Joey Fordcopyright protection173PENANAroZcbx8SBf
November 14, 2016copyright protection173PENANAUve0rnNBPC
Week 12: Journal 1copyright protection173PENANATIccZzwlBe
You know how I said Bunny still will sometimes climb in bed with me? Well, she did sometime last night. And I didn't even notice her until my alarm went off. I just woke up and found her snuggled next to me. I immediately smiled and gave her a giant tickle to wake her up. Wonderful way to start a morning.copyright protection173PENANA00c2OVbANB
As soon as Bunny finished stretching, she looked at me and said: "Can we have tacos for breakfast?"copyright protection173PENANAG43sXmTWob
I figured a few dollars on breakfast tacos wouldn't hurt my budget too much. Bunny was pretty happy with her delicious bacon and egg tacos. copyright protection173PENANAIpB35LB4Le
And this happened.copyright protection173PENANAXcqd3rifRH
Bunny (from the backseat): "Daddy, I accidentally spilled some eggs on the floor of the car!"copyright protection173PENANAVp51XvkSof
Me: "It's fine, Sweetie! I'll clean it up when I get home."copyright protection173PENANAJcGw8IS3hp
Bunny: "Okay."copyright protection173PENANAaWCNS0kgOv
Then as soon as I gave her kisses goodbye, she points to the floor where she was sitting and said: "I left the foil on the floor too. Because you said you'll clean it up later." After that, she gave me this funny-looking grin and said: "Have a good day at school, Daddy!" Then she just took off running.copyright protection173PENANAybLSvkhiF0
Little smart alack.copyright protection173PENANAFLQoOvzKWK
Today she wore her favorite unicorn shirt, light purple leggings, and a light pink bow. Hairstyle today was just a simple ponytail.copyright protection173PENANAdzcS3CAzU7
This morning I met up with my art appreciation group right after class since we didn't meet on Friday (nobody could make it apparently). Our presentation is two weeks from today and we're just now barely getting started on it. All we did was talk about who was going to what on the PowerPoint and who was going to say what in the presentation and blah blah blah. I honestly didn't care. I don't care about art anymore. Then again, I honestly never did. I lost interest in drawing cartoon characters a long time ago. I've made up my mind that I'm going to switch my major, but I still don't know what I want to do. Maybe I'll just put a list on the wall and throw a dart at it. copyright protection173PENANAZKXELNqytc
Anyway, Thursday night. Not a whole lot went on. Just a wonderful day with my Bunny. We had a tea party, Bunny painted my nails, we did This Little Piggy on each other, we ordered a pizza for dinner (Bunny was pretty happy about that), and Bunny wanted to do cartwheels with me right after her bath. I can't do cartwheels for beans.copyright protection173PENANA2ebIbQeHZK
Bunny (laughing): "Are you okay, Daddy?"copyright protection173PENANAKYUmb2FF28
Me (laying on the ground): "I don't like cartwheels." (Bunny laughs like crazy)copyright protection173PENANAvTUM8bab6J
After about a minute, I jumped up, grabbed her, and held her upside down. Then I gave her a belly raspberry. I do this to her SO much. I don't care how old she gets. I'll keep giving her belly raspberries until she's in her forties.copyright protection173PENANAAeR6YsxFf4
Bedtime story that night was The Cat's Quizzer. Another Dr. Seuss book that we always have fun with.copyright protection173PENANAYcgOFR3tJj
More This Little Piggy and that was the end of the day. I just love nights with my little girl. copyright protection173PENANAeCixH5W7jC
Friday...went kind of interesting. When I picked Bunny up, she had a very sad look on her face. She ran up to me and jumped in my arms and buried her face in my shoulder. It was pretty obvious that she was really upset about something, so I asked her.copyright protection173PENANAx9lLX8ZnxH
Me (Kissing her and patting her back): "What's the matter, Sweetheart?"copyright protection173PENANApWJ3ukbNcA
Bunny: "The substitute yelled at me."copyright protection173PENANALXT8Vek1jg
At that exact moment, I felt steam coming out of my ears.copyright protection173PENANAYVazyaWdtg
So Mrs. Campbell was out that day and Bunny's class had a substitute. Bunny didn't even need to tell me who the substitute was, I already knew it was Mrs. Bender. Mrs. Bender is a crabby old lady that is overly strict with the students. Even with the kindergarten and first grade students. Look, if you want to be super strict, go substitute at a high school where it's a little more appropriate. Or maybe a middle school. But not in kindergarten and first grade! Seriously. She is the exact same substitute who had an issue with Bunny's nickname last year. Bunny has had her a few times since then and we both equally hate her. At least she calls Bunny by her nickname now. She knows that refusing to do so will lead to problems. However, that didn't stop her from causing other problems on Friday.copyright protection173PENANAsSPtAN13pc
