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Monday, October 31, 2011

you-can't-see-my-trashed-house-and-this-party-feels-awesome high

My brain is in perpetual blog mode.  (It's okay if you just said, 'man, that's sad.' to yourself.  I'm okay with it)  I'm constantly writing a new entry in my head.  It's just that... circa 10am I'm beat and just not feeling wordy or... type-y.  Anyhoo... last night I went to bed thinking, 'Damn! This was just one of my happiest days ever!  Ima blog about it!' and then....  zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Yesterday we had Lola's first birthday party.  I just think I stumbled on one of the greatest ideas known to man.  (Forget the wheel or computers...)  Once I took one step onto the pavilion the Hubs and I rented, I told him 'I don't know how this is going to go, but I'll tell ya from here I'll never have another party at the house.'  It was just gorgeous... it overlooked the fall colors and a little lake.  And while I looked at all the gorgeous-ness I knew that in the cooking and baking process I had trashed our house beyond oblivion, but no one else would see it...  bwah ha ha ha!  (evil laugh.) 

As each friend walked up I just wanted to pinch their cute cheeks and say, 'thank you!  thank you!'  Maybe I was on some weird you-can't-see-my-trashed-house-and-this-party-feels-awesome high, but each individual who was there was just so important to me and I was genuinely glad they had come.  It was good to be with my gals and talk and mingle and be in the fresh air.  All the food came out tasty (except the pumpkin seeds as my Sica pointed out...) and I was just really proud of our little moment.

Wouldn't you like to see pictures of the whole thing??  Me too!!  I'm dyin over here.  My bud took pictures of the whole thing and I've yet to see 'em!  I'm freaking out.  I want them!  We all have proof here that I do not take good pictures.  You can blame my lack o'talent, but ima blame my bad camera, mmkay?  Anyway, the bud is a professional picture-taker and just the few pics he showed me blew me away.  I'll share 'em with you peeps just as soon as I can.  Oh, I get giddy just thinking of them!

So today is back to 'normal'... minus the fact that the Hubs decided to take a flying leap down our stairs yesterday while lugging a cooler.  I am pretty awkward during serious moments.  For some reason I kept picturing an Alvin and the Chipmunks from my childhood where Dave fell down the stairs because of a toy (our culprit? ...a tiny car).  I wanted to giggle while he was writhing in agony... glad I kept that to myself.  He's at the chiropractor presently and will probably be sore for the next few days.  Always something, right?  The house is still a bit trashy, but I'm feeling energized just from being around people and socializing yesterday (that sounds really sad too...).  It's all coming around, but I want to just marinate in the holiday a little longer. 

If you're following the whole lets-count-calories! thing...  I have waaay too many cookies in the house this week and Ima pop em like potato chips.  so...  well, I'll get there.

Happy Halloween!

Monday, October 24, 2011

Fatty McFat Fat

The only way for me to get anything done on a permanent basis is to take it step by step.  For instance...  say, my weight makes me want to puke...  well, not my weight per se, but this amazing baby pouch that does not flatter jeans... or yoga pants, or shirts, or sweaters, or sweatshirts, or skirts, or cargo pants, or... 

So, knowing myself and the budget we're on and the fact that the kids won't sit around and eat salads with me and just a million other details that factor into anything I do... I've decided to change things (broad, but we're speaking broadly) one step at a time.  About three weeks ago, suffering from daily headaches, I decided to take caffeine out of my diet.  Yes, you are right, you normally get headaches when you are used to having caffeine...  I had been drinking A LOT of it though.  (No, I still had the very occasional Coke... are you crazy??)  The headaches went away a bit, but I also chalked it up to hormones and girlie things.  Anyway, it got me thinking... why don't I improve my world one weird thing at a time on a weekly basis?  But minus pressure...  I didn't want to proclaim, "I AM ON A DIET!" only to feel like crap once it didn't work out.  The following week I began drinking more water.  Guess what... headaches subsided.  Mayhaps I had just been dehydrated...  which makes me feel like a dumbass.  Last week I decided to get back on to SparkPeople.com

I had been counting calories there for a few months and guess what... it worked!  duh.  But this is where all the factors come into play.  On our budget, we handmake a lot of stuff.  (I say we.  Isn't that cute?  It's not we.)  So instead of plugging "bread" into the calorie counter, I've gotta plug in the whole damn recipe.  That sucks.  BUT, isn't it worth it??  I truly believe in "calories in, calories out".  It's all just science and math.  I've got one life and I would rather not live it fat-ly.  thank you. 

