Smoking cessation program.

Since we were all beachy-keen yesterday, today was a day of catching up around here. It's nice to have the day every once in a while to play catch up and just get stuff done. I need that to keep my sanity. Zeke helps (in his own way) and tons of things get accomplished. First on the list was to clean out the rolling dumpster, a.ka. my car. It was completely, out of this world ridic. I literally opened the back door and a fly was sitting in the back seat on a pile of peanuts like "yo, close the door...". It wasn't good. Out came the Lysol wipes and shop-vac. Now my car is shiny and new again. For a half-day at least. Tomorrow is a new opportunity for Zeke to get it all gnarly again.

During the Big Clean, we saw my neighbor Shep. Shep rocks. He's one of the only neighbors around here that we really see on a regular basis, so Zeke tends to absolutely love him. Shep is also about 60 years old and looks like he belongs in ZZ Top. He's one of the original farm owners here in our development and he tends to not look too fondly upon the "yuppie types" who came along and built the newer homes around his farmhouse. Then there's his relationship with Zeke. He can't seem to be mean to Zeke. It's funny. Shep wants to dislike Zeke. Shep wants to ignore Zeke. Hell, Shep ignored me for the first 5 years I lived here. But no, Shep and Zeke are buddies. They pretty much talk every day about life and the stuff going on in Zeke's little dirt pile at the top of our driveway. And now, Shep talks to me. Maybe it's because he has to or because it's just the right thing to do if he's going to talk to my kid. But all I know is, today, Zeke told Shep that he should stop smoking the cigars that are ALWAYS dangling from his mouth as though he were born with a lit one in there. And ya' know what? I have a feeling Shep may be out buying some Nicorette patches as I type. That makes me feel like Zeke and I accomplished a whole lot today...

He wasn't going to solve differential equations today, so he didn't miss much at preschool.

We hit the beach today for one last hurrah. It was awesome. Just me and my boys playing on the beach as if the summer hadn't ended so abruptly as it just did last week. We built a stellar sandcastle, walked on the jetty (one of the perks of no lifeguards!), and splashed in the water. After the beach, we walked on the boardwalk, ate some nice beachy treats, and played in an arcade until we ran out of quarters. All in all, it was super, duper, faux-summery fun. When we were leaving, I was a bit misty-eyed. I had tons of fun at the beach this year with my family. Maybe we'll head back down again before next summer, but we probably won't be able to sit on the beach and relax in the warm sun again. I always shed a little tear when I know that's the case. I love the beach and all the beachiness that goes with it. And I can see in Zeke that he feels the same. Cheers to a great summer of 2008. And personally, I think it was well worth it to let my Zekey-poo play hooky from school to send it off with a bang! That doesn't make me a bad mom, now, does it???? Too bad if it does. Priorities people, priorities....

Random thoughts wanted. But I'm really not too random.

So, I've been "tagged" by a few fellow Mommy Bloggers in the blogosphere who want to know 6 random thingys about me. I found this out yesterday and the funny thing is...I've been stressing out over this "random" crap for over 24 hours now. Well, not really stressing, but it's been on my mind. There's nothing very random about me. I'm an extremely planned out person. Random doesn't fit in my life. Surprises scare me. Spur of the moment? I'll lose hair over that catastrophe. Anyway, I'll try to give you 6 very well thought out factoids about my persona:

1. I'm a true Virgo and like order, order, order. It makes me a much calmer person in life. Some people call this obsessive compulsive disorder and take massive amounts of prescription drugs for it. I prefer to call it Virgo-istic.

2. I love purses. I get frenzied when I spot the handbag department of any store. I actually get blurry vision and sweaty palms. I notice EVERYONE'S bag EVERYWHERE. A good bag can rescue any outfit - I don't care if it's sweatpants and yesterday's hair.

3. I believe that any sickness can be cured by drinking massive amounts of water. Water is your friend, people. Drink more of it.

4. Which brings me to random factoid #4: you'll NEVER see me without a very large bottle of water in my hand or bag. Take a look. I dare you.

5. I hate long nails. They are unnatural and uncomfortable. I like short, filed nails with clear polish on them. Period. Except for toenails. I say go all out with toenails. There's nothing cuter than a great pedicure, an exceptional flip-flop, and a red toenail.

