I like toast and jelly... I like bread and jam

Our saturday morning

Googlishious

Someone googled Redheadedporn.com today and found me.

I am thankful that so many people find red heads so hot.. I wonder if they're just as thankful that they're finding my blog instead of some cute red headed chicks getting it on.

After Sex Deep Thoughts - 4th Edition

I've grown quite fond of this weekly blog post. Come on, is anything really as interesting as the thoughts that go through your mind after a good flogging?

Last night I thought upon the awkward nature of mine and hub's sex life. Yes, awkward I say.

Lets start with the basics. I am not a prude.. but I still get a bit embarrassed by things. My hub's on the other hand, totally wears his emotions and thoughts on his sleeve. He has no qualms what so ever with voicing his wants and needs. I on the other hand, find it very difficult to speak my mind if emotions or personal wants are involved. All comes back to those big walls I've built up around myself I guess.

I've mentioned before that it makes me very uncomfortable at times when people openly express their emotions.. or wants... I just clam up, and I don't know how to act or what to say.

This is all applies to hub and I's sex life.

Example... last evening.... we're hanging out in bed.. Watching Good Eats... a commercial comes on and hubs turns to me and asks..."Are you too tired to give me a hand job?"


I immediately freeze.... huge walls of protection come slamming down around me... and I sit staring at him in disbelief with an uncomfortable half bewildered look on my face.

I don't want to hurt his feelings... but his openness and shameless request has completely freaked me out. Not because I don't want to fool around with him, but simply because he was comfortable enough to voice his desires... and this has totally shut me down.

I say not one word.. I just look at him.... still uncomfortable. Unsure of what to do.

I shouldn't' say that this behavior has totally shocked me. He does this all the time..."want a quickie"....."want to fool around" and other sexual suggestions too obscene to mention here, drip from his mouth often. And it has always been very off putting and uncomfortable for me.

I struggle with this. He's my husband. Shouldn't' we be able to be open and honest with one another? I think so... but I can't "act" so.

He finally broke the ice....he half heartedly apologized because he could see the horror in my face no doubt. And then he asked me how he was supposed to talk to me about these things, since his current tactic was obviously not working out so well for him.

And so I very uncomfortably took my walls down and attempted to explain to him how this "asking" affected me and why it turned me off so much.

He listened patiently.. and he told me understood and was glad I finally told him why it bothered me so much.

I was able to tell him that the best way to approach me was with passionate kisses and direct acts as opposed to words.

Acts I can handle... I can handle my hubs kissing me softly, and giving me that twinkle in his eye...

I CAN'T handle him begging me for a blow job in the middle of a commercial for Geico.

Am I nuts?

Would this disturb you? Do your husbands do this? Am I just crazy?

Needless to say our discussion abruptly ended in a very enthusiastic kiss from the hubs......

and about two seconds later.... "MAMA!!!!!".....

Yup.. the kid was awake hahahahah poor hubs.. I could hear his penis sigh.

Thankfully she just wanted me to help her pee.... and then she went right back to sleep.

And hubs and I were able to pick up right where we left off. And I was totally ok with that.

Mommy and Rowan night

Once a week my hubs has been going over to his parents house to help his little brother rebuild his race car for the coming season. It gives him some time away and it gives Rowan and I some super girly time together. Some nights we just snuggle and watch movies, some nights we do mani/pedi's, and tonight we pigged out tatortots and played outside :)

Rowan came out with me to walk our dog... something my hubs normally does.. but alas, it was my duty today. Anyhow, once we were done with him, she wanted to take her little plastic dog out for a walk... to be just like mommy. It cracks me up how much a toddler learns through simple imitation.


The best part, is that she took the toy pup over to the fire hydrant to pee hahaha.



And then on to our feast...




And for the grand finally... Mommy playing a little Candid Camera with Rowan.. but I think she out smarted me.. she knew something was up.

2009 CAL February Square - Two Tone

Here is Febuary's Square.. they released it early. I was blown away this morning when I went on the site (having just been on last evening) to see some women had whipped out the square already! I felt a bit like a slacker haha.

I love how this one came out, mostly because of the color combination.. a deep rusty orange and a dark teal.




Here are all the squares together again.. this is going to be one bright blankie!!

