my scramblings & ramblings
Every night before I go to bed, I check on Aidan. I give him a kiss, put the covers over him, and then I kiss him again. He usually doesn’t wake up.
Tonight, he woke up. He looked at me and smiled, then he put his hand on my cheek, gave ME a kiss, then he fell back to sleep. I doubt he’ll remember this tomorrow/today. But I will. And I’ll smile.
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Aidan’s here!! He got in Thursday afternoon and he’s here until April 5th! YAY!!! 🙂 It’s still not enough time. Never enough time, but it’s awesome having him here regardless.
Once upon a time, I had convinced myself that five years old was the best age, but honestly, I’m thinking it’s actually seven. Aidan is super cool. He’s interested in all sorts of things like Star Wars and Doctor Who. He’s hilarious and fun to talk to. He’s more adventurous with his eating. Last night, he tried sundried tomato encrusted tilapia and loved it. I don’t know if he’d have even tried it six months ago. Yum!
But the best part is that he’s still very cuddly and still loves to put his hands on my cheeks.
When I was younger, I had crushes on all sorts of celebs. Well, mostly Joe McIntyre and Jon Knight. And of course, Ricky Luna. I wish I had the Internet community to participate in those things like people do now! Man, and MMC forum. That would have been amazing. I mean, we had pen pal circles (and some of those people are still friends of mine) but some of the things I see these days crack me up. Entire forum categories dedicated to pictures of [insert fangirl’s crush here] sitting, or looking up, or wearing t-shirts, or sticking his tongue out. And then the reactions! It’s hilarious! I’d never really gotten into fandoms in that sense before, and I still don’t know if I’m really into any fandom or if I’ve even cracked the surface of what a fandom encompasses. I just know that what I’ve come across on my night owl haunts has been quite entertaining!
I saw Alice in Wonderland last week and I liked it. I LOVE the soundtrack! Just about anything Danny Elfman or Hans Zimmer (I buy soundtracks of his even if I haven’t seen the movie) does will make my ears happy, I’ve discovered, and Danny Elfman did the Alice soundtrack.
Oh YAY! Temperatures are supposed to be in the 70s at the end of the week! Just in time for Easter. Maybe there will even be some flowers up by then. Nah, not counting on that. But YAY 70s!!! AND sunshine! That’ll feel amazing. Must take loads of pictures!
I sure would like to see some buds and some flowers, but they’ll come in good time.
That’s all for now. ‘Til next time! 🙂
I really enjoyed the weather we had the end of last week. 🙂 Warm, sunny, and so springlike. I went downtown again, met a friend for lunch, and even had a massage. I went to Cortiva and got a student massage. $35 for an hour of bodywork. Awesome.
Of course, it snowed Saturday, the first day of Spring. There’s Chicago for you. 60 on Tuesday, though. And sunny! 60 seems much less cold when it’s sunny out. 🙂
The no-pop thing has been going well! I almost slipped up a few times (falling for the “harmless” stuff like orange or fruit punch pop) but it really is pretty easy to drink juice instead. And I am making a point to drink 100%, no sugar added juices. Not juice drink or anything like that. I still need to drink more water, but this is a good starting point, I think.
I need to make a to-do list. Otherwise, I just won’t do the stuff I need to do to prepare for Aidan’s Spring Break.
1. Clean Aidan’s room I hate this chore. I don’t do a thing in there, but Adam does and I have no idea what, but it’s always a mess by the time Aidan’s next visit rolls around. So I have to go make it presentable again.
2. Get groceries. The word out on the street is that Aidan’s going through a growth spurt. This means that he will be doing a lot of eating and sleeping if he’s still dealing with that the next few weeks. Not only do we have to pick up some food he likes (chicken nuggets, fruit snacks, mac & cheese, pot pies, etc.), but we have to get a LOT of it! I’m also going to be encouraging him to try new things. Like BEEF. I understand that kids can be kind of meh about beef–Lord knows I was–but it’s so good, and he likes the beef flavored Ramen noodles.
3. Plan Easter. I want to have a cute little Easter celebration for Aidan. I plan to make a basket for him, and I have some of that YUMMY ham frozen from Christmas which I will thaw for dinner. I’ve had some interesting Easters over the years. The main thing was that the weather was always nice and warm and sunny by then. I remember the big old Easter egg hunt we had when I was about 11 or so. When I was in college, I was baptized and confirmed in the Catholic church at an Easter vigil. I remember being at an overnight retreat not so long ago, and participating in a sunrise service–the first time I ever prayed out loud in a group.
