Please Stop Calling

I have this neighbor. Maybe you have one too? I cannot stand her. Try to avoid eye contact when walking by her on the street, wave with a big fake smile while driving by, try to decide whether or not to answer when she calls kind of neighbor.

She seemed friendly enough at first. That was how she sucked me in to thinking how great she was. She's the one who goes around with the Neighborhood Roster, all official like, every year updating everyone's names and numbers and making sure everyone gets a current copy. That was how she sucked me in. I thought, how great it was that she volunteered her time like that and how helpful that list is. Especially how helpful it would have been the year my cat got himself locked in another neighbor's garage while they were camping for the week. Let me tell you it was great going door to door with my newborn trying to figure out who had a number to contact them at. Awesome. As you can imagine, after that I was a big fan of the Neighborhood Roster. Great idea. Couldn't be happier.

Then she wanted to get us all together. A meet and greet of sorts for our little culdesac. Again I thought how great she was. How nice of her to volunteer her time. And this where I made my mistake.

I offered to donate all of the ice cream for our little get together. After all, I get it for free through my family, so I wanted to help out too.

Cue me receiving the flyer to our friendly neighborhood get together, with my address on it as the location. As though I were hosting my entire street over for a get together. That was not what I had in mind and now everyone had a flyer that said to come on over, when all I'd offered to do was donate some ice cream. It was fabulous. Especially when I only had a couple of days notice and Preston was still tiny. I was furious, but I pulled it off. And seethed silently on the inside.

Fast forward. Every single time that her son is doing any kind of a sports fundraiser, they arrive on my doorstep. No matter how many times I tell her that my cousin goes to his rival school and no I would not like to donate, if I choose to donate I will donate to my cousin thank you very much. Plus it starts to get a little old when they keep asking for money. All the time.

It gets better. Lately she has started calling.

Calling to ask me to donate ice cream. Apparently since I did it ONE time TWO AND A HALF YEARS ago, I'm available and willing to do it anytime she needs me to, for any reason she needs me to.

It's obnoxious. The last time, I received a phone call asking me to donate ice cream to her son's football fundraiser. I once again told her that if I were going to donate something then it would be to the school that my cousin goes too. But this time I also told her that I am not in charge of who the company donates to and that if she is looking for a donation she needs to call the office and get it approved through my Grandpa, the owner to the company. As in please stop asking me to give you things.

I'm not trying to be rude. But my family runs a business. That means that when they give you ice cream for free, you aren't buying ice cream. Thus taking money away from the business. I wouldn't show up where you or your husband worked and constantly ask for free stuff. That's just not how things are done.

She just did it again. She is doing some sort of a walk and she was wondering if I would be willing to donate. I politely informed her, "Not at this time". While wondering why I even bothered answering the phone. But she once again persisted. "Are you sure? I was hoping to donate a basket from the culdesac.". I stuck to my guns and repeated no. Still, she continued on. "Do you know anyone who might want to donate? Anyone at all?" There was that nice little hint in her voice that I should step up to the plate and give her all the ice cream she wants needs. Not happening lady. I SAID NO! And I will keep saying no again and again. And once more, she exasperatedly asked, "You don't know anyone at all? Anyone who'd want to donate?". I was done. I repeated NO for the millionth time and told her it was nice talking to her and hung up.

Can you sell a neighbor's house? Have an agent come look it over and toss up the sign? Anything to get her to leave me alone. I am just so tired of being polite to her. Has anyone told her the economy is crap right now? That it's rude to repeatedly ask for free things? That no does in fact mean no? I am just feeling very done with her and the whole situation right now. Ugh! Any advice? There has to be some way to get my point across politely, doesn't there?!

A Bad Day Doesn't Even Cover It

You know those days where you wake up and you just know that it's not going to be a good day?

Today I had one of those days.

I got up early because my car had an appt with the doctor. I've had some issues with putting fuel in the murano and after a couple of tests, it's been decided that my gas tank needed to be replaced. So bright and early this morning, I woke up, dressed, and headed out to remove the car seat. When I stepped outside of my parent's house (I'd stayed there overnight as my mom was following me to the car place and Brad was out of town last night), I noticed an old man walking by and staring at my car. I thought it was odd and made sure that he noticed that I was standing there. You know so that he wouldn't try anything. After all I could see him. That's when he looked at me and my bad day started. Just a couple of words.

"Did you know that your car has been broken into?"

WHAT?! NO!!

