| Toni 的个人资料FIGHTING INSANITY照片日志列表 |  工具  帮助 |
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12月24日 Obligatory Christmas MessageChristmas Eve!
The best day of the year...
So far this week we've kept busy. My husband and father in law are building a train table for Mia in the garage and will hopefully be done by tomorrow. They are going to rig it so that it folds up onto the wall and pulls down for convienent playtime, which is good since her room is a little on the crammed side already. The kid does love trains...and train tracks. And the animals that play on the tracks, and the engines that talk to them.
The mousehouse is...well, it's polyurethaned. There's not so much to do until I get "unstuck". I want to make doors...I guess I will have to risk breaking my precious Dremel and just figure it out by trial and error...the directions are a little too complicated to pay much attention to. Of course.
We have seen Charlotte's Web--wonderful movie. Mia absolutely loved it. I teared up...my father in law teared up! You'd also think with a cast of such famous people making the voices that all the characters would basically be...well, the celebrity and not the animals they were supposed to be...for the most part that was untrue--the story was touching and quiet and fun...you would have no clue who the voices were if you hadn't already heard the hype. Cute movie. Great for the kiddies.
We made our customary Christmas cookies--the kind we make every year--sugar cookies with sickeningly sweet icing. Caleb and his dad worked the hardest trying to decorate or "paint" their cookies...a good time was had by all, especially Mia, who blatantly ate the icing by the spoonful rather than drizzling it on her star, or bell, or whatever cookie we happened to give her. She did restrain herself, however, and not eat the cookie.
Tonight we are hoping to rustle up a good hearty meal of steak and shrimp and God-knows-what-else before checking out Christmas lights in the town. There's a display down in Chickasha (about 25 minutes south of here) that's supposedly pretty amazing. We've been meaning to make the drive all season long to see it, but it hasn't happened. Tonight may be our last chance.
We have a tradition at my house that each person gets to open ONE present under the tree on Christmas Eve. We will be continuing that tradition along with the one that Santa leaves a Christmas nightgown on the end of your bed for you to find and put on in the morning. I think perhaps this year, though, I will be left out in the cold as far as the PJ's go...my mom has always been the one to spoil me with Christmas jammies, and Caleb has remembered one year and snagged me a clearance pair of flannel pants...but this year I forgot to drop 24 hints and I have a feeling that may cost me. And I'm sort of okay with it, after our kick-ass anniversary dinner and all.
Caleb has received from me for Christmas permission to buy himself a sweet radio-controlled jeep from ToysRUs. It was well worth the $30 he spent; the thing has been played with everyday since he purchased it. I figured it would suffice as a present from me; I spend his money to buy everyone presents, including his, and I was out of ideas, and he really wanted it...so it works, right?
I've been thinking about everyone and I hope you are all out there somewhere having a good Christmas with your family and friends. Mom, Dad, Jenny & James, Katie, Grammy, Grandma, Uncle Tony, Donna, Kay & Larry, Michele, Nancy, Jan & Fam, Camille, Casey & Phil & Brandon, and everyone else I forgot to mention, I miss you all and I wish we were there, but I know, somehow I know, without us, you'll be okay. And we'll be alright too.
Have a Merry Christmas you guys! 12月21日 Take Good Care of My Baby I made it all the way up until I saw the truck pull out of the driveway and zoom down the road.
Then a tear.
I played "Designer's World". I played with Play-dough. I ate breakfast--Cocoa-Krispies! Surely that would be enough to keep any normal person in a good mood.
But sure enough, 2 and a half hours after Cheyenne left this morning, I had my customary break-down. Tears, running mascara, snotty nose...handfuls of hair.
Just kidding about the handfuls of hair.
So far, Mia has been able to blissfully ignore me by setting up a Weeble Village in the living room. I carried on for about 5 minutes in the closet, blew my nose, and came back out. "Mommy's happy!" she shouted.
Now the worrying will set in--"Gee, he left in an awful hurry. I hope he's not speeding the entire way there. And the weather? It's supposed to rain...maybe even snow! What if they slide off road and are trapped for a week in a snowy ravine? I didn't even pack the kid a cooler! What kind of mother am I?"