Another NH Snow Day

It never seems to end around here, they're predicting about 20 inches today and over night. School was cancelled this morning so Rowan and I spent the day snuggling warm inside, watching the snow gently fall outside the window. She watched movies and played while I crocheted and watched her in amuzement.

Once Daddy got home we bundled up and headed out once again into the cold Nor'Eastern weather... and played in the snow. What else is there to do in New England?

Because really, is there anything better than Fruit Chewies?

2009 CAL - Star Overlay Square

This isn't actually part of the CAL Afghan but I got bored and wanted to create a filler square.

I chose the Star Overlay because I thought it was fun and whimsical.. and since my Afghan is going to be super colorful and playful, it fit right in!

Here it is as well as how it looks against the other 2 squares.

As Promised - Esther's Square

I loved this pattern, it was super easy and super fast :)

Our Wedding

It took me a week and a day to download this onto Youtube so thought I should share it. so here it is :)

A couple things to note.. the color seems off, my dress was a deep red.

The damn shoulder strap would not stay up.

Yes I totally blanked out on saying Yes at the start of my vows...

Wow, could someone please tell me to stand up straight?

Don't ya love my hair? Big thanks to a very flamboyantly wonderful Gay man at the Mirage salon :0)

Love the pastor don't you??? Doesn't he sound like the priest in Princess Bride? Twoooo wove.... mawwwaige....

The videographer/photographer was the Elvis inpersonator.. he was a goof...and yes, he took 69 pictures and thought he was soooo funny because of it hahaha

Chatty Cathy

I have alot to say today.. but I'm to lazy to articulate it all into coherent paragraphs, so I resort once again to the bullets..

(accept I don't know how to put bullets into my blog)



Today is my wedding anniversary as I noted below... Hubs wrote me that adorable albeit adolescent style poem down there and I totally heart him forever for it :)

I bought new shoes yesterday... and I love love love them! I feel sort of "cool" wearing them because they're label brand... and I don't buy that type of stuff often. :) (accept when they're on super clearance and probably left over from last season..shut up, I still feel cool)




My friend Ryan let us borrow her GPS over the weekend to maneuver around Boston.. I still have it in my car... and I love it so much I want to make out with it and perhaps go on a weekend excursion to the Keys with it as my forbidden lover..... Its my new BFF and I may never give it back to her....do you think she'll believe me if I tell her I was robbed and they assailants took it from my car???? And then I went and bought my own because I liked hers so much??? I think that's believable right???? No???


I am working on another CAL block from the Ravelry site... pics to post later today once completed.

I forgot to put deodorant on today and I smell like a Moe's sub..... do they have Moe's Sub shops in other states I wonder??? They're pretty big in New England.

Rowan was not sick when I picked her up from school yesterday for "being sick." Manipulative lying toddler cucka head.



Happy Birthday to my mom!!!!

Reason #3 Why I Love My Husband

Today is our 4 year wedding anniversary.. we are not exchanging gifts.. no money… but this morning in my car was a card… with a love poem from Boo.





I may not be good at dance

Or fancy dress

But I truly love you…. I must

Confess



I love your kisses and your smile.

Just a couple reasons why I waited

For you down the aisle



You’re a wonderful mother

To our beautiful child

Even though she has

My “wild”



These years have gone by so fast

I know I have your love to last.



We have no idea what the future

Will hold. But I promise to

Love you everyday until we

Are old.

I love you… Boo





Sniffles sniffles… who needs diamonds?

All in a Days Work- The Mandala

I recently joined a Crochet-a-Block group on the Raverly.com.

Here is my first block... its called Mandala and the pattern can be found here.

I plan on making two of each block so that my afghan ends up being about 6 feet by 4 feet.

Racing days

I thought it would be fun to post some old pics of us when Barney raced :)

Anniversary Excursion

My friend Ryan's birthday is today. We went out last night to celebrate with her family. Her father paid for everyone to race go-karts at F1 in Boston... it was a long drive there but it was super fun!

There were only four of us that raced, I most definitly sat out to watch and of course take pics... someone had to record the rediculousness :)

Ryan, Sam (her sister),Rick (her dad) and Boo all suited up. Barney even brought his own helmet which I thought was cute.

