Potty day

Warning: Potty TMI might follow...

Today was a good day, potty-wise. Sweet'ums went twice in the potty all by herself, without being told or reminded. What made me really proud was at one point she started to go on the floor, so she ran to her potty and sat down. It took her a while, but finally she finished in the potty! I think she must have locked down those muscles hard enough that it took a few minutes to relax enough to go. Then, once she went #2 in her panties, but came running to the potty and tried to take care of it. Poor kid. The second time she went #2 her daddy didn't realize it (I was in the shower at the time) and she asked him to take her to her potty seat (in our bathroom, the child seat built into our adult seat). Once he got her in there he realized what had happened, but at least she tried to tell him about the mess. Another time she wet herself and asked for a bath. Or, maybe she was saying she just gave herself one? I'm not really sure. The point of all this though is that she's actually realizing that her messes are supposed to go into a potty and she's alerting us to them now, even if she's a little late at it. If she catches the urge before it happens, she goes to the potty on her own without prompting from us or needing our help.

Needless to say I'm thrilled with her progress. We didn't do a full-day session, but she seems to understand what we're getting at. We'll work some more on it tomorrow, and hopefully she'll do even better.

Thanks for stopping by, Melinda. Most parents won't admit that one of their children was anything less than a joy to potty train, or that they were unwilling in the slightest. You wouldn't believe how many people, when asked, have told me that they just told their kids to do it and they did! I imagine a few did, and I know my mom didn't have too much trouble with me (I was a copy-cat), but I doubt so many people had such perfectly easy children. We're hanging in there and hopefully sometime in the next few weeks I will be able to report that we're mostly accident-free.

Potty, maybe

I've felt a little lost lately. I've mentioned in several posts my emotional ups and downs, the things that have frustrated me, and my attempts at keeping my head about me. It really does seem like every few weeks something ambushes us and sets me back in my emergence from this funk. The thing is, this happens pretty much every year around this time. Spring is always rough for me.

Today, though, I have a couple things to be optimistic about.

First of all, the hubby will be getting a bonus at work. Hooray! Who in the world wouldn't be excited about that?

Also, Sweet'ums has asked to sit on the potty four times today. She didn't say she needed to go, only that she wanted to go sit on the "potty seat" and look at her "potty book" (a Wonder Pets book we've designated for potty purposes only) and hold some "potty paper". She asked once yesterday and once the day before, so I'm hoping that this is a good sign. The doctor told us not to push the issue too much (since she's stubborn and he doesn't want her to push back) so we're just taking it easy, but this whole potty training thing has been aggravating! Please pray that this is her way of coming around to our way of thinking. Hopefully this is my little caterpillar making one more step in the process of growing up.

The Stress Garden

Recently I started a garden. It began a couple months ago when I picked up some snapdragons at Home Depot with very good intentions. Those snapdragons have had so many near-death experiences since then, and I only just got them into the ground over the weekend. I also planted some gladiolus bulbs a couple weeks ago and they're coming up so beautifully.

So this past weekend I was at the store and I thought dahlias and freesias would make a nice addition to my garden. So Monday I went out and planted them. I'm excited to see how they come up. My garden should smell incredible once everything starts to flower. And if anyone has any other warm-climate favorites, feel free to share and I'll try to find some.

So this is what I did about my MIL. I was stressed, and tired, and I needed an outlet. That's part of the reason I started the garden in the first place. I want to share pictures as it grows, but unfortunately my computer is quite cantankerous and won't let me upload from my camera. So with any luck over the coming months I can upgrade my computer situation and show you how it's all coming.

I'm also in the midst of cleaning my house. Keep in mind I'm totally NOT a housekeeper. We (my friend and I) worked only in my living room yesterday and I'm completely exhausted still. I can't find anything (LOL!) and I'm still overwhelmed with the whole ordeal. She wants to work in my kitchen tomorrow but I'm just not ready yet. Besides, NG should help us some too. It's not just my mess--it's his too. Bless my friend's heart for being so enthusiastic though!

I also just made another accomplishment. Are you sitting down?

Are you ready?

Are you sure?

I just boiled eggs for the very first time!

I was afraid I'd have to report that the queen of from-scratch brownies and beautiful chocolate souffles was incapable of boiling a proper egg, but they actually turned out! WOOO!

Off to enjoy tuna salad for supper... Have a nice evening.

Question for the readers

Has anyone had serious issues with a disrespectful in-laws, or have any advice for dealing with them? I'm so tired of being taken advantage of and having my family's life and schedule completely disregarded. I've tried everything from being the annoyingly sweet and respectful DIL, to ignoring them, to just trying to take things in stride and coping. Nothing has worked, and my MIL has disregarded my attempts at being friendly and taken advantage of the situation for the last time.

