Shannon's Mind Grapes

The random things I've been doing and thinking about (because you care)...

1. Ben turned one. Wow. This deserves its own post...or maybe several. But I just don't have the mental or physical stamina to talk much about it (see #2). I can't believe my baby boy is one! We had such a great time for his birthday. While I'm sad to see the passing of a lot of big and little things, I'm excited for what lies ahead.

2. Yesterday I took part 2 of the Test of Doom. This one was American History. It was crazy hard, but I think I passed. Now I'm going to take a break for a week or two before diving into the last one: California, Economics and Government. Don't be jealous.

3. My mom gave Ben these big leggo-like blocks, MEGA Bloks, for his birthday. Ben eats them while Daddy builds castles, complete with waterways, towers, windows, and bridges. The upside: fun for the whole family. The downside: clean-up just got eight thousand times longer. For mom, anyway. Dad's got to defend his fortress and Ben's got DVDs to reorganize.

4. Apartment living sucks. I know you're tired of me whining about this. But the summer is the worst. I realize those of you who live beyond Orange County laugh at my inability to deal with heat. But what you need to understand is that the builders of this particular complex seem to have forgotten insulation. So if it's 50 degrees outside, it's 20 inside; if it's 85 degrees outside, it's 120 inside. And let's not forget the trillion percent humidity. If I could shower every 20 minutes I would because I hate sweating, and that seems to be the way of it here. We have four fans, and those cool the temp about 5 degrees. We have one of those swamp cooler air conditioner jobs, which work great if you don't mind sitting directly in front of it and you don't need to do or hear anything, and you hate your paycheck and want to donate it to Southern California Edison. Also super fun: The Family. They live in the buildings around us. The little ones ride around on their big wheels through the narrow pathways and the teenagers hang out at the laundry room at 11:30pm and play tag. Now, I'm sympathetic to their plight. Where else are they going to go? They need to go outside and play, sure. But that doesn't make it easier when I'm shoved off the path onto the grass carrying a 22 pounder and eight bags of groceries because my car is 26.2 miles away and I live upstairs and like hell I'm going to make multiple trips because it's freaking far and what am I going to do with the T-Rex while I'm making the sojourn to and fro? Then let's talk about laundry. So I'm hauling the clothing, towels, washcloths, etc. of three people (and let's be honest...the smallest one somehow ends up contributing the most), detergent, and quarters up and down the stairs, down the pathway of death, and into the sweltering laundry room. Meanwhile, what do I do with the T-Rex? Put him in the baby backpack and add 40 pounds to my load? Put him in his exersaucer with Baby Einstein on, lock the door, and hope for the best? Then there's the claustrophobia and the desperate need to evacuate the 900 square foot sweat chamber and go outside. And go where? The back deck? All ten feet of it? The grassy knoll outside? all ten feet of it? The pool? For how long? Take a walk? Should I go on busy traffic street #1, busy traffic street #2, or the freeway? Nothing says relaxing stroll like swerving around drunk people, pre-teens on skateboards, and SUVs (perfect for those rugged 0 elevation beach streets).

I know what you're thinking. Shannon, why don't you buy a house? Well, because when I was 18 I was hoping my college wouldn't kick me out for not having enough money, and so I wasn't able to start saving the trillion dollars necessary for a down payment on a house in Orange County. Okay, why don't you rent a house instead of an apartment? Well, that would work if everyone in Orange County hadn't foreclosed on their rental properties and the few that were left were able to charge whatever they wanted (simple supply and demand economics...see, I'm totally ready for the next test). So why don't you move? Great idea. We'll just quit our teaching and mortgage jobs and head out. We won't have a hard time finding work at all.

5. Kids' shoes. I'm pretty sure there's a conspiracy. Ben has relatively small feet. He's starting to walk (not quite on his own, but it's coming). Baby shoes don't fit anymore, and they're not practical for when we're out and about and we walk holding hands. Toddler shoes are too big. So what are we left with? A whole lot of nothing. And I don't know if you've ever had to shop for baby/toddler boy shoes before, but it's pretty bleak. Walk into any shoe store and you'll find AISLES with LOADS of shelves packed with girl shoes. Then there will be a corner of one shelf that has two different styles of boy shoes in sizes 1, 2, and 6. After, and I so wish I was exaggerating, a couple of months of looking, I found a pair of sandals and a pair of tennis shoes (not at the same store, mind you). Oh, and did I mention that they cost as much as a pair of Jimmy Choos? And that he will grow out of them in ten minutes and I will have to start all over? If you think that there is a chance that you will ever get pregnant, and if you see some cute little boy shoes, you should buy them. Because you just never know if you will ever find some again.

That's enough caustic sarcasm for today. I have to go wake up my 1 year old now so we can build fortresses with blocks.