So it's one more thing.  I'm not gonna complain about it though. Yesterday, on our Sunday that I brag about where we don't do anything and just relax, I found myself bouncing off the walls with nothing to do.  I made raisin bread.  (it was freaking kick ass.  if I could give you a sample through the computer, I totally would.)  Anyway, what I mean is, I think I'd die if I had nothing to do... it would feel too weird.  So, I'll plug calories into the computer and envision myself in a bikini by June.  (Who am I kidding... moms of 4 don't necessarily obtain bikini bodies...  even I shudder to think...)

So, in case for some reason you are fascinated by all of this, I think I'm going to give myself another week getting used to keeping up with calories.  Next week:  working out again.  Egads.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Five for Friday

It's Friday, bitches.  Here's the round-up:

1.  We have decorated for Halloween.  Because we are slightly freaky, we usually decorate more for Halloween than any other holiday.  Here's why I love Halloween decorating:  cobwebs.  Fake ones, at least.  Because fake ones mean I don't have to dust the real ones.  (right??)  They merely enhance the holiday decor, correct??  Here's something I don't get though.  Every year we have the kids' decide which paper cut-out decoration they want on their bedroom door.  Every damn year they choose the witch for MY door... why is this....  don't answer too quickly.

2.  My sister came over Wednesday unannounced and uninvited.  I liked it and it should happen more often.  I think people always expect we're 'too busy with kids' to be social-able.  This is not the case, please spread the word.

3.  Pearl Jam 20 is going to be on PBS. I am both effing psyched and totally depressed.  Pearl Jam on public television.  That's a lot to swallow.  The only music we listened to in the car when I was younger (besides polka...  no really... polka... I know all of 'em) was oldies.  I used to joke that one day NIN and the likes would be played on the local oldies station because in the future that would be our oldies.  Hard to fathom as a kid, but with PJ coming to public TV.. I feel like the future is here.  If you are a PJ geek like me, you must go HERE

4.  Happy Birthday to my best friend.  Ten years ago today he had his last birthday.  It's a downer, so I won't dwell, but it's taken me 10 years to get to a place where it doesn't hurt as bad.  So... that's enough of that.

5.  I live near Atlanta.  It.  is.  freaking.  cold.  here.  What is this???  I try to remind myself of summertime when it was too damn hot and I was begging for the cold.  Not working.  I do however love that it's fall and to some degree it feels like it.  The trees are gettin purty.  I'm hoping it still looks a bit like this for Lola's birthday in the park.  I want some phenomenal pictures!

Well, I'm off to place holds on, literally, like 50 books for Coop's history studies.  We're all about ancient Egyptians at the moment.  I'm loving it, but I think he is still just 'so-so'.  I'm hoping mummifying a chicken will help... doesn't that help nearly anything???.... 

Happy weekend.  Be sure to don a scarf.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Sabbath

Sundays somehow snuck in and became my favorite day.  They usually start with a too-early alarm clock followed by my wails of, "I have NOTHING to wear"... because I don't.  seriously.  I used to complain about having to teach the pre-schoolers at church too.  "Why can't anyone else do it??"  "No one is as busy as me."  "I have too many kids to fit this in.  Can't anyone see that?"  And then getting at least the six year old to sit calmly through mass...  Caging the nearly one year old.  Lord forbid if the volunteer didn't show up to do the nursery for the other two... hell hath no fury.

Over time though, it's become better.  I still have nothing to wear, but I've tried to curb that by putting together  something ridiculous to wear the night before.  (I've decided I want to dress like Ellen. That chick knows what she's doing.  I think it looks classy but casual.  and fun.)  Anyhoo...  although I still wonder why I've been chosen to fit in the preschoolers during my (lack-of) down time, sometimes having to deal with the crazy little people puts my little people into perspective.  May sound mean, but some of them make my kids' crazy behavior just... not so bad... sometimes.  And besides that, I like getting the hugs and the funny little whispers of hello from across the church.  It really isn't so hard to give 20 minutes of my time a week to 'the cause'.