Mrs. Bender apparently threw a giant fit because the class was being a little rowdy on the way back from lunch. When they got back to the classroom, she started to yell at them for a few minutes and told them she wanted complete silence as they did some worksheet. Bunny finished her paper very quickly and then wanted to go check out some new library books since she had already completely finished both the books that she had (she had taken tests on them and everything). When she went up to ask Mrs. Bender if she could go to the library, the old hag yelled: "NO! SIT DOWN!" According to Bunny, she was on her best behavior as they walked down the hallway. And I totally believe her. I know I've written about Bunny being goofy several times, but she only really acts that way with me. At school, she is ALWAYS on her best behavior. Mrs. Campbell has told me that she's one of the most well-behaved students in the class. Her kindergarten teacher would also tell me that she was one of the most well-behaved students in her class. Basically, Mrs. Bender was yelling at my daughter for OTHER students' behavior. Something I HATE it when teachers do. "If a couple students mess up, everyone's in trouble." That's what my tenth essay is about. It was the first time I've legitimately felt angry when writing an essay.copyright protection173PENANArlFVo8dMni
And speaking of angry, I wasn't all too happy about what Bunny was telling me. She told me that she started crying after Mrs. Bender yelled at her. I already knew she did. Bunny doesn't react well to people yelling at her. I know this from personal experience. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't thinking about the times where I myself have yelled at Bunny out of anger. And how much of a horrible person I felt like when I did. Honestly, that just made me more upset about the situation. While I (thankfully) don't do it as often, I still feel horrible each time it happens and I feel guilty each time I think about a time I did it. It honestly made me just want to stand there and hug my daughter all day and keep on telling her that I was sorry.copyright protection173PENANAV7S7EvV0lK
But I didn't. I had to go give an old hag a piece of my mind.copyright protection173PENANAhnKr01sdus
Without even thinking, I very politely asked Melissa (who was standing not far from us) if she could watch Bunny for a moment while I went inside and talked with someone. Mainly because I knew things were going to get a little ugly (spoiler alert, it did). Melissa still doesn't like me that much, but she was at least willing to watch Bunny. She even offered to drive her over to the Bloomfields, which I politely declined. Thanks for showing some sort of kindness, Melissa.copyright protection173PENANAvp9LPLrXc3
I marched right into the school and what do you know, Mrs. Bender was walking right to the office. I confronted her and asked her if she was had been in charge of Mrs. Campbell's class, and what a shock, she said yes. And then I let her have it.copyright protection173PENANADqkHJQ3rSy
When I get really upset, I tend not to control what I say. I just say things without even thinking. The only time I ever actually control myself is at work, where I could get fired just for looking at one of the managers wrong. But with Mrs. Bender, I didn't give a crap. She was not in charge of me in any way, so there was no reason to hold back on her. To put it simply, I went off on her for about five minutes and actually kind of made a scene. Mainly because we were right there in the hall by the office. I didn't care though. She started throwing out a bunch of dumb excuses (stuttering, she clearly was afraid of me, good) like: "I told everyone to be quiet" and "everyone was acting up" and blah blah blah oh shut your damn mouth. That's what I said to her. I flat out told her to shut the hell up. I made it clear to her that if she ever yelled at Bunny again, I would take her to court. I then just walked away from the office and the several people that had stopped to watch. Boy, did that feel great.copyright protection173PENANAvpMf7T9qsm
After I dropped Bunny off this morning (after Bunny decided to leave foil in my car), I went out of my way to head over to the office to make sure I hadn't gotten myself on the school's bad side. Honestly, I was never really that worried about the repercussions. I doubted they were going to expel Bunny just because I had decided to take advantage of my freedom of speech right. It's not like I laid a hand on Mrs. Bender or anything.copyright protection173PENANAOLKa6y0etY
