Three Days of Crazy!

This weekend has been one of those times where Monday rolls around and you're actually glad to go back to work because you need the break. Only, in my case, I was glad it was Tuesday and I could go back to work because I need the break!

Friday night rolled around with its typical TGIF momentum. I had made a few plans for the weekend--namely since our tax return came in and we finally had some money, I wanted to get some things ready for the baby. Yes, yes, I know, we are having a baby shower this weekend coming up, and I'm unspeakably excited about it, but I really haven't been able to do a whole lot of preparation for baby because we've spent so freakin' much money getting him here! So with the tax return arriving on Friday morning via direct deposit, I thought "Ah ha! The General and I can do some shopping together!" Because it would be kinda nice for us to pick out a couple of things for our boy together.

So I went about my work on Friday. I had two lovely older ladies to see, the second of whom happens to live next to a children's consignment shop here in F'burg. So I slogged through my day with the promise of new used baby stuff on my return trip home to entice me.

I stopped in there and actually, I felt like the place was kind of expensive. Some stuff brand new at Target was cheaper than the used stuff at this place. Yes, it was not all Target stuff--some was from The Children's Place and the Gap and so forth, but if I'm buying used, I don't want to spend a pile of money. Still, I got a few good deals--onesies for under a dollar and my hot buy, a pair of lime green corduroy pants. And I got him some overalls because little boys in overalls just kill me.

Ok, so I got home and the General got home and it was leftover night at Casa Kosior and then our workout before bedtime. I got up at 6:30 to go to Weight Watchers, got home, we had breakfast, and then we ran to the dump. And then we were waiting on a friend to come over. She had called to say she'd be here late morning, so I did a little housekeeping and Michael decided to rip out the carpet in the baby's closet (which I now have to tile!). Our new convertible car seat arrived--my first Woot.com purchase--so we pulled that out of the box and took it upstairs. I moved our dangerous coffee table out to the shed and little odds and ends like that. By noon, Mandy still wasn't here and I was craving Chinese food so we ordered it and ate lunch. Mandy arrived around 1:30--poor thing, her internet connection went down and she didn't have our number to call and say she'd be late.

However, she arrived bearing one of the coolest things ever--a diaper cake! She has a former nanny who started a company making the cakes and whose website is at http://www.cuddlebugcakes.com/ if you care to check them out. This particular cake is made of disposable diapers, which will be handy to have when I just don't feel like dealing with a cloth diaper (trips out of the house, etc) and also has baby shampoo, little frog toys (I am all over frogs and dinosaurs, so hopefully I'll be an awesome little boy mom! I'm just praying he doesn't want a pet snake or tarantula because he's waiting till he's long out of the house before he gets one!), a couple of blankets, and some teething toys. Mandy sent some pictures of our nursery out to Cuddlebug Cakes, so the creator was able to color coordinate it with our nursery! I think it's beyond awesome! THANKS, MANDY! :-)

So once she left, it was time to hit the road (by now it was 3:00). My Pampered Chef show orders had come in this week and people were getting antsy and harrassing my friends through whom they had placed orders, so I wanted to get the goods out ASAP. The General and I loaded up and drove over to Jacalyn's house to drop off a couple things and pick up a bowl I had left over there. Jacalyn and I got to talking and it turned out, Jacalyn and the girls wanted to make a diaper cake for my baby shower this week!!! Oh man!!! I encouraged her to do so anyway, and I hope that she will. They are so creative and fun and full of good things that I don't think there are enough diaper cakes in the world!

