No Beating Around the Bush...

the past several days have (mostly) sucked! Every single thing that has occurred has been fairly petty but things just add up, ya know? Yesterday I thought I would blow my top. Have you ever considered that phrase? It makes a lot of sense. As my bad luck culminated, it really did feel like problems, frustrations, anxieties, etc. would literally burst up out of my head and shoot like a burning mad rocket into the sky. Once again, no beating around the bush: PMS played no small role in how I dealt with our stupid bad luck.

I guess it started around a week ago. D and I were out one night organizing the garage and I had been dealing with an extremely irritable, needy, fussy 18-month-old for days. After Crosby's umpteen meltdowns, it was time for mine. Grrrrr. D said, "Sing it sister," and boy did I ever. Sobs and the whole bit. It is just that no one knows the difficulty of raising a child until they themselves do it. Round the clock! So moms... you know. Non-moms, hear me out. (And grandmas/experienced moms: yes I know I have a long road ahead with parenting). I am just being totally honest. When my child, whom I ADORE, is making me go out-of-my-head crazy, it is time for a break (come to find out it's the 18-month molars; they are a beast). Now I can't complain... I do get plenty of breaks but I'm talking like a full day's break or even two day's break. Where I don't have to answer to anyone, can physically be on my own with no one touching me, just me with me. And I don't have to be back in an hour or two or even six. D works Saturdays, but he said he would try and get Sat. off (which could be hard two days before Labor Day weekend begins) and he would take Crosby that whole day. My parents had invited us to go to the Sheepdog competition in Heber on Saturday (which I really wanted to go to) but D said he would take Crosby to that so I could really have a whole day to myself... I perked right up, kissed D about twelve times in a row, and started planning my Saturday immediately! Let's see... I'd do the 8 am yoga, use my massage gift certificate that I won all the way back when I worked for Marriott, then head to the baby shower-planning lunch with the girls that I've had scheduled for weeks, then use my pedicure certificate I got for my bday, then maybe do some shopping... yay!!! A WHOLE day to myself, all to myself, me me me me me!

Well it didn't go quite like that. After a day went by and D said his Saturday off got the okay, I decided I didn't want to spend a whole day to myself. Now that D had the day off I can't not spend time with him. So anyway, plans changed. I wanted to at least go to the Sheepdog festival with my fam. So getting ready Sat. morning I was up close to the mirror putting on mascara and my bangs were in my eyes so I flicked my head back to get 'em out of the way and my neck totally whacked itself out of alignment. It was one of those "uh I can barely move" neck things. So I just dealt with it, we headed on our way and had a fun time up in Heber. I tried to be as physically normal as possible, lifting Crosby, etc. Unfortunately because I had planned that lunch thing D and C and I had to leave a bit early from Heber so we turned in Crosby's treasure hunt page, got his cute little stuffed bear prize, waved bye to the fam, and went on our way back down to Salt Lake. At least we wish. Next door to Sheepdogland was Swiss Days mania. We took a wrong turn and got caught in a sea of traffic. Cars as well as people. By the time we wended our way out to I-80, I knew I wasn't going to make it to my lunch thing that I planned and was supposed to be in charge of. Oh well, they were understanding. As we're sailing down the highway I am in probably at least level 5 pain with my neck, it was so painful to ride in the car for some reason. I dug out any Advil I could find out of my purse, totally floored at how bad my neck hurt. Well we were almost to the Tanger outlets when D and I feel the car go whumph-whumph-whumph like there's an earthquake. He pulls over... flat tire. No biggie, right? Nope. Thanks to D being with me. Could I have changed the flat tire on my own with Croz? I will leave that scene to your imagination. Anyway, just another annoyance.

