"They Say It's Your Birthday..."

Well, not my birthday mind you...but Cari is now 32!! I think I outdid myself on what I got her too. No, I didn't get her a gift card to Target, like I usually do. Hey, who wouldn't want that right? I got her "Juno" on DVD (which we both get to enjoy) and...AND...a gift certificate to Daired's Spa, located conveniently off the highway here in Arlington, where she (and her friend) can go and get...something. Not sure what. The most expensive feature they have is laser hair removal for like $2,100. I got her $60. Good for a massage I think. Here are a few pics from her birthday dinner:


Emmy: "Almost done with the candles!"
Me: "Are you going to put one candle for each year Mommy has been alive?"
Emmy: "Well, I was going to, but it turns out that kind of heat would be a violation of the city fire code."
Me: (wondering how she got a copy of the city fire code)


Me: "So Cari, what do you think of your birthday card?"
Cari: "Well, you did it. You finally found a card that plays my favourite song!!"
Me: "I bet ya didn't think there was a card that played "It's Rainin' Men"!!
Cari: "This is the best birthday ever!!"


Zach: "Look Dad, Dylan and me have cookies!"
Me: "I see...any chance ol' Dad can get a cookie?"
Dylan: "These are the last ones!!"
Zach: "If you want you can have the crumbs that will eventually be around my mouth!"
Me: "I'll pass."



Buffy the cat: "I am pure evil! I will hunt you down in the dead of night and eat you in your sleep. Look into my eyes...you will see the depths of Hell!"
Me: "Really?"
Buffy: "Eh, not really. It's just the way the light is shining on me. In actuality I couldn't run more then three or four feet without collapsing in a wheezing pile."

Did I mention that I dropped by her office Monday morning (rather...unexpectedly) and gave her a dozen roses fresh from Kroger's floral section. Shocked the heck out of her! But she was very appreciative of my noble efforts.

And Mom's birthday is next Monday! Numero 54!! Wow. She's been the best mom anyone could ask for, at least to me. She was always supportive of whatever I did and never tried to make my feel like less of a person for it. We're having her over Sunday for an intimate get-together, just the five of us lol. And, she's watching the kids Saturday night so Cari and I can go out and celebrate with some of our friends. I still have to get her a present. Ideas...ideas...

Zach is about to turn three and man, not a moment too soon. The "terrible twos" is the understatement of the year. Let me tell you what a typical day is for him and me:

Sometime between 2 and 4am: Zach cries loud enough for everyone to hear him and then runs into our room and crawls into our bed.

4:30am: I get up and take him back to his bed because he won't stop squirming and I can't go back to sleep.

7am: He gets back up and runs into our room and crawls into the bed (again) but by this time I'm already up.

8:30am: After dropping Emmy off at school I take him to the babysitter and once he goes inside he comes back out screaming for me to stay there with him. He's been going there for over a year.

8:30pm: Giving him a bath. He's discovered something that I guess must be a boy thing: peeing in the bath. He thinks it is just the funniest thing since Milton Berle. Last night he managed to hit Emmy square in the face and ya better believe that got him a spanking from his mom AND me. He wasn't laughing so much then.

9pm: Putting him to bed. Every night is an ordeal because he thinks it is okay to get back up and see what exciting things are going on with us, which is usually one of us on the computer and one of us watching TV. So we put him back to bed...and back...and back...for about an hour. Spankings just do not work for this kid. He will get back up knowing that is what's coming.

This has been pretty much every weekday since he turned two. Part of me really wants to believe he's starting to break some of his patterns and become the really great kid I know he can be. At times he is so sweet and he will share and entertain and really make me look great. I just wish those times were more often then not. I have faith. Faith in him being as smart as he has displayed. He is starting to give really complete and thoughtful sentences now and it just blows me away how intelligent he is. But intelligence doesn't alwyas translate to making good choices, does it? People always told me I was smart. But it wasn't until I got the job at the mall that I finally started to accept it. I remember one day being up there in the security office and it just kind of came to me: I can be better then $9 an hour. I can go farther with a much better company who will reward me for my hard work. It took four years, but I feel like I have arrived. Congratulations to me lol.

Finished my seventh month here at HealthMarkets. That moves me past Domino's (6 months), and next up is Western Merchandisers (9 months) and McGraw Hill (11 months). Geez I've had a lot of jobs eh? I guess the only one that counts is the one you're at now. Hey, I like that line. Think I'll trademark it.