Oh yes. My driver's side window was smashed in, glass everywhere, and our Garmin GPS had been stolen off the front windshield. SUPER! Just how I wanted to start my day.

I wasn't even sure how to feel. I just stood there in shock. Then I started crying. I walked back inside told my Mom what had happened and started the process of phone calls.

I called to cancel my car appt. That clearly wasn't happening today. And while I had them on the phone I asked why my alarm didn't go off. Apparently I don't have a motion sensor alarm. But had the thief (I can actually come up with much more colorful words to describe this person, but I'm trying to be family friendly here) opened up my car door, instead of just smashing in the window and grabbing what they could reach, my alarm would have gone off.

I've alternated my feelings on this one. On the one hand I'm grateful that because they couldn't do anymore than reach into my car, my other things were safe. On the other I'm irritated that my alarm doesn't actually protect my car from someone breaking a window and grabbing what they can reach. Although the fact that this person/people were unable to climb in and rummage through my car means that Preston's $250 headrest TV is still there, my hundreds of dollars in giftcards are still safely in my center consule, our DVDs weren't taken, and other little things here or there survived the attack.

I then called Brad. That conversation wasn't pretty. For a couple of different reasons. First, by that point I wasn't crying anymore. I was angry. VERY ANGRY! This person had broken into MY car and taken OUR things. There were some very adult friendly words coming out of my mouth. Second, the only thing that was stolen was Brad's. So he wasn't very thrilled either.

Finally I had to call my insurance. I learned that it would be cheaper to just take the car down and have the window replaced because my deductible was more expensive than the window. I think I might have to do something about that one in the future.

So instead of spending my day shopping for birthday presents, I had my Mom follow me down to drop my car off to get the window replaced. Then drive me back down a few hours later to pay $188 for my new window. Fabulous, just fabulous.

Had this person/people just told me that they wanted my GPS and they'd break my window to get it, I would have given it to them just to save me the hassle. Now not only was my day ruined, but I had to pay to repair the damages. Damages that cost me only slightly less than what the GPS was worth. Not to mention that I had to clean the glass that was ALL over my car up.

I have felt a lot of emotions about this whole thing. Upset. Hurt. Angry. Furious. But mostly I just feel violated. I didn't do anything wrong. I locked my car, I left MY things in it. I followed the rules. I would never do something like this to someone else. This person/people completely invaded my privacy and my space for no reason whatsoever. I don't know their story but they also don't know mine. What I do know, is that it was MY car, not theirs. And that it was OUR GPS, not theirs. It's that simple.

Even better is that the GPS is garbage to them. Brad is a stickler for security on technology. Which means that even though it irritated me to no end when I would use the GPS, it requires a four digit passcode to access it. You turn it on and a screen asking for said code pops up and you are refused entrance until you enter the code. But wait, it gets even better. There is a way to bypass this code. You take the GPS to the location that was entered in as HOME and it will grant you access. Here's where it gets really good. The GPS wasn't stolen from my home. As I mentioned before I'd stayed at my parent's house, which is no longer my home. So whoever stole my GPS is left with something that is complete garbage to them. How's that for the start of karma? Makes me feel a little better about the whole thing.

The day didn't end there. Oh no.

After picking up my car and heading to meet Brad, I realized that my new window makes a noise that sounds like nails on a chalkboard when you roll it up and down. Just what I've always wanted. Brad checked it out and informed me that it's because they left glass in it. So now I have to call the window repair place tomorrow and have them re-fix my window. The very same window that it is not my fault that I had to replace (Just thought I'd add that one in to help explain how frustrated I am with this whole ordeal).

All I wanted to do was sit down and cry. But nope, there wasn't time for that. I was already late to meet Brad. And waiting for me with Brad was the buyer of our boat. Did I forget to mention we've been trying to sell a boat for the last few months? We have. It's been sitting in storage and I finally got tired of dealing with a boat that Brad bought before we were married, used for one summer, and now sits in storage. So to craigslist it went.

We'd finally found a buyer, HURRAY! After following them to the bank with the title and everything, everything went wrong. While we own both the boat and the trailer it sits on, the trailer isn't in Brad's name. Something about saving money because the tabs didn't expire for 10 years? Well that wasn't okay with our buyer's bank. They need a copy of both the boat's title and the trailer's title to move forward with the sale. SUPER. JUST FREAKING SUPER!

