F-I-V-E

At this exact moment 5 years ago I was staring at my newborn son and feeling a little like my insides had become outsides. Geof was born at 2:58pm on Friday, January 31, 2003 after an hour and a half pushing session and close to 20 hours of labor. He weighed in at 8lbs 9oz and was 21 inches long.




Today he stands 46 ^1/2" and weighs exactly 50lbs. I can't hold him and cuddle him as much as I used to, mainly because he won't let me, but he still makes me melt when I look at him just like that very first day.

Worse than nails on a chalk board

Geof grinds his teeth, Nathaniel did as a kid, my friend Morgan did when we had sleepovers. There are only a few sounds in the world that turn my stomach and drive me to the brink of insanity and that is the sound of someone grinding their teeth...especially at night. I've been told that I do it on occasion, but the last few nights I've been waking myself up because of grinding my teeth. Gag me with a spoon! This morning my head is throbbing, the right side of my jaw is sore, and my right ear aches. I'm guessing it's from teeth grinding. Nathaniel had to head back to work this morning so he took the car [he's been working during the week in Charlotte training new drivers], otherwise I'd be at the drug store right now buying a mouth guard instead of writing this post. If I wake up feeling like this in the morning I'm walking to the damn drug store...luckily there's one close enough to do that. To make things a little more annoying I ran into a wall with the back part of my shoulder...stone cold sober, mind you...don't even ask how that happened because I haven't a clue. Now my shoulder is sore, too. At least nothing hurts too severely, just enough to make it a little tougher to get up on this cold Monday morning. It's not even 9 am and I'm already ready for a nap!

Not-so-puuuuurfect Kitty

I am not a cat person..at all. Sure I think they're cute and I don't condone abuse but I'm on the verge of losing it with the cat we have now. I thought they were supposed to mellow with age! The past month or so she's really gone around the bend particularly at night. I can't get enough sleep because she insists that she sleep between my legs and on the rare occasion that I have the house to myself overnight she will, without fail, wake me by pouncing on my gut from some high place...I'm not kidding. Otherwise, every morning between 6:30 and 7 she runs around the house trying to get in as much trouble as possible by knocking things over or just creating as much noise as possible. She has a scratching post which she'll only use if it's turned over on it's side otherwise she uses the arm chair. She loves my elastic hair bands and I find them all over the house tattered and torn. I also have to hide Geof's bendy straws. They used to reside happily on the counter in a container until she discovered how much fun they are to bat around. Then they moved to the pantry...she found them again. Now they're in an upper cabinet. So far so good. Also, most of the ceiling lights turn on with a pull chain....that's another early morning toy she loves to play with and has already learned how to turn them off and on...but mostly on. It's not so much fun to wake up with a light blaring in your eyes, trust me. Thank god she hasn't discovered the joys of yarn! I think that would be my breaking point. I don't understand what her problem is. She gets fed and watered regularly and her litter box is never soiled for long. She also gets plenty of attention and ear scratching. When we do catch her being naughty we squirt her with water so she knows she's doing something wrong. It wasn't always like this. Could she be senile or is this the last bit of kitten energy coming out? We've had her since October 2006 when she was probably a few months old..not yet a year. Any cat whisperers out there? I could use some pointers here before I find her a new home for the sake of my sanity.

What not to eat when you're sick

Round two of cold season hit our household last week. Nothing serious just an energy-sucking, mucus-filled cold. Our pantry is usually stocked with soups during the colder months and I recently picked up some Healthy Choice soups that were on sale to add to our stockpile. One afternoon after my sense of taste was just starting to return I thought the Italian-Style Wedding soup would be tasty. I was wrong. Blame my out-of-whack senses or the soup itself, but it tasted like the smell of someone else's horrible morning breath. Seriously. Just thinking about it gives me the dry heaves. I'm usually a big fan of soup, but this flavor was the worst I've ever had. Lesson learned!