A post in which I don't take it as easily as I probably should

I did wake up this morning feeling better. Since I went to bed so early, and had slept so much of the afternoon, I was up pretty early too. I decided just to go ahead and get ready to go to Chapin. I did take some time out for coffee on the porch. I was thinking about Amanda today. I really like her. I think she's good for Justin - she kind of drags him out of himself and helps keep him from being quite so fussy. She used to be a friend-in-law, but I really think of her as a friend now myself. I think a lot of her, and I'm thinking I should tell her somehow.

Coffee over, I threw some things in a bag, settled up the house, and headed for Chapin. I left early enough that I was there by about 10am, much to my mother's surprise. The last time I came down though, she was disappointed that I wasn't there earlier. So it was good that I was there early today.

Ava is entering the 'Terrible Twos' with a vengeance. Her new word is "no", which she uses as often as possible, and as a response to most any question. Getting her ready to go anywhere is quite an undertaking. But four bags and a sweaty 20 minutes getting the elaborate car-seat installed later, we were ready to go. By the time we got to town, it was time for lunch. We went to Ryan's, where at least everything was vinyl-coated. They are used to having children there. Of course, since we wanted her to eat, Ava refused to eat most anything. Lisa existed the first 17 years of her life with no visible nutrient intake other than Hershey's chocolate bars and the occasional Cheez-it cracker though, so this wasn't really a surprise. Of course, Mom barely got a bite in between begging Ava to eat and trying to control her more exuberant attempts to escape and impose general mayhem.

Mom wanted to go to Frankie's Fun Park today with Cole and Ava, which was fine. But she thought that there would be things there for Ava to do, and there simply weren't. The one ride that Ava could have played on was broken. But we were already there, so Mom told Cole and I just to go on and play putt-putt. Frankie has quite a racket going. $36 later, we had permission to play 54 holes of putt-putt - no volume discount, no package deal. $6 per person, per game, and if you don't like it, tough. Cole loves to play, and we are actually fairly evenly matched, but by the time we started the third course the combination of the blazing sun (it was 96 degrees out), the drive, and my recent convalescence was beginning to take its toll on yours truly.

Meanwhile Mom had been chasing Ava around for two hours. She is walking well now, and is no longer content to sit in the stroller - she wants to be out and about - NOW. Unlike my arthritic-hipped mother, she has apparently unlimited energy, and a marked predilection to be heading towards the nearest source of possibly lethal peril at every moment. Cole and I finished up and I managed to crawl inside to the blessed air conditioning and procure Icee's for Cole and myself. We found Mom and hemmed Ava into a recently cleared booth (we are in the height of birthday season - lots of little New Year's celebrations out there running around) and collapsed for a minute to drink our drinks before heading back home. We strapped a fussy nap-needing baby into the car seat and made haste. I have to say that was the best Icee I have ever had in my life.

We got home and got Ava down for a late nap amid much protestations. We all collapsed.

By the time she got up it was time to think about supper, and by the time we got her changed, packed, dressed, and ready to go, we were hungry. I voted for someplace local to avoid another 30 minute trek into Columbia (Lisa has a marked aversion to paved roads, and won't live on one if at all possible). We ended up going to a local Mexican place that had excellent food, not that Mom got to eat much of it. Ava was fully charged after her nap, and ready to literally climb the walls, or barring that, the back of the booth at least. She's a happy child, but a very noisy happy child. We spent much of the meal saying "no", "stop that", "be quiet", and begging her to eat something as opposed to throwing the rice like confetti and mastering the intricacies of the belt holding her (eventually) in the high chair. Sigh. I have lived to become that which I despised when I waited tables. I have become one of those people that come in with a screaming child that throws food all over the floor. The chilaquiles were delicious though, and they were really nice about it considering the disaster we left behind.

At home we let Ava run around for a little bit. Cole talked to Lisa on the phone when she called to check in, and then Mom started getting Ava for bed. By this time, I had a full tummy and was absolutely done in. Just watching Mom rock the baby was putting me to sleep. I was too tired to visit after she put the baby down. I had to go on to bed.