December 29, 2011

Second verse, same as the first

In news-that's-not-as-exciting-as-it-should-be, I bought a new van today.

I went in to get a new tire on my old van, and walked out with a second van.

To be fair, I did all the research 6 months ago, and we've just been waiting for the price to drop and the availability to increase. I had a number going in, and they were strangely eager to meet it. Which of course means I should have asked for more off, but whatever, we both got what we want.

It's still sort of a letdown, though. I mean, I basically got an updated, but slightly downgraded version of exactly what I already had.

And it wasn't like I had anything against the old van. It was still totally comfortable, reliable, and functional. I don't really want to get rid of it. It's Rex's car that poses the problem. It's too small to hold us all if something did happen the my van, and it's about the size of a Converse high top, which means if Rex and/or the kids ever get into an accident, they are guaranteed to lose to anything except a Smart Car. And while we haven't had a single repair issue with his car, it is 7 years old.

Posted by me at 9:04 PM | Comments (0)

November 30, 2011

6.30: I made it!

Another NaBloPoMo down!

I'm not sure how many more years I can keep this up. I think the posts get more placeholderish every year, although this year I managed to remember at a decent time each evening to put something up (mostly because I finally have a smart phone. Not because I was more motivated or anything.) Even now, all I feel is relief that there's one less thing I have to do tomorrow.

NaBloPoMo used to be motivation to come up with something meaningful to write about every day, in the hopes that it could jumpstart my creativity the rest of the year. This year, it just trying to hold on to a tradition that even it's creator is letting go.

Ah, well. I'll see how I feel next year.

Posted by me at 10:07 AM | Comments (0)

November 29, 2011

6.29: Almost there

This has been one of those days that I wish there were stringent guidelines on when to take your kid to the doctor.

After a miserable night, I thought for sure I would be taking Owen in today. But once his morning dose of ibuprofen kicked in, he perked up and was just a normal amount of sick. I had high hopes that we were on the upswing.

He ate something (good sign, right?) and then I put a movie in. After about an hour, he said he was tired. Not a bad thing, it was almost his normal naptime anyway.

He woke up an hour in, moaning and crying and coughing again, absolutely miserable. While I was on the phone seeing if we could get an appointment ASAP, he coughed and coughed until he barfed. After a few more minutes of the movie, he said he wanted to lay down in his bed.

His heartbeat feels so fast. So is his breathing. I know he's getting enough oxygen, because he's a lovely shade of pink, but I'm wishing we were at the doctor right now, and wondering if it's negligent to wait until I've dropped the girls off at gymnastics to take him to after care.

My common sense and my intuition are at war.

Posted by me at 1:00 PM | Comments (0)

November 28, 2011

6.28: It's not funny anymore

No. Freaking. Way.

Owen woke up with a nasty cough. The general consensus of my mom friends on facebook is no fever, no green goo, no problem. His cough had improved somewhat by the time we were ready to go, and he was otherwise well, so I sent him.

I didn't get called, but when I picked him up, I was told that his cough had gotten worse after he played outside, and there was a faint crust around his nose. He agreed a little too readily to a nap, and was out in minutes.

Unfortunately, an hour later he was coughing and whining. And snotty.

And feverish.

After some ibuprofen, he dozed a little more, on and off. Basically ignored dinner, but spent some time running around with his sisters. Which started the coughing up again. I had Rex try to give him some honey (a natural remedy that he doesn't like, but he's too young for cold meds) and he didn't refuse it, he just puked it up. Along with his lunch.

And almost 2 hours before his ibuprofen wore off, his temp was higher than it was before the drugs. Luckily, I unearthed some free sample of Infant Vick's left from the arrival of one of the girls seems to have taken the edge off the cough, and he went out like a light.

I've traced the beginning of all this illness to when I started cleaning the house for company. I'm guessing the only way to put an end to it is to go back to wallowing in our own filth.

Posted by me at 9:58 PM | Comments (0)

November 27, 2011

6.27: Nap Sunday

My mom left this morning, the kids go back to school tomorrow, and no one has barfed so far today. We shall call this "Normal."

The kids slept in the trailer last night, and what with the week of on-again, off-again illness, I figured this was a good time to enforce a nap day. As usual, the girls swore they wouldn't be sleeping. As usual, they took nice long naps. As did I. Owen was down at the same time, and I'm sure The Man appreciated his hours of interruption-free football watching.

I feel sort of bad that we didn't do more fun things this week (due to sickness, not laziness, for once!) At the same time, it was nice to sit around and just. do. nothing. Books were read, Wii was played, copious amounts of tv were watched. There was very little rushing off to the gym, no early mornings getting ready for school and few chores.

And I'll trade it all for no more barf.

Posted by me at 5:46 PM | Comments (0)

November 25, 2011

6.25: The day no one puked

We've always been a pretty healthy family. Well, I guess maybe everyone but me. I don't guess I can keep pretending I'm a pretty healthy person anymore.

But Rex. And the kids. They've always been super healthy, with just the occasional cold or bug here and there.

After the last month, I'm not sure we get to say that anymore. I jump every time Katie coughs, afraid it's my five second pre-puke warning. If one of the kids is still for two minutes, I check for fever.

So now we'll take it day by day, grateful again for each day without illness. And hopefully it will be so long before the next bout that I'll have stopped watching for germs around every corner.

Posted by me at 8:25 PM | Comments (0)

November 24, 2011

6.24: Eat, eat and be merry

Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted by me at 11:47 AM | Comments (0)

November 23, 2011

6.23: Ill

I knew something was up when Katie asked to go lay down this afternoon. She may willingly lay down with one of us if we ask her, but I can't think of a time she's requested a nap in recent history. She was a little warm and lethargic after her nap, but perked up and was acting completely normal before dinner.

She ate almost nothing. At a pizza buffet.

I haven't stuck her with a thermometer yet, but she has a fever. I'm desperately hoping not to be awakened by the puke patrol in the middle of the night, and a little relieved that my grandmother isn't here to catch this illness after all, although she has her own germs to master.

I'm starting to wonder if there will be anyone left at the table tomorrow for dinner.

Posted by me at 9:43 PM | Comments (0)

November 21, 2011

6.21: Make up your mind

It's not Wednesday, but I'm going to talk about running anyway.

I have a well-known dislike of running, as well as a compulsion to do it to avoid feelings of sloth and jiggle.

I run three days a week, typically Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I try not to stray from those days because it messes up Rex's schedule and my motivation. Recently, I've skipped more than rescheduled, for everything from weather to illness to prior engagements.

I'm trying to not do that anymore.

It's Monday, and so I should be running. But then it started to rain, and it's cold, so that's a no. Then it stopped. Then it started. Then it stopped. Then there was lightning. Then there wasn't.

It's like riding a rollercoaster. I don't want to go, but I have to. I have an excuse not to go, but I need to. Maybe it will stop. Maybe it will start again. Ahh!

The weather eventually made the decision for me.

But I'll still feel guilty about it.

Posted by me at 8:12 PM | Comments (0)

November 20, 2011

6.20: Full bore

It's hard to find something to write about when I spent a good part of my day reading and cleaning. I can't think of anything more boring to try to recreate in words.

The good news is that today was normal: no puking, no abnormal tantrums, no science fair projects. Also not word-worthy.

Take all this free time I've gifted you with, and go read a book :)

Posted by me at 6:53 PM | Comments (0)

November 19, 2011

6.19: Sick day

Owen woke up screaming last night. I had already sent Rex up before the real shrieks started, so I didn't know what was going on until Rex called for me.

Owen is the tidiest of all my pukers.

Rex stayed with him overnight, and apparently he puked every hour, on the :45 until I got him this morning. I knew they had been up a bunch of times, I just didn't know how consistent he was.

He slowed down a bit over the rest of the morning, finally ending his run by puking up the two spoonfuls of applesauce that were all he had eaten for the day. From the time he rinsed his mouth out from that last run, he's been bouncing off the walls. Complaining that I wouldn't let him go outside and ride his bike. Bored with his favorite tv shows and unwilling to watch another movie. There aren't very many perks to sick children, and I didn't get so much as a cozy snuggle.

The upside is that he finished the applesauce, and later ate yogurt and crackers, none of which I've had to see again. If we're lucky, we've seen the end this.

Posted by me at 8:05 PM | Comments (0)

November 18, 2011

6.18: Last day

Today was the last day of school before Thanksgiving. The teachers were practically giddy, while us parents tended to look a little nervous at the thought of having our own children without interruption for the next 9 days.

Not only am I going to have to parent for the next week, but I haven't planned our Thanksgiving feast yet. Which means I haven't shopped. Which means I have the pleasure of shopping with my precious offspring.

I also have to clean the house before my family gets here. While three kids follow behind me, spewing crumbs and sticky handprints.

Hopefully somewhere in there we'll fit some fun days. I know they'll enjoy having extra family around to impress, and they love Thanksgiving day with the unlimited snacks and extra desserts.

As do I.

Posted by me at 9:44 PM | Comments (0)

November 15, 2011

6.15: GNO

Tonight was girls night out. A few points:

There were 6 of us at the restaurant. Three of us were named Becky.

Two of the Becky's have birthdays within a week of each other.

One girl announced a pregnancy.

There was a lot to celebrate.

In spite of the drink and a free appetizer of fries, I was pretty good about what I ate. Until the cheesecake came out.

It was good to get out. I had fun, food and conversation. But now it's time to kiss the kids goodnight and curl up in bed.

Posted by me at 9:47 PM | Comments (0)

November 14, 2011

6.14: When there's nothing else to talk about, talk about the weather

Less than a week ago, I went out running and the temperature was under 50 degrees.

Tonight it was over 20 degrees warmer.

I'm not one of those people that will complain about the weather not being "Fall" enough. You wanna five me 80 degrees? I'll take that 7 days a week, 365 days a year. I'll take it Christmas day and the 4th of July.

Sure, it would be easier to run if it weren't so humid today, and maybe if it were 10 degrees cooler.

But I'm not giving up a beautiful day like today for anything.

Posted by me at 10:05 PM | Comments (0)

November 13, 2011

6.13: Unexpected

Seriously? Not even halfway done?

The Man and I spent the ENTIRE day tag teaming Jamie to finish her science fair project. That doesn't even count the time she spent on it yesterday, or the last few weeks. I She better get an A on this thing.

---

I just, for the first time I can remember, deleted a whole section of this post because, while everything I was saying was true, it wasn't an appropriate thing for my daughter to find and read someday on the internet. It's important information for me to know and recognize, but not for her to hear from her computer, or for her friends to read.

It's hard to find things about my kids these days that are my story to tell. For the most part babies all experience the same embarrassments, and what a baby is or does doesn't really define or even necessarily indicate what they will be as children or adults.

As a SAHM, I don't have all that many stories that don't revolve around my kids. I should, I know, have a life of my own, but at this point I really don't. My social life is wrapped up in the girls' gym and school. Owen is with me all but 9 hours a week, hours I spend catching up on the mundanities of daily life.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this. It certainly wasn't what I meant to write, but it's the truth, so I'll let it stand.

Posted by me at 9:25 PM | Comments (0)

November 12, 2011

6.12: Angry

I'm not really obsessive about most things. Aside from food and internet access, anyway.

I've played Angry Birds for a long time, off and on. A lot in the beginning, and then in bursts here and there when I was waiting for something and bored. I wasn't particularly upset when I switched to my iPhone and lost all my levels, because, unlike my husband, I never really thought I would "conquer" the game.

Besides, I suck at it.

And when I suck at something, and spend hours repeating a level, even when it's spread out over days or weeks, I get a bit testy. Not chuck the phone across the room angry, but enough that I start talking to my phone. My friends find it amusing.

ANd here I thought the point of the game was that the birds were angry.

Posted by me at 2:16 PM | Comments (0)

November 11, 2011

6.11: It's a good place to be

I'm in my happy place. Sitting on the couch, cat beside me, tv on, laptop in the lap, kids upstairs in bed, husband in his recliner.

Posted by me at 10:05 PM | Comments (0)

November 9, 2011

6.9: One down

Today was another busy day, but at least it was busy getting one of those to-do list items that's been sitting on my list for nearly 6 months taken care of. It involved some fast walking and a lot of waiting, and while those things aren't exciting in themselves, it was nice to do them without having to manage the whims of a 3 year old.

Of course, the day sort of fell apart from there.

It felt good, though, crossing that one big thing off my list.

Posted by me at 10:36 PM | Comments (0)

November 8, 2011

6.8: Empty

Now I know why I stopped posting every day. It's because I just didn't have that much to say!

It doesn't help any that I've been busy all day (nothing interesting, baking, school lunches, gymnastics, the usual) and now my brain is fried and I have no desire to write.

In any case, my calendar is packed, my to-do list is long and I barely have time to look at it, and I feel like I'm treading water and going nowhere.

So tonight I'm going to do what has to be done for tomorrow, take a deep breath and go to bed.

Maybe tomorrow I'll have some words.

Posted by me at 9:40 PM | Comments (0)

November 6, 2011

6.6: And then I spent too much on clothes

Since it's only 8:30 and I'm already slightly hung over, I'd say I had a good day.

I hosted a clothing party, sort of like a Pampered Chef thing, except with less presentation and more expensive items. I sent a facebook message to 25 people, and the first 9 responses were no.

No one ever wants to come to my parties. This pulls heavily at my social confidence.

I sent out an email message a few days ago, and got a more no's, a couple maybe's, and after talking to a good friend, ONE yes.

ONE.

Out of 25 people.

I'm ever so popular.

In the end, two people came for real, and one stopped by for a few minutes. Not exactly what I was going for, but it was fun anyway.

Posted by me at 8:37 PM | Comments (1)

November 4, 2011

6.4: Closed

It's only Day 4, and I almost blew it!

Since I'm on my way to bed, and I still have this ridiculous cold, and I'm freezing because I went out and ran and then stood around in the cold for half an hour talking to my friend, I'm going to make this short and sweet.

There was an error on the refi paperwork. It was a big enough amount of cash that if they hadn't agreed to change it, we would have backed out of the deal. They did agree, they got all the paperwork together in record time, and we closed this afternoon.

One less thing to think about.

Posted by me at 10:27 PM | Comments (0)

November 3, 2011

6.3: Paperwork

We're refinancing our house.

This is the third house we've owed, and the second time we've refinanced, and I still don't understand half the paperwork. I mean, I get the variable rate/balloon payment/foreclosure-avoidance stuff. What I don't get is how all those numbers on the HUD match up. Which numbers are silly and cancel each other out, why there are things that are called credits but I'm not getting any cash out of them, and why I always seem to be paying more than what was agreed upon when we contacted the lender.

And why, on the day before closing, there is always an error in the paperwork.

In this case, what appears to be a $1,700 error.

Not exactly chump change.

Now I get to spend my evening finding all the original emails and paperwork and trying to figure out where the numbers went wrong.

Posted by me at 8:13 PM | Comments (0)

November 2, 2011

6.2: Sick and tired. Or tired and sick?

I've been sick pretty much all of October. One cold after another. In fact, I'm incubating another one right now.

I've also been tired for most of October. Not always sleepy, although I find myself nodding off on the couch more often that in the past. That kind of tired that feels like a physical weight, like I'm not just too lazy to get off the couch and wipe Owen's ass, I feel like I physically can't.

Now, I have a well documented thyroid problem.

I've also been sure a number of times that the cause of my exhaustion is thyroid related, only to be firmly put in my place by a lab test.

I'm no longer confident in my ability to diagnose the state of my hormones.

This bout of extended crud is making me wonder if something else is going on. Is there something wrong with my immune system? Am I missing a critical vitamin? Do I have some horrible undiagnosed disease?

Am I tired because I'm sick, or sick because I'm tired?

Posted by me at 9:16 PM | Comments (0)

November 1, 2011

NaBloPoMo 6.1: Oh, god. Not again!

Ah, hell.

I'm not sure why I do this anymore. Aside from my weekly workout updates (which are supposed to shame me into losing weight, but obviously aren't working) I can't remember the last time I posted regularly here. I think it may have been last November.

I hate to end a tradition, though, and in spite of the fact that I'm not totally on board with this becoming a BlogHer entity, I can't let Year 6 pass by unwritten.

So consider this post 1 of 30 days of minutia. Good luck!

Posted by me at 2:06 PM | Comments (0)

August 9, 2011

Deep breath

I made it through last week!

Rex came home, he took his test (failed, but the stress is still gone until next time) and his job is safe.

My printer started printing, I took care of all the volunteer stuff except for a flyer I still have to make, and the network seems to be doing fine. (Although Netflix is pissing me off.)

I got the call yesterday, and my biopsy was normal. It doesn't explain any of the other issues, but at least it's not that one.

We're still considering the mysterious "opportunity," my stupid ear has been acting up again (I get to try two more drugs, yay! I'm starting to feel like a pharmacy.), and the heat seems to be going nowhere, but things are back to being manageable.

Hectic, crazy, ridiculous, but manageable.

Posted by me at 8:30 PM | Comments (1)

August 2, 2011

Stress ball

This week has just a little too much going on.

Rex just left for California for the week, leaving me alone with our ridiculous gymnastics schedule.

He'll be taking a test out there for a certification that he's been trying to get, in one form or another, for 4 years. I know this is way more stressful for him, but I want this for him so badly that it's getting to me, too.

I'm still waiting for my biopsy results, and while odds are that everything is normal, the longer I wait the more time I have to think about what it could be, and how that could affect my whole life, and more, the lives of my kids.

Rex's company is announcing a whole passel of layoffs this week, and while we think he's safe, there are a lot of unknowns.

An opportunity has come up that we're unlikely to take, but the possibility of it has opened up more "what if's" and "could be's" than I can handle, and yet I can't stop my brain from going there and preparing as if it were a done deal.

I've taken on some volunteer duties that overall aren't too overwhelming, but for some reason all the actual effort needs to happen RIGHTNOW. And I need to print stuff, and the printer won't talk to the computer and all I need is this one page and WHY WON'T YOU JUST DO WHAT YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO?!?!

I can feel the heat pressing down on me, and it gives me a headache every time I go outside.

I just have to hold on til next week.

Posted by me at 10:33 AM | Comments (0)

July 29, 2011

Fun and games, I tell you

Yesterday, I had the follow-up to my follow-up sonogram for my ovarian cyst. This was the third time I've gotten to peek at my uterus this year. Thing's been around so long it needs a name.

After my sonogram, I was supposed to see my doctor. I had the first sono appointment of the day, and I assume the first appointment with the doctor, so I was a bit confused when I was still sitting in the waiting room an hour later. I finally got into an exam room, where I obsessively refreshed Facebook and Twitter for twenty minutes before the nurse poked her head in to tell me that the doctor had been in surgery and wasn't even in the building yet.

Ten more minutes and she was in the building! She should be in any minute!

Twenty minutes after that, the nurse came in with a consent form for an endometrial biopsy (!!), and could you strip from the waist down?

And finally, after I had turned blue from the ridiculous A/C, the doctor came in and said that in addition to the cyst, I have a thickened endometrium. Apparently the pill should have kept that from happening (again, I had it two months ago as well), so biopsy to rule out anything abnormal (according to Dr. Google, that would be cancer).

I get to go back for another view of Velma in two months. In the meantime, I have more birth control to take, which doesn't bother me so much now that all of the symptoms seems to have faded. (And also, free samples!)

Spontaneous endometrial biopsy, still have the cyst, unrelated. more pills

Posted by me at 10:41 PM | Comments (0)

July 18, 2011

Looking forward to feeling like myself. Again. Whatever that is.

Well, it turns out the pill isn't to blame for all of my discomfort after all.

After several weeks of near daily headaches, I realized that the pain was located in the front of my head, above my eyes, as opposed to the sharper pain I would normally feel behind my eyes, usually to one side. I've been sleeping plenty, but still feel run down. And in the last couple days, I've had drainage down the back of my throat.

A quick consult with Dr. Google suggested a sinus infection.

I've been looking for an excuse to have my ear checked, too. I've had a randomly occurring ear clog bugging me for months, not worth it's own appointment, but annoying as hell. Nothing like having a dull hum in one ear wake you up in the night and then garble conversations all day.

I planned to make an appointment today for the sinus thing, so it was just dumb luck that the ear started doing it's thing. I got the earliest appointment I could, in hopes that the ear wouldn't clear before the doctor could look at it.

The bad news is that I have a sinus infection and an inflamed eustachian tube that's keeping my ear from draining fluid. The good news is that both of these things are treatable, and I'm now in the possession of drugs. I could have done without the shot in the ass, but it's certainly a fair trade to get rid of the static in my left ear.

Posted by me at 9:54 PM | Comments (0)

July 1, 2011

Not a fan of repunctuation

When did this become an exercise blog?

It's time to mix it up a bit. So, back to my ovaries!

When we last spoke, I had just started Seasonique in the hopes that my friendly ovarian cyst would shrink back where it came from. I'm around halfway through my 3 month pill pack, and I've come to some realizations:

• Heavier, more irregular periods are somehow less annoying than constant or near constant spotting and show.
• Sore boobs aren't a lot of fun, although they do seem a tad bit perkier. Not that I'm going to let anyone touch them.
• For the last week or two, I've been insatiably hungry. Since I've been exercising less and sitting more, I'm fairly sure I can tie this in with the rest of my PMS-like symptoms.
• Which leads to weight gain. which might not be technically a side effect, since it's my own damn fault for eating more, but cause and effect, you know.
• I've been tired and headachy the last weekish. Not sure if this is pill related, but I'm in a blaming mood.

I was on the pill on and off for a lot of years, and never experienced any noticeable side effects until after Katie was born. Since that time, I find the side effects to be too annoying to bother with. They aren't horrible and dramatic, more niggling and irritating, but my tolerance for unnecessary irritants is low, and at this point in my life I just don't have to put up with that crap.

I'll be finishing this pack of pills, since it's for the cyst and not for actual birth prevention, but after that I'm done. I'll find another solution, or I'll put up with what Mother Nature dealt me.

Posted by me at 8:31 PM | Comments (0)

May 22, 2011

Short

Why does everything seems to break at the same time?

From the kids to the house to my own reproductive tract, it seems like everything is going haywire at once.

Two weeks ago, Owen had a fever with a few random puking episodes. Just when I was sure the rest of us had escaped contamination, Jamie got sick. With strep, ostensibly. Less than 2 months after the last time. And of course the first round of antibiotics didn't seem to be having any effect, so by the time the second round kicked in, she'd been miserable for a week.

The GFI outlet that our driveway gate plugs into has been tripped for weeks. I had checked it out, mentioned it to my dad when he was here, and then we promptly forgot about it. The gate runs off a battery, and I didn't really remember again until the battery started to drain. A little investigation (and a call to my handy brother) and suddenly I'm supposed to replace the outlet. I HATE dealing with electricity! And of course a simple project is never simple: a stripped screw and mis-sized gasket and the job is still only 95% done, but at least we can use the gate again.

So I can get my van, with its slow leaking tire with a screw in the tread, out of the driveway.

I think there may be a short in my Magic Mouse, and another in my microwave touch panel.

And all this happens when I'm short on patience (PMS), short on time (end of the school year, two baby showers, dentist appointments, fundraiser), and short on distance (Ack! My 10K!).

Posted by me at 12:52 PM | Comments (0)

May 19, 2011

To pill, or not to pill

It's time for some more TMI.

Since my periods started up since Owen was born, I've been much less regular than, well, ever before. They started out heavier, and I thought maybe that would improve after the first few, but it didn't. In fact, it got to the point where there were some days I was afraid to be far from a bathroom, preferably my own, because I was constantly breaking through.

I brought these issues up at my annual appointment this year. The inconsistency I could deal with, although 24 days between periods really sucks. For the heaviness, she recommended an ablation procedure. She also wanted to do an ultrasound, which was required for the ablation, so I made the appointment and went home to think about it.

I put some serious thought into it. Logically, I know we're done having kids. I mean, Rex is fixed. And the older Owen gets, the less I hope his vasectomy fails. But for some reason, I just can't bring myself to permanently alter my fertility.

My doctor was very understanding, and gave me some other options: IUD, Nuvaring, the pill. After some discussion, I decided to take a sample of that three months on, one week off pill, to be started that day after I made my final decision. Oh, and there was a "small" cyst on my right ovary. Her SOP is to recheck all cysts two months last with another ultrasound.

The period I had had right before that appointment had been relatively normal, so I decided to wait and see how the next period went before starting the pill. When that one was downright light, I waited through another, also light/normal.

And that brings us to today. The cyst is essentially unchanged, and my uterine lining was particularly thick, which could be because it's about that time. How thick, you might ask? (Fine, you wouldn't, but I did!) Like I'm three weeks pregnant, is how thick. Them's scary words when you're married to a man with my husband's regenerative powers.

The treatment? Wait until my next period starts and start taking the pill. And go back in 2-3 months for another ultrasound. As much as I'm seeing my doctor and the ultrasound tech this year, I might as well be pregnant!

Posted by me at 8:25 PM | Comments (0)

March 3, 2011

Hopefully healing

Aside from my Ob/Gyn, I've never made an appointment with a doctor with the expectation that they would put my hands on me in any significant way.

Today I saw a sports doctor/chiropractor/ART specialist, and it took me until now to realize why THIS appointment with THIS doctor felt so different from any of the other many appointments I've been to over the years. I was also a little nervous because a lot of my pain disappeared the day I made the appointment, much like when you take a car to the mechanic and it suddenly stops making that strange noise you hear every day.

He found a few places that were tight right off the bat, places that I hadn't known were sore until he pushed on them. It was deeply uncomfortable for me when he worked on those place, but nothing compared to the hot poker feeling I experienced when he dug into some other muscles later on. I can't keep track of all the muscle names, or even exactly what was wrong with each part, but I do know that I have some tight muscles, some rotation in one hip and probably some damage that's resulted from everything from pregnancy to carrying kids on my hip.

How much he really helps remains to be seen. From what my friend who recommended him has said, I'll be more sore tomorrow and maybe beyond. Not sure when the feeling better part is supposed to start, but I'm willing to give this a few more visits/weeks and see where it goes.

Posted by me at 10:01 PM | Comments (0)

January 7, 2011

Oil and water

It's been a long time since I've picked up my camera to do more than just take a snapshot. I'm not sure why. I think part of it is just a general mental funk, and part is that I just can't figure out what to shoot.

Then I read this post, and I literally jumped off the couch to see if I could do it too!

I had a few setbacks: My lens wasn't macro, my sink was filthy, and Owen was upstairs chattering and calling my name when he should have been napping, so I was really rushed. I could have spent a lot more time messing around with my settings, different angles and maybe even my kit lens. I'll have to give it another go on a day when Owen actually sleeps!

I cleaned my sink, added a few drops of food coloring, and flipped the cap on the baby oil. Then I unscrewed the cap and removed the safety seal. Anyone tells you to stock up on baby oil before you have a kid, hold off. I've owned that bottle for 8 years!

These aren't as cool as Jodi's, but I still think they're kind of fun!

I've also decided to participate in MCP Project 52. A picture a day always becomes such a chore, but I think I can have some fun with one a week, especially since there's a suggested theme. I'm nothing if not suggestible!

Posted by me at 10:50 PM | Comments (0)

December 28, 2010

And to all a good night

We had an awesome Christmas.

My mom, my dad, my brother and his girlfriend were all here to get up with the kids on Christmas morning.

To me, that's one of the most important parts of Christmas. It's not about the food, or the price, number or size of the gifts, it's about being together and seeing the looks on your loved ones face when they receive someone you thought long and hard about.

That being said, it was awesome to be able to pretty much blow the kids minds with gifts. It helps that they have simple wants for the most part, but we're also just incredibly lucky to have... Just to have, really.

Jamie in particular had all her dreams come true. Probably because she had the most well defined dreams. My dad got the girls each an iPod Touch, which they've drained at least once and sometimes twice a day since they opened them. Jamie got a pair of rollerblades, which she wore around the house all day. I thought she might try to take them to bed! She also got warmers, arm or leg depending on whether you believe Jamie or the packaging. Both girls were thrilled with all the books they got.

Owen. Owen got a ride-on 4 wheeler that he's been riding 10 feet forward and 10 feet backward in the living room for three days. He plays with our old Touch and is just as excited about it as if it were new. He just wants to do what the girls are doing.

And for me, well, I got a box, and a letter. Each had paper in it with pictures, and I get to choose which one I want. The choices? A Kindle and Garmin Forerunner, or an iPad. I'm totally going with the iPad!

All the wonderful has been wonderful, but I'm ready to get back to normal!

Posted by me at 10:36 PM | Comments (0)

November 30, 2010

5.30: The end!

Back when I was in college, I gave blood regularly. They conveniently parked a bus right outside my building at 8 week intervals, removing all good excuses not to give. Plus, I was always looking for another way to lose weight. I figured making blood had to burn some calories, right?

Some of my friends had their own stupid reasons for giving blood. A big rush on the first post-leech smoke. A cheap night of drinking. A big rush and instant buzz within minutes of exiting the bus.

Some of my friends were lushier than others.

Other than quicker highs, I never really felt any effects. I walked off the bus and never gave my lack of blood another thought.

Nowadays, I give blood and spend the rest of the day getting lightheaded when I stand up. I'm desperate for a nap. It throws me off running for at least a week or two, if not more.

Getting old sucks.

---

Yes! I survived another year of NaBloPoMo! And it wasn't even too much of a hardship. See you next year!

Posted by me at 12:11 PM | Comments (0)

November 29, 2010

5.29: Almost....there...

I sort of thought that when the Thanksgiving rush was over, I'd have a few weeks to breathe before the Christmas freak-out began.

Boy, was I wrong.

Turns out, all that stuff I put off while I was prepping for guests, and all that stuff I put off because we had guests still has to be done. You know, presents to buy, a meal to plan, a house to decorate. There's all the stuff that has to be done at the school that I really want to help out with: Holiday parties to plan, gingerbread men to make, the PTA Holiday Shop and a meal to help prepare and set up for the teachers. Then there are a few unanticipated events, namely Katie needing two extra dentist appointments because she has a cavity on each side of her mouth, and a (welcome) visit from my in-laws, and I'm starting to freak out a bit.

Add in our regular schedule, and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed.

Posted by me at 3:42 PM | Comments (0)

November 28, 2010

5.28: Bookish

I've been a little obsessed for the last couple weeks. In spite of guests, kids out of school and all the cooking and cleaning that go along with a holiday, I've been reading close to a book a day from Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series.

It all started so innocently. I had read a couple of her books, and they were good, fun reads. Then I had a gift card that I need to use up from Border's, and I didn't have anything specific on my, so I ordered a box set of the first three books in the series. By book two, I was hooked. I hit two Half Price Books, snatching up every copy I found in the series, knowing I'd get to them soon, but book five was elusive. I grumbled and complained and practically threw my credit card at the cashier in my haste to pay full price for my missing link.

I made it to book nine before I had another gap in my collection. I'm currently twitching and irritated while I wait for it to arrive in the mail, having struck out at the full price bookstore today. While I was at it, I found discounted versions of the last three books I'm missing, and threw those in my cart, too.

Now I just have to find something to keep me occupied for the next 3-7 days while I wait for the postman to knock on my door.

Posted by me at 8:53 PM | Comments (0)

November 27, 2010

5.27: Relief

My mom is still here (although she's staying in her travel trailer out front. We're classy like that.) but the rest of our guests took off this morning. I'll be sleeping in my own bed tonight, where only a small percentage of Owen's rantings will carry down. Rex's snoring will seem like a treat after listening to Owen yell about someone folding his blanket (who has nightmares about folded blankets?)

We also get out bathroom back full-time, which may not be a big deal to a lot of people, but I have a serious bathroom preference, and I don't like having to share. And I almost killed myself getting up in the middle of the night to pee last night.

And won't you feel better when NaBloPoMo is over and I (mostly) stop writing about my bathroom habits?

Posted by me at 9:27 PM | Comments (0)

November 26, 2010

5.26: Is it over? It feels over

Well. Thanksgiving went well. The food was good, the company was excellent, the Aggies won and Dallas lost.

I'm filled with an abundance of thanks, I really am. But I'm ready to get back to normal. Back to my own bed, and being able to yell at my kids without worrying about what everyone thinks. Back to running (I'm really feeling the need now) and reading without guilt and letting the kids trash the house.

I'm thankful for food and family and abundance, and I'm thankful that in another day it will all go back to normal.

Posted by me at 11:43 AM | Comments (0)

November 25, 2010

5.25: Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm off to cook a meal, stuff myself silly, and watch some football with that which I'm most thankful for: my family.

Posted by me at 10:32 AM | Comments (0)

November 24, 2010

5.24: Clean house edition

I spent the day cleaning and cooking and shoving all my junk into my office so I can shut the door on it. Now I have family here, and I'd rather spend time with them than with my computer. I don't even have a picture for ya.

Posted by me at 9:28 PM | Comments (0)

November 23, 2010

5.23: Maybe they'll name it after me

When does having multiple colds stop being bad luck and start being a syndrome? I'm on #3, and I'm starting to feel like the universe is gunning for me. Seriously, we have a kid with strep in the house, and that skips me and I get something completely new, instead.

Posted by me at 12:57 PM | Comments (0)

November 21, 2010

5.21: Dullard

I've managed to avoid wordless picture posts for the most part, but today I'm truly out of words. In the last two days I've done nothing but watch tv and read a book, with one brief break to take Jamie to the doctor to get diagnosed with strep.

So I leave you with this cute but poor picture of Owen, showing his street side.

Posted by me at 7:49 PM | Comments (0)

November 20, 2010

5.20: Why is being healthy so painful?

I was supposed to go out of town this weekend. Since I knew I wouldn't be getting a run in, and I figured I'd have lots of days to recover, I did the Shred on Friday afternoon.

I've been meaning to start up again for a while, but I always have an excuse. It's a running day. I forgot to do it while Owen was napping. I had something more important going on. I didn't want to get sweaty. I was sick.

I finally got fed up with myself and my excuses and did it.

And now I remember why I was putting it off.

Doing the Shred was bad enough. Apparently I have absolutely ZERO upper body strength. And my legs? The ones that I thought would be strong from running? I guess running uses absolutely none of the same muscles as the Shred, because they didn't do a damn bit of good.

Oh, my, am I sore. I can barely make it up the stairs, and down is even worse. My chest and shoulders protest any but the tiniest movements. Even my abs, which are usually fairly resilient and I would have thought to be moderately strong from running, are sore.

Being sore while out of town would have been a bit embarrassing, sure, but we do a lot of sitting around with Rex's family, so it wouldn't have been too taxing. Instead, I'm home, with a huge list of things that need cleaning before family starts coming into town Monday night. Frankly, I'm just not sure I'm going to be able to scrub the shower and Swiffer the kitchen in this condition.

Posted by me at 8:16 PM | Comments (0)

November 18, 2010

5.18: Baby it's cold outside

And I was out there running. Up until a year or so ago, if you had told me I would be running several miles at a time, I would have laughed in your face. If you told me I would be running when it was 45 degrees outside, I would have just walked away, because obviously you don't know me at all.

I'm honestly not sure if I'm more proud of the fact that I went running tonight, or that I voluntarily went outside in these temperatures.

That said, I think I might be asking for a treadmill for Christmas.

Posted by me at 10:43 PM | Comments (0)

November 15, 2010

5.15: DVR

It's become difficult to remember a time before we had a DVR.

What I do remember is how shocked and awed we were that we had ever manage to live without one.

Suddenly it didn't matter when shows were on, and it didn't matter if two of the shows we wanted to see were on at the same time. We could watch three shows in the time it used to take to watch two, with the exception of Dancing with the Stars, which could be watched in easily half the time.

It's taken years for the dark side to show itself.

Instead of watching a few well-loved shows a week, plus catching a bunch of other take-it-or-leave it shows that we didn't have the luxury of getting deeply involved with, we now record 10-15 shows a week, all of which we feel obligated to watch. And that's after a few of our favorites got cancelled or lost in the writer's strike shuffle (or just started sucking.) Just to keep up, we're watching 2+ hours each evening of must-see tv.

All these shows are eating up my blogging time, my photo managing time and our *ahem* couple time.

There was a time I wondered how we ever managed to live without our DVR.

Now I'm not sure we can stand to live with one.

Posted by me at 8:51 PM | Comments (0)

November 14, 2010

5.14: Day of Rest

Ahh, today was one of those lovely days where we had nothing scheduled, no homework and few required chores.

Unscheduled, unhurried play was had, pj's were worn until they had to be removed to go out for a lunch that someone else cooked, books were read, football was watched and naps were had by (nearly) all.

And now that the kids are in bed, I'm going to go back to doing what *I* want to do.

Posted by me at 7:58 PM | Comments (0)

November 13, 2010

5.13: Team spirit

I've never really been much of a fan of professional sports. Sure I snicker a little when the Cowboys lose, and I might dance a particularly mean little dance when the Redskins are the ones who hand them their walking boots. But I feel no particular sadness or shame when the Skins have a losing season (or 10.)

College sports are a little different. Particularly when I was in school and attending most of the games, I felt the spirit and rode the highs and lows with my team. Since I graduated, though, I've done little more than follow the scores. I love to hear about a win, I'm disappointed with a loss, but I rarely sit and watch a game. I'm no fair weather fan, but there are times I'm barely worthy of the title "fan" at all.

The last couple weeks, though, I've not only watched my Aggies play, I've felt the strain of trying to will my team into a better position, the elation when we score, anger when the refs make yet another call against us. Why, I've almost raised my voice at the tv!

I'm not sure why I'm suddenly emotional over sports my children aren't even participating in, but I'm kind of enjoying the rush.

Posted by me at 9:23 PM | Comments (0)

November 12, 2010

5.12: Motivation

I have no idea what to write about tonight. No motivation to put words to screen.

Yesterday, I found all sorts of things to reorganize and sort and discard. I was interrupted by the needs to feed my kids and entertain the boy. Today, when I finally had the time to get back to it, I had lost my motivation and just sat there staring at all the stuff.

I have two big boxes of stuff to donate to a charity that will go to the trouble of picking it up at my front door. I need to sort through it all and itemize it and it's been waiting for months for me to get motivated to do it.

I have three years worth of photo books to pick pictures for, a year's worth of updates to our family website to sort, and more photos to sort and tag just to catch up. And yet I spend my "free" time while Owen naps doing puzzles online, catching up on blogs and making sure the DVR doesn't overflow. No motivation.

I have tons of possible crafts, thousands of square feet of house that are never all clean at the same time, technology that I would like to get caught up with and exercises to perform to keep gravity, bad genes and my love of chocolate at bay. And I have no excuses for the lack of motivation I feel, even towards things I enjoy.

How can I get it back?

