Speaking of...

I am ashamed of my lack of blogging this summer.  When I was sitting on the side of the road waiting on Skip to come rescue me on our anniversary, I was thinking- I need to write about this.  My next thought was that I needed to write about a lot things that have happened this summer.  As summer is quickly winding down, I can’t believe that it’s almost over. 

So in no particular order, here’s a little update:

Thursday was our four-year anniversary.  We made plans for a couple’s massage at Massage Envy (we had a gift certificate!) and a cookie skillet at Afton Tavern.  We haven’t gone overboard on anniversaries the last two years- not gifts, no fancy dinner, just some scheduled time together.  It’s plenty special to us.  I realized in my quest to make an insta-collage of our pictures that we don’t take enough couple pics, so I am making it a new (marriage) year’s resolution to take more pictures together!  I got tickled at how many pictures I found of Skip sleeping.  Maybe I’ll do a collage of those for his upcoming birthday.  Anyway, despite my car trouble, it was a great day. 

Speaking of car trouble, in my never-ending pursuit of a silver lining, here goes: My check engine light came on at the beginning of the summer.  Skip took it to have the codes read, had the light turned off and brought it back “good as new” at the end of June.  The light came on again, but it continued to drive just fine, so I didn’t worry about it-just call me Penny.  Then I realized my inspection was due, so I set out Thursday morning to get the light re-set, drive the miles needed to get me a good inspection, and be on my merry way.  I took Baby A to summer camp (more on that later) and ran some errands.  I went to Salisbury and back and when I was a little over a mile away from home, I lost power.  I coasted another ½ mile or so while I called Skip to report that “it has happened.”  I got tickled calling him because I was just barely rolling down the road and it struck me funny.  Here’s the thing: it could have been SO MUCH WORSE.  I had been on the interstate minutes before.  I had been in another town an hour before.  Baby A is with me nearly everywhere I go these days.  But instead, I was alone, near home, and getting adorable video via text from Ashley of Baby A living it up at summer camp.  Oh, and the next day was a “gully-washer” of nonstop rain all day, so I was very thankful my break down happened the day before.  I ended up needing an alternator and a radiator.  My 2005 Nissan Altima has 203,500 miles and has had neither of these replaced before, so I couldn’t be too upset.  The retired mechanic down the street had me back on the road in less than 24 hours.  Interestingly enough he called at 11AM with the following information.  My car was ready.  He closed at 12.  It would be $1083.  He didn’t take debit/credit cards.  Or checks.  I should bring cash.  It’s a darn good thing for him that we’re Dave Ramsey disciples and had access to that kind of cash in the form of our emergency fund.  Anyway, the car runs great once again and all’s well that ends well.

Speaking of ending well, this week will be the last week Baby A goes to summer camp.  She spent her first day at camp in June when mom and I spent the day at the spa.  When I picked her up, it was obvious she’d had a great time.  Skip and I had a little mini-vacation to Hilton Head planned for July, so it seemed like a no brainer to send her back to camp while we were away.  When I did the math on paying per day vs. paying per month, it made the most sense to sign her up from mid July- mid August.  She also got quite clingy after I’d been out of school a few weeks and I do not want her to be that child who puts their mom in a choke hold when strangers speak to them in Target.  I’ve read all about separation anxiety at her age and know that it’s normal for the most part, but I also want her to know how to interact with other children and listen to other adults who may or may not be able to cater to her like ma-ma and da-da and nanny do at home. So, overall, it’s been a good decision.  She missed a few days with a stomach virus and a few more because of terrible teething days, so this past week was the first week she’s gone 3 days.  The first and second were great.  I got the videos I mentioned earlier and she was all smiles.  Fast-forward to Friday’s pick up.  When I got there she was a crying, snotty mess.  She had one foot randomly painted pink (due to a craft gone bad) and when I went to put her in the car seat, I noticed she was no longer wearing pants.  The director stopped me on the way to the car to ask if I’d been told “what was going on.”  Turns out, there’s been a little outbreak of hand-foot-and-mouth disease and I should watch her tiny (black) hands for pinks spots that indication infection.  I remained outwardly calm, but was a little panicked inside.  Remember that I joined this active parenting club four short months ago and this is my first experience with daycare of any kind.  Before I got home, I’d sworn of daycare forever and had Googled and had the center for disease control on speed dial (just kidding).  Of course, once Baby A stopped crying, took a good nap and has shown no signs of infection, I am ready to pack her up and send her back to camp next week.  This ma-ma just needed a few minutes to process the events that transpired at pick-up.  Ultimately though, it did settle for me that we will not be putting her in pre-school until/if/when the new baby comes and Nanny cannot keep them both at the same time.  We’d been debating the need for social interaction vs. spending money we didn’t really need to spend, so Friday helped make that decision a bit easier.

Speaking of easy decisions, when we decided to go to Hilton Head for three nights, it seemed like an easy decision.  I’ve written about the sweet deal I scored us on the fancy resort, so I feel the need to disclose how it really went down: they sent a voucher to print when I booked the trip, but to ensure I didn’t lose it, I didn’t even attempt to print it until the day before we left.  And of course, the website was down that day.  About half way to Hilton Head, I got it pulled up on my phone.  We were to check-in at the HH welcome center before proceeding to our hotel.  We assumed the welcome center would be in HH.  WRONG.  After getting to the island, we discovered the fine folks in HH like to welcome you to their island 35 MILES before you get to it.  So, we backtracked.  Then, a very unconcerned check-in lady explained that our accommodations were actually only for two nights.  If I wanted to clear up the mix-up, I would have to go stand in the parking lot in the 90-degree heat to get a decent enough signal to call someone who might be able to fix it for me.  Long story short, the “free” bonus night was not booked (even though it so totally was) and we would have to call back daily to see if a cancelation would make a third night a possibility for us.  Which I did to no avail.  Their best solution was to put us at a way-less-swanky-but-still-nice-enough hotel a few miles away.  The silver lining here was that the time-share tour was the easiest one we’ve ever done.  It took less than the 90 minutes allotted and the dude did not pressure us at all.  I guess when you’re visibly pregnant and talking about an 11 month old at home, they know you’ve got bigger fish to fry than a time-share payment.  They guy did ask us to drive him (and us) to the resort which we found odd but a small price to pay for being out in a 75 minutes.  We also used every dime of the $100 food vouchers they “gave” us and really enjoyed our meals.  The food was probably the high light of our trip.  Anytime I get to eat Key Lime Pie three nights in a row is a good time for me.  I must confess, too, that we did not stay the third night in the way-less-swanky-but-still-nice-enough hotel.  We showered, napped, and got ready for dinner there and after dinner on our last night, we hit the road.  Had we been in the super fancy resort room still, we probably would’ve stayed, but driving home at midnight helped us make great time and we missed that little girl something fierce.  This parenthood thing really does change everything.

Speaking of parenthood, I’ve got lots of things to share about Baby A, her upcoming birthday, and the joy that has been summer visitation.  I’ve also hit 24 weeks, which is supposed to be a major pregnancy milestone that feels just like any other uncertain day for me.  But, this has gotten way long (and I hope not too boring) and it’s past even my summer bedtime, so I’ll save those updates for another day. If you read to the end, thanks for the love J.