NObama 08!

THE ONLY FREE CHEESE IS IN THE TRAP

A little story that pretty much sums up how I feel about the upcoming election.
*As to not confuse anyone else (see comment #3), this "story" is not my own personal experience. I copied it from an email I received.*

"Yesterday on my way to lunch at a local restaurant, I passed one of the homeless guys in that area, with a sign that read "Vote Obama, I need the money." Once in the restaurant my waiter had on an "Obama 08" tee shirt.

When the bill came, I decided not to tip the waiter and explained to him while he had given me exceptional service, that his tee shirt made me feel he obviously believes in Senator Obama's plan to redistribute the wealth. I told him I was going to redistribute his tip to someone that I deemed more in need--the homeless guy outside. He stood there in disbelief and angrily stormed away.

I went outside, gave the homeless guy $6 and told him to thank the waiter inside, as I had decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy looked at me in disbelief but seemed grateful. As I got in my truck, I realized this rather unscientific redistribution experiment had left the homeless guy quite happy for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn.

Well, I guess this redistribution of wealth is going to take a while to catch on."

The Best Halloween Movie Ever

The Halloween That Almost Wasn't

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

I Knew This Day Would Come ...

Brandt has finally done it. He has built up his strength and coordination to be able to escape.

Uh oh.

At least he can only do this when I is naked and has traction. When he's fully clothed, or at least has pants on, he can't grip the crib well enough to hoist himself over the side. Except yesterday he discovered how to take his pants off by himself.

24 Hours of Poor Planning

I had a job interview yesterday. It was over the phone. Just 25 minutes or so. I don't know why I didn't ask someone to watch Brandt during that time, but I didn't. And I screwed myself over. I figured that I could put a show on TV for Brandt and that he would maintain his hypnotic trance for 30 minutes. Of course that didn't happen. Instead he followed me around saying, "Mama? Mama? Mama?" and then he wanted to go in the car and proceeded to shout, "Car! Car! Car!" I actually had good answers to the interview questions, but I doubt I'll get called back because of my seemingly distracted situation. And because I didn't plan well enough to know that my kid wouldn't sit quietly for the 30 minutes I needed him to. Of course when I called my mom after the interview to tell her how miserable it was, that was when Brandt stayed quiet and watched Sesame Street for 20 minutes. Of course.

Also, I must really learn that I cannot eat anything within 2 hours of taking a Body Attack class. Even though I had a light dinner, all the bouncing and jumping and running upset my stomach. I went to the gym for class last night at 6:40, because after the interview I felt the need to release some stress. I just wish I hadn't eaten until after class. Bleh.

And the one night Joe and I decide to stay up and watch a 9pm show through it's entirety, only to actually fall asleep somewhere around 10:45 ... that is when Brandt decides to wake up before 5am the next morning. That's the one thing I miss most about my pre-baby days ... the ability to sleep in on the weekends. If we stayed out or up late at night, we could always recharge on Saturday or Sunday morning by sleeping past 7am. We no longer have that luxury. But he's a good kid, so I won't complain too much.

Grandma on a Mission

So I casually suggest to my mother that there is this new Elmo toy coming out that maybe she would like to get for Brandt for Christmas, provided it's the ONLY thing she gets him for Christmas since it's $60 and Brandt already has too many toys that seem to multiply at night while we sleep. Our house isn't that big and 1/3 of it is now occupied with toys and baby stuff. And that's after we moved the swing, bouncer, high chair, 7 boxes of baby clothes, 3 boxes of toys, and his old car seat OUT of the house. Anyway, I saw the Elmo toy advertised in the Target ad Sunday:

Elmo Live. In stores Tuesday, October 14th. Limit 2 per customer.

So of course I assumed there would be a high demand, given past years of Elmo obsessed consumers buying the "it" toy of the season (Tickle Me Elmo, TMX Elmo). Well, it's not the "it" toy yet. My mom got to Target at 7am and she was the only one in the parking lot. So she sat in her car and waited. And waited. Surely more people would show up before 8am. One guy did, at 7:45. A target employee handed them each a ticket guaranteeing them an Elmo. When the store opened at 8am, my mom walked up to the electronics counter, presented them with her ticket, got the Elmo, walked to the check out lanes, and was back in her car by 8:05. Very uneventful for her.

I feel kind of bad, since my mom enjoys the challenge of these sorts of things ... the thrill of the hunt. She was obsessed with Cabbage Patch Dolls back in the day when they were it "it" toy. She plows past people during the day-after-Christmas sales. She's a pro. This whole process was too easy for her, so she was slightly disappointed.

Maybe she would have felt a little bit more victorious if the other guy who was waiting pushed her on his way to the Elmos.

My New Favorite Book

I'm only 1/4 of the way through it, but I am in love with this book. So far it has addressed all of the feelings (good & bad) I have as a result of staying home with my son.

The Stay-at-Home Survival Guide: Field-Tested Strategies for Staying Smart, Sane, and Connected While Caring for Your Kids

And it isn't just another humor book about the crap we go through on a daily basis, although parts of it are humorous. But there is a lot more substance ... Stanton included a lot of research and reference from previous books on the subject, as well as interviews with current SAHM's, using a broad demographic range in age, income level & (former)occupation.

http://www.stayathomesurvivalguide.com/index.html

Crack for Children ... and How My Cat Annoys Me

Seriously, what is with Elmo? My kid stops whatever he is doing as soon as he hears "Elmo's World" on Sesame Street. His eyes become fixated on the television and they start to glaze over, drool starts to accumulate .... he is hypnotized.

Which works out very well for me when I want to check my email or write a quick blog post uninterrupted for 10 minutes.

And my cat is walking a fine line between life and life-locked-inside-the-bathroom. He kept me up last night off and on for what felt like hours. He walks on my head, tries to curl up behind my head and inevitably lays on my hair, which hurts. Then he starts grooming himself. Right next to my ear. Lick, lick, lick, lick, lick. LICK! I don't know how many times I picked him up and tossed him to the foot of the bed. He kept coming back. Now that the weather is changing I think he likes to keep warm by my head, but for God's sake ... he's wearing a damn fur coat and the house doesn't get cooler than 76 degrees! He doesn't know what cold is.