Hi, I'm Tom...

I forgot to put on deodorant this morning. I HATE IT WHEN I DO THAT!

...and what did I do yesterday? I locked my door, walked out to my car...and was like "HUH-WHA?! WHERE ARE MY KEYS??" I had to buzz a neighbor to unlock our exterior door...and there were my keys...sitting in my door. Der.

So far this week, I'm on a roll of forgetfulness!! I can only hope the week gets better...

Is there anything you've forgotten?

*Bonus points to the person who guesses where my title is from.

Teddy-Dino.

I know, I know, I know....I still haven't been able to post the results to last week's fun contest. I'm totally off my game (but at least I realize it, right?). No worries, I haven't forgotten...and will get RIGHT TO IT the minute I have a minute to breath (if that makes any sense).

I SHOULD'VE been able to wrap up my contest results over the weekend. Instead, I found myself searching for deals in order to get ready for a Fourth of July trip out of town.

Oh yeah...I was also busy bringing little man to his first live concert. Who did we go and see? The Teddy Bear Band. If only I had looked them up online, I would've been given the heads up that you're supposed to ACTUALLY BRING YOUR TEDDY BEAR FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!

On the way to the show, I was giving myself a pat on the back.

Little Man - Check
Blanket to sit on during the show - Check
Juice box for during the show - Check
McDonalds picked up for picnic on blanket before the show started - Check

As the shows start time grew closer, I noticed a million kids with their teddy bears in hand....and then it hit me. Dammit I was supposed to have little man bring a fricken teddy bear! So...seeing as I had clearly made a rookie mistake, I made the best of it. I snatched up this:



Yes, peeps...that's his Happy Meal toy. Since my mom-brain was on it's D-game, I said "hey honey, how about you use your dino for your teddy bear." He kindly obliged (THANK YOU JEEBUS) and on with the show.

I was only slightly nervous when the band instructed the kids to throw their soft, plushy teddies in the air...and there was little man, chucking his hard plastic dino. Thank god he didn't hit anyone!

High five for me.

The Man In The Mirror

I've ALWAYS been a top 40 girl when it comes to music. While a lot of people I know have a much deeper sense of music than me, tune into a top 40 song and I'll almost ALWAYS know the hook.
When I first caught news of MJ's passing yesterday afternoon my jaw was dropped. It's not that I was surprised...I mean, the man has been frail and virtually on his death bed for years.
But it's Michael Jackson.
As crazy as this sounds, the man almost seemed like an entity. Unfortunately, the entity that was Michael Jackson was human. Humans are mortal, and now he's gone.
I feel like the world is pretty damn lucky that he left his music behind...for all of us to jam out to. I mean, really...you could probably listen to MJ all day long and continuously find yourself bopping your head to an awesome guitar riff or a mind blowing beat.
Yes, the man made a million poor choices. Yes, the man was pretty far out there. One thing that cannot be forgotten is his musical genius. As many have already put it, I'm mourning what he was twenty years ago....and not necessarily the man he was in the end.
RIP MJ....rest in peace.

Spine Tingling.

Last night, I had a dream that I made out with a man. Not just any man...a man I've known for a while now. It was hot. It was steamy. It was an amazing kiss/makeout session....

Looking forward to the next man I make out with...in real life this time, not in my dreams.

Happy Thursday!!

