i'm here to report...

that i was able to go see my old stomping grounds. just. plain. weird.

my kids are incredible. they did a great job on the way there. it's about a 4 1/2-hour drive. but we stretched it to about 5 or so to get out and eat and walk around. but for future reference, i will bring *some* kind of stroller while my oldest in STILL IN DIAPERS because what to do with the goo while we changed big h's poop. so did not think about that before i packed ever so lightly. tough call. so i did what any white trash citizen would do. i put the goo in the mcdonalds high chair and just pretended it was a stroller, pushing our way into the bathroom. unsanitary, probably. necessary, definitely.

we got there, and who knew the goo could sleep so well in a pack and play? you go, girl.

tuesday was surreal, in a way. i went to a "play date" (i quote it because ever since i had children, for some reason i do not like the term) with 2 of my friends from elementary school and one of their friends from college. i was quite surprised at how easily big h warmed up to the new environment. but that's not to say the morning/afternoon was without issue. always an issue. but crazy to look around watching my kid play with the kids of 2 of my buddies from 5th and 6th grade. and to have us sit around like "old" ladies, talking about who saw so-and-so at the grocery store, and the latest snack to be had in a whole wheat wrap, and which preschool her kid goes to vs. why that girl homeschools and how much flack she gets about it. very mature, parental topics. big h did find that he had a love/hate relationship with the little 2-year-old girl. the only girl (besides the goo) there, i might add. they were either sharing and playing side by side. or well, the opposite. funny...kind of? but how dare i laugh at my highly emotional little boy? god love him.

tuesday night, i got us all psyched because my mom had arranged for the goo to have a sitter while i took big h out to a little kid amusement park. i was so excited. and being the AWESOME! mom i am, i got big h really excited too. yeah, we were really excited right up until we drove up to the park and saw the sign. seriously, this is the only way i can describe how both big h and i felt.


big h was devastated. it was horrible. horrible. so we went and got some ice cream and went to kmart and each bought a "toy." a backyardigans toy for big h and well, some summer shorts for big h for me. i am such a mom.

next morning was donuts at the same donut place i went on the morning of my wedding. yes, i had donuts on the morning of my wedding. and hamburgers for lunch that day, i might add. only my matron of honor/best friend would know that about me. donuts for nana, big h, mommy, and the goo. first donut experience for the goo. not sure she loves them yet. but big h could have easily polished off about 16 of the "breakfast hot dogs" (i.e. kolaches, pigs in a blanket, sausage rolls, whatever you call them in your neck of the woods). and then, it was back home to the metroplex. pretty uneventful trip. but a meaningful one.

and to tell you just how much buz loves me (as if you didn't already know), he let me go through all of my yearbooks and scrapbooks since 2nd grade. now, all you scrapbookers, don't get excited. there is no acid-free or lignin-free to these things. you're impressed that i even knew that, huh? (hint: i googled it so i would sound more impressive.) but fun, nonetheless. certificates of my perfect attendance in 1st grade. notes to my boyfriends from the mid-high and high school. i know...you're thinking, "wow, she must have had a LOT of boyfriends." quite the contrary. i would have loved to say i wasn't boy crazy. but i was. i tried to act like i wasn't. but i was. and then, my junior and senior year hit, and God sent His grace and mercy upon me and took all of that away and replaced it all with 2 great boyfriends. without making buz feel weird about any of it, let's just say that i had 2 amazing boyfriends who loved the Lord and respected me and set the bar. period.

hmmm...tough call. scan and post pictures from the early years? not sure. will think on that.

2 more issues, and then i promised buz we would actually eat dinner tonight. and then, because it's a saturday and we're all crazy, we may watch some dvr'd oprahs or what not to wears. i love my spouse.

my first issue deals with my recent hair trauma. so i have naturally curly hair. wasn't so curly my whole life but after i had big h, it got pretty consistently curly. i was excited because that gave me a possibility of less maintenance. it was good while it lasted. then, the goo came along. and 2 things happened. first, i got baby bangs. amanda, i am right there with you. but second, a strange curl/no curl phenomenon occurred. the hair on the top of my head went flat. not the bottom or underneath. just the top. nice. so i've been (s)tressed out about it lately. (did you enjoy that little play on words?) i made up my mind. i would go get a "body wave." not to be confused with a perm, mind you. so i went to someone i've never been to before. mistake #1. she started rolling with VERY! TINY! rollers, and i didn't say anything about it. mistake #2. well, the finished product. a 2007 version of me in 7th grade, complete with a coca-cola rugby shirt, 2 pairs of socks, and 2 swatch watches. and a really, really kinky perm. not only that, the front where bangs would be if i had them, was straight. ummm...hey perm lady, that's the whole reason i came to see you. so i washed it and washed it some more. really curly all over and straight right in front. nice. so finally i called the place i go to here for help with my hair trauma. and they said she did a bad job (right, i know) and that all they could do was give me a really good hair cut. and that they did. i think things are looking up. i have a great haircut that disguises my unfortunate experience.

my second issue is more of a question to you out there. i have always been well endowed. nursing did NOT help this *little* problem. actually, just made it worse. big h, the goo, and i ate lunch together the other day, and a mom and her 2 children walked in. they were old enough to be playing some kind of little video game-looking thing. both of them. a post in and of itself. another day. anyway, let's just say they must have had the a/c on, and she was the one to inform me. well, her shirt informed me. bottom line, mama did not have any undergarments beneath her shirt, and she must have been freezing but feeling so fancy free. and she was freezing the ENTIRE time we were there. the entire time. again, i have ALWAYS been well endowed, so i have NEVER entertained the idea of going without. but i mean, what is that like? do any of you go without in public? inform me. inquiring minds want to know...