in love...and not so much

We are safely home from our trip northward. I managed to pick up some sort of sickness while gone that led to a trip to the doctor on Monday, but I'm on the mend, and aside from the biggest boogers you've ever seen, S is on the mend as well. For those of you who've been holding your breath in anticipation, the Zappos outlet was a total waste of our time. Total. Waste. However, I picked up my birthday gift at the mall in Louisville. I got them in pumpkin, and I am super excited to wear them. The real story of the trip was the wedding. It was really, really fabulous. While I'd never met the groom, the wedding was exactly how I pictured V's wedding to be. It was at a conservatory, so the ceremony was set in front of beautiful, enormous tropical trees. They also had a salsa band, which was insanely fun. Everything was perfect...right down to the bride's green shoes.

Okay, now to my newest love. Reading Rock Books. It's an adorable little store that just opened around the corner from our house. S and I went in this morning. I want to go back already. I hope it does well because I'll likely cry if it goes away.

What I'm not loving so much. S's new residence in the land of terrible twos. I know she isn't two yet, but she's the size of a three-year-old, so I'm figuring it averages out. S has been a complete brat since we got home. She has decided that playing is no fun unless everything she owns is in the floor. This has led to me almost breaking my neck about a dozen times as I've slid on crayons, beans from her kitchen, you name it. She's been trying to hide in the curtains, climbing on the dining room chairs, dive-bombing anyone and everyone, and has generally required non-stop attention lest she injure herself...or me. It's been less than stellar to have her testing her boundaries and my limits while I'm under the weather, but when it rains it pours, I guess.

I've also come to the realization that it's time for S to learn the word "no." And beyond the "S, will you eat some chicken?" response that I normally get. I'm talking about the "No. You cannot climb on the bookshelf." kind of no. She has typically acted impervious to our directions, and that has to stop with the quickness. She had her first Kindermusik class Tuesday morning, and it was painfully obvious that she doesn't follow instructions. Granted all the other kids were older than her and had taken the class in the spring, but that's no excuse. I was okay with her wandering around the room exploring instead of sitting in the circle with the rest of the kiddos and mamas, after all, it was her first time in a completely different place. She wasn't being at all disruptive, so that was fine. The problems came with the instruments. She wanted all of them, or none of them, or she wanted to dump the boxes out, or she wanted to pull everything off the shelves to get to the bells. It was a lot of toddler behavior in a confined space and short time. I needed a drink desperately when I left. At minimum, I deserved a coffee or a bath. It was a Calgon commercial in the making. I am pretty sure she'll get the hang of it quickly. Otherwise, I may lose it.

Of course, I may lose it anyway. I'm not that stable of a person to begin with.

I'm out, peeps. Happy Hump Day.