The Story That Ruined My Day

This is my Piano.

I bought it last summer.  This was the scenario:
It was time for Derek's phone upgrade.  He really wanted an iPhone because it was like a computer in his hand.  And when you are a medical school student you NEED a computer in your hand.  So. . .he got an iPhone.  Of course the iPhone was not among the FREE upgrade phone options so we paid $200 for this cute little computer that could call people.  In the back of my head I knew that it was totally justified.  Because MedScape was a necessary tool for Dr.D to have while being "pimped" by the doctors he was working with.  Don't know the answer to why someone is in renal failure after ingesting too much calcium?  Let's just pull out my little computer and see what MedScape has to say about that.  See?  Totally justified.  AnYwAy. . .
$200.  Ok.  SO. . .it's justified. . .bla bla bla. . .but. . .what do I get to spend $200 on?  I know. . .such an awful rule to live by.  But!  He got an iPhone!  So I posed the question. . .what do I get for $200?
His reply?  It's a good one.  Ready? 
Bunk beds?!
Thanks honey. 
Uh. . .NO.
So I thought about what I could possibly want besides clothes. . .or. . .clothes.
A piano.
I've always wanted a piano.  I've always wanted to learn to play the piano.  I can read music, the top hand at least, and I can figure out the bottom, but I have to figure out the bottom hand every time I sit down to play.  I could teach myself.  I'm totally buying a piano.  And so I did.

That is the scenario.  Now you know.
However, I have learned some things about myself.  I am a HOBBY BINGE-ER!  I obsess over things that interest me.  I get crazy into something and love love it. . .and then I'm done.  And so I got out my piano books.  I have two.  I tinkered around for a bit.  Played the go to's like Heart and Soul, and Chewing Chewing Chewing Gum, and Nobody Likes Me, Everybody Hates Me, So I'm Gonna Eat Worms, that I memorized as a kid.  I relearned the bottom hand each and every time I played from a book.  And then I was done.  I have had that cute little piano for almost a year.  The most use it has given me is a mail table, a picture holder, and a constant "don't play with your toys on the piano."  I have not learned to play the piano.  I have not even attempted to learn to play the piano.  Ok maybe 5 times.  For maybe 30 minutes.  You get the picture.

And now we are moving. 
Oh.  I forgot to mention I bought the piano while Derek was in Michigan for the summer because he didn't want to have to move it. 
And so I look at the piano every day and think. . .I am never going to learn to play you. . .I want to. . .but not bad enough. . .I don't have the motivation. . .or any sort of burning desire. . .it's just not gonna happen.

So I decided to sell it.  I put an add on KSL and on Craigslist.  Here is the story that ruined my day.

A lady called to see if she could come check it out.  First she stood me up.  Ok whatever.  Then she called back and said she would come WITH a PIANO. TUNER.  Um. . .ok.  So they get here and this man immediately gets down on his hands and knees and starts checking out every stinking inch of the thing.  Ok.  Fine.  It's not like it's a baby grand.  But it's not like I'm trying to portray it as such.  Anyway. 
He gets up and says, "It's been painted."
Um. . .ya!  Unless you are blind, you can see that in the pictures.
The lady asks if it really matters.  He explains that as long as the sound board hasn't been touched it is fine.  The sound board has not been painted.

"The legs are loose."
Yep, yur right, but it's still standing just fine.  I don't plan on dancing on the piano so I think we're good.

"There's been some work done to it."
Oh.  Really?  I had no idea.  I just bought a piano with all the keys functioning.  But cool.
After I removed the pictures from the top he goes to lift the lid, which is missing some pins, but before I can tell him that, it goes crashing to the floor.  Awesome selling point right there let me tell ya.  Whatever?  The lid stays shut and you make it pretty.
"The hammers are used parts.  They aren't tilted correctly."

Whatever that means. . .it plays doesn't it?  And it's in tune!
I listed it at $300 so if anybody asked to come down I could still get what I paid for and seem totally reasonable :)

"$300?  No way!"
Um.  K.  Thanks for that.  "What is it worth in your DEMEANING, ARROGANT uh, professional opinion?"