6. I really, really dislike pigs. I admit it. I mean, I adore animals in every sense of the word. But I've come to realize that I just can't deal with pigs. Not even potbellied pigs. I've seen pigs twice recently at local fairs, etc., and I was extremely appalled. Sorry, piggies, you just are NOT cute.

and here's a bonus one for ya's:

7. I haven't eaten meat for over 20 years. Can't even cook a good steak for my hubby. Sorry Pauly...


And I know I'm supposed to do a bunch of things now to complete this "random" mission, but I think I'll just leave it at this. You guys know I'm not very good at following rules...

This little piggy became breakfast. (And I don't even eat meat.)

Eeeeeheheheheeeee..why does this picture remind me of my brother the COPPPER??? You readin' this Chris? Sorry, I couldn't resist. Actually, I took this picture over the weekend when we visited the Colonial Plantation at Ridley Creek State Park. And Mr. Piggy up there was very much alive and loving life. He was just laying in the mud soaking up the sun. But wow, the smell...not very nice. Excuse me Mr. Piggy, why must you be so..."piggish"? And your room looked like a pigpen. Clean it up.

Woe is me.

Today = crapalicious. And here's why:

1. I woke up with a really horrible neckache. It remains horrible and it's almost 10 pm and tons of Aleve later.

2. Zeke CRIED when I dropped him off at school today. Don't bother with all the yelping about "that's what you wanted him to do" junque. It won't help my broken heart. It's all mangled, messy, confused, disgusted, and melancholy. The only thing that will get me back to my old happy self is a a nice new horse in my backyard. Even an old horse in my backyard. Whichever.

3. Simon seems like he doesn't feel well. I don't know how old Simon is because I adopted him, so he could be REALLY old for all I know. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my precious little Simon even with all of his character flaws. He may be a stinky little anti-social graying semi-toothless not-too-handsome-to-the-outside-world-4-lb.-chihuahua, but I absolutely think he is precious. I hope he knows how great his little soul is.

Such a sucky day. Ew.

How COULD she????

Ok, so I used to work at HUP (Hospital of the University of PA), but that was before Zeke or simply "B.Z." as I like to call it. While at HUP, I worked with a super-fab girl named Christa. I took to calling Christa "Missy" for some crazy reason, so here's my rant about Missy. I love Missy. I think Missy rocks. Missy, I think, loves me. At least I hope so. Do you Missy? Do you? Do you? Anyway, Missy has this awesome blog called http://thefoxandthecrow.blogspot.com/. When you check it out, you'll see that Missy is a natural-born writer and her stuff is addictive. It's funny, dry, witty, cutting-edge, and just plain cool. Then, I came across her post of September 16, 2008. I was turned inside-out when I read Missy's post. I read it, then re-read it just to be sure I was "getting" what she was writing. HOW COULD SHE BETRAY ME LIKE THIS????? WWWWHHHHHHYYYYYYYY? After all we've been through, after all the long, crappy days in that office, Missy. After those seemingly endless days up in Pathology looking at all the ugly stuff we never really wanted to see in the first place - I thought we *had* something? A bond of some sort. But no. You go and diss me with an anti-pooch post. All you in cyberland reading this...please, go now and read her madness. It's jibberish. It's maniacal ranting. It's simply...wrong. It's the mutterings of a good friend gone....well...CAT. And tell me, have you ever heard "catty" used as a compliment? Sorry Missy, I love you, I love your wicked sense of style, and I love your intelligence. I also love your house full of cats. But show me some chi-chi lovin', girl! I'm sure my pups will give you lots of sloppy, slurpy smooches if you change your evil ways...

Oh, wait, I've got it...

Just dropped 'im off. I'm not all nutty about it today. Maybe I'm getting the swing of this *school* thing, now. I actually drove home really, really fast so that I could maximize my alone time for MOI!!!! I figure, what the hell, it's Friday...why not REALLY crank the iPod while I clean the kitchen. Does that make me a total loser????

Here's what I've learned so far about being a school Mommy:

1. It's not cool to crank inappropriate music in carline. Note to self: turn off the iPod when turning into Goshen Friends parking lot.

