Houston Part III: Brit Brit

One of the highlights of the Houston trip was joining the ladies of concrete city in going to see Britney Spears in concert. There was no jumbotron, you couldn't see Britney, there was no way that she sang even one word, she totally lost a step in terms of dancing, but it was AWESOME. We got drunk (well those of us who are not pregnant or breast-feeding, a funny part of going to an arguable teeny bopper concert in your 30s), someone (AA?)purchased a light up boa (which she gave me to give to J, but I threw it in my suitcase without shutting off the lights resulting in a dump search of my suitcase by TSA, but it was worth it because J LOVED the Britney boa), and we even miracled an 18 year old with the extra ticket we had. I am not gonna lie, I bought a t-shirt.

Here is the stage:



Bizarley's reaction to Britney coming on stage:



It's Britney Bitch: (not the best photo, I know)



Me and Bizarley who gets mad props for suggesting that I celebrate my 32nd birthday with Britney and treated me to the ticket:



You may be wondering what J was doing while we were screaming Hit Me Baby One More Time at the top of our lungs. Well who was not with us at the concert? Yup, THC. And he came through big time. We left him and J watching Cinderella, and made the deal that she would go to bed after the movie. She shook on it and generally is good about following through on deals she makes. Apparently, after Cinderella she wanted to watch another show. THC suggested a new deal: they watch a show of his choosing for 5 minutes then she would go to bed. J agreed, shook on it, and THC put on SportsCenter. J asked to go to bed two minutes in. Nice work.

Empathy

Today has been a rough day. After a rough couple of days. Passport issues that may wompus my upcoming trip to Paris, washing machine breaking and leaking all over, constant construction, bank screw ups with checks, a cold/sinus infection I can't seem to get rid of, stress at work, consistent bad customer service preventing anything from getting done, the self-absorption of many of the people around me, and a kid who can go from zero to full on tantrum in less than one second over ANYTHING. Then today I get a notice for a collection agency about a $25 balance on an account at an unnamed doctor's office. I called to dispute the validity of the claim - within 30 days as required by law - and ask the name of the doctor who needed to be paid. The person was such a jerk to me (and obviously an idiot who was bad at her job, because if she told me the name of the doctor I could have maybe remembered what it was for and paid, which is the end goal of collection agencies right?) that I just lost it.

Granted, it is $25 and I should just pay, but I was so annoyed that I had never gotten a bill from any doctor and I have to go to the doctor's tomorrow (the doctor I am guessing submitted the claim) due to the never-ending illness and figured I could ask them about it. So I disputed it for now.

This person being mean was just kind of the last straw. I hung up the phone and just burst into tears. I am just tired and feel really under-appreciated and sad with a touch of lonely. I mean, I don't expect J to say thanks for anything other than me handing her food, but it is sometimes hard to have no positive feedback compounded by many tantrums. And work is a stressful disaster because everyone is nervous and competitive. Thus, I go in every day thinking it may be my last. Then I may not be able to pay the stupid $25.

Anyway, Jillian is so awesome. She immediately ran over and told me not to be sad. I had melted into a puddle on the floor at that point, so she sat next to me and told me to take a deep breath and not to cry. Then she started to tell me why animals are so awesome to try to take my mind off things. 20 minutes later she went to bed without any trouble.

I felt terrible for putting my 2 year old in this position....so in some ways her plan backfired. But at the same time, I was proud of the empathy that she demonstrated and her ability to tune into how others are feeling and be there for them. (I always worry that she will be like her father in those respects, so it was good to see her act this way). I am lucky to have her, because every other day, she is all I got. The other days I have the dvr. (Yeah, yeah, right now I am having a pity party for myself).

Now the focus is to not be that terrible mom who puts all her troubles on her kid, forcing the kid to grow up to fast.

Houston Part II: The Playground

Sorry part two of the Houston series has taken so long to get to. I am sick and exhausted and my bedroom and bathroom are under construction and have been on a series of dates that were meh, and blah blah blah. I am a whiner.

Anyway, back to fun stuff, Bizarley lives near a pretty cool park. The whole gang went there one night, and everyone joined in the fun.

THC did most of the heavy lifting:




Jillian was thrilled to have the big girls hang out with her. And Bizarley was more than happy to be her partner on the double slide.



J also insisted on hanging on the monkey bars all by herself. Not scary at all for me, her designated spotter.



I finally convinced her to take off her tutu. She loves these pants with the flower on her ass. Nice.

