If I Wrote Romance Novels

...Rays of afternoon sun streamed through the window above the sink, where she stood rinsing dishes. On the outside, she looked cool, calm, and beautiful. On the inside, her mind was racing, thinking of the millions of things she wished she could get done before her son awoke from his nap.

She heard her husband's footsteps as he entered the room, but didn't turn around. She had too much to do. Suddenly, though, he was standing behind her, and he reached out to push a stray hair behind her ear. His hand brushed ever so gently across her cheek as he did it, sending a warmth through her face.

He wrapped his strong arms around her lithe waist. She felt his warm breath on her neck as he asked, "How was your day?" "Stressful!", she exclaimed, continuing to rinse the dishes. "I have so much..." Her voice trailed off as her husband started leaving a trail of soft kisses down the side of her neck. Oh, for crying out loud, she thought. Can't he see that I'm busy? Why did he ask about my day if he wasn't going to listen?" Mmm, the kisses are nice, though.

"What was I saying?", she remarked, turning to face him. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer, his hands under her shirt, resting on the small of her back. He leaned in to whisper huskily into her ear, "You said you were stressed, and have a lot to do. I noticed earlier that you seemed to have a lot to do today, so... I went grocery shopping and cleaned the bathroom". "OH", she moaned, a fire suddenly ablaze between her legs. She tore the fabric of her pants, in her impassioned haste to remove them...

Halloween School Party and Heart Palpitations

I love Halloween. I really do. Not the scare yourself silly, haunted house, horror film type of Halloween, but all the other stuff involved in Halloween I enjoy greatly. This morning, though, wasn't so much enjoyment, as it was yelling, pleading, and heart palpitations. This morning was Dylan's first school Halloween party.

For an incredibly active kid, Dylan moves VEEERRRRYYYY SLLOOOWWWLLLYYY. When you want him to get somewhere by a certain time, he suddenly morphs into Slow Motion Boy. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's Slow Motion Boy. He can leap over tall buildings, but first he needs to line these toys up, turn lights out all over the house, and count all the pumpkin decorations on the way out the door. It is hard enough getting him to school on time on regular days. I knew today, (which involved a costume) was going to be rough.

So, when my husband (whom I love dearly), jumped out of bed ONE MINUTE before my alarm went off, and jumped in the shower, I might have gone completely ballistic. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!? YOU COULDN'T HAVE PICKED A BETTER DAY TO DO THIS!!" There might have been more yelling involved. He was about to leave the house when I screamed, "OH, AND NOW YOU ARE JUST GOING TO LEAVE WITHOUT SAYING GOODBYE?!?" Yes, it was a beautiful moment between a man and his loving wife.

When Dylan woke up and didn't want to get out of bed, even though he was soaking wet, I knew what kind of morning it would be. Then, he insisted that I change the sheets before I put dry clothes on him. Then, came the "I NEED to"s. There are always things he NEEDS to do first, before doing what I want him to do.

Somehow we made it through breakfast. Somehow we made it through me drying my hair and getting myself dressed, although I had to stop about every ten minutes because I heard a crash, or he was screaming "MOMMY?", or he was too quiet and I had to investigate. By the time I needed to put on his costume I was already tired. Then I tried to put the super flimsy pants on, while he was only half standing still. Then I put the top on, and he started whining and pulling at the collar. "It's itchy. Itchy! ITCHY!!" I could just feel that any minute the fabric was going to tear and I started to panic and talk in slightly crazy mommy speak. "O-Kay-we-will-put-on-a-tshirt-under-it-and-then-it-won't-itch-O-Kay?-O-Kay. O-kay-This-will-be-fine-I-need-to-remember-to-keep-breathing-O-Kay"

By the time I met my parents at the school later for the parade I was breathing normally, and could even see the humor in the situation. When Dylan came out with his hat crooked and blood on his face from a bloody nose, well, it just fit.

Never What You Expect

Yesterday the temperature reached 70! (Insert choir of angels singing here). Ever since I saw this idea, I've been waiting for a nice day, so Dylan and I could go to a certain park with a stream. He loves to throw rocks in the stream, and it is a beautiful park. When he woke up from his nap, I told him to get a bucket - that we were going to the park to collect rocks. Man, you would have thought I said, "From now on we are going to eat only cookies, all the time"! He was excited. I was excited. I had a picture of the perfect fall day in my head.

I would say that one of the biggest lessons I've learned from having a child is this - you have to be flexible. Things rarely go as planned. As a matter of fact, do they ever? We got to the park and it was closed. Closed!?! Since when are parks closed? That is just ridiculous. They had fenced off the entrance and there was a sign saying "No admittance. Park closed for season". I was going to park nearby and climb over the fence (What?), but there was no where to park.