2. It's also not cool to show up for carline 30 minutes early just so I can spy on my kid while he's in the playground. Jenn H., you need to heed this advice...

3. There's something amiss when my kid has only been in school for 6 days and he is correcting my inappropriate language. i.e. Nancy: "Oh, crap, I burnt the chicken." Zeke: "Mommy, you can't say crap."

4. Never, ever is it ok for Zeke to wear the Fight Club t-shirt to school. What is the Fight Club t-shirt? Oh, let me tell you. It's a stellar piece of clothing that Pauly bought at 5 Below one day on his lunch hour that apparently he thought was swell. It has a picture of two boxers duking it out on it and it says "Fight Club" in big letters across the chest. Ummmmm...way to send a message Pauly. Not good.

5. Lastly, I'm going to be ok at this whole thing. And as someone so wisely commented to me recently (Stinky John Jones) maybe I'll smarten up and use this time to ride some handsome horsies...

Who's that girl?

Wow. There's not much to say. It was a school day for Zeke today, so what's that leave me with? Me. That's what. What the heck? I'm sooooo not used to that word. Me, me, me, me, me. Repeat 50 times and maybe you'll remember just who exactly that is, Nancy. Crazy. It's been a long, long time since I've been able to actually hear the birds chirping outside or hear the hum of a lawn tractor off in the distance somewhere. Now, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoon, I can. It's strange. I'm not quite sure if I'm ready to call it "relaxing" yet, but today, just for a moment, I felt my pulse slow down a bit. And that hasn't happened for 3 years, 4 months, and 21 days. Not that I was counting...

Next generation of buds.

We went out to dinner with some old friends last night. They have 2 daughters, both are at least 3 years older than Zeke. It's funny to watch how older kids interact with toddlers. At first, it's just the whole "you're so uncool and little - I can't possibly hang with you" sitch. Then, after a while, when they realize they're going to be stuck with this kid for at least a few hours while their parents wine and dine, they make do and start to warm up to said toddler. That's exactly what happened last night. Our friends' girls played so well with Zeke at the restaurant (and yes, I literally mean "played", since we went to The Winner's Circle and it's UBER kid-friendly with the 10,432 arcade games there!). By the end of the night, when we gathered at our cars to say goodbye, all three kiddos were exchanging hugs and saying sad farewells. It's so cute to see them grow up together - especially since their fathers did the very same thing.

Dissed in a Malibu don't know what to do.

Today was the second official day of preschool for Zeke. When we woke up, Zeke asked me where Daddy was (as he usually does) and I answered "at work." Zeke then asked me if he had to go to school today. My heart did a little flip-flop. Would this be THE day? The day when all the craziness began? The day when my baby boy would really start to show his true emotions and tell me how much he didn't want to leave me, how much he wanted to just stay with me and do fun things with me??? I knew it was coming. I prepared for it. I was all ready to tell him it was ok to be nervous but that school was a safe, fun place where he'd make new friends and paint, color, play, and learn. I had all the lines down in my head, like a good, prepared Mommy should. But, something strange happened that threw a monkey wrench into my speech. When I told Zeke that yes, indeed, it was a school day, he simply said "ok." Even worse yet, when I asked him if he wanted me to draw our secret heart on his hand before we left for school (the secret heart is a green heart that I draw on his hand, kiss it, then close his hand. If he gets lonely at school and misses me, he kisses his hand and knows that I'm kissing him back..), he told me that he didn't need our secret heart because he could remember me in his head! Wanna' add insult to injury??? Ok, well, as we pulled up in car line for him to get out and go into his classroom, Teacher Mary took him out of his car seat and he immediately started chatting with her about drawing a pine tree - I NEVER EVEN GOT A GOODBYE!!!!

You see, today I realized that Zeke is different now. He's gotten a taste of the "big boy" world and I think he likes the flavor. He wants to branch out and meet the big new world of school. I just wish he wanted our green heart on his hand while he did it.

Where's my right hand man???