Jillian Explains Easter

It has been a loooooooonnnnnnnnngggggggggg weekend. I do not think that Jillian sat still for more that 37 seconds at any point. And tomorrow the constructions starts on my bathroom and bedroom. So I am slowly moving out of there and hope to be done before the contractor gets here at 8:30 a.m. tomorrow morning. But first I have to watch the finale of Rock of Love Love Bus.

Anyway, we had a busy Easter day, hunting for eggs (which my mom bought, but I didn't realize she didn't buy candy to put in them until the night before at 10pm, so I had to fill them with left over Christmas M&Ms that I found in the back of the kitchen cabinet and loose change - again, I expect the parenting awards to arrive shortly), going to Mass, brunch with friends, and then Jillian's first movie in the theater.

Here is Jillian explaining Easter and looking for eggs. Luckily the Easter Bunny had told me exactly how many eggs he (she?) hid and the general area where they were. I did have to tell that to J because she was suspicious of why I was so good at looking for eggs.

Dinner with the girls

Jillian and I met up with some peeps (Auntie Liz, Baby E and the rents, and Maize along with her mom and dad) at the square today and then went out to dinner. J has a crush on Baby E's dad. It is crazy and hilarious. She was sitting on my lap happily eating a snack. Then he sat down, so she immediately got up, sat in his lap and offered to share her snack. It is so funny to watch her interact with him.

Here is a picture of J and Baby E hanging out the Continental Midtown. Two cool cats on the town. Don't worry I cut J off after two martinis.

Houston, Texas Part I: The Zoo

Jillian and I spent last weekend visiting Houston Texas. When we were landing, J looked at me and shouted "we are landing, Houston Texas here we come!!" Everyone within three rows of us was laughing. It was definitely an awesome trip and I will share the highlights in a series of posts. So this is the first of a series - the Houston Zoo. THC really likes to see the monkeys.

Another famous blog baby - Emily V joined us, along with her parents. It was hilarious. At one point, Jillian turned to Emily and said "Emily, I love your cup." Apparently, Jillian really liked Emily's frog sippy cup. It was like me turning to bizarley and saying "I love your shoes." It warmed my heart.

Jillian and Bizarley were both afraid of the bats, TFry got some dippin' dots, and THC was nice enough to put J on his shoulders so she could see the sea lion show. But then we told her she had plumber's butt (her underwear was showing) and she freaked. She HATES plumber's butt and goes so far as to inform strangers when they have it. Nice. And not at all awkward.

I digress. The zoo was really fun and it was a really nice day. Then I ate too much tex-mex while Jillian ignored her food, and went home for naps. This was after Jillian wanted a huge bag of popcorn, which I bought her, and she carried around the zoo like a stuffed animal (see picture). All in all a good day.



Above is a picture of some fools in a play boat at the zoo. And one of the two jokers who were afraid of the bats and thus played in the praire dog tunnels while the rest of us watched the bats eat a fruit buffet and chatted up the slightly odd zoo employee in charge of it all.

Dilemma

Jillian likes tv. I am not one to judge given my love of all things television, including Rock of Love Love Bus, Gossip Girl, and other educational programs, but I feel like I am in charge of making her a well rounded person, interested in the world around her - not just the one projected through one of our three tvs. That is a long sentence that I am not going to bother to edit.

So, I was looking at new cars and like the Toyota Venza. I am not sure if I am going to buy it. In fact, I am pretty sure I am not. But anyway, it comes with a dvd player in the back. This is a tempting feature because Jillian will sit and be quiet for a long time if watching a movie. For example, on the 3.5 hour flight to and from Houston, she sat and watched Cinderella and a completed effed up My Little Pony show for the entire time. It made the trip much easier.

But here is the thing, do I want her to be able to watch dvds every time we drive? I admit that on one of our longer car rides, a 3.5 hour drive to Long Island, it was touch and go for a while. There were some tears on everyone's part. We made it, but it was exhausting and stressful. And since it is going to be just me and her in the car, at least 90% of the time, perhaps having the distraction will save me some stress. While this is a benefit, I also think it is a problem. When I was little, car rides and plane rides were where I would daydream and read and listen to music and color or draw. All good things in terms of creativity and being able to entertain oneself. I worry that if there is a dvd player in the car, Jillian will not have to develop that skill.

Thoughts? And yes, this is what I am thinking about on a Saturday morning when I do not have Jillian. Whether I want a car with a dvd player when I am not in the market to purchase a new car. I need a hobby.

Houston pictures and full report coming soon.