Small Girl, Big Life

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#1: That's the photo P wants framed for my dad. I posted that in the picture thread though, I believe.

#2: I'm getting a frame for that one, too, since I have both copies of it. It's me, of course, when I was little. My dad was driving for Sea Ray back then - hauling boats.

I've always been a major Daddy's Girl. I know I've said this, but as big of an asshole as he can be, we've always been extremely close. I still cry -a lot- when it's time to leave after seeing them.

I used to get money when that happened, but no mas. lol.. In high school, my dad would fork over like $60 - $100.. Yes, I'm spoiled. I've always been spoiled. It's pretty sad, actually. Spoiling me was my parents' (mostly my dad) way of making up for not being around much when I was little.

And then later on when I got accepted to college the first time and my dad decided he wanted to buy me a new car out of the blue - even though I was perfectly ok with their Explorer that they gave me.

I still have no concept of having to work extra hard to make car payments & pay for insurance. Everything else, yes.. Apartment, Electricity, Phone Bill, Child Care, Groceries, Gas, etc... But I've never had to factor in a car & insurance payment.

Anywho..

We took Parker on base to go grocery shopping and I was reminded of -why- Jay hates shopping on base so much... It's always too damn crowded & the checkout line is -always- a mile long or more. BUT, I got all of my fruits & veggies for this juice fast I'm going to attempt this week & Jay got a bunch of meat and stuff. Our grocery bill, surprisingly, was only $120.. I reminded him that even though we spent a lot of time fighting the crowds and standing in line, all that food would've been like -$200- at Wal Mart or somewhere else. I still need to go to Aldi though and do some comparison shopping.

Today, we went to the museum on base 'cuz it's free & something to do & my dad would be interested in it. It's not very big, but it was interesting. I took lots of pics and stuff. They covered pretty much everything from WWII - Now.. They had the uniforms and stuff from each era and all that. Parker actually enjoyed it. We walked across the street when we were done and looked at the planes and helicopters and things that they had out on display.

And theeeen we went to Logan's and had lunch. That Inferno sauce they have now is pretty intense. Not quite on the same level as BWW's Diablo whatever the hell it is, but it comes a close second. I ordered the grilled wings and had them put the inferno sauce on it instead of the regular smokin' hot sauce (which isn't hot, but it's really good).

And theeeeen, we went to the movies and watched Epic - even though we'd already downloaded it for Parker & she'd already seen it. She wanted to see it again. We killed some time at the mall beforehand - Parker picked out a picture frame, a little Ty beanie baby, and a card for my dad. It was really sweet. She took her time picking out the "perfect gifts". She's so thoughtful like that.

I think - no - I -know- I'm turning into my mom. I fell asleep in the movie theater like she used to do the few times she & I would go to the movies together (she crashed out during "Cast Away" - full on head was back, mouth hanging open, and yes, -snoring-).

I think we'll go pick out decorations and stuff before we leave for Texas.

After the movie, we walked around the mall for awhile. I was going to let Parker pick out a new outfit to keep at our apartment (in an attempt to build her wardrobe here so that my sister doesn't have to pack a bag for her when she comes over), but she complained that everything she tried on was too itchy and got tired trying on clothes rather quickly.. Shame. The Children's Place had some -really- super cute skirts and stuff.

And the mall here has a freaking -Zumiez- ... That was one of my -fav- stores @ Arizona Mills Mall.. I got like most of my fall wardrobe from there after I moved & started school.. It was where I bought my very first pair of Etnies sneakers (they were black suede w/a purple E.. They were -awesome-).. I want another pair. A white pair. For winter. Even though I now -hate- any kind of shoe with a closed toe... Yes, I wear flip flops when it's 20 degrees outside - and I'll have a coat on. I'm weird like that. IDK.

Parker pitched a fit, though, 'cuz she was worn out from our long day. She didn't want to go into the store with me, so I couldn't look at anything. And then she pitched a fit 'cuz we didn't have cash to let her ride the stupid train. She rarely acts up like this in public, but when she does... Good God. It's horrible. I kept threatening to just leave her there - or throw my purse at her. Jay was like "omg you can't say stuff like that in public!".. The purse thing I only said to him, though. Even Jay was getting annoyed. He didn't say anything, but I could see it on his face.

She finally calmed down enough to let him carry her out to the car. We got home, I fixed her a grilled cheese sammich and some corn (her -fav- veggie) .. She got herself dressed & ready for bed all on her own while I made her dinner. Buuuuuuut then she pitched another fit when it was bedtime. I laid down with her and sang our lullaby and rubbed her head and she calmed down and fell asleep rather quickly. She did, however, remind me that I'm not allowed to sleep with her anymore 'cuz "My Bossy Sister" will get mad.

But anywho.. Overall, it's been a super fun weekend. I grilled chicken on Friday night - seasoned it with this Fiesta Citrus (salt - free) seasoning that I'd bought, salt, & pepper & I squeezed lemon juice on the cutlets while I was grilling them and I made brown rice tossed with chopped cilantro, mango, jalepeno, and lime juice. And a steamer bag of broccoli, carrots, & cauliflower mixed. It turned out really good. I make the brown rice a lot, but I usually have it with grilled lemon-pepper salmon, but I didn't think about it. I actually think that the original recipe I found for this rice/protein combo uses grilled chicken and for some reason I decided that salmon would be good on top. It was my ex's absolute favorite thing that I made. Aside from my copy cat version of Macaroni Grille's Pasta Milano.

Oh! And I made homemade blueberry-lemon sour cream pancakes. They were -delish-.. And fresh fruit smoothies - with the other half of Parker's blueberries, strawberries, a banana, some orange juice, strawberry/banana yogurt, & lots of ice. Yummy breakfast XD