The principal wasn't really upset with me, but she did tell me to act "a little more professional" the next time a problem like this happens. She told me I should've gone straight to her rather than Mrs. Bender. Good point, but it wouldn't nearly have been as cathartic. The principal then told me that she had already talked with Mrs. Bender and they would ensure that no problems with her happened again. Awesome. In the end, neither me or Bunny received any sort of repercussions. Hallelujah, take that you old hag.copyright protection173PENANAyvUtS884iI
I'm glad we won't have to worry about Mrs. Bender again. Or at least I hope I never have to worry about Mrs. Bender again. I'm going to be honest, I don't know if I can actually sue someone for yelling at my child, but I'm willing to find out for sure (if needed).copyright protection173PENANAo6AfgedH0d
Saturday I had the day shift, so I got to spend another night with my Bunny. Kind of. I got home from work around five and I was really tired and kind of stressed out (had to work with Ruth). So I took a nap on the couch for a short while (setting my alarm so that I wouldn't sleep too late). But...it wasn't the alarm that woke me up.copyright protection173PENANAzlr9afq2uR
I guess Bunny just thought it would be funny, but she decided to wake me up about fifteen minutes before my alarm went off. By giving me a wedgie. I'm not kidding. I woke up to the back of my underwear getting pulled really hard and hurting like hell. I opened up my eyes and saw Bunny right by me laughing like a hyena. Oh brother.copyright protection173PENANAkzqtdfAndF
I'd be lying if I said that I DIDN'T want to yell at her for doing that. But I managed to control myself. I guess because I immediately thought of the incident that happened the previous day and I would've felt like the worst father in the world if I would've shouted at her. Instead I just sat her down (AFTER I fixed my underwear, good lord she pulled on them pretty damn hard) and had a little talk with her. I told her that it's okay to be funny and goofy, but doing things like pulling on people's underwear is going way too far. I know for certain Bunny will never do things like this to people at school, but she still needed to know there was a limit to how silly she can be. I really, REALLY didn't want to wake up that way again.copyright protection173PENANAadGKhhWw60
Bunny (with a huge frown on her face, she probably felt a little guilty about what she did): "I'm sorry, Daddy. I won't do that again."copyright protection173PENANAyeoKkA8UlO
Me: "It's okay, Baby. I love you so much."copyright protection173PENANAkuHhjyTMzx
We then kissed each other. Bunny then immediately wanted a piggy back ride around the house. Sure, why not? It was frozen dinners night anyway. I wasn't really on a short time limit.copyright protection173PENANAe58XI1Ud72
After dinner, Bunny wanted to show me something. She took me by the hand and walked over to her room. She then told me to wait outside. I waited for a few seconds and Bunny leaped through the door shouting: "Ta-da!" and wearing a pair of sunglasses. She started doing a bunch of sassy poses and making me laugh. Oh man, she is just too adorable.copyright protection173PENANAa0vdgVxG4q
The sunglasses were just cheap kids sunglasses that Daniel had given her yesterday (Kaitlyn got some too). But she looked so cute wearing them and doing her poses. I pulled out my phone and started taking pictures, which I put on Facebook. Daniel was the very first one to comment, saying: "I think I made a mistake." I love you, Daniel.copyright protection173PENANAwRZ7KJwVGR
We had her bath right after that (Bunny farted in the tub AGAIN, I really don't know where she found out that's funny), we decided to do some crazy dancing in the living room, and then we ended off the night with some Cat In The Hat Comes Back. Yep, two Dr. Seuss books in a row. Why not?copyright protection173PENANA292TEjH0XD
Remember when I made friends a while back with Bunny's toe and bellybutton? Well, the same thing happened Sunday morning with Bunny's hand. Well, sort of. After I woke her up for church, she held up her hand to make it look like it's talking. I got to meet Bunny's hand "Leo," only he didn't like me.copyright protection173PENANA6rmhI6ieih
Bunny: "Leo hates everybody, so he hates you too."copyright protection173PENANAV2Cci6CwMW
Me: "Ahhhh, why?"copyright protection173PENANAko3OS5PCWP
Bunny (making her hand "talk"): "I hate people. People are stupid."copyright protection173PENANAhyRxMNA34O
