Do the Swedes eat burritos?

News flash. You can go to Ikea and pick up a couple of random knick knacks between $.99 and $4.99 and not spend that much cash. However if you buy 21 things – it adds up. Master Noah and I learned this yesterday during our afternoon outing. We went to Ikea both to check out their kitchen tables and just to get out of the house. I mostly bought storage-y type things. Plastic bins for toys that are scattered all over the house. Laundry hampers. A trash can. Real exciting stuff. When the girl rang me up my mouth fell open. I mean I put back the fewer big ticket items I had considered buying because I didn’t want to spend very much. I didn’t break the bank or anything – I just hadn’t done the math in my head. However I must say it feels really satisfying to come home with some practical things that you have been intending to buy for a long while. And Ikea is always fun for eye candy. I found a kitchen table I liked well enough and I decided we need a white Billy book case for Noah’s room – now I just have to figure out how in hell we are going to get them back to our house. Mark may have to go by himself after removing the car seat from our mini-wagon. Oh – and did you know you can get a bacon, egg and potato breakfast every morning at Ikea for $.99! We were there at lunch and didn't taste test the goods but Mark and I might have to check it out some morning. If you can get out of there without buying anything it would be a killer deal.

Our trip to Ikea was also a trip down memory lane. Ikea was my first solo outing with Noah. He was less than three months old. He was very unhappy being strapped in his infant seat so I took him out and then I couldn’t steer the cart. He cried and we left without accomplishing anything. It went so badly that when I got back home I thought “How in the hell am I ever going to take this kid anywhere by myself?” In comparison yesterday’s trip was a cake walk. A joy in fact. He sat in the floppy seat happily and enjoyed the sights and sounds of Swedish furniture wonderland. The only issue was getting him and my bags to the car since you can’t take the damn cart into the parking lot. I had to leave some things unmanned sitting outside in the loading area and go back to get them. I’m not trusting enough to feel comfortable about that, but it went fine.

Yesterday evening I had a check-up with my GP. I stocked the stroller with Noah and necessities and took the subway to meet Mark at the station near my doctor’s office. He took Noah to Washington Square Park to play while I had my doctor’s visit. I'm happy to say my health is in good order. I got a referral for a wrist specialist and a prescription for a spica splint for my tendonitis – of course after she told me the best thing I could do for my wrist is not carry Noah around so much. To that I laugh. HA! The doctor even made me feel good about my weight – telling me that at 170 I was only 6 pounds over what they considered my regular weight. Sometimes I forget that for 10 years I weighed in the 160s before joining Weight Watchers. The lowest weight I’ve had as an adult was in the 140s but that was for such a brief period of time – yet I keep thinking that I weigh 30 pounds more than I should, when really my average adult weight is less than 10 pounds away. I won’t be a super model or anything but for a 5’ 9” woman with breasts that are too damn big, 170 is not as obese as I sometimes make myself feel. Sure, I’d feel better if I lost 15 pounds, but I need to be a little less harsh on myself for what I weigh right now. And to that end the boys and I followed up my check-up with burritos at El Fuego. Yum. Of course that certainly won’t help me with bathing suit season. One step forward, two steps back.