Today was a Builder Mama and Monkey Man bonding day. Joey had a home football game today so he has been gone since about 8:30 this morning. Don't even get me started on how convoluted he and his partners and crime make every home game and how they get there because it gives me a headache just thinking about it.
I started thinking about what to do with Monkey Man last night. The poor kid hadn't really done much of anything in the past few weeks since before he went in the hospital except our little miniature golf outing, so I wanted to do something fun. He's been begging to go to the children's museum for weeks now, but I've been kind of balking at it for several reasons. First, the children's museum here is pretty lame. I haven't taken him in probably 2 years, mostly because there wasn't much to do for kids his age at that time. Not to mention that it's the same shit every time - they do have special programs, but they're like one Sunday afternoon every full moon on months that end in "O" or some bullshit scheduling like that.
The other thing I hated was that it just didn't seem very well run. The artsy-fartsy area didn't have many supplies or anything really organized for the kids to make. The little pretend grocery store area and "kitchen" pretty much had been destroyed in terms of the little props were nasty and dirty or missing or broken. I used to enjoy meeting Jen and her girls there, but it just got to the point where it wasn't worth the price of admission to go somewhere that didn't have much for the kids to do (not to mention if we meet at the mall we can have Starbucks while the kids play).
The science museum is located within walking distance, and I checked online to see what they had for special exhibits and they had one of those "grossology" types of exhibits all about animals and their poop and stuff. I was seriously stoked and thought that it would be just up a boy's alley, so I suggested going there instead of the children's museum and Monkey Man agreed. Or so I thought.
So we hopped in the car and headed downtown. I was happy that the weather was beautiful and we were making excellent progress in our day.
And that's when the traffic started. It was Fucking Marathon Day here in the city and they had the entire area around both museums blocked off. Yeah, I guess maybe if I actually read the newspaper that we pay good money for and typically end up throwing away because we've already read it at the office, I might have remembered this. After sitting in traffic for about 30 minutes and not moving, I finally weaseled my way down a back alley and scored a parking spot in front of one of the sketchy bars down there and we ended up walking a few blocks to the museum.
And of course, once he saw the children's museum, we had to go there. No poop today, ladies and gentlemen. I was greatly disappointed.
The children's museum had improved somewhat - not sure if they got a new director or maybe some more grants or something, but they had added some new things, upgraded the old things, and we ended up having a pretty nice morning there. Nice as in I didn't have to raise my voice once, there were no tears, and once he got over his initial shyness he was right in there with the other kids having fun in the big "stream" they have running through the place.
We worked our way back to the car (which involved crossing a street that was half-filled with marathon runners and the other half was heavy traffic), went and had lunch at Applebee's, and then came home for Monkey Man to have a nap.
Now, I need to mention that somehow I was suckered into promising Monkey Man that we would go to Chick Fil A for dinner. Definitely not my favorite place to eat, not to mention the fact that the menu is very limited for a peanut-allergic kid. But we went, he actually met another kid in the play area to play with (we usually end up with tears because he's in there alone and won't just get in there and play and when it's time to go he wails, "but I didn't get to plaaaaay...."), and when it was time to leave he nicely got his shoes and brought them to me for help getting them tied. Not bad. And no arguments when we got home about getting his bath out of the way so he could have some quality Power Rangers time.
One thing I realized today is that I had originally signed up for the 8K associated with the marathon that screwed up my museum expedition. That was supposed to be my crowning achievement for the year, and instead I became overwhelmed with sick Builder Daddys and Monkey Men and of course myself as well. But it did inspire me to get back on the treadmill tonight to do some incline work and I did some weights and Pilates as well. It felt good, but I gar-un-tee you that I will be one sore mutha tomorrow. And like I told Mer today on the phone, I am determined to lose this last 10 pounds if there is anyway possible, so I've started cutting back on the calories a little bit and if I can get back in my exercise groove then at least I'll feel like I'm making a little progress.
Oh yeah - and you know my day wouldn't be complete without something icky happening, right? Guess what Rufus rolled in this morning? Deer shit. And he was pretty freaking happy about it, too. Little bastard. Good thing I picked up some Orvus last time at Tractor Supply, because it came in handy for getting that stuff off of him and not leaving him smelling like some old lady's poodle. He always appreciates that.
Off to drool on the couch until the Pimp Mobile arrives safely home. Rumor has it we will be dining at IHOP in the morning instead of our usual spot, so I will be dreaming of chocolate chip pancakes. And then will probably order something healthy that tastes like shit.
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