Pre-Birthday preparations.

Waking up at 7am has become more of a routine as of late. On the days I work, the alarm goes off at 7am. I never want to get up. Pulling myself out of bed is much like trying to lift a 7,000 pound slab on concrete. Why is it that when you need to get up, your body throws a fit, like trying to get a cat to take a bath. On my off days I shoot out of sleep 5 minutes before the alarm goes off. I stare at the BlackBerry with disdain. I am still convinced that the BlackBerry does it on purpose. It goes off and right when I open my eyes to turn it off, it turns off and sits there like it didn't do anything. It's the electronic equivalent to ding dong ditch.

Today was looking to be a full day. The wife and I had a date with Costco. With Jenn starting to feel better, it was time to restock the shelves of our empty fridge. When we really get low on anything, like eggs, chocolate syrup, dog food, snacks, and pretty much anything, the store we like to go to is Costco. It's probably the best wholesale club on the planet. It's like going to whole foods instead of the regular grocery store, except they sell everything in 20's.

So 7am is here, I stare at the damn BlackBerry and do the morning routine. Walk into Audrey's room, wake her up, and walk down stairs to get the pot of coffee going. I need to start to set it up at night and have it automatically brew using the handy dandy timer. But then again, making coffee is just what I do in the morning. I will brew the coffee, and while it's brewing, pack Audrey's lunch. It's just what I do. Unexplainable. If I wanted to, I could do ALL of this the night before, but my penchant for procrastination is insatiable.

So Audrey dressed, coffee brewed, lunch packed, and dog leashed, it was time to get into the car and get to school. It wasn't too cold this morning so the breeze didn't bite like it normally does, and Audrey did not have the need to wear pants under her jumper for school.

So once child was safely in school, it was time to start the rest of the day. Jenn and I had a great night. Its just what happens when your pregnant wife is feeling better for the first time in 2 months. She was giggling, and flirting. It was totally awesome! It was totally better than the lethargic mess that has been my wife. I felt so bad for her these past few months and taking care of her and the house is a full time job. Stay at home moms, you are all super heros.

As I get home, Jenn is still sleeping soundly. I had an interesting conversation with my ex on the BlackBerry, and I have found out that she is now a follower on my blog. It was interesting. She had good things to say about the blog, which I find flattering. There is another epilogue to that whole story, but that is probably another blog, if I get around to writing it. Anyway, I had this conversation almost all morning until Jenn woke up.

Now Jenn waking up starts at about 9:30am and goes until about 11:30-ish. Jenn has never been a morning person. Ever since high school, Jenn doesn't get up in the morning. So I heard the foot steps to the bathroom upstairs, and this is when I start to wind up. I finish the blog I might be writing that morning, or I make my breakfast if I haven't eaten. The toilet flushes and the TV turns on, where Jenn dozes for a while. I never mind this. Her morning routine, however slower it might be from my own, it so consistent, you can set your watch to it. It's about 11:30am or half way through Vegas on TNT when Jenn ventures downstairs. She is always greeted by Freckles if I am home and me, usaully sitting in my chair with the laptop on my lap, usually punching out a blog.

She sits on the couch, and wakes up some more. Really, this is amazing to watch. She'll eat breakfast and then she's ready. 9:30-11:30-ish. Clock work I tell ya!

Today we needed to get to Costco. We only had until about 2:30pm-ish to get all of our running around done before the school day ends. It was noon as we got out the door and off to Costco.

I always love trips to the store with Jenn. I am like that kid that can't stop touching stuff, and she is the mother chasing me telling me to behave. Those are our roles in the store. When Audrey is with me, there are two of us. I swear one day I will give her stroke. There is always one place I find myself quiet and out of trouble in Costco.

What is it about a table of books that will get me to sit still for 5 minutes and just look. I ended up buying a book about the CIA. There were 2 books that I wanted, but I decided between the Reader or a book about the Darling Years of the CIA. The CIA won that battle.

$233.00 later we left Costco and off to Target we went to shop for Audrey's birthday on the 6th [tomorrow]. $100.00 later we were through shopping for Audrey's birthday. She wanted to take cupcakes to school for her birthday so that was our plan for the rest of the day. Bake cupcakes. I realized she didn't have an apron, so we decided to get Audrey and take her to get an apron so she could cook with me. We called it an early birthday present. There is something about a child in an apron that is so damn cute, but I found the PERFECT apron for her.

So once we got home, Jenn couldn't hang around for baking fun because she had to go to school. So I let Audrey do all of it. Here is a slide show of our afternoon cooking.

There were a ton of mistakes we made. The first batch of batter, the one we have all the photos with, was mixed wrong. I couldn't put my finger on it, but the batter wasn't rising when it was baked. So we ran out and made more with another box. That one really tasted bad so I looked at the box for further instructions. That's when it hit me. The box said 1 1/3 cups of water and I measured it out at 1 3/4 cups of water. There was too much water. The third and final box of mix was the one that worked the best. Those are the cupcakes you see her frosting. Leave it to me to mess up not one batch, but 2 batches.

After making cupcakes, we didn't want to waste a good night, so we took our hyper active dog out for a nice little walk in the mild winter evening [to prove he hasn't been on a walk in a while, Freckles is passed out on the couch right now, he never is passed out this time of night].

After a walk I asked Audrey what she wanted for dinner. She said she wanted Steak and Mac n Cheese. Usually I would jump at the chance to make a steak, we didn't get any at Costco, and I wasn't going to take her out tonight. So I asked her to pick something else. She chose Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Fantastic. Easy! She ate, talked to her Mom for a bit on the phone, and off to bed she went. She has a big day tomorrow. It's not everyday you get a year older.

So the night is over, I am beat, and I have done some laundry, cleaned the kitchen from our escapades, and now I'm drinking a nice STIFF drink. I haven't been this productive at home in a very long time. It was wonderful. These are things you miss when you are living in the fast lane.