OMG

So, my 40th birthday came and went with a blown tire, a rapid pickup of the children and a broken air conditioner. Oh well, that’s life.  **shrugs**   The next day I shifted focus to Girl 2’s 4th birthday party in 9 days and another mini- vacation with all the extended family and all the hostessing that includes. Somewhere in that time frame dr soc had a nose job (okay, it was sinus surgery. But calling it a nose job is better for teasing because I love him), we set up a new big girl bed for girl 2, and somehow had to clean the house for all the company coming in because omg there are going to be 11 people in my house at the same time. 

Friday before the party I text dr soc with the last minute party/grocery shopping and come home to a clean house too. God I love that man. But something was slightly off. No one was downstairs like usual when I come home from work, and the sofa tables are cleaned off with the exception of a purse I didn’t recognize.

me: I’m home! Hey who’s here?
dr soc: What do you mean?

me: Whose purse is this? (I’m not too concerned, and if even if it was his mistress if she cleans my house she can stay)

dr soc: - realizes the jig is up - Oh. As for who’s here…

My bestest buddie from when we were 11 and lives in Portland and haven’t seen in 6 years runs down the stairs.

MY BESTEST BUDDIE FROM WHEN WE WERE 11 AND LIVES IN PORTLAND AND HAVEN'T SEEN IN 6 YEARS RUNS DOWN THE STAIRS.

OMFG.

I’m in shock to say the least. I'm in disbelief and hugging her so tight because all the feels! I mean now I have to figure out dinner but that’s okay because omg my bestest buddie who I haven’t seen in 6 years has flown across the country to surprise me for my/our 40th birthday! 

But wait, there’s more! Dr soc has ordered food for tonight too so I don’t need to worry about dinner either. And speak of the devil, the doorbell rings. I open the door and it's sorta food but not really because  

It’s 4 of my best friends from college who live in 4 different parts of the country and haven’t seen in at least 2 years because of the pandemic standing on my front porch (to take me out for dinner).

IT’S 4 OF MY BEST FRIENDS FROM COLLEGE WHO LIVE IN 4 DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE COUNTRY AND HAVENT SEEN IN AT LEAST 2 YEARS BECAUSE OF THE PANDEMIC STANDING ON MY FRONT PORCH (TO TAKE ME TO DINNER).

Well now I'm crying tears of joy, my friends are crying tears of joy too and dr soc is welling up as well because he arranged for all of them to surprise me for my birthday on this particular weekend. That night we went out for Mexican food with margaritas college style but better because we're all 40 now and have disposable income.

And Saturday they came to girl 2's birthday party and then we had a night on the town. I had a girls' weekend and it was the absolute best.  

clockwise from bottom left: Jeanne - Cleveland, me -Charlotte, Priya -Portland, Nancy - NYC, Michele - DC/Maryland and LB - Orlando

SO MANY MILES 

Some of my favorite ladies

And my shoe exploded. It didn't just break, it exploded and ceased to function

Funtimes is an understatement. Amazing isn't a strong enough word to describe my friends. I was completely surprised and overwhelmed at how much I am loved.  A huge thank you to dr soc for making it happen, and another billion thank yous to my best friends for all the miles traveled!    

Upstairs/Downstairs

Girl 1 loves football. Ok she doesn't really love it. But it's pretty much the only tv we've put on in the house when she's awake so by default all tv is football to her.

Anyway, Sunday is football. Dr soc cheers for the Browns, I cheer for the Panthers and our teams usually play at the same time. So when they do, dr soc suffers through watches the Browns game on the downstairs tv, and I multitask while the game is on in the background watch the Panthers game upstairs. When dr soc watches "daddy's team" he is locked in and doesn't want to answer the litany of questions from the toddler (my kid talks a lot, to the surprise of no one), so girl 1 typically watches "mommy's team" upstairs with me since I'm not paying that much* attention. And mommy's team scores, so there's more cheering.

*see: multitasking while the game is on in the background

Anyway
 
Last Sunday girl 1 came downstairs before halftime, probably trying to avoid her nap tbh, saw Mike and excitedly said:
girl 1: Touchdown daddy! Touchdown upstairs. Not touchdown downstairs. 

Bwahahahaha!

High Hopes

Girl-2 is a burper. Which is perfectly normal but since Girl-1 rarely burped (she still doesn't burp much really) any burping, especially the juicy ones, we notice more. Dr soc and I (okay, more me than him) find burps hi-lar-ious, so we (okay, more me once again) have high hopes Girl-2 will one day give us a "Ben & Jerry's burp."

