Happy Halloween!

Veronica's preschool had a Halloween party and they went trick-or-treating to the various rooms. Her teacher dressed her up in her kitty cat costume; I had included some little makeup sticks and asked that she just put two whiskers on each cheek, but she just couldn't resist doing a full make-up job on Veronica. I showed up at the daycare center to see a little kitty cat with a black nose and a red tip, three black whiskers on each cheek, and white "fur" on her forehead. She looked so cute!

As soon as we got home, where Jason was already waiting, I threw on my witch costume and we took her trick-or-treating. We were out for almost an hour and hit several houses. Veronica didn't always say "trick or treat" but she did always say "thank you," most of the time without prodding to do so. One of the funniest moments involved a man handing out candy from a doorway. He was pretty tall, and the doorway had a step up to it, so Veronica looked up and said "Dat a giant!" He and his wife laughed so hard.

Right now she is playing with her crayons. Not coloring or drawing with them, PLAYING with them. She makes them "talk" to each other and "walk" and puts them in scenarios, just like little dolls. She does the same with Jason's polished rock collection from childhood, to the point where she names the rocks. This has us scratching our heads. But even more confusing is how we're ever going to get her out of this costume. It's 8:15 p.m. already, she's had this thing on for hours now and the kitty makeup is almost gone. But she still won't let us remove it. I'd better get going, because bathtime is soon and I think it's going to be a fight. Just a hunch. ;-)

Got a letter in the mail yesterday from the sleep center. I officially have sleep apnea. I'm actually relieved, because now that I know why I'm tired all the time, I can do something to fix it. My mom is convinced it is due to my being overweight, but I've been this way for years and those of you who've known me for a long time, know that I was rather slender in my teens and early 20's. I read online that sleep apnea can actually be a cause of weight gain, and why not? I certainly don't have enough energy to exercise. Hopefully now I will, and even if that doesn't result in weight loss, just being healthier would be good. Veronica is an energetic little toddler who loves to dance and run around, and to know that I can be around for her and be there to dance and run with her is wonderful. Wish me luck on my treatment.

So here it is, the big day. I'm 30 today.

I'm a bit bummed, but I think it's due to the anti-climatic nature of the event. No going out to dinner, no party, not even people celebrating for me at work because there's no work to go to. Jason's even asking if he can leave tonight to watch Monday Night Football at Darren's place, and I'm beginning to think he should, just because nothing else is going on. (He did buy me a very nice card, some of my favorite perfume, and a necklace and earring set. A Dairy Queen ice cream cake is supposed to be coming this evening as well. So it's not like he'd be forgetting it or avoiding it or anything.)

I know that sounds lame, but I always like celebrating my birthday. It's like my own personal holiday. I don' t know why; I mean, my folks always had a nice birthday celebration for me every year but it's not like I ever had one of those crazy parties with pony rides and an inflatable jumping pit. I think too that, since 30 is a milestone, I expected something special. Even something BIG. And there's really nothing to back that up.

So here I am, turning 30, and people are going to think I'm mopey because I think I'm getting old. Far from it. I'm mopey because it's my birthday, and there's really no one who cares. Thanks to Jason. Thanks to my folks. Thanks to Coby and Jason's grandma. And thanks in advance to anyone who leaves me a birthday wish on the comments here. (I'm pandering, I know, but I can't help it. I'm bumming.)

Once again, it's been forever and a day since I last posted. What's happened in the interim? Well, my stint at Nationwide has ended, at least for the time being, making things a little tight financially around here. We took Veronica to a local farm for their fall festival days and she had a wonderful time in the pumpkin patch and on the hayride. She is a bit obsessed with pumpkins now (every time she sees a pumpkin, either real or fake, it's a "pumm-kin catch.") Halloween should be a hoot.

The big news today, however, is that Veronica peed in her potty! She was sitting on it tonight and looking through a book while I ran her bath water. I ran it at a trickle, and sure enough, she peed a little bit. She stood up in the middle of it, so there was some pee on the floor too, but we were so proud of her! We told her so too, and gave her high-fives and let her put a sticker on her potty lid as a reward.

So that's the big news up until this point. Stay tuned. :-)

This message has been brought to you today by the letter "S".

No joke. Seriously. Veronica has finally discovered this letter. She now pluralizes words, and when she says "horse" she no longer sounds like she's referring to a prostitute. (Think about it...)

She's also enthralled with her new Dora the Explorer DVD. It's the Halloween episode. Can't wait to take her out trick-or-treating this year, should be a hoot.

Things have been busy and hectic and such around here lately. I've been working some overtime, and the whole exhaustion thing hasn't resolved on its own, so apologies to anyone reading for the huge gap between postings. I've had a lot of anecdotes, but not the time nor energy to post them. Add in a good dose of mopiness to boot, and boom, no postings on ze blog.

Veronica's practicing her new technique of climbing on the kitchen chairs right now, so hopefully I can turn off Dora. I'm getting so sick of it. Hopefully more sooner than later.