"Gosh I wouldn't even offer more than $100."
Ha!  Um. . .you can leave now.
Seriously?  Who comes to a Craigslist add with a piano tuner?  Get outta town!

My perfectly beautiful husband made me feel better.  He's good at that.  And the fact that he came home with chocolate and soda made it even better.

Derek?  What is his take on the whole story?
"At least we wouldn't be getting rid of bunk beds."
:)
  

Bad Genes

Peyson loves to watch tv.  Often we find him standing right in front of it.  Can he hear it?  Can he see it?
At his 4 year well child check up they did a quick eye exam and his results were not so good.  So we set up an appointment with an Ophthalmologist.  We also got a hearing test with an ENT.  Ears are fine.  Eyes. . .not so much.

Sorry little guy.  You have bad genes.  Daddy got glasses in 2nd grade.  Mommy got glasses in 3rd grade.  I guess that equals glasses at 4 for you.

After we picked out a pair that we all liked, Peyson kept asking when his glasses would be done.  It's hard for a 4 year old to understand 7-10 days.  But they finally came.  He put them on and thought they were cool.  Then two hours later. . .he was done.  Ready to put them back in the case for good.  It's so sad to see our cute little carefree boy needing glasses.  Glasses are such a pain.  Especially on little kids I am sure we will find out. 

We Built A Fort

Last week I was a fun mom for about 2 seconds. I usually spend a lot of time cleaning because a dirty house gives me anxiety. And when I am anxious I am a freak of a mom. So anyway...we built a fort. Kids love forts. Peyson loves to read. So we leave a small window for light to come in, or sometimes we use a flashlight, and we read. This time we made a window. We got pillows and books and snacks and drinks and got comfy.

We made it through one story before Ainslee was done. But I feel like I am always ALWAYS saying:
No Peyson, Ainslee needs this or that. You have to wait.
SO...I kept reading. Ainslee decided it would be fun to eat goldfish and then blow chunks everywhere. Especially on me. And then she started crawling all over me. OUCH! And then she was in Peyson's way. And then she was "reading" and I couldn't hear myself talking. Peyson couldn't see. Peyson couldn't hear.

The fort was now the enemy!
Sigh...
Good intentions right?

Match Day

Derek thought it only made sense to do the DO match because after all, he went to a DO school. He did an outrageous amount of "Internet research" and thought he had his #1 program figured out. He did 2 1/2 months of out rotations and decided his "#1" was a HECK NO! He submitted interview applications, then weeks later decided last minute to submit some with MD programs. He had lots of interviews and found that in fact the MD programs were where he wanted to be. Good thing for last minute decisions that seem ridiculous:) After lots of praying and freaking out, we decided that even though he had at least 3 DO programs tell him he would be ranked, we should skip the DO match and go for the MD match, where we ONLY had 3 programs to rank. Aaaahhhh! Once the decision was made we had peace of mind. Well. . .I had peace of mind. . .Derek changed his rank list pretty much every day.
Then finally, our match list went like this:
Saginaw, Michigan
Amarillo, Texas
Kansas City, Missouri
I was thrilled to find out Saginaw had an association called "Med Mates" that was similar to the SAA in Kirksville. I was in touch with the president and she gave me a ton of useful information like where to live, what schools to attend, things to do, what life would be like as a resident's wife, everything. We searched for housing, decided NOT to buy, memorized all the rental listings, planned to drive there around graduation to find a place to live, I even bought snow clothes for the kids for next year's Michigan winter:)
We found out on a Monday that we matched!!!! We had to wait till Friday to find out WHERE. During the week Derek kept saying, "I bet we go to Texas. . .but I think I am just preparing myself for NOT getting #1." Peyson had a doctors appointment on Friday morning. I was sitting in the waiting room, chasing Ainslee, reading to Peyson, when the text came. This is how it went:
D-Texas
Me-For real?
D-Yep, for real.
Me-You aren't kidding me?
D-No. No kidding here.
Me-So if I shout it to the world I won't be lying?
D-NO (followed by an email of the results)
Me-OK. . .yeah. . .we matched. . .we are moving to Texas:)
I kept waiting for the real text to come. . .remember. . .he kept saying he was thinking Texas. . .but I was sold on Saginaw?
And so. . .I think I was in shock. . .like. . .all day. Not in a bad way. Just surprised and not prepared for life in Texas. We are super excited!!!! And now. . .I am dreading finding a place to live. . .packing up my house. . .making home of a place I have never been. . .again. Sigh. This is a good thing. This is a great thing. Sigh.
We really are excited.
BTW. . .the average high in Amarillo in December is 50*. 50*! Not sure I'll be needing those snow suits. . .much:)

