Friday, January 29, 2010

Are You Kidding Me???

What the eyeball is going on here?

Do 'they' really think we are SO stupid? Whoever touched up this picture should have been fired ON THE SPOT.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

When Things Disappear...Where Do They Go?

We have a zipper case full of DVDs that went on our trip with us to WY for Thanksgiving. We also have a plastic zipper bag thingy full of about 8 Polly Pockets and all of their fashionable silicone outfits. Both missing. For weeks now.

We've searched high and low. They are nowhere to be found.

Do you think there is a heap of Lost Things somewhere in the universe? Probably right next to the Missing Socks Mound. Anyone know how to get there?

Monday, January 25, 2010

Randomness

So, it's 5 in the morning and I can't sleep anymore. The little Sassy came and woke me up and 22 minutes after 4 cause she woke up and wanted to get in bed with me. Sorry. I don't really do that much. I kindly put her back in her own bed. I think she needs a warm happy nightlite in her room. Maybe it will help her.

Anyway - I've been missing my San Francisco/Smart Remarks friends (more on this later) and wishing I had some sort of trip in the works. One of my all time favorite trips was the time I flew up to Rochester, NY and drove into Palmyra with my parents. We visited the historical sites and stuff, and then one day braved a nasty rain storm to drive over to Buffalo and on to Niagara Falls. Seriously the most gorgeous landmark I've ever seen in my life!!! It was fall, mid September, and everything was still massively green and wonderful, but it was cool and totally uncrowded. The rain let up for us while we visited the falls and then we took a leisurely drive through local roads back. We stopped at fruit stands and ate at some little roadside restaurant. Fabulous. Brian and I need to get away and we can't seem to narrow it down. Not having much experience traveling, I think it's harder to know what to do. We've discussed Hawaii, a cruise of some kind (either western carribean or mediterranean), Mexico or even just my grandfathers little old cabin in WY, surrounded by snow, out of touch of the entire world. Until we get something down on paper though, I'm not feeling any sort of excitement. Plans have a way of being changed, cancelled, or swept under the rug until some point in the future.

Did I ever do a post about my little dog that had back surgery over the summer? I don't think I did. We have dachshunds. Naturally, with those extra long spines, they are prone to spinal injuries. Our first dog, Bailey, threw her back about 6 yrs ago. We had to pay for the ER in the middle of the night, xrays, a special scan they did with dye and stuff, steroids to keep the inflammation down to see if she'd get better (which she didn't) and then surgery. It was $$$expensive$$$. She was only 6 at the time. Then, this last year, our other little dachshund Sammy threw her back. Apparently she'd had a burst disk in her back that had been there for a LONG time. It was big and I don't know how the little dog survived in that kind of pain for so long. Amazing. Anyway, finally one day she just couldn't walk on her back legs at all and it was pitiful! We went back and forth on whether we were going to fork out the dough again, but our hearts beat out the other and we did it. She's like new. Running around and happy and all. Barking her little tail off as usual. Yesterday however..........

Bailey came down our 16 stairs to go out in the morning. Then, down the 13 stairs from our back door to the yard to potty in the grass. Back up the 13 stairs to come back in - at which time my husband discovered her hobbling on three legs only. We've already done surgery on this girl. She was almost double what the first dog cost. And - she's 12. What do you do? We're still paying off the last canine surgery. So we're keeping her confined and rested. Carrying her up and down the stairs. Giving her pain pills. Conservative like crazy is our plan. I'm going to call the vet today and talk to her about just picking up the steriods so we can do that for a week or two. This morning she did put a little pressure on that leg, which is a good sign. Anyway---fun times.

We also have a leaking dishwasher. But it's rapidly getting worse. At first we noticed because the hardwood in front of the thing was warped. We've been trying to keep it sopped up with an old towel until we can decide what to do, but last night, the leakage ran clear out onto the floor. Now - it's off limits until we can either get it repaired or replaced. Dishes. By. Hand. Aren't I spoiled? I'll pretend I'm at the cabin. It might be fun. Might.

Oh!!! On fab news, I was reminded this morning about a place we went in San Francisco when I saw Bakerella's new blog post. It's called Miette! Located in the Ferry Building. They also have a website and a blog. Us SF girls wandered through that place for a while and stopped at this little patisserie for treats. They had what we thought were macaroons. But apparently, as I learned this morning, they are called Macarons. (long 'o'). Bakerella even showed step by step directions on how to make the precious little sweets. I might be brave enough, you guys. It's quite an interesting process. Takes a few days. Since you have to age your egg whites for at least 24 hours and then after you pipe the cookies out, they have to sit for at least an hour before baking. If you can believe it, I'm more stressed out about where I could find powdered food coloring and what on earth would I make for filling??? They have to be TO DIE FOR when I'm finished. Not a disaster I wish I hadn't done.

