Girl, Interrupted

Just a quick note to let everyone know that my email address with AOL has been frozen, which essentially means that life as I know it has come to screeching halt. Okay, maybe that's a bit dramatic, but it sure FEELS that way. So here I am in the first few weeks of adjusting to my new stay at home mom status and then Rory gets sick. Sinus infection, double ear infection, snot everywhere sick. We are basically confined to our house for five days and not only am I drowning in a pile of dirty Kleenex, I'm also totally climbing the walls. And now, to add insult to injury, I CAN'T GET MY STINKIN' EMAIL! My lifeline to the outside world has been cut off!

Here's the story: Today I go to log into my AOL email and I get this error message that says, "This account has been frozen for security reasons. Please have the account holder contact AOL." Uh, what? I've had this same email address since AOL first came out FIFTEEN years ago and I've never had this problem. So I call AOL's service line to see what the deal is and when they ask for my name to verify that I'm the account holder, there is a long pause. The guy comes back and tells me that the account holder is actually my father. You see, all those years ago, my dad set up my email address as part of a family account and apparently that was never changed. The guy also tells me that only my dad can call to get the account re-instated. UH OH.

Now, usually that wouldn't be a big problem, except of course my parents just left for a two week trip to Rwanda to see gorillas (yes, totally random, I know) and seeing as how they are in the middle a jungle somewhere retracing the steps of Diane Fossey, well, they are sort of UNREACHABLE.

ARRRRRGGGGH!

So what the heck am I supposed to do for two weeks? I can't even send everyone an email to tell them to use a temporary email address because my contact list is in my AOL account. WHICH IS FROZEN.

Soooo, just in case any of YOU are trying to get in touch with me via email, please use my Yahoo address, which is rorysmama@yahoo.com until further notice.

If I can survive that long...

Newsletter 2.11

Dear Rory -
Well, the invitations are out and it's official, in two weeks you are going to be turning three. THREE! I know that I will probably say this almost every time you have a birthday, but where did this year go? I've always heard that time really starts to fly when you have children, but no one told me that it moved at WARP SPEED.

I get dizzy just thinking about.



Although I have to admit that I'm not THAT sad that you are leaving your terrible twos behind (you ARE, right?) because they most definitely have not been all sunshine and roses! But perhaps all the fussiness is a result of the amazing changes that take place between ages two and three - there is no doubt that this year has seen you change from a little toddler to a BOY. It's darn impressive to think of how far you've come in the last twelve months - you think for yourself now, you have the words to tell us just about anything you want to (a skill you certainly practice ALL THE TIME!), and you're constantly telling us that that you want to do everything "all by myself!". You have become our little Mr. Independent.



Some of your quirks of the moment include:
- A sudden, intense dislike of freeways (where on Earth did that come from?) so much so that if we want any peace and quiet in the car, we have to find back roads to everywhere. So if we are late for something these days, you know why!
- Picking your nose and telling me that you are trying to get the "stuffies" out.
- Grabbing your guitar and singing a quick song about whatever activity you are about to do next. (For example, today it was, "I'm gonna take a nap now, a nap now, a nap now. I'm gonna take a nap now, in my bed today! Thank you, everyone! Goodnight!")



- Trying to imitate the dance moves from "High School Musical" because you already have ALL the words to the songs memorized.
- Finding a new favorite stuffed animal (or "buddy" as you call it) to hug for the week that ultimately ends up in your bed. To date, you have Monks, Lili, Baby Bear, Sunny and Dewey all sleeping with you (and I hate to tell you this, but your "big boy bed" really isn't THAT BIG.)
- Talking to your imaginary friends, Doe and Dee, on your phone
- And last but not least - telling us, "Not now, but soon!" everytime we ask you to do something, you little procrastinator!

It's been quite a year, Ro - not an easy one for me by any stretch of the imagination, but I forgive you for your part in that because, well, you can't help that you were a two year old. And you had that whole " terrible twos" image to live up to, right? (Super job with that, by the way!) And although I've heard that year three can sometimes be even harder (HARDER???), I can at least count on the fact that it's going to be interesting. Because with you, Ro, there is NEVER a dull moment.

And honestly, I don't think I'd want it any other way.

Love,
Mama

Panic Attack

We've been working hard at getting Rory to go to sleep in his big boy bed by himself, and I mistakenly thought we were finally getting things under control. Last night, Hoby put him to bed, and since he didn't take a nap, it wasn't a surprise when everything got quiet upstairs fairly quickly. Hoby and I actually had a few hours together and I was patting myself on the back for getting back into some semblence of a routine.

Two hours later, we head up to bed, and Hoby goes to check on our sleepy head while I go put on my pajamas. Two seconds later, I hear Hoby say rather loudly, "Stacy, WHERE IS RORY?!". And I think, kinda late for a joke, isn't it? Hoby appears at our bedroom door and says, "No, really - WHERE IS RORY? He's not in his room!" and I can see by the look on his face that he's TOTALLY NOT KIDDING. And suddenly, I can't breathe.

We start to look in all the other rooms upstairs - the bathroom (maybe he's in the bathtub sleeping?), the laundry room (did he climb into the dryer?), until finally, Hoby opens the door to his office (which is off limits to Rory) and there is he is - fast asleep on the couch. And once my lungs had a chance to re-inflate, and all of the horrible visions of missing children ads on milk cartons stopped blurring my vision, I smothered my Rory with kisses until we tucked him back into his bed, safe and sound.

Rory, don't ever scare your Mama like that again!