Dear Perkins,

I visited store #3678 with a neighbor for dinner last night. We were immediately seated, and the restaurant was more than half empty. While waiting to be greeted and have our beverage order placed, I noticed only two servers tending to tables. Again, the restaurant was not particularly busy, but the two servers did seem a bit overwhelmed. Immediately, I also noticed that while there were two servers running around with the majority of the tables, two additional servers and the manager on duty were sitting at a table on the side of the restaurant rolling silverware and hanging out.
We sat at our table (with two three-year-olds, mind you) for twenty minutes before we were greeted by an employee. I could tell by the look on Rae's face (our server) that she was extremely overwhelmed. She took our order and was on her way.
An hour later we received our food.
I feel the food time was completely unacceptable, but do not hold our server responsible.
The person who upset me the most in this situation was the manager on duty. Throughout our entire wait, the manager continued to sit at a table with two other staff members while our server was running around overwhelmed and ultimately neglecting tables due to the lack of support from management. One of the servers sitting with the manager on duty placed a food order, received her food order and ate her food.
While our server was cashing out another table, the manager on duty brought a box to our table. At no time did the manager ask how our food was. In fact, I had to casually stop the manager and ask her if there was a reason why our food took an hour to make (which consisted of a salad, chicken tender melt, dollar pancakes and a kids grilled cheese).
She responded by having the audacity to tell me the restaurant was extremely busy and the kitchen only had two cooks. Her tone was off putting and very unprofessional. I could not believe my ears. I've been in the restaurant industry for years and I would love for you to run the numbers on what this store brought in last night. I am extremely confident that if you did so, you would find she was overstaffed and had low sales. Not once while we were in this restaurant were all of the tables full, nor was there a wait list for people to be seated.
I would also like to note that while we were waiting the hour for our food, three tables in the restaurant who had been seated after us, and had similar food orders as my table, received and paid for their food before my table had received our food.
After assertively approaching the manager on duty, I noticed she pulled Rae aside. Rae returned to our table and offered us desert, but at that point, I did not feel like staying in the restaurant due to my disdain for how the situation had been handled by the manager on duty. I feel very strongly that the manager should have reproached us and am very disappointed she did not do so.
While taking my son to the bathroom, Rae brought us a few pieces of pie in a to-go box, which was very kind on her behalf. Unfortunately a few of pieces of pie do not excuse the principal of the matter (the lack of professionalism, organization and support and poor communication skills from her lack luster manager). I can only hope this letter will prompt the General Manager to take a closer look at how poor the management at this location is. I can be quite certain I will not return to this location until I have been made fully aware that this will never happen again.
I have a copy of the check should you need to review it.
If asked what the best part of my experience at this establishment was, I can only come up with two things. The first being the great smelling bathrooms, and the second was leaving. Should you have any further questions, concerns or comments, please feel free to contact me.

Quote of the Day

If being single is cool, consider me Miles Davis.

Sobering Moment

Have you ever tried calling up friends and family on a Saturday afternoon, only to be met with:
1)going into people's voicemail.
2)being told they already had plans.

This is the story of my single life almost every weekend. I've successfully planned a party here and there...but most nights I am left with a singleton solitude that can only be empathized by those who are single parents..and whose friends are almost all in serious relationships sans children.

"Quit your bitchin' and do something about it then! Find new people to hang out with! Find other parents to hang out with!" ....yeah...my thoughts exactly...except it's not as easy as you would hope or imagine it to be.

Why? Well....first off, the people that I used to turn to for fun random nights out are good people. 90% of the time I have a lot of fun with them. Call me selfish, but I'm not ready nor am I willing to stop associating myself with these people. Besides, I can't hold a grudge against my friends for not having children with me, and for having a normal unmarried/married with out kids twenty something social life.
Second of all, socializing with other parents is tough for me. Most parents I encounter are married, and a few years older than me. I feel as if they judge me for being a young, single parent. It's quite pathetic on my part, really. I suppose our commonality will always be the kids...

Any suggestions on how I can:
Suck less at life?
Spark up convo's with the married, more responsible parents?
Find a man crazy enough to date me?

Here are the steps I have taken:
Cancelled cable which has forced me to become more of a "housewife" and less of a slug on the couch.
Sucked "being single" up, and have done my best to enjoy little man...over the weekend we indulged in old fashioned car watching, swimming, plus dinner and a movie.
Hosted a bbq which forced me to clean, organize and plan (which is more time consuming than one would think!).

In a rather large nutshell...being single can be very sobering. Not necessarily bad, not necessarily good...just sobering.

CONTEST UPDATE! I will close the polls for the contest on Wednesday...and try to have a "results post" up by Friday.

I'm really not quite as lame as this post makes me out to be. I have a difficult time finding the right words to describe my feelings...and, on Saturday when all was said and done I had a lovely dinner and a movie night with little man, followed by some spontaneous last minute crafting with an amazing bride to be.