A quick trip to the DOL and we were told that we have to contact the listed owner of the trailer (TWO owners before Brad) and have him sign over rights of the trailer to us. We found his name, looked him, and gave the number a call only to discover he's changed his number. So our options are to either keep trying to find him or deal with State Patrol, which I've heard is more expensive and drawn out. All the while hoping that our buyers love the boat so much that they are willing to deal with all of this.

UGH! Could this day get worse? You know don't answer that. Because it could. And I am thanking my lucky stars that it didn't. And praying that it won't.

Just in case, I am off to bed. Hopefully nothing will happen tonight. And tomorrow will be a new day.

PS. THIS was one of the few things that could make me smile today. So I watched it more times than I'm willing to admit. Isn't it AMAZING! I got all of the prints from Preston's session last night and seriously LOVE them! They couldn't have come at a better time. I needed them today. Plus Preston is obsessed with watching the slideshow. He keeps telling me, "Mama...baby...sing". Ahhh, it's the simple things that can brighten your day. Thanks Jaidean! (It's only up for 10 days so make sure you head over to check it out.)

Wordless Wednesday

Oh summer, we are going to miss you!

Two Year Pictures

As some of you may remember Preston just turned two, he even had a party. It was a pretty big deal. At least in our house.

As part of Preston's passage into being a TWO year old, we scheduled his appointment with our favorite photographer, Jaidean Baker Photography, and eagerly counted down the days until Preston's session.

That night we headed down early to let Preston get some of his excess energy out. And also because I'd promised him that he could ride the airplanes. Which he is all over these days.

Then we got down to business. For two hours Jaidean chased Preston all over the park. All in the name of great pictures! Couldn't ask for a better friend!

After doing a little bit of blog stalking, Preston's sneek peek popped up on Jaidean's blog. They are amazing! I am completely in love. And quite possibly a little bit obsessed! Seriously head over there right now and take a look. They are absolutely fabulous.

What do you think?

I definitely suggest that if you are in my area you head over there not only to see Preston's photos but also to book a session of your own. I promise you will not be disappointed.

Now I am just lying in wait to see the rest of my gallery. Which means that now I am checking my email like crazy. I just can't wait to see the rest, place my order, and put all of our new pictures up around the house! It's going to look stunning.

Date Night!

You are never going to guess what I did on Friday night. Okay, you might be able to. Especially if you follow me on twitter or are my friend on facebook or even if you just read the title to this post. I went on a real live date with my husband. One that involved just the two of us, getting a babysitter, and driving said babysitter home afterwards. That's right people, it was a big deal.

Said babysitter actually ended up being babysitters. As we got a two for one deal with my younger sisters. Who was I to turn that down. So two babysitter's later we were off.

We started off with dinner because we are wild and crazy like that. Plus, umm...oh yeah, I was starving. Brad made the mistake of telling me he didn't care where we ate. Which of course meant we ended up at my favorite restaurant, Casa De Oro. That's right folks my very favorite food is mexican food. And when Brad offered me a bite of his fajitas, I may or may not have closed my eyes and moaned a little.

Funny thing happened at dinner though. We spent half of dinner talking about Preston. What he's been learning, what he's going to learn, what we'd play with him lately, and telling silly stories about things that he's done recently. He hijacked our dinner and he wasn't even there!

I have to be honest, much as I love Preston, I do not love taking him out to restaurants. I do not get to eat. And I am a big fan of eating. A big fan people. I take eating very seriously. So it was very enjoyable to be able to eat all the chips and bean dip I wanted while I waited for my meal. Then to be able to pick up my fork and not set it down until I had cleared my plate. No interruptions. I'd forgotten how nice it could be to go out to eat with my husband and actually eat and talk. Even if the talk was all about our two year old.

From there we made a quick pit stop at...Target! I ran in for a pair of flip flops. Somehow I left with no flip flops. But I did leave with shoes. Three pairs in fact. In my defense it was not my fault. It was Brad's. I'm pretty sure his agreement to purchase any and all pairs of my new shoes were in an effort to get out of Target as quickly as possible. I was all for that idea. Who was I to argue when Brad was telling me just to get them.

PS. Target now has boots out. I'm not sure how I feel about that. It is not yet winter, but oh how I love me some boots. As evidenced by the fact that I left with a pair.

Then we finished off the night with a movie. I know what you're thinking, we're such party animals. I know, I know. But we were just taking advantage of having babysitters.