We usually go for doughnuts after church.  This took some guiding...  at church they charge $1.00 for one doughnut and a juice/coffee.  ...times 5 people?  ludicrous.  Here's where budgeting edu-ma-cation comes in and now we go pick out our own on the cheap at the grocery store.  We then all sit around with the newspaper and comics and big mugs o'coffee and milk and just... chill.  After doughnuts are Hoovered in nearly no time, the boys (I include Hubs here) usually wrestle around and get silly.  Then...

naps.

for everyone.

aaaah.

This was all followed up yesterday by spooky house painting.



I sat back.  Took it all in.  And did... nothing.


This may sound so trivial, but I call it amazing.  I am not the most religious, but lately I've been trying to "keep holy the Sabbath".  I think God really knew what he was doing when he planned the whole Sabbath thing.  Six days out of the week we go like crazy people.  It's pure ridiculousness.  Between homeschooling, house-wife-ing (this encompasses, like 100,000 jobs) and holding down multiple ("real") jobs we usually teeter-totter right on the edge of burnout.  Sundays are necessary.  I don't do laundry.  I don't vacuum.  I don't scour.  Only the necessities.  I think everybody needs that.  Call it "Sabbath" call it "OOoga Booga" just do it.

Anyway... it's Monday again.  Usually on Sundays all peaceful with my family, I think, "Man, I could just have tons of babies."  By Monday, say.. around 8am, I don't necessarily want... 4 babies.  Well, I want them... but in straight jackets for some of the day...  just sayin.  Monday brings ya back to reality.

Here's more spooky house pics.  Have a peaceful good fine ... just have a Monday.



I found this lurking under the table while everyone was painting...


(dang dust bunnies!)


Friday, October 14, 2011

Five For Friday

 The summarization of a  ho-hum Awesome week:

1.  Project House Overhaul is on like Donkey Kong.  sorta.  As much as possible?  Here's the plan.  I start in my bedroom.  I started in the corner nearest *MY* side of the bed.  (heh.  selfishness.)  Anyhoo... Ima spend 15 minutes a day in there just freaking plugging away.  By the time I get to the closet I will be enlisting The Hubs help.  If you know my Hubs, you know he is a packrat.  (Can I get an AMEN!?)  So, the childish part of me says "I am not doing that shit alone."  The day it is all clean will be a glorious day...  then on day two of glorious-ness I will start the garage or some pipe dream like that.  But I can see light at the end of this Hoarders episode tunnel.  Oh, yes.

2.  Speaking of unorganized messy ridiculousness... know the best way to get around showing the ones you love how badly your house needs some lovin?  Have your daughter's first birthday at the park!  I think its going to be the best yet... Lemme tell ya, I have never been so excited for a party.  All the fun planning without the worry of making the house look perfect... or as perfect as possible.  Thirty bucks gets you a great pavilion at the nicest park I've seen in our area for awhile.  I can't express my psych-ed-ness.  Truthfully, I wish more of my family was around to enjoy the awesome bash. 

3.  Speaking of unorganized messy ridiculousness AND my kid's first birthday...  a good friend of mine the other day offered to help me get ready for said party.  Even said she'd help me clean my house.  What... Whaaaaat?!  People don't say things like this to me often. This is the stuff that makes the world go 'round, I think.  It was just so nice and I probably think of it once a day.  No, I would not in a million years have actually made her do it, but its the offering that I think is just freaking amazing.  I think I'm finally getting a good group of gal-pals.  (You get pregnant for 5 years and see how your social life goes...)

4.  I've seen a lot of blogs this week where people were questioning what to do when you're feeling "out of it" towards homeschooling or what to do when your kids won't listen and things like this.  No one had any answers.  I need them.  Thanks.

5.  Haven is back, bitches.  ...if you care.  SyFy ordered up 13 more episodes.  Yes, this does make me sad that it turned into a big deal for me.  I've been watching Twitter like a hawk.  No, none of this makes me cool in any way, shape or form.

Have a kick-ass weekend.  I'll just be over here working on my mess.  Toodles.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Taaaaaaaaaa! Daaaaaaaaaaa!

