Le Gourmet Cracker Barrel

Taking a break from the visiting in-laws for a little bit. This time it's Steve dad, his step mom and her granddaughter here from IL. It's been a pleasant enough visit so far(all 48 hours of it), but they are just different. Even Steve thinks they are so don't go accusing me of being biased against the in-laws. They are nice people, but just...different. Case in point:
1. They considered stopping to eat at Cracker Barrel on the drive here, but step mom said it was expensive and so dad turned right around. Cracker Barrel!
2. The never heard of this "Rue 21" store and thought they'd check it out. To me, it's a teeny-bopper store and they have nothing for me. The in-laws loved it! They got $2, $3, and $4 items and are excited to find out they have one back home!
3. They've also never heard of capers, drinking bottled beer or putting chicken on pizza. OK, the part about the beer was an exaggeration, but they joked about buying a case of bottled beer, because that would be a splurge!

How to Eat Like a Southerner

As my mother-in-law and her sister are returning home to IL today after a visit here, I thought I would educate a few of you out there. I love them, I do, but they needed this training before they got here! In case you haven't learned enough watching Paula Deen, here are a few pointers:
How to Eat Like a Southerner
1. Grits are ground corn, best served with lots of butter and cheese. For all that is good on this Earth, do not put sugar on them!
2. Peaches should be peeled before you eat them. I know this is mind blowing to some of you, but eating a peach with the fuzz on is like making out with Justin Beiber. Both are a little hairy and make me want to wipe off my tongue.
3. Yes, we know the peanuts are wet. We like them that way. It's called boiled peanuts and they are delicious.
4. If someone offers you "Bar-B-Que" it is pork and because we are in the midlands of SC, it will have a mustard-based sauce on it. "Bar-B-Que" is not to be used as a verb and it is not the same thing as a"sloppy joe," no matter what the people back home call it.
5. Whatever you do, don't ask for a "pop." It's Coke. Otherwise, don't be surprised if somebody smacks you upside the head!
Ya'll come back now, ya heah?

Snap, crackle, pop!

I hope everyone had a nice Memorial Day. Mine included catching up with my old friend the Today show, some quality time with Wii Fit, a boat ride on the lake, riping staples off the bottom of my dining chair (to reupholster), packing some glassware and checking in on Savannah.
Yep, she and Steve made it to IL just fine, but I'll be damned if they didn't make a trip to the ER within hours of being there!
So I'm at my niece's birthday party last night when I get a call from Steve around 7:30. I can hear Savannah whimpering in the background. "What are ya'll doing?" I ask. "Savannah's mad because I hurt her." "You hurt her? What happened?" "Well," he says, "we were playing helicopter and I was swinging her around when I heard a crackle (his word) and she starting saying her arm hurt." "Well, I don't know what you want me to do about it 800 miles away. I guess you know where the ER is if she's still complaining about it in a half hour."
So...he calls me back later and says they, along with his sister who works at the hospital, are headed to the ER. And then suddenly he says he has to go. He will call me back when he knows something.
Now I am an easy going person. I don't worry, I don't obsess and I don't fuss over people. I won't call you to make sure you got there OK and I don't agonize over little stuff. Same rules apply to motherhood. But when Steve told me they were at the ER, I was freaking out! Damn, Steve! He's back home for a few hours and he's already damaged our child!
He calls me back a little later and says she is fine. She had Nurse Maid's Elbow (Google it. I did) and it's OK now. The swinging got her arm out of joint, but moving it during the x-ray got it back into place. He said she was happy, and moving it and that you'd never know the difference.
Whew!
I checked on them today and she is fine. Just figures, though. I guess that's what I get for not going.

Home Alone

Guess what?... No....guess again... Nope... Give up? Here's the deal: I am home alone for not 1, not 2, not even 5 or 6, but 8, count 'em 8 glorious days!!! That's right. Steve and Savannah have left town for the week. I didn't go because originally we thought we'd be in the new house by now (see previous post) and I'd have a week to unpack in peace. Since that didn't happen I will use the time to get a little work done, get some house projects done, go shopping, go out with the girls, and whatever else I want to do. I will NOT do laundry, wipe any one's hiney (other than my own, of course), cook dinner, pick up dirty dishes from around the house, or have to put the toilet seat down.
Oh sure, I will miss them and be glad to see them when they get home. But until then, mama's going to enjoy some time off!
P.S. If you haven't caught any of the fabulousness that is the all 80's weekend on VH1 Classic, you are missing some huge hair-dos, unbelievable outfits and some fugly rocker dudes. Seriously, the lead singer of REO Speedwagon looks like Howard Stern on a bad day. And this crap right here makes me glad I went to church 3 times this weekend (wedding). Ugh!

Children of the Corn

Illinois was a long trip, but overall, we had a good time and I'm glad to report that teen-pregnancy and drinking did not have an effect on us this visit. We did go sing karaoke one night, but I would have done that drinking or not.
The food in this town is different (if anyone offers you bar-b-que you're really getting a sloppy joe) but good. We ate from all the required food groups: pork tenderloin, fried chicken, brats and corn. Well, actually I stayed away from all of those but the corn, but I did get some chicken oscar. Yum!
Savannah usually had an accident a day but it was really because she didn't want to stop what she was doing to go potty. She even went poop a few times by herself. I guess she figured it worked out pretty good the first time so, hey, why not try it again. She also had a blast playing with her cousins and friends. There were so many kids at the cook-out we had! However, the majority of them belonged to my BIL and a friend so they were not my problem easy to manage.