Then it was time to hit the road to Alexandria. My sister moved this weekend and we offered to help out, thinking we'd be able to get up there by about 1:30ish to actually help get some work done. By the time we got up there it as nearly 4:30, and they were pretty well done unloading the truck. I helped take up a few loads while the General was on babysitting duty. The place was a wreck though, they hadn't gotten much furniture together, there were boxes everywhere, it was crazy. I took Judy and Mat to dinner at Fuddruckers and then I offered to Judy that Mike and I would take Dottie for the evening since her bed was in pieces and plus, we wanted some baby time. :-)

Judy took us up on the offer, and we headed back to the burg around 9:30ish. I was kind of nervous because Judy said Dottie wouldn't sleep past 5:00AM and she was sound asleep when we got back to our house. I took her out of her car seat, covered her up in the pack and play, which we moved into the General's office, and then he and I crashed around 11:00, totally forgetting to move the clocks forward. I woke up around 6:00am and not a peep from Dottie. I got a little bit nervous that she was sleeping so well, but I went in to check on her, and she was fine and dandy, her little mouth working in her sleep like she was eating a bottle. So I went back to bed for a while.

She woke up around 7:30, and I changed her and fed her. She didn't eat too much, and then she and I settled down to take a few pictures and play a rousing game of Make Dottie Smile. She really is such a smiley, happy baby. I love that her hair sticks straight up just like mine did when I was her age.

Pretty soon, Uncle Chief woke up and it was time for breakfast, and then Dottie and Uncle Chief went into the office to read the news while I ran to the store to get some goodies for Elizabeth's baby shower.

My plan for Sunday was: baby shopping for us and Elizabeth, drop Melissa's Pampered Chef stuff off, drop Dottie off, go to Elizabeth's baby shower, drop off more Pampered Chef stuff to a few people in NoVa, have dinner, go to bed.

What actually happened was: baby shopping for Elizabeth, throw whatever I could remember into the car and start driving north (forgetting money for the Dulles toll road and my springform pan among other things), hurl Dottie at her parents and roar off in a cloud of dust, go to Elizabeth's baby shower (which was lovely--her mom and sister did a great job), come back, help Judy and Lucas move another load of stuff to the new house, get Judy into my car to navigate while I attempted to drop off Pampered Chef stuff--H&R Block was closed so I couldn't drop off Cindy's gear, and Olivia wasn't home so I wasn't able to see her but I left hers on her door. Then we drove back to the new house, Lucas was going out, I took Judy grocery shopping because I needed some things for the book club recipe I was trying out, came back, popped in a DVD and we all hacked into a giant sub.

Next morning, I woke up around 5:00. I was so excited to go up to Baltimore to meet B. and hear the baby's heartbeat. I figured I'd better leave around 8:00 to make it for her 10:15 appointment. Judy and Lucas got up and had breakfast and left around 7:00, which I thought was early, but he's always busy on the Hill and stuff, so I figured, what the heck. Then my cell phone rang, and it was the General, and I said, "Gee, you guys got in early, what time did you leave?" and he said, "Normal time, honey" but I just kind of passed it off. So he was asking if I was nervous and when was I leaving. I said, "Oh, I'll leave in about an hour." and he said, "It's only going to take you an hour to get there?" and I said, "No, two hours" and he said, "But honey, it's 8 o'clock." JUDY AND LUCAS HADN'T CHANGED THEIR CLOCK.

I was like "CRAP!" So I start running around trying to figure out what to do--I couldn't find my camera, which I wanted to bring and take a picture of me and B. together, but finally I gave up and left. I should not listen to the GPS during rush hour; she directed me onto 395 which was a freakin' parking lot. I was going crazy. I finally got through there and it was pretty well smooth sailing until I got about 20 minutes outside Baltimore when some landscaping crew had its trailer swirl its truck around and landed in a ditch. I felt sorry for them, but not sorry enough that I didn't want them to get the hell out of the way so the traffic could move.

I ventured into Baltimore and found the clinic where I was meeting B around 9:45 (by some miracle!). She arrived about 5 minutes later with her mom and daughter and her daughter and I resumed our fun relationship. That little girl is so freakin' cute and I love that when she sees me, she just puts her arms out and waits for me to grab her.