Posted by me at 9:27 PM | Comments (0)

November 10, 2010

5.10: PMS

Not me. Owen.

All day he's bounced between perfectly happy and the-world-is-out-to-get-me whiney. I didn't know it was possible for two year old BOYS to be hormonal.

I tried food, he took a nap, we went for a walk to watch a bulldozer push dirt.

Sob. Smile! Tantrum. Maniacal giggling.

This isn't a new condition for the kids that live here. Jamie comes home from school happy as a clam and within 10 minutes is chewing my head off like I stole her cookie. Katie will run off to school in the morning, excited for a new day and five minutes later her face crumples and there are silent tears streaming down her cheeks. Sometimes all it takes is a big hug to put her right back on the happy track.

In Owen's case, I assume his mercurial moods are a symptom of being two, but the girls are too young to really be at the mercy of hormones, drugs or teenage pressures. Some swings can be chalked up to transitions or hunger or tiredness, but try as I might, there are some days when I just can't find an excuse for them.

And those are the days that I pray that they're blowing it all out of their systems early, and puberty will be a breeze.

Right?

Posted by me at 8:49 PM | Comments (0)

November 8, 2010

5.8: Money suck

Something happened to me today.

It happened in Walmart, which really, is as good a place as any for an amnesic, out of body experience.

Here's the thing.

I went into the store to return some stuff, and an indeterminate amount of time later, I found myself out in the parking lot, pushing a cart containing $80 worth who knows what to my van.

Worse, of the three things on my list, they didn't have the biggest, most expensive item.

I don't know if they pipe some sinister kind of gas through the air ducts, or if there was something freaky in those free cookies Owen and I got from the bakery.

What I do know is that I don't think I can afford to go back.

Posted by me at 9:06 PM | Comments (0)

November 6, 2010

5.6: The Halloween picture

This was the only time all day that Owen actually wore his costume. After that, he was just a boy in boots begging for candy.

Otherwise, it was pretty much the perfect Halloween evening. Trick or Treating was completed for just the right amount of time from everyone's perspective, candy was consumed, kids were scared and the children went to bed at a reasonable time with minimal effort.

Posted by me at 7:50 PM | Comments (0)

November 5, 2010

5.5: Sick (and tired)

Three and a half weeks ago, I caught a cold.

It was the Energizer Bunny of colds, going on and on, as if completely unaware that colds are supposed to last only 7-10 days. Finally, at the beginning of this week, nearly three weeks in, it had faded to just a lingering (if annoying) cough.

This morning, I woke up stuffy. Throughout the day, my head has filled up until I feel like someone stuck a balloon up my nose and has been slowly inflating it all day.

I was really looking forward to not being sick. I was less looking forward to keeping up my running schedule, but even so, I had prepared myself to run in the cold tonight. I bought fitted running pants, for god's sake.

Just 6-9 more days, right?

Posted by me at 8:49 PM | Comments (0)

November 4, 2010

5.4: The I'm pooped edition

It's 9:00 and I just remembered that NaBloPoMo exists. I guess I'm not in the habit yet, huh?

I spent well over two hours today buying one of everything Target sells. Then Owen and I came home, had lunch and spent the next 6 hours at the school, passing out the items ordered for our fall fundraiser. A few years ago, all that wouldn't have phased me. Now I'm old, and I'm pooped.

Speaking of pooped, and being old and decrepitate, I have a question. When do you go to the doctor for a nagging pain? I mean, if it's a sharp pain, or a daily-life altering pain, then you go. And if it's a twinge that you barely notice, and it goes away after a week or so, you don't. But what it it's an irritation that makes you wince but doesn't keep you from your normal activities? And it's been that way for at least a few weeks, at least so long that you don't really remember when it started? And you can't really describe it, or really explain when or why it hurts or eases?

When you do cross over from hypochondriac and into a legitimate patient?

Posted by me at 8:54 PM | Comments (0)

November 3, 2010

5.3: My whole day is a run-on

So I'm standing at the stove, eating apple crisp right out of the pan when I realize I need to get dinner started in the the crock pot. So I head to the laundry room to get the maple syrup out of the second fridge and automatically turn toward my laptop on the bar. I click refresh, remember I'm supposed to be starting dinner and head back to the laundry room, where I notice that the load I put in the washer a few hours ago is ready to be moved. But before I can move the wet stuff into the dryer, I have to take the dry load out. Then I move the wet stuff and turn out the light when I realize I haven't gotten the maple syrup yet. So I get the syrup, think "hey, this would be fun to write down" so I stop at the laptop and start typing.

Who wants to bet when I finish writing I forget the syrup on the bar and go back to eating apple crisp and completely forget about dinner until 30 minutes before we're supposed to eat?

Posted by me at 10:50 PM | Comments (0)

November 2, 2010

5.2: The best case for an iPhone

This post almost didn't happen tonight. Around 7, before the girls and I got home from gymnastics, the power went out. Around 8, the UPS's that should have allowed us to get on the internet on the laptops and wireless connection (which wasn't working, don't know why) gave out. At least the obnoxious beeping finally shut off. Rex put the kids to bed and then...

And then, what? No tv (and no DVR! Oh, noes!), no internet, no lights, no sound, no fridge or microwave or heat.

All right, well I scrounged around and found a couple lights and we can read. I really wanted to finish my book anyway, so I guess this isn't so bad. It's not like I had anything important to do tonight. Ah, shit. NaBloPoMo. Ok, I'll just pump out a quick Halloween post and then I can read.

Wait wait wait. Go back.

No internet?!?!

The laptop? No, no WiFi.

What about the iPod? Oh, wait, that requires WiFi.

Our phones? No, they're just phones.

Well, hell, it's day 2 and I'm already getting knocked out. Guess I'll read for a while and pray I the power comes on/I don't fall asleep before midnight.

Posted by me at 9:49 PM | Comments (0)

November 1, 2010

NaBloPoMo 5.1: And so it begins. Again.

I was going to post about Halloween tonight, but then I realized I could write a whole post about doing NaBloPoMo for the 5th year running. Considering my posting frequency over the last few months (damn you, facebook!) I figure I need to drag my topics out as much as possible.

So, yeah. Fifth year! Go me! You'd think, with as little as I've written lately, that I would just blow this month off. Instead, I've actually been looking forward to having an obligation to put words on, uh, screen. It's not that I don't have things to say, and it's not that I don't technically have time, I've just been to lazy to type when I could be staring blankly at the tv in the evenings. All the running in the past seven months has really cut into my useless-schlub-on-the-couch time. With any luck, the horror that is daily November posting will jump-start a writing habit that will carry me through the next year.

In any case, I like a challenge, and this still seems like a worthy one.

Write on!

Posted by me at 10:36 PM | Comments (0)

August 19, 2010

Last gasp

Well, our last blast of summer was certainly memorable.

We went to a Great Wolf Lodge nearby in Grapevine. We thought it would be great for all three kids, since it looked like it had something for everyone. And it's all indoors, so no sweating like a horse, slathering ourselves in sunscreen and trying to escape the sun. On top of that, they have some indoor activities that aren't water related, so when we got all pruney there would be something to do besides sit in the room and watch tv.

Our first afternoon started out well. The water was a tad chilly, but the kids were getting a kick out of the whole place. Sure, the girls weren't interested in any but the smallest slides, and Owen freaked out going down one of the infant pool slides and never went down another before we left, but overall they just love being wet. After a couple hours, I had a bit of a headache from the humidity or the chemicals or just because I'm me. Rex took the girls out to find cheap snacks and dinner, and I took Owen to our room for a much needed nap. We spent the evening on a rather confusing high tech scavenger hunt (during which Jamie tripped or misjudged or something and went chin first into a giant window), took in some ice cream, the clock tower show and storytime, and headed to bed. The kids were out cold post haste.

This is where I would normally start complaining about how early the kids got us up, but the
fire alarms beat us to it. At 5:15, strobes started going off in the bedroom, with that annoying fire alarm sound and a recording asking us to escape through the nearest exit. We spent an hour outside, wondering what was going on, and nearly another hour waiting in the lobby restaurant waiting for the all clear to go back to our room. We never saw any evidence of fire, unless you count the long line of fire trucks and the fans on the first floor blowing out a smoke-machine-scented haze.

We spent a couple hours "resting," which is code for "Rex and I dozed while the kids watched PBS." Rex took our stuff out to the car while I checked out, and then we hit the water park again. We were comped breakfast for our "trouble," but since we had already eaten, we had an early lunch of breakfast all over again. Rex ran out to the van to get some cash for a tip, where he found out back window shattered, but still mostly intact. Sure, why not? Might as well get this months crap all over with in one day. I called our insurance, but our deductible is way more than the cost of a new window, so I locked our valuables in the floor storage and went back in for a few more hours at the water park (the girls actually rode the big slides, although Katie was the only one who really enjoyed them). We were about done anyway when Jamie had some kind of teary meltdown, so we headed out to the van to clear the largest part of the glass out of the window and head home.

I wouldn't exactly put this down as our best family vacation, but in spite of everything that happened, I wouldn't call it a bust, either. I think the kids had fun, the room was nice, the towels (in the room, anyway) were nice and fluffy, and the waterpark was fun, in good shape and had enough different activities to keep us all entertained.

Overall, a win.

Posted by me at 10:24 PM | Comments (0)

June 15, 2010

The clinchers

Last night I went out with a couple of my neighbors for a girl's night. At some point, things started seeming a little fishy and secretive, and I thought maybe they were planning to do a little something for my birthday that had just passed. I was excited that they remembered, didn't really know what to expect, but figured they were going to take me somewhere yummy for dinner and embarrass me with loud singing waitstaff to show they cared.

Honestly? I was thrilled. It's been a long time since I've had friends that were close enough physically and emotionally to celebrate with.

I was overwhelmed when we walked into the restaurant and five more friends were awaiting my arrival.

I've never had a group of girlfriends like this.

I've complained a lot about living in Dallas. Leaving friends. No family. The wind, the heat, the snow. The unfamiliarity with the area.

There have been good parts: The preschool my kids (and I) adore. The elementary school. Finding activities for the kids that suit us all. There's been happiness.

I'd even gotten to the point where I wasn't sure I would jump to move if the opportunity presented itself. To the point where if you asked me, I would have answered, "Well, it depends..."

But this? This group of girlfriends who came out for *me*, who gathered money for a gift and signed a card and stayed out too late talking?

These women have made me want to stay.

Posted by me at 9:31 PM | Comments (0)

March 13, 2010

Think pink

No, I'm not pregnant.

No, really!

On Thursday, Owen had a green eye booger, followed by another green eye booger. I knew something was coming.

Friday morning, he woke up with one eye puffy and gooped shut. I started working a doctor's appointment into my day, but by the time the office opened his eyes were clearer and the puffiness less apparent.

At 11 on Friday, as my dad was preparing lunch so he and Katie could run over to the school to eat with Jamie, the nurse called. Jamie's eyes were goopy, and could I come get her?

The earliest appointment I could get was four hours out, by which time Owen's eyes were filled with green slime, and Jamie's were clearer, but she looked like she was just coming in from a hard night on the town, including possible illegal substances. A diagnoses of pink eye was no surprise.

Owen's 3am wake up scream was less expected. Poor kid woke up with his eyes stuck shut and was a little, uh, disturbed.

Luckily, a day and a half of eye drops has made all the difference. The down side is that I'm becoming a hypochrondriac, thinking that with every itch of my eyes, I'm being dragged down like a chubby, out-of-shape gazelle by the hyena of pink eye. And Katie has so far avoided any eye goo, but is instead running a fever and looking all wrung out. Is it possible to get pink eye of the whole body?

Posted by me at 9:43 PM | Comments (0)

March 7, 2010

It happened.

I did something last night that I've wanted to do for years. Something that has always been part of my picture of family fun and contentment. Something I actually put on my (unfinished) Life List.

We had friends over. With their kids.

We made pizzas, everybody ate, and then the kids ran around an played and screamed like banshees and played Wii upstairs, while the adults had piña coladas and got to talk.

It's such a simple thing. Something that happens every day to lots of people. So easy to arrange, nothing fancy. But because I'm rather shy, because I don't make close friends easily, because I don't like to impose, and because I seem to attract people who are like me, it never seems to happen.

And I'm determined to make it happen again.

Posted by me at 1:07 PM | Comments (0)

January 27, 2010

All about the cat

I've never been one of those people who compares their pets to children, even before I had kids. Don't get me wrong, I love my cats; They're still cats, though, and in a whole different class than spawn.

In the last year, Tana has been losing weight. It started slowly enough that I didn't really notice, and continued slowly enough that I wasn't in huge hurry to rush off to the vet when I did notice. She finally got thin enough that I knew I needed to take her in to be seen, and I planned to take her in during the Christmas break when I would have other adults around to watch the kids. I was rather convinced that her weight loss was due to something terminal, and I really didn't want to have that kind of visit with kids in tow. All that changed when I was up with Owen in the middle of the night and witnessed what the vets call an "episode," behavior that may have been a stroke and was possibly indicative of high blood pressure.

I was sure at that point that Tana had something terminal. I was also sure that I couldn't wait to take her to the vet, because on the off chance that what she had was painful, I refuse to let her suffer. The next morning I took Owen, Katie and the cat to the vet clinic where Bubba was put to sleep.

Long story short, the vet was pretty sure that Tana had hyperthyroidism and high blood pressure. She confirmed the bp while we were there, and had bloodwork results back to us by the next morning. She called in a couple prescriptions, told me to come back in two weeks to recheck her levels, and we were good.

I expected Tana's activity level to decrease, in fact, if it didn't, the drugs weren't working. And she did get less active. After two weeks, her blood levels still looked good, but she was still losing weight. A week or so after that, and she was practically comatose. I would search her out several times a day, just to make sure she was still alive. I never saw her eat or drink, and she felt lighter. I tried to get a last minute appointment, but they were booked up. Instead, they suggested splitting her meds and gave us an appetite stimulant.

The stimulant woke her up again, and she started acting like a very toned down version of herself. She still wasn't eating, though, so I took her back in for another visit. In less than two weeks, she had dropped another pound. My cat who used to be a well fed but not fat 14 pounds was now down to 6.5. I was sure (again) that this was going to be the end, apparently there was just a little hope left. Her bp was fine, and the drug for that was the likely culprit of the nausea and lack of appetite, so we dropped it. We kept the stimulant, and started force feeding her a high nutrient wet food to try to jump start her system.

It took two days of bi hourly feedings, stunk both of us up and reminded me why babies are such a pain in the butt, but Tana finally started drinking. And then she started eating. She's started to feel a bit more substantial, and even though I still haven't seen her play, she's rejoined the family. I need to take her in to check her weight and make sure her bp is still ok (although I think we'll risk high bp over the meds), but I think she's going to make it through this.

My cats don't share the same level of importance as my kids. That doesn't mean that they aren't important to me, though. So yeah, I jumped through a lot of hoops, paid more than I probably should have and stress ate my way up a few extra pounds.

And I'm really grateful that it worked.

Posted by me at 10:21 PM | Comments (0)

January 13, 2010

I settled for wine

I'm hoping this post makes sense, but I'm writing it after I opened a bottle of wine. And since I don't want to waste any of it, who knows what kind of mental state I'll be in by the time I finish writing.

I hadn't really thought of this week as being too trying, and I guess as a week, it wasn't too bad. Even today started off improving the week, but it ended with something of a bang. Or sort of a squish.

On Tuesday, Owen got the runs. Not the normal, ate-too-much-fruit-and-his-diaper-exploded run, although I didn't know that at the time. I didn't really get it until it ate the skin off his butt, and he learned the work "Ow." Until I was trying to dry his skin and realized the reason it wasn't drying was because it was weeping puss. He woke up over and over after bedtime, because he would go a drop or two and it would burn so bad he would cry for me.

Wednesday was better, but still heartbreaking. He still cried at every diaper change, but there weren't so many of them. He still fought being wiped, but he didn't freak out every time a drop of something hit his diaper.

By today, he was red and sad, but not in pain anymore, thank goodness.

And then Katie woke up with a frog in her throat and a god-awful sounding cough. Within ten minutes, she was sounding a hundred times better. I had already prepped her for staying home, but it wasn't long after she woke up, she was asking for breakfast and sounding nearly normal. She had no temperature, and when I asked her, she wanted to go to school.

At dinner, she didn't do much eating. Then she started coughing up her milk. Then she started looking so rough I was afraid she wasn't breathing. (She was, but WHOA.) She wouldn't talk, but I got her to admit her throat hurt. I got her up from the table and took her straight to the after hours clinic. By the time we got there, she looked a lot better, although she still wouldn't talk. As soon as the doctor confirmed a sore throat and a prescription and walked out the door, she started chatting like we were on some sort of girl's day out. She wanted to go with me to pick up her prescription, instead of go home.

THAT was a mistake. I realized halfway to Target that they have a $10 gift card with new prescription coupon online. I figured we could at least drop the thing off, and maybe they would let me use a copy of the coupon if they had one around. Instead, the lady at the pharmacy said that I could print a copy from the registry computers up front, which I could have, if they had the coupon-printer software installed. And also, if I hadn't been interrupted THREE times to run Katie to the bathroom. If I hadn't had to bag a pair of underwear.

In the end, it turns out the coupon was in this week's flyer, which they happened to have a copy of behind the counter. We got our prescription. And the gift card. We got home without having to wash the car seat cover. Katie can talk and breathe and her back end isn't weeping (yet).

I need chocolate.

Posted by me at 10:46 AM | Comments (0)

December 14, 2009

Meh

I'm not sure what's happened since NaBloPoMo, but I just haven't been motivated to post. I've been busy, but not more than the usual. And life has been chugging along, but I still have things to say. I think I've mostly just not been in the mood to have to think of those, you know, words after the kids go to bed. I just want to sit. Except, I don't get to just sit, because there's that whole Christmas thing coming up, and I must plan and research and shop.

Maybe I don't really have anything to say after all.

Posted by me at 8:09 PM | Comments (0)

November 30, 2009

4.30: In the bag

I made it! Another year of managing to post a little somethin' somethin' every day, in spite of visiting family and Thanksgiving and my own faulty memory.

I didn't really have much to say tonight, so all I was planning was to pat myself on the back with words. Then something happened or came up or I had a flash of brilliance and I thought really? Is this how I want to end it? I decided that content was probably more entertaining than self congratulation.

Unfortunately, I have no idea what that topic was. I can't think of anything exciting that happened today. I've made no exciting decisions or revelations, at least that I can remember. And so it ends like this.

Posted by me at 9:04 PM | Comments (0)

November 29, 2009

4.29: Date night

Grandma's in town for the holiday, so tonight Rex and I went to see The Blind Side. It's not often we get a date night, so I'm going to go enjoy it.

Posted by me at 10:40 PM | Comments (0)

November 27, 2009

4.27: Retirement

I've finally figured out what people do when they retire.

My grandmother came downstairs the first morning a little before 8. Not long after 9, she went back upstairs to get dressed, and didn't return for almost two hours. Yes, she took a bath, but still.

Every time she goes to the bathroom, you can write off 10 minutes, minimum.

At 7:30, when we sent the kids up for bed, she asked me if we were planning to head to bed, too. She decided to stay up with us "for a little while," and was soon sleeping beside me on the couch. She woke up for an hour or so when my uncle arrived, and then went to bed.

Thanksgiving day was more of the same, except she took a rather long "rest" before dinner, instead of after.

Throw in going up and down the stairs a few times, eating and a slow, slow walk to the park, and you've got a day.

I had wondered what my grandmother did to occupy her days. She doesn't really watch tv, had the internet and cable disconnected after my grandfather died, has no hobbies that I know of I don't think leaves the house alone. Apparently, the business of being alive is enough to keep her busy most days.

Posted by me at 8:44 PM | Comments (0)

November 26, 2009

High marks

My mother just called the holiday meal we prepared together, "The best Thanksgiving dinner I've ever had."

Obviously, I can never cook again. I'll never be able to live up to the pressure or meet the standard.

Posted by me at 8:20 PM | Comments (0)

4.26: The holiday greeting

Happy Thanksgiving! Tryptophan and football dreams to all!

Posted by me at 9:19 AM | Comments (0)

November 25, 2009

4.25: Like a turkey, before we knew it made you sick

It's the night before Thanksgiving, and I've already stuffed myself to the gills two days in a row. I'm hoping I can make one more day, and then I should be large enough that I can't get into the fridge. That's when the diet starts.

Posted by me at 9:02 PM | Comments (0)

November 21, 2009

4.21: Sparkle!

The last time I had someone come clean my house for something other than a move, I was 6 months pregnant with Jamie and was hosting my first ever Bunko for the women in my neighborhood. The next time we had that house professionally cleaned was after we moved out and I never even got to see it.

We were barely in the next house long enough to get it dirty, and the two times I paid someone to clean it were in preparation for showings, and again, after we moved out.

The apartment, the rental house, I took care of the move out cleaning of both of those myself.

I've always felt a bit guilty, paying someone to come clean my house. Not as much when we're moving, because at those times I usually have so much on my plate that I'd delegate to a street person if one would be kind enough to wander by. In normal times, though, cleaning is part of my job description, right? Shuttle the kids, shop for, well, everything, pay the bills and clean the house.

Besides, it feels wrong to make someone else clean up my mess. I was taught growing up that you clean up your own stuff and take care of your own crap. And I'm generally cool with that. I take care of the regular cleaning: vacuuming, dishes, kitchen counters and table, laundry and parts of the bathrooms. What I don't get to is dusting the blinds and fans, windows, more than spot cleaning the floors, doors, etc.

I decided long ago that it was probably worth the money to have someone come in and clean quarterly. It costs a bit more per cleaning, but is still way cheaper than having someone come in every two weeks. I just really have hard time actually making that call.

I did it, though. Today, a woman and her daughter came over and spent SEVEN HOURS cleaning. S-E-V-E-N. That's 14 man hours of work, and they weren't interrupted by other people's needs, no one snuck up behind them and pressed their face to a freshly cleaned window, and the entire house is done in the same day. It would have taken me at least a week to do what they did, and by then I would have had to start over again.

I can't tell you the weight that's been lifted. My house is CLEAN. I have company coming for Thanksgiving in a few days, and my number one to-do has been crossed off my list.

It was worth every penny.

Posted by me at 8:01 PM | Comments (0)

November 20, 2009

4.20: Holy crap!

So busy talking on the phone to my dad and cleaning for the cleaning lady that I almost missed the deadline!!

Posted by me at 11:58 PM | Comments (0)

November 15, 2009

4.15: San Francisco Day 4

I woke up early the next morning, in time to catch the sunrise from our private balcony. Then Rex and I got dressed and went for our first daylight walk on the beach, before returning to a common room for a delicious breakfast. We sat in that phenomenal room overlooking the ocean, enjoying a cozy fire and the beautiful views and relaxing with our books.

Soon after, it was time to pack up and head to Ross Ranch, where we rode horses through a redwood forest in the mountains. The ride was slow and easy, and shorter that I had geared myself up for, but I really enjoyed talking with our teenaged guide. She had a lot in common with the me of my youth.

We drove back to SF on 101, avoiding the beautiful but somewhat nauseating twists and turns of the PCH. I enjoyed seeing the vineyards, but unfortunately we didn't stop to take any pictures. They were beautiful, with some fields starting to turn colors for the fall. We stopped for lunch in some little town and ate at a pub that had a most delicious beer battered platter of fried goodness. At this point, I can't remember more than the tasty food.

When we got back to the city, we went straight to our hotel by the airport (and by straight, I mean we got a little lost and had to make a few U-turns, but we didn't go anywhere special.) We took a nice walk along the bay, watching planes land and hoping to find something to eat. I ended up settling for warm cookies from the front desk, with a side of free internet.

The next morning we got up and flew home.

The End

Posted by me at 10:12 PM | Comments (0)

November 14, 2009

4.14: San Francisco Day 3

We've been here for three days, and I haven't yet had access to free internet. And much like sex, I refuse to pay for something I can get for free.

Today, we're going to head back down to the bay and take a ferry to Alcatraz for a tour. We're planning to breakfast at Boudin again, but the big one down at the wharf with all the fancy meal choices. Somewhere in there, we're going to drive down twisty twisty Lombard Street, just to say we did.

---

The Alcatraz tour was sort of awesome. I hadn't realized that there was an audio tour included in our passage to the island, and it was cool to head former prisoners and guards describing their experiences there. A lot of the island was in various states of ruin, but there were bit of incredible beauty here and there, plus the views of the city and the bridges. I went along on the tour mostly because it was something Rex wanted to do, but I'm glad I did.

After the tour, we drove out of town across the Golden Gate bridge, stopping on the other side to take a few obligatory pictures. Then we drove up the coast and made it to the B&B just in time to run down to the beach and catch the sunset. We climbed about a million steps back up to the main house for a glass of wine, and then retired to our room for the first internet access I've had since we left Dallas.

Posted by me at 9:35 PM | Comments (0)

November 13, 2009

4.13: San Francisco, Day 2

The downside of our beautiful hotel room? I think the windows are made from waxed paper, and it's right next to the end of the line for the cable car. All evening and early this morning, the bells were clanging RIGHT NEXT TO MY HEAD. I could hear everything that went on on the street below as though it were happening in the middle of our bed.

I could hear it over Rex's snoring.

We had breakfast at a satellite of Boudin Bakery near our hotel, where an old guy sitting at the table next to us talked our ears off, but gave us some tips on cable car passes and some things to see. When he finally let us go, we headed to the end of the cable car line and waited (and waited) to get on a car. Each of the rides we took were fun and full of wonderfully talkative people.

We spent a half of our day wandering around Fisherman's Wharf, watching them make bread at Boudin, eating chocolate truffles and checking out the (stinky) raft of sea lions. I took a ton of picture of Alcatraz sitting like a jewel on top of the fog. Rex called a friend from work, and he took a few pictures of us on the Pier 39 web cam. We wandered back toward the land end of the pier, looking for the place that had smelled so delicious until the sea lion smell took over. We shared a yummy crepe, fed a few lucky pigeons and starlings some fries and then wandered down The Embarcadero, in what turned out to be a roundabout walk up to Coit Tower. We walked up the back side of Telegraph Hill, up the most stairs we've seen in one place since the fortress we climbed in Nafplio, Greece. The view from the top was beautiful. We ran into yet another talkative and extremely informative man who seemed to know everything about SF. We started walking back toward out hotel, planning to stop at a park Rex wanted to see and then catch a cable car the rest of the way. Instead, we walked all the way back to Union Square, through Chinatown where we saw more things I couldn't identify that things I could.

We too another cable car back to Boudin Bakery on the wharf for dinner, and then walked to the head of the other cable car line to ride back to the hotel. We stopped a few times to watch the "bush" men jump out at unsuspecting tourists and to pick up some ice cream, and then we crashed early. Again.

Posted by me at 9:47 PM | Comments (0)

November 7, 2009

4.7: Pearly whites

We're in Houston tonight, visiting Rex's side of the family, and letting the girls have a night on their own with his mom. I'm pretty sure something really funny or cute happened with at least one of the kids on the way down, but I'm so distracted by this thing that's stuck in between my teeth that I can't remember past five minutes ago.

Ah! Teeth. That reminds me. The girls and I had our biannual dentist appointments this week. They did wonderfully. Their teeth are pretty and perfect and cavity free, and so they still think it's fun to have their teeth cleaned and watch videos and get new princess toothbrushes.

I used to think it was fun to go to the dentist.

I still don't really mind the cleaning and all that, and I'm also happy to get something for "free." (Side note, they had your-name-here lip balm in a basket as a consolation gift. I don't know what brand it is, but I keep curling my lip up under my nose to smell the vanilla. Yummy.) And I was happy enough that I don't have any new cavities, since for years I had at least one new one every visit. I'm less thrilled that all of my old fillings are falling apart and need to be replaced. I could shove hundred dollar bills into my mouth and not be able to fit enough in to pay for what that man is going to do to me over the next month.

And when he's done, I won't even have anything to show for it, since he's replacing my silver fillings with composite that looks like normal teeth. For $2K, shouldn't I get some bling?

Posted by me at 9:03 PM | Comments (0)

November 1, 2009

NaBloPoMo 4.1: Consider yourself warned

And so it begins again.

I'm not sure why I keep putting myself through this every year, except that for once I was part of something big right from the beginning, and I don't wanna give up my "special" card. This one time, I did something cool while it was still cool, and I'm going to keep beating it into the ground until it's dead. Dead. Dead.

Besides, I may be a week behind posting about our trip to San Francisco, but now I have an excuse to drag it out for a whole week. You're welcome.

Some other highlights to look forward to:

• The diet begins again tomorrow. No. Really!
• Daylight Saving Time sucks. Actually, that's all I really have to say about that.
• Halloween is fun!
• Pictures!

See you tomorrow. And every day after that.

Posted by me at 9:10 PM | Comments (0)

October 16, 2009

Mmmm, fruit!

A couple weeks ago, Rex and I walked into an Apple store and walked out with two MacBook Pro's, two printers (free after rebate) and a subscription to MobilMe. The printers and MobileMe were afterthoughts: we don't need new printers, (certainly not two of them) but I'm not one to turn down free, and the sales guy just wouldn't let go of the idea that no one's life is complete without MobileMe.

We've already found a new home for the printers: our PTA can make use of at least one of them, and may use the second as an auction item to raise money. MobileMe wasn't such a good fit. It was nice to sync contacts and calendars between computers, but not necessary. I don't have use for the gallery, and it was a sucky way to sync pictures. And I don't have an iPhone (yet!) so the ability to access my "cloud" is mostly moot.

On Wednesday, I took MobileMe and my on-again-off-again (it was on that particular morning) Mighty Mouse back to the Apple store, expecting to hear a "Sorry, not our problem!" on the webspace, and hoping for a "No problem! Here's a new mouse!"

Instead, I got a pleasant surprise. They refunded the MobileMe membership with no problems, and some guy tried to demonstrate how to clean my mouse. He tested it out and cleaned it some more while I was doing the return, and then did one last cleaning when I went to get it back from him.

And broke it.

At which point, I got my new mouse.

If I weren't already an Apple convert, I would be now.

Posted by me at 7:58 PM | Comments (0)

October 6, 2009

Life just got busier

Last week at her regular gymnastics class, Katie caught the eye of her coach (and her coach's dad, the co-owner of the gym) with the first really good cartwheel I've seen her do. Between that, her freakish flexibility and her willingness to listen and follow directions, they decided to invite her to join the pre-team class.

The downside of the invitation is that instead of one, one-hour lessons a week, the new class is two, two-hour lessons a week. Two hours seems like a lot for a 4 year old. And that's four hours a week I have to entertain Owen at the gym, that while child-friendly, isn't exactly a playland. Jamie is easier to entertain, but it's a lot of extra time for her, too. I wasn't sure if the skill level was going to be too much for her, either. And there's the extra money (which was a bigger deal when I thought tuition was more than doubling for one extra hour, but I just misunderstood the number of lessons).

Luckily, at least one of the days, I think Rex will be able to swing by and pick up Jamie and Owen, so they'll get some fun Daddy time and a relatively normal dinner. And I don't really mind waiting for Katie (alone) at the gym, since there are real live adults to talk to, I can read a book without worrying about Owen tearing apart the pro shop, and in a pinch, they have computers with free internet access (although strangely, no free wireless.) Katie was thrilled at the opportunity to hone her skills, and didn't seem fazed at the extra time she would have to put in. And the money just isn't that big a deal.

So we decided to give it a go.

Katie did great, loves her new coaches, and handled the extra hour just fine. Owen was the expected pain in the hiney. Jamie got to play the iPod Touch to her little heart's content. And while Rex couldn't take the boy home, he did stop by and help me entertain him for a while.

So much for our lazy afternoons and family dinners at home.

Posted by me at 8:54 PM | Comments (0)

October 3, 2009

Happiness is...

Walking into the Apple store, and walking out with two MacBook Pros and a couple of free printers.

Posted by me at 6:39 PM | Comments (1)

September 30, 2009

Free ice cream!

Way back in May, I entered a contest for a coupon for free ice cream from Moosh in Indyand BlogHer. That post was actually a review for Dreyer's/Edy's Slow Churned Neighborhood Salute, a contest Dreyer's runs annually to give away 1500 ice cream parties to deserving neighborhoods. I went ahead and entered that contest too, even though it required an actual essay.

I was thrilled when I won a coupon for a free 1.5 quart (whatever happened to half gallons?) from Casey.

I was absolutely dumbfounded a week later when I learned that I had won a party for up to 100 of my neighbors from Dreyer's!

When I entered, I had to pick some possible party dates. Not long after, we planned our trip to Gulf Shores. It never occurred to me that we would win a party, or that they would pick the week we were going to be out of town to deliver 10 containers of ice cream! And while the date of the party was negotiable, the delivery was not. Luckily, my sweet, kind neighbor who was taking care of our cats that week watched for the FedEx man for THREE DAYS, waiting to whisk the ice cream into it's chilly new home in my freezer.

With our vacation, school starting, family obligations and life in general, it took us until Sunday to actually hold the party. In spite of the 20 invitations we hung on people's doors, only 6 families showed up. It's a shame more people didn't come and enjoy the bounty, but we had a great time with the families that did come. It was nice to finally get to sit down and talk to some of the other moms without having to rush off to the next activity, or hurry home to get chores done. And because it was such a small group, I didn't have to work too hard to play hostess.

In some ways, the party was a complete failure. We only met one new neighbor. We didn't have a screeching horde of children. I had less than half the number of children I told the fire department I would provide.

It sure felt like a success, though!

Now what am I going to do with all this leftover ice cream?

Posted by me at 9:10 PM | Comments (0)

September 27, 2009

Fitness FAIL

I woke up this morning a pound and a half down from yesterday. WOO HOO! For a brief moment, I weighed less than when I started this whole diet and exercise thing.

Then we went to Sam's to pick up some stuff, and had pizza for lunch. Owen ate fully half of mine, though, so I didn't feel too bad about it.

After that, we had a little party. An ice cream party (more on that later.) But I was running around the whole time, and I only had about a scoop of ice cream. Still doing ok, if a bit sunburnt.

But after that, I was a bit fried, so we ordered take out from Chili's. I was going to order a nice healthy salad, or a Guiltless Grill sandwich, but I ended up getting the other chicken sandwich, the one with the cheese and bacon and FRIES. And then I had a few bites of the deep fried fried stuff that Rex got.

Also? Between the heat and the concrete and forgetting to put shoes on, my feet are so fried it hurts to walk, much less run in place for 20 minutes. So much for working out today.

On the other hand, we had a great day, spent time with friends, met some new neighbors and had fun.

Social WIN.

Posted by me at 8:36 PM | Comments (0)

September 8, 2009

Unpolitically correct

When I was a kid, the President was a big deal. When he spoke (which seemed rare, but maybe my family just ignored him and I didn't know about it), we listened. If he was going to address students specifically, we watched. The whole school watched. The coveted tv was brought into the classroom so we could hear history being made.

The same was true for space shuttle launches and falling walls. Granted, this was back in the days before we had a space station, and it seemed like those shuttles were more like commuter flights. Because these were the things that would be added to the history books in 10 years for our children to read about.

Granted, the president is now on tv practically daily. The first lady goes on talk shows. The first family's pet got more airtime on the morning new shows than Farrah Fawcett's death.

Still, Barak Obama, The President of the United States of America, wanted to speak to our youth about responsibility and education.

And a bunch of people thought that was a bad thing.

I don't get it. I really don't. That speech was inspiring. It was uplifting. It wasn't all fairy tales and roses in the land of milk and honey. It was about hard work and respecting yourself and your dreams and not making excuses and just doing it anyway.

It was, in my opinion, what a lot of kids these days need.

It's what a lot of adults these days need.

Our school district chose not to "take time away from academic studies to participate in the live speech." Individual teachers are allowed to use all or part of the speech in future lessons, provided it meets the district's curriculum goals, and parents are given advance notice and allowed to opt out.

I call bullshit. Whether you like the current president or not, he's still the leader of our country. As such, he deserves respect. He deserves to be heard. No one is forcing you to agree with what he says. No one is saying you can't have a talk with your kids when they get home and tell them that it's ok to talk smack to their teachers and feel free to drop out. But like it or not, he is the head of our government, elected by a majority vote, and what he says will go down in history no matter if you like it or not.

People keep saying that our Constitution gives us the right not to listen, and that's true, it does. But that's just another excuse to avoid admitting that not everything that comes out of Obama's mouth is liberal crap, that he might be able to inspire our children to be better in spite of his (so-called) terrible leadership.

Stop making excuses, open your hearts and your minds, and listen.

Posted by me at 7:59 PM | Comments (2)

September 2, 2009

Tummy trouble

Monday night I was going to post a rant about how Katie had a stomach ache that somehow turned into an issue with the insurance company over a $200+ prescription, but in the end, the whole thing worked out for the price of a $35 copay and a return trip to Target that I needed to make anyway. Goody for me and my checkbook, but not so much fun to write.

I suppose I may as well document the visit, in any case. It's that or tell you about the way my husband avoids doing things by pretending that HE CAN'T EVEN HEAR ME.

Anyway.

Last spring, Katie had mentioned a couple times that her stomach hurt. She even told her preschool teachers once or twice (which is astounding in itself, since she wouldn't even tell them when she had to pee.) It only happened occasionally, and at the time, I chalked it up to the stress of the boy she was concerned about.

She still mentioned her stomach a few times after summer break started, though, and even brought it up to her grandpa a few times while she was in Maryland visiting him.

In the meantime, she got an ear infection, and then swimmer's ear. She would mention ear pain maybe once a day, even several days into the infections. I'm sure her ears must have been quite painful, but apparently she's incredibly stoic.

So that clinched it. I'm normally hesitant to make doctor's appointments for things like a stomach ache, because really, how can you pin that down? I don't want to waste my time to hear that it's gas pain or a plea for attention (and to be fair, I'm not sure that some of her complaints weren't for the attention factor. Especially after she came bouncing into my office one day and told me it hurt pretty bad, with a giant smile on her face.) but at this point, I'm starting to get concerned.

Luckily, our doctor knows me well enough to realize that if I'm concerned, there's probably a good reason. He took me seriously enough to follow up a "relatively benign" physical exam with an x-ray (that showed that her colon was enlarged on the left side, which would have been expected if she were "backed up," something Katie, uh, never is). We're going to try a 3-4 week course of Prevacid, and if that doesn't help, he'll refer us to a gastroenterologist.

It took a couple days to get everything straightened out with Katie's prescription, during which time she kept walking around saying things like "Do you have my medicine yet, Mama? I need my medicine." like a tiny little addict. I'm starting to wonder if I could have fixed the whole thing with a week's worth of sugar pills.