Here’s a picture of Aidan from Easter 2004!
I won two book contests recently, which means more books for me! 🙂 I just finished reading TWENTY BOY SUMMER and SKINNED. Getting ready to start on GIRL STAYS IN THE PICTURE. I really should check when those books are due back. I’m tearing through them, but you know how time sometimes gets away from you.
I must sleep. Adam and I are going to watch Alice In Wonderland with Claudia Gray tomorrow/today and I should at least TRY to be awake during it. *grumbles about being a night owl again*
Night!
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Driving along in the car, pulling into parking spot in garage at airport….
Ronni: *listening to ONE TIME by Justin Bieber*
Aidan (singing to the beat): I like ’em round. I like ’em squishy. I like ’em round. I like ’em squishy.
Ronni: Um, Aidan, what exactly is it that you like round and squishy?
Aidan (matter-of-factly): Butts.
Ronni & Adam: BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Totally did NOT expect that to come out of his mouth!
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Aidan’s here! YAY!!! That was a bit of drama. The airport was crowded in theSouthwest line, but we’d gotten there early so whatevs. Plus Aidan’s flight was delayed so double whatevs. They had a separate line for the UAs, and I learned that on a regular day, about 10 UAs come through. During the Christmas season, about 200 UAs go through! Aidan was the only one on his flight, though. The ticket agent let us both go to meet him (which they sometimes do if you ask nicely–but the rules are that only ONE parent can meet the unaccompanied minor which annoys me because the first thing Aidan does after he hugs me is ask for Adam on the times they don’t let him wait with me). Because of his flight delay, we had to move from gate to gate trying to figure out where he was coming in. I was freaking out. But we got him and all was well. And as always, someone came up to me and complimented me on how well-behaved and polite Aidan was on the plane. I have a good little boy. 
After getting lost on the way from the airport, and then a Target run, we finally made our way home. Aidan was super excited so he didn’t go to bed ’til late, then he was up early the next day…. MY BIRTHDAY!
I slept until about 10:30ish or so, then came into the living room in a haze. Adam and Aidan were both staring at computers, but they saw me and gave me big big smiles and hugs. Then Aidan made this for me:
And Adam got me this:
We went to Naperville, where we hung out at Anderson’s Bookshop (I really do love that place) and we met my friend Theresa and her family and we ate dinner at Five Guys.
Then we had dessert at Cold Stone Creamery. After the two families parted ways, Adam, Aidan, and I drove around and looked at some lights on houses, then we headed home and watched Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol. It was a WONDERFUL birthday! I’m 35 now, and I have a feeling life’s about to get even more awesome!!
I had a little bit of eBay drama as well. I looked on Adam’s wishlist and saw it on eBay… the price was too good to be true. The seller had 100% feedback, though, so I wasn’t worried. I ordered it and paid right away. Then, after not hearing from the seller at ALL, I went to her profile. Her feedback had plummeted to 76%! I looked a few days later, it was down to 50%. Now I was getting concerned, but I knew that eBay had that buyer protection thing going on. So, after seven days and after contacting the seller, I opened a case. Still no info from the seller, her feedback was in the TOILET. I went today, and her feedback was -2. I have NEVER heard of that before! But there it was. And she was no longer a registered user. I ended up getting refund from eBay though, so YAY for buyer protection. Unfortunately, I won’t be getting that gift for Adam, but I think that what I got in place of it will make him happy.
So, it’s way after midnight, so that means THREE days until Christmas!!! YAY!! 
Here is my all-new to do list.
01. Go to grocery store to get wax paper, powdered sugar, shredded cheese, gravy, green beans, and a triple berry torte. Oh yes.
02. Read A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens.
03. Bake cookies with Aidan!!
04. ……
Wait, what? That can’t be it. It really can’t. Oh well. I’ll take it. Because yup, cards are all sent, presents wrapped (except for a few that might or might not be coming still), shopping’s done, menu’s planned, place is pretty clean (just needs to be straightened up). This is good.
In about ten hours, my friend Deborah is bringing a kitty cat for us to watch for a few days. The cat’s name is Snowball, but she’s a black cat! I’ve met her before, but she is shy. I’m sure that Helena and Crookshanks will be happy to have her, but she might not be so happy to have THEM. I hope it goes well. And I hope she doesn’t destroy the tree!
I need to get to bed. I have a kitty to welcome tomorrow. ‘TIl next time!
(Originally published at Anywhere Is…)
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