two is better than one

i feel bad for kind of abandoning this blog for the past few weeks. but things have been pretty busy. family get togethers and appointments and not to mention i've been feeling kind of icky the past week. headaches and fatigue. i really should have picked up those vitamin supplements. i just kept putting it off until i ran out of time.

andrew's full blown walking now. it's insane. he's starting to talk, too. but really he'll say one word and a few times and then he won't say it again for a long time. right now he knows dada, doggy and ashy. no mama. NOT FAIR!

other than that not a whole lot going on. finally got my mom all moved. and we spent last sunday at the olalla family picnic even though my mom doesn't work there anymore. but my nana still does. they had the best lumpia i've had in a long time. this weekend i put together a birthday party for my nana and my cousin chloe who will be four. also have grocery shopping to do and nick has monday off of course. we've been hearing a lot of rumors that his work is going to close their doors this fall. but honestly

everyone's been saying that for the past few years. we have some savings and a back-up plan for us if that does happen, but we're also looking into other job possibilities. i'd love love love for him to work in olympia so i could be closer to my parents. i wouldn't mind relocating. but i absolutely will not live in bremerton and he'd have to drag me kicking and screaming back to port orchard. even belfair would be better than that shit hole. at least in belfair everyone's in the woods away from each other. i don't like neighbors. it would be awesome if they stayed open or nick found something up here though. i love our home. and our landlord is great. it's quiet here. and serene. it's beautiful.

i just wanted to update real quick. andrew just fell asleep. i have therapy tonight. so i need to get dinner in the crock pot and finish picking up the living room. andrew thinks he needs to pull every single book and toy off his shelves and i think it entertains him to watch me put everything away three times a day.

cat and mouse

Hi, my name is Brandi, and i'm a SIMSaholic. yes, i am addicted, and i mean addicted, to sims 3. and this is why i have not posted a blog in what two weeks? every time i have a quiet moment, usually while andrew is eating in his chair and sleeping in the other room or in this instance chasing the dog around the house, i sit down to update my blog and sims 3 just sounds so much funner. i know, it's sooo lame, but i love it. i love building and it is actually fun to play. i have more active households than i'd like to admit. but anyway, this is why i have not updated.

things have been going really well lately. unless you count an incident yesterday that is still upsetting me /: more on that later. nick had a four day weekend this last week and today was the first day he's gone back to work. i actually enjoyed it more than i thought i would.

friday: i had therapy and did a bunch of running around and saiya babysat andrew for me. then we stayed for dinner at my aunt's and had homemade belguim waffles (:

saturday: stayed home and vegged out. played outside with andrew and i got some house cleaning done.

sunday: andrew and i went to my mom's (nick stayed home to play xbox all day because he was "on vacation) and helped pack. my sister, who is going to the salon professionals academy in tacoma, gave me a haircut. i absolutely love it.

monday: got up early to have the oil changed on the car, did some shopping for conditioner, diapers and what not. then we went home and andrew and i took a nap and then had a late lunch/early dinner.

tuesday: i did laundry and then on the way home GOT A SPEEDING TICKET -

this is the fourth time i have ever been pulled over. the first three were for not having a driver's side mirror since my brother knocked it off on thanksgiving and i socked him in the face for it. none of those resulted in a ticket. but this one did. i SINCERELY thought the speed limit was 45 and i was going down a hill. i was shocked when i got pulled over since i didn't even see the motorcycle until he was behind me. and the guy said it was a 35 and i had been going 47. i have maintained a strict no crying policy when getting pulled over. but apparently i should have done that instead of telling the truth and being polite /: asshole. $154 dollars. i can get it differed so it won't go on my record because nick was worried about the insurance going up. but now i have to pay $200 to get it to go away and i have to go to court in the dreaded port orchard. UGGGHH. there goes my last-season satin gray cheetah print coach purse ):

- but then after that the day was fine. nick was surprisingly not mad and just kept calling me "speeder" /: like he doesn't speed. pssh. but anyway, then we went shopping on base and the reality kept setting in that the count down is on on my health insurance and military benefits. but after that i andrew and i went with star to take the kids to flag football and cheerleading practice while nick and troy stayed home to barbeque the steaks i marinated. it was a good night. we got home about 9:30 and went straight to bed.

then this morning i went to watch the netflix dvd that had been sitting on the kitchen counter for 2 days and it was supposed to be dexter season five: disc one that i have been oh-so-anxious for since season four ended on a cliff hanger, it was a ted bundy drama instead. apparently there is a long wait on this season of dexter. figures /: season five just went on sale yesterday, but i refuse to buy it. i'm holding out until the show is cancelled and they make a dvd pack of all the seasons. like sex and the city (:

so today consists of folding and putting away laundry. then lunch, then after tom drops saiya an dtroy over here i have to take troy to football practice, then go to therapy. then come home and pick up nick, and then make dinner. it'll be a good day. andrew's been in a good mood since he woke up . i'm also going to make some applesauce and try my hardest not to take any caffeine pills.