Posted by me at 11:46 AM | Comments (0)

August 26, 2009

Karma totally owes me one

Yesterday, Rex, Katie, Owen and I spent the morning running errands. The trip ended, as all good trips do, at Target. I needed to pick up some stuff to make Bakerella's Cream Cheese Pound Cake, including a properly sized loaf pan.

Rex helped with the bags and the kids and such, and I didn't even realize until today that the loaf pan and the checkout impulse buy apparently didn't make it home.

Well, crap. There's $6 bucks I'll never recover.

I really wanted that pound cake, so Katie and I ran out to (a different) Target to pick up another pan. I went ahead and got two, so I wouldn't have to halve the recipe. The pans were nested together, and the checkout lady didn't notice.

She was putting my two-pans-for-the-price-of-one into the bag, and I stopped her.

Shouldn't I get some kind of Nobel Prize for this?

Posted by me at 8:42 PM | Comments (0)

August 6, 2009

How do you befriend a popular internet personality without seeming like a stalker?

I had fully intended to send an invite to a couple of bloggers I follow to my dad's annual BBQ. They live near where my dad is, seem to be people that would be good friends if we lived nearby, have kids near in ages to our own and have occasionally replied to my comments.

But seriously, I think one of them makes a point to reply to almost all of his commenters. And the other, while less trafficked comment-wise, has a definite following of her own.

So who am I to them but one more of those freaks on the internet who got a little too wrapped up in their lives, and should therefore be kept at arm's length.

So, yeah, I totally wussed out. Much like the way Rex is willing to send me to Blogher every year, and I come up with some reason (ok, lots of times they really are good reasons) to not go to a conference where I will know not ONE SINGLE PERSON in real life, and in fact don't have much of an online relationship beyond readership with any of them. And judging by my stat counter, not a one of them has even that shallow of a relationship with me. What would I say to them?

So does sending an invite make me a crazy? Does thinking that they might actually come make me delusional?

Guess I'll never know.

Posted by me at 9:35 PM | Comments (3)

July 22, 2009

Hum drum

On and off for the last, oh, month maybe, I've had this hum in one ear. I can hear just fine, as long as you talk louder than the hum (I swear it's not voices, it tells me NOTHING) in my head. The hum is intermittent, and if I hear it in the morning, it is often gone by that afternoon. For a while I thought I could keep it from happening by not turning my head to the left in my sleep, but lately it's been showing up anyway.

I have poked things in my ear canal, stolen Katie's swimmer's ear drops, filled my ear with peroxide, tried to depressurize and slept flat on my back with my face pointed directly at the ceiling for days on end, and it keeps coming back.

So today, I did something radical.

I went to the doctor.

I had to combine it with something real, just in case the ear thing was all in my imagination. After all, I don't want to look like a hypochondriac to my doctor. I've made repeated pleas for thyroid retests and antibiotics, taken my kids in for multiple kinds of ear infections and broken bones, bot to mention well checks. He's going to start thinking we're medically fragile, or that I have some huge crush on him, and I'm willing to pitch myself in front of a bus just to see him more often.

I combined my frivolous ear check with a gratuitous thyroid recheck. It was the best I could do, and I was hoping at least one of them would pan out into something real.

I didn't get to see my regular doctor, which worked out fine, because Dr. Fonze (not his real name, but the name I keep thinking in my head) may barely have been able to look me in the eye, but he could see fluid in my ears, particularly the left. He offered steroids, which I took, and some comforting advice about there being worse things than nursing a baby while on Prednisone. He even bolstered my position that if I'm feeling tired, the thyroid is the first thing we should check, which I am, and he did. Last, but not least, he offered his personal "ripping the kid off the boobie" story, one that involved Mama leaving town while Daddy deals with the resulting hell demon.

I'm left with high hopes for a hum free life, where a tiny pill allows me to sleep 7 hours and wake without feeling the need for an immediate nap.

We'll just see how that goes, shall we?

Posted by me at 2:37 PM | Comments (0)

July 20, 2009

Bruised and battered, but making progress

I'm slowly working my way through my to-do list while the girls are gone. I don't know why I can't seem to get some of this stuff done while they're here. It's not like they are the ones that can't be told to cork it while I may a phone call, after all. Heck, they're really quite good at occupying Owen for short periods during the day when I need to get stuff done.

Maybe I just needed an excuse to stop procrastinating.

This weekend, I finally got around to painting Owen's room. I think I bought the paint last November, and it's just been hanging around spewing insults at me and dragging me down. I did the majority of it on Saturday, and by Sunday afternoon I was so sore I could barely walk up and down the stairs. How I overworked so many muscles in my legs when it was my arms doing most of the work is beyond me, but one leg is still so sore than I'm using it as an excuse to skip exercising again, and I'm not even feeling horribly guilty about it.

I am feeling horribly guilty over poor Owen. He sidled up behind me while I was vacuuming, and I knocked the poor kid over on my back swing. When I picked him up, I saw the abrasion and swelling where the thing must have caught him just below the eye. I swear I looked behind me, saw nothing, and figured he'd gone into the dining room. Doesn't really make me feel much better about giving my kid a shiner.

And this was after he managed to trip over absolutely nothing walking through Target and smack his head into the floor. I still haven't figured out what he cut, but there was some blood in his mouth, and a cherry red spot on his forehead. Maybe he reopened the cut in his lip from where he put his teeth through last week. He's a fairly tough kid, but he made sure everyone in the store knew he was displeased.

Posted by me at 10:08 PM | Comments (0)

July 17, 2009

Fit

I started working out (just a little bit, nothing too crazy!) about a week and a half ago. I'm a little hesitant to say anything, since who knows how long it will last, really.

I've done fairly well with the actual movement thing, although as I type this I realize I've done nothing for today, and I'm about to go sit down and watch a movie for a couple hours. The problem is, the more I move, the more I seem to feel entitled to eat. Which might be ok if I were, say, training for a marathon or something. What I'm really working toward is just being a little more...firm. I'm fairly happy with my weight (although I wouldn't cry if another 5 pounds happened to go missing), but I've noticed, when I look straight down, that my belly looks similar to what it did when I was oh, say, four months pregnant. You know, right at that point where people start to wonder, but they don't want to say anything just in case.

And so I will try to keep up with my "5 Hot Bod Exercises for Mom" (I think I just threw up a little bit in my mouth) and with the Wii Fit, and I will hope that next month I look more like a rockfish than a jellyfish.

Posted by me at 8:41 PM | Comments (0)

July 16, 2009

Hypertension

Yay! We managed to take all the bits and pieces of the grill, along with the packaging (which I had to dig out of the trash and recycling bins. I actually almost feel bad for the poor guy who has to deal with all the styro that is now poo scented), back to the store. Turns out, the guy who assembles the grills in the store had found four more of the same model with the same damage. We decided to take one that was already put together instead of taking a chance on another closed box. After a bit of disassembling, creative loading, and reassembling, we have a working grill. And it only took a couple extra hours of our day.

HOWEVER.

The annoyance gods giveth, and the annoyance gods taketh away.

Last week I ordered three things from amazon.com. These three things were to be shipped together, to qualify me for free (snail's pace) shipping. All good. I got a shipping notice saying they were all coming in one package, via USPS, here's your tracking info that says what we just said, have a nice day.

And that's how I got my Baconnaise.

In a box with a receipt that said 3 OF 3.

And nothing else.

Amazon shows my one box delivered, USPS hasn't deposited any other goodies on my doorstep in the last two days, and now I will spend another nap time trying to figure out who gets yelled at next.

Posted by me at 4:05 PM | Comments (0)

July 15, 2009

Frustrated

This is totally not the post I was planning to write tonight. That post was preempted by my annoyance. Why the hell can't things ever go right the first time?

It started with the fridge. The new one I got for my birthday. What can possibly go wrong with a brand new fridge? I wasn't home when it was delivered, but it arrived with a dent in the door. The delivery driver offered to take it back, or give us a 10% credit. Rex took the credit, I was thrilled to get it cheaper (I hadn't even noticed the dent until he pointed it out), it was all good.

Except the credit hasn't shown up yet.

A couple weeks later, we picked up a grill from the same place. I took it home in the box, in spite of their free assembly offer, since there was no way it would fit in the back of my van set up. I started unboxing it about a week ago and noticed a bow in the door, but then I got distracted by the kids. I didn't get back to putting the thing together again until today. There is a definite dent in the door, but it didn't look like it was going to affect anything functional, so whatever. I got to the point where I needed Rex to help me lift the box onto the frame, and that's when I noticed the whole front of the control area is pushed in. I think it will still work, but I'm not willing to keep this much damage without compensation. What I haven't figured out is *how* to deal with this. There are pieces all over the place, half the packing stuff is in the trash, and I'd never manage to put the puzzle back together again, anyway. I guess I'll try to just haul the giant bent up piece in and see if they'll give me a discount. Sounds like a fun way to waste a morning, right?

So I was all in a tizzy to write this "why doesn't anything ever work right the first time" post, but Rex and I rented a movie, so I unplugged my laptop to take it into the living room. Apparently there's a short in the cord for my iMac, because it went black at the same time. I thought it was a fluke the last time it happened, but apparently it's just one more thing that doesn't work the way it's supposed to the first time around.

Posted by me at 8:22 PM | Comments (0)

July 14, 2009

Alone. Ish.

The girls took off with my dad today for their annual summer extravaganza. They've been super excited and talking about going for weeks. I know they're going to have a fantastic time, which as usual makes me feel like the least fun mom on the planet. I've grown resigned to the fact that some moms are fun moms, and some moms find fun people to send their kids off to.

I excel in other areas. I'll let you know when I think of one.

As usual, I'm torn about the girls leaving. I mean, I really look forward to some peace and quiet, and some relief from the constant "what can we do now" and the guilt from not giving them enough to do or taking them places to expand their minds. Of course, then I feel a bit guilty for being happy to see them go. I'm also going to miss the ways they help me out, intentionally and otherwise. They're great big sisters to Owen, helping me keep him out of trouble and doing what they can for him, but they're also great big sisters, playing with him and providing unintentional entertainment.

It's easier getting over the guilt, knowing that they have an awesome time with Grandpa, and they learn and do all sorts of things that just aren't part of our suburban lifestyle. I'm also starting to realize that it's just plain OK to want some time away from the kids.

Now, who's going to come and play with the boy for me?

Posted by me at 7:46 PM | Comments (0)

July 6, 2009

Weekend highlights (in pictures)

Our life has turned rather glamorous. This weekend, we were picked up for our trip to Austin in one of these:

Piloted by Mike, especially for us!

It was a tad warm:

And not everyone appreciated the headgear:

But the views (and the speed!) made it totally worthwhile.

We had snacks at the lake:

Watched the sunset on a beach.

Saw the moon rise over the cove:

And celebrated our country's independence:

There were lots of smiles:

Some pretty fireworks:

And a little bit of sleep:

The sky cried when we left:

And there were a few bumps:

But the most amazing rainbow:

Led us back to the sun:

And smooth skies:

Posted by me at 8:29 PM | Comments (1)

June 16, 2009

Another first

As much as I might complain about my kids' behavior, they are really good kids. Sure, they talk more with their mouths full than empty, Jamie doesn't know when to shut her mouth for her own good, and Katie grunts like an adorable little neanderthal. Generally, though, they are destructive only to clothing, and let's face it, they learned from the best.

Jamie was spectacularly well behaved as a toddler. She never climbed or got into, well, anything that we didn't show her was hers. There were no funny stories about eating diaper cream, no shoving chairs around to climb onto the counter for a cookie. She never rolled off a bed, sat in the toilet or ate a crayon.

(She's starting to sound a little too good to be true. She may not have been a physical challenge, but she was always a mental one.)

So today, when she called me into the bathroom to show me how she had ripped the towel rod out of the wall by swinging from it, I was angry, yes. Especially since she admitted that she knew it was wrong.

Yes, very, very angry.

And sort of amused.

And maybe just a tiny bit...proud.

Posted by me at 8:16 PM | Comments (1)

June 15, 2009

Hairs cut

Last Monday, I finally took Owen to get his first hair cut. I suppose technically it was his second cut, since I removed the mullet myself a couple months ago. He cried his way through the entire thing, even though I was snuggling him on my lap the whole time. I'm really not sure what his issue was, but he was head turning and batting the lady's hand away and having a hard time taking a breath. It looks much better, though.

Before:

After:

And one more, because he's cute, and I can:

And yeah, he's wearing a Dora pull-up. What of it?

Posted by me at 10:13 AM | Comments (0)

May 31, 2009

Twitchy

There is a remarkable confluence of events occurring in my house right now.

I'm running out of everything.

Paper towels, napkins, body wash, shampoo and conditioner, hair goo, laundry soap, diapers. All the things I tend to buy in bulk and/or take up large amounts of space.

It seems like a good time to move.

It's not that we have plans to move. Or even really want to. But it's been feeling like that time for a while. (We've moved so often in the last few years that I start getting the itch if we've been somewhere more than a year. It just feels like it's time for another big upheaval.) And what better time to go than when we've used up all the bulky, heavy stuff?

I'm convinced that the day after we go out and restock my entire inventory, Rex will come home and tell me he got a great opportunity in Houston, or he got laid off and they found a spot for him somewhere else.

Hey, It's happened before!

Posted by me at 10:43 AM | Comments (1)

May 22, 2009

A letter to my reproductive processes

Hello, old friend.

I thought you might be coming, although I had hoped you wouldn't.

I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other for the next 15 years or so. I can't say I'm looking forward to our monthly get togethers. You make me so emotional, reminding me of things I'll never have again, which makes me sad even though I don't necessarily want those things. You also turn me into a fat bloaty bitch, and spend a day or two punching me in the gut. And the mess! Oy! There has to be a better way.

I guess I should be grateful that I managed to dodge your visits for nearly 6 years. I hear most girls aren't so lucky.

Welcome back. Now will you leave already?

Love,

Me

Posted by me at 8:32 AM | Comments (0)

May 11, 2009

In which I use parentheses (a lot!)

Last week was crazy busy, and my mom was in town, so any spare time we had from dealing with the crazy went to her.

I think I spent most of the week in the kitchen, making desserts for the PTA for Teacher Appreciation Week, mini cupcakes for Katie's preschool for her birthday (which doubled for her birthday party on Saturday, and all the extras went to the teachers, too. One batch made 96 cupcakes!), a double batch of chili for the teachers, tiny cutout sandwiches for Katie's "tea party" and about 3 million cupcake "balls" (they were actually squares) for party favors, of which 7 went to actual kids.

Rex and I also had our date night, went out to dinner for Katie's birthday day (where Owen ate nothing but ice for his entire meal. The boy is living on air, I tell ya.) and hosted 5 girls for Katie's "Tea Party" themed birthday party. The party went well, except for the part where I only had an hours worth of activities for a two hour party. Thank goodness one of the kids suggested bubbles and I had a ton, because that kept them going for another 45 minutes. I may cave next year and outsource the party to some bounce/pizza/gamey type place to save my sanity. Rex will be so happy to get out of listening to me bitch and beg for ideas for the month prior. We seem to be in the minority with this party-at-home thing, anyway.

I would say I'm looking forward to this being a more relaxed week, but we have school programs, doctor's appointments, field days, teacher gifts to buy, school parties (more cupcakes! Yay!) and a gymnastics exhibition.

Do they still make Calgon?

Posted by me at 10:10 PM | Comments (0)

May 6, 2009

Man, do we know how to have fun

Last night Rex and I went out for date night.

We started off with a nice vanilla Coke that I couldn't taste, then headed to the after hours clinic at our doctor's office. I'm on day 11 of this cold that I just can't kick, so I got my monthly prescription for Amoxicillin.

After that, it was dinner at Cheddar's (that I couldn't taste), and then Michael's to hunt for stuff for Katie's birthday party. While I hacked my way around the store, Rex made a few emergency trips to the bathroom.

Next, Walmart, for more party stuff and Mother's Day cards.

We weren't sure when the pharmacy closed, so we headed back to our town to drop off the prescription. While we waited, we picked up some coffee and books and lounged at our local Saxby's. It's always nice to sit and read without interruption or any guilt over what I should be doing instead.

Then we headed back to the pharmacy, got my goodies and went home.

Posted by me at 10:21 PM | Comments (0)

May 1, 2009

Motivation

I just got some sausage out of the freezer to make a frittata for dinner, but I have less than zero interest in eating it. I suppose I could pull something else out of the freezer, or pull a recipe out of my ass, but I'm just not in the mood. No excuses, I just don't feel like it. I'll probably suggest we go out, although I have no particular craving or restaurant in mind.

Obviously, I'm the best housewife/parent ever.

Posted by me at 3:13 PM | Comments (0)

April 12, 2009

Happy Easter. Is it over yet?

Yesterday was our nephews 2nd birthday, so we made plans to drive down to Houston to attend the party. I still feel bad that we missed last year, even though we had some great excuses: Owen was less than 3 weeks old, he had developed a passionate hatred of all things car, they had changed the date several times, and we had made other plans in the meantime. Still, I wanted to be there.

I figured we should be out the door by 9 Saturday morning. That would leave us enough time for the drive, plus a few minutes to stop by and see good ol' Mattress Mac and educate ourselves on the true price of living room furniture. After a leisurely morning, we were ready to get going at 8:30. I told you the kids get up too damn early! We had an easy drive, snacked on some cookies at the furniture store, and arrived in time to help a wee bit with the boys and the decorating. Party, party, party, and then we retired to the in-laws house for pizza, talk and what passes for relaxation when you have kids. Apparently it was quite the exhausting day for the kids, because by 9, Jamie was asking to go to the hotel to go to bed, and that girl is usually willing to shut any party down. They were all passed out as soon as the van started moving, and were down for the count as soon as their heads touched their pillows. Well, except for Owen, who had to spend a while SHRIEKING and refusing to go back to sleep until he was damn good and ready.

Owen got me up at 2, and I was just climbing back in bed when I realized we had never gone back out to the van and gotten the Easter baskets out. I thought about blowing it off, but I had even smuggled a dozen hardboiled eggs in a cooler into the back of the van, and damn if I was going to carry all that crap all the way to Houston and not get some kiddie payoff. So there I am, 2 in the morning in the parking lot of a hotel, making up Easter baskets in the back of a van. I managed to sneak back into the room and set everything up without waking the baby, and then I turned to get back in bed and there was Ninja Boy, standing in the Pack'n'Play silently watching me. I'm fairly sure he wasn't really awake, but that didn't stop him from putting up a fight.

All the kids were up bright and early this morning. Somehow we managed to do Easter, get breakfast, swim on the pool, shower, dress, and Play Doh and were still out of the room before 11. The ride home was full of (way too short) naps, peeing by the side of the road, diaper changes in my lap and most of a bag of peanut butter M&M's. I'm not complaining, it wasn't a bad drive. The bad part was arriving home at 3, and realizing I still had HOURS and HOURS before bedtime. We usually end up leaving for home later than planned, and putting the kids straight to bed so we can crash. We managed to kill some time watching golf and playing Mario Kart, and then it was FINALLY late enough to justify putting them to bed.

Which is exactly where I'm going. Happy Easter, folks!

Posted by me at 9:26 PM | Comments (1)

April 6, 2009

Now, where's my free Flip?

Ugh. This is totally one of those days where I did lots of stuff, but I didn't finish a single thing. The dishwasher hasn't been emptied, the clothes didn't get folded. I spent precious, child free time working on the taxes, and while I made headway, they aren't even close to done. I attempted to blow Vista off the kids computer and replace it with XP, and got absolutely nowhere. We bought and I assembled an IKEA piece yesterday, but it hasn't been bolted to the wall, so I can't load it with crap and make things tidy tidy.

I'm giving myself a pass, though, because Oprah and her guests said I could.

Posted by me at 9:29 PM | Comments (0)

March 27, 2009

This and that

I'm trying to get back into the swing of this writing thing, and tonight seems like a good night, since Rex and the girls are at TKD, and Owen's in bed. I'm mostly caught up on the DVR, and there's nothing good on tonight, so I might as well be in here typing, right? (Actually, I should be working on a friend's page, but that entails getting up and going to another room, which leads to eating another cookie, and then I might sit on the couch, and we all know where *that* leads. Some stupid show about something I don't care about until it's time to drag my ass off to bed.)

I'm going to start off easy, with some nice bullets.

• Rex took my van in on Wednesday to get a new tire. Apparently I had one that was treadless, and the rest are fine, mostly due to the number of flats I've gotten in the last three years. When he brought it back, he said the left rear turn signal was out. He thinks it's a coincidence, I think it's more likely someone knocked something loose, we barked at each other a bit, and then we both went on about our days. I completely forgot about figuring out how to fix it until I was heading out to pick up Katie on Thursday. Halfway to preschool, it started to work again. I have no idea what's going on, but that was the cheapest and easiest repair I've ever made.
• I'm also having an on-again-off-again problem with my lovely, adored washing machine. Every now and then, just often enough to wonder if I'm imagining it, the tub fills with water between loads. I'm guessing it's a leak where the water line hooks up to the washer, but if so, its a totally random leak. I hate paying repair men to tell me a) nothing's wrong or b) it's a 2 minute fix, so I'll probably just wait until it floods, and then deal with a much bigger, more expensive problem.
• I desperately needs to scrub my kitchen floor. Only, every time I get ready to do it, I think about how pointless it is. I mean, I basically have to get it scrubbed between meals, but as soon as we sit down, three kids are going to drop crap on it. Why even bother? I mean, aside from the fact that Owen and the cat compete to see who can eat the leftovers off the floor first. (Owen has even started leaning over and sucking the Cheerios off the floor like the cat, you know, save that extra step of picking it up and moving his hand to his mouth.)
• Owen has developed opinions and attitude lately. Which he expresses at DEFCON 2. His most frustrating opinions occur during mealtimes, when he waves off the first 18 things I'm trying to get him to try like an ump gesticulating "safe" to a crowd of nearsighted geriatrics. Then he indicates his desires by pointing and grunting at some common carb across the kitchen. Today we had yet another battle of wills over pureed squash (which I *know* he likes), and, well, anything else. I was finally winning the battle at dinnertime, when he spied the beer battered fish sticks the rest of us were having. Nevermind that I have never succeeded in getting that boy to eat any form of meat, he wanted fish, and he wanted it NOW. Not exactly what I wanted to serve for his first exposure to seafood. I spent my entire dinner frantically trying to scrape off greasy breading and blow burning hot fish cool enough for him to eat, while he shrieked like his fingers were being torn off one by one.
• There's also the saga of the cat pee, but I'll leave that for another day...

Posted by me at 8:06 PM | Comments (0)

March 17, 2009

Oink.

Ugh, I have got to stop eating. A few weeks ago, I was mysteriously losing little bits of weight in spite of the fact that I wasn't being all that careful about what went into my mouth. That didn't last long, and in the last week of so, that number on the scale has starting slowing climbing. Yesterday, I was doing really well, until a can of squeeze cheese ejaculated into my mouth. I swore I was going to be as good as I could today, considering we're having Pizza Hut for dinner, plus birthday cake. We went out for lunch, and I ordered myself a chef salad like a good girl, figuring it would be the perfect combination of bunny food and stuff that would actually fill me up. Turned out to be a giant pile of ham and what I think was brisket on top of a handful of lettuce and a decent amount of tomato, most of which I let the kids have. Then the lovely motherly lady behind the counter brought out two pieces of cake, one for Jamie and one for Katie and I to split. She was really sweet to us the whole time we were there, she even brought green beans for Owen to try (HA!) and a piece of toast for him to munch. We may have eaten more free food than what we paid for.

All of that to say I feel like a pig, and I haven't even gorged on pizza and the *real* cake. If I don't stop eating I may have to take up *gasp* exercise. The horror!

Posted by me at 2:11 PM | Comments (0)

March 11, 2009

It's time to walk around with an Amoxicillin inhaler

It's with great relief that I announce that Monday was uneventful.

However.

I went back to the doctor yesterday with yet another upper respiratory infection. I've been sick so often in the last month that I'm starting to wonder what's wrong with me. It's not like the kids have been giving me the sick, unless they've just been evil little Typhoid Mary's. And poor Owen was just drying up his snot factory when I started getting sick and couldn't drink enough again. I mean, the kid isn't starving, but I'm sure he'd like a little more juice in his boob juice.

The drugs have finally kicked in, and I'm ready to be healthy for a while. I'm ready for all of us to be healthy for a while.

And while I'm asking for miracles, I'd like to get a good night's sleep, too.

Posted by me at 7:44 PM | Comments (0)

March 2, 2009

Enough with the Mondays already

Two weeks ago on Monday, I was puking my guts up.

One week ago on Monday, Jamie was puking her guts up, and I had to put my cat down.

Today, Jamie fell off the monkey bars at school and broke her arm. And just to rub in the Bad Mommy title, I didn't realize it was the school calling me, so I didn't bother to answer the phone. (I was driving and trying to be responsible, because I didn't want to get sucked into a long conversation with who I *thought* it was while I was on the road.)

She's going to be fine, although I got a little worried when her regular doctor was concerned about the location of the break and sent us to Children's Medical Center to get a more knowledgeable opinion. In the end, they splinted her arm, and sent us home. She goes to an orthopaedist in 3-5 days for follow up, and I assume a real cast.

Jamie was such a trooper today. I haven't seen a single tear, and most of her complaints of pain have been when someone was moving her arm for x-rays. I'm really proud of the way she's handled herself.

Still. I'm pretty sure I'm skipping Monday next week.

Posted by me at 9:19 PM | Comments (0)

February 24, 2009

Yesterday was a really shitty day

Let me count the ways...

On Friday, I packed up the van and as soon as Jamie got home from school, we picked Rex up at work and headed to Houston. This becomes important later, although it's really just a footnote on the whole shitty day.

See, we had a nice weekend, delivered a bunch of Girl Scout cookies, saw all the family, spent some nice catch-up time with friends, and then headed back to Dallas, later than planned, as usual. And it wasn't until we pulled into the driveway and Rex said, "Where's my car?" that either of us remembered that it was still at work. With three sleeping kids in the van, we opted to wait until morning. It was unfortunate that it was one of few days that Rex had to be there right at eight, but at least we would still be able to get Jamie off to school before we had to leave.

So we put the kids in bed, unpacked our bags, noted the dried cat puke in the dining room, watched some tv, and headed off to bed. Rex slid under the covers and then immediately jumped back up. Bubba had peed on his side of the bed. (All weekend long, I'm guessing, since I could see about half a dozen dried spots when I washed the sheets.) So we stripped the bed, Rex cursed the cat, and I cried myself to sleep, because I knew what this meant. Bubba only managed to stay around this long because we've kept him in our bedroom, and aside from the odd basket of laundry, he's kept his pee to himself. Whether this particular incident was another UTI/inflamed bladder or just a behavioral problem, it was two straws past the last. I've tried pretty much every humane treatment the vet and I came up with, and none of them do more than borderline manage his urinary issues. It was time.

God, I can't stand thinking about it even now.

Rex and I alternated getting up with the boy, and then somewhere around 5, Jamie puked. I pretty much have two fears revolving around that bed, and one is the obvious kid falling off and getting hurt. The other is trying to clean puke that's dripping from step to step off the ladder. Surprisingly, it wasn't as bad as I thought, although I still have to try and move the damn thing so I can clean puke spray off the carpet.

We installed Jamie on the couch, started a load of laundry (Katie's bed was collateral damage), and tried to go back to sleep.

Puke.

Puke.

Hmm. I don't want to put a puking kid in the car for an hour drive, how 'bout you? Rex thought about catching a ride to work with a co-worker, but of course he's on a different schedule this week. So Rex took off in the van, with the understanding that he could be called back at any moment in case of medical emergency.

We settled in on the couch for a long day of tv watching and oh, my, what's that smell? Cat pee, you say? Well, crap. So I took the cover off the couch cushion for washing, and did what I could to mitigate the smell in the cushion, alternating between laundry, hair holding, cat puke cleaning (from the dining room), crying and baby needs.

That pretty much sums up my morning. At some point I sent Jamie upstairs to change her pants, and when I went up to check on her, I found her pantsless and asleep face down in a pile of stuffed animals. I got her to bed, forced Katie to take a nap soon after before her attitude was the death of her.

And this is the part where I have to call the vet to make an appointment for Bubba. Rex came home a bit early so I could have the van and take Bubba in alone. There was just no way I could have done that with the kids around. As it was, I think I made the staff a little uncomfortable with the amount of tears and snot I exuded. I had hoped to be in and out of there quickly, because frankly I just couldn't keep it together, and every minute of delay was just another minute to say another goodbye and as horrible as this sounds, at some point you just need to GO. Halfway through the waiting, I almost grabbed him and left, but that wouldn't have solved anything. (To be fair here, the clinic didn't do anything wrong. Bubba wasn't a patient of theirs, and they wanted to confirm that he had issues. They were being morally responsible. The vet consulted with me for a long time before he was ready to take this step.) Finally, it was done, and I cried my way home.

And the final clincher of the day was that I cried myself right into a migraine and let Rex put me to bed right after the kids.

Posted by me at 8:21 PM | Comments (1)

February 17, 2009

When it rains...

Owen has officially cut tooth number four. Although, to be honest, it probably came in yesterday while I was too comatose to notice.

We've had a busy couple of weeks, starting with Jamie being sick, then me, then a week at Disney World, where both Katie and my dad got sick, and then we returned home just in tome for me to get sick again.

I'm actually looking forward to our normal, boring life.

Posted by me at 8:27 PM | Comments (0)

February 4, 2009

The house gods giveth...

I can't believe we closed on this house a year ago. It doesn't seem like nearly that long. In fact, it feels like we just got here. And while this is home, I'm not sure it really feels like home yet.

That totally made no sense.

I think what I meant to say is that while no other place comes to mind first when I think of the word home, sometimes it still takes me a while to picture this place that we actually live in. It's beautiful, but not particularly personalized to us. The kids have marked up the walls and the carpet is started to look more worn in some places than others, but it's not really homey. It's big and bright and airy, but if you asked me which of our homes was my dream home, I'd still say the house in Houston, and I'm not even sure why that is. There are a lot of things about this house that are nicer than the Houston house (although it, too, was beautiful). That house made a big impression, though, for all that we only lived in it for six months.

All of these house thoughts are coming to the surface because we reached the end of our year's warranty on Saturday. We've had drafty doors resealed, a leak in the garage repaired, some cracks filled and painted. Today was our last day with workers popping in and out, fixing up the last of issues. We're on our own in this house, for the first time in a long time.

We got lucky today. While the cabinet repair guy was here fixing something in the kitchen, we asked him what it would cost to install the two cabinets I got for the nook in the living room. I bought them months ago, but didn't want to pay the store what they wanted for what I thought was a simple job. Then I asked a friend for a quote, asked a handyman who was here doing another repair, talked to my dad and brother to see what was involved, and came to the conclusion that I should have just paid the store and been done with it. In fact, we decided to call them and see if they would still come out, I was just waiting til we got back from vacation to set it up.

So I asked the cabinet repair guy, on a whim. And he offered to install it for less than half of what the store wanted, with no hemming and hawing about how complicated it would be, and we can't do it that way, and no why would you want to do that?'s. And he could do it right. Now. And then he did, and he did a great job, and I have one more weight off my back.

At least, I did until I found the broken window in Rex's office. Did I mention the house is four freaking days out of warranty?

Posted by me at 7:33 PM | Comments (2)

January 30, 2009

Why real live stores aren't in any real jeopardy

In the last couple weeks, I've ordered five things online.

One is a gift. I got notice that it shipped, haven't heard anything else, so it either hasn't arrived yet, or all is good.

One arrived safe and sound, although pathetically packaged.

One is on backorder, possibly forever.

One arrived safe and sound, but was a completely different item than ordered. The incorrect item is being sent back, the correct one (I hope!) has shipped.

One arrived, and is a godawful fit. I refuse to waste a penny more to return it, so I'll be trekking to Sears to return it in person. I'm highly disappointed and will not likely order sized items from this site again.

As much as I enjoy shopping from home and receiving packages, most of my money and/or time saving attempts this week have failed miserably.

Posted by me at 9:53 PM | Comments (0)

January 23, 2009

Nostradamus I'm not

Owen slept two full nights in a row. It's probably a little too early to throw any parties, since this brings his total to...three nights. Still, though, it's progress. I'll take any progress, at this point.

Also, he's currently in the middle of one of the longest naps he's taken since he slept 18 hours in one day as a newborn, and I thought I finally had a kid who loves sleep.

I'm going to stop making predictions.

Posted by me at 10:06 AM | Comments (0)

January 21, 2009

Baby steps

After weeks of swearing Owen was going to get that third tooth any day now, I bet it will be here tomorrow, surely it will break through today, it's finally broken through. I'm not convinced that that had anything to do with him being awake basically all night last night, but at least he accomplished something.

Now if he would stop making a liar of me about this walking thing...

Posted by me at 9:10 AM | Comments (0)

January 14, 2009

Cat chasing the laser pointer? Funny.

Baby chasing the laser pointer? Really funny.

Three year old chasing the laser pointer? Priceless.

And the first one to figure out where the little red light was coming from? The baby.

Posted by me at 1:47 PM | Comments (0)

January 12, 2009

Movie night

Saturday night, I took the girls to see The Tale of Despereaux at Studio Movie Grill. We had a good time, although we were rushed to get there, Katie fell asleep on the way there and the way home, and I was working hard to keep Jamie awake on the way home. Totally could have planned that better.

Anyway, it was the girls first movie in a theater, which I didn't even think of until Katie gave me this awed look and said, "It's dark in here!" They were both really good about watching and not talking (food totally helped!), although I think the movie, combined with the giant screen and darkness, got a little intense for Katie. The tired probably didn't help, either.

I think they enjoyed it. The movie was good, at least for me. The princess didn't have a huge part, so that probably brought it down a couple notches for the girls. For kids who didn't know princesses existed until a year or so ago, they sure have become obsessed. It's like pink, tulle and twirls are embedded in their DNA. And it must be the DNA from their father, because they sure as hell didn't get it from me!

On Sunday, we bribed them to take a nap by telling them they could choose where we went to dinner if they slept, but we got to choose if they didn't. I learned my lesson the hard way not to say something like, "We won't go out if you don't nap!" since that punishes Rex and as more than it does them. They napped, and then we went to McDonald's. Lucky for us, Rex and my food tastes are quite lowbrow.

Posted by me at 9:11 PM | Comments (0)

January 10, 2009

Good, better, best

Last night, we watched our neighbor's daughter. I'm pretty sure she thinks she conned us into watching her for free (which I totally would have done anyway, she a good kid), but we totally made out on the deal. The three of them played quietly without so much as looking our direction for over an hour, and then it was time for her to go home. I'm fairly sure I should have paid her.

And then, last night, for the first time in at least a year, I slept through the night. I don't remember a single thing between 11:30pm and 6am. In fact, when I woke up to Owen whining at 6, I was sort of stiff. I'm fairly sure I didn't even move last night.

I was able to sleep through the night because for the first time ever, Owen slept through the night! Eleven whole hours during which no one had to intervene, I didn't have to lay in my bed wishing he would stop moaning or whining or crying in his sleep, and I didn't have to feel guilty.

And then I got to sleep in.

Posted by me at 1:23 PM | Comments (2)

January 3, 2009

Delayed

Today is one of those beautiful days that make me so grateful to live in Texas, even if it's not the part of Texas I love best. I think 80 degrees may just be the perfect temperature.

Shorts weather in January. LOVE IT.

---

Finding old friends on Facebook has some interesting side effects. You run across an old boyfriend and think about the choices you made back then, and how they affect who you are now. One guy I dated, who I loved dearly, just not in the get-married-have-babies kind of way was probably the best thing I could have done for my self-esteem at the time. Another guy should have become a giant boil on my psyche, based on the way he treated me, the way I treated myself, and the relationship I had. Turns out he was nothing more than a minor pimple.

I can't believe how much I've forgotten, how many people, the good times, the parties. I swear I wasn't so much of a lush that I should have forgotten the majority of four years of college.

---

My dad has been here for the past week and a half, just left yesterday. While he was here, we were going to break Owen of his nasty non-sleep habits. We had a few arguments and misunderstandings, but I did manage to cut out the one feeding I was still doing that, judging by the size of Owen's thighs, was totally unnecessary. Otherwise, I'm still awakened the same number of times per night, but I'm no longer getting the exercise of running up the stairs two or three times a night. The upside is that for all his squawking, Owen doesn't really seem to wake up. The bad news is that he appears to believe that morning begins right at 6, if not a little before.

Posted by me at 8:54 PM | Comments (0)

December 22, 2008

Clogged

I have two posts that I both feel the need to write, and have been putting off for the last couple weeks. Both are about grandmothers. They are hard to write for different reasons, one because I can't decide if it would be insulting or humiliating to post it, and the other because I want to make sure I do it right, and while I had it written perfectly in my head last week, I'm not sure I can get down in a pristine state now. Unfortunately, until I get those out of my head, I seem unable to carry on with anything less weighty.

Posted by me at 8:47 PM | Comments (1)

December 6, 2008

And I'm not going to stop

I have a dirty little secret.

I'm a water waster.

Not all day long, mind you. I turn the faucet off while I brush. We try not to overwater the lawn. We have energy efficient and water saving appliances. I let the yellow mellow.

But in the morning, when I take my shower? I indulge. I wash and scrub and condition quickly, just in case something happens to one of the kids and I have to make a quick escape, and then I stand under a glorious stream of water so hot it heats me to the core. I stay in there until I'm so warm, turning off the water and standing naked in a cool bathroom is almost a relief. I refuse to leave until I've had enough alone time to get me through until at least lunch.

To be fair, aside from chocolate, my morning shower is pretty much my only everyday type indulgence. My nails are unkempt and unpainted. My hair gets biannual cuttings from the local cheap chain haircutters, if it's lucky. My husband and I share the same pile of t-shirts, which I wear over my sweatpants or my one pair of somewhat stylish, worn thin pair of Old Navy jeans. I clean my own house, mow my own yard, do my best to shop sales, and turn out the lights when I leave a room.

I have a dirty little secret.

Posted by me at 9:51 AM | Comments (1)

November 30, 2008

NaBloPoMo 3.30: That's a wrap!

I made it! Thirty posts in 30 days! Some of them were short and sweet, and some relied on pictures instead of words, but I posted daily through two parental visits, a monumental election, my husband going out of town, his knee surgery and a week (in Katie's case, two!) of kid vacation. Go me!

Now maybe I can get back to my life, whatever that is!

Posted by me at 9:18 PM | Comments (2)

November 29, 2008

I could, but I won't

Content. Content. Content.