For those that are new to my blog or don't know me in person, Barney has been racing stock cars since he was 16 years old. He only stopped because we decided to start a family. I'm sure someday he'll go back to it.

Anyhow, it was pretty flippin funny to watch a bunch of people race against a guy that has been racing real cars for over 10 years... haha needless to say, he spanked them... without mercy hahahaha

After the race we headed over to the Hill Tpp Steakhouse for dinner. :) At dinner we gave Ryan our gift to her.. it was a collectable rooster figurine.. she digs roosters I guess. Of course as I handed it to her, she dropped the gift bag with a big thump. She cringed and asked if it was breakable.. I held my breath...

Yeah his head broke off.. it was a clean break though so a little super glue aught to fix him. The running joke of the evening then became Ryan's broken cock. haha Yes we're that juvenile, you wish you were as cool as us hahaha.

Then it was time to head home, where Grammy was snuggled up on our couch with a sleeping Rowan. :)

Here are some pics from the night, as well as a few funny vids :)

Racing
My hubs is the fast one that I follow.. that is racing alone...



Hubs winning! :)

Liberation

It appears Rowan is going to night time potty train just as easily as day time potty train.

It has been three nights and she's used the potty without issues. Last night she even begged to go to bed with undies and I reluctanly agreed. She didn't let me down.. she woke up twice to pee.

I need to talk to her about doing it on her own. She uses the bathroom daily without us ever coaxing her or helping her. So waking me up in the middle of the night to help her is totally unecessary. Hopefuly she'll let me sleep :)

On another note.. there are some attractive young fellas up on my roof today shoveling off the ice and snow... and one just rapelled down and into my view... It struck me as funny... lets hope he didn't notice me snapping his picture from the couch lol

Oh no she didn't...

OH YES SHE DID!! Another dry night for Little Miss Rowan. She even woke me up at 1am to help her pee... and this morning she went straight to the potty and peed again.

She asked me if she could wear undies to bed this morning... I said if she makes it a week dry, we'll switch to them.

Gotta love awesome milestones... let's all pray she keeps it up!

A conversation on the way home from school

Rowan: Mama... my boyfriend no feel good.

Me: choking on own spit..WHAT!!!

Rowan: My boyfriend no feel good today.

Me: WHO is your boyfriend?

Rowan: Um, not Dominic

Me: WHO then!

Rowan: Um..... umm...

Me: Johny? (He is new, and he sits next to her)

Rowan: Yeah!! Johny..He no feel good...

ME: Did you kiss him?

Rowan: Yeah... I made him feel better.

Google Goodness

Over there to the right, I've added a little tracker do hickey that tells me who visits my blog and also when people find it via google.

I just got a hit... and the google search was "two redheads making out"

The funny part, is that what you read from the synopsis message is from my earlier post...
" I wanted to settle down, get married and make babies. .... After chit chatting for a bit, he asked me out... 2 short years later we were in ..."

No wonder the porn surfer clicked on me... sorry to disappoint!!!!

There are some fabulous red headed porn sites out there though.. you may want to try googling that instead.

After Sex Deep Thoughts - 3

Not last night, but the night before... oh yes.. it was that time of the week again.

This week I thought about Boo and I...... and the ups and downs we've been through.

So I figured I'd take a few minutes and tell our story.

I've already blogged about how we met.... But after the initial "fall" into love, we continued on like most couples I suppose.

We were in college together... both had jobs... and we both had a life we were trying to merge together. At the time I had an apartment left over from my married days, and I had two young UNH kids living with me in my second bedroom to help pay rent. Barney wasn't prepared to move in with me when the ex moved out (It had only been a month)... so in came Dave and Corissa.

What a strange couple these two were... and having them in my home resulted in many many wars. My home is my sanctuary, and having to share it was already a sore spot... but then these two also ended up being slobs. They never cleaned their dishes, never helped out with regular housework and even ended up adopting a rabbit which left shavings alllll ovvvver the place.

We fought often.... although I should clarify, Corissa and I fought often. We tried desperately to make it work... but thankfully, after about 9 months or so... they finally left.

Boo moved in after we had dated 5 months... he was there every night anyways... why not join us and help pay some rent. And thus began our "adult live in" relationship.

