Random post

I haven’t written a lot lately, and not for lack of topics. I mean I am potty training – that could be several posts on it’s own. Although I’m not sure if older Ella would appreciate the gory details shared on the world wide web. So, anyway I’ll just share some random bullet points.

1. I just ordered two books from Amazon and I can’t wait to have something to read: My Booky Wook by Russel Brand, and Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott. (I read the later one years ago and LOVED it. I would still say she is my favorite author, but I haven’t read one of her books for years. Should be fun.) The other one is one of those juicy autobiographies we love in the Trashy Book Club. And this man is also a very funny comedian. Should be a good read.

2. We payed off our car not too long ago. This means BOTH of our vehicles are PAYED OFF! Awesome. I’m quite proud of us. Now we need to just really fight the urge of considering new cars for a few years, so we can tackle my student loan. But not bad considering we payed off my hubby’s big student loan, all our credit cards and both cars … I think this is a good accomplishment.

3. Steve and I have a datenight this weekend. I’m ready. We haven’t had one in a while … I hope to try out new resaurant in town – Baker’s Street.

4. I let Ella pick out something at ToysRUs today for doing so great with the potty. She picked out a stamp set and bought a few animals for a collection of hers. She’s doing such a good job!

5. We’re going on a little trip next month to Nashville and staying at the Opryland Hotel. I’m really excited. The hotel looks awesome. Steve will have to work a little bit while we’re there – hence the trip, but we’ll still have plenty of time. I’m excited to stay somewhere really nice, eat awesome food that I don’t have to cook or clean up after and do some fun touristy stuff. Not to mention there is a ton to do right at the hotel, and lots of stuff for kids. Here are some pics.

Yeah, that’s the hotel. Quaint isn’t it?

I love my little bird

Last night Ella and I were laying on the couch when she spotted my cup of ice cubes. And she loves to eat ice cubes but I’ve always been scared that she would choke on one. Therefore, I break them up in smaller pieces for her. So we’re sitting there doing this little ritual. I break them up in my mouth then she opens her mouth real wide and I put them in hers. (Is this wierd, by the way?)

Then it occurs to me that I am like a momma bird who chews up her worm and feeds it to her baby. So I tell Ella about this analogy. Then I add, “I love my little bird.” To which she replies, “I love YOU, big bird.” I have never heard sweeter words.

Oh my gosh, I locked my child in my car

I’ve always been petrified of this happening and had even bought one of those magnetized hide-a-key things just in case. But it was nowhere to be found Saturday when I actually locked Ella in my car.

I thought about not posting about this because it’s a little humiliating, but hopefully it will be a little cathartic for me, since I’m pretty sure I was way more traumatized than Ella was.

Anyway, Saturday at 10:30 I was vaccuming my car out at a carwash. I let Ella out of her carseat and let her roam the car while I tried to peel away the layers of cheerios and raisins and whatever else that was in her seat. The car was on so I didn’t let her go up front, exept for once – when I was sitting up front cleaning I let her sit on my lap. She must have hit the button then. After that I put her in her seat, buckled her up, then went to open my door. Locked. The next door – locked. All of them locked. Ella inside. Cell phone inside.

Luckily my mom had just pulled in. She was there to meet up with me for lunch and errands. I had her call my house to wake my husband to find the spare key. But no answer. I then called his cell phone. No answer. She then called my sister, who lives down the street, to go wake up Steve.

Meanwhile, Ella is as content as can be. The car is on, as well as the air conditioning. Thank god. I think I would have called 911 if I had locked her in a hot car. We tried to motion for Ella to unlock the door – she often locked it herself – but she had never unlocked it. But she didn’t understand what we were saying anyway. She just thought we were playing some silly game and she just smiled and waved back.

Finally I hear from my husband. He can’t find a spare. We thought we put it under the car, like I said, so perhaps it fell off? I tell him to call a locksmith for me ASAP.

And so we wait. And wait. I’m sure it wasn’t as long as it seemed. But it really was taking longer than it needed to. I call Steve back and he actually tells me he called the police. Perhaps they had more pressing things going on, but I was getting really impatient.

By this time, the man next to us at the vacuums realizes what’s happening. He notices that my sunroof is open a little bit. And the button to open it completely is just around the corner. My mom gets on top of the hood and tries to get her fingers in, but it’s just not open enough. Next, the man runs out of the carwash nextdoor with a coathanger. He bends it and reaches it in. I direct him to the button, but it seems pointless. Even when he’s right on the button, it doesn’t seem like he could push it hard enough to activate it.

My husband then pulls into the lot. Followed by my sister. And that’s when I fell apart. It was feeling like a real catastraphe at that point and I was getting so frustrated that Ella was STILL trapped in there.

And the next thing I saw was this strange man’s legs dropping into my car. He had pushed the button and gotten in my car! He unlocked all the doors, just as I see the police car pulling up.

I rushed to get Ella out and as I do it I notice the man hop in his car. Luckily I caught his eye and mouthed the most heartfelt thank you I could as he sped off. How awesome was he to really go to those lengths to help us, then to take off before he could he even be thanked?

Ella was still happy, even by this point. She was going through my cds and some toys in the car. She even had an ice water she was drinking in a new cupholder I had just bought for my car the day before.

So, yes, it happened. And it could have been way worse. But you can bet I had two spare keys made today. And next time I vacuum, I think I’ll put my keys in my pocket.

I love you, Palm Pre

My husband and I recently bought new cell phones. To me, this was life changing.

You see, I lost my cell phone awhile back (which to be honest, has happened a few times) and instead of buying a pricy new phone I ordered a simple, used one off of Ebay.

And it’s served me well. But it’s so boring. And the camera doesn’t work properly. And our bill seems so high for what little services we have. Plus, we’ve been wanting to leave Verizon for awhile. (To be fair I should mention I love our Verizon Fios Internet and cable services at home. And their cell coverage is very good here – we’ve just had some customer service issues.)

Anyway, I’ve researched and researched for months. Comparing prices, talking to people, stopping at phone stores. And finally, I convinced the hubby it was TIME.

One of the biggest decision was whether we wanted Data services or not – Internet and email on our phone. Well, of course we wanted it. The real question was, how much were we willing to pay for it?

We finally settled on Palm Pre phones from Sprint, both with Data plans. Our bill is only $15 more per month then it had been. And we have more minutes, Internet, Email, really good cameras, touchtone screens, unlimited texting, a full keyboard, and insurance on our phones (did I mention I’ve lost a few?) Anyway … they are AWESOME.

It’s very similar to the iPhone, actually, (and this is mainly for my sister, Emily, who refuses to believe any other phone but the iPhone exists) however they

A. have a cheaper plan

B. allow you to have multiple applications open at once in a really neat format

C. have a real keyboard, instead of a touchscreen one

D. have a rounder, smaller shape

I will admit one major plus with the iPhone. The iPhone has tons of apps and the Palm Pre only has 30. But they’re working on more!

And there is one other thing, and I’d love to hear if the iPhone is better on this. I have noticed some spots where I can’t access Internet. Like traveling on a country road near Auburn the other day and actually in my home (although we can connect to WiFi there and still get it). Does this happen with iPhones?

Anyway, I just wanted to give this shout out to my new Palm Pre. It’s so much fun. And as soon as I figure it out I can do some blogging and photos from it.

Isn’t she cute?