Soooo, I guess I'd better get off this couch and take advantage of the extra time I have this morning. Today's a run-around day. Happy lunch with friends, sweet ballet class for Sassy. I have to order a cake for New Beginnings this week, etc. Off I go. OH! And I get to weigh myself this morning. Down 15 lbs you gize!! 15 boxes of butter. Three 5 lb bags of flour. Shaved off and thrown to the curb. Not to mention nearly 18 inches. I'm feeling great!

Oh, and since no one commented on the pull up post, I feel I'd better apologize for grossing you all out so much you couldn't even click on the comment button. That's okay. I'll get over it. ::wink::

Friday, January 22, 2010

Gag me with a Pull Up

My 8 yr old wears pull ups. All day. All night.

There. I said it.

You can imagine it's a HUGE deal in our house to get those things thrown out in the garage garbage. There is no patience for pull ups left under the bed, laying around in the bedroom, or elsewhere.

My kids are occasionally enlisted to Sorting-the-laundry duty. My 10 yr old can start a load, run it, switch it to the dryer, etc. It's glorious.

Until today.

While switching the laundry, he called me to come and look at something in the washer. I didn't want to look. But I did. There, lining the door of the inside of my lovely semi-new washing machine was those blasted little teensy pellets of silicone that fill the inside of all disposable diapers and pull ups. You know the stuff. Don't tell me you've never experienced the busted open diaper that was too full.

I calmly informed the boys that they were going to clean it out. "George, this is your fault for not throwing away your pull up in the first place and leaving it tangled up in your jeans." "Link, this is also your fault for not paying attention when you put the clothes in the washer."

(Do my children not have a sense of smell???)

They are currently wiping out the inside of the washer and I hear things like, "This stuff is a polymer!"

It is G. ross. D. sgusting. Nassssty.

I should be embarrassed. I am. But this is blog world. So I can type it, post it, and hide from it all at the same time. Plus, I'm still refusing to enter the laundry room. I don't want to see it or be near it or watch my kids clean it up. I will lose it and freak out. This is my way of keeping myself sane enough to function until it's over.

The end.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Choosing A Weapon

A whistle? A pea shooter? Or a squirt gun?

We have a daily chart. This is designed to give the kids reference to what they are supposed to do every morning without my having to tell them 500 million times a week that they're supposed to be getting dressed and ready for school. The morning items are:

Get Dressed Including Shoes and Socks (because they'll entirely forget about the shoes and socks. Especially the socks.)
Eat Breakfast, Brush Teeth (I have to set a timer for breakfast or they'll sit there for 30 minutes and do nothing.)
Clean Room Up (I don't understand how they do this every day, and every day it's still a disaster)
Flush Toilet, Dirty Clothes (What do they have against flushing a toilet? Ewww!)
Lunch and Backpack (this one puts a big wrench in the morning...more on that in a minute)

The idea is that they get ONE (1) warning per item. After that, they lose their star. After that, they start accruing things like time outs, more chores to do later, etc. Stars earn chips, which earn quarters.

When they wake up in the morning - they NEVER take the initiative and start on their stuff. They lay around and do nothing until I say move. There is a strict No TV rule in the morning. So, it isn't like they get lost in cartoons or something. They simply lay around on the couch or the floor. George never puts his shoes on. I always have to remind him. I make them get dressed before they eat, because if they eat and then go upstairs, they're lost and I don't see them again. I think...that has solved the problem with the room cleaning too. All of that upstairs stuff has to be done before they get fed. Perfect.

That leads me to lunch. We are buying drinks, chips, sandwich stuff, string cheese, gogurts, granola bars, etc. All they have to do is grab, grab, grab - stick it in their lunch boxes, zip them up and toss them in their back packs. You'd think that was easy. Unfortunately, because they spend so much time screwing around - they always find themselves with no time left. Lunch at school is $2.50 per day. Am I crazy to think that's a lot? There are usually 2 or 3 choices, one always being yogurt and string cheese. George ALWAYS picks that one. $2.50 for a yogurt and string cheese? Rip. Off.

I think this is what's going to happen. First - I'm going to get them up at 6 am tomorrow. Maybe I'll go get one of those horns-in-a-can. That'll wake them up. Then I'm going to announce that they will not receive any breakfast until they have accomplished every other morning task on their charts. I think that sounds like fun. OR...if they screw around with their lunch, I'll make it for them. A piece of plain bread, a couple of carrots and some water. No snack. No fabulous peanut butter or tasty gogurts. OR....making the lunch gets shifted to the night before. We could just entirely eliminate it from the morning list altogether. I think I can figure out how to incorporate all three. I still want to get a whistle so I can use that to represent the One Warning. I'd love a pea shooter, so I could ping someone in the back of the neck when they're doddling their way up the stairs or rolling around on the floor instead of being productive. The squirt gun would be a great way to get people's attention. Don't you think??

Time for a family meeting, I suppose.

P.S. (sorry for originally posting this in the wrong place....dumb!!)

Friday, January 8, 2010

Oh So Worth the Effort!!

