Where have I been you ask?

When I was a kid (teenager) and I would write in my personal journal, as all teenage girls do right, I would start most entries with "Sorry I haven't written in awhile" as if I was apologising to someone. I wrote this because I was a big slacker when it came to writing down my thoughts of the day. I would've rather talked on the phone for more hours or write my thoughts on my closet wall. So, when I sit back and look at how well I've done with this blog, I'm quite proud of myself, aren't you proud of me...you should be. But this week, yeah hasn't been a good week to be proud of. I've kind of let my blog sit on the back burner as I attend to other things like caring for a toddler, cooking for a husband and actually getting work done at work. I know, how dare me.
You should feel lucky that I haven't blogged this week though because I've been a bit of a crank-butt. For those of you who know, it's that time of year. The time of year where we pack up all our clothes, all our food, all our really good movies, board games, lawn chairs, the boat, kayak, 4wheeler and whatever else I can grab and head upta camp! This is the time of year when I feel truly like a Maineah! 6 years ago we bought a 32 foot, 5Th wheel camper and went camping for a month, then we decided that we liked it so much that the following year we went for 3 months, the whole summer in other words. Back then, B.C. as I like to call it (before child), it was great, but by the beginning of the 3rd month I was ready to be at home. 2 months was enough of taking camper showers and shitting in a camper toilet then I needed, but being a good wife and knowing how much my husband loved it, I dealt with it.

Jordan was born in August, so we were upta camp when I went into labor. No big deal, but it became a big deal after Jordan was born and I really didn't want to be there and pretty much sheltered myself to the camper. I never left, I barely showered. I wanted to be in my home setting while I tried to figure out the early days of becoming a mother.

Since then, by the time the middle of May rolls around and we start talking about camping I can feel myself wanting summer to be over with already. Pretty sad huh? Darric and I have compromised, we still bring the camper at the end of May, spend memorial day there setting up and stuff, but we don't actually move there until the month of July, or the week before so we can prepare for The 4Th of July. And then we usually spend a little of time there in August. I still dread it though. I don't know why because honestly I do enjoy myself for the most part. We go boating, 4wheeling, kayaking, and there's family and close friends all around us. It's just become more of a pain in the butt I think because we don't have the time that we use to have BC, and we both work more now, and we get tired easier. I've tried trying to talk myself into being positive about the whole thing, I think of the pros rather than the cons, but for example last night at midnight as I was finishing up packing and I was dead tired out of my mind and as I looked at my peaceful spoiled rotten,unappreciative sleeping husband, I couldn't help but think THIS SUCKS! Excuse me while I spout off a little bit, but if he's the one that wants to do the camping shit shouldn't he be helping out a little more, or at least staying up with me to keep me company and make me feel a little appreciative. Yeah I know he's also busy with his work and trying to start up a business and all, but not only do I have to get the stuff ready for camp, I still have to keep up with the housework, I have a 40 hour job myself and remember that kid we've got. Yeah, he's almost 3 and he's very demanding and needy of my attention. And this year is going to be the worst I fear because in the month of August we've not only got our High School Reunion, but I'm in the midst of planning a 50Th Wedding Anniversary Party and at the same time making a video for it. Plus with gas prices...need I say anymore.....*sigh*

OK, I'm done! I'm over it. This morning I was kind of bitchy with Darric, oh and he knew why, and afterward, after I was at camp, after everything was put away and I got to sit for a moment and look at the calm lake and visit for a moment with family I kind of felt bad. It'll be OK. I'll make it through the summer. I'll have fun, most importantly Jordan will have fun. All will be fine.

Then next year will come and we'll go through this all over again. Obla dee, obla daa!

What's New?

Well, we had a great father's day, despite the dreary weather, Jordan and Daddy made the best of it and went fishing. A first for Jordan, a thrill for Daddy!

Due to the newest trick by Mr. Jordan of climbing out of his crib, it was a must that we do the Ole' bed changaroo. As you can see, he's some happy, and he loves his bed...even though he's been ending up in ours by mid morning.


Heck, why not go full tilt and make him a complete big boy by really pushing the potty training with big boy underwear. You can read our progress, or lack there of, here.

And I got a new hair cut. Not sure how I like it yet, still trying to figure that one out.

So, what's new with you?

Dad, you may want to skip this one!

Sometimes I just need to learn to keep my mouth shut. If you missed The Today Show on Tuesday morning, then you missed this crazy story about the couple that challenged themselves to have sex for 101 days...yeah, I did say have sex for 101 DAYS! I know, they're crazy. And oh yeah, he wrote a book about it. How could he not.

The whole time I was watching this story, I was either laughing or saying out loud 'crazy.' The reason I was laughing was for the simple fact that yeah you had sex for 101 days, and you're now talking about it on National television. And I can only imagine what Ann Curry was thinking as her eyes appeared to be popping out of her head the whole time, let alone the rest of America. If you go on to read the comment section beware, they've got some braggers on there, that apparently having sex for 101 days is nothing to them because their record seems to be 1000 times a year. Blah, blah, blah!
So, here's where I learned my lesson though. Because I thought the story was so comical, I decided to email the link along to my husband, stating check out these crazy people. Well, he hasn't dropped the subject since. He keeps insisting we try it, better yet because our lucky number is 7, let's do it 107 days daily. What have I done? What does he think I am, wonder woman. OK, I'll admit it, I've obviously been thinking about this too. Don't ask me why because I honestly don't think we could pull it off. I still can't figure out how this couple pulled it off (what about her period? What if you just plain didn't want to? )Today though, I even thought about starting a competition with one of our friends. Nothing crazy, but ya know how when you're on a diet and you get encouragement from your friends that are also on a diet? Kind of like that.

