Mr Know It All

They torn down the old gas station at the end of our street last week. The DQ owners had bought the land and the gas station, and are putting a brand new DQ there in the coming months. I haven't decided if this is a good thing. Our current DQ (which is right next door to where the new one will be) is an old building, no drive thru, you have to go in and order, etc. The hassle is what keeps me from living there.

The new building will be bigger, and have a drive thru. A drive thru. I can feel my hips growing bigger from all the Moolattes and Blizzards that I see in the near future.

There was a story in the paper about the new DQ. I drove by the old DQ and the gas station, to show my boys what they were doing. Cody, Mr Know It All himself, told me that he already knew about it. I asked him how- he said that he 'read it in the paper.' You have to understand that Cody struggles with reading. So I, being the wonderful mommy that I am, praised him. I told him that he'll have to read me the story out of the paper when we get home.

He immediately did what he does when he doesn't want me to know that he doesn't know the answer or can't do something: he said 'Why don't you read it to me?' This was the first sign of Know It All Syndrome.

Fast forward to Friday. It's Fun Night, and Cody and I had a deal- he could only go if he got a B on his spelling test. His friend, M, comes to the door and asks if he's going to Fun Night (which he's not, because the teacher didn't hand out the tests and while I can always make up for his B, if he got an F, there's nothing that I can do that is the same as missing out on Fun Night at school). While M is there, he asks about Cody's birthday party. I tell them that M is invited, but it's a surprise as to where we're going for his party. Cody grins and says 'I know where we're going.' I ask him where, and he says 'I know, but do you know?'

Doesn't matter what it is you are trying to tell him (or not trying to tell him), he knows all about it already. It's frustrating, really. I've just started to shrug my shoulders and tell him 'whatever', because to say anything else just opens the conversation up for an argument. I can just see it now:

A grown, 28 year old woman, standing with her hands on hips, in front of her six year old son, who is looking up at her in defiance. The argument goes something like this: 'Do.' 'Do not.' 'Do.' 'Do NOT.' Until someone says 'you're a poopoo head doodie face'.

Snow In My Shoe, Broken Shovels, And How Much I Love Snow

I love snow. Really, I do. I love it more now that I don't work, but still- I love snow.

I woke up yesterday morning to see that they had canceled school (woohoo!), and we spent the day inside, enjoying each other's company (which we probably would have enjoyed a lot more, had the boys not been sick all weekend and stuck inside). We watched the snow blow, and Cody and I laughed when we realized that we couldn't open our front door.

This morning- no more snow, but all the snow from yesterday's blizzard was still there. No school again, but at least we'll be able to get outside today (yay- no more cabin fever!).

I sent Mike to the store (hey- if you drink the last can of pop, you better replace it), and he had to dig his car out. I stood there and watched (I consider it my wifely duty to 'supervise' (read: tease the heck out of him)). I threw a snowball at him, and before he could throw one back at me, I ran.

I ran directly into a drift that came up almost to my knees (no joke). I had snow in my boot (not a comfortable feeling). Mike missed, so I suppose the snow in my boot is worth it, but still- there's snow in my shoe.

Shortly after that, the shovel broke. There was just too much snow for our shovel, and it died in protest. Mike is going to buy another one while he's out.

I took Rosie out this morning, and lost her in a snow drift. Normally, she loves snow. If it's warm enough (she doesn't like cold), she'll play in the snow. I figured that she'd be out there, playing her little heart out today. But, nope. She tried to play, but once it was over her head, she stuck to where the wind had blown the snow almost all the way to the grass.