The word has lost all meaning.

I could write about how Owen thinks he will die if he isn't physically touching me. Or about how hard it is to get my chores and Rex's chores done with one hand. The alternative is full time baby screaming. There's been a lot of screaming this last week or two, between Owen being a bit sickly and the attachment thing. My ears hurt a little.

I could write about Thanksgiving, how my aunt, uncle, mom and grandmother joined us for a peaceful day of tv watching, puzzle assembly, turkey gorging and Wii playing. Even my grandmother Wii'd. Hell, she beat me at bowling! I might mention, for posterity, of course, that with a little help from my mom I managed to put together a nice spread, complete with perfectly roasted turkey, and got it all on the table at the same time. Owen slept through his first Thanksgiving feast, which meant I even got to sit and enjoy my meal with both hands.

I could write about my mom and uncle helping me get our tree set up, since Rex can't do the heavy lifting. How we decorated it with the kids today, and how pretty and perfect it looks, all glowing and covered in ornaments filled with memories.

I could write about how I'm thankful for my healthy kids, my wonderful husband, my parents and the mutual adoration between them and my kids, our home and financial situation and so much more I can't even begin. There's really so very little in my life I can point to as bad, in spite of all my bitching.

Posted by me at 10:10 PM | Comments (0)

November 26, 2008

clean clean cook clean clean cook clean christmas tree pizza eat company's here!

Posted by me at 9:35 PM | Comments (0)

November 21, 2008

Blah blah no sleep blah blah blah

I have a weird post to write about how Owen puked in his crib Wednesday night, and not only is it the first time in three kids that that crib has been puked in, but it was also the best night's sleep I've had all week, but my mom is here, so I guess I just summed the whole thing up. The odd part is that even with the puking (and the sitting in it and playing), and getting up to nurse, he didn't cry a single bit the whole night.

Last night sucked ass. He kept waking up, and when I'd go up there he'd be on his hands and knees or sitting or trying to stand up. I'd lay him back down and he'd go right to sleep. After like five tries of that, he stopped going back to sleep. I let him cry, since nothing else was working anyway. He went for two and a half hours. In fact, he cried right through when I had to get the girls up for school. I mean, he cried the night away and right into nap time. He spent a lot of that time sitting up, and I know he can lay himself back down, but he either didn't remember or was too pissed off to care. I figured y that point that he had to figure it out for himself, because I don't want to spend the next 8 months getting up five times a night to lay his ass back down. The last eight of poking a pacifier in his mouth and rolling him back onto his tummy have been bad enough. IT'S TIME TO SLEEP.

Then he slept for half an hour and was back up.

I can't tell you how badly I need a good night's sleep. For now, though, I'm going to ignore the backup on bloglines and eat cookie dough and catch up on my shows for the week. I have company for all of next week, so posting is probably going to be pretty pathetic until after Thanksgiving. Not that anyone would notice or anything :)

Posted by me at 7:38 PM | Comments (0)

November 19, 2008

My husband just gave me the thank you I needed on LiveJournal. Weird how we say things to each other through the internet that we can't or won't say in person.

Now I'm gonna go snuggle up with him on the couch.

Posted by me at 7:47 PM | Comments (1)

November 18, 2008

I'm totally making this all about me

Yesterday? It pretty much sucked. I had about eight different things to do or be at, and I got my schedule stacked up like a nice house of cards. It was perfect. As long as everyone did their part.

Yeah, right.

I'm not sure if I mentioned anything about Rex having knee surgery. Something about his ACL and cleaning up his cartilage. I can't tell you how much I've been dreading this. Him being drugged, doing his chores along with mine, waiting on him hand and foot, him not being able to help out as much with the kids. My stomach was starting to hurt on Sunday when I realized it was really going to happen.

So Rex told me he was supposed to be at the hospital at 10, surgery at noon. I was originally going to hang out there and wait for him, but then decided it made sense for Katie and I to skip out at 11:30 for gymnastics, since by then I wouldn't be able to see him or do anything, anyway. Then we put off talking to the neighbor about picking Jamie up from school for so long that I was going to have to come home and get her, so basically I'd just pick up Rex when he was ready to come home.

Yeah, right.

Just before Katie and I took off, the nurse told me that Rex was supposed to be there at 6, so they were really working him in, and he likely wouldn't go to surgery until 2. She was guessing he'd be ready to pick up at 4:30ish. Uh, fuck. But ok, the kids and I will just hang out at the house a little longer. At least I'm not going to have to keep three kids entertained in an outpatient waiting room all day.

After gymnastics, Katie and I got lunch at Sonic, then picked up a few groceries was a seriously undernapped Owen at Target. At home, I started taking care of all the crap I needed for the next day. Making mini cornbread muffins and rolling turkey rolls and prepping dinners. At 4:30 I hadn't heard anything, so I called to see what was up. The nurse told me he was in surgery. What? It was only supposed to take an hour and a half under the knife, he should totally be done by now. I don't know why I didn't ask more questions, but I assumed he had started late, and was partway if not most of the way done.

I went ahead and fed the kids, and then at 6, we got in the car and I called the hospital. He was just coming in from recovery. Fuck. I'm supposed to have Jamie at the School Board meeting to give the pledge at 7:15, and they're telling me he might possibly, maybe, be ready to go at 6:45. I tried to get hold of a bunch of people to get Jamie a ride and/or let them know she wasn't going to make it (Sorry, Jamie's teacher. I'm sure you don't give out your phone number for a reason, but Google knows all), and then we headed out.

Luckily Rex recovered fast, because we shoved him into the van and set out for Jamie's meeting. I think we left there at 7:05. We pulled into the education center at 7:29, and Jamie, Owen and I booked it inside just in time for her to pledge her allegiance. Then we jumped back in the car and headed back into town to drop off Rex's prescription. By this time I have a headache that's so bad I'm starting to feel nauseous. Get home, get Rex and the girls into bed, feed poor exhausted Owen dinner and get him to bed, and then I have to run back out and get Rex's Vicodin. If I weren't nursing Owen, I swear I would have popped one on the way home.

In my already pissed off and pained state, I figured I'd sleep upstairs where I wouldn't be able to hear Rex snore. I know it's not his fault, but listening to him snore when I can't fall asleep tends to make me want to punch him in the head, even when he's all pathetic and injured.

Today was at least as busy as yesterday, but waaay less stressful. Jamie had fun at her Daisy meeting, even though I couldn't be there, and Katie did an awesome job in her music program at school, even though it was just Owen and I cheering her on.

Tomorrow, I'm totally scheduling a nap.

Posted by me at 8:14 PM | Comments (0)

November 15, 2008

I'm taking Cake Balls

Tonight is our street's semi annual block party, which explains why it's so freaking cold out.

I really enjoy getting together with the neighbors, but it rarely happens. I don't know when we became so busy that it became hard to find a few minutes to go outside and play with the neighborhood kids, but it seems like you can't just go knock on your friends door and expect her to come out and play anymore. Everybody's always got somewhere to go or homework to do.

I'm finally going to appreciate summer vacation for what it is, a break from the routine.

Posted by me at 10:07 AM | Comments (1)

November 11, 2008

NabloPoMo 3.11: On my own

Rex and my dad left this morning for the airport, heading off to opposite coasts.

I got left in the middle with the kids.

I've done this before, and for longer. I'm not scared this time. I know I can handle it. In fact, it should be easier this time, since Owen is in a better place, and the girls are back in school.

Mostly, I'm annoyed. Annoyed that I'm going to have to get my ass out of bed at 6:15 and get up and feed the girls breakfast, and then put pants on and walk Jamie to school. I'm a big fan of more sleep, y'all.

I'm not gettin' it.

You'll find me on the couch after 8pm all week, eating frozen cookie dough to numb the pain.

Posted by me at 8:07 PM | Comments (0)

November 10, 2008

NabloPoMo 3.10: But a housekeeper wouldn't be a bad idea

I'm not the cleanest person on the planet.

I mean, I'm no Pigpen, but I'm not exactly obsessed with dusting my baseboards, and I refuse to scrub a perfectly clean toilet just to say I've cleaned it within the last week. I vacuum, I wipe down surfaces, and when the tiny hand-shaped smears on the windows begin to obscure my views, I've been know to break out the Windex.

Yes, things have gotten away from me on occasion. But a scummy shower door isn't going to give anyone food poisoning, and whether I clean it or not, scum is going to continue to build. Cleaning just strips away the foundation. I do not, however, generally let things get so nasty and funky that they start to smell. On the off chance that something does smell, I get right on it.

Which is why I have been so confounded by the downstairs guest bath. I cleaned that bathroom two weeks ago. I know because I specifically swabbed it down before the Daisy's came. A couple days later Katie dropped a bomb in there that was ridiculously foul for one so tiny. And the smell never. went. away.

How is that possible?

I went back into the bathroom searching for a stray dollop. I put my (not unskilled) nose to work looking for whatever rotting chunk of detritus was creating a stench strong enough to waft out of the bathroom and accost me every time I walked back to my office.

I found nothing.

A week later, and I have had my husband and father both sniffing around, looking for what I obviously missed. Nada. Not the cat water, not the trash can, not the potty ring.

Tonight, I went back into the bathroom with cleaning supplies. It's time for the Daisy's to return. I took the potty ring off the toilet and sprayed a killing layer on it's underside, and set it in the tub. And that's when I noticed the smell got stronger.

Apparently, we use that tub so infrequently that the p-trap dried up and funky sewer air has been making it's way into our home.

Posted by me at 8:58 PM | Comments (0)

November 8, 2008

NabloPoMo 3.8: Anyone else noticing a theme?

Another quick post, because I got almost no sleep last night, and I want to get in bed now so Owen can wake me up sooner.

Owen is congested. Not so much that he can't breath, just enough that you can hear him snurgle sometimes when he's sleeping. Apparently, this translates into an inability to let me sleep. He made up for his restless night by napping about 20 times today. Let's hope that doesn't keep him up all night tonight. It's Rex's turn, but the crying still keeps me up.

Katie got to wear her sparring gear and spar for the first time today. Cuteness abounds. She's so tiny and cute, it's hard to take her punches seriously.

Posted by me at 10:03 PM | Comments (0)

November 7, 2008

NaBloPoMo 3.7: I need a nap

Last night was good, Owen only got up the one time. I no longer feel like I got punched in the face today. I feel more like I got punched yesterday or maybe even a couple days ago. My blood donation bruise is surprisingly small considering the way my arm felt yesterday.

And yet I'm pooped. Wiped out. Ready to sleep for days and days.

---

My dad, Katie, Owen and I ate lunch at Jamie's school today. Dad and Katie decided to be brave and buy a school lunch. I've seen the school lunches, and I'd rather not think about my kid eating that kind of food. Sure enough, the meat in the burger didn't really taste any different from the bun.

There wasn't enough room near where Jamie was sitting for all of us, so I got to sit with Jamie and her friends while Dad and Katie ate at the other end of the table. I think the other kids talk to me more than Jamie does, most of the time. It's sort of odd. Also sort of cool, since the other kids treat me like a rock star. Quite a change from how my kids treat me!

Posted by me at 7:45 PM | Comments (0)

November 6, 2008

NaBloPoMo 3.6: Mustn't give in to the pain

I've taken a bit of a beating today. It started with a lot less sleep and a lot more crying that I prefer in the middle of the night. I have no idea why Owen was so awake, but I'm fairly sure I still had the crib rails imprinted into my forehead midmorning. It's hard to hum on key when you keep falling asleep in the middle of the song.

Then this morning I had to put off my blood donation appointment to have a partial crown put on. A few days ago, a big chunk of one of my fillings popped out, and the hole was causing me some trouble, in spite of the actual break being painless. That hole was a food attractor, and the resulting pressure and overflossing were quite bothersome. The repair itself only took and hour (although I was at the dentist for almost two and a half) and was fairly painless, but now that the novocaine has worn off, the side of my mouth is a bit raw and sore.

After coming home and acquiring both kids, we took off to finally give a pint of the good stuff. The techs kept asking me if I was ok, which I know is standard procedure, but they seemed to ask a little more than usual. One of them finally told me I looked like I had had a hard day. Until she said that, I hadn't really thought about it that way. Of course, now that one side of my face hurts and my opposite elbow pit burns a bit from the pressure bandage, I'm starting to feel a bit pitiful. I think I'm going to go sit on the couch and veg a while.

Posted by me at 7:55 PM | Comments (0)

November 5, 2008

NaBloPoMo 3.5: First time all day I've had a minute to myself

This will be short, because my dad is here for a visit, and I want to watch him learn to play the Wii.

My neighbor's kid locked herself out of her house for half the day today. She was in tears when she came over. Of course we invited her in. She's really sweet kid, totally offered to help me make dinner, played with my kids and was just generally better-than-well behaved. We finally came up with a way to contact her mother as we were putting our girls to bed. Three and a half hours and her mom didn't even know she wasn't home.

I'm at a loss for words.

No, I'm not. But I'm not going to go off on a rant here, because I think what I have to say is more properly said to the mom, first. And I'm not sure I'll take it up with her, but I'm sure to rant about it here if I do.

Posted by me at 8:55 PM | Comments (1)

November 3, 2008

NaBloPoMo 3.3: It's a wonder I can even blog on this thing

Rex is having knee surgery later this month, so he's dropped out of TKD for the foreseeable future. This has the unexpected benefit of buying me some free time tonight, since he's able to take Owen along for the show.

Being left with surprise free time is strangely stressful for me. What to do, what to DO? Do I fritter the time away on me, watching DVR'ed shows and vegging on the couch? Spend two hours busy on the computer getting absolutely nothing of value done? Clean the kitchen, weatherstrip the air intake vents, declutter? Get some actual work done? Blog?

My to-do list is so long, it's hard to pick any one thing. Also, I've taken care of all the easy stuff, so what's left requires actual effort and/or brain cells.

Tonight, I decided to be responsible and do actual work for my friends site (that I actually get paid for!) As usual, completing this simple task has turned into an epic saga with no end. How hard can it be to crop six pictures and upload them to an established gallery?

Nearly impossible, since I'm still unfamiliar with my Mac. First, I accidently moved my downloads stack into a folder. A folder that I thought was empty, but either wasn't, or I accidently moved a whole shitload of other stuff into it by accident as well. I just left that alone and went on to import the pictures I needed to work with into iPhoto. Modified, exported, easy peasy. Next step, going to the site, logging into gallery, and uploading. Except the upload window refuses to show up. I allowed pop-ups, went to another subalbum and confirmed that *some* pop-ups work. WTF?

I boot up my poor belabored laptop and test uploading there. No problems. I still have no idea if this is a setting problem, a Safari issue, a Gallery glitch, or user error.

I need to get this done, so I'm going to end up emailing the pictures to my laptop and uploading them from there. This whole process makes me feel like a moron.

Any clues?

Posted by me at 7:48 PM | Comments (0)

November 2, 2008

NaBloPoMo 3.2: I'm putting a hit on whoever came up with Daylight Saving

Last week I heard some news person mention that this weekend everyone would get an extra hour of sleep.

That person obviously doesn't have kids.

Owen was up at 5:20 this morning. At 5:45, Katie started crying. I think she smacked her knee into the wall. Of course, she's usually up before dawn no matter how much she needs more sleep, so I didn't hold out much hope of her nodding off again. And naturally, her crying woke Jamie up, and she's not so much a sleeper in, either.

We have this rule that the girls have to stay in their room until 7. In Rex's mind and mine, this also means staying in bed and being quiet. I'd be ok with quiet whispers if they're both awake, but the key here is that everyone else in the house should be able to sleep. The girls are either completely unaware of that part of the rule, or they just don't give a damn. I'm going with not giving a damn. On rare occasions, we can convince them to stay in bed until 8, bribing them with the promise of a "special breakfast."

So the girls have been upstairs squeaking and chattering and giggling for an hour. If I were actually getting to sleep in, I would totally be laying in bed fuming, plotting their demise. Then, Katie tried to come downstairs at 6:30 saying she slept in, can could they have a special breakfast. HA! I sent her back upstairs for another 30 minutes of not sleeping.

Naturally, I got Owen back to sleep about five minutes before the girls came downstairs.

Extra hour of sleep my ass.

Posted by me at 6:59 AM | Comments (1)

November 1, 2008

NaBloPoMo 3.1: And so it begins again

It's the first day of NaBloPoMo, and I'm already speechless.

I know, right?

Aren't y'all in for a treat. Thirty days of forced writing.

I guess I can start with a little Halloween update. We had a good time last night. We hooked up with one of Jamie's classmates and her family. It was great, because the kids took off in one big herd and I got to talk to their mom, who is someone I really like (so far. I mean, I'm not a stalker or anything, but I'm totally ready to go to mommy third base with her.) We had gone a bit farther than I really planned before we hooked up when Owen started getting tired and hungry, and the littlest kids were pooped, too. I think they had totally been running on herd adrenaline, but they were running out of steam. I took Owen, Katie, and D's littlest home, and Jamie got to beg for candy a while longer with her friends.

We made it through the entire evening without any crying, whining, or tantrums. Amazing.

Apparently, we live in a much nicer neighborhood than I thought. The candy was all first class, primo, don't wanna give that shit away high quality. I'm glad we gave away the good stuff, too. I don't want to be the trashy house that gives away the nasty generic mix! We had lots of kids, too, and gave away every bit of the candy I had bought, minus the 10 pounds I ate before Halloween, of course.

The house is covered with sparkles. I got sparkle hairspray for the girls' costumes, and it's on everything. Kind of makes the whole house feel special. I'm fairly sure we'll still be finding glitter the day we move out of this house, be that in 10 days or 10 years. It goes nicely with all the cat hair.

To top off our evening, Owen only woke up once last night, for his usual feeding. I can't remember the last time one of us didn't have to get out of bed to repacify Owen, or get up early early early and spend an hour trying to get him to sleep until a decent time, only to get him back to sleep as the girls wake up. In fact, I think he's slept solid from his feeding on for most of the last week, which means Rex should be feeling rather refreshed. Of course, Owen's been off all day, so who knows what tonight holds.

Stay tuned for tomorrow, when I'll expound on topics like cleaning, cooking, and children who need more sleep!

Posted by me at 9:44 PM | Comments (0)

October 28, 2008

Moving up the ladder

I'm recovering from hosting Jamie's Daisy troop tonight. I'm ever amazed at how instantly comfortable kids you've never met before are with other people's things. It's like they truly believe that the whole world just belongs to them.

That said, the meeting went well. Jamie threw one little fit, and Katie lost it when she was left out of an activity, (but quickly recovered. Color me impressed.) but otherwise there were no tears, no blood, what needed to be accomplished was, and it only took me ten minutes to get the house back in order. Success, in my book.

And that success is somehow a little more important, now that I've been "promoted" to co-leader. Last Tuesday afternoon, the now-former co-leader called me to ask if I could step up. She was just too busy, and just couldn't get help with her younger two kids often enough to get things accomplished for the troop.

I feel her pain.

All of a sudden, what was going to be an hour or so every other week, plus some outings on the side, has become much more. And yet, I'm not all that upset about it. I had already sort of stuck my finger in the pie on my own. Besides, I like the leader, our daughters like each other, and friends are always welcome.

Someone remind me of all that before the next meeting, since it's going to be at my house again.

Posted by me at 10:04 PM | Comments (0)

October 26, 2008

Saying goodbye to an old friend

I would have sworn I had a ton of pictures of him. In fact, I didn't bother to take more pictures of him the last time we visited because it felt like I had a million pictures of the same thing. Now I'm wishing I had gotten just one more good picture of my old friend.

He taught me how to ride. How to stand up for myself. How to be free.

He was stubborn and lazy and he followed my dad around like a dog. He liked beer and hated being alone in his pasture, no matter how short the time. Just when you were starting to think riding him was boring, he'd throw in a little buck to wake you up.

I trusted him with my babies.

There are a lot of people who think that a horse just can't live without a barn and a fancy bedded stall and twice a day meals. Loot lived in a pasture with nothing more than a shed to block the weather, hay in the winter if the pasture was bare, and grain to put some weight on him when he got older, for the last 23 years of his life. He wasn't exactly free, but he had an easy, relaxed life, at least while he was ours.

I knew he could go at any time. He was old. And not just approaching the end of your average horse's lifespan old. Really old. Dad and I can never agree if he was my age or a year younger. We've had him since I was 10.

I thought he was going to live forever.

Posted by me at 9:46 PM | Comments (0)

October 15, 2008

Eew

If I were anyone else, I'd be required to wear a HAZMAT suit to handle all the biologicals I deal with in just one morning. As it is, I can't believe I haven't been asked to leave Target and escorted out by men in rubber suits.

Posted by me at 9:21 PM | Comments (0)

October 14, 2008

Take that!

I took Jamie to her second Daisy meeting tonight, and on our way home (30 minutes later than planned!) I passed by my husband and the other two kids standing around in the cul-de-sac talking to the neighbors. Jamie and I hadn't had dinner yet, but I'm more starved for adult conversation these days than food, so I whipped a 180 and got out to talk.

I'm finding so many families around us that I am actually enjoying. They have kids the same age as mine. The parents think my baby is cute. They share in the angst and fun of parenting. I'm starting to feel like I belong. Also, one of the neighbors is a councilman, and he confirmed the coming of a Taco Bell. Warm fuzzies all over.

Also, they corroborated my neighbor stories to the T in front of Rex, and now he can't escape the fact the it's not just me. Vindication!

Posted by me at 9:52 PM | Comments (0)

September 24, 2008

I blame Brie

Over a month ago, we finally made it to Houston to visit the family. What with the pregnancy, baby having, baby shrieking and life in general, we just hadn't managed the trip. Usually, when we go to visit family, we really don't have time to see friends, too, but we added an extra day to this trip and managed to visit Susan and her family, and then spent the afternoon and evening with Brie and her family. It was lovely.

While we were at Brie's house, she showed me how she was redecorating her daughter's room. She hadn't been able to find a quilt for Emma's big girl bed in the right colors to match the rest of her room, so she made one. Made. And then she said it was easy, and showed me some of the other quilts she had made in the same style.

Just cut out some squares! she said. It's SO easy she said.

And I believed her.

I was having some trouble finding a quilt I wanted for Owen's room, which I needed to pick out so I could pick a paint color. Nevermind that the kid isn't going to use the quilt for a couple more years, I want to paint the room, and it's way easier to match a paint color to comforter than find a comforter that happens to match your paint. I thought I might do what she did, and make one, but since I've successfully sewn one curtain since high school, I thought I should practice first.

And that's when I opened my big mouth in front of the girls. I told them I would make a quilt for each of their babies, thinking I could work the kinks out on some tiny little projects.

Yeah. For Katie's quilt, the blue one, I needed 112 squares of fabric, plus 56 of batting. Thank goodness I finished hers completely before I cut the squares for Jamie's, because it ended up way bigger than I intended. The squares ended up all slightly different sizes, which in turn caused the rows to be off by a lot. I don't think Katie or her baby really noticed.

Jamie's quilt went a bit better. I learned a few things from Katie's, including not to use the one fabric that was a pain in the butt to tear into squares. I also got the rows lined up much better.

The pillows were just a bonus of the leftover squares.

I'm glad I made them. The girls love them, and in spite of my complaints, I actually had some fun, plus I'm kinda proud that I managed to sew. The sewing machine is a scary beast, you know. It was also nice showing the girls that I have some skills, that we don't have to buy everything, and that they can do it too, someday. You know, when Grandma teaches them!

I'm also really glad I found a comforter that I really like for Owen's room.

Posted by me at 9:28 AM | Comments (0)

September 22, 2008

Minor inconvenience

Last week it was so cool that I actually turned the A/C of in the afternoon, and let the house heat up a bit so it could cool off over the night. That sounds weird, but it actually worked out rather well. I can't see paying to cool the house a degree or two right before it gets cool enough outside to cool the house a degree or two. Plus, I think the coolness might have actually been waking Owen up. When it warmed up a bit, I started this game of A/C juggling, where I turn the upstairs one on so the kids don't cook, then turn it off at bedtime and let the heat from downstairs rise up.

No, I don't have enough to do.

This weekend, the warm came back in earnest. Not hot Texas summer earnest, just hot Texas fall. Still, though, the house was getting pretty toasty, so I quit playing games and just let everyone enjoy the blessings of conditioned air.

At least, I tried.

Saturday afternoon, I started getting a little warm in my office. I almost never get hot inside the house unless I'm doing something *really* energetic, but I have the vents shut off in here, so I thought maybe I was just having a flash or something. Then I noticed that the air in the kitchen wasn't all that cool, either. In fact, the whole downstairs was rather tropical rainforestesque. Upstairs was fine, though.

I checked the thermostat. Looked normal. I went outside and looked at the condenser, nothing. Checked the breaker, and it was blown, so I reset it. Just as I was walking back into the house, I heard it break over again.

Well, damn. I don't know what to do beyond that. So Sunday afternoon, I called the HVAC people (LOVE new home warranties!) and told them that we were ok to wait until Monday, but I wanted to make sure we weren't going to get pushed out any farther than that. The upstairs A/C has been doing a pretty good job of keeping the main part of the house livable, but our bedroom and especially bathroom were getting quite hot and moist. Opening the windows doesn't do much, since there's no cross ventilation.

Turns out the compressor has three prongs and one was touching the side of the condenser which was grounding out the system. Please don't explain all that to me, because all I really care about is that they will be coming back out tomorrow with a new compressor and replacing it FOR FREE. How it got like that and why it worked until now, I do not know, especially since the repair dude said he thought it was a manufacturing defect (Aside: We had an issue with the heat thingy in the attic in April, which was also a factory defect. Cursed, or just unlucky?) Like I said, I'm just happy this is just a minor inconvenience. Just thinking about this happening in, say, July, makes me sweat a little bit.

Posted by me at 9:38 PM | Comments (0)

August 27, 2008

The good, the bad and the ugly, in reverse

Last night SUCKED. You would think by the third kid I would know why Owen keeps waking up, or have a better idea of what to do about it. Suggested/possible options so far include letting him cry til he falls asleep (I'm not ready yet) and nursing him back to sleep when he wakes up (doesn't really get me any more sleep, so I'm not really willing to continue feeding him when he really shouldn't need food). Adding solids hasn't helped, and I think may have something to do with the crankier waking (as opposed to pacifier pop-out and turtle wakings).

I actually fell asleep putting him down for a nap, which would have been wonderful if Katie hadn't come in to ask me to sharpen some pencils about 30 seconds later.

---

Since Jamie started school, Katie has been asking me what to do. All. Day. Long. She'll come up and say "I don't have anything in my head." The scary part is that she's the more independent of my girls. I haven't had a lot of errands to run, so we've been spending a lot of time at home, and I can't seem to come up with anything fun, either. Or at least, anything fun that lasts more than 5 minutes. We made Rice Krispies Treats today, which was a BIG mistake. By big, I'm referring to the size of my butt when I'm done eating the entire batch. I'm not even hungry after all that Brie cheese I had for lunch.

Did I mention my big ass?

Anyway, making the treats took all of 10 minutes. Chalk drawing, coloring, Old Maid and amusing the baby took another 8 and a half. I'm too tired to be more creative than that.

---

For Christmas, Rex gave me a card saying I could get a new computer. Specifically, an Apple product, since I had expressed an interest and he was impressed by the service and details when he went to the store to do some research. I didn't take him up on the offer right away, for a bunch of reasons. We were about to move, my laptop was still working fine in spite of it's small hard drive and failing battery, Apples cost about as much as a car, especially the laptops, and I would have to learn a whole new OS/change applications, etc.

I'm running out of excuses now. We're moved and I have an office all my own. I've so totally outgrown my hard drive it's ridiculous, the battery on this beast is toast, and I've lost a fan. The other fan comes on full speed when the laptop gets hot, but never shuts off. It sounds like a jet is taking off from the couch. I can't really justify the cost of an Macbook, but I really shouldn't need a computer on the couch anyway, right? At least, not in a few months when Owen stops sucking me dry so regularly. Plus, I just can't pass up the glory of the giant iMac screen. And then the applications. I'm concerned about the learning curve, but then, I haven't really gotten around to learning most of the photo editing/video editing apps I wanted to anyway. Might as well save time and just do it once.

And so, on it's way to my house from China, is a glorious 24" iMac. I can't believe I let Rex spend so much money on *me*, for something we don't really *need*.

I'm also so excited I could wet myself!

Posted by me at 1:40 PM | Comments (0)

August 22, 2008

Upstanding citizen or angry bitch?

You know, it takes an awful lot to piss me off enough to do more than rant. Even then, all my good comebacks come hours or even days after they would be useful.

Today was the day I acted.

We live right across the street from an elementary school. During the school year, drop off and pick up time can be a bit of a pain, what with all the cars parked on the street, in front of our house. I'm old enough to have a kids-stay-outta-my-yard attitude, but young enough to keep the words from shooting out of my mouth. It's really not that bad, since the chaos only lasts 30 minutes or so, morning and afternoon.

This afternoon was meet the teacher day, so a ridiculous number of people came to the school looking for a place to park. By the time we walked home, the parking lot, our street, and the street on the other side of the school were full. In fact, our street had cars parked on both sides, effectively leaving a single lane for traffic. That's what it looked like when I packed the kids in the car and ran to the store for a couple things before dinner.

We weren't gone long enough, because it still looked like that when we got home. Except that now, some doofus had parked in the tiny space between our driveway and the driveway next door. In fact, that space is so tiny, he was partially in front of our driveway. That in itself would have pissed me off. Add in that there was another car parked right up against the other side of the driveway, and cars parked on the other side of the street, and I couldn't swing wide to fit between the two fools parked in front of my house.

I wasn't about to find a spot on the street a quarted mile plus from my house so I could haul my crying baby and heavy groceries to my own front door, so I did a many point turn and managed to fit through the tiny gap left to me.

Then I went inside and had Rex look up the non-emergency line for the cops. Cause that SOB blocking my driveway? He parked directly in front of a fire hydrant.

Posted by me at 9:07 PM | Comments (1)

July 7, 2008

The N word

I have some friends who make jokes using the n word. They aren't *really* racist, in the sense that they are happy to have friends of all colors, but they are overly amused by the stereotypes and totally willing to perpetuate them.

I, on the other hand, consider the n word a bad word, like shit or fuck or damn. Actually, it's worse, because while the usual curse words might offend someone's sensabilities, the n word is insulting to someone's sense of self. You aren't just releasing anger with a poor verbal substitute for expressive language, you're using a word that denigrates an entire race.

Now the thing is, I never use that word. Ever. And I don't let people (ok, I'll say it, family) use it in front of my kids. They may say other things that I consider inappropriate, but I draw the line at racist jokes. But when my friends, who I mostly talk to online, start yukking it up, I say nothing. I never participate, but I don't think I've ever told them to stop, either.

How bad of a person does that make me? My sense of guilt tells me that I should stand up for my beliefs, but logic tells me that I'm just going to be ostracized by the aquaintances and mocked by my friends. I don't mind the mocking, myself, we do it to each other in fun all the time. I guess I just can't see what the benefit of saying something will be. They know it's wrong. They aren't going to stop.

I guess what it really comes down to is this: Is their attitude a friendship dealbreaker for me?

Typing this out has pretty much given me the answer: They won't get past a surface friendship with me. My best friends and I have differences, but less important ones, at least to me. I'm not proud that I'm not more forceful standing up for my beliefs, but it's also hard for me to cut someone out of my life (and I've known these people for many years) based on something so common, even if it is contrary to a core belief of mine.

Man, the more I type, the more I feel like a wish washy spineless suck-up.

Posted by me at 10:22 AM | Comments (0)

July 3, 2008

Mad, but not crazy

It took me a couple days to write the post I was going to put up today, but then I decided that it doesn't fit the spirit of the 4th, so it will wait.

Instead, I will tell you about about how I'm currently peeved at Verizon. Now, generally I'm in love with Verizon. They provide me with FiOS, a gorgeously fast, seemingly always up, relatively inexpensive internet access. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but I'm somewhat attached to the internet. I'm not having any trouble with my connection, which is good, because that would make me all twitchy and livid.

No, I'm having problems with my payment.

See, Verizon automatically bills my credit card every month. This has worked flawlessly for years, through moves and changes and such. But now the card they have on file is going to expire. They were kind enough to send me a notice to remind me to update my information, complete with a website and phone number to edit my information. I tried the website first because, well, I have kids, and serious phone conversation can be, well, spotty. I had no problems logging in. I found the link I needed to make the actual change. I input the correct information. It told me that the info I had entered was the same, and so no changes were made.

Uh, what? MOST of the information is the same. But I specifically changed something they had populated. And besides, it says "update/change". Doesn't that somewhat assume that maybe only a small change will be made? Who's running your database, Verizon?

I tried several times, in case it was my error. Wouldn't be the first time I've fat fingered, after all. Then I called, and talked my way through their automated voice system. God, I hate those things. The wait was estimated at 15 minutes, but oh! they have the option of calling you back when the wait time is up! You just went up a notch in my eyes, Verizon!

So I give the autolady my information, confirm, confirm again and hang up. Fifteen minutes later, she calls me back and I almost immediately get connected to Dan. He confirms my phone number, I quickly sum up my issue, and he mumbles something that I assume to be "Hold, please" since I immediately find myself listening to hold music.

Then I wait. For 20 minutes. That's when I gave up and hung up. I was hoping he might get back to me, since he obviously had my phone number. Autolady didn't bother to call back either. You would think they would want to talk to me, seeing as how I'm trying to give them more money. Regularly scheduled, guaranteed money, at that.

I haven't managed to get back to them, either. I spent most of that 20 minutes on hold trying to keep Owen happy, and I never really had another moment of peace that day. I couldn't bring myself to go to the trouble today, and tomorrow is a holiday. I imagine I'll get through to them Monday, since even pissed, I'm not willing to jeopardize my magical, mystical internet.

Posted by me at 8:21 PM | Comments (0)

June 25, 2008

Full of surprises

This week hasn't exactly gone as planned.

It started Monday. Rex takes the girls to TKD, so I try to feed them dinner a little early so they aren't working out on full stomachs. I got fancy and made Mandajuice's roasted cauliflower and chicken cordon bleu that we got from one of those sells-meat-in-a-truck guys. We've had the chicken before, and while it wasn't great, it was edible and we needed to use it. I don't know what happened to it this time. I had the oven a little hotter than the directions called for, but the chicken still wasn't done in the prescribed amount of time, so we went ahead and ate the cauliflower. I pulled the chicken out and couldn't tell if it was done by looking at it and poking it, so I checked it with a thermometer. Done. Finally. I cut it open and watery juice spurted out. It stunk. And the chicken was GREY. It was a soggy breaded, grey ringed blob with a tuft of pink ham in the center.

I threw it out.

Then I got the rest of them out of the freezer and threw them out.

Then I cooked a second dinner. We gave up on TKD, which was fine, since it was test week and Rex had been planning to take the girls on an off night, anyway.

Tuesday started out great. Then I decided to try to put Owen down, instead of holding him through his nap all afternoon. That's where things went south. For the majority of the next three hours, he screamed. He screeched, fought, drooled, yelled and occasionally teased me with a smile. He fell asleep on the way to Rex's office, where I was going to drop off the girls so they could go to the TKD test. That's where the real weird started. As soon as Katie got in Rex's car, her face started to crumple. Just when I thought we had her calmed, she started to bawl outright. Fine, I'll take her home with me. That's when Jamie started to cry. FINE. They can skip the workout and just go for the test.

That's where things picked back up for me, cause I got Chick-Fil-A. I love that place. Sad, I know. Of course, Katie had to pee as soon as we sat down, but I was holding the baby, the get-out-of-potty-free card. Good thing, too, because she didn't go. Then she said she had to go again, but she had already wet her uniform. Kid is weird, she wets just enough to make some room, and then holds it some more. Three times she tried while we were there, and she never went. Well, except for in her pants.

Both girls happily went with Rex after dinner, even though Katie couldn't participate anymore because she wasn't in her uniform. Apparently, they were angels. Then they came home, and Jamie stood on this old chair that was mine when I was a kid. I'm not sure how many times I've told her not to stand on it in the last week, but enough that I sent her to bed without a story. Of course, she had to cry about that. And then she had to tell me she felt sick. She's been lying about that a lot lately.

Today went much better than I predicted, based on a late night with, as usual, no sleeping in. The girls spent hours entertaining themselves with a bucket of change and a couple stools. I didn't ask.

I wonder what tomorrow will bring?

Posted by me at 9:18 PM | Comments (0)

June 22, 2008

No pool for you!

We went to a pool party yesterday for Jamie's "best friend's" birthday. There were quite a few kids there, all under the age of six. There were also quite a few parents there, mostly the moms, sitting around talking, and a couple of the dads. In the maybe two hours the kids were swimming, there were three rescues, the last one being Katie. That party pretty much signed the death warrant on us getting a pool until the kids are entering teenhood.

Posted by me at 9:13 PM | Comments (0)

June 20, 2008

And when the hell did I forget how to smile?

That tweet this morning about losing my shit? I had no idea.

My meltdown was a combination of days of holding Owen with no relief, lack of sleep from his unusual nighttime habits, and yet another screaming fit that seemed to have no reason and no solution. It was just too much. I was trying to figure out who I could call to come help me, just for a few minutes, to entertain my poor daughters who have been so good and so neglected, to hold Owen for just a few minutes so I could *not* hold him and still not hear him scream. And I realized there was no one closer than 250 miles that I knew well enough to see me in the state I was in.

And then I cried harder. Cried because I feel so isolated and alone. Because apparently there's only one person in this town that I consider a good friend, and he was in California. Because I was completely incoherent, and not a single creature in the house even noticed.

I need to make some friends around here, and I know it. But aside from the fact that it's something I'm just not good at, calling people I don't know well to set up, uh, something, it's also something that takes time. There are a few women in this neighborhood that may someday be great friends, but I haven't known them long enough to know them well. We're still in the dating stage, where I don't reveal my true self for fear of alienating every woman withing spitting distance of our house. When do I let loose with the atheism and the computer addiction and the animal science degree that required activities that viewed the wrong way are illegal in some states? When do I let them know that I'm an oversharer, and reveal that I no longer have any hobbies or joys or personality, but I used to be loud and sarcastic and opinionated and obnoxious and I had FUN?

Posted by me at 9:11 PM | Comments (3)

June 19, 2008

Ready

Today was a fairly good day with the kids, but I'm still totally ready for Rex to come home. Owen just generally requires a lot of hands on time, and I need for him to be held by someone else for five minutes or so.

---

I have a few posts in my head that aren't dull recreations of my day. Unfortunately, between Owen tying up my arms and a ridiculously full hard drive, I haven't had the time to put them together. Also, it would help if I could at the very least think in complete sentences. It would make writing them just that much easier.