So what do you think, are these people crazy? Do you think it's something worth trying? One thing the couple did say it did for their relationship is that at the end of the day, it wasn't about the sex it was about the time spent together, the intimacy and isn't that really what sex is all about? Being close together and sharing your love. I think we all could use more of that. I know my life gets pretty hectic between kids, job, house, cleaning, laundry, family, etc, etc. I tend to let myself and my marriage go and get put on the back burner and it's not suppose to be this way. What about you? How do you find ways to balance out your life? I'm not totally committed to this 101 day thing yet, but I may go buy the book. Just do it

Big Step

Wasn't it just yesterday that Jordan was learning to walk, didn't he just start saying Momma and Dadda? Well, it may seem like it was yesterday, but today I'm realizing that when people tell me the time flies right by with a kid, they are so right. I just got back from signing Jordan up for Preschool, which he will be starting in the fall. Big Sigh! Now I know he's going to do just fine, we've visited there many a times due to the fact that my MIL works there, and every time he'll go off on his own and play with the kids, it's me that's going to have a hard time with this. Before Jordan was born I swore I would never put him in daycare...I worked in a day care right out of high school and many of the teachers didn't give a rats about the kids, they didn't pay attention to them and the environment that I saw there was not an environment that I wanted to my child in. Lucky for us we've been able to have family watch Jordan. With my mom, Darric's mom, my grandmother and Darric's sister we were able to feel safe leaving Jordan with them, and it has saved us a ton of money. Well, we now feel it is time for him to get out and socialize with others who are under the age of 24. So, September 2nd is going to be one tough day for me. I don't know how I'm going to make it through the day. At least I've got a little time to prepare.

....

Now that's giving that Jordan is completely Potty trained by then as well, that's one of their major rules. So, in the last couple of days I've been sticking to my guns and really pushing it...and for the last 2 nights Jordan has pooped on the potty! Can I get a Hell-yeah! Keep your fingers crossed for us because I've got just a little over 2 months.

A Great Place To Visit...But I could NEVER live there

The streets are crowding, everyone in a hurry, very fast paced. Some people appeared to be heading to work, some heading home, some at work out on the streets either advertising their product or trying to sell it, those people flocked to the many obvious tourist, including us. You can look left, right, up or down, no matter which way you look there's something to see and the views are breathtaking. Parts seem dirty, and grungy while others felt clean and classy, you knew that's where the stars were. (Nope didn't see anyone famous). During the day the mood felt all business like, while at night the atmosphere around us wanted entertainment. Seeing the sights I had only seen a gazillion times on TV felt surreal. Knowing I was walking on the same streets that many, many famous, well known icons has walked on was enough to complete my visit to the city. The overall effect of it all was stunning.

That's it in a nutshell really. Obviously, we loved NYC, not enough to live there, couldn't pay us to live there, but a visit every once in awhile is a must and a recommendation to all.

I hope you all didn't get up early just to try and see us on the Today Show cause it didn't happen. Our original reason for going to the big city was to drop my sister in law's car off to be shipped to Italy as they are in the Navy and are being re stationed there. We couldn't drop the car off until 8:00 and after waiting 2 hours with inspection and everything it was too late. Oh well. Next time.

What did we do though...Well, we walked.....a lot! I also had a great visit with an old friend in Bryant Park. We went to the Top of the Rock, paid our respects to Ground Zero, walked down Wall Street, took a ferry ride to Staten Island just so we could get a good view of the Statue of Liberty, rode the subway, walked some more, did some shopping, had some guy say he was going to pop us in the ass right here on Broadway (yikes), got approached by lots of street vendors, rode the subway some more and walked some more too of coarse. My favorite part, walking down Times Square....wait for it....at night. I could have stood there all night going around in circles just looking up. Wow, amazement really. And the only thing that our trip lacked in was sleep, but that was OK, sleep is overrated anyway.

Don't worry, I'll get to the pictures really soon, but before that if you are planning on making a visit to the Big Apple here are some of my tips for you:

1. DON'T BRING A STROLLER. While it's great to store all your stuff in, and it does make it nice to have your child strapped in securely and not running all around. Almost none of the subway stations have elevators and you will be left lugging the stroller down stairs. It gets old real fast.

2. DON'T DRIVE IN THE CITY. Take the bus, take a taxi, take the subway. It puts too much stress on anyone trying to drive in the city. It should be outlawed really.

3. GET FAMILIAR WITH THE SUBWAY. If you have no idea what you're doing when it comes to the subway, you can waste a lot of time trying to figure out where you're going to go and how you're going to get there. We bought a all-day pass, which costs $7.50 and we could use as many times as needed, highly recommend.

4. SKIP THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING. You don't go all the way to the top anyway, and it's way too expensive. Instead, do what we did and go to the top of the rock. You actually go to the top, it's cheaper, and you can get a combo ticket and get a tour of NBC Studios. And if you go this way you can get a picture of the Empire State Building from that height.

5. FERRY TO STATEN ISLAND. Don't pay to go to the Statue of Liberty, you can't go up in it right now anyway. Instead take the free ferry to Staten Island which goes right by Lady Liberty and in my opinion was close enough to get some great pictures. (stay tuned, almost done.)

I'm sure I could come up with a ton more tips, like if you're going to Central Park, don't go past 59th street(scary) and if an vendor approaches you with something and you may be interested, chew 'em down, they'll most likely go down, but I don't want to blabber too much. So, now onto the pictures.