The backstory: Dr soc and I were on the patio of Ben & Jerry's one afternoon (either engaged or newly married) with a mom and her 2 kids, a boy and a girl. Out of nowhere, the girl (about 8) lets out this monster burp. I'm talking John-Belushi-frat-boy-dragon-roar-style burp, followed with a dainty "'s'cuse me!" I absolutely lost it, laughing so hard I couldn't stop. Dr soc was laughing too, but not nearly to my extent. The mom was mortified, but the girl was quite proud of herself judging from the smug smile she was giving her brother. From that moment on, that "Ben & Jerry's burp" was deemed the pinnacle of burps and utter hilarity.

So here's hoping one day, Girl-2 (or Girl-1, really, just one of them), gives a "Ben & Jerry burp" and I laugh as hard as I did that one afternoon!

Good Cars

I'm not a "car person." see: just how "helpful" I can be and why I lost my car rights if you need further clarification. But in my defense, wait, no, scratch that. I really just don't care. Whatever. And dr soc isn't a car person either, but he is a hard core researcher. So when he studies or looks further into something I pretty much listen to what he says (unless it's navigation or spacial planning, that's my wheelhouse). When I test drove my corolla in 2010 and told him about it, I didn't think much of anything when he said "corollas are good cars."

And they are, Consumer Reports just rated it the best compact car. Anyway fast forward a year and a half later right after we see his ex-girlfriend in Kentucky, newly engaged and in town to look at wedding venues. We sit down for lunch and I'm still being super supportive and giggling at his discomfort.

me: So that was K huh?
dr soc: (sigh) Yeah, that silver corolla with the UGA plate.
me: Wait - she drove a corolla?
dr soc: Yeah (cringe) And, um, D also drove a silver corolla too.
me: That's how you knew they were good cars!
   

Context is Key

When my kid says fork she does so w/out the R, so it sounds like f*ck with an accent of sort. Kinda like "fook." I'm totally encouraging it because I'm not about to discourage her language development, but mostly because it's hilarious.
But she's not using fook as a cuss word, she is actually referring to a fork. So she isn't cussing on purpose. Though when she does start cussing in the correct context I will die laughing, because omg the funny.

Anyway, poor baby just had a rough Sunday.
First she slipped on the cutting board she was playing with on the floor while I cleaned the cabinet it was in. Her little feet flew out from under her, landed flat on her back onto the kitchen floor and burst into tears. About an hour later she shut a drawer on her fingers and started screaming. And 20 minutes after that she ran face first into a door frame.

She could have really used some forks.

It's What I Do

For the longest time dr soc wanted a bench for shoe storage in our foyer-ish area for the 4 times a year people use the front door, and for the longest time I resisted. But with 16 people coming for Thanksgiving I finally acquiesced to it, but since I can be very particular when it comes to furniture, it was on me to find one we both liked.
So I found one on Amazon I liked and two days later (love Prime) it was on our doorstep. Dr soc assembled it, we put it in place and...it didn't look right.
Dr soc was indifferent on it but I liked it just enough to think about keeping it. So dr soc found another spot for it in the house because he loves me. But that spot made me indifferent on the bench. And then this conversation happened:

me: I'm fine with where that bench is. But you know that it's just going to become another spot I put stuff* on and clutter.
dr soc: But you don't have to put stuff there...
me: Yeah but I will. It's what I do.
dr soc: Yeah but you don't ...
me: It's what I do.
dr soc::sigh of resignation:: Can we send the bench back?
me: Yes. (once again, love Prime)
dr soc: Ok. Do it.

* he loves me decidedly less when the sprawl gets extra sprawly.

Professionalism

The other day my coworker's husband brought something by for her and they had a quick little peck as he was leaving. I remarked how cute it was and how it reminded me of all the times I had visited dr soc's office and he wouldn't touch me. 😄

Seriously. In his defense at the time he didn't have his school's version of tenure, so by minding his P's and Q's to be as professional as possible he refused pretty much all physical contact whatsoever if on campus together. No peck on the cheek, no hug goodbye, no gentle touch for guidance, no encroachment into either personal bubble. Zero physical contact. He wouldn't even hold my hand.

But now that I have given him a child (and he has tenure) he has relaxed enough to be professionally affectionate. He figured if his coworkers will hug me hello/goodbye, holding my hand on occasion wouldn't professionally ruin him. Not to mention I would have been super pissed (and probably scene causing upset) as I waddled to the baby shower his coworkers threw for us if he had refused to hold my hand when my fingers were too puffy to wear my wedding bands!