Rough couple of weeks

I love my life! I have everything I could ever need or want.  I get to wake up every morning to the sounds of my daughter singing.  I get to stay at home all day and play with her.  I get to help raise money for some wonderful charities. I get to hang out with some wonderful ladies. I have a wonderful husband who makes it all possible, and provides me with the support I need.  But, sometimes, none of that matters and I just need to cry.

Jade walking Noise

Noise, our wonderful dog, was put down last week.  She gave my husband 17 long and wonderful years, and blessed me with her love for the past 5 years. She was my first pet, and I had never known that kind of love.  When I was working, at the end of the day, she would help me relax by sitting in my lap and letting me pet her.  When I was on bed-rest, she sat with me and kept me company.  After Jade was born, she shared her spot on my lap with Jade, making her feel welcome. She taught Jade so much. She taught her how to be gentle with others.  Now, because of Noise, Jade is the most gentle 2-year-old I know.  She willingly shares with others. She is a wonderful little girl because of the influence of our sweet Noise.

Then, last week, my period was 4 days late. But, we had negative pregnancy test after negative pregnancy test.  I was an emotional wreck. I desperately wanted to be pregnant.  But, finally, I got my period.  And, I didn’t have Noise to cuddle with to make me feel better.

And, after over a week with no accidents in potty training, Jade messed herself 4 times in one morning, while we were out and about. One time, she was with Jeremy, playing, and I was out saying hello to my friends.  He hands her to me and says “Fix your daughter.”  Not realizing she was wet, I grabbed her, and got urine all over myself.  So, I went and cleaned her up and got her clothes changed, but for the rest of the party,  I had to sit in a wet shirt for the rest of the morning.

As you can see, none of these things are big deals. There are so many people out there that are not happy and that have a lot of terrible things going on. I am not one of those people. I am happy.  I have everything.  But, I had a rough week.  Luckily, knowing that I have a wonderful daughter, a super husband, and great friends, I can get through this rough week and come out on the other side an even better and happier person.

Noise, we miss you and will always love you.

In 3 years…

I married this man.

I tolerated this man.

Most importantly, he gave  me this.

Happy 3rd Anniversary, muffin! I love you!

Chili Cookoff

We did the Orlando Chili cookoff this past weekend, and boy was it a big fail!!!

I cooked 10 gallons of my borracho chili, starting on Tuesday when I started cooking the beans.   It took all my free time for the entire week, but I got it all made.  Saturday morning, we got out there an hour or so later than expected and got our booth set up and ready to go.  We were Beauty and the Beans with The Drunken Turkey Chili.

The gates opened at noon, and before 2 p.m., we were out of chili.  Voting finished at 4 p.m. and the awards ceremony was at 5 p.m., so we had to sit around with nothing to offer for 3 hours.  To make matters worse, we had Jade with us.  Luckily, our good friend Amy came out with 2 of her 3 kids and took Jade away for an hour to play in the kids zone.  But, from 9 a.m. until noon, we had to set up our booth, heat up the chili, and prepare for the masses of people with a 2-year-old running around.  Then, at 1:30 p.m., when it was supposed to be nap time, she had to wait until our chili ran out so that I could put her into the stroller and walk her around to get her to nap.  After 15 minutes of walking, she finally fell asleep, only to wake up 40 minutes later.

In total, we got 7 votes for our chili, although tons of people said it was the best they tasted.  Many walked away eating only to turn around to ask what that special spice was that they were tasting, because they had never tasted anything like that before.  We had bunches of people start to walk by, here it was turkey, and grab a sample, all excited.  But, we only got 7 votes.

So, come 5 p.m., we knew we weren’t going to win the $500, but thought we might have a good chance for a trophy, since our chili was the most flavorful there.  But, after waiting through every single award, they got to the open category, and we were not a winner.

So, I’m pretty confident we won’t be doing that again.  1000 lucky people got to taste my chili.  But, if we’re lucky, next year we’ll have a 3 or 4 month old, and I will not be in the mood to sit out in the dust bowl chasing around a 3-year-old while trying to serve my chili to a bunch of people who won’t vote for me anyway.

Am I bitter?  A little.  I think I’m more just worn out from the experience.  I need a few days to put it behind me and then I might feel better about it.  Until then, I’m going to sound like the sore loser.  And, that’s OK with me.