Education is not filling a pail but the lighting of a fire. ~William Butler Yeats

Today is Zeke's first real day of preschool. If you could see me now, you'd be horrified. I prepared for the worst and wore waterproof mascara today, but still...it's bad. I'm not a pretty crier. I get all red and blotchy, swollen and mucky. That's how I am right now. I dropped him off about 45 minutes ago and still..I'm upset. I know deep down that it's time. It's time to light that fire in Zeke's soul - let him go to learn more, explore more, and experience more. But I just wish I could be there with him every single moment to see how he takes it all in. If I could, I'd jump in his Spiderman backpack and peek out the pocket to see how it's all going. But, I can't, so I won't. In the meantime, I'll trust that he's in good hands. I'll trust that all of my research into exactly who I want introducing him to the world of education is fruitful. I can't promise though, that each time I drop him off in carline, that I won't shed some tears as I pull out of that parking lot. I miss my baby too, too much.

Can you repeat that please for those of us in the back that didn't hear it?

I needed some humor today and didn't think I'd find it anywhere. Most of my humor comes from Pauly and well, he's been in Newport, Rhode Island on a business trip, so "funny" has been on hold for a few days. Although, I have to say, Zeke is running a close second these days. Take for instance:

we're in the kitchen baking a cake to celebrate Pauly's return home tonight. In the background, the t.v. was on, but I didn't think Zeke was listening to it since we were busy chattering away about eggs and cake batter, etc. Well, as I was putting the cake in the oven, Zeke disappeared for a few minutes. In the living room, I heard a commercial on t.v. for the NuvaRing - which is some new form of birth control for any of you men out there who are asking "what's a NuvaRing and should I have gotten one for my wife for our last anniversary???" So, anyway, not a minute later, Zeke comes in singing the NuvaRing jingle and then proceeds to tell me that we should "Google NuvaRing." Holy moly. Top that one, Pauly.

That's the sweet smell of furry faces.

I'm not sure why I love animals so much. I'm not really one of those totally "outdoorsy" type of chicks...but the older I get, the more I realize that the world of animals is amazing. I'm finding that my love of dogs and horses, especially, is becoming more than just a passing fling. I think when I get ready to go back to work, I should seriously consider the fact that my passion may have drifted from the chem lab to the world of animals. I'm not quite sure how I can turn that into a career...but hey, you never know.

Check out my photos from our adventures today. We visited Ryerss Horse Farm where they house retired and abused horses. Ummmmm....what more can I say? Completely awesome.

That's gotta' hurt.

Labor Day weekend was laborious. We did tons of yard work. We pulled weeds, planted Mums, and Pauly patched the sinkhole by the swing set. But I managed to squeeze some fun into the days in between all the yucky stuff. On Saturday, we went out to the Ludwig's Corner Horse Show and Country Fair and had a ball. I just looooooove anything horsey, so I was giddy & giggly the whole time. Add to it the fact that we took a hayride (OMG, LOVE hayrides) around the entire fairgrounds, and I was loving life. I saw so many handsome horseys that I coveted....ooooooh, I was just in love. Pauly has 2 years and dwindling to get me my very own baby (horse baby, that is...). I've already told him, I don't want a 40th birthday bash...I just want a horse. No pressure there, huh?

So, now it's Tuesday and all is quiet on the home front. We played this morning with playgroup buddies and had fun. When we got home, Zeke started playing with a little caterpillar he dubbed his new best friend. Sorry to all the kiddos he's hung out with for the past 2.5 years....apparently your friendship isn't as strong as we all thought it was. Otto the Caterpillar has shimmied in and claimed your spot in Zeke's heart. And yes, you read that right - it's Otto the Caterpillar. If you have a really good memory, you'll remember we have a chi-chi named Otto. Guess Zeke just likes that name. Anyway, as he was playing with the caterpillar, he asked me why mustard was coming out of him. WWWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAA? I knew immediately that Otto the Caterpillar was leaking guts all over my deck and kid. And mustardy-colored guts at that. I'm not sure I can Shout that out. Sorry Otto the Caterpillar, I'm more concerned about the stain than your leaking intestines.


P.S. out to Pauly: your birthday surprise for me was most unexpected but sooooo awesome! Who DOESN'T LOOOOOVE a masseuse showing up at their door for a ninety minute massage??? Oh my - how heavenly. And so is my hubby! You rock Pauly!