After trying to decide between The Ugly Truth and The Time Traveler's Wife we ended up at The Ugly Truth. It seemed more like a movie that we would both enjoy. And let me tell you that was a good decision. When the preview for The Time Traveler's Wife came on, I actually started crying. CRYING! During the PREVIEW! I don't even know how I'm going to make it through, I don't know, the whole movie. Definitely won't be a movie that Brad will enjoy. However The Ugly Truth, was hilarious. I loved it. It was silly and cute and one of those movies where you can just sit there and enjoy the fact that your out and your at the movies. Definitely recommend it.

We arrived home to a sleeping little boy. He was just plain tuckered out after a night with his Aunties. He'd also scratched up the bottom of his foot while racing around. Sounds like he pulled through like a champ though. Could have been the fact that he was with not one but two of his Aunts and they took excellent care of him.

The best part? Not only did I enjoy a night out with my husband and come home to a sleeping baby but we were all in bed by midnight. Mission accomplished.

Ikea, Chuck E Cheese, and HOME - Days Four and Five

Since our last two days in Seattle were somewhat uneventful and I didn't pull the camera out as often as I did the first few days, I'll just go right ahead and combine them for you. I'm doing this for you. Not because I am just too darn lazy to write two more posts about our vacation last week when I can just write one. Your welcome.

On Thursday after Preston woke up, early I might add, I attempted to stumble out of bed and get showered and dressed. Which wasn't working out so well for me having stayed up so late the night before. Finally I was awake enough to get excited. Why you ask? I was going to Ikea! For the first time ever! I'd heard such great things about Ikea, but I had my doubts. How amazing could it really be? I was going to find out.

Unfortunately I made the mistake of telling Preston when we were leaving for Ikea that we were going to Chuck E Cheese...that night. Now Preston knows exactly what Chuck E Cheese is. So he spent the whole car ride to Ikea alternating between almost falling asleep and telling me we were going to "Cheese". And when we arrived at Ikea, as I unbuckled him he smiled at me and excitedly informed me "Cheese!".

I'm sure you can imagine the shopping trip that followed. Preston was not very thrilled when we walked into Ikea instead of Chuck E Cheese. And he was not afraid to let me know! I rushed through Ikea, somehow still managing to spend a couple hundred dollars. That place is amazing! I well in love with so many things and am already planning a trip back in the Spring. I think it's safe to say that I am pretty grateful that Preston was in a hurry to get out of there or at least that my checking account was grateful.

Although at the end when we did the self checkout with the little scanner, Preston was in his element. I let him scan all of our purchases and then I couldn't get him to leave. I should've bought more, so that Preston could have played with the scanner longer. Except that once again, Preston wants to go to college one day and I'm sure he'd be less than thrilled that I spent all of that money at Ikea when he was two so that he could play with the scanner just a little bit longer.

From there we went to Target, where we had lunch. I not only love Target but also their Cafe. It is so good! More and more often lately I am finding myself putting off my trip to Target until lunch time just so we can eat there. And Target did not disappoint. In fact I think Preston was pretty happy about this trip to Target. To convinve him to sit nicely in the basket I promised him a toy. We ended up in the car aisle, where Preston fell in love with a Lightning McQueen, complete with Mac the semi truck and trailer. After seeing that it was only $10, I figured it was worth it and told him to sit down and he could have it. Upon checking my receipt in the car, after opening the package and handing Preston the toy so that he could really fall in love, I saw that I'd just paid $20 for a toy just to get Preston to sit in the cart. I'd been had. I'm feeling a little better about it a week later though, since Preston has been playing with it daily and really loves the whole thing. But still $20 just to sit in the cart, ugh!

One nap later, Jen came home from work and we were all off to Chuck E Cheese. This time for real. Preston was excited! Jen, I'm pretty sure was a little nervous. She had never been to Chuck E Cheese, other than a quick pop in to say happy birthday a few years back. Definitely not with the intent to stay and play a while.

It was loud, it was busy, it was bright, and there were games. Preston loved it. He raced around exploring a new Chuck E Cheese. Checking out the rides, taking a few pictures, and working on his athletic skills. Of course Preston was way too busy to actually stop and eat. Heaven forbid. I really think that the only reason they serve food there is because the parents eat it. What kid really walks into a room full of games and thinks "Hmmm, I'm kind of hungry?". Not mine.

Two hours later, we were done. I was exhausted, Jen was exhausted, and Preston was begging to stay.

