The story of Pam & Rob

OK, so Rob is going to hate that I'm doing this, but sometimes I just get all sentimental. I was going through pictures on the computer today, and found this one. So of course my mind raced back 15 years ago (yes, that long) to when I first met Rob and decided to share the story of us.



I was working for a radio station doing a promotion, and Rob was singing with Jam Syndicate (still my favorite local band). He was up on stage, I walked into the club, and my whole world stopped. I saw nothing but him, and he took my breath away. It was a few months later after the guy I was dating called it quits when I was talking to friends about this guy that I was completely infatuated with, yet knew nothing about. As it turned out, Rob was in my circle of friends, but we hadn't yet met. I told my boss at the radio station that I wanted to work every show we had that Rob's band was playing. So, to put it bluntly, I harmlessly stalked him. Still too afraid to talk to him, I just "happened" to be wherever he was. Finally, some friends introduced us, hoping that would start things rolling. So one evening, we were all hanging out at the Rock Alley house (I miss that house!), when I got the courage to talk to Rob and ask him out. I planned to wait for him to leave, I would leave too, and be able to talk to him alone. Perfect, right? Well, as the hours ticked away, it was after 3:00 when I just couldn't stay any longer without falling asleep in my chair. I had to leave. I said my goodbyes, and I hear Rob also say that he was going to go. So I get a smile on my face, and I go outside and wait by my car for him to come out. At least 20 minutes go by and he still hasn't come out yet. Now I'm slightly panicking, trying to find some reason why I'm still standing outside and not on my way home. I come up with the brilliant plan to throw my keys into the bushes, go running inside to ask for help to find my keys, and have Rob be the hero that found them. (well... it made a lot more sense and seemed more plausible when I was 19 years old at 3:00 in the morning) I go inside to ask for a flashlight to find my keys and out comes Rob to "save the day". We get to my car, and the genius that I was only threw the keys about a foot away from my car door.
Needless to say, Rob didn't comment on any of that, I asked him out, and the rest is somewhat history! The real funny part was that I now had to bring the flashlight back into the house with all of my friends laughing at me for the worlds lamest attempt at trying to get someone alone to talk to them.

Nightmare at the movies

So we went to a local town hall last night where they show movies for a couple of bucks. The Tale of Despereaux was playing, and Melody was really excited to go. It was a 7:00 movie, so a little late for a restless toddler, but it's a really relaxed atmosphere, so off we go. We get there, buy our popcorn and soda, find a seat in the back, and Melly's really excited. She's calling, "Despereaux... where are you?" She was obsessed with kicking the seat in front of her (it was empty, but still not appropriate), and she was getting awfully angry and irritable when we were trying to teach her proper movie etiquette. So finally, after what seemed like hours, the movie starts, and she becomes motionless in the seat. Phew! She's really into the movie, loving it.... for about 20 minutes. Then she remembered the seat that looked like it needed kicking. The soda that she kept trying to steal sips from. Her shoes needing to come off. Throwing her stuffed dinosaur. Singing very loudly. Trying to touch the people in front of us. We were exhausted! We had to pull the ultimate threat... "Either you sit and watch the movie, or we have to leave." That straightened her out for about another 5 minutes, then right back to being "that" kid in the theatre. So, we tell her we have to go. That's when the siren went off. For those that have heard Melody scream, you know how deafening it can be. For those that haven't heard her... picture a horror movie scream, at full volume, at an excruciatingly high note, for an unheard of amount of time. This kid definitely has her Daddy's singing voice, and she can do a scream like I've never heard. Well, now the entire movie theatre has heard. So we take her out in the lobby, and she's just freaking out. We give her the option to try and go back in, but she starts screaming again. We say that we have to go home, and she starts screaming about that. I feel bad, because I'm trying to work with the kid, and she's being so very 2. So after only a few moments of this indecision, Mommy's the bad guy, and I make an executive decision, and say, "WE'RE LEAVING". Well, we drag her out into the parking lot, kicking and screaming. We have to wrestle her into the car and into her seat. And she screamed, and screamed, and then screamed some more the entire 4.5 miles home. Man was that a long drive!
We get home, and I have to fireman carry her into the house while she's screaming. Then she starts freaking out in the house, throwing stuff, etc. I put her in her room and let her cool off in there. It actually took a long time for her to calm down. Talk about one stubborn and determined kid!
Finally my sweet little girl returned, and apologized for what she did. She was able to talk to us about why she got so mad, and we told her ways she could have done things different. I'm sure it went in one ear and out the other, but hopefully at least a little bit will stick in that brain of hers for the next time!

Naked time

Apparently Melody caught the naked bug. The other kids in our play group have already been enjoying the naked time and their parents not enjoying the endless lectures on appropriateness of being naked. I'm not sure if it's a developmental stage, or if Melly was listening as the Mom's were chatting about it, but she is now in the club!
I found her standing on our bed last night before bedtime, with her underpants around her ankles, her shirt stuck around her waist (she was trying to take it off her the wrong way), and she was yelling, "I want to be naked!" So I helped her out of her clothes, giggled some, and told her when it was appropriate to be naked. She then looks at me and says, with a really devious smile, "I want to be naked FOREVER!" Rob looked at her and quite calmly said, "I'm not so sure that's a good idea."

Chores vs. dirty house

I had a few days of running around everywhere, and I had to spend one morning catching up with the housework. So as I'm vacuuming, Melody keeps coming up to me and asking so sweetly, "Mommy, please come and play with me!" It broke my heart, but after I finished vacuuming I would have been done enough to play. So I explain all that to her. Melly, however, keeps asking to play. I take a minute to explain chores to her. "Melody, sometimes you have to do things that you don't want to do to keep things clean. They're called chores." I then try some analogies about her putting her dirty clothes in the hamper, and picking up her toys (the only chores she has at the moment). She thinks about all that I said long and hard, she looks up at me, then she says, "Mommy, I think I like the house dirty. Can you come and play with me?"

You let everyone know when you're done!

I had to go to the dentist yesterday, so Auntie Carol came up to watch Melody for me. They went to a store to hang out for a bit. Now, I don't usually put potty things on here, but this one is cute. She's been having trouble using the potty for #2 (Melly, not Auntie Carol), so after smelling some bad air, Carol asked Melody if she needed to be changed. Melly answered, "No, I'm still pushing out a poopie". OK... fair enough. So a little bit later, Carol asked again. She got the same response. So Carol asked, "Do you know about how much longer you'll be?" Melody simply answered, "Hmmm.... about 3 hours."

Hissy Kiss

This is what Melody calls a Hershey Kiss, which would be her new favorite treat. We just like hearing her ask for it!

Going on 3, going on 13

Here are some of Melody's favorite things to say these days. She sounds more like a teenager than a toddler. I'm not sure she knows what they mean, but she sure says them like she does!

1. No Mommy, go away!
2. That's not fair!
3. Oh my God!
4. I want to go home!
5. That looks stupid (thank Beauty & the Beast for this one)