We got to see lots of friends and family. Steve' grandpa isn't doing too well so it was especially good to see him. The old guy is 86, was shot down in WWII and lost his wife 15 years ago, so he's dealt with tougher things.

This week I'm playing catch up at work from being gone so long. I hate this time of year. From about the end of August until the first of October, is the busiest time. It's like running my own little school except that I do it all myself. I have to hire staff, arrange rooms, unpack boxes, order supplies and curriculum, rank students, send out paperwork, process paperwork, enter all data into the system, keep up with bus routes, arrange parent events, lead parent events, schedule field trips, lead field trips, handle discipline, give out snack, bandage boo-boos, blah, blah, blah... And Miss whats-her-bucket big-wig wants this to be a part-timeposition next year. Yeah, right.
Anyhoo... Hope you all have had a lovely summer and mine is comming to an end. Let the hilarity ensue!

three, six, one and a half...

Three
The number of consecutive nights of drinking Steve had lined up before we even got into town. We're in Illinois this week visiting Steve's family. It's a relatively small town in the middle of a cornfield where teen-pregnancy and underage drinking are the norm. Even when Steve was in Navy bootcamp, they had to take a class on health science or whatever and in the textbook, it listed his town as #1 in the nation for drinking per capita (or something crazy like that). His parents own a tavern for crying out loud. Anyway...I'm just saying drinking is the thing to do here whether you're 14 or 94 or it's 5:00 Friday or 9:00 Sunday morning.
Six
The number of times we had to pull-over on the side of the road for Savannah to go potty during the drive here. And when I say side of the road, I mean that Steve hit the brakes and we pulled over on the shoulder so she could hand her hiney over and tinkle (or poop). She's been wearing big-girl panties and doing really well the past week and half so when she said she had to go potty, we knew she meant it. But here's the best part... One and a half
The number of hours Savannah was sleeping before we discovered what she did. When we got to my MIL's house, Savannah had just fallen asleep, so Steve gently went and laid her on grandma's bed. She started to wake up, but he told her to go back to sleep. We shut the door and didn't hear anything more so we figured she went right back to sleep. Uh , no. Steve goes down there an hour and a half later to wake her up and he says she has poop everywhere. Oh great! So I go in there and she is sleeping like a rock, but she does have poop on her ankle, on her leg and around her crotch. I look closer and she doesn't have on any panties and her shorts are on backwards! So I go look in the bathroom. Like, Goldolocks, the evidence betrays her and she is busted! There are wet and poopy panties on the floor. Poop and toilet paper in the toilet and poop on the seat. Apparently, she had to go, but didn't quite make it. But no worries- my big girl took care of it the best she could, despite being in a strage place, put her shorts on and went back to sleep!! And much like Goldilocks, she woke up alarmed to see us all standing over her laughing about what she had done!

We're Baaack!

Dang! It's been a fun, busy, long Christmas break! There was all the merriment before Christmas, then Christmas eve and day.

Then we went to IL for a week! We got in from IL about 1:00 a.m. on Tuesday night. Savannah did very well all week, considering the hustle and lack of any type of schedule. Not that I'm a stickler for a schedule at 2 years old, but moms know what I mean! She LOVED playing with her cousins and kept up with them pretty good!

As mentioned before, we went to a water park one day and stayed a night there. It really snowed while we were in town. We played in the snow one day and she had a blast! Even Grandpa got in on the action. I've looked into loading a pic slideshow, but can't seem to get straight info. Any ideas, suggestions out there? Anyway, here's one of my favorite pics:
Poker night was Friday night and we were all out a bit late, but not as late as some.... Sunday was all day Christmas party with the family. More gifts and more food! Monday was New Year's eve. We hung out with some friends who had a Wii (sp?) and I must say, I can see what all the fuss it over. That thing is pretty cool! Then we went to brother-in-law's house for more Poker, but we were in bed at a reasonable 1:00.

So, that's our week in a nutshell! Back to school on Monday!

We be illin.....ois....

Not sure if that came across right or not....we are in IL this week after Christmas. It's been fun, but always busy visiting friends and family (Steve is from here) everyday. We went to an indoor waterpark one day which is the Chicago suburbs. It was interesting to be inside on a "lazy river" but yet its snowing outside. Savannah really got a chance to play in the snow and make a snowman (pics to come later). It was cute. OK- well, it's toucgh typing on this laptop, so there will be more to add later. Happy New Year!

10 on Tuesday

I'm still gaining inspiration for my blog so here's a simple entry - 10 jobs I've had in my life (in somewhat chronological order):
1. worked retail at the Peanut Shop of Charleston (now defunct)
2. worked a summer at the DMV! I learned patience that summer...
3. intern at the Mayor's Office for Children, Youth and Families in Charleston. It wasn't a paying internship, but I got college credit
4. cocktail waitress/bar tender at Wing's in Mount Pleasant
5. receptionist for commercial real estate office in VA Beach
6. worked retail at Inspirations in VA Beach
7. worked in the Afterschool Progam at YMCA in VA Beach
8. reporter for daily newspaper The NewsTribune in IL
9. case manager for Big Brothers Big Sisters
10. Site Manager for Afterschool Program