Posted by me at 10:22 PM | Comments (0)

June 17, 2008

This is where I vent

I was looking forward to writing a well thought out and potentially amusing post, but since I've now put Owen to sleep for the fourth time tonight, all I have left in me are bullets.

• Owen woke up at 4 for his regularly scheduled feeding last night. Only, come 4:30ish, when I put him back down, he didn't go back to sleep. He didn't go back to sleep after I fed him some more, or after he burped, after he got quiet with the pacifier, or after I held him. I finally put him in bed with me and we were both out like a light. I had hoped the headache I woke up with at 4 would go away when I got back to sleep, but apparently the one hour and seven minutes of sleep I got before Jamie came in didn't cut it.
• Since we were up and ready to go earlier than usual this morning, we walked to the park while it was still cool and overcast. Jamie did a full on splat on the sidewalk. I have no idea what took her down, but oy! did it look painful. She got over it pretty quickly (for her), although she reminds me every now and then that it's still there.
• In spite of being THRILLED to go to the park, within five minutes of being there she was whining about being hot and hungry. Mind you, we haven't been outside in that kind of cool since summer started around here, and it was still nice and overcast.
• After the park, we came home, fed Owen, and then headed out to McDonald's. I asked Katie (twice, I think) to go to the bathroom before we left. Just as we started eating, she was chair dancing, so I took her again. Nothing. She ate, then played, and since she was running around with her knees together, I took her again. By then, her pants were damp, but she still didn't go. I put our afternoon shopping plans on hold (I just washed the carseat LAST NIGHT because she did the same thing to me at TKD), and we went home. I don't know what's up with her, if it's because Rex is out of town, and why she won't pee when she so obviously has to. I do know that threatening her with lost privledges isn't working. She hadn't had an accident in weeks before yesterday.
• Oh, and what's the deal with McDonald's chicken sandwiches? The Grilled Chicken Classic sandwich has MORE calories than the Southern Style Crispy Chicken Sandwich. So I got the Southern Style, cause I love me some fried, well, anything, and it has less calories, right? Except I still feel like I ate worse (worse to me is fattening, not less nutritious). The fries didn't help, but how can I got to McDonald's and not get fries?
• Then we came home and Jamie bitched at me for making her quit her game to go to McDonald's. She's an ungrateful little creature. I've had some talks with her about being grateful and happy with what she has and to stop always asking for more. (Earlier this week, she actually asked to do something again before we had finished doing it the first time.) I don't know how to make it sink in.
• The girls took super long naps today, so I let them stay up late and watch a movie. Wouldn't it be sweet if they would sleep in tomorrow?
• My reaction to any and all stress is to walk into the pantry and shove something in my pie hole. I've been in there a lot the last two days.

Posted by me at 10:54 PM | Comments (0)

June 15, 2008

I want more of these

Friday night was one of those perfect summer evenings. After dinner, we cleaned up the kitchen, and then the girls went out in the back yard to play. Rex and I got to sit on the patio and talk while the girls dug in the sandbox and kicked a ball around. It was relaxed, it was low key, and I think the only way it could have been better was if we had some friends and a glass of wine join us. I almost hated to call the girls in and end the night.

Posted by me at 9:51 PM | Comments (0)

June 12, 2008

But a good one.

For not having anything to do, this has been a busy week.

Tuesday I got to go to another girl's night here in the neighborhood. I met a couple new women and got to talk to some that I met last month. This time I didn't have to leave early, and Owen doesn't eat until the wee hours of the morning, so I had two guilt-free tasty beverages and loads of conversation with ADULTS.

Wednesday, the kids were all angels. Owen was unscreamy in a way I haven't experienced in weeks. Jamie and Katie were agreeable, nearly tantrum free, and they put a hold on their eternal bickering. We even went to Kohl's and returned and shopped and they were still good. I don't know if I was just more patient since I had a night off and they reacted to it or if it was a fluke. Maybe a should have a few beverages every night for a week to test the theory.

Today is my birthday. Owen decided I should celebrate for extra hours, so he was up a little after 5. Even though he mostly went back to sleep, his presence in the bed kept me half awake for the rest of the morning. I put a movie in for the kids in the hopes of catching a wee nap. Katie was obviously, and Jamie was making noises about not feeling well, so I thought I might get all three kids to nap and I could doze. Turns out Jamie was lying about not feeling well, and spent most of the other kids' nap time squealing, "Look at me! Look at me!" I know the poor kid is a bit neglected, but she's also a huge attention whore. When Rex got home, we went out to dinner and then split TWO desserts. Yummy yum yum.

Maybe that's the key: Finish every day with a tasty beverage and a fancy dessert.

Posted by me at 9:07 PM | Comments (1)

June 9, 2008

It's floating away on the wind

We were officially out of the rental house on the first, but the final utility bills have been coming in this past week. I'm also waiting for the refund of our deposit, but I think they have at least 30 days before they have to send it back. I'm guessing they'll be keeping my money every single day they are legally entitled to it. Le sigh.

I'm actually surprised that we've already gotten all of the utility bills already. I guess I never paid attention to when they cycled. Anyway, gas bill - check. Water bill - refund of deposit minus exorbitant fee for zero usage - check! Electric bill - Holy shit! the bill for the house we aren't living in is higher than the one we *are* living in! I have no idea what happened. I don't know if a realtor changed the settings on the A/C, or if we let them set wrong or what, but the bill was WAY more than the month before. I'm pissed, and I want to fight it, but I'm pretty sure I don't have a leg to stand on. Hell, I don't even know what was left running. In the end, I paid the bill and decided to be happy that we're back to paying for a single abode.

I think I may be finally learning to just let it go.

Posted by me at 9:37 PM | Comments (0)

June 3, 2008

Shovel vs toe

I'm pretty sure when I was a kid, my dad had a rule about wearing sneakers or boot when you used a shovel. I know that rule applied to lawn mowing, horse and bike riding, and dirtbikes.

My dad's been wrong about a lot of things in my life, but this wasn't one of those things.

We have this super heavy duty sandbox that my mom made for Jamie when we were living in Maryland. We thought our move to Houston was going to be permanent, so we went to the trouble to pry the thing out of the ground at my dad's and hauled it to Texas. You have no idea how heavy this sandbox is. It takes two people to move it, and even then it's a strain. Oh, and that's not including the lid!

Once we moved the thing to Texas, we were obligated to take it with us wherever we went. In hindsight, we should have left the thing in Maryland, where the girls would still have had plenty of time to play in it. Of course, we had no idea how many moves we had left.

Now that we're settled(!) again, it's time to dig that baby back into the dirt. We've finally agreed on where it should go, and so I took advantage of one of Owen's happy days and a cool morning. I got out the shovel and started to cut the sod. Well, I tried, anyway. Apparently the sod did not want to be cut. I was stomping and stomping on the damn shovel, and getting absolutely nowhere. And then I somehow missed, and kicked the top edge of the thing.

Did I mention I was wearing sandals?

Yeah. I managed to not teach the girls any new words, and I only screamed just a tiny little bit. Not even enough to bother Owen, who seems to be sensitive to the crying of others. I'm pretty sure I broke the toe next to the little one. No roast beef, and now this. It's a nice shade of purple today.

You were right, Dad.

Posted by me at 9:12 PM | Comments (0)

June 2, 2008

Now we're gonna be RICH

As of yesterday, our lease at our last house has ended. After this last round of utility bills, we'll be officially only supporting ONE household! Whatever will we do with all that extra money?

Oh, yeah, save it for property taxes.

And diapers. My we tiny baby is out of size 1 Pampers. Every time he outgrows a size, I get sad that I'll never use that size again. You'd think I'd be happy to see the end of my diaper days approaching, but I'm just sad that my wee baby is getting closer to angry preschooler, and I'm never going to have a baby again.

On the upside, every day brings him closer to being a real boy, instead of just a blob. Owen was a smiling FOOL today! Head control rules.

Bittersweet.

Posted by me at 10:20 PM | Comments (1)

May 30, 2008

A day in the life

We had an awesome start to the morning. We've apparently resorted to bribery to get the girls to let us sleep in in the morning. Last night, we stopped at Sonic on the way home from Rex and the girls' TKD test (Jamie made green, Rex orange, and Katie got her first orange stripe. So. Proud.) It was late, so I told them we would stop for ice cream if they promised to sleep in the next day.

And they did.

We didn't hear a sound out of them until 8, and it was 8:30 before Rex went to tell them we were up. They were playing quietly in the game room upstairs. On top of that, Owen slept in til almost 8:30. I'm still in shock!

After breakfast, I shaved Pookie again. He looks funny without most of his fur, but I'm drowning in fuzz, here. After I washed off all the extra hair in the shower, we walked over to the last house we lived in to drop off the keys and garage door openers. We are finally rid of that albatross! Three months of paying rent and utilities on a house we were happy to move out of. Rex ended up carrying Katie most of the way home. She was complaining about her stomach. I felt bad, because I had told Rex yesterday and today that she seemed a bit off her game, and then we went on a long, hot walk. In my defense, she was excited to go.

After lunch, Katie felt a bit hot, but she only napped for about two hours. She was really hot by the time she woke up. Of course, that's also about the time Owen decided he wasn't going to be quiet unless there was an actual boob in his mouth. He's normally pretty cool with the pacifier, and happy to lie on the floor as long as he's fed and well rested. Not so much today. Not a good day to get ambitious with dinner. I ate most of mine while walking laps around the kitchen.

Katie's fever broke after a dose of Tylenol, but I imagine I'll be up checking on her a few times tonight. Owen is finally asleep and has been for a couple hours. Better yet, he let me put him down, so I finally get to type with two hands!

Posted by me at 10:33 PM | Comments (0)

May 27, 2008

Because I'm not feeling witty enough for paragraphs

More bullets:

• Owen slept a glorious 8+ hours Saturday night. Six hour nights aren't all that rare these days. I love my boy!


• The girls refuse to sleep in, no matter how hard we run them into the ground, and how late we keep them up. Jamie was so tired she fell asleep while we were at the pool, but didn't sleep a minute past seven all weekend. She won't nap, either. Katie will at least cave in and take a nap, but that doesn't help me when I've stayed up too late playing with my friends, too.


• We had friends in this weekend. Between us, we have 6 kids. They have a lot of fun together (so do the adults!), but it's a little like herding cats. We mostly hung out and talked while the kids played, which is pretty much my idea of a good time, these days.


• We lost a Herman sometime late last week. At least this time I don't have to take the blame. I neither starved, dehydrated or cooked the crab. Katie has been pretty sentimental lately, so I was worried about breaking the news. As it turns out, the kids are so excited about going to get a new crab, they didn't even acknowledge the death of the old one.


• Rex is working nights this week, which means he and I will push our schedule back, but the kids won't. Which is why I'll be heading to bed now.

Posted by me at 10:37 PM | Comments (0)

May 21, 2008

Vacation for who?

I've been really exhausted the last few mornings, and I'm not sure if I'm still catching up from Owen's really bad night a few days back, adjusting to my new thyroid levels, or if it's just the cumulative effects of two months of night wakings. Last night, by the time I finished making teacher gifts, I was pooped. I made some comment about how nice it would be if Owen would just sleep through the night.

And then he did.

He slept for over six and a half hours, from when I finally got to bed until a reasonable (not desirable, reasonable) morning wake-up time. I slept pretty much straight through, too, except for an early morning something's-different alert and then an is-the-baby-dead check.

---

The girls had a field day for their last day of school. An ice cream truck with free popsicles, an Army Hummer, and some outdoor games. Katie was most impressed by getting to go outside to play twice in one day. Jamie was really excited about the two trucks, but I'm not sure what did it for her in the end. I think she really just likes running wilid with her friends and playing with all the little sisters.

I think I was more emotional about leaving the teachers than the girls were. Then again, I'm not sure Katie really has a concept of "summer vacation." Jamie has a better understanding of time, but I think she gets so caught up in the excitement of the moment that it doesn't occur to her to say goodbye.

Jamie has been talking about how now we can go anywhere we want, whenever we want. I don't think she gets that now every day is going to be like Friday's have been all year. Errands, catering to the baby, and occasional fun trips. She's told me that "babies sure are a lot of work," but I'm not sure she's getting that he's a lot of work all the time.

It's time to lower her expectations, and raise mine.

Posted by me at 9:02 PM | Comments (0)

May 20, 2008

Busy busy busy

More bullets, because we've been busy:

• Last night was Katie's music program. She did awesome! I'm always surprised at how well she does up in front of a crowd, considering how shy she is around strangers. Hell, she's shy with her teachers still, and she loves them.
• Flat Stanley has been visiting us for the last week. We didn't manage to go anywhere exciting, although he almost got sandwich at Jason's Deli one day. Katie totally fell for him, though. She's been in tears at least three times today because we have to send him back to Pennsylvania.
• Tonight was Jamie music program and graduation. I'm pretty much dead inside, but even I teared up seeing her on the stage with her cap on. I can't believe she's going to be in kindergarden next year! When did she stop being a baby and start being a kid?
• After graduation, we went to Sonic to get ice cream. Just as we ordered, Katie said she had to go to the bathroom. Yay! for her finally telling us. Boo for there not being any bathrooms nearby. We jumped in the van and got her home in time to go. She threw a fit when we made her go when we got home, which is just classic Katie.
• We finally got the kids in bed around 9:30. Everything was finally quiet (there was one more Flat Stanley fit), and then around 10:15 there was a really loud thump. I was halfway up the stairs by the time the crying started. Katie has now fallen out of her new bed for the first time. I'm guessing she's loving the thing a little less now.
• I've spent a good portion of today getting, assembling and assisting in getting teacher gifts ready. I wish I had come up with a good idea sooner!
• One of Rex's co-workers has invited us to a sort of wedding celebration. It's a formal affair, so of course, no kids. I really want to go, not beause I know the friend, but because it's been so long since we've gotten to go somewhere fancy. There's pretty much no way though, since we have no family and don't know any sitters here yet. Even if we did have a sitter, I'm not sure I'm ready to leave Owen with anyone but family. Even that would be difficult, what with his every five minutes nursing schedule. Le sigh.
• Tomorrow is the last day of preschool. I have some seriously mixed feelings about that. Mostly, I'm just scared.

Posted by me at 10:58 PM | Comments (2)

May 16, 2008

It's the end of a long, long week. Unfortunately, I don't think the worst of it is going to get better with the return of Daddy.

Posted by me at 9:18 PM | Comments (0)

May 6, 2008

More monkeys off my back

I've been a little light on the posting. My dad came to visit for Katie's birthday last Wednesday, and he just left this morning. The result is a weird more time/less gets done phenomenon. Naturally, the last couple days, Owen has been sleeping up a storm, but today, when I want to get a few things done that require arms, he's been awake and fussy and only catnapping.

I have this chicken scratch list of things I wanted to blog about, but when I look at it now, each thing seems like it's only a sentence. That, or it happened so long ago, it no longer seems relevant. I have a whole pile of unpublished posts that are the same way, but somehow I just can't let them go. Guess who suffers? That's right, YOU.

Let's see...the Owen update. He's definately getting better about the car, although he still hates stopping, and he still sometimes loses it completely. HOWEVER, he has also slept through entire trips, and even been awake and content at times. He's finally started noticing and being amused by toys. Like, you can lay him on the floor with stuff dangling over him, and distract him from fussiness by jiggling the toys. My boobs are grateful for the distraction.

After 3 years of planning, searching, moving, cursing and procrastination, Jamie is finally getting bedroom furniture. And so is Katie. Lucky second kid! We finally decided on a set from Pottery Barn Kids. I feel so snooty! All of the other kids furniture we looked at was crap, though. I wanted something that would last until they left for college, and possibly beyond. Most of what we looked at didn't seem sturdy enough to make it until next year, much less through high school. Of course, we're paying for the quality, but at least I won't have to look anymore. I can't wait to stop sorting their clothes into piles on the floor.

Tonight, Jamie and I are going shopping for a birthday present for Katie, among other things. I'm going to try to leave Owen here. I can't remember the last time it was just Jamie and I. I think the last time we ended up bitching at each other, so I'm going to try to avoid that this time. I'd like her to remember Mama and Me time as a good thing, not the time where Mama bitches at me alone instead of sharing the angst with my sister.

Posted by me at 3:26 PM | Comments (0)

May 5, 2008

I'll be the one scratching

Early last week, I developed a hideously itchy rash between the ring and middle fingers of my left hand. I assumed it was a recurrence of my dyshidrosis, until I found an big itchy patch on my cheek. Over the week since the first I found the first bumps, I've found new blisters and patches daily. Revised diagnosis: poison ivy that has become systemic. I didn't even know poison ivy could do that, and I've been getting plenty of it since I was a kid.

The upside is that a doctor (ok, my OB) actually agrees that it's poison ivy. The downside is that she suggested hydrocortisone cream, which as far as I can tell is about as effective as hand cream. She said that if the rash gets bad enough, i could go on steroids, but when I asked if I could take steroids while breastfeeding, all she said was that they would make me crazy. Since we've established that crazy and I already have a relationship, I'm hoping it doesn't come to that.

At least the first bumps that showed up are starting to fade, and I don't look like I have a nasty case of facial herpes anymore.

Posted by me at 10:19 PM | Comments (0)

April 29, 2008

Like I needed help with crazy

The wind is driving me fucking nuts. I swear, we've had one nice, warm day that wasn't windy. The rest of the time it's either been cool, cloudy, rainy, or freakishly windy.

The weatherman said that today was supposed to be 83 and sunny. Tomorrow and Thursday, partly cloudy, 80's and windy. I thought that meant today would be awesome, and it was, but it was also damn breezy. So what's in store for tommorow, when the forecast actually says "windy?

Gusts up to 40 mph.

Posted by me at 9:48 PM | Comments (0)

April 25, 2008

Not so much fun

Yesterday, Owen slept something like 19 or 20 hours. He slept in the car and on the floor and in my arms while I shopped. He slept through stoplights and preschool pickup and even in the carseat while we were at home. He slept so much that even with his usual awake time before bed, I was afraid he would be up half the night. He wasn't, though, he slept right on through that too.

Today, he *wanted* to sleep. But he wanted to sleep on me. Most of the times I set him down, he woke up immediately. A few times, he managed to sleep long enough for me to shower or make lunch, but no longer. Normally this wouldn't bother me, but I'm really trying to play with the girls more. I'm with them all the time, but rarely involved with them. I don't want to just be a presence in their lives, I want to be active in their lives. I'm not very good at that. A lot of day, by the time I'm done fetching and butt wiping and cleaning up after and feeding them, I pretty much just want to be left alone to do my thing. I'm not good at being fun and playful, and most of the time it just feels like more work.

So, anyway, both girls were home today, and I had high hopes that we would figure out something that would be fun for all of us. Instead, I spent most of the day holding Owen, feeding Owen, or telling the girls to be quiet so Owen would fall asleep.

Posted by me at 9:49 PM | Comments (0)

April 23, 2008

And then I found a gray hair

Just when I think you have it all together, I realize that I've been wearing my shorts inside out ALL DAY LONG. That includes skipping the usual preschool drop off line in favor of walking the girls in (and speaking to just about every teacher there), and a trip to the grocery store. No wonder that nice store employee was so unusually helpful.

Posted by me at 9:30 PM | Comments (2)

April 15, 2008

Did I mention how happy I am about the warranty?

Owen must be some kind of baby genius, because he rolled from front to back tonight. Twice! On the floor, so he didn't have the help from uneven surfaces. Unless we have a foundation issue, which doesn't seem so unlikely after the last week.

Saturday night, I tried to turn the heat back on. I hate alternating between running the heat and A/C, but the weather has just been that variable. To avoid cooking the girls and freezing the boy (and me!), I had to do it. Anyway, soon after I turned the heat on, I noticed that what I thought had been a passing low-flying helicopter was actually one of the heating units in the attic. Rex narrowed it down to the downstairs unit, so at least the girls have been warm the last few days. Thank god for new home warranties!

Last week, we had a huge storm with some nice sideways rain. While the girls were waving goodbye to Rex as he drove off for work, I found puddles in the foyer. One of them was at least three feet in from the door. I couldn't figure out where the water came in from, but we're assuming there's a gap in the seal around the door. I'm going to hose the door down when I get a chance so I can tell the warranty guy exactly what he needs to fix. Oh, and the same storm uprooted our baby trees AGAIN.

Posted by me at 9:32 PM | Comments (0)

April 9, 2008

Maybe tomorrow will be the day

I have got to start eating better.

It's like the day Owen came out, I said to hell with health and weight. First I cleaned the house of all the (ugh) Valentine's and Easter candy. With my mouth. Then I started in on anything else I could find that was sweet. I baked. I ate salty I didn't even want.

I thought that would help me get back into the healthy stuff we have, the fruit and such. Nope. I just got a giant bag of M&M's the next time I went to Target. Oh, and more chips, and cheese puffs, and some faux cheese crackers.

Two days ago, I had lemonade and waffle fries from Chick-fil-A for lunch. Yesterday, it was a third of a grilled cheese and a PILE of M&M's. It's 10am and I'm already trying to resist the chocolate. It's not working.

Every day I swear I'm going to stop with the chocolate, and start with the real food. Every morning, I get on the scale, and I'm surprised that I haven't starting gaining weight. I think that if I weren't eating all the junk, I'd probably be losing weight. Every day I justify another handful of junk because me kids are driving me nuts, or because I survived, or because I'm having a good day.

Posted by me at 10:05 AM | Comments (0)

April 5, 2008

I'm melting!

Woo!

In spite of the fact that I polished off all the Easter candy, some Valentine's candy, the fudge sauce and some ice cream and some pie dough and, well, you get the picture. In spite of all that, I only have 6 more baby pounds to lose.

Of course, then there are the 7 pounds I gained due to poor management of my thyroid problem last spring, and then the 6 pounds I wanted to lose before that. But still, I'm happy to have gotten through a pregnancy without gaining a metric ton, and glad to see the pounds leaving the way they did when had babies at a younger age.

Posted by me at 1:13 PM | Comments (0)

March 25, 2008

And it is good

We're mostly on our own, here.

My dad left on Sunday, before Owen and I got home from the hospital. He had to be back in Maryland to leave for New Jersey Tuesday morning.

My mom left this morning, heading out for an elder hostel in Arizona that starts at the end of the month. She could have stayed a little longer if we had needed her, but I guess we were all ready to sort of move on.

I'm going to miss their help. Hell, I'm going to miss having extra warm bodies that made it possible to leave a room/make lunch/go to the store alone/sleep/breathe. Not to mention the entertainment my parents provided every single day they were here. I'm going to have to figure out how to interact with my own kids again.

Luckily for me, Spring Break is finally over. Jamie went back to school today, and Katie will be back for the first time in two weeks tomorrow. I want to kiss every woman in that place in thankfulness.

Rex is off work for the rest of this week, and will be working nights from home next week, so I'm not totally on my own. This is also good, because I haven't yet figured out how to get the girls ready for school and myself dressed (and potentially clean, too!) in time to get out the door. We have quite a list of things to do this week, and it's going to take both of us to make it happen. Rex has some meetings at work, everyone but Katie has doctor appointments, we have Jamie's birthday party to replan, another birthday party to attend, it goes on and on.

Life goes on.

Posted by me at 8:40 PM | Comments (0)

March 21, 2008

GET OUT

Wow. I've been really bad about posting. I keep thinking of things to post, and in my head I think I've written them, but apparently I've never actually typed them out.

My parents are still both here, so I've spent a lot less time in the evenings on the laptop, when I actually have time to write. I manage to keep up with email and blogs (sort of) during the day in little bursts.

I'm still pregnant. I'm now, what, 5 days overdue? I've never been in this position before. This kid has missed all the cool dates, too. His due date, his sister's birthday, his uncle's birthday (that would be today), not to mention ANY ONE OF THE DAYS IN BETWEEN.

The sickness that Katie had made it's way through the entire household, minus Rex. There were at least two days during which my biggest accomplishment was breathing. Thankfully, the ick hit us in staggered fashion and by the time it took my mom down, the rest of us were capable of feeding ourselves again. I have the feeling this kid has been hiding out from all the coughing, but I'm better now. I SWEAR.

Posted by me at 9:53 PM | Comments (0)

March 11, 2008

Yawn

Still no baby. I shouldn't be surprised. In fact, I'm fully expecting this kid to come sometime on Sunday, the way babycenter.com says he will. After all, that's what my other kids did!

Katie has been sick since last Friday. She gets a nightly fever and occasionally heats up at nap time, but otherwise acts normal. Well, normal plus a cough and runny nose. I kept her home from school on Monday, and I'm truly hoping that she doesn't heat up again tonight so she can go back tomorrow for her egg hunt. I really don't want to have to tell her she's missing her egg hunt.

We haven't heard from most of the girls we invited to Jamie's birthday party. The fer sure yes we had has turned into a maybe, I have a definite no, and I have a we-thought-we-couldn't-make-it,-but-now-we-can that I pray doesn't forget. Not a peep from the other three. Rex is considering paying little girls to come. Wow, that didn't sound bad til I typed it. Anyway, I'm going to attend the egg hunts tomorrow and see if I can corner some moms and beat an answer out of them.

Bubba is peeing blood again. Recurring UTI's, not good. I think this solves my dilemma, although it doesn't make it any easier.

I'm starting to wonder if I'm ever going to sleep again, between cat drama, sick kid, and pregnancy. And since I already know what to expect after the kid arrives, I know I'm screwed.

Posted by me at 10:09 PM | Comments (0)

March 6, 2008

It's all over but the waiting (and the packing of the bag)

My mom called last week and asked if I had any idea when the baby would be coming. As though the woman had not been through two pregnancies that ran long and had no idea that babies come when they want, and they rarely inform anyone ahead of time.

I had another appointment today. It sucked, but not because it was painful or embarrassing or I received bad news. It sucked because I only got two pages of my book read. TWO PAGES. Last week was so much better when my doctor was late for my appointment because she was in surgery. I think between the waiting room and the exam room, I had 45 minutes of almost uninterrupted alone time. Today, I was actually back in the van on the way home one minute after my appointment was scheduled to start.

On the upside, everything is looking good. I'm locked up tight, but that's nothing new. The baby is high (no kidding, I think an ENT could probably see feet), but then, Katie was up like that five hours after my water broke.

My dad is out of town for the weekend, and my mom hasn't arrived yet. Inclement weather is predicted for tonight. Maybe the inconvenience will bring him along.

Posted by me at 8:24 PM | Comments (2)

February 27, 2008

Disconnected

I have, so far, managed to stay within my weight gain goal for this pregnancy. I'm actually impressed, since it's not like I've been eating particularly well. My Sonic habit alone should be kicking my butt. Add that to my obsession with Cadbury Mini Eggs, and the fact that we keep M&M's around constantly to bribe Katie to use the potty. And the Valentine's candy. Oh, and Rex's birthday cake.

You can see why I'm surprised.

---

I spent my kids free hours today waiting at the rental house for the carpet cleaners to come. Not that they weren't well within their window, and once they got there, were quite quick. Too quick, in fact, to feel like I got what I was paying for. I mean, I'm sure I did, but since there was no furniture to move they arrived, cleaned, packed up and left in under 30 minutes.

---

Jamie is supposed to take a bug to school tomorrow. I had planned to look with her this afternoon, but I ended up saving my sanity by forcing a nap instead. By the time the girls woke up, they had to eat and run to TKD and didn't come home til well after bedtime. She and Rex remembered a (dead) grasshopper in the garage. I just went out to collect it. It's huge, nicely dead, and Rex ran over it's head when he brought the girls home. I'm not sending a juicy headless grasshopper to school with my kid. Unfortunately, it's cold outside, and not another bug to be seen.

---

Why is it that whenever you go into a salon to get, say, your lip waxed, they ask you if you want your eyebrows done? I don't think I've once gotten a lip wax without being asked as least once if I wanted my eyebrows done. I don't have faint line eyebrows, but it's not like I have fuzzy caterpillars crawling around up there.

Posted by me at 9:49 PM | Comments (1)

February 25, 2008

Bruised, a little bloody, but not a single contraction

Not that I would recommend twisting an ankle and taking a fall at any time, but I definately don't suggest doing it 37 weeks pregnant. The gimpy walk I developed as I stiffened up over the day just makes me feel more self-conscious than usual, with my leading belly.

On the up side, the baby finally has a carseat installed just for him and the girls are thrilled with their new seating arrangement.

Posted by me at 10:10 PM | Comments (0)

February 18, 2008

Brilliant

Keeping the cat locked in the bathroom so he doesn't pee in the new house, and so that he eats his super-special expensive food and not the regular stuff works a lot better when you remember to PUT HIM IN THE BATHROOM before you leave the house.

Posted by me at 8:26 PM | Comments (1)

February 14, 2008

Temporarily smooth

I have pretty much given up shaving my legs for the last few months. Somehow the fact that reaching for my legs with the razor cuts off my supply of oxygen overrode my need for smooth legs. Today, however, I had to take my pants off for the doctor, and even though she's no hot stud, I felt the need to debristle.

As I was breathing heavily between sorties against the hair, it occurred to me that today was the last day I would have to try to fold myself in half to reach my ankles. The movers come for the furniture and heavy crap tomorrow, and tomorrow night we'll be sleeping in our new house. Not that we'll be done moving, by any means. We still have a lot of van loads of oddly-shaped, delicate, or just plain overlooked stuff that won't make it by tomorrow night, but the beds will be there, and I follow the comfort.

Posted by me at 8:45 PM | Comments (0)

February 5, 2008

Topsy turvy

This has been a weird day. Jamie woke up with a good fever, but acting on the happy, perky side of normal. Katie was perky and happy, too, and NOT sick. I felt like crap, probably because I barely slept last night. The day started in the 60's and went up from there. Then Katie turned into a teary crank. Jamie's energy ran down. We watched a movie, had some lunch and then spent a few minutes outside, enjoying the sunny 70's. I started feeling better. They were obviously winding down. I put them to bed, and they both fell asleep. Then the storm hit. Pea sized hail, high winds, we've dropped 25 degrees so far. I wonder what this evening will bring?

Posted by me at 3:03 PM | Comments (0)

January 31, 2008

Putting a little too much into it

The wind is still howling.

Bubba is still yowling.

But we officially own a house.

---

I've been planning to get Jamie a bedroom set since her second birthday. That didn't happen because we just didn't have room to add it to my dad's house. When we moved back to Spring, I looked and I looked and I found what I wanted at IKEA. Since her room was so big, and we planned to have the girls share for at least a few years, I had decided to get two sets using different pieces from the same line. The only reason I didn't take it home was that it wouldn't fit in my van while the seats were in, and since I had the kids with me, taking them out would have been a wee problematic. For some reason, you had to arrange delivery in person, and I figured if I was going to have stuff delivered I'd combine the charges and get the game room furniture at the same time, only I hadn't picked that out yet. And then before I got around to it, we found out we might be moving, and hell if I wanted to pay to move and store even more furniture. Then the apartment was too small, plus we've known we had a few more moves coming.

But now. Now, we're ready.

Of course, now, IKEA still makes the same line but in different stains. I can't get the pieces I want in matching colors, unless I go with white, which just ain't gonna happen. Also, the girls are now required to room together for the forseeable future, and the room is a bit smaller, so some of my requirements have changed.

There is some other furniture I like that meets the new requirements just fine. Pottery Barn Kids has some stuff I really like, at least until I choke over the price. I remember a set from Pier1 Kids that was nifty, but they have apparently gone out of business, and the kids stuff doesn't appear to have moved to the regular store. I wasn't impressed with the quality of most of the stuff at Rooms to Go Kids, from what I remember.

I've put way too much time, effort and angst into this the last three years, and I have nothing to show for it. You would think with all the options in this world, it wouldn't be so damn hard to find what I want.

Posted by me at 9:22 PM | Comments (0)

January 29, 2008

Cracking

I think the stress is starting to get to me, even though I don't actually think about all we have going on right now all the time.

Listening to Bubba yowl all day and half the night is driving me insane. I know that it's no picnic for him to be locked in that bathroom, but it's better than being dead, right? Except that he's getting so annoying I'm going to choke him to get him to shut up anyway.

Sunday afternoon, both kids finally took much needed naps. In fact, they SO needed naps that we decided not to wake them up, but I think Rex finally woke Katie up around 6. Naturally, that bit us in the ass when she came out of her room at 9:45 that night with a big smile on her face. Trying to avoid a repeat, when she zonked out this afternoon, I made sure to have her up around 5. I've had to wake her plenty in the past, and she usually wakes up pretty quickly and happily. Not so much today. It took me about 15 minutes to convince her to keep her eyes open, but soon after that she started an hour long crying jag that she wasn't giving up for anything, including dinner. I actually kept myself together much better than usual (read, with Jamie), but goddamn, I really wanted to scream.

And then Jamie. Ahh, Jamie. Remember that Gary Larson cartoon with the kid trying to get into the School for the Gifted? Can you picture a kid trying to put a square peg into a round hole? Over and over, for an hour? That was my evening. Jamie and I had played Uno, and I asked her to put the cards away. I had already stacked them in two even piles, so she really just needed to slide them into the box, but for some reason she just couldn't figure out how to get them in. She just kept doing the same thing over and over. And I held my patience very well, even after she started crying. She needs to learn to figure things out, though. And she needs to learn that just because something is hard, that doesn't mean someone is going to come and do it for her. She hates to work at things that are difficult for her, but she needs to learn to do it anyway.

The final straw for the day is probably the wind. Or maybe that's what put me on edge from the beginning. It finally warmed up around here, but the wind has been crazy. Today, the house lost probably a dozen shingles and something like six panels of the fence blew down. The wind caught the door of my van and smashed it into the mirror of the van next to me so hard it flattened a piece of the trim. Trash and leaves and crap flying around, and it's impossible to keep your hair out of your face. And then there's the sound, the constant whine and the rattle of windows. Today was an extreme day, but the wind blows a lot here. It's actually on my list of things to hate about Dallas.

Posted by me at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)

January 23, 2008

Another action packed day.

When I woke up at 6:30 this morning, I was bummed because I barely had enough time to fall back asleep before the girls would be up. When I woke up at 7:30 and there wasn't a kid in sight, I was stunned. Both kids slept in, almost an extra hour, on the same day. And neither was sick enough to keep home!

Rex and I did the walk-through with the builder for our house today. A final walk-through and closing and we're homeowners again! It went well. There were a few minor problems on the inspection, and then some cosmetic repairs, but nothing that should cause any problems. This has been almost too easy.

In what seems to be a neverending saga involving Bubba and his pee, I made another trip to the vet today. I had fully intended to take him to another vet to get a urine sample, and my intent was hurried along when I found one of the vets I used to work for practicing in town and another bloody pee spot. Three hours of solid yowling later and I have a diagnosis of a nasty UTI but no crystals. A pill a day for two weeks, and then we see what happens. Poor Bubba has been locked in a bathroom for the last few days, and it looks like he'll be there a while longer. When I asked the doc how cruel that was, she said "Better than the alternative!" which is, of course, his demise. I had to agree. Rex may have a different opinion when he sees the bill.

Posted by me at 8:56 PM | Comments (0)

January 22, 2008

Don't

I just learned a valuable lesson about leaving the dirty water in the carpet cleaner.

Posted by me at 4:28 PM | Comments (0)

January 18, 2008

Mission: Unaccomplished

I've already technically failed my attempt at Project 365. I had a day last week that I forgot to take a picture. This would be easier if I just had to take 365 pictures instead of taking pictures over 365 days. I've found a bunch of things that I want to photograph, but I often hit a couple of them in a single (often child-free!) day. Then there are days like today, when it's so cold and unpleasant outside that I have to try to find an indoor subject, and frankly, there isn't much inspiration in here. Or worse, the kids are in bed, it's dark, and I realize I have two hours before midnight to find something snap-worthy.

I'm going to keep trying to take a picture a day, though. It's just too early in the year to be giving up!

Posted by me at 10:23 PM | Comments (2)

January 12, 2008

Like hiring a hooker to hold me

I actually spent quite a while talking to a saleguy who came to our door today. He was one of those "I'm selling magazines as part of a program to get me out of a bad life situation" guys, that swear they work for a non-profit, but I'm just not convinced that it's a fleece. THen I felt bad about talking to him for so long with no intent to buy that I donated $10 to him. At the worst I paid $10 for some socialization, at best I made a small donation to help some guy dig his way out of a bad situation.

I need to get out more.

Posted by me at 8:57 PM | Comments (0)

January 10, 2008

The good kind of frazzled

So many things happening at once. Getting Katie's preschool stuff in order (doctor's visits and such), trying to get information from the vet about Bubba (I've pretty much just given up and am treating him myself and hoping for the best) and all the crap we have to get in order for the new house.

I think tonight I'll go to bed early.

Posted by me at 8:29 PM | Comments (0)

January 9, 2008

But at least I'm going to go nuts in a pretty house!

So much going on at once, all of it major, traumatizing, and yet most excellent.

Katie had a great day at school. Even Jamie's teacher noticed when the classes crossed paths. I never saw a tear or anything approaching sadness, and from what I gather she didn't shed one. She came home with a dry diaper and hadn't been changed once. She ate all of her lunch. She's excited about her name tags (for her backpack and the hangtag for my van.) She's ready to go back. I couldn't have asked for a better experience.

I had four hours in which I both got things done and had alone time, and didn't have to feel any guilt about neglecting my kids, aside from the holy-crap-my-baby-went-to-school. I somehow didn't manage to call the vets about Bubba's urine results, but he seems much better since the two days of pen injections. I really do need to call them tomorrow and figure out wtf is up.

Between Rex and I, we negotiated a price on the house and a rate with the lender (the builder's lender, otherwise all incentives were void, so we had each other over a barrel). Then we spent an hour or so signing contracts and paperwork and our lives away. We're set to close by the end of the month. In spite of the fact that I kind of want to throw up, I really want to start moving NOW NOW NOW. We'll be paying rent and mortgage at the same time for a while, which doesn't thrill me, but it sure does give us the time to make a leisurely move. I still can't believe I signed up to stay here. Just the wind in the last week has been enough to drive me insane, add in the cold and the lack of friends and family, and I'm probably one step from the funny farm.

Posted by me at 8:19 PM | Comments (1)

January 8, 2008

Ramble, ramble, WHEE!

So today was the first full day with the kids back. I didn't start losing it until dinner time, in spite of some kid and non-kid provocation.