Me: "Why do you hate people so much, Leo? There are lots of good people out there."copyright protection173PENANAQT0UuC93eX
Something I need to remind myself of more often, honestly.copyright protection173PENANA23mouzVCks
Bunny (making Leo "talk"): "People stink! They smell bad! They smell like rotten eggs!"copyright protection173PENANAE07WznVgex
Me: "I'm about to take a shower. I won't smell bad."copyright protection173PENANAgh0U06WuPk
Bunny (making Leo "talk"): "I'll still hate you. Because you're a person. And I hate everybody."copyright protection173PENANAL0kW4m5pqX
Me: "Ahhhhh."copyright protection173PENANAeH82BUT8cP
Bunny (holding up her other hand): "But Leo has a twin! Cheeto! And Cheeto loves everybody!"copyright protection173PENANAZ9EZ0kih6M
Cheeto?copyright protection173PENANAYrHbQXz9u3
Bunny (making Cheeto "talk"): "I want to be your friend! Can I be your friend?"copyright protection173PENANALpZpxHPmxm
Me: "Ummm...sure." (I was pretty weirded out by the name)copyright protection173PENANA1xWemFZNao
Then Bunny put her hand on my cheek and make a "mwa" sound to make it look like Cheeto was kissing me. I love my little girl so much.copyright protection173PENANAytb2vmW61Q
Church went great. Bunny had her head on me almost the entire time. We went home and had ourselves a little nap on the couch. Then Bunny grabbed one of the couch pillows and whacked me with it, which led us to having a pillow fight with the couch pillows. The couch was a huge mess after that, but we didn't care, we were having too much fun together. THIS is the type of silliness that I'm perfectly fine with. And I love it.copyright protection173PENANA0K3UrctjKA
Since the living room was already a big mess, we decided that we might as well turn it into a fort. Which we did. We sat under our fort for a while just talking to each other about school, friends, and other things. Bunny went on about some more of the things she is learning and some of the Barbie games she's been playing with Kaitlyn. She brought up Leah at one point and asked when she could see her again. I was thinking about giving the Wilkerson's number to Crystal, but that would require an explanation and I don't want to give that explanation. So I tried making the call myself at one point on Sunday and they didn't answer. I'd be lying if part of me didn't feel relieved. Hopefully the Wilkersons at the very least leave a brief message or something saying they'll drop Leah off at the Bloomfields. And refrain from making any insults.copyright protection173PENANAWDTJgXLgX4
After a long talk about My Little Pony, Bunny wanted to play with her My Little Pony toys and me to join. So that's where another good chunk of our Sunday went. After that, we had ourselves a tickle fight and it was time to get started on dinner. "LASAGNA!" That's what me and Bunny started shouting together as I pulled the box out. "LASAGNA! LASAGNA! LASAGNA!" We love lasagna so much. We didn't have any green bean casserole, but oh well. At least we had "LASAGNA!"copyright protection173PENANA32NxfTHWDx
After Bunny's bath, we had ourselves some beautiful serious daddy-daughter dancing. I turned on some music and we danced calmly together for a while. And THEN we did some crazy dancing! With Bunny wearing her new sunglasses! If only a third person had been there so they could videotape us.copyright protection173PENANA1jaskeWqjA
Bunny (after we were finished dancing and I was out of breath): "I wish you had sunglasses too."copyright protection173PENANAtvdF2dQqoN
Me (laying on the floor): "Yeah, that would be pretty cool."copyright protection173PENANAATbmVdDOkk
Bunny: "Next time I'll tell Kaitlyn's dad to never forget about my daddy!" She then pat me on the stomach.copyright protection173PENANAmmXpqjJ4bX
Me (laughing): "Thank you, Baby."copyright protection173PENANAskT5WqTx4y
Oh believe me, Kaitlyn's dad doesn't forget about me. That's why the Bloomfields are such an important part of our lives.copyright protection173PENANAPxLN1k9okS
Bedtime story was one of Bunny's library books, Harold And The Purple Crayon. A book that I remember getting from the library when I was a kid (and my grandma reading to me, mainly because I wouldn't read it on my own). Pretty cute book.copyright protection173PENANAT7O6cszxiD
Goodnight kisses, hugs, I love you's, and that was the end of the weekend.copyright protection173PENANAaqrUZKJimq
I guess I might as well start working on my part of the art appreciation presentation. I can't wait to get this whole class off my back. Like I said, I'm SO freaking done with art. I really hope I can figure out what I want to do.copyright protection173PENANAc1mWkqQfHf
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