Things with Boo and I got shaky right around a year. Things were going great... and I was totally head over heals for him. He however was going through some sort of "I just graduated college what do I do with my life now" mid twenties crisis. He interviewed for jobs... and finally accepted one as a manager trainee with a local Nuts and Bolts distributor. He hated it.... Barney has never been the type of guy to work in an office.. wear a tie... all that crud. He's a dirty man type of man.. you know... knuckle to the grind stone.. work hard... get messy... make things. He always has been.

He struggled with that for a long time.... he changed jobs back to UNH where he picked up his duties again as the Tools and materials supervisor... ie.. tool guy haha He liked to give himself a fancy title though. Basically he did material runs for all the various construction crews and made sure they had the tools on site that they needed.

He didn't hate this job.. but it wasn't going anywhere either.

One day he came home. He was very upset.... frantic almost... and asked that we could talk. So we sat down... and that's when he dropped the bomb.

He wanted to move to NC and get a job working on a race crew down there. It had always been a dream of his... and now that he was frantically searching for a purpose in his life, he felt this was going to fill it.

But..... he had no plans of taking me with him.... he was breaking up with me.

There was alot behind this decision. For one, he takes other's opinions to heart far to easily. He talked to the guys at work... and of course all the "guys" convinced him to ditch the girl and follow his dream. Because that's what real tough men do right? I think that I, also, was very into our relationship. I had been talking about buying homes... settling down.... etc etc... all the typical stuff that scares the crap right out of a guy. I think perhaps had his ex-wife not mutilated him when she left, he'd have been ok with it, but she was evil to him, and he was therefore a bit nervous about commitment. I can understand that.

So we were getting serious.. he wanted a big change in his life, he was scared and he basically decided that running was the best option.

That talk will forever live in my mind... I've never cried so hard... he's never cried so hard.... we were both devastate... and for what? We were obviously in love. Finally he got up and started packing some things... and I just lost it... and I grabbed him and I begged him to stay... I'd go where ever he wanted me to go... just don't leave.

And he melted into my arms... and we both fell onto our bed.. and sobbed.. and clung to one another for dear life.

It was decided that we'd both go to NC if that's truly what he wanted. I would follow him.... I loved him.... and he despite his doubt... loved me just as much.

We booked a flight.... and we flew down. He had an interview at Dale Earnhardt Inc... and one with Tony Steward's team. We visited all the shops and took in the sights. It was actually kind of awesome... But I hated it there. It was flat, and ugly and industrial. I never wanted to leave NH.. its my home, its where my family is.

The end result of our trip was that he pretty much had a job.. but he had to move down first... and then just ask to start.

We got home... and we didn't really talk about it for a while. Then he started asking about when he should plan to go. He'd set us up with an apartment while I tried to find a job from NH.. and later go down with him.

And my heart was in a tug-o-war. I wanted to stay home... I wanted to settle down, get married and make babies. What was I supposed to do? In desperation he bought me a pug puppy.... to keep me company and hopefully fill the void that moving would create. It didn't' work.

We were at in impasse. And confrontation was on the horizon.

And so it happened. One day... as we drove to my parents for a visit. I just broke down and let it all out... and I gave the ultimatum. I don't want to leave.. I want to stay, I want to get married... and I want to make babies. If you want me... then you must choose.


I'd like to say it was easy decision for him..."Oh I chose you baby, no problem". But it wasn't. This was a dream he'd had since he was a child. He'd always wanted to move to NC someday. And his dad always made it clear that his success in life hinged upon the type of work he did.. not upon how great a family man he could be. (he still makes that clear, but that's another post all together). Barney felt that in order to be seen as successful in his father's eyes, this is what he must do... be in the racing industry.

But Barney's heart had other ideas... and so he was also torn. It was a couple of very rough months for us. He was having a very hard time choosing his future... and of course this tore me up... wasn't I an easy choice?

I'll never forget the day that he chose. Again I was crying and broken hearted... I told him what I wanted out of life.. and I could not have it any other way.

And he finally... with tears in his eyes.... said he loved me to much to leave, that he wanted me. I knew it was a hard for him to do that... part of him wanted to go... but a bigger part of him wanted to stay. He had to turn his back on the pressure he got from his father... and for once in his life... stand up on his own, and make his own choice. It was a big moment for him.