Time off

This weekend was supposed to be my time off. Real time off--Sweet'ums is with her adoring and devoted grands, hubby will be working, and I'm going to chill at home, read a good book, get a bubble bath, maybe do a little creative writing...

...right?

I wish. I already knew I had tons of housework to do since my old strategy for making the house look clean no longer works. We got a new window a/c during the week for the main part of the house to hopefully lower the electric bill over the summer, so we had to rearrange the furniture so that our couch wouldn't block the window. All of the stuff we had stashed out of sight is now sitting on my couch waiting to be sorted and discarded. No biggie though. I can handle that, if I have no distractions.

This is where the distraction comes in.

My SIL called me late this afternoon to tell me she needed a couple dresses she left here to be taken up and mended. That's fine, except she never held up her end of the bargain: I needed her to be here so I could size the dress that needed taking up, because otherwise it's horribly inaccurate. It was also a bit of a pain as I only have white thread (that's mainly what my sewing requires) and the hubby is on day shift, leaving us only a little time this evening to look for thread at Walmart, who conveniently only had a little sewing kit for hand-sewing (which my hands don't really permit me to do much of anymore). So alas, I'm without blue or black thread for her dress that needed mending. She had this bright idea that her mom could drop her by here on her way to pick up my other SIL's boyfriend for the day, and go home when her mom came by this way to take the boyfriend home. Usually, he gets to their house early in the day and doesn't go home until sometime after 7.

I hate to sound so awful, but I really don't want her here all day.

After all, I've asked her several times over the months those dresses have been here to stop by so I could get the measurements. Why did she wait until the last minute, right before she actually needed them, to come and do what I asked?

If she wasn't coming over tomorrow, here's what I would REALLY like to do.

I'd get up early, have some coffee, get my household stuff done early, or at least get a lot of it done so I could finish up on Sunday. I'd have a nice, quiet lunch, then I'd crank up the speakers on the computer, jam to The Cranberries and Nightwish, and do some painting. I haven't painted in ages, and I was really feeling like it. It hurts to write for very long periods of time (I prefer handwriting my creative projects) and I really want to do something creative. I've got too much happening inside my head and it would be nice to just let it all out. I'd sing my heart out with the blissful knowledge that no one is listening and feel 16 for a few hours. Then the hubby would come home and I'd slip back into grown-up mode and be thankful for my free day.

I could probably still get some work done with the SIL here but I have a harder time doing things with other people here. I need a day with no distractions and no responsibilities. I really needed this free time, but it's not going to happen.

Now I'll have to try to get everything done Sunday before Sweet'ums comes home, because now that Mom works on Mondays she brings Sweet'ums home earlier than she used to. Not that I mind, of course, but it adds to my time constraints.

I just hope that sometime soon I can get another free day, just to use the way I want to, without worries. There just always seems to be work to do.

Talk nerdy to me

Some of you who have been reading me a while or who actually know me know that I'm a bit of a closet nerd. I was avidly involved in Final Fantasy XI (aka Final Fantasy Online) for a while and have been very sad the last few months that my husband and I made the decision to leave it--it has been dying, slowly, for a while, and they've announced a new online FF coming out, so we're just waiting now. The folks over at Square Enix (who are responsible for several anime shows as well as video games) are just brilliant. I loved playing Fable TLC and Fable 2 and I've enjoyed watching the hubster play games like Bioshock 1 and 2 and Dead Rising (almost went into early labor laughing at that one!).

So anyone out there who has a son or husband or other loved one who likes video games might have heard of the Half-Life games, and their little brother Portal.

Portal has got to be one of the most incredible short games I've ever seen. It only took us an evening to get completely through it but I fell in love. The ending song is the best, and I love the open-ended nature of the game. Supposedly there's a sequel coming out, so I'm curious to see how it turns out and how the next Half-Life game ties into Portal.

Anyway, to the point. A while back the hubster found this online for me. It made me SO RIDICULOUSLY HAPPY and I thought that I'd share it since I've been a bit distant lately. Do a little research on the whole Rubens' Tube thing. The fact that I got so excited only serves to prove what a nerd I am deep down inside. So what if I'm a miserable failure at chemistry? Physics is cooler anyway.

Enjoy the video and share it with any gamers or nerds you might know. You just might make someone's day.

Back and Forth

I go through these phases a couple times per year where I just kind of drop off the radar for a couple weeks. I guess I'm in the middle of one right now. Sometimes I feel really sociable, and other times I just keep to myself. A friend mentioned the other day that she hadn't talked to me in a little while, but she just figured I was going through one of my spells and didn't want to push. That kind of made me realize, hey, I haven't really talked to anyone lately. I mean, I've replied to emails and read blogs and posted comments on a couple, but I haven't had a good conversation in a little while.

So I just want to apologize for not keeping up so well with everyone. I appreciate those of you who read and comment and hopefully I'll rejoin your ranks in a week or two.