Why Didn't I Get Ben His Passport?!?

So I'm posting the bingo words for today and Mike, my DH, calls. He asks if we have anything planned next week in the evenings. I told him I didn't think so. He asked why I hadn't asked him why he was asking. So I asked him, why are you asking? Answer: because his company might be sending him to Paris, France next week! My first response was I want to go! My second response was Ben doesn' t have his passport and there's no one I'd feel comfortable leaving him with for a whole week.

Even though I knew we couldn't go on this trip, there might be others or Carribean cruises or what have you. So, this afternoon I started my quest to get Ben his passport. We went to get his birth certificate (ok, I know he's 17 months and I should have this by now, but I didn't see a purpose and they charge for them in Ohio!) and then to AAA to get his passport photos taken (which turned out ADORABLE!) and to the post office to submit his passport application. Only to find that the place that gives out the birth certificates only took cash or money order (who hasn't heard of credit cards nowadays) and it was in a really scary part of town (for those of you who remember the Cincinnati riots, very, very close to the main rioting) and then I forgot where Elm Street was and didn't realize I'd passed it until I hit the other side of downtown and the streets I took back to the other side weren't the loviest either. So, no birth certificate until tomorrow. I did go to AAA and the pictures turned out awesome and they loved him so much they gave him a stuffed puppy which was wearing a red shirt with a red, white, and blue car on it. Two of Ben's favorite signs...dog and car...well, after all his food signs!

Needless to say since we didn't have the birth certificate, we didn't go to the post office. So, instead we stopped by the place I used to work before I became a SAHM to show how adorable Ben was and how much personality he has. Nadine reminded me that they do walk up passports in Chicago which gave me hope that we might be able to join Mike on this trip. When Mike got home we started looking at airfare and it's like $1000 a person which isn't in our budget right now and Mike wanted to travel Saturday to Saturday. When we got to church this evening, I was reminded that I have a huge web team meeting on Sunday (that I shouldn't miss as Internet Coordinator even though I'm not saying much but I'm driving the computer).

So, I'm bummed, but not too bummed. This would have been my second time to Paris so I'm not missing on the I've never been there and I'm missing it thing. I'm sure they'll send Mike back at some other time and we'll be able to join him then. I'll going to miss him terribly for the week but I'm uneasy about how Ben's going to take it. I might escape mid-week to a friend's house for some support. Nonetheless, I'm going to finish getting the stuff and applying for Ben's passport because you never know when you're going to need it.

My Baby Doesn't Want Me Anymore! Sniff Sniff

Mike and I take turns putting Ben to sleep. We both get him into his PJs and whoever isn't rocking with him gives him a hug and kiss and hands him into the other parent who is sitting in the rocker. So I sat down and Mike was hugging him goodnight and Ben would not let Mike go. I got up to let Mike sit down and Mike passed him to me and Ben pitched a fit. He calmed down enough when he realized that all he had to do was give me a hug and a kiss and he'd go back to Daddy. When I put him in Mike's lap, he was content. Does my baby not love me anymore?

Fevers, Ugh!

Last night I found myself doing something I haven't had to do in like 8 months...rocking with Ben at 1 AM in the morning. He's been running a fever with no additional symptoms. I went in to check on him like I normally do when I get done scrapping and he was burning up. Rectal put him at 104.3. So, I gave him tylenol and rocked with him wiping his head and body with a wet washcloth until he felt cooler and asked to be put back in his crib. (You got to love that!)

Mike went in to check on him when he woke up to get ready to go to work at 5:30 and picked him up because he was hot again...105.1. Then he started screaming a scream that no one could sleep through. Mike gave him motrin and rocked with him wiping his head with a wet washcloth. Half asleep, I took the rectal and went downstairs to get him a sippy cup of pedialyte with ice cubes and crawled back into bed. Mike said Ben kept pointing toward our bedroom for me but finally settled for music instead.

I woke up at 8:30 and took a shower. I heard Ben in an awake voice babbling like he normally does. Since then, he sounds to have gone back to sleep. I hear the occassional deep breath and the shuffling about on the bed to be comfortable. It's now 10 and I'm wrestling with do I go in there and chance waking him up when I know he needs sleep because he had a tough night. He cries when he's hot.

I hear him shuffling about. Time to get him...

What A Way To Start A Vacation!

Okay. So everyone knows that the Mike, Ben, and I went to Hershey with one of my best friends, Jenn, and her family this week. We decided to go to Hershey's Chocolate World prior to going to the hotel because we arrived in Hershey before the rooms were ready. (BTW, HCW is where you go to see how the chocolate is made.)

In any case, we got there, ate some lunch, and then Mike took the stroller back to the car because it wasn't allowed on the tours and such and noticed a couple of suspicious characters parked beside us. He didn't think much of it and returned to us. We all took the tour, headed back to the car, and then drove to the hotel.

I pulled in next to Jenn's minivan and we chatted while the DHs went in and got the room info. She asked me what was up with my door handle. I looked down and saw that the part surrounding the door lock was missing. The lock didn't look very scratched up or anything and nothing seemed off in the car, so I thought that it was a failed attempt to steal the car or something. As we were talking a little bit more, I continued looking at it and decided to look at the trunk lock to see if anyone had scratched that up. It was fine.

The DH came back and I said, "Look at this!" He was befuddled. So, we popped the trunk to get our stuff out take into the hotel and every single bag had been opened! After a quick inventory, we found nothing missing. Guess they had managed to get in the car and then use the trunk release in the car to pop the trunk. Obviously, they were just looking for some quick cash/travelers checks because they were kind enough to leave my laptop. (Praise the Lord!)

