee, so I parked and walked in for a pee, a newspaper and a water. I sat in the parking garage for a little while (the first hour of parking is free) so at the time the flight was supposed to arrive, I decided to loop the airport again and when I got to the terminal there sat my neighbors. They had been waiting for about 45 minutes. I was so mad. I felt bad that they had to sit there and smell all of the car and bus fumes waiting for me, espicially since this was not my fault. Their kids were tired and probably hungry, but they did great and crashed on the way home.

I love going to the airport, usually, but yesterday was different. I love the excitement of the airport. Before such tight airport security, I loved to drop somebody off and actually wait with them until they boarded. It always makes me feel like I have to go someplace. Sometimes, this occurs just because of Spring, but yesterday, it was because of the energy at the airport.

When I was looping the airport, I would see people waiting for rides and I wondered where they had been. I saw a whole group of very sun tanned people and they were by the Air Jamaica terminal, so I supposed they they had been to Jamaica (mmm, lucky them). I could stand to be in a location with some blue water and warm sun about now.

So last night, I stopped by the library and checked out the movies they had. They had one of my favorite television shows of all time on DVD. I loved the show Homicide and being from Maryland, I always liked to see the places in the background of the show. The very first episode had pictures of the park right across the street from where Bob and I were married. Anyway, I am sitting here this morning watching my fourth episode since last night. God,I loved this show!

Anyway, I have blabbed too much this morning.

I hope that you have a great day!!!

PS...

I forgot to mention something neat that happened last night. After Vinny's failure and dinner, we went to pick up Sophia at Bob's parents. We visited for a bit and Sophia went into the kitchen to finish a snack that she had started earlier. Bob went in to see what she was up to and she was happily saying, "Hi squirrel." Bob thought nothing of this since we call Bob's parent's one cat, Clementine, Squirrel (she has a really fluffy tail). But upon looking at what Sophia was seeing, he looked out the window and there sat a raccoon looking right back at them. The raccoon and Sophia were having a conversation. He would leave and then come back to the window so that we all could get a look. He was really cool creature to see.

In all of the years of going to Bob's parent's house (over 16 years now), I have never seen a raccoon there. Sophia loved it and when we got home, I got on the internet and showed her some other pictures of raccoons and also let her hear the sounds they make. What an awesome little nature lesson.

By the way, just in case you have not noticed, I am in the process of updating this page. I need some help getting my links back, so be patient.

By the way, if you like to cook check out Culinary in the Desert. I will link there once I get things sorted out.

Have a wonderful day.

bad...

Is it possible that both my child and my dog are just plain bad? In reality I know that neither is the case, but with the current state of affairs at my house I have to wonder.

Sophia has been very bratty all week and unwilling to concentrate on any task that I give to her. I am hoping that this phase of the terrible twos will not last that long. She can be so sweet, but so nasty in the next second.

Vinny on the other hand has been fine at home, but I took him to the groomers to get his nails clipped and he growled and snapped at the groomer. We could not get a muzzle on him, so needless to say his nails stay untrimmed. He was so nervous that he took a big crap on the floor. I was so embarrassed.

Last night we took Vinny to his weekly obedience class. He started barking right from the moment that we walked into class. He kept barking as we started to do the lessons. We had been there for 10-15 minutes when the instructor walked outside with us for a talk. It was like having a parent-teacher conference, only this was about the dog. In the end, Vinny had to leave. Yup, you got it kicked out of obedience class. I told Bob he is going to have to wear a dunce cap!

So now here is what is going to happen. Starting next week, he will go for private lessons before his normal class starts and then he will spend about 5-10 minutes with the rest of the class. Each week, we will decrease his private lesson and increase the time he spends in the class with the other dogs. The instructor just feels that he is so nervous about the other dogs that he may get upset with us for taking him there. It turns out to be okay, because she is not going to charge us any additional money and give us private lessons.

After Vinny's expulsion, we took him home and since Sophia was at Grammy and Grandpa's house, we went out for a bite to eat. It was a nice break for me, since I cook dinner most nights. We then went to pick up Sophia and wouldn't you know that she was a perfect angel for her grandparents. So Sophia was good as gold, unlike she is for us and Vinny got expelled. What a night for my two kids. Being a dog or kid parent can be exhausting.