Well we get home just BARELY in time for our 1 pm insulation guy appointment arrives (which we had forgotten about). I went straight to bed and slept for four hours. Still pain. It comes time to give Croz a bath and there was no hot water. Water heater trouble. So we put a kettle on to give Frog his bath and were laughing about how it brought back memories of Bangladesh where each bucket shower we took was anticipated as we waited for the water to boil. How very blessed and lucky we are. So once again, no biggie. Yet another annoyance. And thanks again Dad. You won the prize for world's best Mr. Fix-It a long time ago. You are truly truly amazing to drop everything time and again if ever we need help (and mom as your fix-it companion!) Actually... Mom... the talk we had on my bed is now burned into my memory for some reason. It was fun to have you "hang out in my room" like that!

The rest of Saturday night: Crosby was woken up by the neighbors, D left to grab some caffeine for his late-night studies and came back to someone basically parked on the lawn instead of our driveway, the deadbolt was locked so he couldn't get in... more annoyances. My heating pad and I were best friends that night, albeit a somewhat sleepless night complete with a twitching thumb. Are my nerves being messed with or what?

Sunday comes. Me... get out of bed for 9 am church? Nope. So once again D saves me and takes Croz to church to fulfill my librarian duties (yes, I am forever the nerd... I am the ward librarian, ha!). Sunday was very very lazy. Once I took a shower, my neck - like magic - felt a million times better! I'll remember that next time.

Monday I'll skip some things that may forever remain too personal for the blog, but... MORE BAD LUCK!

Remember the blow my top phrase? Well Tuesday's where that feeling set in. Croz and I went early morning to Sears to get our tire replaced. I had taken our nice stroller (the one that is large, has a roomy basket in the bottom, cup holders, sunshade, and also allows the matching infant carseat to click inside for when we have our next baby) out of the trunk and leaned it against the car because I thought the wait would be long enough that C and I would walk to where my mom works while the work got done.

Well we go inside, do paperwork, make decisions, etc. and then hang in the waiting room while the tires (not just one tire anymore... a second one needed replacing) get replaced. Once we had paid and it was time to leave I belt Crosby in and remember I should check to make sure they put the stroller back in the trunk... no stroller anywhere. I go back in, phone calls are made, etc. etc. then the mechanic guy says, "Oh some lady took it." He said he was about to drive our car into the garage and a lady pulls up in a blue minivan (he said she didn't speak a lick of English... ???) and said to him, "This your stroller?" He said, "No." Then she grabbed it, put it in her van, and rode away.

Thanks mechanic guy for putting two and two together. Grrrr. "Well," he says, "you can head over to loss prevention cuz there's a parking lot camera where you can maybe get her license plate number." Thanks dude. So I head to loss prevention. Crosby's got a messy dipe. He's restless. We're both hungry. I see a kid that looks maybe 14 and must've just clocked in. "Are you loss prevention?" I say. "Yeah." So I explain the situation. He says, "Wait out here," and goes into his office. Crosby and I have a hallway to play with and a TV that doesn't work. Fun! I think Croz has had his fill of peek-a-boo for the year. Well after 30 LOoooOng minutes the guy emerges from his office only to let us know that the camera was panning just as the woman pulled up and there is no way of obtaining the license plate. Cool! I enjoyed wasting a half hour to discover that life-changing truth.

So after changing Croz's dipe in the trunk of our Honda like some serious white trash I'm feelin' the rage. I start circling the Sears parking lot like a serial killer on the prowl for this lady in the blue minivan. Here's the thing. I realize big picture that this is NOT that big of a deal. I realize a stroller is an object. It's not like someone stole my soul or someone I love. But. We loooooove this stroller. Ha! I'm talking about it like we still have it, listen to that. I meant to say we loveD this stroller. That's right, no happy ending here, it is gone forever. Even D has expressed to me over the time we've had it how much he loves it! It's really been worth its weight in gold: months' worth of rollerblading w/C around Liberty Park, countless walks to the market for milk, etc. etc. And still in tip-top shape.