Jenn watched the Ben while Mike and I filed reports with the state and local police as well as a call back to HCW. Since nothing was missing, no police came to look at the car. HCW stated that we were the first car to be broken into in that lot and gave us a dozen chocolate chip cookies which we picked up today (they're okay, but I prefer tollhouse better). I missed Ben's first time swimming as Jenn and Doug took him and the girls while we were taking the car to a local Toyota dealership to see what could be done to keep other people from breaking into it while on vacation. (Since nothing could be done, we kept it parked at the hotel in direct line with one of the hotel's survalience cameras and everyone piled in Jenn's minivan to go places.)
We decided to go to Applebee's for dinner. We called ahead since we had a party of 8 that needed two highchairs. They weren't doing call-ahead seating because they weren't on a wait. We left the hotel and Jenn called five minutes away from the place and were told they weren't on a wait. We get there, walk in, and get told that we'd have to wait 10-15 minutes (which turned into almost 20 before we were seated). Of course, after my day, I launch off on a tirade about how we called 20 minutes ago and told them we were coming and again 5 minutes ago, to which we were told that we were the first people on the waiting list. We sat down to wait. Now, mind you, it wasn't a terribly loud tirade. My father could have (and would have) done worse. After 10 minutes, the hostess tried to placate us with menus, which I refused. (I HATE when they do that. That's something that you get to do at the table.) We finally get to the table. The waitress comes by and takes a drink order. Comes back and takes a food order. Mike forgot to put in his appetizer order. He tried to get the waitress's attention the 3 times that she was at the table behind ours to no avail. The food comes and she swings by for the "how is the food?" stop. Never comes back for drink refills or asks about desert and then presents a check which we had to get split.

How could I have missed the popped lock cover? Very easy. How many people still use the key to unlock the door of their car? Almost everyone has that keyless entry remote fobble that they use. And then when you're distracted with getting the kid in the carseat and the stroller and diaper bag stowed away properly, it's so easy to miss things. I probably would never notice it someone keyed my car until days later. We bought the car (Toyota Camry) because it was rated one of the most reliable cars by Consumer Reports only to find out this week that it is the most stolen car!

So that was Monday! Tuesday and Wednesday were much, MUCH better. We had a great time at HersheyPark and Dutch Wonderland. Look for the LOs coming soon. On the way home today, Mike and I had decided that we were glad that we didn't just turn around and go home on Monday.

No Arrests Were Made

So, I drove all the way up to the outlying city's police department and sat in a very cold and unfriendly waiting room until the officer decided to show up. At least Ben had fun. The seats were those new-fangled metal grate type things and they made cool noises when he beat on them with his sippy cup and hands. The officer arrived. We went out to the car, he stooped down in front of the right front fender, studied it, and then proclaimed that it couldn't have been in the accident on Friday. (He was an accident reconstructionist, so he knew what he was looking for that other officers would miss.) Thanks for coming...have a nice day...blah, blah, blah. At least there was no tickets involved. Just a long car ride.

Police Called...

So this afternoon, as I'm getting ready to put Ben down for his nap, I get this phone call from the police department of an outlying city around Cincinnati asking for my husband. After much guarded answering and careful questioning, it seems that the license plate for the car I drive (that's in my husband's name) was reported as being involved in an accident on a day and time that I was at home. So, tomorrow afternoon, I have to drive 30-45 minutes, depending on traffic, to this outlying city to let the officer look at my car and show that there is no accident damage to it thus proving that it wasn't in an accident. While I'm happy to be a law-abiding citizen, I'm a little paturbed that I have to put myself out there to clear our good names for something I know dang well we weren't involved in. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? or is that only IN a court of law?

On the way to the grocery store tonight, my husband was very fretful about getting involved in an accident going to or from the store. How would we prove that we weren't involved in this other accident? And what would happen if I got involved in an accident going to the zoo tomorrow? Anyone could hit my car in the parking lot.

On the flipside, I've got this sneaky suspicion that I'm walking into some sort of trap. I go flow of traffic and occasionally that makes me a speeder. My husband, while not liking to speed, does sometimes speed to go flow of traffic. He just took my son up to visit his mom on Saturday and drove past this outlying city on the highway. I'm wondering if this isn't some new ploy by the police where they take down the license plates of the speeders instead of pulling them over and then call them in about something else and then present them with a speeding ticket. We'll have to see....

Crying At Disney Movies?

Okay...I'll admit it. I cry at Disney movies. This weekend, I rented Mulan 2, just to see if it was worth buying (and I probably am or am going to ask for it for a birthday or Christmas). In any case, I'm about to throw a spoiler, so quit reading if you don't want to know what happens. When Mulan and Shang are hanging from a rope bridge that is falling apart and Mulan fails to believe that the bridge can't hold them both and Shang knows better, apologizes, and falls to his death, I cried. I thought this would be a one time thing, but then the DH pops the DVD in to watch it and that spot come up again and, POW, out come the waterworks! It's horrible. I know it's not the first time I've cried at Disney movies...can't think of the other times right now but...my goodness

I'll Take A Shot

Okay, okay...so I've been relunctant to try this blogging thing. Pouring my everyday thoughts out there into the vast world wide web and wondering who reads these things (oh, right, me!) and what good might come from it. I named my blog, my journal. Can't I just keep a good old paper journal that I write in before bed? Why post it out there? But then I think that maybe something that I write about something that's happened in my day might touch or help someone else who's in the same situation or having the same sort of day and smile.