broken arrow

i've been meaning to blog for the past several days. but i really have not had the time. or the words. andrew's keeping me on my toes most days. getting into everything. monday it was the flea and tick powder right before bed so i had to give him his second bath for the day. tuesday it was the eggs. thankfully he only broke two out of the six that were in the package he pulled out of the fridge. last week he got a hold of the toilet paper when i was in the shower. he's so curious. a very active child. i couldn't be more proud.

it's starting to feel like summer. i purposely left out the word 'finally' because i never wanted it to be this way, but i knew it was inevitable. even in washington we get maybe two weeks of real summer weather. the heat has always brought out the worst in me. and looking out the window and seeing the sunlight and the bright green grass i feel guilty being inside. that guilt has got me to take andrew outside to play at least once a day now. i bring some of his inside toys outside to play with on the grass, but i think he'd appreciate it more if he could run around and really make use of all the space we have. he has taken a few steps here and there. just a little more confidence and he'll get there. his top teeth have finally arrived. i still haven't been able to get a decent picture of his teeth. he doesn't sit still long enough for me to get any straight on pictures of him. his birthday party is this saturday. nick and i bought him a few outfits. nick picked them out and i picked out the shoes. michael jordan red jersey and matching pants with black and red skidders to match. i'll post party pictures this weekend.

i'm short on time right now. andrew's in his high chair finishing up lunch (which i managed to take a few bites of). he really did make a huge mess of his ravioli. but he loves it so i don't mind cleaning it up.

nick's thinking about buying a truck. an S10 nonetheless. ugh. but chances are i won't be spending much time in it. not really car seat accessible. but i will have my car back. nick bought me a red chevy cavalier in february that i'm in love with. but we ended up having to sell his car and hadn't had enough sense to hold onto my neon so i've been car-less since april. it hasn't been that inconvenient. except at 6 am when i have to get andrew up and take nick to work so i can run errands or take andrew to the doctor.

but if i do get my car back it raises a big question. do i go back to work? would it be worth it after paying for daycare? and with how busy this household seems to have got will i even have time to work without sacrificing the housework? i still haven't picked up my vitamins and without them i don't think i can handle the fatigue without them. i'm so sluggish and my body aches all the time. i know it's the deficiency. this week has just been too busy to find the time to pick them up. i'm so tired of these excuses but it's true. i think for the time being, until my vitamin D and B12 levels are up and i'm stable on my medication i'm not going to be in a big hurry to return to the workforce. and certainly not during the holidays. i've already ruled out school. everything that i've read and heard tells me getting myself into a huge debt over a degree is just not worth it in this economy. the one thing i am sacrificing though is my health insurance and it really sucks. but in order to go to school i'd have to work full time to pay for daycare. school full time for insurance, work full time to pay for daycare all with a boyfriend and 1 year old and a house to take care of? many women have done it, my mother included but i just don't think i'm up for the challenge. i enjoy my time home with andrew way too much. i want to raise him. nobody else. at least for the first few years.

there are so many other topics i could talk about. my therapy and how it is really not what i expected. my birthday looming which i try not to think about, but every august i start to feel the dread with maybe a touch of excitement. i will be 21 after all. but i have decided after much consideration that i do not want to go to the bar. nor do i want to go to the casino. for one bars are gross and i'm not a big drinker. and two, i am a mother. i do not need to spend my evenings at the bar when i could be enjoying time with my family. and three, i hate casinos. they're boring and full of smoke which kills my mood and makes my brain swell. an adult only dinner at a mexican restaurant where i can enjoy my meal while it is still warm and a strawberry daiquiri or two is just perfect.

another thing i'd love to do is donate blood. ever since my blood transfusion after andrew's birth i've been meaning to give back. i've always wanted to be a 1 gallon donor like my dad. and i've always been into the idea of sacrificing my body by helping others. for instance, i am an organ donor. also, i want my body donated to science after i die. and andrew and i are the same blood type. i would gladly give him a kidney or a piece of my liver, though i hope he'd never need it, not only because i am his mother, but because in my mind it is the right thing to do. that being said, i'd love to donate blood. but with my transfusion i've had to wait a long year before being able to do so. and now with my deficiencies i'm sure i'll have to wait even longer /: also, i'd really rather not do it alone. but nick doesn't seem interested, my sister has no time, my best friend lives too far away and my dad isn't healthy enough to donate /: hopefully one day soon i can do it. even if i have to do it by myself.

i have a lot more to say of course, but andrew is getting fussy in his chair and i have work to do.

toodles.