The Best Day Ever

Today was an ok day. At least it started off that way. I got SB down for a nap, then ran a few very important errands. (Don't freak out, my sister was here while SB was napping.) It's always a nice experience to be able to get things done without a baby in tow. I have quite a long to-do list, and it felt good to check off 3 things before 10 am.

I spent a few hours at my mother's house, and SB and I had a glorious, much needed 2 hour nap this afternoon. Then I remembered that despite a late afternoon, hour-long trip to wal mart yesterday, during which SB yelled "HEY! ME! HEY, HEEEEEEEEEEYYYY!" to every individual we saw while shopping, I was out of formula. Of course I had forgotten it yesterday, even though I walked right past it AND it was on my list.

I ran to Kroger, since it was closer and certain to be faster. They were out.

This is where the day gets good. Surprisingly enough, it was because I had to go to Wal Mart. I know I have a few new readers, and some of you may not remember this post, so I would recommend refreshing your memory before continuing. For those of you short on time, here's the quick version:

I went to wal mart one day last month to buy formula because I had a really good coupon ($10 off!) After a series of shenanigans, I finally made it to the check out line, and my checker was named Terrain. He must have been new, because it took him (and 3 other "helpful" employees) about 15 minutes of arguing before they could figure out how to use my coupon. Thanks Enfamil. It was a rather comical situation to me, but probably not to everyone else waiting behind me in the "express" lane.

Okay, back to the future. I had another good coupon for my formula ($5 this time), so off I went to purchase some. I was back at the Mart, and again, all I needed was formula. And some bottle liners that I remembered at the last second. I had a coupon for those too! A whole dollar off! It was going to be a good day, sticking it to the man with all my coupons.

I quickly located the shortest check out line, and as soon as I reached the front, I stopped dead in my tracks. I couldn't believe my eyes.

It was Terrain.

Terrain, coupon-scanner extraordinaire.

What are the odds, I wondered to myself. As many times as I go to wal mart, every time a different checker. The only two times I have a coupon, I get this guy. I almost switched lines, but then I noticed that Terrain must have really been logging his hours as a coupon scanner. How could I tell? Simple. Ice. Terrain was iced from head to hands in large, sparkling diamonds. He was wearing huge diamond earrings, a diamond chain that must have been 2'' thick (with his wal mart employee ID tag hanging from it), and two diamond bracelets on each wrist.

Let's just let that sink in for a minute. I know I did.

I was confident that Terrain was going to be able to handle my coupons today.

He couldn't.

I almost videotaped myself mimicking the expression that overtook his face when I proudly presented him with my Enfamil coupon. It was a look of horror/depression/complete disappointment, followed by a frustrated grunt, "ugh."

Lucky for him, there was a Star Checker visiting with another employee in the lane right behind him, and she was all too happy to assist us. Not. She finally dragged herself over to complain about my coupon, and she told him to run it through the scanner as a check. The machine did not like it. It beeped loudly. After a few more tries and a few more beeps, the lady closely examined the check and decided that the machine wouldn't take it because I had not signed it.

An interesting assessment. When did wal mart get high tech scanners that detect ink signatures?

She produced a pen and told me to endorse the back. Now it would work. Not. I think the lady behind me was ready to give me five dollars just to get me out of there. But I wasn't backing down.

Terrain was absolutely convinced that he should treat the coupon as cash, despite the large red lettering at the top of the coupon that instructed the retailer to "treat as check."

I'm not sure how they finally figured it out, but somehow I got my discount on the formula and got out of there. I didn't realize until I got home that Terrain had kept my bottle liner coupon (which also wouldn't work). I'm thinking of going back tomorrow and asking for a dollar.

HB to Me!

It's the most won-der-ful time of the year. I celebrated my 24th birthday earlier this week, and it was a good time. Jack and I had planned to go to dinner, and when we arrived at the restaurant, 16 of our friends were already there to help us celebrate! What a wonderful surprise. We ate, drank and were very merry.

I got some wonderful presents, including a brand new set of dishes (they are so cute) AND a newly tiled kitchen floor. But the best gift of all was waiting for me at home when we got back from the restaurant. A new car? A million bucks? nay. It was something so much better; something on which you cannot put a price tag.

