My son loves Minnie

Owen loves his Minnie Mouse doll.

The doll was bought nearly 10 years before he was born. I bought it on a trip to Disney World with my college dance team. We were there for a dance competition and I saw the ballerina Minnie Mouse in a souvenir shop and decided to get it to remember the trip and in hopes that one day I'd have a little girl who would love dance as much as I do. I found it in a box soon after Owen was born and jokingly got it out to see that reaction that husband would have to see our son holding a pink ballerina dressed Minnie Mouse. He didn't care. The doll got put away in the toy box with Owens other things. Now 2 years later Owen sleeps with Minnie every night. He found her in the toy box a while back and  insists that she stay with him every night. He tucks her in and hugs her tightly. And we are ok with that.

My dinosaur loving, monster stomping boy loves his Minnie Mouse doll.

30 in 30 days

In 30 days I'll be 30. I've never had an issue with age. I never really thought someone in their 30s was old and birthdays never bothered me. But to turn 30 just feels foreign. It suddenly sounds to old for me. I'm not old enough to be 30. A 30 year old person has a better understanding for the world and way more confidence. Right?

At Target today a girl in front of me with a cart full of goodies got carded for her wine. She tells the cashier her birthday- 1990. This chick was 5 years younger than me. I thought she was older. She seemed older. I felt younger. I'm completely confused with age and aging. I was pretty envious of her purchases. Cute clothes, wine, some nice gift wrap, and house decorations. All I was buying was a $10 canvas storage bin for Owens ever growing collection of dinosaurs that are taking over my house. An entire trip trip Target (alone!) and all I bought was a fricking storage bin for toys. When did all my fun get sucked out of my body. Lame. Lame!

That poor 25 year old girl had no idea the fury and depression she caused me. All because she bought cute fun things. 

Crocodiles & a new job.

We finally took a little vacation this summer to visit my parents. On vacay day 1 we took Owen to a Crocodile farm? Refuge? Zoo? I don't know what the hell you'd call it. But it was super backwoods and awesome. Complete with watching employees risk their lives to feed the beasts by hand. Then we got to pet a baby alligator and snake. Just a normal Friday around my hometown.

We also went to the beach! Owen loved it. Last year he couldn't walk yet and it was a bit of a beating. Still fun and adorable to see him experience it, but nothing like now. This year he played in the sand, ran around, and splashed in the waves. Wow! What a difference a year makes.

We left town on a Thursday. Earlier that week on Monday and Tuesday I set up my classroom. I was fully prepared to start off the school year. My room was set and boxes were ALL unpacked. Friday while we were relaxing during Owens nap at my parents house. I got a phone call from the teacher who I had been a long term sub for during my subbing career. She had passed on my resume to a principal for a preK position. "Of course I'm interested!" I eagerly said when she asked. Later the same day I got a call from the principal and an interview was scheduled for Monday. Well, that cut our vacation short. But it's a chance that I had to take. And holy moly I got the job! 

I have applied to probably 200 jobs this summer. I went to 5 interviews. And it finally happened. I feel like I've been accepted. Chosen. Recruited. Like sorority rush all over again. They like me! They really like me! I'm excited about teaching again!

Blisters and a break in

Did you know grown ups can catch Hand Foot Mouth Disease from their kid? Did you also know that your kid can catch it from seeing another kid with no symptoms for like 2 hours? Stupid germs. Good news is that Owen never had a fever and has acted his normal goofy self the whole time. Yucky HFMD blisters and all. This kid...such a trooper.

Me on the other hand. No fever, but my mouth is covered in blisters and I can hardly talk or eat. It hurts so bad I can't imagine what it would be like if Owen was in this kind of pain. That would be a nightmare. Maybe this is how I'll get my bikini body. I can't eat! Ok I can eat, but it hurts so bad that it's not worth it. It will get better, I know. Until it does I will continue to numb my tongue in a bath of tequila.

So also, the day before Owen was EXPOSED to the HFMD we went to our God sons birthday party. Owen had so much fun and The Husband and I had a lot of fun too. So we get home around 6 from our long fun day swimming and partying. I walk in through the garage with Owen on my hip and see that our back door has been kicked in. The door frame is on the floor, things that were on the counter are all over the floor. Holy shit. I yell for The husband and tell him what's happened. He sends me back outside to call 911 so he can make sure no jerks are still in the house. Once the house gets the all clear from my brave husband I go in a check it out. I notice both laptops are gone, my Nikon is gone, they went through all of the dresser drawers, our bed is even pushed aside. I start panicking. Strangers were here. Touching our things... digging in my underwear drawer. They saw a child lives here and continued on their way taking things that aren't theirs. How could anyone be so selfish? And why us? It's not about the stuff they took, it's the violation of space. It's creepy. 

The cops finally arrived almost an HOUR later. The woman walks in and shows me a photo on her digital camera. "Is this your stuff?" YES! What the hell? Is this some kind of a joke? The boys who were in our house are children; teenagers. They were caught after doing a third break in a few blocks from our house. The bastards were caught. The oldest was 17 and cried when the police let him know he'd be punished as an adult. That actually made me feel a little better. He's in a jail cell crying like the idiot he is. I've never been so angry and ready to punch someone. I've never punched anyone before, but I'm 100% sure I would have punched anyone I saw in our house that night. 

So the great news is that we got our stuff back. All of it. Good job Mansfield PD!