End of single parenting...now back to your regularly scheduled week

My week of single-parenting ended with no major issues on Friday night when I picked up J from the airport. I say no "major" issues but we did have a minor issue to deal with that night. On our way to my pregnant co-worker Jessica's house for dinner (and here I thought I wouldn't be calling her "my pregnant co-worker"...oh well) B fell asleep in the car somewhere between our house and the airport to pick up J. After the airport, we headed straight to her house. He didn't wake up until we were less than a mile from Jessica's house and the first thing I hear is "Mommy, I just wet myself." Not exactly what you want to hear when you're on your way to a dinner gathering with no spare change of clothes. I mean, he's been potty-trained for a year - who thought to bring a change of clothes? I haven't carried a diaper bag for him in ages, but now I had to do some quick thinking. Thankfully there was a Kohl's not too far away, so I had just enough time to run in, buy a new outfit and run out for a quick change in the parking lot. But let me tell you how gross a wet car seat is to pull apart so I can wash all that fabric...yuck! So disaster was averted - but note to future parents - ALWAYS carry some spare stuff in your car cause you never know! Of course for some of my friends that's not a problem - they carry half their wardrobe in the back of their cars anyway. And some of them are even lucky enough to have some spare food in there too in case they're caught in a blizzard or something!

The weekend went rather well. Sunday we spent the day at the Simsbury Airport for their annual Fly-In. B loved all the planes and he even got a chance to sit in LifeStar and a fire engine. Very fitting considering he wants to be a firefighter for Halloween. Of course, this event just fueled J's desire to someday get his private pilots license...sooner rather than later. And surprisingly, it actually got me more interested in flying also...as a pilot, not a passenger.

New picture...

Of the 2 cats for which this blog is named after. My love bug Paco is on the left and his sister Hailie is on the right. That picture was taken 2 years ago while they were perched on the railing of our back deck enjoying a nice summer day. These two get photographed often, so there will more of them to come.

Single mom status - 4 days down, 2 more to go...

Well I have to admit, this week has been going a lot smoother than I thought it would be. With the exception of the morning drop-off to nursery school. For some reason, B has reverted back to a level of separation anxiety not seen since his infant days. The mornings start out great - he's in a good mood, eats his breakfast and even seems excited to go to school. Then we arrive at the school and the kid does a complete 180. All of a sudden he no longer wants to go and pretty much tries to pull my arm off as I try to redirect him to some really cool toys. Then the lower lip sticks out, followed by the watering eyes and suddenly I feel like the worst parent in the world. Of course, it's only week 3 of nursery school, so I guess some of this is normal. Even though this is a huge place compared to his tiny at-home daycare that he had been going to for the past 2 years, you'd think that after spending 2 weeks at their summer camp in August (and totally loving it!) that the transition to nursery school would be smooth. Not so much. Of course, witnessing the other kids having a meltdown as their parents try to leave doesn't help either. Yet another stage in growing up I guess. This can't go on forever, right?

Ok, the good part about being a single mom for a week is only having to make dinner for two out of the six nights. And that's if you count re-heating leftovers as 'making dinner'. So far, I've been to my parent's and my in-law's for dinner. Then my mom calls up last night and says she wants us to come over again tonight. Friday night we have plans to eat dinner with Jessica (the PG co-worker...well actually I pretty much told her we'd be stopping by with a nice homemade veggie lasagna so she'd be crazy not to let us in!) and Saturday morning JG will be back. I wish every single-mom week worked out that well.

I don't know how single moms do it...

So the husband has taken off for a week of training on the west coast. Lucky duck. Now it's time for some good mommy/son bonding time. That is until I discover the Sony Playstation is yet again pulled out of the entertainment cabinet (I'm really going to have to store that thing away real soon) and find my Pirates of the Caribbean DVD is jammed in there even after I asked him if he put any disks in there which he fervently denied several times.

Single mom status - 2 days down, 4 more to go.

I just hope I can retain my sanity once this week is over. In a way, all I can say is thank god for work. Those 8 hours truly do turn into a respite from the kid craziness that ensues from the moment I pick him up from nursery school. And now I get to add the morning craziness into the mix since hubby is gone for the week (the morning duty and school drop-off routine is primarily his responsibility.) Is it bad to get into work in the morning and take a deep breath and go "ah... no kids..." and literally feel a bit of relief? I feel guilty thinking that way, but in a way, going to work is quite the relaxing break at times. Thankfully these weeks of training do not happen too frequently. And as for my single-mom friends out there, I honestly don't know how you do it. Yet another thing to be thankful for - the ability to share the child-raising stress with someone else!

So I think I've got this color thing figured out...

But that's probably about it! For now anyway. Although I have had quite a bit of spare time today, which is very unusual for me. I'm usually pretty busy at work, but not so much today. Which is bad in the sense that I'm not being too productive, but good in the sense that it gave me the time to get this blog up and running. Something I've been meaning to do for quite some time, but just haven't gotten around to it. There was just no motivation to stare at yet another computer screen at home after I've been staring at one all day at work.

Speaking of work, one of my co-workers (who has also quickly become one of my good friends) just found out recently that she is pregnant. I'll call her Jessica here, which is not her real name, but easier than constantly referring to her as "my pregnant co-worker" or some other such phrase. I am so excited for her as is she since she called me the night she took the test and I'm positive she was jumping up and down on the other end of the phone. So since I found out I've been experiencing a wave of nostalgia for those days of being pregnant. Which was 4 years ago! Now that may not sound like a long time, but in "kid years", trust me it is. Which then makes me wonder if I'd be willing to go through all that a second time. Right now that answer is yes on some days, and no on others. And Jessica isn't helping matters since she thinks that it would be cool if we could both be pregnant together. Heaven help our other team members (they're all males) if that ever happened!

There was one day in particular where I remember thinking - "B (nickname for my son) would love to have a brother or sister. He's such a gentle soul and he'd make a great older brother. They would grow up together, be great friends, etc etc." That thought lasted until I got home, where I discovered he had wet the bed the night before (great, yet another load of laundry), a cup of milk from the previous night was wedged in between the sofa cushions (you can imagine the smell when I took the lid off of that sippy cup), all while B was pulling out the Sony Playstation so he could "play" a game (and he's already broken one of my favorite game disks so he knows the Playstation is off limits.) Then I started to wonder if I could handle this amount of chaos times 2 and quickly came to the realization that life is pretty good with just one child right now. And that's the way it's been for the past few years...every time I think we could probably handle another, something happens that quickly changes my mind. But now I have someone that I can tell all my crazy pregnancy and infant-hood stories to. Now there's something to be excited about!

Wow I just realized I wrote a stinkin' book here!

A brand new blog - cause sj made me do it

Well ok, sj didn't exactly "make" me do it, but she has hinted on several occasions, both in person and in her own blog that she shares with KAT - Funny Gals that I really need to get going on this whole blogging thing. The thing is, I've never been a great journal-keeper, nor a great writer. I hate writing - hated it back in school and I still hate it even now. I'm a very technical math/science oriented person, so creative writing (or writing in general) was never a strong skill for me. So if it looks like I'm struggling for words or just can't put my thoughts together in a meaningful way, my apologies in advance. And along the journal-keeping front, I'm going to have to apologize in advance for that too in the event that days go by and I haven't posted a thing and readers simply go away due to lack of any updated or interesting content. Some days I just won't know what to post, so you've been forewarned.

And if this blog looks really boring and blah for awhile, you'll have to excuse me while I learn the ins-and-outs of customizing this stuff. Which hopefully won't take too long with this IT brain of mine!