Blogs I Love: Story of My Life

I stumbled upon a really great blog earlier this week. 

The blog is called Story of my Life, written by Jenni, who is apparently close to my age but who seems so much wiser. I was first pulled in by reading the adorable love story that unfolded between Jenni and her husband. 

I only fell more in love with this blog upon reading a new post called If You Don't Ask, You Don't Get. 

It's the perfect advice really. It especially hit home with me after my slight issues with boyfriend earlier in the week. Where I expected him to know what to do without asking, and to know what was wrong without telling. 

So visit this blog. Or at the least, visit If You Don't Ask, You Don't Get.

Do it for me. 

Flea Market Finds

Last Sunday Chloe and I had a day to ourselves. Once boyfriend left for work, I decided to take her down to the flea market to see if we could find any deals. You know how I love shopping second-hand. 

The place was a little bare - a lot of shopper, but also a lot of empty tables at the back. It made me sad. There was also very few people selling girls clothes, but I did find a couple of things. I found two shirts for Chloe for $1 each, and two pairs of Old Navy pants for $1 each. 

I found two Robert Munsch books for $2 each. We've already read 'Love You Forever' twice. Chloe will actually sit through most of it. Then I found some scrapbooking cutouts for $0.50 a bag, so I bought a few - hearts, flowers, balloons etc. 

I think the best deal I found was a bag of 5 little Tonka trucks. They were $5 (I have no idea how much they cost regularly), and Chloe played with them for quite awhile on Sunday, tried to take them into daycare Monday, and still played with one in her highchair this morning while she ate her breakfast. They are a hit, and listening to her make car noises is adorable. 

All that stuff for $15? I'd say we did pretty well. I only wish now that I would've bought more books. There's always next time. 

What's your favorite thing to look for at a flea market?

I'm Wondering Wednesday

I couldn't help but laugh at the comments on yesterday's post concerning my annoyance with boyfriend. The verdict seems unanimous: men are clueless. While we haven't discussed the issue, we did have a decent night together last night. I'm going to try to let my annoyance slide this time, and the next time the same issue starts bothering me I'm just going to resort to my usual defense - sarcastic comments. Even clueless boyfriend catches on to that. 

After all, it was a sarcastic (whiny) comment that got me a balloon a couple of days after our anniversary. 

Now, onto 'I'm Wondering Wednesday'. No one's ever linked up yet, but I'm still giving you the option to. I'm hoping with enough begging, some of you will give in and make my day. If not, you can still answer in the comments. 

1. What's your dream job? It has to be an actual job that exists. 

I love my job, but I'd love it more if it was a little busier. These days we're not getting many calls. I'd love to do something the requires computer work - like blogging if I was actually interesting enough to make money from it. Or a writer as in book writer. 

2. What's your biggest cooking or baking fail?

So many. Usually when it comes to cooking. Baking I do okay at, but the  fail I remember the most is baking: Cheesecake. I'd made it before and it turned out fine but the second time I made it, it turned into a runny, goopy mess. I was sad. 

3. What's the largest age gap between you and someone you dated? And the age gap between you and your current partner?

Three years is the largest, and boyfriend and I are almost exactly 6 months apart. He was born 6 days too early. 

 4. Where do you spend most of your internet time? 

Facebook. I really need to do a boycott again (like I did before for a week) just so I can stop wasting so much time. I spend the majority of the time browsing the local buy and sell groups. It great for finding good deals, but I don't need any more deals. We have what we need, but I'm still addicted to browsing and shopping. 

5. When you were a kid, what names did you swear you were going to name your children, that you wouldn't now? 

Anthony, Arianna, Madison, Kelley (for a boy) are a few that I can remember. 

The post where I get serious

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*The one where I get serious*

I've been upset over something for a few days now, concerning boyfriend and I. In true annoying female fashion, I haven't voiced this. Instead, I've been distant, quiet, snappy, mean, and whatever other mean adjectives you can come up with. 

In this time, I've learned a little bit about boyfriend. 

I don't know if he's trying to give me space, genuinely doesn't notice I'm upset, or if he's scared to bring it up.  This is day 5 of me being upset, and he only acknowledged that something was up yesterday. He said we need to do something fun, and that we're in a rut. He hasn't really seen me laugh in days. He's been cleaning more around the house. He's been helping out more with Chloe. 

Sometimes I wish he would just force me to tell him what was wrong, instead he hasn't even asked. 

Things have been 'off' lately. 

First Chloe wasn't feeling well, and so I was always tired and not sleeping well. There were two different evenings that he had friends over. There were a couple of nights when he worked late, and I was in bed when he got home. There were a couple of nights where he stayed up late watching stuff on tv that I had no interest in. 

So there's been no 'us' time, and how has he not realized that himself yet? 

Yes, I should voice my concerns, but I don't think I should have to tell him that spending actual time together is a relationship requirement. I shouldn't have to make him want to spend time with me. Shouldn't he be doing all that on his own? After 5 days of me being distant, shouldn't it be sinking in that something is a little wrong? Shouldn't he miss me by now? 

It's especially sad, because before this week, things had been so amazing. When things are good, they're great. 

Sometimes I wonder if little things like this will ever 'make or break' the relationship. We haven't been together overly long, so I like to think of situations like this as us working out the kinks in the relationship. Fixing up all the little details to make sure this is the real thing. 

But if the same issue keeps arising, is that what will eventually break the relationship? 

No, I don't think we're breaking up. Not even a little. We've discussed marriage. A couple of days ago he even spoke the words 'Maybe we could be engaged by then'. I'm just scared that this little hitch in our relationship keeps coming back. 

Adventures with Chloe, Lately.

Oh Chloe. 

You have turned into one handful of a child lately. 

It seems you're always sick or teething. Our good days seem few and far between lately. Luckily, Sunday was one of those great days together. We went bargain hunting at the flea market, and you charmed people at Michael's when I let you carry our purchase to the cash. Yep, Sunday was great. 

You sat with me on the couch and let me read the whole book  Love You Forever (part of our flea-market finds) by Robert Munsch.  You played happily with your new (from the flea market) Tonka trucks, complete with sound effects. You even tried to take them to daycare on Monday.

We got into a tickle war, which was when I realized your need your nails cut since you left a scratch or two on my belly.

You learned about wearing sunglasses in the car, and how it keeps the sun out of your eyes.

We had our first conversation that went a little something like this:
- Mommy: Chloe, come put your coat on so we can leave.
- Chloe: No.
- Mommy: Okay then, I'm going to leave without you. Bye.
- Chloe: Bye.

You say 'bye' a lot. Rarely to people in public, but you say it all the time at home.

You've mastered the art of the temper tantrum, complete with kicking and rolling around on the floor. It's not cute anymore.

You love yogurt, flavored apple sauces, crackers, soft flour tortillas, and especially Popcorn Twists. You don't like much else, and sometimes you're really hard to feed, but you're slowly improving. I hate making new food for you, especially food that takes awhile to prepare because (like chicken breasts) you tend to spit them right back out then refuse to eat more.

I really hope our good days continue for awhile. I think we're both more than a little tired of you always being sick and miserable.