And the power struggle continues in A day in the life...

Yep, me and little Benny. One of these days, and I pray to GOD it's soon, he's going to get it....and until he does, I'm going to continue to make him one unhappy little boy.

It was gorgeous out today so I decided to take him and Paulo outside to play. I also stupidly decided to let the dogs out with us (I'll explain why it was a stupid decision in a minute). So we're walking around and the boys are playing and Benny starts playing with his rope swing that his dad hung from a tree for him. He got bored with it so I sat Paulo in it and was swinging him on it. During this time Benny decides to start throwing rocks, and I'm talking pretty big rocks. He threw them at the house and at the air conditioner. I told him to stop, he threw another one. I told him one more and we were going back inside. He kept looking at me while poking at the rocks and I kept staring back at him. I said, "I'm watching you, Benny, and you know I'll do what I say." Well, about 30 seconds later he throws another rock. I lifted Paulo off the swing, grabbed Benny's hand and hauled them both inside, with Benny screaming, "I'm going to behave!" the entire time. After I got him and Paulo inside I went back out to get the dogs. Here's why I was a fucking idiot for letting them out: while I was getting the boys back inside the little fuckers got in the trash and were tearing dirty diapers apart in the yard. I have never wanted to kill two animals so badly in my entire life! I got them back in the house and back in their crate, then picked up the trash from the yard and put it back in the garbage can. During this time Benny walks back out the door and says he's just going to sit outside. Fortunately I finished picking up the trash about one minute after he came back outside so I took his hand and said nope, back in the house. He stomped back in with me walking in behind him.

When we were all back in the house I wiped down the boys faces and hands and feet (they played outside barefoot). Benny's still crying and screaming and I reminded him why we were back inside and then ignored him. That's when he started throwing toys at me. Big mistake. I picked him up, carried him to his room and put him on his bed and told him he'd better not even think of coming out of that room until I said so. Then I walked out and shut the door. Right at that moment I saw Xavier (dad) standing in the kitchen and almost had a heart attack...lol! We talked about Benny's behavior and I told Xavier I didn't know what was wrong with Benny, but he was extra extra wound up and willful today. Xavier and I walked into the boys' room and I tried to hand Benny his sippy cup and he slapped it out of my hand. Xavier yelled "Hey!" I sat the cup down next to his bed and walked out while Xavier had a talk with him. Benny came out a few minutes later and told me he was sorry and climbed into my lap and told me he loved me. I was hugging on him and said, "Benny, you're not a bad boy, we've just had a bad day, haven't we?" He answered yes in a hiccupping cry...which kinda broke my heart. Then Xavier told him to go lay back down and he did. After that Xavier and I talked a few more minutes and then I left. Amy - 4, Benny - 0.

I sold my Coach purse (I posted it on my church's classifieds Facebook page), so today I met the girl who was buying it at the mall and gave it to her, collected the cash, and then headed home. Before that I had picked up some prescriptions, some test strips for my glucometer, and a box of hair color. After I got home I started packing. I'm pretty much done except for the toiletries and drugs, which I'll have to stick in my bag right before I leave. This time tomorrow I should be close to Chicago...YAY!!!

I upgraded my cell phone from a Galaxy S3 to an S4 and I'm loving it. The guy at the Verizon store said the Galaxy phones have become so popular that they're making iPhones look like dinosaurs...lol. I've had an iPhone before and it was okay, but I like the android-based phones better. My sister and my BFF prefer their iPhones.

Since I'm getting off at 4 tomorrow instead of 6 I'm going to come home and color my hair and shower before heading to Illinois. My original plan was to leave from babysitting and head straight to Illinois from there, but this way I won't have to be rushing around like a lunatic tomorrow morning making sure everything is in my bag and probably forgetting something. This way I can check, double check and triple check before I head out....but I'll still probably forget something. As long as it's not any of my drugs or my glasses and/or contact lenses then we're all good. Everything else I can replace out there if necessary. Crap...I just remembered I'm out of contact lens solution. Must remember to pick some up tomorrow. Need to remember to pack my Bible as well. I don't care if Josh and Mia are atheists....I'm still going to do my Bible readings. It's not like their apartment will burst into flames if I bring a Bible into it. ;-)

I'm afraid I must leave you all now, but it's not like I was talking about anything tummy-tingling anyway. Hope you all had a happy Tuesday!

Much love....xoxo