Bright and early Friday morning, we were up and getting ready to leave. It was a good thing too. Preston woke up that morning, looked at me very seriously, and said, "Mama...Dada, meows?" I think he missed home.

He then got a little bit of energy out keeping tabs on Jen while she got ready for work. He'd run over when she came out of the bathroom, point to her, and yell, "Jen!" When she walked back into the bathroom, Preston came back to me and asked, "Mama, Jen go?". Only to have her come back out and him race over to point and yell, "JEN!". I think he's going to miss his Aunt Jen.

The ride home went as well as the ride there. Once again Preston napped. I was so excited. I'm thinking that we might just start hopping in the car everyday around 1:45pm and see what happens. Which would be awesome, except that I'd have to drive around for a while before he'd fall asleep and I can think of better ways to spend money than on gas to get Preston to maybe nap.

Preston was thrilled when he woke up and we were home. Even more thrilled when he realized that both Daddy and the cats were there too.

There's our vacation! I'm dying to go back to Seattle. But love being home. Anyone having any solutions to that problem?

Exhaustion - Day Three

On day three Preston and I headed over to Westlake Center. Otherwise known as the place that was trying to find a way to make me broke. It is a HUGE shopping center in downtown Seattle. Everywhere I turned there was a new store that I could spend money in. It was fabulous. You know or not so much.

I got in quite the workout this day. First we walked the 10-15 blocks to get to the Monorail. Preston, you might remember, is obsessed with trains these days. And I do mean obsessed. So we were going to ride the big train, no matter what. We arrive and Preston was oh so excited. He's pointing out the "choo-choo" to me. Announcing "choo-choo track" to me every few seconds. Oh yeah, he was excited.

We get on the train, I pull Preston out of his stroller so he can sit next to me like a big boy, and away we go. The Monorail is fast. And Preston loved every minute of it. He just sat there staring out the windows in awe.

As we got off the train, Preston was informing me "more, more". Unfortunately for him we had some shopping to do!

After buying Preston, Brad, myself, and my future nephew something (Did I forget to mention that my sister is having a BOY?!), I decided it was time to stop shopping. Give the bank account a break. Preston would like to go to college you know.

We did a little walk through of Pike Place, checked out the view of the water, and saw the sign for the aquarium. I figured it was worth a second try, Preston did not do so well at the aquarium a few months back. And worst case at least we got to walk the boardwalk. So we made the long trek down from Pike Place to the Seattle Aquarium.

I let Preston out of the stroller to stretch his legs on the pier next to the aquarium. He pointed out a tire floating in the water. It went a little something like this, "Mama, car, oh-no". He was very concerned. We took a few pictures. Loaded back up and headed in to to see the fish.

Preston really seemed to enjoy the aquarium this time. He couldn't get enough of all the fish everywhere. Everytime he turned he was announcing more and more "fishies" to me. And he LOVED the Finding Nemo tank. Seriously they took a Nemo fish and a Dory fish and tossed them into the same tank! Preston could have stood there for hours watching "Memo" swim around.

We also got to see seals and sea otters. We were there for the seals feeding time which was pretty awesome. At least I thought so, Preston wasn't all that interested. Although in this picture it sure looks like he was. I swear moments after this picture was taken he split.

After getting our fill of all that could be seen at the aquarium, we started the hike back. And I do mean hike. I had to make it back up that same hill that Courtney and I struggled with back in June. This time I was at least able to prepare myself mentally. It was tough. Didn't help that the stroller was not only loaded down with Preston but also ALL of our purchases from the day. Nice. I could definitely feel the burn.

The plan was to take the Monorail back to the Seattle Center and let Preston ride a few more of the rides he enjoyed the day before. About half way back to the Monorail I realized that I was only about 3 blocks away from Jen's apartment. But I was about to hop on the Monorail and end up 10-15 blocks away. So I did what Preston wanted, and hopped on the Monorail. He loved it just as much the second time as he did the first.

We checked out more of the rides. This time Preston's clear favorite was the little cars. He rode them twice. First and last. But he did check out the rollercoaster again and also the ferris wheel (Never again! He wouldn't sit still and I was a nervous wreck!) and a little boat that swung back and forth. And all too soon the tickets were gone and it was time to head back to meet Aunt Jen.

