Wife-Swap

I think it was Ludicris who said you can't turn a ho into a housewife... but I'll be damned if I don't try and turn my husband into one (a housewife, not a ho).

After a looooong stressful week at work, I got off on Friday in desperate need of the weekend to regroup. I walked into my apartment only to find it looking like the aftermath of the great San Franciso earthquake of '89. Now there are two obvious problems with this.

Number one: there was no earthquake - this is just how we are living. I swear I dedicate my entire weekend to cleaning my house and within just a few days it looks like I have never touched a broom in my lifetime. Is this just me? Maybe I got some kind of faulty apartment... the kind that undoes everything that is done. Maybe I should ask for a refund.

Number two: The year is 2010. Call me not-so-much old-fashioned, but the times of a woman's place being in the home are pretty much non-existant anymore. Excluding the lucky few, the cost of living is so high it often takes a duel income to provide a comfortable lifestyle for a family... well, this is the case for Matt and I anyway. To be honest, I love my job and I love what I do but it does get tiring working full time and being a full time mom/maid/cook/laundry service on top of that. I guess I just feel like if it is going to be 50/50 in the workplace, it needs to be a little more 50/50 at home too.

So Matt and I had a little conversation about it, and I'm sure all he heard was me saying "blah, blah, blah, blah, blah... I bet YOU couldn't do it". And the bet was made. We decided to switch places for a week (well mostly I decided, but Matt played along with it). When I got off, I got to relax, read, watch TV and play with the Bug. Matt got to do dishes, laundry, pack diaper bags etc. It was pure heaven. H.E.A.V.E.N...

...Until the fourth day, when I got off I came home to a large sack from Comcast containing our DVR for the cable that needed to be installed and software upgraded. I asked Matt why he didn't get it set up, and not missing a beat he said, "it's your week for that". I couldn't help but laugh (on the inside - I can't let him know I think he is funny sometimes, it only encourages him). Now you have to keep in mind that only recently figured out how to change the settings from "TV" to "DVD" on our system. It's just not really my forte.

After about an hour with no success AND technical support on the phone, he stood next to me with his arms folded... "Need some help?" I stuck out my bottom lip and nodded yes. He smiled and said "Hmmm... that's funny, 'cause I could use a little help putting away the laundry."

Ooohhh I hate it when he wins. :)

10 Months

This keeps getting better and better everyday. It's amazing how fast he is learning - I swear he picks up on something new all the time.

Here's a list of new things:

• We're walking! Still a little weeble wobble, but he is doing so good.


• He smiles at everything... Especially strangers. What a little flirt!


• He found the toilet. And the toilet paper. And he figured out how to spin the roller until it ends up as a gigantic pile on the floor. Clever little butt.
  
• He loves to dance.
  
• He still is obsessed with birds.


• He still is obsessed with his little peeper.


• He loves swimming. We go swimming every weekend and he loves to splash.



• He loves to be silly!

Here are some videos of him walking and playing with Dad :)

Vegas Trippin'

Aaaahhhhhh.... Vacations. I live for vacations. And it doesn't take much to please me... All I really need is a pool and my ipod and I'm pretty much set. I guess technically I could vacation in my backyard... but it's even better when the vacation is in Vegas.

When Matt decided to try out for the football combine in Atlanta this year, it just happened to be over the same weekend as my mom's birthday. Now I know an opportunity when I see one, and I can't say that it took me long before I was persuading my mom and sister to meet me for a girls weekend in Vegas. But if you know my mom and sis, you know it didn't take much persuasion and we started booking flights and hotels and it was settled.

We spent the weekend of sleeping in, mornings at the pool, afternoons at the mall, and evenings at the buffet began. Any girls dream come true... Or at least any chunky girl's dream come true. At Maggiano's I concieved a "food baby" and it made me pretty miserable for the rest of the night. But what was I supposed to do? Creme brulee doesn't exactly eat itself. I don't care if it put me in a bad place... their food is so damn delicious.

We wanted to take mom out for her birthday. I wanted to go here...