I hope your day today goes better than mine did yesterday...

Uhhh...

So here is it 3:15am and I am awake. I went to bed early, which has been the norm for the last week (I am just so damn tired). I woke up at 2:30 to take a pee and I could not sleep, so I decided 45 minutes later that I might as well get up for a bit. I was going to watch TV, but the stinking remote is not turning on the TV and I am just to lazy to get up to turn it on.

The remote really makes me mad sometimes. It is one of those kind that you can program to do everything. This is great, however for no reason sometimes it just stops doing what it is supposed to do. Then if you wait an hour or so, it might work. I don't understand why this happens. When it is working it is wonderful, when it is not, it sucks.

I had sat down on Saturday morning and wrote a nice long post for my blog and wouldn't you know that when I was previewing it something either went wrong with my computer or with Blogger and I lost the entire post. I was too pissed to go back and start over, so I waited a few days to attempt again. God I hope it works this time. The thing that blows about this is that I can not remember what I was posting about. (Must have been really important!)

Vinny continues to do well with his training. He learned three commands in class and is still doing them on a regular basis. We have seen a big improvement in his behavior since going to the class. Maybe he just needed to be challenged. He still kicks it up and runs around in circles sometimes, but he is doing much better. He got really barky in class, because of the other dogs. I can't wait to see how he does around them this week. I am hoping that this will also get better week by week.

So I guess today is the first day of spring or at least it is close to the first day. Wouldn't you know we are only going to have a high of 34 degrees and a likelihood of snow and sleet. This would be okay if I was not driving my neighbors to the airport today. They are leaving for Florida (lucky) to be in the sunshine. I can only hope that from here on out it gets warmer. I have seen a few daffodils in bloom. This always makes me happy, because it is a signal to me to celebrate the arrival of spring and warmer days.

I wish that I had something more interesting to post, but I feel about as dull as a broken pencil point right now. Maybe it is the not being able to sleep thing. I don't know. I guess life is like that sometimes. I have been feeling sort of blah for the last week or so. I have no desire to do the things that I should do. My house, as usual, is a mess. I don't mean this in the way that most people do. You know what I mean, a few things out of place and the house is a mess. Mine is a literal mess. Toys and crap everyplace. Maybe I will feel better tomorrow. Even if I do, things will still be helter-skelter. This is the nature of our household. I feel bad about this sometimes, because it makes it hard for Sophia's friends to come over. I was raised to be very neat, but somewhere along the way, I lost the ability to be and stay neat. Is there some sort of slobs anonymizer out there??? If so, let me know and I will start attending meetings!

It is now 3:41 and I am wondering if I should attempt to go back to sleep. I really don't feel like walking up the steps only to come down in another half hour, because sleep is not on it's way. I hate when I can't sleep. I love to sleep. This drives Bob crazy. If he could do it consistently, he would only sleep about 4 hours a day. He thinks sleeping is a waste of time. I have never had issues sleeping before, but I have had a few episodes over the last week or two. I have always heard that when you can't sleep, you should get up and read or something and then try again later. I really hope this has helped. A sleepy Linda, is a bitchy Linda.

I hope that you are sleeping like a baby right now. Enjoy!!!

Perfect day...

Yesterday was a day to do nothing constructive. I could see the sun coming in through the bedroom windows (even though the blinds were drawn)even before I got out of bed. I knew that it was supposed to be warm, so I showered and dressed for a warm day. When Sophia finally woke up, I dressed her in a similar fashion.

I had a few errands to run, so I quickly got those out of the way and headed out for some play with Sophia. We stopped at a grocery store, picked up a picnic lunch and headed to the playground. As usual Sophia did not eat much and when we were both finished walked over to the playground. She had fun walking up and down the castle shaped playground equipment and after about 45 minutes was ready to go. I was hoping to stay a bit longer, but Sophia has a little cold and rather than have her get crazy, I decided to follow her wishes.

Once she was in her car seat, I decided that I would take the long way home. Sort of a mini road trip. She was happily watching a DVD and was pretty comfortable, so I put down the windows and took off. It was one of those days to feel the wind blowing through your hair. The sun was just so perfect, warm, but not too warm. I took some winding country roads home passing a lake and pointed out interesting things to Sophia. I love taking a drive to nowhere.