At some point I had to shake it off but if anyone who is reading this blog can tell me why people make themselves ENTITLED to steal other people's things, let me know. Mom you're probably right that if we all band together and hit this weekend's yard sales we just might spot it. Hmmm. Well I called the GM of the store today and talked to him, told him what happened. He was really nice about it and mentioned possible compensation, but still no call back.

Well I guess staying up in the wee hours writing about this is a little weird. D is up studying and just came in to lie down for a minute; we both have that blur starting to coat our eyes. What are we doing?! There is good news; the bad luck stopped for now. Seriously even down to the yoga yesterday I was feelin' rage out my ears, yikes! I wanted to tell the teacher to shut up. Yet yoga today was phenomenal. One of my best classes yet. I actually cried. Am I mentally disturbed? No, just spiritually moved. Croz and I met our old friends the Daveys at the airport during their layover and had a little reunion which was really fun! He got to run around with Arthur. Then Jess and I had a good Skype chat. Then I parted ways with Crosby once again while I went to the Draper temple with my friend Christina. As we walked out the (beautiful) doors, two children - each with a rose - said, "Thanks for coming to the temple!" and handed us pink roses. C treated me to an "encore" birthday dinner complete with much-needed girl time and laughing! And too much Dr. Pepper. Oh... I get it now... THAT's why I'm still up.

Life really got on my nerves last few days for all kinds of different reasons. I've thought back to a few times in my life where troubles have been long-standing; where it seems as if there will not be an ending to them. No matter how long troubles last though, it is comforting to know that there will be that turning point where there is only up. D and I have found ourselves saying lately, "What will we ever do when we have REAL problems?" Who knows. Enjoy the fair weather! Our lives are drenched in blessings, and for this we are so so thankful.

Ah, that felt good to purge the words. Now I shall purge the latest pictures!

Checking out the Gardner Village sidewalk sale. Believe it or not (Caitlin and Codi) I have never stepped foot in a single shop there! I am now experiencing a Gardner Village obsession after discovering the Quilt Shop with our dream quilt that I ALMOST bought and the candy store with the largest selection of Ritter Sports I have ever seen!



Not to mention Crosby was in a dreamworld, loving paths to walk along, ducks to feed, bridges to cross, benches to sit on...



Double rainbow on our way to Heber



See those fall colors spreading over the mountains? Mmmm how we love it.



Dynamic duo at the Sheepdog Championship



I'm assuming that the Soldier Hollow Sheepdog Festival isn't a well-known event and I'm not sure how my mom heard about it years ago, but we had been once before and went this year and truly it is fascinating! The dog handler stands at the base of the mountain with a whistle. The sheepdog (a breed of collie that is exceptionally smart) listens to the handler's various whistle pitches in order to guide a herd of sheep down the mountain. Really so fascinating and the setting - this mountain - so so beautiful. (the dog and sheep are dots way too small on the mountain... you prob can't see them, oh well)



#1 Grandpa, yeah!



There was an animal show... the tortoise was our favorite



Cam and me waiting for the bagpipers. I love my bro.



Mini burro (only 4 weeks old)



After I started petting the donkey, Crosby did too



But then the baby donkey got boring, so Croz started throwing rocks and straw in his water pail



Brig milking a cow



C and my dad checking out the bagpipe band



Crosby won this little bear after completing his little treasure hunt and getting all the stamps!



This could stand as a post on its own for sure, but... Crosby officially has his first obsession or love or favorite... whatever you call it, he's got it bad. It's about the cutest thing I've ever seen though. I will have to videotape what he does when I say, "Want to watch Thomas?"



Crosby's old friend Arthur! Watching the elevators through the glass at the airport.



We've missed you guys! Arthur, Karin, and Chris all the way from... Vegas? Well, technically England ;)



Karin and I made some long-lasting memories when they lived with us... so fun to see you again, Karin!!



Those airplane cookies you made for Crosby were a major hit. Can I get the recipe?!



Loved seeing you even though it was short. Thanks guys, and safe travels!



Christina and me with our temple roses. Such a good night.