Yes, I’m scooting out of town this weekend. I’m braving the Memorial Day Highways. I’m taking off for vacation! Yea, Baby!

We’re going to Albuquerque until Monday. We are visiting the Zoo, Chuck-e-Cheese (I love me some Skeet-ball), the Natural History Museum, and Crackel Barrel! Crackel Barrel is only my most favorite, favoritest place to eat on the entire planet! I’ll take the Uncle Hershel’s Breakfast three times a day, everyday! The sweet tea, the country ham, the biscuits, the hashbrown casserole! My mouth is watering!

(I’m sorry to my sweet little growing fetus who will have to share all the delicious cholesterol, the goppy apple butter jam on buttery biscuits, the salty artery clogging goodness of country ham.)

(But I promise I will make you eat lots of green beans and cauliflower to make up for it once you get here and are old enough!)

(Of course, I probably won’t eat it with you because I don’t like cauliflower and green beans. And, I am one of those moms who lives by the whole ‘Do as I say and not as I do’ theory.)

(Lucky You!)

(But I also have at least a few pie-for-dinner nights a year. I will always keep the fridge stocked with chocolate ice cream for you and your siblings too! Oh, and also Lucky Charms cereal will always be abundant because it’s so magically delicious and all.)

(But you will be doing the dishes every night with Bella. Just ask Austin.)

Anyhow, the Lucky Charms are kind of calling my name right now, Y’all. I’ll be updating post vacation early next week. Enjoy your weekend!

Last week I commented on a favorite blog (My Float). She had talked about letting her mother drive her tot around, and asked what our take was on it. Of course, being the queen of short attention spans, I totally changed the subject, and asked her what the gas price was per gallon in Australia. Stupid question really because it would be very difficult to give me the answer to that since they don’t pump gallons and they don’t use dollars. Anyhow, one person replied that Americans gripe about the price of gas but we pay less than other countries for gas. Very true, and Americans are kind of whiney.

But tonight I watched the Colbert Report and he talked about how other countries give less profit to oil companies and more of the price per litre or gallon go towards goverment taxes which fund research on alternative fuel sources and more plentiful public transportation. So we do have a reason to whine, but not for the reasons we thought. Yes, the price per gallon is rediculous, but wouldn’t you cope with it if you knew that the end result was going to be an alternative to oil for our children’s futures & our environment? Americans think they are leaders, but we aren’t. Other countries are led by those less corrupt. Or is that possible? Using the words leader and uncorrupt in the same sentence.

It’s a shame that we all know what is wrong & we know some of the solutions, but we are so preoccupied with the day to day life that we are unwilling to demand that our government represent us instead of selling us out to the oil companies. Why is that? Even though we refuse to act as a whole to make things better, we will ultimately pay as a whole for our inaction.

I know, I know. The “oil talk” is old news. And political talk is a big no-no on a blog, isn’t it? It’s the quickest way to lose any readers who aren’t comfortable with politics, or by those bored by politics. Sorry readers. I guess I needed to air my frustrations. I filled my tank for $75 today. I earned the right to a whine today. Tomorrow I’ll go back to being a good little American who knows my place and pays my taxes and drives my gas guzzling SUV.

We had an unfortunate event happen, in which I did what I do best: FREAKED THE HELL OUT!

Bella was contently eating her dinner in her yard sale bought highchair. She had a little buffet of her favorite yums: cheese, pasta, peaches, and carrots. I was sitting on the couch, Jeremy and Austin on the floor playing video games, Bella in the kitchen just a few feet away. She started fussing a bit so I asked Jeremy to move her chair into the living room with us so that she feels like she’s with us. He grabs the chair by the tray and the back of the chair and suddenly, CRASH, the back broke off of the chair and our baby fell to the ground! She instantly had the breathless, momentarily quiet cry of the worlds most awful ouch known to mankind. Her entire face was red and squinched for what seemed like minutes before the first scream was heard. I knew it hurt because it was such a horrible fall, and she had been so content before I asked him to move her. THE GUILT! The CRIES! The BUMP! THE GUILT! Once I embraced her, she clung to me like a tree sloth, arms and legs locked so tightly around me! Save me, Momma! Make it better, Momma! Awwww! Crazy how trusting they are of us parents and how they come to us for comfort. The same parents that are the ones who dropped them on their little noggins in the first place!

Anyways– I paced, hugged, sang, stressed, wimpered, sweat, rocked, kissed, rubbed her little hurt head. She was sweating and crying, and for the first time ever, could not be comforted with my love. So, by this time I was freaking out and trying to keep cool. Finally, she fell asleep on my lap. I waited a bit and then layed her down to change her diaper and put fresh sleepers on. She woke after I changed her diaper and instantly threw. up. everywhere! You wouldn’t have known this much food and fluid could come out of one tiny little person! I had it in my hair, down my arms, my lap, between my bosoms.

PayBACK, Momma!

After I got up with her and handed her to Jeremy so that she didn’t get the throw up on her too, she then threw up all over him. I instantly picked up the phone and called the doctors office because I-Am-No-Dummy! I know a brain injury when I see one!

Check her pupils! I don’t know what you’re looking for but JUST LOOK! Can she stand up, can she walk around, does she look at you when you talk to her, is she going to sleep because DON’T LET HER GO TO SLEEP!? Is there clear fluid coming out of her nose? Of course there is, she’s been crying and her nose is running. IT’S NOT SPINAL FLUID, STEPH! It’s SNOT! Breath. Steph. Breath.

Jeremy said, “Chill out woman, she is fine!” But no, I had to call the after hours number to cry and whine to the nurse on the other end of the phone who, of course, confirmed that I was again being a a bit of a neurotic ninny. But. It’s. THE LOVE, people! The LOVE makes me this way!

It’s me that has a brain injury. But, really, don’t buy your babe’s highchair at a yardsale. K? See my “Wish List” Link to the right? Well, highchairs for BOTH babes is on that list! 

Most of us have one or two pet peeves. Here’s a couple of mine…

• Have you noticed that when you eat in an office or workplace, everyone has to comment on it? “What’s that you’re eating?”, “Sure smells good, where’s mine?”, “Is that treating you good?” I find that I have to duck behind my monitor at work when I snack on something so I can avoid all the commentary on my consumption of food. Let me eat in peace!

             “Hey, quit staring! It’s rude!!”

• I really hate the way people in Colorado drive. I know, I know… I’m generalizing. It’s not all Coloradoans but… In N.C. I rarely had this problem on the roads. Ok, when there are two lanes going the same direction, such as a highway but town roads aren’t exempt, people in these parts have absolutely no concept of riding in the right lane unless you are passing. In general, you should only be in the left lane if you are passing someone or if you are turning left. This benefits everyone! I also hate the way people in these parts drive 5 miles under the speed limit unless there is ice or snow on the roads. When there is, these people drive 20 miles over the speed limit. Go figure!

But on the flip side, there are things about humanity that make me feel very connected too.

• An example of what I love about humanity is those moments where we move slow enough through life that we notice each other. For example, I love it when I get stopped at an intersection when the train is coming through. The people riding the train hang out the windows and the open cars to wave at the traffic stopped. Everyone sits there for those brief minutes waving at each other and smiling. The young, the old, the thin, the round, the black, the white… We stop for a moment and see one another.

What’s your pet peeve? Or, if you are lucky enough to not have one, what aspect of humanity do you love?