I Thought I'd Get Some Rest

I got home even a little earlier than I thought I would on Thursday, and John was home from work already to greet us. The dog was thrilled to be home. The cats were not thrilled to see her, but Asia followed me all over the house and kept sitting on my lap. It's good to be missed. We went out to dinner soon after we got here, then came home in before the big thunderstorm started really wreaking havoc. I managed to get home in between big thunderstorms. Going to sleep in my own bed was sheer heaven. It is good to be home.

There was no relaxing for me though, because yesterday was Booie's birthday, and I hadn't bought her a darn thing. I didn't really have time for shopping while in Nebraska due to extreme popularity, and I couldn't do it before I left due to extreme lack of cash flow. That meant super-stealth shopping yesterday. I had to take Booie with me, but it actually worked very well. She went around and played with things she liked, and then I'd point something else out to her while I crammed a Hello Kitty Clock Radio into the cart under a wooden caddy and some Orange Glo. She picked out her own earrings by thinking they were for me. I also bought my own nail polish that really wasn't mine while she begged and begged to get some of her own. The only thing she picked, knowing it was for her birthday was an electric toothbrush, also Hello Kitty, because Hello Kitty is the absolute best. In some ways, I'm still seven myself.

We had to go to Mrs. Field's and see if we could get a cookie cake made the same day. She's definitely my daughter, wanting a yummy cookie cake instead of a plain old cake. The clerk said that yes, they could make us a cookie in about an hour, so we ordered it, ate a late lunch, and did some more shopping and browsing while we waited. The girl at Mrs. Field's even managed to find some purple frosting, which she didn't think she had, for Booie's cookie, so it worked out even more perfectly than we wanted. All that friendliness, and I forgot to tip the girl. I'm such a schmuck sometimes.

With cookie and more stealth gifts in hand ("Booie, what scent of glitter spray do you like? Hey, look at those stuffed bears over there!"), we finally went home, and I started the process of wrapping. John was home from work soon afterward, so I had to go out again and pick up the last of the gifts that I just couldn't manage to sneak in the cart earlier. Then it was home again to finish wrapping while John went to get Booie's choice of birthday dinners: Burger King at home. I am not at all a fan of Burger King, and we rarely eat there because of it. The kids love it though, and it was Booie's day, so I managed to choke down some veggie burger and a few fries. Kaya ate well last night though.

After dinner, there was a frenzy of gift-opening, and Booie was very happy with everything. The desire for the things at the store earlier in the day was still strong, so everything she got was a big hit, especially the Legos. I almost didn't buy the Legos but thought better of it. She played with them almost all evening and is playing with them again this morning. Good thing I decided to get them. She also put her earrings in, sprayed on her glitter spray, painted her nails, slept with her stuffed unicorn, and fell asleep to her new clock radio with a belly full of cookie cake. It's good to be seven.

I had to call Hammy to remind him to call his sister last night. He talked to us just the day before and managed to forget in that time. Probably having too much fun to think about us anymore. Booie got up crying the first night we got home, because she missed Ham. I didn't need that happening again because he promised to call her on her birthday and didn't. I miss the little booger too.

Today is starting off a little more peaceful, because John had to go to work at 7 AM. They have a software release, and everyone has to be there to clean up the mess once the "on" button is switched. He won't be home before lunchtime for sure. If it's really ugly, he might not even be home, which would make for a very peaceful day. We are supposed to go to his mom's this evening for a big gathering to watch their community day fireworks. That means a pretty late night. There should be booze though. I just get food with my family, no booze.

Update: John hasn't even been able to start his side of this release because some morons in another department shut down a program that must run for seven hours before anything else can be done. He said they shut it down about six hours into the run. Nice. He said he won't even be able to start anything until noon at a conservative, hopeful estimate. But that doesn't mean I get to stay home. Oh no. That means he's going to call his brother or his dad to come get me and Booie and take us to his parents'. %#+@&*$ obligations.

Sunday, we are going to the baseball game. Booie originally requested going to the game on her birthday. She looked up the date on the schedule all by herself long before her birthday was even a shadow and saw there was a home game that day. John found out Powerpuff Girl day is on Sunday though, so Booie changed her mind. Now we get to roast in what is promising to be a ninety degree, sunny day, but it's baseball, so that's OK.

It looks like I get to finally be a bum on Monday, if you call being a bum getting a ton of laundry done and cleaning up the house. I could skip it if I wanted though, and having a choice about what I'm doing is a very liberating thing.