And so we decided to stay. It was a relief for me. But for Barney, he was right back into that mid-twenties crisis. He had no idea what to do now. He didn't want to stay at UNH as the tool guy.. he wanted something more. That's when he decided to become an Electrician. He'd been an electrician helper for a short period right when he graduated high school and he'd really liked it.

So despite already having a degree, he signed up for night school and got a job as an apprentice. He suddenly had purpose again... and better yet, his Dad was proud of him again.

Four years later he's finished, and he loves it. I've never seen such a dedicated Electrician. He's online almost every night in an Electrical chat forum, he still studies the code despite already passing his test, and he's looking to get involved with another co-worker working on alternate energy installations.. ie.. photovoltaic panels and windmills. He's so excited about his work, and you can see the smile in his eyes when he talks about it.

Of course I got my way also... he proposed about a year after our NC fiasco, we were married a few months later on January 27th in Vegas, and then that summer I came home, put my birth control on the coffee table and told him I wasn't taking it anymore. If he wanted sex, then we were having a baby. At first he was a bit taken by surprise, but then he got excited. And he got alot of sex... he couldn't complain about that to much.

I found out I was pregnant in August of that summer.. It happened fast, apparently despite my endometriosis, I am a fertile Myrtle. I was so excited about my positive pregnancy test that I called him on the phone to tell him, I couldn't even wait to see him in person.

He got home, hugged me, and with a twinkle of excitement in his eye he said "We're really having a baby???? Can I teach it things?" hahaha He was elated...

Rowan was born in April of 06... and its been a blur of time flying by since.

Barney and I are as solid as ever... although being parents takes a tole on any marriage... we still are very much dedicated to this being a forever thing.

And despite the difficulty he had choosing this life.... He is the happiest most dedicated Father I have ever seen. He and Rowan have a bond unlike any other. She has him wrapped around her little finger...

I know he loves her more than me... and I'm totally ok with that.

Could it be possible?????

The fabo little Miss Rowan... (bragging) came home one day last summer and decided to pee on the potty. She's been doing thus ever since... essentially potty training herself.

yes yes, it rocked.. yes yes, I know I'm super fortunate.

Well, she is getting close to three now.... and therefore her daddoo and I have been thinking about two important milestones... Getting rid of the flippin Nuk.....and night time potty training.

Both are going to be hard.... or so I thought.

I still give Rowan sippy cups of milk at night..I know, shame on me... But she drinks at least 16-24 ounces over night and none during the day... I have never been able to get her to break this habit.. (ok so maybe I haven't tried).

So instead of struggle through trying to get the milk away from her so she can hold her pee all night, I instead placed a potty in her room and we had a chat about what to do if she needed pee in the middle of the night. She seemed quite open to the idea, and even offered to wear undies to bed.. (nope, mommy wasn't ready for that step yet).

Well, this morning I woke up.... and went to her room to collect her pull up. She likes to rip it off before climbing into my bed with her little naked bum... sometimes she'll actually put it in the trash for me... but on some days it just ends up in a pile.... today was such a day.

As I bent down to pick it up I was greatly surprised at how light it was.... and upon further inspection came to realize it was completely dry!!!

I turned her bedroom light on, and sure enough.. her Elmo potty was full of pee and even had a tiny piece of TP floating around in it.

She listened to me!!!! woo hoo!!

Now I don't know if this was a one time occurrence of if we'll be able to coax it into becoming a habit.... But here's hoping!!!

No more pull ups would seriously decrease my carbon foot print and my grocery bill :)

I'm done....

My sis's bday gift.. and my very first Afghan yay me!

Hahaha I love him

Apparently he didn't just stutter over the words.. I stand corrected. The fella reading him the vow messed up, hence Obama's pause... He's fabulous.

I have chills

I have chills..... I love that he human and nervous enough to need a little coaxing taking his oath.

Did anyone else just ball thier eyes out?

Don't let the door hit in you the ass on the way out...

So watching the coverage... Obama and his misses, just arrived at the White House. Where they met Bush and the misses at the front door. What an awkward moment!!! lol

There's the new president.. coming to take over residence in the current presidents home. haha I mean, come on, Bush did live there for 8 years. Its gotta feel like a home by now right?

