Sunday, July 23, 2006

7/23

There are two things that are cemented in my mind after this weekend: 1) My son really, really likes to be naked, especially while suffering from a heinous diaper rash and 2) I would drink much more if I lived with all the members of my immediate and extended family. The second statement is, I'm sure, a shared sentiment among other members of my family, especially when coupled with the first one.

The weekend started out with me getting sick on Thursday and my Grandma (my Mom's Mom) coming in from Seattle on Friday. The sickness has lasted all weekend and is finally starting to wane, just in time for the new week to start. Sucks. Still sucks, even though I said that back on Thursday.

I came down to my parents' house on Friday after work and realized that I managed to leave the digital camcorder at my apartment. When I woke up the second time on Saturday morning (the first being followed by a two hour nap on the couch), I drove Zac and I up to my place to grab some items I had forgotten. The 45 minute one-way journey was to give my parents and Grandma some time to clean up the house before guests arrived without a shrieking one-year old underfoot.

On the way out of my apartment complex, I was backing up out of my parking spot and realized that the strap on Zac's carseat had fallen off his shoulder. Like a good Mom, I reached back to adjust it. Like an idiot, I didn't stop the car first and continued to back up. I heard a loud smack, which signaled that my passenger's side mirror was no longer attached to the side of the car it was supposed to be attached to. It lay dangling by two electrical wires off the car door.

Zac didn't even notice. He smiled and ate another cracker, with both carseat straps firmly on his shoulders.

I started to cry. Not because I was hurt or even that I'm a complete idiot, but because I can barely pay all my bills as it is right now.

I can't afford to fix the giant crack in my windshield - that went from a ding to the Grand Canyon of windshield cracks in three days. I definitely can't afford to fix the mirror (electric, no less!). My gas tank is permanently on full because the floater is stuck inside the tank (which has a great side effect of eliminating any need to worry about whether I have enough gas to make it to any destination. No worries! I always have gas now! It's always FULL!!!). Add to that the fact that no matter how many pairs of pajamas I buy my kid, he always outgrows them faster than I can keep up. I'm seriously considering just putting him to bed naked until he hits puberty.

I don't have an answer for what I should do. There aren't enough hours in the day for me to make enough money to cover everything that I need to cover. I can tell you what I did do, though. I ate cake. Lots and lots of cake, but not as much as this guy:

Followed by some naked time, with a bow on his head:

Capped off with some Harely riding, one-year old style:

All and all, I would say that this big boy had a good birthday. Love you, Zac.

5 comments:

sarah doow said...

Happy birthday Zac! That's one cool Harley you've got there - when are you going to take me for a spin on it? :-)

jenna said...

two words - DUCT TAPE. i did the exact same thing to my mirror in my apt complex in houston and i wrapped that sucker in mounds of duct tape and it held that way for over a YEAR. i wasn't ever going to fix it but when i got my inspection in philly the guy just felt bad for me and drove a huge ass bolt through it to keep it attached to the car. good luck girl.

wildflower said...

Wow - Jenna rules. I was going to recommend the same thing. I taped up the whole under carriage of my cougar after scraping it on a steep driveway. Ran just fine until S fixed it when I met him a year later...
Which brings me to my second piece of advice: Find yourself a partner who is good with cars. it will save you A LOT of stress and money. (I found mine in church, but I wouldn't be above prowling auto shows if I were you).

jenna said...

wildflower is very smart. i like her. :)

Pregnant In Texas said...

Dear Wildflower and Jenna - J. the deepsea diver is very good with cars and has already nominating himself (quite possibly on our first date) to calling after-market auto part stores to see if I can purchase a cheap mirror. The beauty part is, he can install it himself.

Yeah. He rocks that hard.

P.S. - Did anyone notice the pictures of Zac's birthday? Does the kid not get any love?? (Doow excluded, of course)