Trying To Get Back To Our Routines

Jon is now gone; he left our house Monday morning. First thing....get on the scale. I was nervous to do this because I did A LOT of diet damage over the weekend. It is so hard to diet when you have house guests. I certainly couldn't fix Weight Watcher-friendly meals to a big meat and potatoes type guy like Jon! You tend to make richer foods, consume a few drinks, and make desserts too. I was just praying that I at least stayed the same weight and not gain anything. I did, however, manage to loose a 1/2 pound. Not a lot - but still 2 sticks of butter. I am once again back on track but I anticipate another bad weekend with the new rotation of house guests (David's sister and brother-in-law) arriving Friday.

David had off on Monday for MLK day. We spent the afternoon running around doing some errands. Although we accomplished some important items, most of the running around was non-productive stuff. We made a stop at a local electronics store and that is when Madeline decided to try her best to test me. Yep, lately our dear Madeline has decided to take it up a notch in her testing the "not listening" approach. When Madeline decided that she was done with electronics shopping, she pulled out the "potty card". Of course, after we trekked all the way to the other side of the mega-store and got her on the pot, she said "all done" with out her doing a thing. Then, Madeline absolutely refused to pull up her pants (which she is fully capable of doing herself.) Since no one was in the restroom, I left the stall and told Madeline to come out and wash her hands when she pulled up her pants. Madeline just stood in the opened doorway of the stall, crying, with her pants to her knees. Next since the restroom was still empty, I told her that I was done with the potty and that I would be waiting outside for her. David and I stood guard outside the restroom door and Madeline still refused to pull up her pants. Instead she attempted to leave the restroom with her pants down to her knees. Basically the entire scenario boiled down to a power struggle in the ladies room. You have no idea how tempted I was to drag her bare-bottomed out of the restroom and through the store, but I thought better of that. Instead, I pulled up her pants for her and Madeline and I left the store and went to the car. (Good timing though because we were actually about ready to leave anyway. Madeline wasn't aware of that fact so she was led to believe we were leaving because of her behavior.) Upon returning home, Madeline went straight to time out. The evening brought a new and improved Madeline but, let me tell you, Mama-Dirtyfoot was wiped out!

This morning, David, Madeline and I took a trip to the post office before dropping Madeline to school. We needed to get the ball rolling to apply for a US Passport for Madeline (Her passport photo is too cute). It is looking like we will have an opportunity to travel with David to Germany on one of his business trips in March. The rest of the morning was filled with school for Madeline, a visit from her speech teacher, and another time-out for not listening to Mama-Dirtyfoot (I told her to not play on the stairs. I turned my back and two seconds later guess who was on the stairs). Let's just say, I love Madeline dearly but when she goes on her "testing sprees", bed time does not come soon enough. Let's hope we can get this (somewhat) in check before Aunt Carolyn and Uncle "GoGo" Dan fly in for their weekend visit this Friday!