Mmmmm Sleeping Children

We arrived back at 8p from Columbia. Now they are in bed, sleeping.

The weekend went really well. Alex was, well, perfectly fabulous as always. We talked a little bit about how scary it was for me to have toothbrushes and other small items now left at his apartment for the kids. Amazingly, he always seems to understand my fears this way and knows how to soothe them.

I liked helping him set up his apartment. For the record, I'm a bitch. I like to think of myself as The Good Queen Bitch, but still! What do I mean by this statement? I have some OCD issues and control issues that just randomly crop up at a moment's notice. I would definitely say this has to be the main part of my personality that drove my ex nuts. He HATED to have anybody ever tell him what to do, period. I, on the other hand, wasn't even AWARE half the time that I was telling him to do something. But believe me, he noticed it every time. Typical sentence structures that would freak out the ex:

"It's your mom's birthday. You need to get her a card."

(ha! He would grumble about it and get me to buy it. God I suck. It's the 'you need' line that he loathed, though. Well, and he hated the part that it meant he had to do something he'd rather me do.)

"Hey, the garbage is overflowing. Can you take it to the dump today?"

(no really, to my ex that was a controlling statement even though I was asking. Apparently, I was supposed to just say something like 'can you tell me when you are going to take out the garbage?' and be satisfied with whatever answer there would be...even though that and starting up the fire in the fireplace were his only chores around the house.)

"I can't reach this lightbulb. I need help."

(Yeah, that was a controlling statement too...I think I need more therapy because I STILL can't see it. Sigh. But Alex and Bellybutton complained/complain like MAD to me that I never would/will ask for help when I needed it. Now you know why.)

Anyway, Alex loves all of me. Every last scrap. When I'm a bitch, or grumpy, or curt, he still grins at me and loves me. Isn't that rockin' fab? (A* darling...you know what I mean! haha!). So, there I am in HIS APARTMENT and oh god, I'm being sooo OCD about how things are placed or stored or put away that it's just sad. And Alex just grins at me and lets me. I'm moving around HIS SHIT (Note: I'd kill somebody who did that to me...what's my problem? Where's my 'treat others as I want to be treated' philosophy NOW?) to be in what I think is a more logical and organized fashion.

Meanwhile, Alex has my four year old son doing the same thing. POOR MAN!

For instance, Alex left a pen out on the table. Jared found the pen box with the other pens that looked like it...grabbed the pen off the table...and put it back in the box. He also saw a spindle of cds that had a couple of cd's laying near it. He picked up all the cds and stacked them back up, replaced the rubber ring, then put the lid back on and snapped it shut. THEN he looked at the placement of where Alex had stuck said CD case and....ummm....god I'm so embarrassed, but hell, he's my son...moved it to a new location on the table because he thought it 'looked better' over there.

Now, if Alex had told me to stop, I would have. It's HIS apartment. If Alex would have said, well, these suggestions are fine, but don't move this one thing, that'd have been fine too. However, what Alex did was let me reorganize the kitchen to my heart's content. Oh, and the bathroom too. Oh, and the laundry.

Hey, but I left the bedrooms alone! And the living room and dining room areas! Yay! I'm salvagable!

Yes I am. Shut up. SHUT UP! I AM TOO! :)

The kids loved the zoo. Jared picked out his item in the gift shop: a snake hat. It's a rattlesnake hat, and yes, it rattles. He was running around hissing at people and having a blast with it. Of course he insisted on wearing it into stores today too. Ariana picked out a small stuffed tiger. Both of my kids are obsessed about cats in all forms, so I was not surprised.

There was a wonderful 3D movie at the zoo we could see. Alex and I were very impressed with how well it was done. I had a hard time watching it at points because I was so entertained by watching my kids either reach out in front of themselves to grab something or dodge something.

The best Alex moment of all was when I took him into World Market today. I had been in the store before and knew he NEEDED to see it. Sure enough, he was an excited little boy as he jumped around from product to product he loved but could never get in France. See, Alex's mom is a Brit. His father is French. Alex spent the first three years of his life in England, and after that he often spent vacations with his grandparents in England. That's why a) his English is pretty good and b) his English is also spoken with a distinct Brit flair. Well, since he's been over to England so much, he became used to certain biscuits (cookies to the Americans) and candy bars. He can't get most of them over in France. BUT! THERE THEY WERE IN THE WORLD MARKET! He also almost died when he saw Heinz Tomato Soup too, as apparently it was a childhood favorite. Alex loaded up, practically bouncing on his heels the whole way! It was definitely a Yayness Moment. The kids were also excited because Alex then bought them a few candy treats too. Note to self: World Market is dangerous to the budget.

What a great weekend! I had a lot of snuggles from Alex and the kids; the zoo was fun; I helped him get his apartment in order; we had good food. The only bad moment was during Friday night. I went to the grocery for us while Alex stayed home with children, and a bastard stole the assigned parking place. He lives near a pile of bars, and somebody wanted that spot to go bar hopping. We contemplated towing. NEXT TIME, BASTARD! YOU JUST WAIT! I had to park farther away Friday night which sucked. I reclaimed the spot on Saturday morning, though, and kept it the rest of the time. Otherwise, we all had a great time!

I still can't believe Alex seemed delighted for me to redo his kitchen a lot *flushes*. I'm glad, though. Maybe he realizes I'll be cooking there more than he will so it's ok? haha!

He IS a great man. The best!

And there ARE no promises.

And it DOES suck to be vulnerable.

However...I can do this relationship thing forever again. Alex is--as has been pointed out--the man by which all other men are judged! haha! Nobody can do better than him. And so, I'll just say thank you for My Alex and go to bed now.

(next time I see him is a week from Wednesday...yes, I can wait...I think...maybe...aw, do I have a choice?)