So that's how it feels?

This past week we went to TWO separate events as a whole, entire family. DH dragged himself out of bed three hours earlier than normal to hang out with us and some long time friends. I honestly did not think it was going to happen. I hoped he would come, but I had really resigned myself to not caring. Then he came (half an hour late), but was there nonetheless. Maybe because I had no expectations, it actually worked out and I enjoyed it??

The other event was a family event, which usually he shows up at physically but is mentally checked out or sleeping off his most recent shift at work. He actually got it together to be "present" this time around. At this second event, I actually thought to myself "So this is what it feels like!"

But not for long. I'll be heading out to a big party this weekend with the kids while DH is at work. Such is the single life of the LEO wife...

joys, fears, goals, and obsessions

First, thanks to those of you who have stopped by from Friday Follow. It's been fun to visit and "meet" some new folks in the blog world.

I've been tagged by Mrs. Fuzz to list three joys, fears, goals, and obsessions. Maybe future posts will discuss some of these, because some of them could use some explanation. :) Here goes:

Joys
1. Getting a decent afternoon nap
2. A long hot shower in the morning
3. Summer's long twilight

Fears
1. Forgetting myself completely in motherhood, and having more kids to make that motherhood last "longer" (although.... once a mother, always a mother!)
2. My mom "kicking the bucket" earlier rather than later
3. Ruining my children

Goals
1. Move from our current living situation
2. Get back to my pre-pregnancies (yes, all of them) weight
3. Run a half marathon at some point in my life

Obsessions
1. Coffee, Scones, and Baking (yes, they are all capitalized on purpose)
2. Getting an awesome (or free!) deal on nice stuff (Dollar Store doesn't count, although I do like that place)
3. The crockpot

I'm supposed to tag SIX people. Please share your "three!"
1. Cop Mama
2. Rebecca at The Blessings of Modern Domestication
3. The Dispatcher at The Dispatcher and Her Officer
4. MonicaLnP at Loud & Proud Monica
5. Steadfast Ahoy
6. TM at The Sun is Always Blue

Friday Follow

Sponsored by:

This week's Friday Follow is special, with a cash giveaway. I never win any of these things and probably never will. But hey, at least I will get to meet some new fun bloggers out of it all! :)

My dad's not such a great cop, after all

We had a unique experience recently which has really made me feel the gamut of emotions. One afternoon I was out walking with Charlotte and Dallas, just enjoying the sights and sounds of our urban neighborhood. We stopped in at the local grocery store and at one point Charlotte says "Mom! Mom! Your phone!" She could hear it ringing perfectly because I carry it in my pocket and her ear is about (mommy) pocket height. I fished it out of my pocket and just missed the call from my husband as it went to voicemail. As I was getting ready to call him back, I noticed that this was my second missed call within minutes from him. When I called back and he answered, this is how the conversation went:

DH [angry tone]: What took you so long to answer the phone?!!?
me: I'm at the grocery store and it's noisy so I couldn't hear the phone. Charlotte heard it ringing in my pocket.
DH: [Our neighbor] just got robbed in the garage.
me: What?
DH: Yeah, Austin and I are driving around looking for him. [He proceeded to give me a description of the person.] If you see him, call me. And BE CAREFUL!

The whole way home I was very aware ~ I usually am but this afternoon my senses were heightened. For the record, I'm pretty sure I didn't see the suspect. When I got home, I waited anxiously for DH and Austin to come home to hear the whole story. Evidently this guy was just hanging out waiting IN BROAD DAYLIGHT. I'm so proud of our neighbor because she actually gave up a fight and tried to get away from him, although she was unsuccessful.

The horrible thing is that DH was home the entire time that this happened, and he wishes to high heaven he could have prevented it. Thankfully our neighbor has a really good attitude about it; DH said she was so calm when he was talking to her that at first he wasn't actually comprehending what she was telling him had happened. I'm also thankful that it didn't happen to me when I have all the kids in tow, and have now vowed to never ever go gallavanting around with my entire wallet but instead just the minimal things I need for whatever my errands are. DH has renewed his campaign to keep us chained safely inside except for absolutely required trips. I'm renewing my campaign to bring some balance to his perspective.

This "inability to prevent" this incident reminds me of a story from the life of my uncle the cop. (Have I told this story before? I'm having deja vu.) Evidently my young cousin left his bike out in front of their garage, where it promptly got stolen. (To be fair, I think it was over near the garbage bins so someone could have "guessed" it was available for, ahem, "free.") When they realized that the bicycle had been stolen, my cousin was heard saying "My dad must not be a very good cop because he couldn't even keep my bike from getting stolen."

