This is going to be short, because I need a nap, but I am feeling better today. I still feel kinda BLAH though, and it's really REALLY starting to scare me. I did the dishes this morning that Michael promised me a million times yesterday he'd do, and I nearly gagged. Not that there was anything particularly gross about this mountain of dishes, I just can't really explain it, other than that is how I felt BOTH times I turned up pregnant. Every smell is magnified by like a HUNDRED TIMES and things that normally don't bother me leave me hurtling to the bathroom or the nearest barf bag. I was determined to get out of the house this afternoon and take Travis to do SOMETHING since I didn't get to take him to the farm today, so we had lunch at Chik-Fil-A. What started out as a pleasant afternoon lunch with my kids, turned into every parent's nightmare. A screaming kid who refuses to come out "kiddie land". I gave him a fair 5-minute warning, which ALWAYS works, until today, of course, while in public, to let him know that he had 5 more minutes to play and then it'd be time to go. Well, when 5 minutes was up, he would have nothing of it. What made this worse is I had Jacob in tow, and I finally had to sit Jacob down on the floor and grab Travis by the arm, pick him up, and spank his butt in front of everyone, which virtually does NOTHING without actually pulling his pants down...skin contact stings a lot more...and so all that resulted from this spanking was him screaming even LOUDER. I picked up Jacob in one arm, and yanked Travis up off the floor with the other. Holding his hand to lead him out of the restaurant, I ended up literally DRAGGING him out on his knees, screaming bloody murder. (Travis was screaming bloody murder, not me.) Finally I just left him there and said "Fine, bye" and me and Jacob proceeded to the exit, all the while patrons entering were looking at us like we were from another planet, and Travis started screaming "I wanna go bye bye!" and then he followed me out the door, I took the kids out to the car, buckled them in their carseats and pulled Travis' pants down just enough to get a bare leg and popped him a good 3 times. More screaming and crying followed. We had a couple other stops to make before going to Target to buy Travis some much needed fall/winter clothes. The kids did pretty good in there until I started looking at shoes, and I guess by that time they were bored/tired, so Jacob started getting fussy, so I gave him his juice cup, which he flat drained in about 2 minutes and tossed it out of the buggy. So we hurried up to the nearest checkout with the shortest line, Jacob still screaming. And about that time, Travis started whining that he wanted out of the buggy so he could push it himself, to which I replied "NO" and then he proceeded to beg for some crackers he saw on a nearby shelf. You wouldn't believe what the cashier had the nerve to say to me......"I've got to hurry up and get y'all out of here because your kids' crying is grating on my nerves!" I just looked at her, bugged my eyes out and said, "I'm so sorry!! They are KIDS and they are TIRED!" I mean, how freaking ignorant!!!! About that time, Travis started whining that he wanted out of the buggy so he could push it, to which I replied "NO" and then he proceeded to beg for some crackers he saw on a nearby shelf. We hurried out of there after I paid for everything, and once I loaded them in the car, they were quiet as little mice. I wish now I'd gotten that cashier's name. Maybe I could have written a complaint letter to Target and get a discount or a gift card or something, but I was in such a hurry to get out of there and give that rude witch some peace and quiet, that I didn't think to look. Maybe there's a cashier number on the receipt...hmmmm. Every time I get ready to go anywhere with the kids, I have to pray "Lord, please give me patience to deal with the rude people I will more than likely face out in the public world." Which I believe He does give me some degree of patience, but after awhile, it runs thin. SO...for anybody that is concerned about me staying home all the time and not going out much, THIS is a very good example as to WHY I don't. (And yes, I have had family members tell me I need to get out more.) Little kids, restaurants, and department stores just do not mix. And for now, being a stay-at-home Mom is what I do. I STAY HOME!!!