I need to vent

Today we returned from Houston to Phoenix. And I was very excited to do this because Mr. Caleb has been getting just a little bit spoiled (ie now if his feet touch the floor and he doesn't want them to instead of minor whining its a category 4 MELT DOWN) and I want to be able to hand him to his Daddy and have him be HIS PROBLEM. (IMO - 2 parents is an evolutionary survival tactic designed to cut down on the number of animals that eat their young).

Well Mr. Caleb felt the need to wake up at 6:30 am for the third day in a row. So while I was finishing my packing and Grandma was getting ready for work Mr. Caleb screamed his little head off b/c he wasn't being held and given that he wouldn't eat or drink I decided his throat was hurting him again so I went to dose him with tylenol and horror of horrors discovered I was now OUT of tylenol. You'd think a half bottle would be good for a 2 week trip but I wasn't counting on him catching his cousin's cold. So now we're running late because I have to run into Walgreens to get tylenol so the kiddo will stop screaming and eat. And thanks to the big recall theres no dye free stuff available, just the store brand (we like the dye free b/c the regular stuff stains everything red).

So I finally get to the airport and apparently Hobby, unlike Bush or Sky Harbor doesn't have a bunch of little dudes happy to shlep your luggage for a tip. So I wound up tying my suit cases together (b/c the little clip things are long dead) and pushing my stroller with one hand and pulling the suit cases with the other. Getting them untied took some doing and the line was a MILE long.

We finally get through the mile long line and of course one bag is over the 50 lb weight limit so I did a quick switch with my toiletry bag (that apparently weighs 6 pounds) and voila we're good to go. I get in the TSA line...

Dumb Shmuck #1: Starts to tell me I can't have my bottle of water that I use to make formula. (Usually they see the kid and don't argue with me). I explain that it is "Nursery Water" so yes in fact I can have it thank you.

Dumb Shmuck #2 & 3 (it appeared to be a supervisor/trainee situation): Of course insist on dismantling my entire diaper bag, testing the water and formula for explosives which is standard but THEN they insisted on OPENING my FACTORY SEALED jars of baby food to test them too. I have flown with baby food a half dozen times now and they have NEVER made me open the baby food. I'm like are you fricking kidding me??? But whatever they do their thing and we go.

Miraculously there were MULTIPLE handicap stalls in the bathroom and they were even open and available so I was able to get right in there stroller and all for my preflight preparations. I managed to finish feeding the kiddo (the tylenol was now working so he was a happy child) his bottle and breakfast just in time for boarding.

The flight went miraculously well. Caleb was shockingly good and I was very grateful for all the super nice crew and other passengers who helped me out from time to time. We get to Phoenix, get our bags, pay a very nice man to help us get them to the curb where Adam was picking us up on his lunch break. I get home and discover.... one of the jars of baby food has exploded all over the inside of my diaper bag. This led to profanity and my sweet husband did the initial clean out and I got it finished after he went back to work.

Also my husband did a MILLION times better home alone on this trip than he did last time. Last time he had a bipolar moment and got super depressed and stopped going to work, got sick (which happens when you don't eat or drink) etc. This time he only missed on day of work (travel fatigue plus Emily's cold) and otherwise did fairly well. He did get the litter box clean and he even ran the dish washer a couple times.

BUT the one thing that I had begged him was that I wouldn't need to come home and bust out a shovel. Because I had done lots of hard work before I left to try to prep the house because Caleb's birthday party is this Saturday and I've only got 2 days to get ready now so I tried to do lots before I left.

What I found when I got home is the picture that goes to the dictionary definition of needing to bust out the shovel. I cried. I fed the baby lunch and put him down for a nap. And took one myself going "maybe I'm just too tired and its not really so bad and it will look better when I wake up".

Nope. It was worse. I cried again. Caleb got up. He was initially delighted to be at home and kept getting excited and laughing his butt off at various things. And then he decided to discover the CRABBY and be horrible. So we attempted to dose him with tylenol again. This time with the red goo. He of course took this opportunity to spit it at me and bat it away getting red goo all over me, him, and the sofa. This lead to more tears and profanity.

The husband is in there cleaning the kitchen now b/c his life depends on it....

Really long, really crappy day.