Seriously, I didn't even pack her a measly little PBJ. No bottled water, no baby cokes. What was I thinking this morning? I even forgot to send the blanket I laid out for her to sleep with in the car. And wait, Cheyenne! Did you remember to go to the bathroom? You know, you may want to stop somewhere and let her go again...she usually needs a lot time in the morning if you know what I mean. Don't let her get too filled up on greasy drive-thru food--it does a number on her stomach after a while. And, please--hold the music featuring adult themes and language. She's got a wonderful selection of teeny-bopper CD's. "High School Musical" is a current favorite--you'll love it. Which reminds me--no scary movies. No rated R, or even PG-13, really. She's young and impressionable. In fact, since you don't get that much time together, how about no movies at all? Use this time to talk. And don't fill her head with dumb ideas and close-minded opinions. You do most of the listening. Ask her about her poems, see if she'll play a song on her flute. Did you know she made first chair? Oh, man. I should've remembered to send her ball and glove. That might be something fun to do. But then, it might be too cold. Crap! I forgot to pack her scarf and mittens! Pick some up for her--and don't let her outside without them, and she will try to sneak out naked-handed.
Let her call me. I gave her a calling card with 2 million minutes on it. That ought to do it. If she needs to, she can call us collect. Mia's gonna wonder where she is--she's going to want to talk to her sister. The dogs--will they understand? How am I going to explain this to them?
And how are we going to do this Christmas without Cheyenne? You know, you've totally wrecked our cozy little routine.
I hope Cheyenne has a fabulous time. Take care of her. And I know you have to make up time, but please--keep the speeding down. 12月20日 Toni's Hazardous One of the perks to having an early Christmas is being able to play with all the cool toys your kids get THAT MUCH LONGER. In my case, the designated toy of choice is "Designer's World", a video game of sorts that plugs right into your TV. I've been itching to try it out ever since it appeared on Cheyenne's wish list. I could barely contain myself when the time came to open it--I had to hold back and let Cheyenne give it the first go around. I've snuck plays in while she slaved away at school this week, and even more still while spending quality holiday time with her before she had to leave.
The object of this game is to design clothes, enter fashion shows, be rated in stars by a panel of easy to very hard judges, and sell your designs to the world. I don't know exactly where the game ends; it's not a competition as it's a one-player game. World domination? Perhaps. I've only made it to Chicago.
We've even gotten Caleb to dabble after a few beers. It was actually pretty scary how cool his designs were.
Cheyenne is still here today; I sent her off to school for the customary Christmas parties and movies. I get to see my baby one day longer than expected. I'm not complaining.
Today I put a rug in the washing machine. I suppose it might have been a little oversized. Let's just say Caleb is pretty peeved with me after having to mop up gallons of soapy water from the laundry room floor.
That's about all I got. We're headed out for a little bite to eat and some evening shopping--I also managed to break our 3rd coffee pot in 6 months today by gently tapping it on the kitchen faucet. Who'd thought? 12月18日 Hammed Out Day 17...or is it 18? Only 1 week of shopping left.
Yes, well, that's the rest of the world. We here at the household of Toni have already celebrated Christmas--as of Saturday night, all Cheyenne's presents were ripped open, tried on and tried out. Ham was eaten. Ham is still being eaten. I've successfully stuffed myself with nothing but ham for the last 36 hours. I feel sick.
As I keep mentioning, perhaps because I'm still trying to come to grips with it, Cheyenne will be leaving early Wednesday morning to spend the official holidays with her West Virginia side of the family. Everytime she leaves, I feel like someone ran over my puppy for a week. (If she's even gone that long).
We decided to have an early celebration--full of presents, and family, and obviously, ham--Cheyenne's choice. She seemed pretty pleased with all her "loot" until I told her she couldn't hang the million purses she has accumulated on the posts of her bed--too cluttery, too distracting. This demand did not sit well with her, and for the next hour or two I had a moody pre-teen sulking in a corner of the living room. Is this how it is to be from now on? That we can't even enjoy the teeny little family Christmas that we have together? Will she act this way for my ex's side of the family?