Stop Growing

Ainslee turned 1! I'm pretty sure it was the fastest year of my life. And that is sad. Because I'm pretty sure I won't be having lots of babies, so the ones I have need to stay babies longer!
This girl is precious. We all love her
[---------------------------this much--------------------------]
and a bazillion times more!
Ainslee Marie is a monkey face! She climbs on everything. I usually have to just look away because I totally freak out when I watch her. I could spend my life hovering and removing her from her next biggest adventure, but I would be able to do nothing else! And so. . .if she must learn NOT to stand on the arm of the couch and try to climb up the tread mill. . .I don't want to watch her go kaboom. She likes to climb onto Peyson's bed, the tub, the couch and chairs, the kitchen chairs that are bar height, her high chair-have you ever seen a baby do pull-ups? The stairs of course, the gait to keep her off the stairs. EvErYtHiNg!

This girl love loves to be outside. I have started letting her walk to the house from the car and she freaks out when I actually make her go in. She loves the dirt and rocks and grass. And she likes to eat them, too. She loves to go on walks and loves for us to run with her even more. The other day we were outside waiting for daddy to come home and it was warm outside. She spent at least twenty minutes walking around the house. Just walking. And walking some more.

Ainslee can eat. And eat and eat and eat. She eats more then Peyson most meals. She always has a water bottle in her hand, and it's usually empty. There are very few things she will not eat. Olives. Pickles. Eggs. Oh! And birthday cake! Uh. . .ya. . .everything else is devoured.

Little Sister loves her brother. She loves to play with his cars and guys and dinosaurs. She has the sound effects down, too. He is not a fan of her playing WITH him, because she mostly climbs on his toys or takes them from him. But even when he freaks out on her. . .she still absolutely adores her Peyson.






Ainslee Baby loves her daddy. A lot. The second he walks through the door after work she drops what she is doing, screams (that scream can shatter glass!) and (kinda) runs right to him. She snuggles daddy at bed time. And she has him wrapped around her little finger. It is cute. Way cute.

Lady Bug loves bath time! Every time she hears the water run she runs (kinda) right to the tub. She gets very jealous when I am scrubbing the tub and she can't be in it. It's funny.

Sister Girl is so beautiful. She is happy. She is easy. She loves. And we love her.

In The Produce

So we were shopping at Walmart today. We started on the right side with hair spray, makeup, candy, then worked our way to the milk and eggs, then toward the front. We ended with produce. I put a cucumber in a bag and turned to put it in the cart when Derek looked behind me and almost yelled-
Peyson. . .what are you doing? Pull your pants up!
I turned around to see him squatting near the produce shelf, pants at his knees. Pretty funny. . .amazingly, even I laughed. . .for a while. We walked a little further and he asked me why his pants were wet. I told him because he sat on the vegetable sprinkler with a bare bum.
We got through the check out.
Got in the car.
Stoped at the "mug store."
We got home and put the groceries away and Peyson said-I smell poopy.
I said-how come? Did you poop your pants? Not really expecting an answer.
He said to me-ya---so matter-of factly.
WHAT? For real? Seriously? Yep. I guess he's feeling sick. . .if you know what I mean. Derek cleaned him up and we started thinking. . .when did this happen?
What if he---?
At the store---?
With his pants down---?
Oh no! I bent down, trying hard not to laugh out loud, Derek holding his laughs in as well-
Peyson. . .when did you poop in your pants?
At the Walmart.
Um. . .before or after you pulled your pants up?
After. . .
FEW!
Where did you poop?
In my underwear and pants.
Um. . .NOT in the cucumbers?
No.
OH FEW! OK GOOD.

Isn't being a parent SO FUN?