M & M Training

I'm still suffering from a wit-block, so this will be more of a general account than a fun story.

A few items of note for today:

We have a new laptop. It's a SONY Vaio, but not the models with the battery recall. We had a VAIO desktop for years and were pleased with it. It's not my coveted airbook, I know, but it's white and sleek and fab. We got an exceptional deal on Ebay, much better than any sale we found.

With the renovations and my budget woes, the laptop might seem like a totally frivolous purchase, but we were thinking about it for a while: We have a traditional upstairs/downstairs layout, and our desktop is upstairs in the 'office.' When I'm home with Sam all day, I have to drag him upstairs with me, away from his play area, to do any work on the computer...not that he actually lets me focus on anything because he wants to be back downstairs playing. I can't blame him. We also risk waking Tim when we're up there (he works night shift 3/5 nights). With a laptop, Tim or I can do work while we're in the main area of the house and can give Sam full attention. With a master's thesis looming in December, and the extra work I've picked up, it has been frustrating to have to wait until Sam was in bed to get anything done. I have every confidence the laptop will help. Not only that, but now, after he goes to bed, I don't have to choose between obsessively watching Election Center on CNN and going upstairs to work on the computer. Yay for split focus.

Regardless of how much it can be justified, I will still feel guilty and frivolous about the purchase for weeks to come. That's just one of my issues. I can spend a shameful sum on a pair of shoes and not blink once, but on anything else, I'm suddenly a thrift queen. I have reigned in my shoe addiction, by the way.

Sam is in Potty Training. It's not a do or die situation yet, but we try for small triumphs every day. I don't want him to stress out about it (see Before The Storm entry). I'm totally copying what the mom from Jon & Kate + 8 does: an M & M reward system, specifically 1 for pee and 2 for poop. The only problem is that it's more like: 1 for pee, 2 for poop, and 26 for mom. I need to train myself OFF the M & Ms.

Today we went to the Fly Creek Cider Mill outside of Cooperstown. We met up with my friends Allison, Angie, and Beth. I was glad to hang out for a little bit. Sam had a blast checking everything out, especially the 'tractorland' play area. It was really crowded, so my initial excitement about picking up cheese and apples and cider wore off pretty quickly. It's like every time I go somewhere, there's a short honeymoon period where I forget how cumbersome it can be to have a toddler with you. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to go especially for Sam - it's just that some days feel more choresome than others. Is choresome even a word??

The Fly Creek Cider Mill runs a local commercial with an awful, folksy grate-on-your-nerves tune that goes: Apples and Cider, Apples and Cider, Apples and Cider at the Fly Creek Cider Mill. At the Fly Creek Cider Mill. Of course it was stuck in my head for days, but Sam broke up the monotony by saying, Apples and Spiders, Apples and Spiders. We changed the lyrics for a day or two, but now he knows it's really Cider.