We went into the clinic and B's mom left and we just sat there hanging out, chatting with the other moms, waiting and waiting for them to call her name. She just wanted it over and I didn't blame her. The doctor came in and checked her vitals and then put the heart monitor on her and I got to hear the heartbeat. *sigh* It was one of the happiest moments of my life and all too brief. I tried so hard not to cry. I was not successful. It just seems like a miracle, what all has happened and how relatively short an amount of time it has been.

So we got done and I wished them a good afternoon as B's mom said, "You better walk that baby out!" so they walked home. I decided to drive into work so I only had to take a few hours off instead of a whole day and plus I had a full box of Pampered Chef stuff to deliver. I stopped off at Wegman's on the way and got a jumbo salad, and then went to the office. I no sooner put the big box on my desk when a co-worker comes in and starts blabbering my ear off about stuff that has NO IMPORTANCE WHATSOEVER. Seriously. Then another co-worker comes in. Then I finally break free and start delivering the goodies and everyone wants to ask about the appointment and show me their stuff and this and that. I had skipped breakfast and all I'd eaten all day was a whopping breath mint, and I was starving and could hear the siren call of that salad, but at the same time, I was so appreciative of everyone's interest that I felt like I needed to stay and chat too! And I wanted to. Even if I did get a list of the baby's possible horoscope signs, etc.

Finally I sat to eat, my phone starts ringing off the hook, people are in and out, it was crazy. I got a few things done, and then I had a 3:30 appointment with one of my high school students. Thankfully he didn't really know what he wanted to do, so we practiced pairing and rolling socks. Next time, we'll do eating skills, which will be fun.

Well, that was done so I had to run back to Judy's to make my book club dish. I got everything out and managed to even find the rudimentary set of tools I'd need for it--most of J&L's kitchen stuff is still in boxes, so it was kind of fun seeing what I could make do with! I used a glass for a rolling pin, for instance. I had gotten a silicone baking pan at the grocery store to use instead of the springform pan I forgot at home and it was awesome! Worked just great. (If you want the recipe I used to make Sky High Brunch Bake, click here.

It took nearly an hour to bake, so I was glad I hadn't procrastinated much longer. Judy got home and made up her monkey bread, and then we packed up Dottie for her first book club meeting ever and headed back to Elizabeth's in Reston--counting our quarters. We had just enough for the round trip! WOO HOO!

Imagine my surprise when I walked in and put my food down on the table to find a cake that said, "Welcome George Henry!" and a pile of gifts on the table. My first baby shower! :-) The girls all got us a book or two for the baby--some I'd never heard of, some that were old favorites. It was such a wonderful surprise and I can't wait to read to him all his books from his extended family of aunties!!!

Book club lasted a good long time after all the festivities of the baby book shower, and then I dropped Judy and Dottie home and headed to Melissa's to finally drop off her Pampered Chef stuff home. By this point I was so exhausted I was driving with the air on full blast, singing at the top of my lungs, and popping Breath Savers just to have something to keep me awake.

I got home at 11:42pm. My first appointment this morning was at 8:00AM. WHAT WAS I THINKING!?

I sent the General an email and told him to make darned sure I was awake. I checked on TomTom, who glared at me for not cleaning his litter box, packed the General's lunch, and called it a night. The General woke me up way too early this morning--he left me 45 whole minutes before I had to leave the house! haha! So I took a quick shower, fed TomTom, ate my Quaker Oats ("It's the right thing to do"), and hauled ass to the other side of Fredericksburg.

Now I'm home and working on my reports for Monday's staff meeting--I have to write 2 paragraphs on each client, divided by county--about what I've been doing with them and what they still need to do so that my replacement will be able to jump in and get going on them. I have a stack of folders a foot and a half tall on my desk of cases waiting to be closed and I've been writing authorizations, reports, closures, like crazy!

So that's been my crazy 3 days. The whole time I've been yelling, "I do not need one less hour this weekend!" If anything, I needed an extra one. But I got it done. So we'll see what happens in the next week of lunacy!!! :-)