There was a little extra whining, and some gratutious crying, but I sort of expected that. We all have to readjust to the rhythms of this life. I'm personally am making an effort to stop sweating the small stuff, nag less and enjoy more. After lunch, we went out to run some errands. I suppose I should mention that my dad has been working on potty training Katie while they were up in Maryland, with quite a bit of success. It seems to be either a feast or famine or type of thing, where she either successfully goes completely on her own without reminding or assistance, or she totally forgets. During lunch today, she made three or four trips to the bathroom to "try," although I think after the first try she was playing some weird sort of potty/food dawdling game. We had some errands to run, so right before we left, I had her try one more time, without results. Of course, while we were in a model home talking to the sales person, she not only wet herself, but she pooped, too. Did I mention that the panties she was wearing were a couple sizes too big? There were turds falling out of the legs of her pants as I stripped her before I let her back in the carseat. We ran back home before we continued with our errands (um, duh, she was naked) only to discover that the garage door opener was broken. Luckily, I can still open it by hand, but I can't say I'm thrilled by the whole thing.

Yesterday, we got a call from Katie's preschool saying that they have a Monday/Wednesday opening, starting tomorrow. I'm pretty sure she's going to do fine, but I'm not ready anymore! I had gotten used to the idea of her being around this spring, and frankly, it didn't bother me at all. She can't stop talking about getting to go to school, though, so I guess I'm going to have to grow up and be ok too. We ran by the school to do a little paperwork, and she got to meet her teachers and see her room. She of course turned back into shygirl. I still think she's going to be fine, though. Really. *sigh* Believe me yet?

I was fine through all of that. What got me was dinner. The two trips to the bathroom Katie made without making anything. The nagging and complaining and the wanting of other people's food before she's bothered to eat any of her own. It's the little things *fake smile*

Tomorrow, I have 4 hours to myself, with the exception of meeting the garage repair guy. Whatever shall I do with myself?

Posted by me at 9:55 PM | Comments (0)

January 4, 2008

Biological nightmare

I've spent the last hour or so wanding around in the dark with a black light, squirting half a gallon of simple solution on glowing carpet stains. As much as I love Bubba, and as much as I abhor putting an animal down for a bad habit, Bubba is walking a fine, fine line.

I took the cats to the vet today. They haven't been in a while and were all due for rabies shots. Bubba, of course, was there to look for a medical explanation for his "issues." His bladder, naturally, was empty, so Sunday night I'll have the pleasure of collecting a urine sample to drop off for analysis.

The black light proved educational in other ways. The game room carpet is spotted like a dalmation, and I'm positive that Bubba isn't responsible for the majority of it. The bedroom carpet isn't much better. Let's hope CSI never has to investigate here. They'd have to take thousands of samples, 99% of which would be unrelated to us but still potentially foul.

Posted by me at 8:28 PM | Comments (0)

January 3, 2008

Friends in humid places

I had totally planned to start posting a picture a day (or as close to it as I can get) starting on the 1st. Except, on the 1st, Rex and I went to Houston to see friends, and managed to go completely laptop free, except for the time we spent poking around in the Apple Store. Anyway, I'm not going to scrap the whole plan just because I missed the first two days.

Also, in an effort to get myself to start pulling out the camera more often again and to take and think about subjects other than holidays and kids, I'm going to attempt Project 365. I have managed to take pictures the last two days, although it was a near thing, getting them done on the right day. I'm not sure I'm going to post every picture of every day anywhere, but I suspect a lot of them will make it to this blog.

Our trip to Houston was wonderful. It was more time in the car than I prefer, but without kids in the car we could talk and read and not have to listen to Cars rolling in the back seat. We also ended up coming home many, many hours later than planned, because we were enjoying a fun dinner with friends that none of us wanted to end. Come to think of it, we stayed up later than planned on Tuesday, talking with another set of friends. I really miss friends. I mean, I miss those people specifically, but I also miss having people around to go out to dinner with, or stay in and have pizza with, just in general. One of the nice things about both of these couples is that we could have had our girls with us, and although we would have had to cut our time short, we would have had just as much fun.

It's rather sad that we've been in Dallas for over a year now, and haven't found anything close.

Posted by me at 10:47 AM | Comments (2)

December 28, 2007

I could get used to this

The girls left yesterday for 12 days with my Dad. For some reason, I'm more worried about them enjoying their time up there. It's not the first time they've made this visit without me, and they've always done fine. I also felt a little guilty over how much I was looking forward to them going. I seem to be getting over that.

They called yesterday when they got to my dad's, and both kids were chipper and happy and not at all homesick. I'm sure that will come, too, but it usually hits them for just a few minutes and then they perk back up again.

In the meantime, what I thought was a short list of things to get done while they're out of my hair has turned into quite a list. It might be difficult to fit it all in, especially since "Sleep in as late as possible" is at the top of each day's list! In the day and a half they've been gone, we've already gotten service done on my van, had a problem diagnosed (the part is on backorder), taken down the Christmas tree and put the loot away, and cleaned up an ocean of cat pee. AND we've had time to be lazy and watch a movie.

Posted by me at 3:37 PM | Comments (1)

December 27, 2007

I don't really want to think about what comes next

I have cleaned no less than a dozen pee spots from around the house in less than a week. I don't know what to do anymore.

I'm still not 100% sure which cat is doing it. I wouldn't be surprised at this point if Bubba started it and some other cat is marking where he peed.

I can't kill an animal for peeing on stuff. I can't pay hundreds or thousands of dollars cleaning and replacing carpet because a cat pees on stuff. I don't mind making concessions for my pets, closing doors, picking things up, keeping the box extra clean. We're doing all that, and it isn't working.

I think the next step is to lock Bubba up for a couple days and see if the spraying stops. If it does, I'll take him to the vet to make sure there isn't anything medical going on.

Posted by me at 5:35 PM | Comments (0)

December 11, 2007

But what I need is a drink

The last week has been weird weird weird.

The weather has gone from nice to beautiful to fantastic to crap, and then when we got up this morning, it was back to nice, with a forecast of more crap. I'm loving the nice, hating the cold, and just plain confused.

The girls have been sleeping when I least expect it. Katie has been sleeping a bit later, and then yesterday she took a nap, too. This morning, she slept in an extra half hour, Jamie was over an hour later than her usual. Either they're both going to need new wardrobes next week, or the sick is coming to get them.

Last week, Rex had a day of some puking illness. He went from perfectly fine to puking up his guts to perfectly fine in underr 24 hours. I was convinced I was next, and have spent the last week feeling queasy and blah. Apparently, I'm just a hypochondriac. Then yesterday, I woke up with an ominous throat tickle. By last night, I knew I'd been hit...by another cold. I would SO rather have Rex's day-long version of sick than 10 days of ass dragging with a cold. Ugh.

I did mange to get most of the picture book done yesterday. I spent all afternoon sorting and picking and enhancing and placing. Then I had to take a break from that last night to sign and address Christmas cards. For someone who doesn't usually seem to have much to do, I sure have a lot on my plate right now. I have some actual work (the kind I get paid for!) sitting in my inbox, we have family coming into town to cook and clean for this weekend, Christmas gifts to buy and figure out, and a BzzCampaign waiting for me too.

All I really wanna do is lay in bed, read a book, watch tv and nap.

Posted by me at 9:49 AM | Comments (0)

December 10, 2007

The Christmas cards are done!

My hand hurts.

Posted by me at 9:49 PM | Comments (0)

December 9, 2007

Trying to get back into gear

It's surprising easy to get out of the habit of posting daily. I have all kinds of excuses, the best of which is that I've been living life instead of typing about it. The weather this week has been spectacular, and there's no way I'm not going to enjoy the gift of 80 degree days in December.

I spent a lot of the week shopping. Picking up Christmas gifts, some much needed clothing, food. I'm not sure how it happened, but some of Jamie's jeans are already too small. These are the same jeans that were on the big side of fitting three months ago. I'm not at all upset about this spurt, it seems like she's been wearing the same clothes for *years*, and even I'm ready to see her in something new! Except for the jeans, come to think of it. September was the first time she wore those. Hmm.

In the evenings, instead of blogging about my day, I've been sorting through the 8100+ pictures of the kids I've taken this year, looking for the best 30 or so for our annual gift book. Yeesh. The experience is making me want to resolve to take fewer pictures of my family. I may get my wish, since for whatever reason, I've taken a lot less photos in the last 4 months.

Yesterday was busy, with TKD, our first visit to Chuck E. Cheese for a party, and the tree lighting ceremony for our little town. The girls got their first ever picture on Santa's lap, and there wasn't a single tear! Today was much more relaxed, something I think we were all ready for. We managed to get our Christmas card picture taken (finally!) in short order with no fuss. And as a totally unexpected gift, both girls fell asleep at rest time. It's putting a kink in getting the Christmas pictures printed, but it's a happy kink.

Posted by me at 4:26 PM | Comments (0)

November 29, 2007

Justification that doesn't make me feel one bit better

I've always believed that when you take a pet into your home, you're making a lifelong commitment to that animal. Much like in a marriage, you take the bad with the good. You make living arrangement decisions based on your family at the time, including your pet. You work through behavior issues. Unless the animal is violent or dangerous to your children, you train both your children and your pet to get along. They aren't disposable, you don't just take them to the shelter when they become inconvenient, or annoying, or you decide to move to an apartment where they don't take pets. And you don't put down an otherwise healthy animal. You took this creature into your life, if for some reason you can't keep it, you better find a good home for it.

And that is why this is killing me.

I've had Bubba for nine and a half years. He is...special. When he was about 8 weeks old, his front feet were amputated in an act of cruelty that I can't really go into. He was brought to the vet clinic where I worked, and he became a part of the clinic. His treatment was not always pleasant, and it took over eight months and a small surgery for his stupms to heal. He was a sweet, loving little creature that loved to hang out on my shoulders. For some reason, I was the only person in the clinic who could treat him by myself. The others could do what was required, but it took two or three of them to hold onto him and get the job done. On holidays, I happily volunteered to take him home and care for him.

One of the vets wanted Bubba for a pet, but he wasn't what any of us considered a loving pet owner. Besides, Bubba loved me, and I wanted him. Strangely, he fit into the communal living arrangement I was in at the time, four people, my two cats plus my boyfriend at the time's cat, a large dog and at some point a beastly little puppy. And so he came to live with me.

That communal house was not the, uh, cleanest place I've lived. And the boyfriend's cat had a little issue with peeing. Likely because the boyfriend had a little issues with keeping his box clean. That may have been where Bubba picked up his little habit. In late living arrangements, I had a lot fewer problems with Bubba and his pee, although every now and then he would go in the dirty laundry basket or on a pile of clothes or one memorable time, in Rex's suitcase as he was unpacking from a trip. We've learned to just not keep piles of clothing and such around, and most of the time that works.

He has spells every now and then, though, that make him difficult to live with. Peeing on things in the kids toy room. Peeing on Jamie's bed (thank goodness the mattress is covered, since the cat isn't the only creature that wets her bed.) Peeing on brand new beanbags. Peeing on the throw rugs I keep around the house so he doesn't have to stump on the hard floors. We very, very rarely catch him at his game, although I'm 99% sure he is the only culprit.

In the last week, he's gone at least twice on a rug, twice in the kids laundry basket (I can't figure out how, the girls are well trained to keep their bedrooms closed up), once in a wooden doll cradle on doll blankets, and once just on the floor in the corner of our bedroom (he has NEVER gone on just the carpet before). At least, that's what I've found so far.

I might be able to find him a pet or child free home that would be more to his liking except for one thing: He really doesn't like anyone but me. It took years for him to even tolerate Rex's comopany, and the kids have developed a healthy respect for him. He won't go after anyone, but he prefers to be left alone. I'm just not sure how he would do with anyone else.

Rex's patience is worn thin, as is mine.

So what can I do?

Posted by me at 10:27 PM | Comments (1)

November 25, 2007

If you don't like the weather in Texas...

I can't decide if this is a complaint or a wonder. Less than a week ago, the temperatures were in the low 80's. All weekend, they were in the low 40's. It's hard to believe as we bundle up to leave the house that last week we were all in shorts. Luckily, this week temps should go back up into the 60's, and I'll be willing to leave the house for groceries again.

Posted by me at 11:30 PM | Comments (0)

November 23, 2007

Is it still November?

This giant, 1000 piece puzzle is my uncle's idea of a gift. Usually, I'm overwhelmed and confounded by puzzles, but somehow we managed to get the whole thing done in a day and a half. More surprisingly than getting it done is that Jamie helped, and I mean helped and not "helped."

Color me impressed.

Posted by me at 11:23 PM | Comments (0)

November 21, 2007

My family interferes with my internet habit. And for that I'm grateful.

I haven't had much time to think today. My mom and grandmother showed up around lunchtime. Before that there was cleaning, after, talking and troubleshooting. We just got home and put the kids to bed, and I'm pooped, although mostly mentally.

Tomorrow, they'll be back, along with my aunt and uncle, to share a lovely Thanksgiving dinner that I will hopefully prepare without disaster.

I think that means it's time for bed.

Posted by me at 8:58 PM | Comments (0)

November 20, 2007

See you tomorrow!

I'm feeling liike I've spent the last three weeks bitching about the same things. The kids, dirt, the kids, the pregnancy, the kids and our living situation.

So today, instead of bitching, I'm going to watch Oprah's Favorite Things.

Posted by me at 3:11 PM | Comments (0)

November 18, 2007

November 18

Today was my due date for the pregnancy I lost back in March.

I'm a little puzzled that I remember that. After all, I only knew I was pregnant for 4 days before I wasn't any more. I was disappointed to lose the pregnancy, but not devastated. I didn't cry, there wasn't any guilt or depression, in fact at the time I learned something important: I really did want another kid. I missed the thought of the baby I wasn't going to have any more, but I wasn't at all concerned that I couldn't have another.

I'm not a particularly sentimental person. I'm not at all religious, and my beliefs are deeply rooted in biology and science. I know all the statistics for losses in early pregnancy, and I know and wholly accept that most of these losses are related to problems with the developing embryo. And while I'm smart enough not to tell a woman who has just experienced miscarriage that it's for the best, I believe it usually is. (It's taken me years to understand that to a mother, the death of a child is NEVER "for the best.")Which is why I'm surprised that the closer I got to that potential due date, the more I thought about what I lost, especially considering that I'm currently 23 weeks pregnant. I would have expected to feel more like I'm replacing something I lost, instead of having something in addition to what I lost.

On a much more shallow note, I can't help but think that if I had kept that pregnancy, I'd be done by now, and wonder if it was a girl.

Posted by me at 2:51 PM | Comments (2)

November 16, 2007

But if they want to come pick up my old shoes or something, they can have them

For the last three months, we've been paying the gas company for the privilege of the opportunity to use gas. This month, we finally used some, and had to pay more than the minimum bill. This is also the first month the bill has not ended in .00, and so it was the first time I noticed that I have been drafted into a charitable donation program known as Operation Roundup.

I'm somewhat familiar with the program, since I'm pretty sure I asked to opt out of it when we signed up for service. Then again, it was months ago, and maybe I meant to opt out but didn't, because it required me to call the gas company or waste a stamp on them for something I feel I should have to opt IN to, not opt out of.

I'm not against donating money, but I would really rather save my change and donate it to the charity of my choice, not the gas company's.

Posted by me at 8:37 AM | Comments (0)

November 15, 2007

I hate the limbo

Last week, Rex, Katie and I spent a morning walking through spec homes in our maybe neighborhood of choice. The good news is, we found a house we like. The bad news: Someone else had made an offer on it already, they aren't dealing on it past the incentives they advertise, it's more than we really want to pay, and it's in the Dallas area.

On the one hand, I'm ready for this unsettled feeling to disappear with the signing of thousands of pages of lawyerese and the aquisition of a large mortgage. No more renting, no more talk of moving, and best of all, I can start buying Jamie the bedroom furniture I planned to get her for her second birthday.

On the other, I don't really want to commit to this place. I'm not ready to give up my Austin dream. Heck, I don't even want to give up my unreasonable Houston fantasy. (I keep several goals in my head, some that are reasonable, and some that are way up in the clouds. Sometimes the way to get to the moon is to aim for the stars.) I'm unwilling to accept this place as my fate.

A couple days ago, we heard that the house we liked was back on the market. Depending on the minute you ask me, I'm either ready to sign on the dotted line, or I'm totally ambivalent to the house's fate.

Posted by me at 9:37 PM | Comments (0)

November 14, 2007

Pigs shed less than cats

I think I’m a nicer person when I don’t clean.

I get really pissed off when I think the carpet is filthy, but I can’t tell any difference in the yuck level after I’ve vacuumed. I get mad at myself for not noticing just how disgusting it was before we moved in, and insisting that it be replaced or cleaned before we signed a lease. Then again, with our last minute procrastinator’s schedule, we probably didn’t really have the luxury, anyway.

The carpet, though, that’s circumstantial. Although finding a blop of cat fur on a freshly vacuumed clean carpet steams me a little too. What really kind of gets me is when I clean, say, the kitchen. And then less than an hour later, Katie guts a sandwich and dumps a cupful of juice on my freshly mopped and swept floor. And when she dumps two cups in three days? I really start to wonder why I bother. Also? Katie gets a lecture that’s probably a little beyond her years.

I’m not super anal (ha ha) about shiny toilet bowls, either, although I must admit that my recent discovery of a bowl cleaner that requires no scrubbing inclines me to clean a little more often.

Really, though, this housework thing is just a neverending battle against the gross that lives in my house in the form of the two kids and three cats I brought on myself. It’s a good thing I really was practically raised in a barn!

Posted by me at 3:18 PM | Comments (2)

November 8, 2007

The reason I haul around hundreds of pounds of paper I'll probably never need

We got a letter yesterday, absolving us from any tax liability to the State of Maryland for the year 2004.

'Bout time.

We've gone back and forth several times now with the state, sending justification for not paying state tax that year. Did I mention that we were following their rule, to the letter? And that after I sent proof that we were, in fact, in compliance, they requested information that I'm pretty sure they should have had access to one their own? Access that wouldn't have required me to dig through my less-than-organized files?

Actually, I'm having a hard time being too upset at this point. After all, I was just proven right AND I get to keep my money.

Posted by me at 11:08 AM | Comments (0)

November 5, 2007

Today, a random collection of thoughts

My favorite part of NaBloPoMo? The fact that some of my favorite bloggers post so often I can barely keep up with my reading.

I made meatloaf for dinner. My hand is tingly from the frozen ground beef, and smells like a meaty club. I'm not in love with the smell, but I'm compelled to keep sniffing it anyway.

I rarely order from catalogs, and almost as rarely order online. And yet, I receive multiple catalogs EVERY DAY for things I don't buy. I feel guilty at the waste of all that paper as I toss it into the recycling bin. Make it stop!

I still can't get my scheduled posts to post. I spent most of last night trying to wrap my feeble little mind around MT's documentation, Wikipedia's explanation of cron jobs, my friends' sometimes overly technical speak (it doesn't take much) and my own miniscule knowledge of Unix and vi. As far as I can see, it never should have stopped working. The minor changes I made had no noticable effect on, well, anything. I will persevere! And maybe cry a little.

Posted by me at 12:32 PM | Comments (2)

November 4, 2007

One of us better get some good drugs

Rex is at the doctor as I type, in an attempt to save our marriage.

He's had this cough for the last two weeks, and it's not getting any better. In fact, I think last night was the worst yet. At the beginning of this dread disease, he would cough a little and then go downstairs to sleep on the couch so he wasn't keeping me up. The consideration seems to be inversely proportional to the amount of coughing, though, and last night, after hours of hacking, I was ready to kill. Not because the coughing kept me up so much as the part where when the coughing ended and the snoring started, while I lay awake. When I stopped fantasizing and started reaching for my pillow to beat him I figured it was time to head to the couch myself.

Since I was the one relagated to the couch, I figured I might get out of waking up with the girls this morning. Somehow, though, I'm still the one that heard Katie calling for me, even though I was all the way downstairs. I didn't beat Rex, but I did throw my pillow and blanket at his head as I passed the bedroom.

Posted by me at 1:10 PM | Comments (0)

November 2, 2007

The new definition of "date"

I'm finishing up my second hour of alone time. I am in love with my alone time. I am, however, regretting eating my hopefully e-coli free Totino's pizza without anyone to share it with. I'm a little, shall we say, overstuffed? But what are you going to do, throw out pizza? Put it in the fridge and make some poor sap (hi, honey!) eat it as a leftover later? Can't do it. Had to eat it.

The rest of my precious freedom has been spent loading the dishwasher, watching The View, fending off "free" carpet cleaning, and reading blogs. I was going to say that I had been wasting this glorious gift, and then I realized that most of those things really are nicer done alone. It's hard to read when people keep talking and asking who the baby in the picture is and poking at the touchpad and talking.

Dad is going home tomorrow, so Rex and I are going to make use of his presence and go out alone tonight. Sadly, there are no movies we want to see, so we'll probably get a yummy beverage that we'll get to drink ALL BY OURSELVES and sit around a bookstore, not paying attention to children of any kind.

Posted by me at 12:59 PM | Comments (1)

November 1, 2007

NaBloPoMo: 2.1

And so it begins.

Posted by me at 7:00 AM | Comments (1)

October 30, 2007

Fiesta in my mouth

I have a love hate relationship with our favorite Mexican restaurant here. I love love love the Chimichangas, and I love the staff that are kind enough to gringatize my meal to Yankee standards. They have yet to not satisfy me.

Unfortunately, from about halfway through the meal on, I'm so full I'm uncomfortable. By the time we get home, I'm doing my lamaze breathing to relax my stomach in an attempt to relieve the pressure. Lamaze has worked ever so much better for me in overeating situations than it ever did in labor.

The girls, at least, seem to love love the place. Of course, what's not to love? They eat a pile of chips and queso, have a couple bites of a vegetable-free meal, a chugger of milk, and then they return to the chips with gusto.

Mexican food: Everything that's wrong but oh, so right with America's eating habits!

Posted by me at 10:09 PM | Comments (0)

October 29, 2007

He even COOKS

Hmm, it seems I have also lost the ability to post in one click, and to create scheduled posts. I guess this means I'll be blogging real time for NaBloPoMo, unless I can figure this out! Not that I wasn't going to, of course.

My dad is here for a week, and the angels are singing. My dad is the one person who can visit and it doesn't feel like we have company. In fact, when he leaves, I have to do things like cook and play with the kids and care for them and shit. And I'm not pawning the kids off on him, either. He and they *ask* to leave me alone. While he's here, it's like *I'm* the one on vacation. When he leaves, he takes the shiny with him. And also? He doesn't care if I clean.

I'm hoping by the end of the week, my brain returns to partial functionality. Of course, I've lowered the bar a little on the definition of functionality, but hey, every brain cell counts!

Posted by me at 2:44 PM | Comments (0)

October 24, 2007

The end is near!

I'm actually feeling a little bad for George Bush. On The View this morning, they were discussing Bush's impending visit to California to see the damage caused by the fire. They were raking him over the coals for going now, and taking focus away from the real heros, the firefighters. In the next breath, they were denigrating him for not having visited New Orleans fast enough after Katrina. Wouldn't a visit to Louisiana have taken focus away from the rescue efforts that were going on there in much the same way it might shift focus in California?

I'm not sure which presidential response is more appropriate, but it sure seems like he was damned either way. I don't necessarily agree with a lot of what Bush has done in the last few years, but it has to suck to be in a position where absolutely nothing you do is ever right.

Posted by me at 8:22 PM | Comments (0)

October 2, 2007

The litter box smells fresh in comparison

I made a delicious curry for dinner tonight. I just wish it had the decency to stay at dinner.

The house stinks of curry. It was way worse after the girls and I took a walk around the block and came back inside. My clothes stink. My hands stink. And the house? It STINKS.

On the upside, though, both kids actually LIKED it.

Posted by me at 8:05 PM | Comments (0)

October 1, 2007

Rotten

Rex is working nights this week, which means he's home and parenting for a large part of the time the kids are awake. So far that has gotten me out of feeding the kids breakfast, I finished my book, Jamie magically got home from preschool, and I didn't have to wake Katie up to take Jamie to TKD. I'll be spoiled like curdled milk by the end of the week.

Is Britney Spears losing custody really that big a news story? It's seems a little high on the food chain for what it is.

Wow, those two paragraphs are related. I'm going back to my E! News before I start talking politics :)

Posted by me at 9:50 PM | Comments (0)

September 26, 2007

Even family has resisted

For the first time in almost two and a half pregnancies, my belly has been molested.

I'm not even really showing unless I'm naked, but this is one of the other parents from TKD, so she already knew. I'm still not getting the touching thing, though, since I don't have enough belly to be fondling baby, it's more like just rubbing some chicks stomach. And also, she rubbed way up by my rib cage, where there is definately no baby.

Posted by me at 9:15 PM | Comments (2)

September 25, 2007

I live in an income tax free state for a reason

According to the State of Maryland, we were not required to file state income taxes in 2004. A few months ago, they sent me a letter, fishing to find out why we hadn't sent them any money that year. I sent them back a reply, as requested, along with a copy of our property tax records for 2004, showing that we still owned a home in Texas and therefore qualified for the rule printed right there under the question "Am I required to file?" in their tax booklet.

Instead of receiving a nice, "Oops, we're sorry!" letter, I have instead received a request for more information. They want to to send them all relevant 2004 tax information, along with a copy of my driver's license. Shouldn't they already have all that shit?

Posted by me at 12:43 PM | Comments (0)

September 24, 2007

Let's face it, it's premier week. I was unlikely to be read-worthy anyway.

I'm being temporarily sidelined by a broken AC adapter. We are geeky enough to have spare computers around the house, but all my pictures and stuff are on the one I can't turn on.

Dell wants $65 for a replacement, so I checked out Fry's, where I could instantly gratify myself and hopefully find something less...pricey. The cheapest thing Fry's had that had a chance of being compatible was $150, so I'll be sucking up the inconvenience of mail order. Actually, I'm in the procecss of getting one on eBay for half the price, including shipping. It says new, and appears to be Dell brand, even. I just hope it really is.

Posted by me at 7:46 PM | Comments (0)

September 21, 2007

For four days

My MIL is on her way to our house, to stay for a long weekend.

I swear, I have nothing against her. Aside from my usual friction with other humans, I have nothing against Rex's family at all. No horror stories about in-laws coming over and insulting me or snooping or tearing apart my house.

But today, I'm totally not in the mood. The girls and I have been fighting colds all week, and none of us has had proper nappage to boost our attitudes. I've had to clean this house for the first time since, uh, we moved in. I still have boxes left to unpack, and no idea where to put the stuff that's in them.

I am tired. I am cranky. I am so not in the mood to be welcoming and social.

Posted by me at 2:16 PM | Comments (0)

September 10, 2007

I haven't even gotten to brag about not having to clean the litterbox.

It was amazing how hard it was to keep this pregnancy a secret from the internet. You would think it would have been harder to keep it from people in real life, especially with all the nausea and headaches and my sluglike demeanor. My blogs are where I post my daily, uh, thoughts, if you can call them that. And a lot of my thoughts lately have been filled with this pregnancy and it's ups and downs.

Worse, all the pathethic little things that I wanted to post about as they happened? They've fallen from my head. I no longer have it in me to write a whole post about the GIGANTOR prescription prenatal vitamins I'm on. The ones that cost over $1 a day, and make me burp a salmony/fishy foulness that is probably the reason my cats love me all night long. I have no idea what was wrong with my Target generics. Those produced two perfectly lovely, if a bit chatty, specimens of humanity.

Of course, you're totally escaping weeks of whining about how ill I felt, how much I neglected the kids in favor of sitting on the couch, the headaches I had literally every. single. day.

Posted by me at 8:07 PM | Comments (0)

August 29, 2007

Same old, same old

Nothing like following up a good workout with a trip to Chick-Fil-A.

I feel like all the things I have to talk about are things that I've already covered. Jamie's excited about preschool. Hell, she was excited about our trip to the dentist this morning. Katie keeps talking about going to school as if she's going to go next week, too. She gets really upset if you tell her she isn't going. It's hot. I'm tired.

You know, the usual.

Posted by me at 8:19 PM | Comments (0)

August 21, 2007

Getting a letter from the Comptroller of Maryland, completely out of tax season, and referring to tax year 2004, asking why we didn't file?

Not cool.

Posted by me at 9:47 PM | Comments (0)

August 16, 2007

Blue and green make aquamarine

I finally broke out the camera for a pile of pictures today, and I took the whole damn lot on the wrong ISO. 1600, outside. Crap. And this isn't the first time I've done it, either. I might need to tape a little sign on the camera to remind me to check.

It was under 100 for the first time in, well, I don't know how long. A while. So I ran out to the store and got some cornstarch, and we made "goo." Bloo goo for Katie, green for Jamie. I played in it for a while myself, and man is that stuff fascinating. Solid, liquid, both at the same time! I think Katie had more fun hosing off afterward, but whatever, I gave fun to my kids, for once.

Posted by me at 8:08 PM | Comments (0)

August 15, 2007

Free M&M's and Twinkies!

We ran out of milk a couple days ago, but since that was really the only thing we needed, and we didn't really go out in a way that made picking up milk convenient (Have I mentioned the HOT? I'm pretty sure I could have slow roasted meat in my van while we were at Tae Kwon Do today.), we just did without.

By yesterday, I had managed to come up with a list of things to buy, so we made the big run to Super Target and I shopped to my heart's content. Well, not really, because I didn't manage to find lemon drops or decent cut pineapple, but our food supplies have been replenished. I found a coupon in my purse for $10 off a $100 purchase, so I had a goal.

Unfortunately, I fell short. $7 short. So I did what I had to do - I ran to the candy aisle (the closest) and picked up a $6something bag of M&M's, and then grabbed a box of Twinkies on display at the checkout on my way back. It may have been $8 worth of crap my ass doesn't need, but dammit, I saved $10!

Posted by me at 2:18 PM | Comments (0)

August 14, 2007

And now me and my headache are going to bed

I actually used my Canon to take a couple pics today. I'm too lazy to go down and get it to download them, and they may suck ass, but at least I clickety clicked.

We're going to Austin this weekend to see our friends and celebrate her birthday. I'm probably more excited than I should be, but I really enjoy the time we spend with them, and I know Rex and the girls enjoy it too. Rex was supposed to work on Sunday, but managed to switch last minute. I'm glad someone traded with him, 'cause I think I would have gone without him, and it's just so much easier when I have an extra body.

Posted by me at 8:28 PM | Comments (0)

August 13, 2007

Melting

I was supposed to get to go out to a movie today, all by myself. We mixed up the times/theaters, though, so I got my lip waxed, picked up the sushi rice we like from World Market, and had a quiet lunch at Potbelly by myself. A little too quiet, I wish I had brought a book with me.

We need to start coming up with some better indoor activities. It hit 104 here yesterday, and it's supposed to get up to 105 today. Crazy talk, I tell ya.

The price on the foreclosure house dropped again, to less than our highest offer. It almost makes me want to just go ahead and put in another offer, our lease be damned. But then, I'm still hoping to get the heck outta Dallas, so maybe it's not the best idea. Also, I'm starting to wonder if even in good condition I could sell it for what I thought we would be able to sell for.

I'm missing the Houston house again. The pretty clean carpets, the nice paint colors, the fact that all the boxes were unpacked and everything had a place. My big, glorious kitchen. And the "mild" upper 90's temperatures. We had shade there, and it hit just the right places for us to play.

See why I haven't been posting? I have no more than three sentences on any one topic, and most of them are just replays of the past.

Posted by me at 12:20 PM | Comments (0)

August 11, 2007

I still haven't taken any pictures, but I did get a couple boxes emptied, a ton of laundry done, a little vacuuming, and I made dinner. Oh, and a homemade cheese sauce over pasta for lunch.

It's a start, right?

Posted by me at 1:33 PM | Comments (0)

August 10, 2007

Forgive me readers, for I have slacked

I have no idea what's happened to me.

I've been back from Maryland for a couple weeks, but I've barely taken a single picture (in fact, I can't think of a single one) and I haven't posted any of the few interesting things that have happened.

And I haven't even felt all that guilty about it.

Worse, it's not even that I've been super busy. I haven't unpacked even one more box. I considered it a big deal when I got the suitcase put away from our trip. I have managed to almomst keep up with the dishes in the kitchen, but just barely.

I think today my goal is going to be to take my camera out of it's bag and set it somewhere where I can't NOT take a pitcture.

Posted by me at 8:52 AM | Comments (1)

June 22, 2007

Crying all the way to the bank

I've been procrastinating calling my mom all week. Not because I don't want to talk to her, but because I have an etiquette question that I don't want to ask or have answered.

As I've said, my grandfather's health is in decline. The question of when is narrowing more and more each time I talk to them. I recently received a letter from my mom with a check, and instructions to deposit it as soon as possible, because if my grandfather dies it becomes void. My grandfather is having a last minute screw-Uncle-Sam moment, and decided to disburse some cash to his grandkids early to avoid some estate taxes.

Receiving the money makes me feel sad and guilty. I'm getting this cash because my grandfather is dying. I probably woldn't be getting it now for any other reason. And while I know I can't do anything to make him healthier or live longer, it still seems wrong to be getting this big gift of death. The guilt comes along because it's hard not to appreciate cash for what it is. At least I know my grandparents would understand. I didn't get my love of money from just anyone.

My question for my mother: Do you write a thank you note for what is basically an advance on an inheritance? (Her answer: To treat this as a normal cash gift, and write the thank you. Of course, when I called, I found out he's back in the hospital. The cancer isn't that advanced yet, but the sum of his ailments and procedures is taking it's toll. I'm hoping now that he'll make it until we visit in July.)

Posted by me at 10:12 PM | Comments (0)

June 14, 2007

Full exposure

I finally got around to getting bloodwork done for Jamie and I. She was supposed to have her cholesterol rechecked, according to her Maryland ped. Our current ped doesn't seem to think it's necessary, but I can totally see where the former ped was coming from. After all, Rex has decently high cholesterol, and I tend to skate the line. At the very least, it's nice to have a baseline for her, and we can always make an effort to feed her an appropriate diet. Meh.

My bloodwork was a recheck for my thyroid. Since both of us had recently had full appointments, I thought we were just going to run through the lab. I certainly wouldn't have called the day of, asking for a quick appointment since we had to fast, had I realized we were both going to see the doctor.

Anyway, nothing exciting at the appointment, so we walked over to the lab. I offered to go first, so Jamie could see what was going to happen. She watched me get stuck with sort of a horrified fascination, but she was nervous without being terrified when it was her turn. She sat on my lap while the (very nice) tech explained what was going to happen. She started to cry just before she got stuck, but stopped about the same time the tech was finished. It wasn't even her most freaked out of cries. She didn't flinch or try to move. I am extremely proud of her, even though she now says she doesn't like needles :)

Then for some reason I had to give a urine sample. I've never had to before for thyroid work, so I'm not sure what they were looking for, but whatever, I don't mind gifting my pee. Of course, I got to demonstrate giving a urine sample for the girls as well. Katie was particularly full of questions, from, "What are you doing?" to "What's in the cup, Mama?" My only consolation is that at least it was a relatively private bathroom, and I wasn't trying to euphemistically explain menstruation while a stranger listened in the next stall.

Posted by me at 9:03 PM | Comments (0)

May 23, 2007

Anyone have a crystal ball handy?

We're getting to crunch time to find another place to live, and even though we made the decision to lease, for some reason we're still looking at sale homes. New contruction *and* pre-owned. No, I don't know what we're thinking.

I'm so sick of not knowing. Not knowing how I'm going to feel about this place in a year. Not knowing if moving to Austin will be possible in a year. Not knowing what the housing market will be like in a year.

The last time I was in this position, I was told to live like this was my life. Which it is. We entrenched ourselves into our community. I made plans for the future of our house, and started implementing them. I dreamed and schemed and pictured my future.

Letting go of those plans and dreams has probably been the hardest part of this move. For the first time in several years, I could see my future, and when we moved up here, suddenly it was gone again. I would get halfway through a plan in my head before I realized that that plan was based on something we didn't have anymore.

Those old dreams have faded, sometimes I can barely remember what I miss so much. I don't have anything to replace them with yet, and that's a new kind of hard. Also, I feel like I've been burned. That if I make plans now, that rug will get pulled out from under me, too. And I know, logically, that that's just life. You make plans, things change, you make new plans. This seems a little more extreme than that, somehow.

Decisions. Too. Hard.

Posted by me at 12:14 PM | Comments (0)

May 22, 2007

Catch-up with bullets

I think the only way I'm going to get this done is the short, bulleted version. Here goes:

• Rex graduated!
• We met our nephews. Within minutes of walking into their house, Katie found the sleeping twin, Karston, and said, "That MY baby." She spent the rest of our visit checking on him, and letting us know if he was awake or asleep. Jamie liked helping out, too. SO cute!
• Mother's Day, uh, wasn't. I'm still pissed about it, too. I know it's something I probably just need to get over, but even if I do, I still know something that I'll never be able to forget, and that's going to color our relationship for the rest of my life. That might be a little dramatic. I mean, I did learn some things that I can't unlearn, but they weren't all on Mother's Day.
• On our way back into town on Sunday, we dropped Rex off at the airport for a week of training in California.
• My van started randomly shutting off while we were in Hosuton. Five times in three days, once on the interstate. On Monday, I took it in to the shop while my dad watched the girls. Then he took Rex's car to the airport and took himself back off to Maryland. It took the dealer THREE DAYS to get my van back to me, two of those to figure out what was wrong with the van. And this was after I TOLD them what was wrong with it. Three days, completely alone, with no car. Yeesh. It wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been.
• Jamie has napped more in the past week than the past year.
• Jamie, and therefore Katie, has started calling me Mom instead of Mama. There was a time a while back where she tried to call me Mommy, which I totally shot down, but Mom doesn't bother me. It does make me feel a little more like a mature mother, and it makes her seem older too. Maybe we're both coming into our own.

Posted by me at 12:53 PM | Comments (2)

May 21, 2007

Empty husk

I've been in a grumpy, pissy, low-patience mood all day. I know what it's from, and it's totally legit, but it isn't the kids fault, and they're the ones who get stuck with me for a big part of the day.

Indigo Girl's post really struck a nerve with me the other day, because on my less than good days, of which I have many, that's how I feel. All done. Empty. Tired. I can't figure out how I got here.

I'm not really in the mood to get too deep right now, but that's how I've been feeling today. Used up, unsure of how I got into this, and why I stay. Taken for granted. Bitter. You know, all the things I don't want to teach my kids to be.

Posted by me at 9:40 PM | Comments (0)

A wee vacation

I had every intention of posting last week. I certainly had plenty of things to write about. In fact, maybe the problem was I had too many things to write about. Stymied by the options, I guess. By halfway through the week, I had no idea where to start, so I decided to just not start at all.

