This morning was fairly typical. Peanut didn't want to wake up or eat breakfast. He yelled "No snuggle me" when I tried to hold him upright and speed the waking process. He didn't want English muffins with cream cheese - his current favorite (he will swipe mine if I'm not careful). Even the promise of a donut failed. I dressed him while he was still half asleep. It involved much fussing and squirming and complaints about my outfit choice. We finally got dressed, washed, and brushed with the bribe of a donut in the car. Then he wanted the English muffin, which I had already tossed. Crying ensued. We got settled down and into the car with a donut and a baggie of froot loops.

Once we pulled out of the garage, more complaints followed.

"I don't want sun up. I want it dark."

"Sorry, sweetie. I can't control the sun."

"I mad."

"Are you mad at Mommy?"

"Yeah."

"Are you mad at Daddy?"

"Yeah."

"Are you mad at the sun?"

"Yeah."

"Are you mad at Luna?"

"Yeah."

"Are you mad at Lily?"

"No. She good doggie."

A short while later...

"I not mad anymore. I happy."

We had a great drive and he bounced into daycare. He carried his donut and loops to his favorite teacher's room, grabbed a chair and sat down to eat. I had to ask for a hug and kiss.

I'm still not much in the mood for blogging. Several things are going on, but I've been feeling introspective and a bit antisocial.

Mom was transferred to the state mental hospital yesterday. I spoke briefly with the psychiatrist who needed my approval (as GA) on Mom's meds and had a couple of questions. Once Mom is assigned a social worker, they will be in contact with me and I can find out about visitation, if Peanut is allowed, etc. Mom's freaking out escalated as her transfer time approached. She was sure she was going to die before the tranfer date or would die during the car ride there. It's the same every time. She talks about how she "needs" to be placed somewhere or "needs" a specific treatment and when she gets it, she flips out. She claimed she wasn't eating or sleeping, then I discovered she has been eating crackers and has been doing OK with her meals. Her perception of reality is certainly altered.



Hubby and I have been thinking a lot about his property in NC. As in, could we make a living if we sold our house, put some sort of little pre-fab home on the land, and found jobs up there. If he continued in law enforcement, he'd lost $20k a year. He'd probably make a bit more teaching. I have no idea what I would do. As far as I know there is only one research facility nearby, and when I last lived in the area, there was talk of shutting it down. The pay would also be around @20k less than I make. I could maybe go back to waiting tables for the short term or find some sort of office job. Money aside, we'd be close to his family, in the middle of a stunningly beautiful area, and away from a lot of the crap that goes on here. Not that we're naive. Meth is a big problem there, as it is here (Hubby's step-nephew, ex brother-in-law, and very likely his step-brother sadly are examples.) People know you and your family and look out for. one another. Peanut would have grandparents and cousins a few minutes away.

We've decided to make moving back to NC part of our 1-5 year plan. We'll be visiting for Thanksgiving and are going to ask around about potential jobs and get an estimate of what it would cost to put up a home complete with water, septic, a driveway and utilities. Hubby really wants this, and I do, too. Up until a few years ago, we swore we'd never be happy living there. It's funny how things change when you have a family. Priorities shift, as does your idea of a complete life. Sure, we'll miss the beaches (which we haven't been in 3 years other than camping), the good shopping, and the attractions. But we'll be two hours from Atlanta, Asheville, or Chattanooga. A stone's throw from national forests. Near family.

Halloween was so much fun. Peanut dressed as Superman, of course. He wore his costume to daycare yesterday and was excited to see another Superman and two Spidermen. He ran off to play with the other Superman with hardly a glance back at me.

He and Hubby did the neighborhood circuit last night. Superdog (yes, she had a costume, too) and I went part of the way, then returned home to hand out candy. He came home with blisters from so much walking. He was a great helper handing out candy and asking the other kids what they were dressed as. We had a very cute Buzz Lightyear and two adorable little princess/fairies stop by.

Shortly before bedtime, Hubby put on a show about the 100 scariest movie scenes. Peanut was enthralled, to my dismay. He threw a fit when Hubby changed the channel, so they watched some more. About an hour after Peanut fell asleep, he had a night terror. I’m convinced the show had something to do with it. Hubby thinks it was too much candy. It may be a combination of all the Halloween excitement, but I think the scary show was a factor. Sorry, but an almost 3-yo doesn’t need to see Gage from Pet Sematary hacking up Hermann Munster with a scalpel. Or Gina Davis give birth to a maggot.

Around 3 this morning, we woke up to fussing and a shout of “Scooby Doo!” Hubby and I snickered.

Around 5, he started belly laughing in his sleep.

While I was in the bathroom getting dressed, he woke up and started crying and calling for me.

“Mommy where are you? Mommy? I need you. Where’s the tiger? It’s gonna get me! I wanna sit on the couch.” I settled him down and after asking “What’s dat noise?” after every little creak or rustle of the bed, he went back to sleep for another 30 minutes.

He did pretty well with getting ready for daycare, especially for such a tired little guy. (He fell back asleep in the car.) Once at daycare we spotted some cool bug, dinosaur, and sea animal toys and a box of seashells. I showed him how to hold a shell up to his ear to hear the “ocean”. He and another boy were so busy listening with the shells that he didn’t get upset when I left!