I just realized that I apparently deleted an entire entry from yesterday. I didn’t ever publish it, didn’t save it in draft, but I know I wrote it.

It was all about Fuller and his lack of an indoor voice. He loves to hear himself talk, sing, yell, vocalize, and just make noise. Normally, it doesn’t bother me. But I have had to start cracking down on this behavior because there are places it bothers me.

Church is the first place. We had a really bad time in church in Sunday because Fuller just would not be quiet. And then there is the car where I can be driving along and suddenly a very loud “Haaaaah!” will make me jump.

I repeated the phrase “indoor voice” a lot yesterday and so far I seem to be doing it even more today, which is not what I wanted to do. But I know that like other things, this will click and suddenly he will be able to control his volume.

Or else the next kid better come with a mute button.

Maybe I could escape to Vegas hotels to get some quiet. But then again, Vegas isn’t very quiet either.

Being away these past two weeks has given me a glimpse into what television could be like if we actually had expanded cable- not much different.

In the evenings, after Fuller was in bed, I would sit in Mom’s basement and flip through the 100+ channels. At the lake, I would sit in my room and flip through the 90 channels. I love the HGTV, the TLC, and Bravo, but really most of my viewing was done on channels that I have at home.

Continue Reading »

I have been thinking more about my self portrait these days. I don’t want to just show my pretty mug, I want you to see me in a particular moment.

In this shot I wanted to show my cute kid and fun sister during one of the funnest days I have had in a long time. I think I could talk about the Columbus Zoo all day long. And seeing Fuller having so much fun was the icing on the cake.

Now Fuller and I are home, having had a wonderful day of rest. We all had lunch at Warner Park where Fuller got to run wild on the playground. And as part of our day of rest, we all took naps. If a Sunday goes by that I don’t get a nap, I get a bit cranky.

Starting tomorrow, I will be kicking into gear our routine, trying to put away all the clothes and restock the fridge. But right now, I want to remember the really good time I had these past two weeks. Traveling was fun, and now I love being home.

Don’t forget that anyone can participate in Self Portrait Sunday! Just upload a self portrait picture to your blog. You don’t even have to add words. Then go to DigiCass and leave a link to your entry. Cass rocks, and this project has really inspired me. It can inspire you too!

So back on March 15th, we decided to signup for the Blockbuster Online program. Basically, for $17.99/ month (after tax) we get to have 3 movies rented at one time. It’s basically just like netflix except that instead of mailing the DVD back yourself, you also have the option of taking the movie to the store and letting them mail it for you. As a way of saying thanks for letting them do more work for you, the local store then gives you a free immediate rental of any movie in the store (not limited to non-new-releases). The obvious way for this system to work (from the customer’s perspective) is to watch movies as fast as you can.

Recently, Alli’s been expressing her displeasure over how when a new movie arrives, there’s (at least on my part) a “drop-everything-and-watch-that-movie-right-now” mentality developing in our home (over the past 21 days, we’ve received 15 online movies and rented an additional 15 movies in-store).

Well, Blockbuster has sweetened the deal (literally).

You know how they always (at least, they’re supposed to) ask you if you want to purchase some snacks with rental? I’ve never said, “yes”… until today. Today I joined the “Snack Deal” program. For a mere $6.53/ month (after tax) I get a free snack worth $1.99 or less every time I rent a movie. HERE’S THE BEST PART: that free immediate in-store rental I just mentioned qualifies for the Snack Deal.

That means, at our current rate of 30 movies a/month (actually, we’ve been watching movies at a rate of 40/ month, but 30 is a good bench-mark), we’ll be able to get 15 two-liters of Coke. This means that each movie rental would cost $0.60/ movie and each two-liter would cost $0.44.

How do they make money?

Have you ever used a washing machine that started to pitch and wobble in a horrific way? And then you opened the door, rearranged the wet clothing, spreading out the load, closed the door, and started the wash cycle again?

I feel like that is how Fuller was this afternoon. He got a bit off balance with all the travel. The in and out of the car seat, the going, going, and going was all getting to him and he pitched and wobbled in a horrific way.

We are at my Mom’s house in Dayton. We traveled here yesterday from Columbus and have been enjoying being in my mother’s care for a few days. She took us to a pizza place where Fuller didn’t want to sit. We went to Trader Joe’s where Fuller didn’t want to go down the produce aisle. And then today he fussed while we shopped at Jefferson Prime Outlet stores. Even an hour on the playground at the shopping plaza didn’t keep him from his off balance behavior. Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream helped a little, but by the time we made it back to Mom’s house, he was prime for a meltdown.

He was crying, kicking, yelling, and defiant. He was spanked. He was spanked several times. But he still pitched his fit.

Finally, I took him to his bed. I sat him down and we sang. We sang “Twinkle, twinkle” and “Jesus Loves Me.” We prayed and I sang “You are my sunshine.”

Fuller hiccupped his last sobs and asked for milk.

And suddenly his cycle was back to normal.

Tomorrow we drive back to Chattanooga, to see Daddy and resume our normally scheduled life.

We miss you!