What a strange thing.. to be kicked right out... hahaha

Although, it was kind of fun to watch hehe

Today is the Day

A new president.. how exciting! As I blogged before, this was my first year voting. And now I get to watch the inaguration on TV.... Right now I've got ABC on and looking at the big crowd I can't help but chuckle and think of that scene in Forest Gump where he speaks..."And that's all I've got to say about that."

Somehow I think that Obama will have quite a bit more to say.

Here's to a historic day!

I'll always remember where I was on 9-11 and I'll always remember where I was on 1-20-09.

Comedian or a Pop Star

Not sure which... but when Rowan grows up she's gonna be either a comedian, or a pop star.

You decide....

Reason # 258 Why I Love My Husband

Me : Looks in mirror while cleaning.. I've got smudges of black mascara under my eyes from sledding and getting wet.... "I have mascara all under my eyes... why didn't you tell me?"

Boo: "Sorry, I was looking at your tits."

Oh goodness.

Playing in the Snow Again

Reason # 99 Why I Love My Husband

Yup... there he his... in one of his many OCD moments... he is on his hands and knees... scrubbing the kickboards of the cuboards, as well as the perimeteter of the floor where the swiffer can not reach.

le sigh...yup he's a keeper

Mommy Advise

So not everyone has a toddler.... but some do. I don't know about you, but my toddler is a constant grazer. She never eats big meals.... she'd rather pick at stuff all day. I know this is actually a healthier way to eat. We're not meant to eat big meals... our bodies function much better eating small things often, so instead of fighting her behavior and insisting she "eat everything on her plate", I just go with it.

I have always had weight problems... and I think a lot of it comes from the culture and background I grew up in. Back in the 70's... health wasn't an important topic. I remember meals consisting of burgers and fries.... deep fried of course.... I don't remember having a lot of fruit around the house, and butter was definitely the condiment of choice.

It's my goal to raise Rowan healthier... My husband has really great eating habits... yogurts.. protein, etc etc... I do my best to eat as healthy as I can.. although I am a carb addict through and through.

I fear for Rowan... that she end up with issues.... although I doubt she will... At almost three years old she is still 25 lbs... putting her in the 5th percentile on a good day. She's a small kid.

And I think a lot of it has to do with us letting her eat the way she wants to eat as opposed to forcing meals upon her. There are days she barely eats at all. There are days she devours everything in sight. My goal is to let her body and her desire drive the amount of t food wants.

I will give her a small plate of food when we cook dinner. But if she doesn't eat it, I don't fuss. Generally she'll pick... she likes broccoli a lot... as well as certain meats. But if she doesn't like a particular thing, then she doesn't like it.

I'm sure many mom's probably find my philosophy repulsive. I let her eat cheerios for dinner??? Yup I do. And sometimes fruit chews haha. But sometimes she'll eat a bowl of granola.. or a gogurt too.... so I think she's making ok choices for herself... even now at the tender age of 3.

Ok so I do have a point with this post I swear lol

Because Rowan grazes all day, she constantly asks for snacks or "something else to eat."

This means we have to make a gazillion trips to the kitchen all day long and its quite time consuming.

So we've come up with a fabulous new method. At the beginning of every day or after school, we go to the kitchen and we fill up a snack bag with all her favorite snacks. I have tiny plastic cups with lids that we use. She gets fish, crackers, fruit chews, yogurts, popcorn, nuts, granola, etc etc.

Then she keeps her snack bag with her in the house. She carries it around... and when she wants a snack, its right there for her to choose. It saves us so much time! And then when we're immersed in a good movie.. we're not interrupted to go to the kitchen for snacks.. we can all stay cuddled on the couch together... and nibble on crackers :)

Consequently, her current choice for her snack bag is a her plastic Micky Mouse trick or treat pumpkin hahaha

Ouch

Rowan was up bright and early this morning... Doesn't she know its saturday?

She spent quite a bit of time attempting to wake her two grumpy reluctant parents to no avail.

Finally she convinced Barney to get out of bed by requesting some assistance in going pee.

He groggly sat up swinging his legs over the bed just as little Miss Rowan moved towards him.... and whack!

One large man's knee smacked one small girl's poor little mouth.

All mayhem ensued....

Toddler screaming....

Blood gushing......