I know I should feel priviledged that Caleb and I get to experience every mood swing, every hissy fit, every drama fest, Cheyenne has to offer.
Actually, we are. So that's all I really need to say about the matter.
Cheyenne won't be back until the first week of January--a full 2 weeks gone from us--and I know she'll be taken care of, she'll be polite...
We'll have my father-in-law here for extra company. And Mia--she's at a fun age for Christmas. I'm already thinking of taking her to see "Charlotte's Web" as a litte family treat, maybe to lift our spirits if we need it.
The weather is not looking too cozy. Winter storm warnings for Tuesday and Wednesday...the sky is eerily yellow and clouded over right now.
Mia wants to play and have hot chocolate. Everyone have a great day. 12月15日 The Year of ToniBecause he is being forced to do this at work, Caleb has suggested that I, too, make a list of my 2007 goals. Not that I always listen to him, but it's not a bad idea. So, just for me, I'm writing them down, in no real particular order.
2007:
FUTURE :
Okay. Those are them. I guess my main focus these days is just trying to get my brain and body back to being smooth running machines again; both have basically turned to mush from staying at home these last 2 years. Not that there's anything wrong with that; I've just gotten...comfortable...wandering around the house all day in my jammies, putting off til tomorrow what should've been done yesterday...Staying in a "toddler" frame of mine with not much outside adult influence. I've sort of let myself go a little, and by that I don't mean I walk around in moo-moos eating frosting right out of a can and belching every 5 seconds. I mean I've been to lax; "I don't feel like it right now" has become the consistent excuse for unfinished projects, put-off household chores. I put on make-up and dress nicely only when there's somewhere for me to go. Those types of things. Ah, yes, well I've rambled enough. Those are my goals and come hell or high water I'm going to meet them. 12月13日 Preheating the Oven Oh man. I'm way behind.
It didn't really occur to me that we are in fact still trying to get pregnant, until I wandered over to KM's Barnyard space and read that she is almost 3 months knocked up.
We haven't forgotten really, or given up; in fact, we've been getting busy way more often than normal lately...but I think that may have something to do with the "The Chinese Lunar Calendar" indicating December as our official boy-baby making month--and we all know how Caleb is dead-set on having a son.
I myself couldn't be happier with...another girl. Or a boy. I'm down for either one.
While I won't go on and on about our seemingly neverending quest for another child, I will dedicate this next list to expecting first-time mother KM.
STUFF I JUST LOVE FOR MY KIDS:
Well, I only made it to 3. That's because there's a buttload of great stuff I can think of, and I realized how much time it would actually take to list it all. So I'll go in spurts. I'll do another 3 in a few weeks or something. And who knows? At this rate maybe even I will be knocked up by then. 12月12日 Toni LikeyOy.
What a last several days I've had. Let me begin by giving a big honkin' THANK YOU to my father-in-law, for everything he's done for us over this past week. Not only did was he our baby-sitting slave, he got me a kick-ass DREMEL for my further mousehouse creations.
And I don't mean one teensy hand held tool. I'm talking the whole enchilada, bits, pieces, attachments, a dremel-stocked carrying case...ANYTHING and everything a dollhouse maker could possibly want or need, plus a few things even Caleb can make use of.
This Dremel is insane. It's even got a magnifying glass with a little light, a wand attachment thingy that lets me work on really tiny details...sanders, carvers, cutters...I plan to have a lot of fun with it this week.
Saturday night, as I mentioned, Caleb and I went out to eat with one of his dealers--it was nice. Very nice. Dinner was ridiculous--more food on one plate than an entire family could hope to eat in one night. After the restaurant, the group decided we were going to the club. The club. Us.
Being a former barfly/club-goer (this is how I met my husband in the first place), the club shouldn't seem like a big deal--but I was immediately nervous. What if I forgot how to dance? Am I dressed right? And man, 9:00--that's pretty late. Shouldn't we be getting home?
