Thursday, August 20, 2009

Rain Rain Go Away

So, I'm sitting in a parking lot in Bryant waiting for a storm to pass so I can see to finish driving to North Little Rock. What better way to spend my time than blogging, right? Wouldn't want to actually do any work . . . And yes, I have trouble driving in the rain. I'm blind as a bat and even my glasses are not all that helpful when it's raining. So, it's just safer for me and everyone else on the road if I pull over and wait out the bad storms.
We bought Jeremy a new car last week- a Civic Si. He desperately needed a new vehicle but we have been putting it off. The plan was to get him a Harley motorcycle but then his truck started having serious problems and since a Harley as your main source of transportation when you have a child is a no go, he opted for a little sporty car. This is the first Honda we've owned but I was really pleased with the car. Of course we had to get the souped up sporty 6 speed version, but I've got to admit it's a blast to drive. There are times when I really miss driving a stick shift. AND, it fits within the small budget we were trying to stick to. Knowing that we don't want Emma to be an only child we're already trying to budget for the additional $400 per month on daycare a new baby will require-that scenario did not work with an expensive car payment. And Heaven forbid if we have twins, which is pretty common in my family. Very common actually.

Over the weekend we took Emma to The Wonder Place in Little Rock. She had so much fun and still didn't want to leave after about 2 hours. Jeremy and I had to get out of there though, we were about to throw down on some hellion children. It is supremely annoying to me when parents take their kids places and then don't watch them. All these larger kids were pushing Emma around and just being hooligans in general. I even got a stern lecture from one the employees because someone else's child kept turning off a machine and since I was the only adult around she assumed he was mine. I set her straight right quick. We'll definitely take her back again though. It was great being able to take her someplace where she could run and play but was air conditioned. With her asthma we really have to watch how hot she gets because it tends to trigger attacks.

Playing at the three level water table.

Making a mess at the sand table.

Going down the slide in the tree house.Cutting up playdoh in the art room.

I'm also thinking about buying a bike and a seat that I can attach to the back for Emma. Perhaps the only way I can fit in exercise is to take her with me . . .

Monday, August 17, 2009

The Adventures of Railroad Girl

Railroad Girl is a mild-mannered-by-day marketing and management gal, but don't let her mega watt smile and demure attitude fool you. Beneath the lull-you-into-a-false-sense-of-security exterior is a savvy businesswoman and vicious smart ass just dying to escape.



Enter her arch nemesis Jerk-Off Man. This chauvinistic customer is well known for using his hulking appearance and wrath-of-God voice for scaring lesser individuals into doing his bidding. Our bad guy has met his match!






In our latest adventure we find our heroine, Railroad Girl, battling her arch nemesis Jerk-Off Man for control of the magical Demurrage Bill. (aka JOM is disputing legitimate charges, demurrage, owed just because he doesn't want to pay and is being an ASS)

"RG, I refuse to pay these charges. I had track space available and you should read my mind to know that I wanted those railcars placed on my open track. Even though I've told you in the past not to put them there without my express instructions."

"Tell ya what, JOM, I'll be a nice girl and cut your bill in half. Even though I am right and you are wrong. AND, you know it."

"That's not going to work for me. You're being such a bitch. I want it my way! I know it's my responsibility to tell you where to put cars but I dropped the ball and don't want to pay for it."


"Too bad. And since you decided to refuse my generous offer you can now pay the bill in full. AND, I'm going to start enforcing switching charges (which you were not getting charged in the past), AND if you choose not to pay this bill I'll embargo your traffic. No more railcars for you! How you gonna explain that to your customers fool?!"

And so, at the end of the day our heroine has bested the bad guy and justice has prevailed. Until next time . . .


Sorry, rough morning at work and I needed to both vent and get a good laugh. Hope you enjoyed.



Tuesday, August 4, 2009

You know you're getting old when . . .

a day at Play by Play leaves you bruised and battered. Warning-The following pictures are fuzzy because they're from my camera phone.

Saturday morning Jeremy and I braved the harsh thunderstorms to take Emma and our 4 year old nephew Holton to Play by Play. This place is absolute nirvana for kids. There are old school arcade games (whack-a-mole anyone?) and a giant 3 story maze of tunnels, tubes, ropes, and slides. I love going to Play by Play because it wears kids OUT with minimal effort on my part! Unfortunately for me this was not one of those days where I could kick back and watch.

Holton was running through the maze like a lab rat on crack (absolutely hilarious) and Emma desperately wanted to keep up with "my Ho-Too" (Emma speak for Holton) but the maze is still a little advanced for her. So being the good mommy that I am I went in with her to help her through. That thing was not created with adults in mind! Holton was zipping through the tunnels and scaling the rope ladders in record time. I was crawling through tubes (luckily not getting stuck) and helping Emma along as well. Not the easiest thing in the world and I have the bruises and plastic burn marks to prove it. Jeremy and I traded off occasionally, he would keep pace with Emma and I would try to keep up with Holton and then we would switch. Mainly because the person trying to keep pace with Holton would be huffing and puffing after about 20 minutes! After a while though Emma got tired of the maze and spent a long time playing with the arcade games. She didn't care if they were working or not which was great.


After Play by Play we took the kids to lunch and scoped out a new sporting goods store in Hot Springs, Dick's Sporting Goods. I'd never heard of it and I wasn't all that impressed. I like Academy Sports much better. But while we were there the cutest thing happened. Holton is at the very mature age of 4 and insists on being treated like a big boy. So very rarely do you get blantant displays of affection like hand holding, hugs, and especially not kisses, but I was lucky on Saturday. While we were at Dick's (really? who thought of this name?) Holton was looking at big boy bikes, aka no training wheels, and he grabbed by hand and gave me the most precious smile and said "Stephanie, when I get bigger can we come and get me this bike? It's really nice." Can you see SUCKER stamped across my forehead? Guess I'm gonna owe him a bike in a year or so! The second time he grabbed my hand and gave me the look was when we were at Chick-fil-a and he wanted to play in the play room. I was a good aunt, I made him eat his lunch first, but then of course he got to play some more. He's a very smart little boy. I'm proud of his mad manipulative skills.

After our big outing to Hot Springs we stopped by Trendy to see my sis-in-law Brittany and so I could shop her fabulous Anniversary Sale. Shameless plug I know. Brittany opened up an accessories store in Malvern a little over a year ago and I have benefit tremendously from this. Check out my sweet new handbag-just in time for fall! Don't you just LOVE it? Jeremy, being your typical man, just couldn't understand why I would need another purse. "I've had the same wallet for 10 years." Whose fault is that? I informed him in my most can't-argue-with-this-logic-voice that since having his child I can no longer shop for clothes like I used to. The only foolproof items I can purchase that will always look good on me are handbags, shoes, and jewelry. So just zip it already! Ha!

Speaking of Emma and digressing into left over baby weight, I started my Jillian Michaels workouts again after about a two month hiatus due to pure craziness at work and home. So on top of the bruises from Play by Play I'm also creaking around like an old woman. Hopefully I'll get accustomed to the workouts again soon because it is pure agony to sit down in my chair!