After I got home, Sophia took a nap, which also helped the day to be nice, since it gave me a break. Again, I did nothing, but relax. It was great.

After dinner, Bob took Sophia out to play with this huge styrofoam plane. Once outside, they were joined by two neighbor kids. I came out with Sophia's new bubble machine. I pulled the handle and watched bubbles fly out the front of it. The wind was whipping around so hard that the bubbles came out in a tornado like fashion and if you looked at the light through them it looked like sparks instead of bubbles. It started to get dark, so we decided to head in. It was a quiet way to end a wonderful day.

There is always one of those days shortly before or after the start of spring that are just so perfect that you wish they would last forever. No responsibilities, no dishes to wash, no bills to pay, just a time to have fun. It makes me think of when I was younger. You remember it, when you pile some friends into a car and just go for a drive, no particular place to go, but plenty of adventure to be found. These days, there is not as much adventure, but there is always the promise of it. As Sophia gets older I want her to have the same wanderlust about what there is to be found on an early spring day.

On the next nice day, you get out there and find your adventure...

Deconstruction...

We have lived in our house for 12 1/2 years. We have no space, but really don't want to move, so I think we are going to start to update our current house instead. We both hate spending money on this kind of stuff, but deep down inside we know that it is necessary.

So Bob (and me a little bit) started ripping apart our current basement. We had this really cool bar, but as time has moved on, we need the space for Sophia. I will be so glad to get all of her toys out of my living room and into an area just for her. The bar was so well built that it is going to take a circular saw and a crow bar to get it apart. We were sort of sorry to see it go, but all things change.

Other than that there is really nothing new going on right now, so I really don't have much to talk about. Right now I am watching Sophia eating a bowl of Fruit Loops watching TV. She has given up on the spoon and has decided that it would be better to eat with her hands. This makes for a messy table and a messy kid. YUCK! Oh well, I could be sitting at a desk right now frustrated with my boss or co-workers, so I have no complaints.

Well I am off to do some laundry. By the way if you have any carpentry skills, give me a yell, I might need you.

Have a great day!!!

Vinny...

I just wanted to give you and update on Vinny. He seems to be improving. As I got ready to write this, he was sitting his head on my lap for a scratch. He still has a long was to go, but then so do I.

He has really evolved into quite the bed sleeper and I have to fight him for space most nights. Between him, Bob and the three cats, there are some nights that I feel like I only get a small section of the bed, not to mention just the corner of a sheet. Oh well, it is worth it.

I am also glad to report that he has not bit me for at least a week now. I know that he will stop this once he has some training. Well at least I hope he does.

Eventually, I will post a picture of him for you guys to see. He is a pretty neat dog.

Take care!!!!

Two years and counting...

It is that time of year again, when I just wish that spring would get here. I am so tired of being in the house. Besides, I think that Sophia would greatly benefit from a good deal of time being spent outdoors. Kids, like flowers, need sunshine.

Sophia is a very hyper kid. I don't mean this is the way that all two year olds are hyper, but in the way that makes me concerned for her. She does not want to sit still and never concentrates on anything. Plus, other moms have commented about how active she is (some of these mom's have their own two year olds). That being said, I think she is extremely smart, so I would not trade her intelligence for a non-active kid.

Sometimes she can be totally sweet. The other day, we sat in front of the TV and watched the DVD of the days leading up to and including the day she was born. I was in labor for more than two days before finally having a c-section and there was a good deal of waiting going on. I explained what was happening on the DVD and that we were waiting and waiting for her to come out. Finally, we get to the part where she was born. Sophia really watched this part (the DVD Sophia was screaming her head off) almost like she was thinking. Then she turned to me and said, "I love you, Mommy." I almost cried, it was like she was thinking about the sacrifices I had made for her. Maybe she did and maybe she didn't, but what she said warmed my heart.

Two year olds are so hard to figure out. One minute they are going fifty miles an hour, screaming, biting, kicking, etc. and the next minute they are snuggling into you and needing love. You never know which two year old you are going to get. I guess that is what makes parenting so difficult. I would live six days out of the week with a rotten two year old, just to get one day of that loving two year old. That love is the best thing that I have ever had in my life.

Oh for the love of a child!!