We did indeed go and we had a good time. This place actually had bull riding--not the mechanical kind, either. Real live cowboys on real live bulls, every hour on the hour, kept us entertained until midnight. Caleb and I drank, but not too much, we danced, as best as we could...Caleb got what I for some reason feel is a compliment from one of our fellow party goers--"Caleb, your wife can dirty-fkin-dance!"
Now that should make any husband proud.
We had a marvelous night. I felt like a kid. We even stayed out until 1:30 a.m. Amazing for us.
Onto the main event--Monday night--our anniversary. Oh my goodness. Let me say that I'm happy to go down the street to the 7-11 as long as Caleb and I have alone time together. That's rare in itself. But my glorious husband went all the way last night--we went to Oklahoma City's "The Nikz": a revolving restaurant that's 20 stories high. The view was breathtaking. We got there right at sunset, not coincidentally the hour we were married. The wonderful thing about eating so early was that we had THE ENTIRE place to ourselves...at least for a while. It was just the...classiest, fanciest place I've ever been...the waiter had a black tie and offered us 8 different choices of bottled water.
What?!!!
We decided to skip the $20 water and go straight for the champagne. After a toast and appetizers, Caleb suggested we walk around and take a look at all the different rooms. We dined on roast duck, and lamb, and apricots of all things. He suprised me with jewelry, he gazed lovingly at me all night long, and said things like "Nothing but the best for my wife," and "You deserve to feel like a princess tonight" and "I saw this bracelet and thought you might be able to make it look prettier."
Not too shabby for Toni.
I always knew my husband was capable of such a romantic evening, but never once expected it or needed it. We've always had fun no matter where we've gone together, but this was over the top. I felt like a total grown-up...and it wasn't so bad.
The jewelry alone--it's not something you just find in any old store. It's unique, it's so...me. Caleb put a lot of thought into it.
I am adding this anniversary date to my list of heavens for sure. Happy Anniversary Caleb, and I love you. 12月7日 Hurried ThoughtsOnly 17 shopping days left, people.
Oh, Holy Crap. I still have to buy, wrap and MAIL most of the presents I'm giving. I was trying real hard not to get wrapped (ha! wrapped!) up in the craziness of this season, but it's hard. It's real hard. And I'm just one man.
It's not that I've gone nuts with spending...I've kept that part under control. I'm just starting to freak out that it's almost the second week of December and I have yet to make cookies...elaborately decorated cookies. The ole frozen dough from the grocery store just won't do; ever since I can remember, we've had these tasty sugar cookies made from scratch at Christmas time. I'd definitely label them as tradition, and the holidays wouldn't seem complete without an entire night spent frosting them and sprinkling them, accidentally breaking them and eating them...good times, good times.
Caleb's dad will be arriving tomorrow bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and ready for babysitting duty. Caleb and I have been invited to a Christmas party Saturday night. But that's not the best part. Monday night is our anniversary, and for the first time in our history, Caleb...made...RESERVATIONS! Yep, that's right. Now, personally, I don't care if he made reservations to MacDonald's. To me, it's just the thought, the planning...but lucky for me we're going to some restaurant, in downtown OKC, on the 22nd floor of some building, and...it's revolving. Okay, so I hope I'm not coming off as tacky or bumpkin for being so excited about something like this, but I'm super stoked. I just can't wait to spend some time with Caleb, alone. This is pretty major for me. Now I just have to see if I can come up with stuff other than child-raising to talk to him about.
What else, what else? The mousehouse has come to a standstill. I know what I want to do to it, I just don't know how to go about getting it done. Furniture--I dread getting out the carving tool again but it looks like the project is headed that way.
I've been drinking heavily again...the coffee. Bigtime.
Mia's obsessed with Dora the Explorer. We held off as long as we could stand it, but she's hooked after only one episode and a new set of Dora shoes. I tried. At least it's not Teletubbies or anything.
Cheyenne's doing freakin' fabulous at school, even in math. She's getting so tall--I was amazed the other day when we stood shoulder to shoulder and compared our heights. She's close--a little too close and sure to pass me up by this time next year.