Where have you been, young lady!?  I don't know.  busy.  tired.  cra. zay.  This blog entry will suck.  This is not pessimism, this is realism.  I don't have much time because I've suddenly begun to believe my house will crash in on itself like some shut-in on Hoarders.  Okay, it's not that bad... I suppose...  but, damn it needs some lovin'.  We've had people in and out of the hizzy lately working with Max and every time they come over the living room and kitchen are spotless!  Where does all that shit go?  In my bedroom.  In outer far-away rooms where it can't be seen.  Am I the only one that ends up like this???  Where does all your crap go?  All the paperwork that comes in the mail??  Am I supposed to keep the picture of the Echinosaurusthingy that Coop colored last week?  Do I just throw it away???  mess.  mess.  mess. 

What's the solution?  If I'm not overly organized now, just telling me, "Be more organized!" is not going to help.  I know mine and mine knows me...or whatever.  Homeschooling times 4 does not help any solution imagined.  Other people seem to have this down, but then again lately I've been reading blogs where the people project themselves as PERFECT.  Everything in order and now they're going to tell me how to do it.  Nope.  Doesn't work.  ...That's the problem with reading too many blogs... the perceiving of things... 

So... Ima go clean now.  I want one of those Oscar the Grouch trashcans.  I'd like to throw everything into it, place the lid on top and say, "Taaaaaaaa!  Daaaaaaa!  Clean."

and scene.

Monday, October 10, 2011

The Good Life

Imagine my surprise Thursday night when I looked out the window down on our cul-de-sac and took notice of "all the kids" playing outside.  I then realized that all the kids I subconsciously counted belonged to... me.  They were riding bikes and having a good ol' time.  Coop, our not-so-athletic bookworm even hopped on one and peddled around.  The sun was setting... it was picturesque...  well, except for the ankle-biters left in the house with me to trash the living room while I tried to make dinner... but I digress.

Twas a pretty great weekend.  We were nearly the earliest peeps at the park though on Saturday morning...  It's always a juggling act.  Gotta spend time with family... gotta work to feed said family.  We were at the park by 9:30am so we could get it in before The Hubs had to go to work.



But it was fun... and we had the place to ourselves.  Ourselves and the geese.  Stinky hissing geese.


My guess is that geese are just a whole other animal when they are the same size as you...  I hate geese.

Anyhoo... I took the next picture after my brain fizzled and said "What?!" for a second:



These aren't even all of my kids and they are taking up a whole piece of jungle gym equipment.  Ahh, the noisy, smelly, chaotic, good life.

And so it goes, Sunday after church and after Caleb (stepson) had left to ride home with his aunt to Savannah, the van seemed... quiet.  Like someone was missing.  And they were...  It's fun to giggle throughout the weekend when it feels like so many kids!  But it gets so quiet once one of 'em is gone...

This post has quickly become rambling...  I guess to summarize... I sure wouldn't have planned it this way, but it sure is fun (sometimes...).  Dang!, that's a lot of kids.


Saturday, October 08, 2011

Our Friend Sammy

If you know my children, you know they giggle like CRAZY when they see this video... It's been OnDemand for years now and it doesn't get old to them.  Z has decided the puffer fish is the most amazing animal on the face of the planet.  Granted, they edit it on OnDemand... I love me some Chemical Brothers.  (Okay, it hasn't gotten old for me either...)



Friday, October 07, 2011

Five For Friday

The re-telling of a kick ass week.  (just kidding... it was totally...  whatever.)

1.  My stepson is here.  This is great.  The kids all love him and get crazy excited when they know he's coming.  For instance, I know Z asked about when he was coming LITERALLY 50 times before breakfast was over on Thursday.  That all being said, the stepson and I butt heads constantly.  I totally try to see where he's coming from, remember he's from a different household, etc.  He was once diagnosed with O.D.D.  (Oppositional Defiant Disorder) He does seem to have relatively outgrown it... sometimes I think he keeps just a sprinkle for me though to bring out at really... special... times... 

2.  This made my day today:  Sleeping and the Power of Functionality on The Bro's blog.  Every time I hear this story about Coop I giggle.  He still does this.  As does Z.  Max just smiles... big.  Why?  Why do these little people do this?  How can I start doing it??