About half way back I was regretting getting back on the Monorail. Just knowing that I'd more than doubled my walk was enough to make me curse myself. I basically just collapsed when we arrived back at Jen's. Preston on the other hand was bouncing off the walls. Luckily the plan for the night was to stay in and have dinner there. Thank goodness, I had no energy for anything other than that!

Somehow though I did find just enough energy to have a couple of glasses of wine with Jen after Preston fell asleep and stay up talking until 1:30AM! What?! How?! I guess time truly does fly when you're enjoying yourself! I fell asleep hoping, wishing, praying, and crossing fingers that Preston would sleep in on Thursday!

DUCKS, Rides, And Alki Beach...Oh My - Day Two

On Monday night when Jen asked me what time Preston got up in the morning, I smiled and told her never before 9am. Apparently Preston decided to prove me wrong on that one. Bright and early at 8am-ish he was up and raring to go. I, on the other hand, not so much. Five more minutes...please!

Once we'd all been fed, showered, and dressed we were out the door. We had a busy day ahead of us. Jen had taken the day off from work to do some exploring with us. And explore we did!

We started with the DUCK tour. What is a DUCK you ask? It is an amphibious vehicle. Meaning that it drove us around on the streets of Seattle first, showing us all the cool sites. Then, now here is the cool part, it headed over to Lake Union and drove right on down the boat ramp and into the water. Where the second part of our Seattle tour took place. To say that Preston loved it would be an understatement. He was in awe when our "cool truck" headed into the water.

Not to mention that Jen and I both enjoyed seeing the sites and learning so many things about Seattle that we didn't know! And our tour guide was hilarious! I mean truly hilarious!

We had lunch at a sports bar/restaurant that had TVs for every booth. Can I just stop for a minute and tell you how incredible I thought this was. Especially since Preston seems to have reached a point where eating in restaurants is near impossible if not completely impossible. I turned on some cartoons and it made lunch somewhat nice. I was actually allowed to have a conversation. Imagine that!

Preston is also doing this thing where he doesn't want to eat in the restaurant. He barely touches his meal, but as soon as we get in the car and I hand him his to-go box he's ready to eat. Drives me bonkers. When my food comes I want to eat. Which is difficult with a two year old who can't seem to sit still for the life of him. Any ideas?

Across the street from lunch was a mini amusement park. Perfect for Preston. I was a little nervous as he has never gotten onto a ride, big or small, all by himself. The butterflies in my stomach only got worse when I realized that not only would I have to set Preston on this ride alone, but also that I would then have to step outside the gate before they would start it. Thus leaving Preston alone on the ride before it even started.

It didn't help that Preston saw the rollercoaster moments before I was supposed to step away from the little car that he was strapped into. He instantly changed his mind about what ride he wanted to go on and started yelling, "Out, Out!". I stuck to my guns, stepped outside the gate, and Preston's whole face crumbled. Crumbled, people. He was freaking out. Not only would I not get him out so that he could ride the rollercoaster, but then I'd left him in there. What was I thinking?! Then they turned the ride on. Preston's horrible pout/terrified face turned into his mouth dropping open when he realized that his car was moving and he was sitting in the driver's seat. He was beyond excited. He couldn't stop smiling. My heart started beating again and life continued.

At least until the ride ended. Preston did not want to get off. And only got off nicely when I promised that he could ride another ride. Which continued on and on until we ran out of tickets. Preston enjoyed the little kid cars, the rollercoaster, the airplane, Dumbo, the carousel, the bumper cars, and finally the slowest boat ride ever. After the boring boat ride Preston was content to leave. I think he was a little afraid that the next ride would be just as slow!

From there we headed to Alki Beach. It was absolutely gorgeous. A girl could get used to this. Preston thought it was the coolest place ever. Hello, rocks AND water! And the fact that he could throw the rocks into the water and not get in trouble. Oh my, Preston was in heaven. He could've stayed here for a long long time.

We walked the beach, enjoyed the weather, got some dinner, and headed back to the beach. Preston dragged a piece of driftwood around and was completely entertained to just carry it up and and down the beach. I was hoping that he'd wear himself out so that bedtime would go much smoother that night.

Preston was just being so cute. All he wanted to do was run and enjoy the beach. And when a remote control car was taken out, he was more than content to just sit on the stairs and watch it. My little boy, he's such a boy!

By the end of the day we were all exhausted. It was so much fun to just take a day to relax and explore.

Have I mentioned how much I love Seattle?! I have? Just checking.