Another week, another chance to do it all right.

Posted by me at 11:33 AM | Comments (0)

May 19, 2007

Better than therapy

Pump it up!

Posted by me at 8:49 PM | Comments (0)

May 10, 2007

I miss it, too

I can't remember what started it, but Jamie started talking about Houston today. She was hoping that the people who bought our house would rent it back to us. She wasn't impressed when I told her that the people who bought are house were living in it, and I doubted they wanted to leave. That they bought our house because they loved it as much as we did. She told me that she missed having a gate she could open and close (our backyard gate) and a great place to ride her trike.

She also asked why we couldn't go back to Houston, and I told her it was because Daddy had a new job here, and we moved here to be near Daddy. That's when she told me that she liked Daddy's old job. I told her that I did, too.

Jamie lets most things roll right off her back. I think this might be the second time she's brought up Houston since right after we moved up here, other than in the context of visits and family. I'm not sure what stirred her pot this time, if it was the little meltdown I had yesterday (although I didn't tell them anything, I just told them I was sad), or if she was just thinking about Houston since we'll be going there tomorrow.

Either way, I told her that I was pretty sure that when we rented a house here, soon, that there would be a place for her to ride her trike. For now, that seems to be enough.

---

My Dad came into town tonight. Tomorrow, we leave for Houston. Saturday, we meet our nephews for the first time, and then Rex graduates. Sunday, back to Dallas, where we drop Rex off at the airport for a week in Cali for training. Monday, my Dad goes back to Maryland.

Lots of stuff in a little time, most of it awesome.

Posted by me at 9:55 PM | Comments (0)

May 7, 2007

More motivation to move. As if I needed it.

This weekend was fun but exhausting.

Earlier in the week, a good friend of mine in Austin asked me if I had any interest in coming to a party at her house. Totally kid friendly, and while I'm not really friends with most of the people there, I had at least met most of them before. Even better? I think I WOULD be friends with a lot of them, if I saw them often enough.

I packed the girls up Saturday morning, and after Tae Kwon Do we made the three and a half hour drive to Austin. The girls were good, most of which I attribute to the movie they were glued to for the first two hours or so.

The party was awesome, a gathering of friends and family and friends with families. Jamie practically disappeared into a herd of girls. They spent so much time on the swings I'm surprised she wasn't walking funny the next day. Katie even wandered off to play, in spite of the crowd of strange kids and adults, either of which would typically have her hanging off my leg like a barnacle. And me, well, I got to talk and talk and talk to adults. There were enough people there that I could talk all night long without torturing any one particular person, except maybe my friend, who may not feel the urge to be near me for a while :)

Sunday, my kids woke up early, despite a three an a half hour sleep deficit for each. Typical. We hung around for a while, and then my friends took us out to find our first geocache. Rex, the girls and I had tried to find one using my navigation system, and when that wasn't accurate enough we bought a more suitable GPS. While that first cache was a bit hilly and muddy, and involved a couple fits out of Jamie, I think the hobby itself will be fun. And after Jamie found the "treasure," she immediately asked to go find another.

After lunch with our friends, we hit the road. The return was even more uneventful, since the girls spent most of it asleep.

And just because it was good to get back, that doesn't mean it's home.

Posted by me at 10:30 PM | Comments (0)

May 2, 2007

Herman #5

The saga of the Hermans continues.

A couple weeks ago, we lost the smaller of the Hermans, I believe he was #3. Since we call them all Herman, and we haven't informed the girls of any of their deaths, it's hard to keep track.

Jamie has shown a passing interest in the Hermans a few times lately, but usually at inconvenient times, so we haven't really done much with them. Today, though, when she asked to see them, we actually had time. I knew as soon as I got the tank down that Jamie was going to notice that the one Herman was missing, so I preemptively told her of Herman's demise. She wasn't that upset, although as usual she had a lot to say. I'm not sure why I did it, but I suggested we head to PetSmart and get a friend for "Jamie's" Herman. We don't want him to be lonely, after all. I guess I figured that if she was going to take interest in the crab again, the poor sucker shouldn't have to live alone.

And so off we went. Both girls were excited. Jamie kept referring to the dead Herman as mine, so I suggested that the new Herman should be Katie's. They picked a small, incredibly active little guy that almost got away while the salesperson went to get a container. While we were waiting, we watched another crab change to a new shell. Naked crabs are NASTY.

Anyway, Katie is all excited about her crab, Jamie is excited too. The crab is freakishly active, or he was until he found the cave and went to hide out.

Now I just have to keep the damn things alive.

Posted by me at 1:53 PM | Comments (0)

April 26, 2007

Still looking at houses like I'm going to buy one

Every so often I go through the house flyers we pick up while wandering around town, looking for which ones are still for sale and which ones have dropped in price. We keep the ones that are only moderately out of our price range, just in case they take forever to sell and we think we can lowball them.

I'm not sure why I still keep the flyers. Hell, we're still picking up new ones. All this *after* we've made the decision to rent for a year, just in case a miracle happens and Rex can wrangle a transfer to Austin.

I still get excited over some of the houses, at least on paper. There's one section of a particular subdivision that has big, beautiful houses on larger lots. Most of the houses are way out of our price range, but one was just moderately so. They lowered the price to something that we can negotiate from. AND it's pretty and with a big, beautiful kitchen. Unfortunately, it's one of a small section of houses in that subdivision that's in a completely different school district, one that we aren't impressed with. And while there is a convenient elementary school located within walking distance, my kids wouldn't be able to go there.

Dammit, I just found another one in the same section. This one is a new build, and it's even cheaper!

There's another house, in a different subdivision. Awesome section, and they've just lowered the price for the second time. The layout of the house is familiar, since a good friend of mine lives in one a lot like it. The difference is hers has enough bedrooms, and the one we found is one room short.

This finding-everything-I-want-in-one-package thing is going to be much harder than I thought.

Posted by me at 10:37 PM | Comments (0)

April 23, 2007

Manic

Some really good things are happening here.

Some really bad ones are happening, too.

Let's start with the good, shall we?

Almost two weeks ago, I became an aunt! Rex's brother and his wife had twin boys, four weeks early but healthy. Kaden went home a week ago, while Kartson is spending some time being fattened up before he can go home.

Rex graduates in less than three weeks! After somewhere around 9 years of active schooling, Rex will be a college graduate. He's worked hard for this, given up a lot of free time, some sleep and some sanity, and he's EARNED this degree.

Jamie is about to earn her first orange stripe in Tae Kwon Do. I'm really proud of her for her persistence and hard work.

Katie is about to turn two. She's incredibly stubborn, but cute as a button!

And now the bad.

A couple weeks ago, my grandfather went to the doctor for severe jaundice. The jaundice was caused by a blocked bile duct, which was easily unblocked. The cause of the blockage, however, was a tumor. Stage 3 pancreatic cancer. I hadn't heard a prognosis, aside from not good, since they were still doing some tests.

Today, my mom called and told me that he's been admitted to the hospital for pneumonia and heart failure. While the fluid buildup seems to be clearing up, the doctor thinks it's unlikely my grandfather will be leaving the hospital.

I'm glad that I got to see him recently, and that our whole family, excepting Rex, were gathered together. At the time, I had no idea it was likely the last time I would see him, but that made the visit so much less sad than if we did it now.

A good friend of mine has a child with intense special needs. She and her husband wanted more children, but were concerned that there may have been a genetic component to their son's condition. After years of debate, they had a second son, and they have been thrilled with each new milestone he reaches within the proper timeframe. Almost two weeks ago, he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. This isn't a death sentence, it's manageable, it's livable. But it's one more stress that she just didn't need. And from this far away, there isn't a lot I can do to help her.

Posted by me at 9:57 PM | Comments (0)

April 21, 2007

Coming from a woman who grew up around pig farms

Oh. My. Goodness.

I noticed that my cat Pookie has been smelling a bit like poo. The first time, I figured it he must have just come from making a deposit. But he kept hanging around while I was putting the kids to bed, and the smell did not fade. I checked for a dingleberry, and it took me a minute to find it. Because it was 6 inches from his butt, yet still attached by what I think may have been a piece of Easter grass.

And then...

And THEN...

I had to pull really hard to get the string out.

Gross.

Posted by me at 8:27 PM | Comments (3)

April 13, 2007

Litter box update

I know you're all dying to hear about how the cats have adjusted to the new litter box.

The good news is that two of the cats have adjusted well.

The bad news is that the cat I expected to take to the new box the best, the one that isn't scared of her own shadow, still poops on the floor of our bathroom every day. She'll at least make an effort to pee in the box, but in spite of our careful instructions, she won't turn around and stick her head out the hole. Instead, she climbs in the box and pees out the entrance onto the step.

Every.

Single.

Time.

And yet, life is still less gross than three cats using a single box in our bathroom. Less work. Less scooping. Less stink.

Posted by me at 8:21 PM | Comments (0)

April 10, 2007

Ziploc must be making a killing

I'm all for airline safety. I happily wear slip-on shoes, even though it seems ridiculous to check every pair of shoes because one fool tried to blow his up. I have removed all sharp objects from my purse, even though I bet I could kill someone faster with a mechanical pencil, or even just a sharp wooden pencil, a lot faster than I could with nail clippers. If I have to check luggage anyway, I put everything I can in the suitcase so I have less to put through security.

Then they took my sample size lotion, one of maybe six things I had in my purse. Now I'm mad.

The lotion was basically worthless, a free sample from somewhere, I think. I almost never use it, I just keep it in my purse for the odd instances of super itchy dry skin. I only packed it in the purse I took because I figured the drying effects of sunburn and airplanes might trigger a case.

Anyway, I made it through security in Dallas/Ft. Worth. I used to get searched about every time I traveled, including when I was 6 months pregnant. I guess I've been looking more trustworthy lately, because I haven't had anyone riffle through my dirty underwear in a while. We were surprised by security in Cozumel, though. They x-rayed bags like usual, but we got to keep our shoes on! I got wanded, and that was it. It wasn't until we went to board the plane that my purse got searched. And not just mine, they searched everyone's bags.

The chick next to me was given a baggie to put all her makeup in. When the security guy found the lotion in my bag, he asked if I had a baggie to put it in. Then he asked me if it was important. When I said no, he took it.

I'm peeved for a number of reasons. It was wasteful to throw it away. Putting it in a baggie would be pointless. I have one thing, it would obviously fit in. As far as I know, there's no rule that says the items have to stay bagged on the plane, so the instant I left him I would have taken it back out.

So what was the point of confiscating it?

Posted by me at 8:56 PM | Comments (0)

April 5, 2007

Still playing catch-up

I have lots of stuff swirling around in my head, but I have a hard time writing it out in words. And this is why I'll never be a writer.

I also still have state taxes to do, and the woman who's website I handle has sent me a ton of stuff in the last couple weeks, some of which requires some graphics work. I figured out just enough to get her site up in the first place, now I have to go back and relearn that, and then try to match it up with what I already have. I'm considering a site redesign, but I'm short on ideas. I'm not particularly creative, either.

I'm starting to wonder why I blog and manage websites, since it seems I lack both natural ability, education, and time.

Posted by me at 2:01 PM | Comments (0)

April 1, 2007

I'm back, twice!

I've gotten back from Maryland, and left for and returned from Mexico. I have a day and a half to clean, launderize, shop, and do state taxes before the girls get back.

Man, do I miss them!

Posted by me at 10:27 PM | Comments (0)

March 12, 2007

Hanes tagless T

So I bought a couple T-shirts at WalMart the other day, just after learning how white and gelatinous I look in a swimsuit. They were fitted T's from Hanes, with the printed tag in the back. I tried on a medium and a large, and decided on the smaller. It was roomy enough that even with a little shrinking, it should have still fit without being snug.

I washed both shirts, put on the black one, and discovered that instead of a tag in the neck, where I'm used to an irritant, they printed the tag into the neck and put the itchiest tag known to man in the side. I carefully tried to tear the tag out, and got most of it. There was still a small piece stuck in the seam that itched, but less. Plus, we were in a hurry, so I figured I'd cut the rest out another time. Oh, and it had shrunk so much that it was quite snug over the chest and shoulders, and smaller than I had wanted everywhere else, but not quite indecent.

When we got where we were going, I put my hand to my side to scratch and my fingers went right through the seam. Careful as I was, I must have torn some threads trying to get that tag out of my damn tagless shirt.

I left the tag in the second shirt, cutting off the corners of the it. Unfortunately, I couldn't do much for the fact that it's a thin white shirt that fits snugly, which *did* make it slightly indecent.

I've emailed my complaints to the company. If I don't get any response, I'll call and make my complaints a little more in person.

Posted by me at 1:29 PM | Comments (0)

March 6, 2007

I might have to try them in a batch of cookie dough, just to be sure

We picked up some free range, never been in a cage, grain fed, happy hippie hen eggs today. They were almost a buck more per 18 than regular eggs, which I'm assuming covers the cost of painting them brown.

Really, I got them because some friends have said that they taste better, that they look better because the yolks are more yellow(?), and uh, they taste better?

So tonight, we had scrambled eggs so we could really check out that eggy flava. Sadly, aside from the shell color and the size of a few of the eggs (free range chickens must have some incredible birthing hips!) I really didn't taste any difference. I even tasted them raw (shut up! I like it!) and couldn't tell.

Needless to say, I won't bother spending the extra change on them again. I'll save it for the free-range chicken broth!

Posted by me at 9:08 PM | Comments (0)

February 27, 2007

TTS2: The Finale?

Once again, I thought we had gotten the last of our postcards, and then another one arrived yesterday. I'm going to assume this is it, and post the names and blogs of the people we got cards from.

Thank you everyone! My daughter has loved looking at the different locations on our map of the world, and can now point out where we live and where her Grandpa lives, at the very least.

---

Kate and Fizzy
Cheltenham, England
www.20six.co.uk/beautifulthings

Anne Margaret, Brendan and Erin
Richmond, VA
tentenspot.blogspot.com
thebrendanblog.blogspot.com

Steven, Cynthia, Kaylee and Titus
Osceola, IN
witmerchronicle.typepad.com

Palin
Dunedin, New Zealand
kiwiknitter.blogspot.com

Amanda and Max
Flagstaff, AZ
zhinkadinkadoo.typepad.com

Diana
Aurora, IL
papercrow.typepad.com

Nathan, Zoey and Allison
Center, TX
www.runwiththefishes.com

ETA:
Charity, Katie and Brian
Prince George, British Columbia

Posted by me at 12:04 PM | Comments (0)

February 26, 2007

Blogher '07

I might be going. Might.

Rex asked me if I wanted to go for my birthday present. Apparently, he's been looking into the details for months. I'm impressed, he doesn't usually manage to surprise me with his gift ideas, even when he has great ones.

Anyway, he's looked at airfare, he's seen the lodging choices, he's even looked at which days I would travel. I'm cool with all that. What I really need to know is, how much is the conference registration?

And also, I'm totally freaked at the idea of going to a conference where I'm supposed to talk and mingle and interact with a whole lot of strangers, all by myself. It's almost worse that I know some of the women through their blogs, because I feel like I know them on some level, but they will have absolutely no idea who I am. And unlike some bloggers, I haven't even developed a close email relationship with any of my readers. I barely get comments, and don't comment unless I feel like I have something truly useful or consoling to say. I'm a loner even on the blogsphere, it seems. Or at the very least shy.

Anyway, since registration information won't be coming for a month or so, I guess I have time to either get over my social anxiety, get hooked on some good meds, or give in and decide not to go.

Posted by me at 9:30 PM | Comments (0)

February 21, 2007

And I'm left wondering just how much these damn spots are worth

Last Friday, I went to a Sona MedSpa and had a free consult. I have some spots on my left cheek, and one on my right, that bother me. I don't mind my moles, freckles or wrinkles, but these spots make me feel old. At least, they do when I take the time to look in a mirror. I have yet to be bothered enough to wear makeup, but I think that's more a testament to the strength of my laziness than anything.

As part of the consult, they take two pictures of your face, one in the light, and one in the dark, maybe lit by UV? Anyway, the equipment identifies how many spots, wrinkles, etc you have above and below the surface of the skin. Then you sit down and discuss treatment options and how many of your children you have to cash in to pay for them.

In my case, I have two options. Microdermabrasion/chemical peels or Advanced Fluorescence Technology (AFT). Naturally, the more expensive of the two is expected to give better results with fewer treatments. Unnaturally, the better treatment is almost $900 for the recommended three treatments, and that's AFTER the 25% discount. The MD/CP is slightly less than half the cost, but of course no one can tell me if it's only going to do half the job.

Anyone have any experience?

Posted by me at 8:42 PM | Comments (0)

February 20, 2007

I'll get another shot tomorrow

The Federal taxes have been filed. The partial Maryland taxes are giving me fits.

They are also the cause of a tiff between Rex and I that is going to result in him wondering why, once again, he isn't getting any.

Today was even more beautiful than yesterday. Temperatures in the 70's, sunny with only a light breeze. My mood was a little more stormy. The girls alternated crying fits this morning, but improved dramatically when I opened a box of toys I had Rex drag up from the garage. In fact, they were so enthralled they were quiet and happy from lunchtime until naptime. Bully for me.

I've had the door to the balcony open all day, and the cats are in love. The air, the birds, the bird that flew into the apartment and came dangerously close to being kibble, and the litterbox, for the one cat that refuses to use the new robot.

It's been an odd, up and down kind of day. Sort of a shame it's going to end on a down.

Posted by me at 10:12 PM | Comments (0)

February 19, 2007

Feeling like an idiot

A year and a half ago or so, I bought one of those two screen portable DVD players. We really only break it out for long trips, so it doesn't get used often, but when I do get it out, it's been a lifesaver. Like on the three day trip from Maryland to Texas.

I think the last time it worked was on our recon trip to Dallas, sometime in October. When we tried to hook it up for another trip, the port for screen 1 wasn't transmitting anything. I had Rex to try to return it to Target, but it had been too long. They gave us the phone number for the company that made it, and I've been meaning to call them since, oh, November.

Tonight, I finally found my can of compressed air and tried blowing out the port. It was a last ditch effort that I've been meaning to try for months and knew wasn't going to work. Then I hooked the whole system up, plugged it in, and hit what I thought was the power switch. Nothing happened, even on the good screen, so I looked at the "power" switch and discovered it was and audio/DVD switch, and there were two of them. I flicked both of them to DVD and POOF, it all works.

So I feel stupid that I didn't find the switch, but I'm thrilled that the damn thing works, and we'll be able to use it for the three long trips we have planned for this month.

Posted by me at 8:01 PM | Comments (0)

February 16, 2007

Random updates and pictures to avoid words

We got TTS2 card #6 yesterday. I had just about given up on getting the rest, but now hope has been renewed.

I got the check for the house today. I'm not all that excited, and considering how much I love me some money, that's sad.

My Litter Robot arrived today. So excited. I'd be more excited if the cats would go near it.

The box was huge:

So exciting!

Tana was interested at first. I knew it was supposed to be big, but wow.

Really, really big. Maybe that's where I'll send the kids for time out from now on.

Posted by me at 3:29 PM | Comments (0)

February 8, 2007

The girls better behave, or they might be next

Kate at Beautiful Things has made a pledge to throw out/get rid of something every day this year. That sounded like a pretty good idea, although most of the stuff I might want to get rid of is packed in boxes, so I've been making an effort to get rid of some of the piles of stuff around here. I'm not going to go so far as to commit to a thing a day, but so far I haven't been doing too badly.

Today, I threw out a painted metal spatula that the psint was chipping off of. It came with Rex, and it still seemed useful, but I never used it, so today I threw it out.

Yesterday, I recycled our old cell phones.

The day before that, I went through all the boxes of books I could easily reach (they're all packed in the garage, I don't think I'll be able to get to the pile of books I know I'm ready to part with) and pulled out a book to pitch and four more to donate. I can alreayd hear the thanks of our future moving men.

Tomorrow: the gingerbread house that's been floating around here since Christmas, waiting for me to choose the best way for it to leave this planet. I'm leaning toward plunging off the balcony, myself.

Posted by me at 2:02 PM | Comments (0)

February 6, 2007

And don't forget the upgrade!

I've finally started (and completed!) a defensive driving course for the ticket I got in November. It's a nice weight off my mind.

Now, who wants to come help me decipher my taxes?

Posted by me at 10:41 PM | Comments (0)

February 5, 2007

More TTS2

Oh, lord. We got two more TTS2 cards today. Well, one was a card, the other is an envelope that I'm waiting on Jamie to open. Suffice it to say, my slackerishness looks much more magnificent when compared to what we've received. The envelope looks like it has a full sheet of paper in it!

If you make it to Richardson, I'll be the woman hanging my head in shame.

Posted by me at 2:57 PM | Comments (0)

TTS2

On Saturday, we received our first postcard and now I'm feeling like a total slacker.

Our first card was from Cheltenham, England. Kate sent a card covered in pictures of their area, and with WRITING on the back. Hell, I didn't even remember to put my blog info on ours, and Kate described the pictures she and her daughter took for a Geography project.

Do the minimum, apparently, that's my motto!

Posted by me at 9:36 AM | Comments (0)

February 1, 2007

Snow, no-go, and blow

It snowed again today.

Including yesterday's "wintery mix" (MAYBE and hour of flurries), that makes four snows this year. This place is not endearing itself to me.

It already feels like it's been winter forever. The cold, the gray, the dead trees and grass. I'm ready for a little green in my life again, and for once I don't mean cash.

---

I took my dad to the airport this morning. I've only been there once before, so I was relying on Maggie (the navigation system I got for Christmas) to get us there as smoothly as possible. Only Maggie is dead. I got in the van, and her screen remained blank. Thank goodness for service plans!

---

Katie has had some serious gas today. This is really unusual. Jamie could fart enough to keep a hot air balloon flying, but Katie is generally nearly anti-flatulent. This afternoon, in a two hour period, Katie farted so often that she learned to say excuse me at the appropriate time.

Posted by me at 9:12 PM | Comments (0)

January 31, 2007

Teeny Tiny Swap 2 - Sent!

I *finally* got our postcards sent for the swap. I couldn't find anything in this town interesting enough to photograph, so I started looking around at image.google.com. I found a presentation by the City fo Richardson with a nice collage of local pics, so I stole it (I gave credit! And it's free advertising, right?) I just couldn't find anything more creative and exciting, especially with the cold weather we've been having. Also, where do you buy postcards, aside from the airport?

The flickr pool for the swap is here.

Posted by me at 8:20 PM | Comments (0)

January 28, 2007

A good day

My dad is in town again, which is the only reason I was brave enough to suggest we go skating. Having an extra adult around makes so many things easier, and gave Rex and I the opportunity to make a couple rounds on our own.

I think we're going to regret it tomorrow.

By the time we left, all three adults were worn out. Ankles weak, backs sore, thighs burning. Part of that can be blamed on hunching over, helping the girls to skate, Katie especially since she's about three inches taller than a Chihuahua. The rest, well, let's just say that we're all a little less in shape than we could be.

It was fun, though. When someone else was helping Katie, I could see the big smile on her face. And while Jamie wasn't too thrilled with me when I tried to encourage her to do more than stand up and hang on, I saw some big smiles on her face, too. Better yet, there weren't any real tantrums.

Posted by me at 9:15 PM | Comments (0)

January 26, 2007

Procrastinating AND uneducated

I haven't done the upgrade yet. I can't find any documention for the right version that contains any helpful information. I haven't googled for it yet to see if there's anything out there that might be helpful, and I haven't remembered/found what I did for the original install.

It will have to wait.

This afternoon, I'm going to Houston (by myself!) to spend one last night in my beautiful, beautiful house and go out with the soulmate neighbor. Tomorrow, I need to pick up a birthday gift for soulmate's daughter, then go to my SIL's baby shower. Immediately following, I'm going to kick back and relax at the birthday party, and then I head home, where my dad may or may not be waiting for me, depending on how late I get back.

I'm excited. This is the first time in a while that I've had something to anticipate, something that's not about me, but also isn't about my kids. And totally benefits me. I can't wait to kick back with the soulmate and a glass of wine tonight. I can't wait to talk, about my life and hers, neighborhood gossip and tv shows, and maybe, just maybe, our kids.

It's been a while since I've been excited.

Posted by me at 3:08 PM | Comments (0)

January 17, 2007

And I'm starving, but I can 't taste a thing

Yesterday, I spent $60 for doctors and prescriptions, and my kids just got sicker.

Last night, they were up over and over, puking, moaning, awake and feeling crappy.

Today, their old attitudes returned, the snot decreased, no one puked, and food was consumed. They are on the mend.

Judging by the size of the headache I had this afternoon, and my own snot load, I'm recovering more slowly, in spite of my weeks head start.

This hasn't been a bad week for the bad weather to hit here. It's been cold since Friday, I think, and the kids started getting sick about the same time. Saves me the trouble of either listening to them bitch about wanting to go to the park, or actually having to get geared up and go. All of my forays have been luckily made during non-slick times, so I didn't even have to risk our lives for the drugs. On the other hand, this super cold snap isn't endearing this place to me. I'm fully aware that it is cold in other places, but that other place will be less cold for fewer days.

I'm still grumpy, can you tell?

Posted by me at 8:05 PM | Comments (0)

January 8, 2007

The good, the bad and the ugly

My MIL's visit went way better than anticipated. I wasn't perfect, but I mostly kept the bitchy reined in. Also, she was much more interactive than the last time she stayed with us. Part of that is that Jamie won't let you stay disengaged anymore, but a big part is that my MIL seemed more willing to play. I think she just might not be a baby person, and I can understand, since I'm only a baby person with my own kids.

The house showed again this weekend, and apparently we're on someone's short list. I'm excited by the prospect of not paying a mortgage and rent at the same time (we've been double paying for almost a year and a half out of the last two and a half), but I don't want to sell it. I'm still holding out stupid hope that I'll get to go back.

In other news, my mom is travelling 2000 miles for a month long booty call. So. Proud.

Posted by me at 9:55 PM | Comments (0)

January 4, 2007

No catchy title here!

I'm going to stop cleaning this apartment. It depresses me.

My MIL is coming tomorrow for a long weekend. I'm nervous, mostly because I'm not in the best frame of mind today, and adding another person (with unknown living habits) doesn't seem like the brightest idea. I'm fragile, people. Fragile looks a lot like bitchy.

Posted by me at 1:47 PM | Comments (0)

January 1, 2007

By the dawn's early light

After a scant night's sleep, we spent the morning socializing with my soulmate and her family. More than the house, the yard, the neighborhood, the familiar town, I miss my friend. She's having a hard time right now, and I wish I were there to help. I'm having a hard time right now, and I wish I were there for her to help me. Of course, if I were there, I might not be in a bad place.

Also, we got to shower in a real, nice shower. With unscented water.

Priorities man. It's all about priorities.

Posted by me at 8:28 PM | Comments (0)

December 30, 2006

Let me explain. No, wait, let me sum up

I haven't posted too much lately, even though I promised myself I was going to be better about it. Blame it on Christmas!

Let me see if I can sum up:

• My dad came for 8 days. It was like having a third parent around. He's so good with my kids, he makes me feel totally inadequate, but I would agree to let him live with us full-time in a heartbeat if I thought he'd move to Texas.
• Christmas happened. We managed to keep the number of gifts under control, but the size of the gifts is killing me. It would figure the year of the giant toys is also the year of the tiny apartment.
• Rex and I spent two nights and a day away. By away, I mean about 20 minutes from here in a hotel. We spent most of the time in bed watching endless tv and reading. We managed to get out and see a movie, but that was about it.
• I had some major weird stomach pain. It was the worst the first day, but then took about a week to get back to mostly normal. I'm not sure if I should blame it on the Pei Wei, but regardless I won't be ordering Mongolian beef anytime soon. I had barely any appetite for most of the week, and I think I may have lost all of a pound.
• On the morning of the 26th, I eradicated Christmas from the apartment.
• My dad rearranged the entire garage and added a chair from the living room. There is enough room for my van plus some. I am in awe.
• My dad left. Later that day, I got back to being insane.

Posted by me at 9:27 PM | Comments (0)

December 17, 2006

Next year they can have shots of whipping cream

My grandparents, along with my aunt and uncle, were in town yesterday. We spent a couple hours chit-chatting while the girls napped, and then a while more watching them play after they woke up. Jamie warmed up to them very quickly, I'm sure she remembers them quite well. Katie, well, she was happy to hug them goodbye. My grandfather has a hard time keeping his hands off of Katie, even though it totally freaks her out. He managed to hold off until after dinner, at which point she started crying and climbed back into my lap.

I thought for sure she'd give in when he tried bribing the girls with and half shooters. I wish I had pictures of them holding the little creamer cups and throwing them back!

Posted by me at 3:39 PM | Comments (0)

December 12, 2006

But I still want to go home

I'm almost sad that NaBloPoMo is over. It gave me great motivation to post regularly, and while I thought that was going to carry on, it only lasted a few days. And, it's really putting a crimp in my blog reading.

What a letdown.

Anyway, not much going on. Still trying to make our square belongings fit into a round apartment. Trying to keep up with all the pictures I've been taking on my new camera. Not doing a good job of posting pics here (or getting them off the camera on a timely manner).

And Christmas, holy bejeebus. I haven't bought anything at all. I finally got a book of pictures put together that we'll give to each of the grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts and uncles, but they may not get here in time to give for Christmas, and surely not in time to mail to the distant relatives.

Mentally, I've been doing better. A lot better. I had one more brief episode of hopelessness, but it was counterbalanced by two episdes of serene patience with Jamie. I'm not sure the last time I had one of those.

Even better (actually, not better. The mental thing is the best.) the weather has been beautiful the last couple days, and is expected to stay that way for at least a week. Exploring our new habitat is much nicer when we can get out and enjoy it.

Posted by me at 9:04 PM | Comments (0)

December 3, 2006

Actually getting something done

Things we did this weekend:

• Bought, set up and decorated our Christmas tree.


• Sorted through (but haven't uploaded) October's and November's pictures.


• Took our Christmas card picture, and got them printed at Sam's.


• Realized that I didn't order enough pictures when I went through my list of names. Or stamps. We have too many family members for our own good.


• Sorted through some of Jamie's old clothes to figure out what I have for Katie.


• Spent a bunch of time on the phone with T-Mobile.


• Accidentally did some house hunting. We were just cruising through a couple neighborhoods, and got hooked up with a realtor. Saw another house, then spent some time touring a builder's models and talking money. Came home and the realtor we ran in to had already sent a HUGE list of houses to sort through. Spent some time doing that.


• Listened to Frosty the Freaking Snowman about 100 times.


• Felt much better.

Posted by me at 9:47 PM | Comments (2)

December 1, 2006

Brutally honest

I haven't been completely honest in this blog.

Part of the reason for that is that I don't want to say things that will hurt my husband (or his family). Part of the reason is that my husband reads this blog, and I don't feel I should tell him through my blog things that I can't seem to say to his face. And part of the reason is that I think there are some things that I need to get said, but they don't necessarily need to be heard, at least not by the world.

I've gotten so desperate for help, though, that I've started talking to anyone who will listen, even though most of them aren't in any position to help. My friends are too far away to do more than listen as I cry. My mother may have been right telling me I need to talk to a professional, but the way she said it has left me feeling bitchy toward her. My dad does what he can over the phone, even offering to verbally beat some sense into my husband.

My husband, well, he doesn't get it. Last night when I told him I would have left yesterday if the roads hadn't been icy, he said exactly nothing, and was asleep in 5 minutes. Not exactly the help and concern I was going for.

Don't get me wrong, my husband is a great guy. He puts up with a lot from me. But right now, I'm floundering. In the I'm-not-going-to-make-it-without-help kind of way. Professional help. And possibly drugs.

All of this is even harder to admit, because I always thought I was strong. That I could get through anything. That drugs were for those other people. You know, the ones who can't even hack real life. I have no idea what a therapist could possibly do for me, aside from cost me more money and make my life even more difficult and stressful, since I'll have to figure out what to do with the kids. They have to have some purpose, though, right? Right?

Now that I'm finally ready to get some help, I'm having to wait for our insurance to kick in. Yesterday was bad. Today is so much better that I'm starting to think I'll be ok again. But not so good that I don't think I need help before I end up in a puddle of angry, hopeless tears again.

Posted by me at 9:10 PM | Comments (1)

November 28, 2006

A list for Day 28

Bad things about this apartment, not including the fact that it's a freaking apartment:

• I don't know how I didn't realize how close this place is to the toll road. Like I could throw a rock and hit the cars getting on the onramp close. Even with the separating wall.


• The hot and cold water in the kitchen and laundry are reversed.


• There is no hot water in the kids' bath.


• The fridge makes more noise than the washer and dryer combined.


• The A/C in Jamie's room is so loud it freaks her out.


• The toilet in the master bath is stopped up already. And no, I didn't put anything all that big down it.


• The puny kitchen.


• Fear that my Dish pole will be ripped out and I will lose my tv.


• All these damn boxes.


• It's location, about 200 miles north of home.

Update: I forgot to mention the smell of the water, and the way the tub squeaks every time you move while you shower. Well, while I move, since I haven't seen any of you guys in my shower.

Posted by me at 2:58 PM | Comments (0)

November 22, 2006

Guess what I got today?

I haven't had any time to play with it yet, since the kids have been absolute terrors all afternoon since it got here.

Posted by me at 8:18 PM | Comments (1)

November 20, 2006

Much like my heart

My brain is empty and overstuffed at the same time.

I think today was actually one of more goods than bads. I'm still fried, though, so I can't really remember. Amazing how even a good day is exhausting.

I made a pumpking roll today. I'm loving the sweet pumpkiny goodness.

I think I'm going to zone back out in tvland.

Posted by me at 9:43 PM | Comments (0)

November 19, 2006

This started as a rant

A couple days ago, I gave in to my ulcer and ordered my new camera. Being cheap, I opted for the SuperSaver shipping, in spite of the fact that they just hold onto your stuff for an extra 5 days and then ship it at the same speed.

I;ll admit it was a stupid move. Although we hadn't firmed up our move date, we were aiming for the weekend after Thanksgiving. I knew we were unlikely and I clicked "Confirm" anyway. I guess I was hoping they were just kidding about the estimated ship date, and I'd get my camera ahead of schedule.

At some point, I realized that wasn't going to happen, and faced with 8 hours in the car with 2 kids to pick up a camera, I called Amazon to see if they could modify the ship to address. The rep told me that my order was already on the shipping line, but was still scheduled to arrive between the 28th and 30th. Because of it's status, he could change the address. He tried to cancel the order, but said that it was too late for that, too. The arrival date remained the same.

When I got an email asking for feedback, I was only too happy to send this off:

While I understand that my issue was my own fault, I was unimpressed by your ability to assist me.

My family is in the process of moving from Houston to Dallas. When I made my order, we had not yet picked a moving date, so I went ahead and chose SuperSaver shipping. This changed the number of days you held my order before shipping from 1 to 6, pushing out the arrival date. Several days later, we firmed up our moving date, and we will no longer be at the shipping address when my order arrives. Since my package isn't expected to leave your shipping facility for several more days, I had hoped to change the shipping address. I was told that even though my order was not scheduled to leave for 3 more days, I could not be helped. Your rep told me he would try to cancel my order, but was unsuccessful.

I'm very disappointed that you were unable to accomodate my needs, given the amount of time before my order is due to leave your facility.

Here's where things get good. A couple hours later, I received an email saying that my order had shipped, and is scheduled to arrive on the 22nd. Yippee! I still have no idea if it shipped early due to my complaint, or fate, but when I got another chance to provide feedback I didn't just click "Yes" when they asked if they resolved my problem. I actually took the time to click another link and write out a thank you.

Posted by me at 10:36 PM | Comments (1)

November 15, 2006

The mundanity of this post brought to you by NaBloPoMo

Our power went out twice today, once for about 2 hours and the second time about 20 minutes. It was extremely windy, so I'm guessing the lines blew down. The upside is that I got to take the girls out for lunch yet again, but this time we met Rex and his dad. Free lunch plus leftovers!

The wind and the cool kept us inside all day, so both girls were kind of wired all day. I tried a little craft, but that only entertained them for about 10 minutes. Later, I let them spread playdoh all over the kitchen, which keeps them occupied and later occupies me vacuuming it all up.

Tomorrow is supposed to be calmer, but colder. Let's hope I have the guts to sit out while they run off some steam.

Posted by me at 9:39 PM | Comments (0)

November 13, 2006

My new weight loss plan

I'm doing my best to use up whatever I can in the pantry before we move. I may not have to haul the boxes around, but I do have to pack and unpack them. Anyway, every now and then I pick up a couple cans of cat food as a treat for the cats, and then forget to give it to them. The stench of the open plate of cat food has been following me around all day, eroding my will to eat.

And this is the kind of quality post you can expect when I have to write something every day.

Posted by me at 9:27 PM | Comments (0)

November 11, 2006

Two posts in one day? I must be nuts!

I'm fading fast, coming down off my successful trip high. I didn't sleep well last night, and I think it's starting to catch up to me.

The trip home took a lot longer than the trip up, partly due to the time that was wasted while that cop in Palmer was giving me a ticket. I took the experience to heart, and drove slower the rest of the way home.

Now, I'm waiting for Rex and the girls to get back from Austin. I'm not expecting them til after 9, maybe closer to 10. I have the feeling they'll be getting me out of bed to put them in.

I guess I can find that online defensive driving class while I wait.

Posted by me at 6:34 PM | Comments (0)

November 7, 2006

Look! I stopped with the NaBloPoMo!

I can't decide which is bigger news, the Britney Spears divorce, my continued overconsupmtion of Halloween candy, or how pissed off I am about election coverage breaking into my regular programming.

I suppose I could talk about how I didn't vote, and that although I feel mildly ashamed (ok, more than mildly) I just haven't kept up with the candidates well enough to make an informed choice.

I could try to cure your insomnia writing about the amount of cleaning I've done in the last couple weeks, and how it's likely that I've vacuumed more in the last two weeks than I have since we moved here.

Or I could just go back to my kid-free pre-bedtime extravaganza where I get to sit in front of the tv and the laptop simultaneously and eat candy without feeling guilty for neglecting my kids.

Posted by me at 7:04 PM | Comments (0)

November 3, 2006

NaBloPoMo day 3: Finally moved past talking about NaBloPoMo

In an effort to find myself, I've decided to give myself some hobbies. Since I already have a couple cameras, kids and pets, I figured I'd give photography a try.

I have no idea if I'm any good. I'm not sure I care, as long as finding subject matter and pushing the button on the camera continue to be fun. I think I'm outgrowing my point-and-shoots, though, and I really want to graduate to a dSLR. And a book on the technical aspects of photography. You know, the relation of aperature and shutter speed and depth of field and such.