Caleb's had a lot of changes go down in his company and he's wound up working for a new boss. It freaked him out a little bit at first but I think he's accepted it and will be able to adjust fine.
So there's the family update. I'll be back another day to report on the party and the dinner...and the cookies. 12月6日 Like Mother, Like Daughter I've got precious little time to write. In a matter of mere moments the dogs will start stirring, and Cheyenne will stumble to the bathroom, and the spoiled princess I've got sleeping in my bed will be so disturbed by "all that noise" that she'll grumble, whine, and then demand to be carried to the living room and given chocolate milk in a purple cup.
And only a purple cup.
It's amazing how fast a child can become accustomed to a certain way of life. It seemed to take only days with Mia, 2 tops, for her to think that sleeping in Mommy and Daddy's bed was just how the world was meant to be. Imagine, all the work we spent on her bed--the frame, the painting, the comforter that I hand-stitched (My hands were more beat up sewing that thing than they were carving the mousehouse). All in vain!
I mentioned the matter of chocolate milk--it doesn't stop there. I guess it is the way of a two year old to want what they want when they want it. Tell me if this sounds normal:
Upon waking up:
"MOOOMMMMMAAAAAAAY!"
"I need chocolate milk!"
"In my purple cup!"
"I need to be cozy!"
"I need to be cozy with the blue blankie!"
"No, the dark blue one!"
"I want to watch 'Nah-toe Wee-bway!'" (That's Nacho Libre--and yes, I know it's not the best movie for toddlers, but she absolutely loves it.)
"Get me my Mumble!" (The stuffed penguin she just had to have after a trip to Toys-R-Us.
Yeah, I guess we do our share of catering to the kid. But it was just so enjoyable at first. Now it's required...sort of. I cave under pressure, and with toddlers, that pressure comes in the form of scream--ug. Nails against a blackboard to my ears. I hate it. I'll do anything to not have to listen to a second of it.
On another note, I threw my first B.F. of the holiday season. I know I have a lot of family members looking foward to the Christmas pictures of the girls I promised, but you will be disappointed yet again. The pictures came in a week late, the staff at the studio was completely incompetent, and RUDE, disorganized, and unproffesional...and the quality of the prints SUCKED. Just plain sucked, and they weren't worth the money I spent. So, after the third time waiting for an hour plus, I became part of an angry mob in the Target Portrait Studio. It was late, Mia was screaming her head off...no manager would show his or her face, so finally I just asked for my money back. I told them they could throw the pictures in the garbage for all I cared. I was reasonably horrible to those guys. I'm a little ashamed...no, not really, I'm not. And I'm gonna write a letter. 12月2日 ObsessedSo. Do you see the mousehouse? Do you see it?
And it's nowhere near finished.
Oh, but it will be.
And did you see our tree? It's huge! And much more sparkly in person.
And the picture of me looking like a red-faced snow witch? That's because Caleb shoved me down in the snow, and stuffed it in every crevice of my jacket covered body.
Caleb, yesterday, fixed our camera somehow and we went a little picture crazy. The snow is melting a little but it's still out there, making it awful difficult for us to do what we got to do...I don't think I'll ever understand how people live their lives in places like North Dakota, or Montana, or Canada...but I guess they do it. Me, it was cool the first day, the second day, eh, and the third day, cabin fever set in.
So, back to my, er, Mia's mousehouse. Let me explain them a little more. The roofs and sides were all smooth before I got ahold of them with my carving tool. A few people did not understand what has taken me so long--well, it's THAT. The carvings. And all the openings--windows, doors...I had to carve those out too, and then smooth them down. Yesterday, all that finally being done, I applied a stain to it. The toadstools are my prize. I searched high and low for those things but ended up settling for some discount fakey-styrofoam apples. I tore them apart into the shapes of mushroom caps, and painted them red and white. Out of the whole thing, I am the most proud of the toadstools.
And I will no longer bore you with dollhouse talk.
Okay, well there's nothing more to say. I need to go work on the mousehouse. Everyone have a fun and safe weekend! |
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