Passing on the Love of Target

Recently I bought Rory a little book in the dollar section of Target called "Bye Bye Pacifier." We've been trying to work up the guts to get rid of his "chewie" as he calls it, and I thought this book might be a way to start the process. So I'm reading Rory the story this afternoon before naptime and it goes a little something like this:

Bye bye Chewie? (Actually, it says pacifier, but you get the idea.)
No! I love my chewie!
I take it with me everywhere,
but sometimes it gets in the way.
My mommy is always so happy
when I take my chewie out of my mouth.
One day she asked me if I would mail my chewie
to a baby that needs one,
so I took my chewie out and put it in an envelope.
Mommy and Daddy are so proud of me!
They say I'm a big boy now!

After I finished reading this little gem to Rory, I say to him, "Hey Ro, how would you like to give your chewies to some babies that need them?"

He shakes his head and says, "No, that's okay, Mama. Their mommies can just buy them some at Target."

So much for THAT idea.

The End of an Era

Today was my last day at the Mother of All Coffee Houses. This day had such huge significance for me, and yet, to everyone else getting coffee, it was just another average day. Definitely a weird feeling. But everytime I would start to get a twinge of regret of leaving, an obnoxious customer would come in, almost as if on cue, and I'd mentally pat myself on the back and think, thank God I won't have to deal with this CRAP anymore!

- I had a woman practically throw a TANTRUM because we didn't put the sleeve on her cup for her - she actually demanded that her drink be free because of it!

- A man THREW his wadded up cash at me while talking on his cell phone, and then proceeded to hold up the line because he hadn't paid me enough and I couldn't get his attention.

- And my very LAST customer was a guy who accused me of trying to rob him because he thought he gave me a twenty but actually gave me a ten. He didn't believe me so he kept demanding his change. What a pain in the ass!

But then my darling husband showed up with flowers, and after I clocked out for the last time, he swept me off to dinner to celebrate the end of an era.

And the beginning of a new one.

Let the Countdown Begin...

For those of you who might not know, this will be my last week at The Mother of All Coffee Houses. Since I'm still making less than ten dollars an hour, even after almost three years (THREE YEARS!) and Hoby will now have health benefits with his job, it just didn't seem logical for me to stay any longer.

People keep asking me if I'm going to miss working there, and most of the time, the answer is yes. But just when I begin to second guess my decision to leave, something like THIS happens:

- a lady actually demands that I remake her latte because her name is spelled wrong on her cup.

- a man comes and takes his tip back from the tip jar because we didn't put the sleeve on his cup for him (even though they are right there on the counter for people to put on themselves...)

- while I am sweeping the crumbs off the floor, a woman says to me, "Take your broom somewhere else. Not only are you being rude, but you are bothering my allergies!" and because I only have one more week to go I actually tell her, "Only if you say PLEASE."

Hmmm, will I miss it???

My Brother is Dating Who?

I open up my online news page today and see this headline:
"Lindsay Lohan's New Squeeze is Jeremy Greene"

After laughing my ass off, I decided that I just had to post this on my blog. (Not that it couldn't happen, Bro - hahahaha!)

Bedtime Battleground

I'm beginning to seriously question our decision to take Rory out of his crib and put him into a bed. And I mean SERIOUSLY. We had finally gotten into a decent routine where we could put him down to sleep in his crib with a kiss and then walk away without a fuss (and trust me, it took us quite awhile to get there - just read some of my old blog posts!). Now I feel like we're all the way back at square one, having to lay down with him, not just to get him to go to sleep , but to get him just to STAY IN HIS BED. He's decided that it's a game to get up and sneak out to find us, and no amount of threatening or following through with punishment seems to be helping. It's been taking me an entire hour to get him to go down for his naps - and it's a constant battle just to keep him laying down. And once he finally dozes off, I have to hold my breath, tip-toe out of the room, and pray that the floor doesn't squeak - because if he hears me leaving, well, all hell breaks loose.

Arrrgh! This sucks.

Four Things About Yours Truly

Okay, for some reason I can't help but do these things when people send them to me. Come on admit you, you kinda like them, too...

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Barista at Starbucks
2. Corporate Meeting Planner
3. Marketing Coordinator for a publishing company
4. Programming Counselor for Disney Cruise Lines

Four movies I’ve watched more than once: (not including the one's that my son makes me watch a million times, like Polar Express and High School Musical!)
1. French Kiss (This is not as kinky as it sounds - it's a Meg Ryan movie, really!)
2. Titanic (Who HASN'T see this more than once?!)
3. Momento
4. Never Been Kissed

Four T.V. Shows that I regularly watch:
1. The Office
2. Grey's Anatomy
3. Lost
4. Chuck

Four places I've traveled to:
1. Kenya, Africa
2. Venice, Italy
3. London, England
4. Nassau in the Carribean

People who e-mail me (regularly):
1. Sara Cameron
2. My Mom
3. Hoby
4. Pam Gil

Four of my favorite foods (WHAT? ONLY FOUR????):
1. Peanut Butter
2. Sushi
3. The cheese bread from Red Lobster (Yummo!)
4. Anything with Chocolate AND Peanut Butter

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Getting a massage
2. In a boat (preferrably on a lake)
3. On a beach in Hawaii with a drink in my hand
4. At the movies (Hey, I had to make at least ONE of these somewhat attainable.)

Four things I am looking forward to this year:
1. Rory being potty trained
2. My 10 year Disney Cruise Line Reunion in Orlando this July
3. Going on a cruise to Mexico in August
4. Hopefully having another baby

Four things you probably don't know about me:
1. I'm afraid of fire
2. I'm flat-footed
3. I'm a speed reader
4. I can't drive a stick shift (ridiculous, I know - but true.)