Mama Guilt Monday

CopMama has a new look for MGM and she even has started a little prompt for you if you're not able to recall any of your feelings of terrible, horrible guilt. This week's prompt is "Tell us about a time you did something absent minded as a Mom!"

Well that's easy, I just did this last week!

My daughter has milk and peanut allergies. I recently noticed/realized that there are yogurts made from coconut milk and rice milk which she could eat. (I try to stay away from the soy milk based stuff.) I don't know why I didn't realize this earlier; maybe I was just in denial about actually paying $1.50 a carton for yogurt. But let me tell you, since she's started eating it and loving it so much, I feel a little guilty about having put her off for so long. Anyway, I digress...

The grocery store within walking distance to our house carries three flavors of this yogurt, and at a ridiculous price. I would buy one each time we went and make her split it into two servings. There is another grocery store that carries this and many, many other flavors and brands that is near to our house, but not walking distance and completely out of the way from most of the places we go... not to mention it is 40-60 cents cheaper per carton! I'd been telling my daughter for three days in a row that we could go and buy "her" yogurt at this store. Finally, all the stars aligned. Everyone was awake at a proper time and we could pile in the car and go buy "her" yogurt. We were ready to hit the road.

Socks and shoes times four?
check.
Jackets times four?
check.
Wallet?
check.
Baby in car seat?
check.
Baby toys in car seat?
check.
Coupons?
check.
And as I shut the (already locked) door...
Keys?
NO!

Charlotte quickly volunteered to go back and get the keys. I played along and said "OK" but she couldn't get in the door. So she asked me to unlock the door. It was kind of a crack up watching her process what was going on.

So there we were, the baby packed in his car seat, me with just my wallet and coupons -- of course this was one of the few times I didn't bring my entire mom-backpack full of tricks. I would have been ok with the whole fiasco if I had a stroller or an ergo (a babywearing carrier) for Dallas but all I had was the monster car seat which I would NOT be carrying anywhere. I spent a few minutes trying to break in to our door, but I'll be keeping my day job and not converting to a burglar any time soon. I also tried the window (which DH has used in the past to break in) but no such luck. I started calling both my husband's cell phone and our home phone. Of course, being that it's the middle of the day, and he works in the middle of the night, what do you think he was in the middle of doing?!!? That's right! Sleeping with all the ringers turned off. :O

So we spent about half an hour playing in the garden, and although my girl was a bit disappointed with missing her trip for "her" yogurt, we had fun in the backyard and no one was the worse for wear. (Except for this mama, who felt pretty guilty!) The husband woke up after a while and let us in, and we had success in our excursion the following day. yay!

It's official

Some of you have voted on what shift you would choose, and of course 10-hour weekday shifts won out over 12-hour weekend shifts. Days/Graves/Swings was not such a landslide, but I am happy to report that my husband's turn to sign up has come and gone. The decision making was much, much more difficult than times past because they have totally changed the shift days and times, and it was pretty complicated because the team members and supervisors can have a huge impact on how well or terrible a day at work goes. So we'll be in for at least 6 more months of swing shift. I'm getting used to it, so it should be OK. I hope.

On a side note, the young person I mentioned is my previous post is still alive! I'm glad that the mom was able to come and be here. The human body is pretty amazing.

Not sure what to think

My husband had a long case last night which may end up in a young person dying (or living as a vegetable) as a result of their own poor choices. The young person's mom was flying in from her home town. It was kind of a mess (in terms of police/fire response) so when my husband finally got to the hospital and asked the doctor the status of the patient, she responded with "critical." When my husband asked for clarification the doctor said something to the effect that even IF the patient "makes it," it will be with a life as a vegetable.

DON'T BE STUPID, PEOPLE!

I don't know this young person, but as a young'un my assumption is "Your whole life was ahead of you, and now you've thrown it away!"

My husband had mostly negative things to say about this person throwing away their life, quelled a bit by the story of the mom coming to, quite possibly, watch her child die. But not for long. He quickly went back to his feelings of contempt for this person's poor choices. I'm in the other camp. I'm a little more compassionate. I wonder what made this person feel like these were good choices to make. Was there hopelessness involved? The loss of a significant other? Sheer stupidity at wanting to have a good time?

I will never know. No matter what, there is a hurting family out there right now. And I'm not sure what to think.