It was a local commercial I had first seen months ago, but to my dismay, it stopped airing before I could get a video of it. I searched youtube to no avail, and finally I gave up the dream. However, when I turned on the tv to get an Olympic medal count, there it was in all its glory. Upon further investigation, I found it on youtube! It's your lucky day.

This little gem really needs no explanation, for there really are no words to aptly describe its gumbiness. Just sit back, turn your speakers up LOUD and soak it all in.

Happy birthday to me. Thank you, Denvil Crowe, for making it one to remember.

Don't you dare!

Still speechless.

SB's New Tricks

Isn't she adorable?

Here Comes Treble

What can I say? SB has been a little bit of a pill lately. She's very mobile, and that has created more than one problem for us.

She was playing nicely in the middle of the floor a few days ago while Jack and I were busy watching "I Love Money." We looked up at the commercial break to find that SB had pulled herself up to the coffee table and helped herself to the box of Kleenex that was sitting on top of it. She had already emptied most of the box, and she had a FIT when we took it away. As a peace offering, she did offer to give one to me.

She has also discovered the stairs in our house. Thankfully she found them while she was already downstairs and not while she was up. Jack and I got to her when she was about halfway up. I bought and installed safety gates the very next day.

She was a little distressed when she realized that she could no longer reach the trash can. Did I mention that I also caught her pushing over the kitchen trash can? She was diving in just when I reached her, so I was able to keep most of the goo off of her.

She's also decided that she HATES her car seat. Now that she can move around, she does NOT appreciate being confined. She made this perfectly clear on our trip to Memphis last week. (She screamed the whole way.) It really made me rethink my upcoming trip to Jackson, but I'm dying to see my girlfriends, so DNW Amy, SB and I are coming (with sedatives).

Sometimes when I am alone at home and have to shower or call a client, I have to put her in her cage, aka, the pack and play. She is most unhappy when it's time for the cage, even though I shower her with toys. She insists on being free to roam at all times.

But she's not all bad. I will be posting a video shortly to show you her newest accomplishment. She knows what the puppy dog says, and enjoys barking at the neighbor's dogs whenever we go outside. She's very ferocious.

Yay Sarah!

Last weekend, I went with a few friends to a baby shower for sweet Sarah Alford. Of course I forgot my camer, so I've been waiting on LT to post photos for me to steal. Sarah looked so cute, and a lot of people came to bless her. It was a fun time.

except for one thing.

And I'm not bitter about this or anything. I just feel like I was shafted a little bit. What do you think?

We played this game where everyone wears a clothespin on their shirt, and if you say the word "baby" then someone can take your pin. The person with the most pins at the end of the shower wins a prize. LT and I were in fierce competition, but my strategy of staying close to my mom, who said the forbidden word several times, paid off big time. I was 2 pins ahead of LT with five total. I didn't see anyone else with nearly that many, so I relaxed a little.

LT kept trying to trick me into saying the b word, but I stayed strong throughout the day.

I kept hearing these two girls across the room having a lovely conversation about their kids, and both of them kept saying the b word. I wanted so badly to run across the room and jerk both their pins off of their shirts, but I didn't know either one of them, and although I am a very competitive person, I just didn't feel right about it. I struggled with this for a long time, and finally decided to stay put, since I didn't see anyone else with as many pins as me. I didn't want to be "that girl" who was taking the game way too seriously, yanking pins off everybody in sight. In retrospect, perhaps I should have. But I didn't. To my own detriment.

So at the end of the shower, the hostess was like, ok who has the most pins? I tried to play it cool, like I had forgotten all about the game. She looked at me and said, oh, you've got a lot. I was like, oh yeah, let me see....hmmm... i've got 5. I stook up to accept my prize when THE GIRL across the room, the girl that I let slide so many times when she said the b word, stood up and pointed to this 90 year old woman and said, "she has more."

I couldn't believe my ears. Sure enough, this little old lady had a nice little pile of pins on the seat next to her. Nobody bothered to count them, they just proclaimed her the winner, but I wasn't convinced she had more than 5. However, I figured if that little old lady was brave enough to go up to that many people and yank their pins off, she deserved the prize.

And then I heard the news. Someone whispered to me in the corner. She hadn't done any such thing! She had been sitting pretty in her chair during the whole shower, and when people had to leave early, they took off their pins and gave them to her! What an outrage!

But I'm not bitter.

ps I hope you enjoyed the moonwalking bear.