A Run In

You know when you're having one of those days? The kind where you decided that getting dressed was too much work? Brushing your teeth, what was the point? I can shower tomorrow, right?! Basically you're just a great big 'ol hot mess.

Today was one of those days for me. I didn't get dressed. Didn't shower. Didn't brush my teeth. Had absolutely no intentions of leaving the house. Not a single one. I was not going to be dragged farther than my backyard. Definitely not. No way, no how.

Until dinner time. We didn't have enough of a key ingredient for dinner. Desperate times, desperate measures. I throw on a pair of shorts, as opposed to the boxers that I'd been wearing all day. Grabbed a zip up sweater to cover my tank top. Throwing on a bra was deemed too much work. Grabbed my flip flops and purse and out the door I went.

I decided I was only going to Walgreens. It was close to my house and there was no way I would run into anyone I know there. Especially since there is another grocery store an equal distance from my house. If I was going to run into someone, it would definitely be there. Definitely. At least that's what I told myself.

Until I got out of the car and walked directly into an old friend and her fiancee. Did I mention that I was unshowered, hadn't brushed my teeth, and was wearing a sweater in 75 degree weather because it took more work to put on a bra? Yeah, I was looking good. You know, except that I totally wasn't.

To make an awkward situation worse, they both looked nice. A "10" to my "2". It was great. Even more awkward by the fact that I felt awkward.

I'm one of those ramblers when I feel awkward. I go on and on. You know to make sure that I embarass myself just a little more. I informed both of them that I hadn't showered. That I didn't think I'd run into anyone. And ran off telling them that I was just going to go hide this unshowered face inside.

Oh wait...it gets better.

They were getting a Red Box movie, which means that I got to walk past and awkwardly talk to them again when I headed back out to my car. Empty handed. Yep, that's right Walgreens didn't have what I needed. It was a wasted trip. An embarassing and wasted trip. Just great.

Even better, turns out we did have enough of what I needed. Actually we had more. Super. And I completely forgot to grab the Sunday paper. Which was the second reason that I went to Walgreens. No big deal. I love a little mortification for no reason.

Next time you see me I'll be the girl dressed to the nines, just to put some gas in my car. I will not be the girl who didn't shower, put a bra on, or brush her teeth. Not me, not again.

Road Trip - Day One

We made it back! And we are exhausted. Exploring and vacationing are hard work, don't you know. We were in Seattle for five days and I honestly could have stayed longer had we not missed Brad and used up all of our vacation money. Although I am very excited to be home. Even more excited because yesterday Best Buy gave us a call and we went in and picked up my laptop!

I figured I'd update you on our trip to Seattle based on the days we were there. I took way too many pictures to throw them all at you in one post, and I'd hate for you to get sick of seeing Preston's smiling face! You know if that could actually happen! So on to day one!

Preston and I headed over to visit Aunt Jen and do some more exploring of Seattle! I was so excited about leaving that I not only had me and Preston packed Sunday night, but the car loaded too. That is unheard of for me, I am the Queen of Procrastination.

After a quick visit to the park to wear Preston out and visit with friends that we hadn't seen in way too long, we were off.


We did a little of this along the way. You know just in case someone wanted proof that we did in fact drive over together.


Then one of us did a lot of this. And I do mean a lot. Preston doesn't nap anymore ever these days and when he does it happens at dinnertime or later. So when I looked in the rearview mirror I was shocked to see that he was asleep and it was only 2:30pm. He continuted to sleep all the way into Seattle and woke up as I pulled up in front of my sister-in-law's building. Oh happy day! For me that meant that for half of the drive I got to listen to my music instead of Bolt, Thomas the Train, Cars, or Finding Nemo. I'm sure you can imagine my joy.


Preston and me entertained ourselves for a few minutes in the car while we waited for Jen to get home from work. Of course that means that I pulled out the camera, and we took a few lot of pictures.


We ended the day with dinner with Jen and her boyfriend, Martin. Preston, being the picky eater that he is, refused to eat anything at the restaurant. While I more than enjoyed my delicious rigatoni and italian sausage pasta. Yum!

Of course Preston was starving by the time we got back to Jen's apartment and ate three-fourths of a box of macaroni and cheese all by himself! Little piggy! If only he'd eaten like that at the restaurant.

He finished the day off with a bath.


Then I intended to get him to go to sleep because Tuesday was a busy day of exploring, but Preston had other plans and fought me on that one for a while. He was too busy exploring the apartment to worry about our plans for Tuesday!