Me and my daughter; Finkle the Frog*

Me and my daughter.

I wasn't ready.

She likes the camera unless I take too many pictures.  After a while, she's annoyed with it. :-)

Kissing Finkle the Frog*

Catch up (on the last 3 days!)

Not much happened, 

but...

We went to the park...

She watched some "big kids" play on the playground...

This is my favorite picture, at this time: -->

Cozy, Furry Socks

It's nice that my a/c works now.  It's also nice that I don't have to worry about my daughter getting a heat rash while sleeping in her crib.  It's pretty much worth that I'm wearing a sweater, jeans, and socks - just to stay warm.  They're cozy, furry socks - so it's all good!

The a/c is being finicky though.  It was working last night, then we left for almost the entire day just to get out of this apartment.  When we got back, it wasn't working.  I went to the maintenance man's apartment again and talked to his wife.  She said she'd let him know.  Then, half an hour later - the a/c decided to work.  Once I got cold enough to wear a sweater, I wrote a note to the maintenance man's wife (thanking her and letting her know that it works) and taped it to her door.  I didn't want to bother her again.

I'm freezing, but my kiddo is comfortable in her crib.  That's all that matters. :-)

New Show; Non-Stop Laughter

"Raising Hope."  Watch it.  Laugh.  :-)

Birth Defect; Law & Order; Ronnie Milsap; not interested

I did my laundry.  Some of you might know what a task it is to do laundry at a laundry mat with a four month old (13+ pounds).  Carrying her and the laundry is not easy.  I'm probably too brave on that account, actually.

While doing laundry, I saw a mom and dad with their two children.  One of them was a little girl (about 9 to 12 months old: I don't know how big those age of kids are and I won't until my daughter is that big.)  This little girl had been born with cleft lip - the same birth defect I was born with.  I've seen a few cleft lips on babies in this town.  I almost always talk to the mom about it.  I did this time, at least.  

"Hi!  Ya know, I was born with cleft lip and cleft palate, too!", as I looked at her daughter, who hasn't yet had the surgery to close it up.  The mom said, "She doesn't have the cleft palate."  The mom looked at my face (my lip, really) and smiled.  I said, "Yeah, you can tell I have it if you really look, but that surgery was done 24 years ago!  Now the surgery is so advanced that no one will ever be able to tell your daughter had it unless someone tells them."  I was so excited to see a baby with cleft lip.  I said, "Is she getting her surgery soon?"  The mom looked at the father (well, we both did) and she said, "Yes, next month on the twentieth!"  The mom looked at my daughter who was facing the other way and I said, "Oh, she wasn't born with either.  My dad had cleft lip and sub-mucous palate, though.  Did her doctor check to make sure that her palate is all the way closed up?"  She said, "Yep, it's all closed up."  

(I talk a lot, don't I?  I'm not really afraid to talk to strangers unless I just have nothing to say or nothing in common with them.)  We said bye and went our own ways in the laundry mat.  I sat on one of the benches, waiting for my clothing to finishing drying.  (Addendum to original blog post:  As I walked away, I heard the mom say, "That's one of the nicest white girls ever."  They were African American / black.  I was happy to hear that!)  All of sudden, I heard a noise that only comes from one television show.  Law and Order.  The father of the little girl had his text messages ring with the Law and Order caption sound.  If you've seen Law and Order more than 5 to 10 times, I'm sure you know the sound I'm talking about.  I was a little jealous.  I want the Law and Order: Special Victims Unit theme song as my ringtone!  Hehe.

On the way home from the laundry mat, a song came on.  This one:

I wanted to roll down the windows and blare this song.  I love the sound!  I couldn't though.  My daughter was in the backseat, sleeping in her car seat.  Darn.

I was almost home when I saw a truck with a good-looking guy in the truck bed.  I live near a university.  It was one of the university's maintenance trucks.  He was looking at me from the truck bed.  I lowered my visor.  I'm not interested.  I continued singing.

That's my Saturday, so far!

A Girl Can Dream

Yesterday, I emailed the owner of this apartment complex.  I basically complained about the apartment manager.  He's never available - even during the "office hours".  I told the owner that I'm happy with the maintenance man, but not with the apartment manager.

I received two emails this morning.  One was before the owner had read another email of mine telling him that my air conditioner had finally been fixed.  The owner said, "I'll tell maintenance to fix your a/c."  The next email from him asked me if I would be around (at my apartment) this coming Wednesday - and also a request for my cell phone number to be emailed in return.

I highly doubt that my little hope is true.  Maybe my email to the owner that explained what a crumby manager he has convinced him that he needs a new one.  Maybe he sees that I'm not an idiot (at least through my grammar and spelling).  Even if I do mess up sometimes (especially with punctuation), I'm not an idiot in that regard.

The owner is trying to clean up these apartments because they're so close to the university, here.  He could have college students galore if he got rid of the trash that's living here.  He's already started some renovations and evictions.

Any way.  My point is:  A Girl Can Dream.  Maybe he's going to ask me to re-continue make-ready apartment cleaning (which I was doing for him before I became pregnant) or maybe he's going to ask me to be the new manager since his current one sucks.  Or maybe he's just going to have me sign my new lease.  Or maybe he's sick of me complaining about the manager and he's going to give me a 30 day notice to get my butt out.  I doubt it's the latter.  I'm one of his more well-behaved tenants and I have a 4 month old baby.

A Girl Can Dream. 

Visa - Accepted Everywhere; Assertiveness

...except at the vehicle registration's office.  The only reason they still used it was that it's a Bank of America card.

I just now noticed that Visa's Everywhere slogan has been "shelved", though.

My car is registered, inspected, and gassed up.  I bought this month's diapers and I'm about to eat lunch with a friend.

After my car was inspected, the man that inspected it complimented my daughter's radiant beauty.  Of course.  He then said that he has a 7 month old daughter.  I asked if he was helping his girlfriend or wife with the baby.  (He's near my age: which is young.)  He said proudly, "No, she does everything."  I gave him a funny look and said, "Uh, maybe you should try helping her out a little.  She lucky to have you with the baby - but only if you help."

I've noticed that I've become increasingly assertive and opinionated.

When my neighbors fought over cigarettes, I rolled my eyes and said, "Just go home.  That's the stupidest thing ever to fight about."... as I walked up the stairs with my daughter.

People seem to respect me when I'm being assertive, but I should probably be cautious about who I'm giving my opinions to - so brashly.