This is George. George is turning 8 on Sunday so that meant snack at school today. Normally, I save the supercutehardtomaketimeconsuming stuff for smaller events and more appreciative recipients. But, my kids have endured a plain old krispykreme donut for a couple of years. Plus, I REALLY like the kids teachers. Plus, they aren't getting a party or anything else. One gift. Treats at school. Done. Don't you love my rationalization for spending several hours making cupcake hamburgers and sugar cookie french fries for 23 7-8 year olds?

The payoff? The teachers and ladies in the office FREAKED!! George's teacher ran for her camera, and gathered some teachers from nearby classrooms to come in and take a gander. Some lady in the hallway saw me walking by and threw a fit over how cute they were. These are things I can deal with.

George insisted on giving one to the principal, who looked at it like it was garbage on a plate and hardly said a word. I guess it's good that he wants to be nice to the principal - even if he wasn't interested in being nice back. He did give George a pencil though. I'll never forget being called to the principal's office when I was in 2nd grade. I was TERRIFIED!! I could hardly breathe. I spent the entire walk (as slowly as I could) digging through my mind to figure out what I'd done wrong, only to finally find out that he just wanted to give me a pencil for my birthday. PHEW!

I will be posting more detailed information about this adventure at Savory Sisters later next week. I'm making these again for Link's birthday on Thursday - and I'll take some fabulous detailed photos. I might even enlist someone to take the photos for me. (whooo could I ask to do that???)

In the meantime, I'm patting myself on the back and trying to ignore the hugemassivemess I made in the kitchen.

Oh - and you'll might be interested to know that I didn't eat one. Not a scrap of cupcake, frosting, sugarcookie fry. Nothing. I'm sad. They look scrumptious. But - I said no.

One more little tidbit of very important information; I give all the credit to Bakerella. She showed me how to do this on her site. Thanks!!!


P.S. See how George's top teeth in the front don't connect with the bottom? Thanks be to The Plug. Some orthodontist will milk us for all we've got on that one.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Please Share!

So, those of you who know me also know that I fully and openly admit to being terrible at organization and cleanliness. I'm blessed with a husband who will do the dishes, run some laundry, fix food and only loses patience with me a couple of times a year.

I also like to talk about my OCD mother - donned in her yellow rubber gloves 24/7 - always freaking out about something and never able to sit down or relax. Ever. She's still like that. It's just shifted focus a little to other things. I must have been a really painful, annoying, thorn in her backside. I'm sure I drove her entirely insane. Across the hall from my bedroom was my always-clean and organized sister. Always clean. Always neat and tidy and cute.

Sigh.

I don't know. Maybe it's my ADD. Maybe it's my subconscious refusal to be OCD. Maybe I'm just lazy. I think it's all of those. There are annoying flaws in the way my brain functions. Or doesn't. My brain changes channels constantly. It's hard for me to focus on conversations and stay connected mentally the whole time. I sometimes realize that I've drifted off in the middle of something and probably seemed really rude to whoever I was talking to. The more I have on my list, the more confused and anxious I become. And then I can suddenly hyper-focus on something and entirely ignore everything else. That's annoying too.

This was only really detrimental when I was young where my grades were concerned. I struggled studying, taking notes, remember things. I didn't test well. I couldn't pay attention in class well. If I were in school the way things are today - here in a city - I would probably be on an IEP, and I'd have one-on-one focused help oustide of class. Well, if it were now and I were my mom. I mean that in the best possible way, you know. Really and truly.

It didn't hurt me too much after high school either. I didn't go to college. I am terrified of college. Literally terrified. It made jobs a little hard, but mostly when I was a secretary. Waiting tables, the grocery store - easy. When I did book-keeping at the bank, it was great cause every day, there was a deliberate and detailed list of things I had to do. In order. The same every day. Easy.

When I started having babies, wasn't so much a big deal. I kind of let the baby set the tone for what kind of schedule we were going to be on. But here's the deal...now these babies aren't babies anymore and this place is an unorganized mess.

I'm getting better about trying to keep a schedule. The kids have a chart they are supposed to be following - in order. The things they are expected to do every day. We need to switch it up a little from time to time to keep it interesting, but at least I can direct them to their list and it takes some of the pressure off of me.

Why am I typing all of this and making you read it? I'm curious. I would LOVEloveLOVE to know if you're on a daily schedule. Or a weekly schedule. Do you clean your bathrooms on the same day of the week every week? Do you grocery shop on the same day? Do you have your day broken down into increments of tasks that go in the same order? School, homework, activites, dinner, bath, bed? Really.....I would love to find out what some of my friends are doing. Then, I'd like to lay it all out in front of me and adapt and modify your example into something I can live with.

I know it's pitiful for me to imply that I'm ignorant of how to do these very basic, simple, seemingly common sense things. You know - the woman's natural nesting / home making / and nurturing thing? Yeah. I don't really have that.

Soooo....share share share, please? Bring it on. It's a new year and I need some NEW around here.

Love you all my dear friends!!