One down, one to go...

Well, I did it, I survived the Chief's visit. She left an hour ago. Honestly, it wasn't that bad. I just spent most of the time watching Intrepid being bounced around like a rag doll in her lap (she doesn't just hold him, she likes to keep him on the move). Comic was sarcastic as always, so that was good for a few laughs. And whenever Chiefy started on one of her 'Well why would you do that?' rants, I tried this nifty little jedi mind trick where I stepped briefly out of the room, waved my hand in front of my face and said in as convincing a voice as I could muster 'It doesn't matter what she thinks'. Yeah. I learned that one from Obi Wan Kenobi (Not the old one. The young, hot, Ewan McGregor one).

After Intrepid ate so much that he practically fell asleep in his high chair, and I laid him down in his room for a nap, I was set the task of fixing an ancient excersaucer that Chiefy brought for him. I suppose I shouldn't put it down. I mean, we don't have one for him yet, so it's not like we can be too picky, but this is my blog, and my rules, so I'm going to whine. The seat was totally screwed up (last time we tried to put him in it at her house, his crotch was about 2 inches off the bottom), so I tried my darndest to fix it. About 8 hours and two broken thumbs later, I succeeded. When Intrepid woke up, I promptly stuck him in it (I wasn't going to do all that hard work for nothing) and he played with the few toys that remain working on it, and some crusty old dirt that I suppose will never come off because Chiefy said she washed it twice. I have to do something about that rusty screw though. I'm not a snob. Really, I'm not. I like second hand things, I shop at Value Village. But there's a difference between used, and broken dirty piece of crap. Whatever, he liked it, so at least now I know he'll really like the one I've been eyeing for months at Toys R Us.

We also need to get Intrepid a new car seat. Like, didn't we just get one right before he was born? Who knew these kids were so expensive? The one I have picked out proclaims itself to be 'the only car seat you'll ever need' (where was this one when I was getting the first one?). Anyway, this one should do him until he legally doesn't need a car seat anymore, which should be around the age of 16.

Back to the visit. We all ate lunch, and then sat around watching Intrepid play on the floor. I wasn't sure how long she was planning on staying, and I was running out of patience and things to say, so I figured it was time to pull out the big guns. We went for a walk. Not just any walk. I packed us all in the car, drove to a park near the water, bundled up Intrepid in a hoody, and dragged them all along for a good long walk (with lots of hills) against the wind. I kept up the pace too. I have to give her props though, she did keep up. By the time we got back to our place, everyone was slightly out of breath (we still hadn't caught it, even after driving home) and red in the face, and The Chief promptly announced her departure. It must have done the trick!

So all in all, a good visit. Everyone played nice this time. I didn't even want to smack Chiefy when she started telling Intrepid how he should come and see her more often, really loudly so that we would know she was really telling us. Comic saved the day by pointing out that Intrepid couldn't talk or drive for that matter, so why didn't she just tell this to us? She never will though.

So, one down and one more to go. I seem to be filling up my calendar for our upcoming visit. I've been spending quite a lot of time on Facebook recently, and of course, everyone wants to see us when we visit my hometown next (which happens to be this weekend). I feel quite popular (even though I know they only want to play with my cute baby and don't really care about seeing me). It will be good to catch up with a couple of old friends while showing off Intrepid's cuteness. Hopefully, this will come in handy when Stepthingy gets a little too unbearable, and I can just take off, tires screeching, to meet a friend, which is much different than when I lived there (since I was never allowed to use the car, and therefore couldn't go anywhere since we lived on a farm way outside town). I suppose there was always my bike, but you just don't get that same satisfaction: She slammed the door in Stepthingy's face, hopped on her bicycle and peddled off up the driveway, vanishing slowly from sight. No, it just doesn't work.

I also have an ace up my sleeve. Comic will be there. My husband has an annoying habit of speaking his mind, to hell with everyone else, but this can come in very handy at times such as these. If Stepthingy pipes up and says anything even remotely demeaning to me, Comic will step right in and tell her where to go. And who said chivalry is dead?