After explaining things to a very understanding Dylan, I turned the car around and headed to another park. I also realized that I hadn't brought my good camera (Canon), just the small one that I hate, that always takes horrible pictures. So much for my perfect fall day.

But, then I had an idea. "Dylan, why don't we stop and get subs and have a picnic at the park?" He shouted "YEA!! I LOVE PICNICS!!", and that was it. Perfect fall day back in business. We had a picnic in the sun, chased each other through the leaves, had races on the slides, and drew letters in the dirt. And, somehow, my crappy small camera took these pictures...

A Fall Day at The Park

Yesterday the weather was gorgeous! Much too gorgeous to stay inside, so we went to the park. Today it is gorgeous again, which is why I am keeping this post short!

Three Straws

Dear Dylan,

Last night the three of us went out to eat. I couldn't help but grin, as I watched you playing with our three straws. First, you counted them. "We have three straws!!" Next, you practiced your newest skill - subtraction. "Now, there's three straws!! If you take one away, you have two!!"

Each time, your daddy and I admonished you, "Not so loud, Dylan"! We really need to work on your "inside voice", kid. I almost spit out my food when your daddy said, "Lower your voice", and you repeated what you just said at the same volume, only in a lower, more manly voice!

Then, you dropped one of the straws on the ground. You were about to crawl under the table and put your hands all over the dirty floor, but we told you not to. You were upset. You really wanted that straw back.

The next time the waitress came over, your daddy asked her for another drink. Then, you looked up at her and asked, "Can I have another straw?", drawing the word out for emphasis. She didn't hear you. The next time she came over, you asked a little louder, smiling sweetly at her, and adding a "Please?"

You grinned, proudly clutching your three straws, and I thought "This kid is going places". Knowing what you want, and not being afraid to go after it will get you far in life. I know it's not the first time, and I know it won't be the last time that I want to tell you this...

I'm proud of you.

Love,
Mommy

Pumpkin Time

Well, the cold, rainy weather foiled our plans this weekend. That's okay. I just got the video done from last weekend! We made our annual trip to Reilly's Summer Seat Farm. We went on a hayride, picked out a couple pumpkins, ran through a corn field, and enjoyed the gorgeous fall leaves. Dylan also got to ride a pony, and get his hand painted (It was a football, but three seconds after getting it, he had already smudged it!). I know my parents are going to say, "How did you get such great pictures?" They took Dylan to a farm one day earlier that week, and he wasn't exactly camera friendly. Yes, there are about 30 good pictures in the video, BUT, I also took more than 60. All I can say is Thank God for digital photography. And, my Canon.
I obsess over what song to choose for each video. I picked "Old Joe Clark", by Dan Zanes, because it sounds like something you'd hear at a square dance. Plus, I just like watching Dylan's head bob up and down every time he listens to it.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

A Fall Day?

My parents are not people who enjoy staying home much. Which, of course, means that I'm not a person who enjoys staying home much. Which, of course, means that Dylan is already not a person who enjoys staying home much. Which, of course, means HOLY HECK! WHEN IS IT GONNA STOP RAINING?!

Monday, as always, the day with the best weather of the week, I took the girls I'm a nanny for to Barnes & Nobles. Tuesday we were rained in. Wednesday and Thursday, after taking Dylan to school and back in the rain, we were stuck inside. Today it was still raining. This made me just a little bit AAHHBBBLLPPHHTTT!! I was supposed to have a mom and her son from Dylan's playgroup over. We've been trying to arrange it for a month now. First she was sick, then I was sick. This morning Dylan woke up with a red face and runny nose. Her son woke up with a bad cough. So, we were stuck in the house with no company. It wouldn't be so bad if it were just raining, but it is also COLD. Forty degree weather in October makes me start my "Why do we live here" mantra ridiculously early.

I might have been a tad bit irritated and bored, so I might have overcompensated. We played, we read Halloween books, we listened to a tape about fall, we painted a pumpkin, we made cookies. I also did two loads of laundry, cleaned the kitchen, washed dishes, organized a file cabinet, worked on a digital scrapbook, and wiped Dylan's nose eleventy billion times.




Since we were just going to be inside all day, I didn't bother to comb his hair. Be happy I didn't show you a picture of what I looked like today! If you are wondering why there aren't any pictures of the painted pumpkin, that is because I was too busy trying to prevent my WHITE kitchen from becoming multi-colored. If you are wondering why the cookies are red(ish), yellow, and orange, that is because we were SUPPOSED to make fall leaves. After mixing the food coloring in the icing, I realized I don't actually have a leaf cookie cutter. And, also, did you ever go to make cookies and notice that your flour says that it expired in 2006?! Yea, I never did that either.