A photographer came today to take pictures of the house. He was late, so I didn't feel at all bad about pressing him for details about his camera (Canon 20D with a wide angle/non fish-eye lens and an architectural flash) and what he thought about Canon vs Nikon (he used to use Nikon's, but now he loves Canon. He takes 100,000+ pictures a year on his D20 without any issues, but the Nikons had some durability issues.) He knew a little about the XT/XTi, but didn't have any knowledge of the D80.

I was set on one of the Canons until I started reading the review on the D80. At that point, I turned into a 3-sided waffle. It's taken me months to talk myself into spending that kind of dough on something that's just for ME ME ME, and now I can't decide which one I want!

Anyone have any opinions? I want to hear them!

ETA: I'd also like a cost/benefit analysis - are the advantages of the Nikon worth the larger price tag?

Posted by me at 9:31 PM | Comments (1)

November 1, 2006

NaBloPoMo Day 1: Realization dawns

What the hell was I thinking?

A post a day for a month. At least I have a lot going on this month to write about. Unfortunately, I have so much going on it's going to be hard to find the time. I suppose I need to make time, since all writing about all this crap will be a good release for me.

In the interest of some actual content, here's a little moving update:

• We met with the realtor Monday night.
• The house listed today.
• Photographer was due tomorrow, but can't make it. Pictures will be taken Friday. I have a lot more decluttering to do before then, but I've gotten a ton done, too.
• House cleaners came today and made me feel totally inadequate. The house is so clean, I don't even want to cook for fear of making dirt I can't properly clean up.
• Many boxes have been packed. I'm getting so sick of seeing my own stuff go in and out of boxes, I'm almost ready to throw it all away.

Posted by me at 8:56 PM | Comments (1)

October 29, 2006

Happy Birthday, Bob

Friday night Rex and I went to the neighbor's for drinks in celebration of his birthday. I haven't had that much fun in so long I can't even remember. I also haven't had that much wine since, well, maybe ever.

I spent some time talking with the woman who lives two doors down, henceforth known as my soulmate. She and I have lived 100 feet apart for 6 months, but it wasn't until the last 3 weeks or so that we've started spending time together. From what I can tell, she and I are the same person, except she's got way better taste in decorating. And bigger boobs.

She and I spent a good part of the evening talking and giggling like we were 10 years old. In three weeks, neither of us has been silent in the presence of the other, and we haven't run out of things to say. I know the likelihood of keeping up a month-long friendship after we move is slim, but this is one I want to make an effort for.

When we got home, I was in such a good mood I did things with my husband I've never considered before. Now he either thinks I'm a total freak, or he figures he hit the jackpot.

Posted by me at 9:13 PM | Comments (0)

October 25, 2006

Official

I've cried. I've overthought. I've tortured my friends and family with dramatic conversations about fear, depression, money, quality of life and the potential to move again.

I told Rex yes, then this morning decided the money wasn't worth losing this life. Luckily, I didn't call Rex right away, and by the time I did talk to him, I was resigned to moving again. Although I did hope that he was on the fence too and would call the whole thing off.

Anyway, verbal acceptance has been given. A written offer letter is expected next week. Rex's ass is expected to be planted in a chair near Dallas within four weeks.

If all this sounds discombobulated and unsure, well, that's because it is. I am.

Posted by me at 10:30 PM | Comments (0)

October 6, 2006

Next week: Leprosy

This house has been struck down by the plague.

I'm finally getting much better. Katie just today was mostly free of snot and goo. Jamie has woken up hoarse the last few days, but seems otherwise unaffected. Rex is still ramping up, popping an eardrum in the middle of the night last night. Hopefully the collection of drugs he's now taking will put him on the road to a speedy recovery.

Posted by me at 8:56 PM | Comments (0)

September 30, 2006

There's no place like home

I haven't been around much lately.

This past week, I've been knocked out by the crud. It got bad enough I actually went to the doctor. I've been to doctors enough lately that I'm starting to feel like a hypochondriac. Odd since I'm generally not a sickly person. At least this time I walked away with some antibiotics that seem to be kicking the sick's ass. Today, I finally felt like something better than ass.

For the week or so before that, we were up in Maryland, visiting friends and family and reassimilating Jamie. We had a nice trip, a great mix of seeing people and things and relaxing. Rex officially got laid off. I finally got an Ikea catalog. Even Steven, right there, I tell ya.

I also came to a very important conclusion. Moving, with all it's problems, was the right decision for us.

The weather was nice, but getting cooler. Some of the nights were what I consider downright cold. I could feel winter coming, and I was incredibly happy that we were going to be thousands of miles away when it arrived.

Posted by me at 9:05 PM | Comments (0)

September 29, 2006

And the kids weren't even around to see my good example

I ran by Target today for a few things, some gifts, some food, some Kleenex and a sympathy card. I added a few extras as I strolled through the store, most notably some Blue Bell Triple Chocolate Ice Cream. Since the ice cream is both located at the back of the store and was an impulse purchase, I sped through the rest of my short gorcery list and ran for the check-out. I figured I had moved fast enough that I could still hit a drive-thru for lunch on the way home without seriously damaging the integrity of my frozen treat.

Things were going well until I finished loading the bags in the back of Rex's car. That's when I noticed the sympathy card hiding under the gift registry list that I hadn't bought anything from. I looked at the back of the card, $0.99. I'll find some way to get the buck back into Target's coffers later, I thought as I climbed into the front seat. I stuck the key in the ignition.

Damn.

If I had gotten the whole way home before I figured out I shoplifted, I would have chalked it up to a mistake, felt a bit bad, and know that they overcharged me on something somewhere and not worried about it. But since I was still there...

I went back inside, got in the express lane, saved someone from not buying a couple items she lost at the back end of the checkout, nearly got whacked in the face by an old lady wielding a mop, and paid my $1.07 for the card.

And then I had melty ice cream for lunch.

Posted by me at 12:03 PM | Comments (0)

August 31, 2006

Hell week (part 2)

How sad is it that I'm still writing about last week?

It's so weird to have a cold when it's 95 degrees outside. I'm so used to being cold and miserable, that it just isn't right to be warm and cozy, but still miserable. It's also weird for Jamie, who almost never gets so much as a sniffle, to be frog talking along with me. I'm pretty sure she had a milder version of what I had, but if her head hurt half as much as mine did, it explains the extra screaming tantrums.

Add to all this glory the neverending period (I'm now on day 16. I'm starting to think about getting pregnant just so I don't have to deal with this shit again for a few more years. Anyone who knows how crazy my kids drive me knows how annoyed I am at my body right now.) I did finally get hold of a nurse at the OB/GYN's office who said that this is a just an adjustment to the pill I started 16 days ago. The pill that is supposed to make my periods lighter and SHORTER.

And then, the other foot dropped on Rex's job situation. His company let him know that he had two weeks to be billing or the paychecks will stop. Mind you, the only contracts they have available are in DC, and since he chose to move, they aren't going to cover his travel up there.

That was the straw that sent me into a bit of a panic. Luckily, Rex has a fair number of contacts and friends in the industry he works in, and he started calling them right away. Without going into too much detail, I'll say that I'm mostly optomistic. And also, still freaky nervous about the changes that may be in store.

And I think that brings us into this week.

Sadly, I already can't remember much about this week except that I seem to be unreasonably tired. Katie has been getting up annoyingly early, but I've been getting to bed earlier, and Rex and I alternate being the early bird. And while there have been days like today where Jamie barely screamed, cried and kept her whining to a minimum, Katie has been stepping it up a bit as I push her morning feeding back and eliminate it.

Yeah, so. In the interest of curing that sleepiness...

Posted by me at 9:34 PM | Comments (0)

August 29, 2006

Too tired to compose

I think some of my best posts are comments in other people's blogs. At least, that's where I seem to put the really deep thoughts.

Posted by me at 9:10 PM | Comments (1)

August 28, 2006

Hell week (part 1)

Stress levels are high.

Katie had her hernia repaired bright and early Monday morning (a week ago. Crap. I'm really behind!) We got up at 4:15 a!m! and had the kids in the car by 4:30. My wonderous tire monitoring system told me that one of my tires was low, though luckily not so flat I couldn't drive on it. Actually, that wouldn't have been that big a problem either, since i have run flat tires, but I didn't really want to drive downtown at 55mph on a flat. We stopped to put some air in the tires, and luckily it was a nice slow leak, so we put off the tire issue til Tuesday.

We continued on our merry way, arriving half an hour early at the surgery center. Of course, the place didn't open til 6, so we loitered in front of the door with the kids in their pjs. We're classy. Paperwork, questions, payment, waiting, and then they took my baby and sent us back to the waiting room. It was a comfort that even though she was awake when they took her, she didn't cry. Twenty minutes later, the surgeon came out to tell us that everything went fine, and we would able to see her in a couple minutes. The next 15 minutes were incredibly long. When they finally buzzed us back, we just followed the screaming. As soon as I picked Katie up, she snuggled into me and got quiet.

Other than sleeping way more than usual, Katie hasn't really seemed affected by the whole ordeal. We were back home by 9, and in between naps, she was climbing and carousing and running with her sister. By Tuesday, only the giant bruise and the dried blood gave any indication of trauma.

With any luck, the memory will fade like the bruise and all that will be left is a post and a few pictures.

Posted by me at 8:55 PM | Comments (0)

August 21, 2006

Lame-o update

I really need to get a few things posted here. A couple updates from a while ago, and then some more recent stuff, like our most recent excursion to Austin and Katie's umbilical repair.

Right now, I need me some sleep.

Posted by me at 10:01 PM | Comments (1)

August 11, 2006

April Fresh my ass

I loathe the smell of fabric softener, and not just because it's sole purpose is to cover up the scent of cat pee on otherwise clean bedding.

Posted by me at 3:54 PM | Comments (0)

August 10, 2006

Not much of anything

I'd have way better posts if I had time to write during the day. By the time the kids are in bed, all the funny, wild, crazy and interesting crap that's gone on during the day has slipped my mind and all I remember are the things that really pissed me off or stressed me out.

I guess the good news is that I'm not all that stressed out tonight. Aside from Katie becoming a whiny, clinging little beast this week, life ain't so bad.

That being said, I actually have a few things to say. I think I'm going to string (both of) you along for a couple days :)

Posted by me at 9:39 PM | Comments (0)

August 1, 2006

Taking all my free time

And inumerable brain cells.

http://www.hurtwood.demon.co.uk/Fun/copter.swf

Posted by me at 9:07 PM | Comments (0)

July 31, 2006

My belated take on Blogher

Obviously, I didn't go to Blogher.

There have been no posts about trips alone, away from talkative children. Nothing about being nervous to meet people I've only read. About exciting discussions and meet-your-cobloggers mixers. No anxiety ridden discourses on knowing no one, being outclassed by the writers and feeling like I'm 14 on the first day at a new school.

All you get is this post about feeling like I missed out on the fun. Like I'm an outsider in a group that pretty much doesn't know I exist, through no fault of their own, and I didn't get to go to the party.

I know I don't have many readers, and that doesn't really bother me. This isn't so much about you as it is about me. I don't care about making money off the site, even if I thought I could. (Don't get me wrong, if someone wants to throw cash at me, I'll take it!) But while I don't consider myself anywhere near the class of of writer of most of the blogs I read, I do still at least consider myself in the same genre. And because of that, I think it would have been exciting to attend.

Maybe next year?

Posted by me at 10:05 PM | Comments (1)

July 17, 2006

Apparently Jamie is ready for us to have another kid

As the girls and I were loading into the van to go to Walmart today, Jamie started to explain the seating arrangements. Apparently, since Katie is going to "be a big girl soon," it's time to do some rearranging. The little baby is going to sit in Katie's seat, Katie will move to Jamie's, and Jamie is going to sit in back.

Does she know something I don't?

Posted by me at 9:22 PM | Comments (0)

July 11, 2006

And then we had Krispy Kremes

We spent a night in Austin with friends this weekend. As usual, we had a wonderful time catching up with friends, watching the kids play happily (if not quietly) together, and not getting much sleep. Rex, the girls and I shared a room, which worked out just fine.

In spite of all the excitement and a late bedtime, Jamie woke up at 6:45. I convinced her to climb into bed with me and keep her mouth shut. For once she complied. Half an hour later, Katie woke up and then spent the next 15 minutes talking quietly to the skylight.

I brought Katie into the bed with the rest of us. She started fussing when I laid her down, but then I pulled up my shirt and she gave me the same smile her father does when the planets align, he's working from home, the kids nap together and I open for business. She lay on her side with one hand hovering above and one below my boob, as though afraid that touching it would cause it to take flight like a wild creature.

Except for the short night and early morning, it was the most perfect morning I can remember.

Posted by me at 10:20 PM | Comments (0)

July 5, 2006

Well, there goes my camera money

I was supposed to watch the neighbor's kid for three days this week. She pays me the same amount she would pay for drop in day-care, which is a wonderfully insane amount of money to receive, in addition to having a little person who enjoys Jamie's personal brand of torment. I get a break *and* cash, what could be better?

Normally, I watch the kid kind of last minute, when the nanny is sick or decides to take a vacation day. This time, I had several weeks notice and had been working my schedule around being stuck around the house. (I'm not crazy enough to take three kids to the grocery store, especially when one of them isn't mine.)

About half an hour after the neighbor usually drops the kid off, I got a call from her saying that her mother came into town and she wouldn't need me at all.

Well, shit.

No money, no playmate and no plans for the next few days.

Posted by me at 9:48 PM | Comments (0)

July 1, 2006

And I need to pull the camera out more, too

I've had to turn comment approval back on. The spam comments have gotten too annoying to deal with, now that I've gotten over the thrill of actually getting comments, spam or not.

I haven't posted much lately, and sadly, it's not due to lack of material. Just as sad, I can't remember what I want to write about more than 20 minutes after it first occurs to me, so I doubt most of recent events will ever make it into blog form. In any case, I will start writing again soon. Really, I will!

Posted by me at 3:59 PM | Comments (1)

May 30, 2006

Where I reveal way more about my innards than you would prefer

I made about a gallon of spaghetti sauce this afternoon. Sadly, we had frozen pizza for dinner, since it wasn't done in time. At least we'll get a nice homecooked meal tomorrow night.

I attended the Annual Hooha Poking Festival today. Nothing beats the feeling of sitting naked for an hour and a half, wondering if they've forgotten you. I thought about sticking my head out of my frigid little room to be sure they knew I was still there, but I'm not quite brave enough to be the half naked chick wandering the doctor's office. I did eventually get what I came for: an uninterrupted reading of a two month old People (Oscar issue!), thyroid bloodwork, a prescription for birth control pills, and confirmation that all my girl parts are functioning correctly, in spite of a year long absence of the crimson tide.

Was that enough personal info for ya?

By the time the PA came in, I was blue from the cold. And while I enjoyed my "Mine!" free time, I actually needed to be back home to finish watching the neighbor's kid and my own, since the dad's were supposed to be working. Luckily, the kids had worn each other out this morning, and spent most of the afternoon getting their sleep on.

I think I'll follow their example.

Posted by me at 10:31 PM | Comments (0)

May 29, 2006

When I was little, I wanted 100 kids

I'm behind again.

I have some great excuses. We had a giant party here on Saturday. Giant for us, anyway. About 15 adults and 12 kids. That's a lot of kids! Some of our friends stayed over, so we spent a good part of Sunday with them, and then started the process of putting the house back together.

Rex will be home this week, so hopefully I'll have time to get into a groove.

Posted by me at 10:45 PM | Comments (0)

April 19, 2006

Tidbits

Heh. I put this in Tidbits because it makes me giggle :)

Apparently Consumer Reports rated condoms last year. I don't remember reading the article at the time, or maybe I just didn't care, since I was 18 months pregnant at the time. Anyway, turns out the particular brand and style we have is towards the bottom of the list in reliablilty.

The cheap in me says take your chances. It's a mega box, don't wanna waste that cash! I might even want a third kid, let's just leave it up to fate! Besides, I'm not in a fertile place right now (I know, I know, you CAN get pregnant while nursing, but it's less likely with the state of my body. And that's all I'm going to say about THAT.).

The rational me says we haven't agreed on a third kid yet. And now maybe isn't the best time. We should wait and make sure the crazy goes away after the move before we start taking any chances. Chuck the box!

I think I'll wait and see how nervous the possibility makes Rex :)

Posted by me at 10:08 AM | Comments (0)

April 11, 2006

Maybe they won't have to shell out for Playboy this month

If you have a headache and you eat ice cream, does the ice cream headache cancel the original headache out?

Yesterday, the sun made everything happy. Today, I think I got too much sun. We spent an entire day *around* the zoo, but only about two and a half hours *at* the zoo. Traffic sucked, parking didn't suck because it wasn't available, and when we finally managed to get a space and get in, the place was still packed.

I think Jamie was already tired by the time we got to the zoo, but the hippo made quite an impression on her. So much that she wanted to go back and see him again. We stopped in to check him out on our way to the car, and got to watch a zookeeper pet him, get him to open his HUGE mouth, and give him a banana for a "treat". I say "treat", because the zookeeper threw the banana into his gaping maw, right down his throat. He didn't chew, and unless hippos are made different from other mammals, he never tasted it. After the demostration, the hippo finally got into the water, took a drink and swam. I think Jamie was finally content.

I don't think Katie got much of a thrill from the zoo. She won't fall asleep in the stroller, and when I tried to nurse her to sleep in front of the sea lion, all I managed to do was provide masturbation material for a group of teenage boys. I don't think the poor kids even saw anything worth getting excited about, but I got the impression they didn't see it that way.

When we got home, Katie finally got her chance to "run". She must have made a dozen or two laps around me, crawling after a box of dominoes she wanted to dump. It sounds cruel, but she was laughing and giggling like this was the best game ever.

Oh, and the headache thing? The ice cream makes it worse.

Posted by me at 8:41 PM | Comments (0)

April 10, 2006

Today was a good day

I really think it had a lot to do with the weather.

It's no secret that I'm a sunny, warm weather kind of girl. Today only got into the mid 60's, but we were outside, playing in the mulch, feeding the geese (that we aren't supposed to feed. Suck it.), walking around and just sitting in the grass. We even ate a picnic dinner out in the barn while Dad took a break from loading hay.

All of this wonderfulness may have had something to do with Jamie being an angel at lunch. Apparently, Macaroni Grill is a little more formal than I remembered, and I don't think they were thrilled to have two slightly frumpy women come in with 4 kids 3 and under between us. Katie was pooped at this point, since she was about 2 hours past due for her first nap, and the bread was only going to hold her off for so long. We survived, then headed back to the playground area for some more sun.

I can't even think of a lowpoint for the day. So on that note, I'm going to bed :)

Posted by me at 9:46 PM | Comments (1)

April 5, 2006

Where I allude to my checkered past

Rex is back in New Mexico. He'll be gone until next Thursday, and I think I'm really going to miss him over the weekend. I mean, I miss him during the week, but we're used to him not being around for the better part of the day.

We went on a little tour of PETsMART today with the MOMS Club. We had a HUGE herd of kids under 5. Jamie and I have spent a lot of time in PETsMART's for one reason or another (ok, ok, I worked in one. Well, in the vet clinic in one.) we had already seen everything our guide showed us. The neat part was that he got out a few of the creatures for the kids to touch. A giant hermit crab, a very calm and relaxed guinea pig, and a blue-tongued skink.

As an added bonus, a bunch of us headed over to BK for lunch and decompression.

And this brings me to something about the way Jamie eats.

Jamie never admits to being full while there is food on her plate. I've never made her clean her plate, and I've always tried to be clear that she can stop eating when she gets full. But if you put a whole burger in front of her, she'll finish it. If you put half a burger in front of her, she'll finish it, but tell you she had enough if you offer her more.

I try to be careful about putting too much in front of her now. I'd rather get her seconds, thirds and fourths than have her eating food she isn't hungry for because for some reason she thinks she should.

I've watched some of the other kids eat lunch, and they don't seem to have any need to finish anything. They graze, leaving the table to play and coming back for bites every now and then. Jamie sits at the table until she finishes her meal. (I'm not complaining about this. I actually think it's more polite, and it certainly makes for nicer family meals at home.) Some of the kids eat two bites and call it a meal, others eat considerably more, sometimes all of one thing and none of another, or some of everything.

I'm trying very hard not to pass on my eating issues. Seems like I'm failing already.

Posted by me at 10:33 PM | Comments (0)

April 2, 2006

Touching on deep thoughts

Holy crap am I tired.

I shouldn't be. The time change is in my favor right now. My dad got up with the kids this morning, and I got to stay in bed really late. Reeeeally late.

Of course, Katie got me up 3 times. And most of my "sleep in" time was interrupted by Jamie or Katie crying and laughing. I'm not a deep sleeper when it comes to my kids, and I don't fall back asleep easily for anything.

I went to a baby shower for a friend I haven't gotten to see much of in the last 5 years. She got married soon after me, but not long after she moved to Hawaii. I haven't seen her since her wedding, so it was great to reconnect, even if it was in a room full of other people, many of whom were doing the same thing.

I feel the need to note how jealous I am of her living in Hawaii. And of how much she's travelled in the last 4 years. I swear she's been everywhere! Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for her. Sometimes I just want to *be* her.

After the shower, we met my mother at the mall for dinner and some running around. The germy play area was closed, so the girls spent a bunch of time climbing up and down stairs and looking at the fountains. It occurs to me that even though I know nearly every detail of Jamie's life, I don't really know how to talk with her, and I haven't found a way to play with her that she and I both enjoy. I feel so awkward when I'm not taking care of needs or discipline.

I need to think some more on that, but right now, I'm too tired and out of it to be making rational decisions.

Posted by me at 9:33 PM | Comments (1)

I don't really need all those dishes in Texas, do I?

I have so much to do. Packing, trying to decide what stuff we're going to make the previous homeowner's fix, keeping the kids from offing themselves and each other.

So why the hell did I start reading a new book?

I've had a bunch of books on my list to read. I've been trying to find the time to read The DaVinci Code since before we moved up here. Hell, I've started it at least 3 times. I guess it just hasn't sucked me in, because I've managed to read several other books in the meantime. I joined the MOMS Club book club (heh. I typoed that as "boob") to give me some motivation to finish them in a reasonable amount of time.

This time, I'm reading Memoirs of a Geisha. Five hundred freaking pages! And its sucked me in.

Posted by me at 8:49 PM | Comments (0)

March 22, 2006

From crazy to The Lion King, who's unbalanced here?

My grandmother is losing her mind.

Not in the crazy way, but she's losing it all the same. My grandmother has always been sharp as a tack. At family meals, she would ask thoughful, political questions of us, or riddle-like logic problems. She met my grandfather when he was her teacher at MIT.

Now, she orders a glass of wine with dinner, and when they bring it, she wonders why they didn't bring her coffee. By the time the food came, she had no idea what she had ordered. She tells stories from the past, but they're someone elses stories she's repeating, not realizing she was never there. She'll ask the same question three times in 10 minutes.

At first, the forgetfulness was random and rare enough that I thought she just wasn't paying attention to me when I talked. I used to get snippy with her repeated questions. It's taken some time and work to get it through my head that she isn't being rude. And now that it's gotten worse (so much worse it seems, and so fast), it's easier to be patient, but hard not to pity.

Jamie doesn't understand, not that she's been asking questions. The only impact it's had on her so far was when my grandmother was talking to her, but calling her Katie. Jamie didn't answer, of course, because as far as she was concerned, she hadn't been asked anything. Us crazy adults are always asking Katie questions she can't answer. My grandmother actually got short with Jamie for not answering, until I explained why. I'm not sure she's gotten the girl's names right since that time.

As far as I've been told, there has been no diagnosis or treatment. No one has looked into whether this is Alzheimer's or Oldtimers. I don't know enough about Alzheimer's and it's treaments to know if it would make any difference if there was a confirmation.

I've been very fortunate not to have to deal with much death in my family, unexpected or circle of life. I have the feeling the next five years or so are going to be hard in so many, many way.

Posted by me at 9:49 PM | Comments (3)

March 15, 2006

So much for basking in the sun

Two days ago it was in the 80's.

When I woke up this morning, it was sunny.

Right now, there is snow blowing around the house.

Posted by me at 8:02 AM | Comments (1)

March 6, 2006

Does this mean I'm famous now?

I made someone's blogroll!

Thanks, L!

Posted by me at 8:50 AM | Comments (2)

February 19, 2006

A post of substance? We'll see about that!

Friday was not such a good day. One of our horses, one that we've had for 10 years or so, had to be put down.

He was a sweet old guy, fun to ride, well behaved, easy tempered. He was probably 29 or so, but still game. The last time I rode him, I was probably 4 or 5 months pregnant with Katie. One of the reins broke, and after a moment of panic and confusion, I easily got him stopped. He could have taken advantage of the situation and galloped off to the barn (not far away, and I would have been fine, but still, more danger than I was looking for at the time), but he didn't.

He was old, he was going to go sometime, he had a good life with us, he served his purpose well. All that's well and good. It still hurts that he's gone. That he won't be around for my kids to learn to ride on. That his buddy, another old gentleman, is puttering around the pasture alone. I can't quite wrap my mind around the fact that he's gone.

Posted by me at 9:18 PM | Comments (1)

February 10, 2006

Frazzled

I went to my grandparents house for the evening to see my mother and my uncle and his wife. I meet my mom over there every week or so, but my uncle is in town from Texas. Rex had a test and some quizzes, so he escaped the horror that ensued. I think I'm going to list the issues by subject, rather than on a timeline.

1. Jamie must have gone potty at least a dozen times today. She tends to be a little constipated at times, and will often have a "false alarm" potty run before she goes for real. Even I was starting to wonder if there was something else going on, when my grandmother brought up the issue. At the dinner table. While we were *eating*. My grandmother is a woman who has always been rather highbrow and refined. Me, I tend to be a bit crass. But even I wasn't real keen on discussing my daughters bowel issues at the dinner table.

2. My grandfather tried to feed Katie triple chocolate cake. While my mother and I were yelling, "NO!" I swooped in got the cake when it was half in her mouth. This is the same man who on several occasions has awakened Jamie from hard-won naps, also to a whispered chorus of no's.

3. Jamie had a couple tantrums during dinner. She wanted more meat, I wanted her to eat some of the other food on her plate, which she had already tried and not declared repulsive. I took her into the living room and told her she could come back when she calmed down. After one false start, she seemed to be ok. The she had to make yet another potty run, and knocked over her glass of water. You would have thought she spilled boiling oil on her lap for all the screeching. My mom backed me up on all this. I think everyone else at the table thought I should give in to the little terrorist and let her know that she would own me, as long as company was present. Fuck that!

4. Kidly naplessness. Jamie actually asked to watch Blue's Clues while we were there, likely becuase she was tired and (holy crap!) asking to be put down. My mom laid down with her for a while, but we had to wake her up for dinner. I suspect that prompted some of the tantruminess, since Jamie wakes up from naps cranky in general, and worse when she's forcefully woken. I never did get Katie to fall asleep during the five and a half hours we were there.

5. This one probably isn't my grandmother's fault. Her memory is going, and she often asks the same questions or repeats herself. But I can't even count the number of times she offered food for Katie, even while I was feeding her. Some of her repeats were too close together to be forgetfullness. NO means NO, people.

6. I was in a fog. About the time I left our house, I started feeling tired. Foggy, everything seems to be happening from a bit of a distance, sort of like a buzz groggy.

All in all, it wasn't that bad of a visit, but I feel like I went through the ringer.

Posted by me at 8:58 PM | Comments (0)

January 3, 2006

And I didn't even sneak in a trip to Starbucks

Barnes and Noble is kind enough to have storytimes for kids. I've never been, since the day and time conflict with another activity (One for me, that includes cheap, on-site babysitting. Call me selfish.) My normal activity wasn't meeting today, so I modified my escape plan.

Between Jamie and Katie, we almost didn't get out. Jamie is re-adjusting to life during non-holidays, and the adjustment involves a lot of screaming and crying. Katie is still trying to sleep only on my boob or in the car. Naturally, I finally got her to sleep about half an hour before we needed to leave. And naturally, she woke up after 30 minutes, catching just enough of a nap to make us about 15 minutes late, but not getting the good solid rest she needed.

So, we drive 30 minutes, park nearby and walk fast. And it was still over by the time we arrived. I drove an hour for a 15 minute storytime that we missed.

I don't think I'll be trying too hard to make that event again.

Posted by me at 8:28 PM | Comments (0)

December 30, 2005

All about piss

Jamie pissed herself twice today, both times mid tantrum.

One of the cats pissed on her bed.

I'm pissed.

I'm hoping to hell Jamie is just overtired from a week without decent nappage and a totally wacky schedule. Today was not the best of days, potty training aside.

And the cat. This is like two days after one of them shit on Jamie's bed. I've never had a cat shit on a bed to diplay displeasure before. I'm assuming it's the same cat that occasionally pees around here. Well, it used to be occasional. If I were 100% sure which cat it was, I might have to do something about it, so I'm almost glad to have a little doubt. I haven't figured out why they pick her bed, since she rarely bothers the likely culprit. She knows he's a grouchy fatass.

I'm generally irritated by crying babies, cranky preschoolers and ungrateful pets. And I have very little control over any of them.

Posted by me at 7:03 PM | Comments (0)

December 22, 2005

It was a nice break, until I returned to being me

For Christmas, my mom watched the girls for me and paid for a manicure and pedicure. She also paid to have my lip waxed, but I'm not going to hold that against her.

I've had acrylic nails put on before, but I've never had a pedicure or just a manicure. I say "just" a manicure, because when you get the acrylic nails put on, it's not the relaxing hand-massage-finger-rubbing I got today. They take a Dremel tool to your nails, coat you in plastic and noxious chemicals, Dremel some more, and then maybe paint you up. Don't get me wrong, I love me some fake nails, but it's not exactly a spa treatment.

Anyway, the mani/pedi was nice. The kidless time was nice. When I was done, I got to make a leisurely trip through the grocery store (I'm not being sarcastic. I actually like to grocery shop when I don't have to worry about Jamie's drunken carting or Katie barfing/screeching). I even got myself a huge cup of hot chocolate by the deli, and didn't feel a bit guilty, since I missed lunch. Of course, it was so hot that I had barely had a sip by the time I finished my stroll and headed to checkout.

And here's where things get messy. I set the cup down, and managed to knock it into the edge of the cart. The lid came off. Fifteen ounces of hot chocolate spilled down the cart and all over the floor. In the checkout line. In a place where people couldn't really get around me. I'm lucky I didn't get throttled by a holiday shopper. None of the checkers seemed to notice the horrific mess. I did manage to get a roll of paper towels out of one of them. It took at least half the rolls to clean things up. Then, as I was waiting for her to finish scanning, I managed to spill part of the remainder down my shirt. Apparently, I had the cup turned a bit sideways and missed the little hole in the lid. By now, I'm convinced that the kids really have sucked all the brains out of me.

I managed to get out of there without causing any more destruction, but the damage was done.

I was me again.

Posted by me at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)

November 28, 2005

Well, I am my father's daughter

Yesterday, while we were walking from the car to Subway, I passed a grocery cart with a greeting card envelope in it. I paused, then picked up the envelope to see if it was unused, 'cause I'm cheap that way. Then I noticed the card that went with it in the bottom of the cart. Score!

When I was a kid, my grandparents took my brother and my cousin and I on a trip up to Wisconsin to visit family. We had one of those canvas roof storage things packed full.

My parents left for a trip later that same day. My dad is something of a scavenger, so when he saw a coat on the side of the road, they stopped to pick it up. It looked kind of familiar. Then they saw a shoe that looked a lot like my brother's, and things started to make sense. My parents picked up a number of pieces of our clothing as they traveled, although they never did find the match to my brother's shoe. My grandparents had forgotten to zip the roof carrier.

And I wore that roadkill coat for years, in spite of the tire track that permanently scarred the right arm.

Posted by me at 7:03 PM | Comments (0)

November 19, 2005

I can't stand the smell of Downy

One of my cats has started peeing around the house again. I'm about 99% sure which one it is, and he's pushing my limits.

Bubba is 7 years old. I met him when he was left at the vet clinic I worked at in Austin. The first time he was brought in, the owner thought there was something funny going on with his front feet. She was right. Some kids had apparently put rubber bands around his front feet, and no one noticed. You know what your mother said about cutting off your circulation? She was right. Bubba's front feet were hard, dead shells. The vet sent her home, telling her to soak his feet in an antibacterial solution, and that the feet would fall off. She did, and one of his feet did. She was skeeved enough that she brought him back to the vet clinic, and Bubba became the second clinic mascot.

Bubba spent months living in the clinic. He spent his nights in a cage, but during the days he got tons of love and attention. His second foot fell off, and we treated his stumps with daily soakings. Not his favorite activity, but he seemed to take it from me better than any of the other techs. Over holidays, he came home with me and ran free with the herd of animals I was living with at the time.

Eventually, Bubba came to live with me full time. To this day, he prefers me to any other human in the world. It was probably more than 6 months before he did anything more than tolerate Rex.

Bubba has had a few urinary incidents in the past. A few minor adjustments to the way I keep house (Ha! That's a joke in itself!) like not leaving piles of clothing around, and keeping the dirty laundry in a closable hamper instead of a laundry basket on the floor, have pretty much solved our problems, until recently. He's been so well behaved that I've become lax. Laundry baskets no longer seemed to be an issue, so I've gone back to my old habit of keeping one for Rex and I, one for Jamie, and a third for Katie. In spite of the fact that our and Jamie's were kept on the floor, Bubba left them alone.

This week, he's peed in Jamie's basket twice, and on her bed once. The only thing that saved him tonight was the plastic cover that protected Jamie's mattress.

What do you do with a cat who dislikes everyone but you, has no front feet, and pees randomly?

Posted by me at 9:10 PM | Comments (0)

October 28, 2005

It's a good thing she's cute...

Katie barfed on my mouth today. My lightning reflexes saved me from a mouth full of apple, kiwi and mango, which is a good thing, 'cause I don't like mango.

Posted by me at 3:21 PM | Comments (0)

October 9, 2005

M&M Overload

Rex and I actually got to go on a date last night. Sure, we split a quick meal at Chick-fil-A and then ran off to the theater, but it was a meal and movie without kids nonetheless.

The movie was $9.25 each. EACH. Apparently, it's been a while since we've been to the movies, cause that was significantly more than we remembered from our last "date" before Katie was born. Video on Demand is almost reason enough to move back to Texas, at least you only have to pay once for each movie. I HATE paying more for the snacks at the theater, and ever since I was a kid, my family has been sneaking in large bags of candy from a nearby drugstore. It's been a problem for me in recent years, since I don't carry the giant duffel of a purse that my mother always did. Now that I've finally caved in and started lugging a diaper bag, I can carry in my giant bag of M&M's and even a drink!

Unfortunately, I should never be left in a room with a giant bag of M&M's. I can't stop eating them, even when I'm full. I ate so many, I was pretty sure I wouldn't want any more for days, if not longer. My tongue was sensitive from rolling them around in my mouth. I'm surprised I'm not producing chocolate milk.

And today, I made it until this afternoon before I started hunting down the rest of last night's stash.

My name is Becky, and I have a problem.

Posted by me at 10:24 PM | Comments (0)

October 6, 2005

A warm snow

We were walking around near a construction site today, and little styrofoam pellets were falling from the sky. It really looked like a light snow. The pellets were even landing on the cars and street and "sticking".

It won't be so pretty when I'm trying to clean the little bits of styrofoam out of the carseat, stroller our clothes...

One poor worker was tasked with cleaning the styrofoam up off the street. Even though it was still falling from the sky, that guy with a shop-vac was dutifully sucking up little drifts along the curbs.

As we were walking along in this little winter wonderland, wearing t-shirts and jeans, I remembered this morning's news. Fifteen inches of snow in Utah! Blizzard conditions!

I'll take styrofoam any day.

Posted by me at 7:58 PM | Comments (0)

October 4, 2005

Today...

really wasn't such a bad day. But somehow by the end of it, it feels like I've been put through the wringer.

Lately, it seems like every day has been one of those days.

Posted by me at 8:04 PM | Comments (0)

September 20, 2005

Leavin' on a jet plane

We're heading to Texas tomorrow for almost s week to visit family and friends. We haven't been back in almost exactly one year.

I'm looking forward to the trip, but not to the crap that goes along with being a parent on a vacation. After all, it's not much of a vacation to chase your kids around someone else's house :) I already pity the people who are going to be on the airplane with us. Jamie has generally been pretty good every other time she was on a plane, even when she was younger and hard to keep entertained. Katie, on the other hand, is not known for her easy travelin' nature. And she's got a damn fine lung/vocal cord combo.

I'm also anxious to see how I feel when we're back in Texas. I'm anticipating a feeling of homecoming that for some reason I haven't experienced here in Maryland. Since we've just about made our decision, I'm hoping for that feeling.

Ah, well. It's going to be what it's going to be!

Posted by me at 1:35 PM | Comments (0)

September 18, 2005

Death by cleaning

There's a reason I don't clean as often as I should. Today, I nearly killed myself with Clorox Clean-Up. I shut the door to the tiny bathroom so I could clean the hair that builds up behind the door, and didn't really think to reopen it, since the smell wasn't that strong. I started to smell something funny, and went to the living room to see what was going on. It smelled like burning plastic or something noxious like that.

My husband couldn't smell it, but it was so strong, I started sniffing around the house. I opened the oven to see if I could smell the cloved ham. I opened the door to see if I could smell the freshly mowed grass. Nothing but the noxious smell. I even tried eating a couple things, and my sense of taste was fucked up, too.

Fortunately, it faded within a couple hours. I'm still not sure why it affected me so much, but I can assue you I'll be taking better care of myself from now on. No more cleaning!

Posted by me at 8:54 PM | Comments (0)

September 11, 2005

I peed on Jesus

Jamie has this foam bath book with foam characters that stick in the book or walls of the shower when you get them wet. The book is stories of the Bible, and the characters go along with the stories. We're not particularly religious (by not particularly, I mean we're atheists. It's not something we generally broadcast, because when people hear "atheist" they seem think that means anti-God instead of un-God. Back to the story.), but Jamie likes to play with them, and we have nothing against them.

We've been having to shower in the tub that the kids use for the last couple days. The pipe to the cold water in our shower has a leak. We store the foam characters just stuck to the side of the tub where they can dry but stay stuck. When we shower in there, the water runs down the side of the tub and the characters slowly slide down the wall til they hit the bottom, and then they cover the drain and plug it up.

Posted by me at 9:23 PM | Comments (0)