Dad frantically searching for a way to help....

Then....

Quiet cool calm half asleep mother with thousands of years of instincts.... collects crying toddler and applies pressure with a moistened hand towel... (the one frantic hubs grabbed... my new one... my nice towel)

I calm the Dad..... sooth the toddler...... clean up blood..... and go back to bed.

Phew....

Saturday Morning photo shoot

Choo choo!!!

Its all about Adaptation...

I'm sure we all know about Darwin... and his theories of survival of the fittest, natural adaptation, and evolution.

I couldn't help but think of him this morning as I cleaned my upstairs bathroom.

In typical fashion, Rowan refused to come downstairs this morning. I generally shower, come down, make her lunch... drink coffee... get myself done up and read my blogs. She likes to hang out in my bed and watch Handy Manny.

Every day I have to yell up the stairs at least five times which usually ends with threats of leaving her home alone while I apparently go off to preschool to learn my alphabet.

This morning, after numerous such threats, she finally yelled down the stairs..."Mama, wipe me!!!" I yelled back... "did you poop?"... and in response..."yessssss".

So up the stairs I went. Now, we were late for school of course... nothing abnormal. So being such, I had to rush around. I quickly got her off the potty, wiped the rear end, and rushed her down the stairs to get her dressed and out the door.

Now, being a few hours later, I went upstairs to grab my laundry and clean up a bit. The scene I found before me was quite perplexing, and I felt a bit like a modern day Sherlock Holmes as I walked around attempting to solve the puzzling I observed.

First off, I headed to her room. I was putting her jammies away and making her bed.... I also had to put a package of pull ups away in her closet. That's when I found my first clue.

I keep Rowan's socks in a small basket on her floor. I do this because its easier to have them out than stuffed away in her chest of drawers. I found however, that the basket was missing, and instead a large pile of scattered socks lay in its place..... hmmmmmm *queue scratching of the head* Now, I know that that basket was there this morning when I grabbed her socks for the day... so where the heck did it go?

I did a quick survey of the room.... no basket?? Did someone rob me??? Passing up all my electronic equipment and costume jewerly to steal my much covetted small white recycled Easter converted sock basket?? Bizzaar?

I continued around the room, and noticed that Rowan's pink over sized throw pillow is also missing...... oh wait..... and a large portion of books from her book case.

At this point, I'm beginning to get a bit frantic... what on earth is going on??? I head to my room to see if anything else is missing....nope... nothing.. hmmmmmmm

Finally I got to the bathroom... and the scene I see before me, that which I did not notice in my haste earlier in the morning.... reminds me a bit of Darwn and Goldy Locks.

How might you ask? Let me explain.

When Rowan used the potty upstairs, she has to use a stool. We do not keep a small potty in that bathroom as there is no space. Instead we have one of those small removable child toilet seats that she can put on top of the regular toilet seat.

Rowan loves her stool. She carries it around the house and up and down the stairs... to reach various objects she might want.

It just so happens that today the stool in in the downstairs bathroom.

So, in typical Charles Darwin, adaptation style, Rowan went in search of an object she might use to replace her stool.

I see...

A stack of books on the floor, that slide off of each other... obviously not stable enough for a perch.

A white small wicker basket, slightly crunched in at the top.... nope, not stable or strong enough...

A pink polka dot over stuffed throw pillow.... just the right amount of height and stableness to help a 34 1/2 inch toddler to climb up onto a potty.... hanging out in front of the toilet... ahhhhh perfect.

And so....Little Miss Rowan adapted quite nicely this morning.... and she was able to get up on the potty after several failed attempts and no doubt much brain storming on her behalf.

The creativity of a child never ceases to amaze.

Ha... cold my butt...oh wait

So I came downstairs only minutes ago from having showered. I walked straight to the kitchen to get my morning coffee... as is customary.

I was eager also to check the Thermometer hung outside my kitchen window.... the Weather Man has been predicting today was going to be sub zero cold.

HA!!! Wrong Mr. Weather man!! wrong... its 25... yeah that's cold... but certainly not "Artic" hahaha jack ass weather man... hahaha.. I laugh in your face.... oh.... oh wait.

shit

that's not 25...




its negative 15..... negative!!!




oops..... damn artic weather.