OUCH

My darling child bit me tonight and broke the skin. I was so in shock about what happened I forgot to discipline him. I guess I would bite me too, given the circumstances. He was playing at a friends house and didn't want to give back the trains he had, he was tired, hungry and has the beginning of a cold and cough. He wailed all the way out the door. At least my friend no longer thinks I have the perfect child. I hate it when people think that- they need to see the real Daniel and the real me. We're not perfect and we don't have it together.

It also appears Daniel has caught onto the big impending event. He has been reluctant to let me out of his sight and I have magically become the "favorite parent", something I have never been before. He follows me around asking "where mommy?" and "whatcha doing mommy?". I get a lot of "hold you" all the time. I miss Dave being the favorite parent. Hopefully this is just a phase that will end before baby brother shows up. I'm not counting on it, although I wish to not be bitten again.

This week's goal for Daniel to take naps in his new big boy bed. I'll let you know if he can stay in it!

Cherry Picking

Some of my friends and I are trying the method of grocery shopping where you only buy what's on sale with coupons and stockpile enough until it goes on sale again. It's called "cherry picking". It's a lot of work, because it involves being extremely organized, meal planning, and going to 3-4 grocery stores a week. The payoff is 50-75% savings on your grocery bill. It's been recently featured on the Today show, and there is a whole website dedicated to this method, called The Grocery Game. You can even subscribe to their lists, which tell you what to buy.

While I'm used to doing a little of this with Kroger, I had kind of slipped into Super Walmart backup mode because it was easy and convienent. Yesteday was my farewell to Super Walmart trip, since I needed to stock up on a few Equate brand items we use and use up a gift card.

There are two things about Walmart that drive me nuts: They are ultra picky about coupons (which they don't double) and it just takes so long to check out. Yesterday one of my coupons rejected and as usual, I had to find the item in the bags to prove I bought it. When the cashier did a manual override, she ended up voiding the item and giving it to me for free. This always happens, so I don't know why Walmart just doesn't take the coupon- it's cheaper for them. Yesterday I received $6.50 in products for free because of rejected coupons, protesting some of the prices, and the resulting voiding actions. On top of that, my gift card would not scan right, and I had to prove the exact balance on the card in order for it to take. Good thing I brought along the last transaction receipt with it. GOODBYE WALMART!!

You're So Franklin

Ever since I did the "You're So Nashville" post, I have been thinking along the lines of my locality. Here's a few I've come up with...

You're so Franklin if...

You wish you knew someone in Brentwood who would give you their library card.

You think the new kids play area at the Cool Springs Mall is way too small.

You plan to write Nissan a thank you letter for getting the McEwen interstate exchange work started.

You wish Marsha Blackburn had run for Senator instead of Bob Corker.

You are still mad at former Governor Don Sunquist for being such a weiny.

You are peeved at The Tennessean for dropping Dave Ramsey's column, but you still subscribe so you can look at the multi million dollar mansions in the Williamson Real Estate section.

You can't figure out the difference between what the county mayor and the city mayor do, except for fight a lot with the aldermen.

Every week you watch the trash men circle your neighborhood three times to do the pick up and think, there's got to be a better way....

You want a recycling program, but you don't want to pay for it (per the city survey).

The most traffic you ever sit in is on Sunday mornings in Brentwood.

You think Hwy 96 does look trashy- it should all be torn down and rebuilt in brick.

That's all for now.... I know a few of you have some too.

Weekend Away

Dave and I just got back from a much anticipated and planned weekend away with Daniel. It was a much needed break before baby # 2 comes along in 10 more weeks (or less!). Daniel stayed with Grammy and Papa and had a wonderful time. They kept him so busy he was exhausted today. He went to their church three separate times (I think mainly so they could show him off) and he came back with every article of clothing clean except what he was wearing (my mom is the QUEEN of laundry).

We rented a cabin in Wears Valley outside of Pigeon Forge. We had a hot tub, jacuzzi, sauna, gas grill, and a beautiful view. It was hard for me to do nothing, but I tried. It was great!! This week it's back to reality and my huge to do list. I thank God for Mother's Day Out. It's a lifesaver and Daniel loves it too. His little class is all boys this time and lots of fun.

I have banned myself from checking out any more books from the library until I complete my annual CPE (continuing professional education) for my CPA license. I have 46 hours to do, hopefully all this month, plus I just picked up a tax return client. And I have convinced my boss at HCA to terminate me at the end of the week. It feels good to be officially and permanently unemployed by someone else, for the first time in almost 20 years (except for brief periods in college)!! (gosh, I'm old...)

Officially Two

The second birthday was a success. Daniel enjoyed all of his presents, his family in town, his party, and all of the attention. We now have an official two year old and all of the emotions along with it. He is getting more picky, more whiney, more expressive, and more loving each day. Today he started back to Mother's Day Out (freedom for mommy!) and endured a wasp sting on the playground. This afternoon it was a visit to the doctor and his last shot until he starts school. Soon we'll be starting another round of visits and shots with little brother. Speaking of, Daniel now can correctly identify the current location of "baby".
I didn't catch Rosie today on "The View" and don't plan to, but I did see Katie Couric on the news tonight. I almost didn't recognize her with the additional makeup. Yesterday, I also finally was able to watch "High School Musical" and even convinced Dave to watch it. It is so cute! After playing it three times yesterday, the music is stuck in my head. "It's the start of somethin' new...."