But she didn't seem really enthusiastic about it so we went to the Lion King instead. It was fabulous of course! But if I'm going to expand my exposure to the diversity of other cultures, I must say I would have chosen to do so with Austrailian hard-bodies than people dressed like animals. Eh, ya win some ya loose some.

I flew home on Sunday only to find out my fridge had gone out AGAIN. I was having de ja vu from Thanksgiving break. Appliances! Matt used to sell them, and ever since he has changed positions they keep going out on us. Like they know he turned his back on them. Weird.

We finally got that mess all cleaned up and went and picked up my own southern hard-body and my little bug on Monday. I missed my boys! And now it's back to normal. I guess that's the worst part about a vacation... They all end eventually and we go back to work. If you know of anyone who is hiring a professional pool-layer-outer, I have quite an impressive resume.

When it Rains it Pours...

... Well, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't pour considering the back window of my Rodeo looks a little something like this:

Classy.

Saturday night Matt and I did a little grocery shopping at our local Walmart, and as we were unloading the car I heard a huge crash outside. I ran out to see my husband in a sea of blue glass formerly known as my back window. Literally a gazillion (yes, that's a word) pieces. When he lifted the window to get the groceries out something popped on one of the hinges and it literally fell apart in his hands. Fantastic.

Damn my luck. So tonight intstead of my spin class, I'm making a little trip up to Fresno to my local "pick-n-pull" to get a new/old one.

I'm so excited to have this all fixed. As much as I love temporary replacement, I will be grateful to see again - and not hear the plastic whipping in the breeze as I drive.

I knew there was a reason I spent the extra money on trash bags that are heafty, heafty, heafty not wimpy, wimpy, wimpy. All things happen for a reason!

Strange...

This actually happened a while ago, but the same people were on the street corners in Hanford this weekend and it reminded me of something that happened several months ago that I still can't get over.

So I'm driving along one day, and I come to an intersection where I noticed several young hispanic men on every corner (and on every median) holding home made posterboard signs that said something to the effect of:

Donations for funeral

R.I.P Uncle Mac

(and a picture of "Uncle Mac")

I did think the situation was a little strange, but I didn't think too much of it and drove the rest of the way to work. Then I saw the same group on all of the corners the next day... and every other day that week. By the third week, I had some questions.

1. Where is "Uncle Mac's" body being stored? I'm sure we're dealing with some kind of health code violation at this point.

2. What kind of funeral extravaganza are they trying to put on if after 3 weeks they still do not have the funding they need to carry it out?

3. At what point do we hang up the posterboard and spend they day punching a timeclock to cover these "funeral" costs?

I'm just saying.... it all seems a teeny bit fishy to me.

I had completely forgotten about this whole event until this weekend, while driving to Target, I saw the same individuals with the same posterboard signs that included "Donations for Aunt Rita and her battle with Leukemia".

Call me heartless, but I kept my dollar.

9 Months!

Our big bug! He is 9 months old now... where does time go? He has developed quite a funny little personality and I simply adore every move he makes.

New things... He started WALKING! He is a little weeble -wobble but he took 7 steps so I am going to count it.

He has discovered that if he wants to play he goes to daddy - who can always make him laugh. If he wants to snuggle he comes to me... to be honest I wouldn't have it any other way.

He loves to play peek-a-boo and loves when I sing "Old MacDonald". He dances. (But he is shy about it). He loves birds... Every morning we leave a few minutes early so we can look for birds. When he hears them or sees them fly he gets excited and laughs - it cracks me up!

He likes to show off and flex his muscles (he must have learned this from his daddy) it's a pretty neat trick. Here's a video... So funny! We love our little Bug-a-boo but if he could slow down a little and not get into EVERYTHING I wouldn't be mad about it! :)

A Trip to the Zoo

Saturday was beautiful outside so myself, Matt and the Bug headed to the zoo with our friends Shay, Sergio and their babies Nivea and Ka'lia. So much fun! The Bug loved the animals.... especially the ugly looking ones. I don't know if he just appreciated their uniqueness but this one was one of his favorites...

Dad and Bug

Nivea

Shay and Ka'lia

Stunna Shades

Awww sweet baby kisses!

It was a trick! He latched on my lip and bit me... Bah! He's such a little brat!