Mother's Day 2.0

Babies OBVIOUSLY don't get the point of Mother's Day.

Maybe it's just me, but I kind of come at it like birthdays and Valentine's Day. If you don't expect anything, it's a nice surprise when you get something. (Yeah, I know. There is a lot of childhood trauma wrapped up in that statement.)

Anyway...

It is now 8:03 PM. I wondered today - out loud - why we ever wanted children. Until approximately 6:45 pm tonight. Grace is just shy of 19 months old. She doesn't know today from any other day in the year, except for the fact that Daddy made the pancakes this morning. (Which I swear she did raise an eyebrow to - as in Hey, what are you doing to my pancakes? :)

Grace was a basket case today. We are chalking it up to an ear infection - she's been tugging on her ears for days. Then, as always, 5 pm on Friday hits and she started running a temperature. Still, she was horrible today.

Today consisted of:
Crying for no reason.
Begging to be picked up and then insisting upon being put back down. Then demanding to be picked up again.
Refusing to have a diaper change and then rolling around and smearing the poo everywhere as soon as said diaper was unfastened.
Not wanting milk and then screaming when you put it back in the fridge.
Similarly, screaming for food and then feeding it to the dog when presented.

It was a brilliant day.

Then we opened a bottle of wine and for whatever reason, it suddenly got better. I did feel sad, knowing in the moment of the wine cork pop, that I would not be calling a fellow Mama for post-dinner drinks tonight, but c'est la vie. The wine turned all of our moods around. That was worth the sacrafice.

Suddenly Grace was gigging. Sure it was because Matt was punting her Pedipeds over her like in make shift football form, but so what.

She was happy. I was happy. WE WERE HAPPY.

Now tonight, Mother's Day 2.0 is closing with a bang. I will suck down the rest of my wine, and drift off to dreams of a teenager who tells me "I love you mom. What can I do to make this day better for you?"

I know it is a dream, but it is my wine and my dream - so I can do with it as I wish.

Gifting

Birthdays are hard. So hard. There is so much pressure for perfection.

Christmas is a mass celebrations. Everyone gets in on the action on some level. Birthdays are all about an individual. Your one day. Which is so much more special.

This year… today… Matt is 35.

I got my idea for his birthday present during my Christmas shopping.

Oooo! He’d really like this book, but it would put me way over the damn budget we set. Meh, I’ll just wait for his birthday! No budgets there!

So I did and now I am second guessing my choice.

----------------- I bought him this -----------------


And from within the book's pages I bought him this….

------- Sandeman 20 Years Old Tawny Port -------

********************* And this *********************

-------------- Bonny Doon Le Cigare Volant ---------------

********************* And this *********************

----------Chateau Ste. Michelle Eroica Riesling-------------

Notice a theme here? Yeah, that's how we roll.

I know he will like it, but all of a sudden it feels so selfish. Not because it is something I bought for myself, but because it is something that I know he will insist on sharing with me. Who drinks wine by themselves? Isn’t the point of this book to taste together??

Oh, well. It was selected with good intensions in my heart.

I guess I should have gone with the Old Style bike jersey though.

While this still follows the booze theme, you could bet every penny that I would never want to put it on my body.

Happy Birthday Matt!

The Crazies

Tonight was eventful. It was dramatic. Not the good kind of drama though. There are no awards to be given out. Well, maybe I'll nominate myself for Most Ridiculous.

1) We just had our 1st Wii (yeah, we bought one- more to come on that) related fight. Stupid, huh? I know. I was upset. I am really hormonal right now, which is what I am blaming all of my other frustrations on.

2) I went to the doctor today and found out I have a cyst that needs to be cut off. I am only typing this out loud because I don't think anyone (outside of a few friends that I would tell anyway) read this blog.
It's not a big deal. It is in a place that rarely sees daylight so it is something that I've been ignoring for years, but finally sucked it up and had it poked at yesterday.
You know when the Dr.'s response is "Oh my!" it is never a good thing. She said she has no doubt that is benign though, so there is no worries.
Just outpatient hacking into my flesh and a referral to a surgical team that seem to all speak some Middle-Eastern dialect. I am freaked out.

3) Given #1 & #2, I am drinking. Box wine. That is our reaction to the economic downturn. And I'm shopping a lot less during lunch breaks. Sad isn't it?

OK, so I've typed a 1,2 & 3, and am realizing that that is all I have. Thank you NES, blogging really is a form of therapy. #1 is because of #2 and is instigated by #3. I feel better already.

VaCa - Day 7

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 8

Clouds rolled in on Saturday which made water activity a little bit chilly.

Matt and I had decided that we would go to the lazy river with Grace and take turns doing loops around. I went first, then Matt. In an attempt to warm Gracie up while Matt was away I laid in a deck chair with her on my chest and towels over us for heat. She promptly fell asleep.

Matt went around the river a few times and then brought me a Pina Colada for my motherly efforts. Just for the records, they are quite difficult to drink while lying prone with an infant on your chest, but I was determined and persevered.

Throw in some souvenir shopping and a quick trip to buy some beautiful steaks for our last meal and that was Saturday.

So let me back track and tell the story of …. THE FLAMING COFFEE!

Matt does obscene amounts of research before we go on trips. He is more than a little bit neurotic, but it works out well in the end for me, so I try not to complain too much.

One of the places he read about was the Columbus Tavern.

Under more fruitful economic times, they used to offer a full buffet of free appetizers during happy hour, which is defiantly a draw. Well, those times have passed my friend. At 5pm we were the only folks anywhere near the place. It was ok though because the elevated outdoor restaurant offered a beautiful sunset and still made their Flaming Coffee (a specialty that isn't even on the menu).

What is a flaming coffee you might ask?

Well, picture a daiquiri glass with 1/3 light rum, 1/3 dark rum, 1/3 banana rum & a dash of coffee. Potent stuff.

Where does the flame come in?

Once the rums (and by 1/3, I meant 1/3 of the glass!) are in, the glass is held over a flame until the liquor light on fire. Then it is poured between two glasses in a dare-devil of a show.

None of the workers had ANY arm or knuckle hair.

Matt was quite impressed with the show and the resulting drink.

On the way home, we walked by the One & Only Ocean Club's (you know, where they filmed the James Bond 'Casino Royal' movie) Versailles Garden, which is truly spectacular.

Ah, to be rich and able to afford to actually stay there ….