3.  I HAVE DEFEATED THE COUPON NINJAS.  Bitches.  Publix's ads begin on Thursday.  Hubs came home a smidge early yesterday and I (nearly) literally ran to Publix as soon as he stepped in the door.  Muahahahaha!  I have conquered them.  I got everything on my list.  I shit you not, this week I'll be feeding this family of 6 on $60.  And for part of the week, there's 7 of us.  Now I just need a way to get to Publix early on Thursday every. single. week...  hmm...

4.  This may sound nerdy, but I've been waiting all week for the SyFy guys to tweet that Haven has been picked up for another season.  The longer they make us wait, the more anxious I get to find out!  They left it at such a cliff hanger that I will be pissed if that is just... it.  It would remind me of Carnivale and the way HBO pulled that out from under my nose.  Anybody remember that??  sad face.

5.  I've been pondering Lola's birthday without writing any of it down.  There's so much work to be done around the house I've considered just telling everyone to bring a blankie and meet us at the park.  Then I think, well... if these are our friends, they won't care if our house needs work.  I don't know what happened, but lately I feel a little like Adam and Eve.  One day God says, "hey, you're naked" and they're all like, "damnit!  I can't believe we're freakin naked!"  I feel like my house has been like this, but suddenly I'm all conscious of it.  Siding.  the deck.  door frames.  paint.  falling retaining wall.  It all needs some loving.  Mayhaps I will just blind fold our guests til they're in the house??...

side note:  the other day Coop asked about Adam and Steve...  I asked him if he was talking about the folks "in the garden"... he said, "yeah, Adam and Steve".  I giggled pretty hard... probably embarrassed him... and realized we gotta start talking about the Bible a little more often...  it's gone neglected somehow...


Happy Weekend, peeps.  If your house is nice and quiet, do NOT take it for granted.

Wednesday, October 05, 2011

Love is a Coke.


Yesterday was insane.  I think it was all compounded by the fact it was my one day to work in the afternoon.  And that's all fine and dandy... most days I don't mind that too badly, although I have to schedule around it from the time I get up.  Often, the house doesn't get straightened, no laundry gets done and we still have a bit of school left to do when I get home.  All that aside... the dude I was going to massage was someone I knew to be an ass.  Why?  Well besides what I knew of him, when my co-worker called him to return a message he had left he was rude.  She said it went something like this.  "Hi, this is ___ from ___ ___ Office calling to return your message"  He says:  "Yeah, I know who you are."  What?  Dang it, coworker!  Look in your crystal ball!  You should have known he has caller ID.  Was she supposed to say, "Yo.  What up.  When you comin?"  Anyhoo... that pretty much summed up every conversation I had with him ever and I did not look forward to him telling me how to massage him.  (PS... he's so large I would have to stand on my tiptoes for a whole hour and I didn't look forward to the pain I would be in afterward either...)  Anyway.  I dreaded the afternoon and the kids behavior lately has been

TERRIBLE.

At least, maybe not so terrible individually, but terrible all together.  So the Hubs comes home all smiley, smiley.  He gets home on Tuesdays right smack in the middle of nap and I'm always a wee bit jealous.  This is the quiet time of the day.  Hubs can turn on whatever the hell he wants on the TV and just sit back and relax.  I on the other hand would feel compelled to scrub a toilet or make dinner or something.  I dunno.  Anyhooo...

At this point I ask him if he brought me home the Coke he said he would yesterday.  (see odd love of Coke here...)  And here I want to cry.  I give him a few lines about, "all I have to look forward to is massaging some 500lb guy." ...  "these kids were terrible today" ...  "you couldn't just bring me home a simple Coke?" ...  "its hard being me"...  blahdy blahdy blah.  I think at some point I also compared myself to a rat in a cage.  It was truly me at my finest.  

The Hubs put on a pretty good show too...  all nodding and taking it and shit.  As I squashed down in my pre-backed-up-and-ready van, there sat a shiny, tasty Coke and a simple "I love you" note.  I imagine myself to look something like Gene Wilder in the real Willy Wonka at that particular moment.  "so shines a good deed in a weary world".  I texted to tell him thank you.  (because I obviously couldn't show my face, duh.)  and so it goes.

It works like that.  I get to vent.  He gets me a Coke.  Cokes are big between us.  The everything-but-especially-the-grocery budget is always so tight.  When a $1.00 is spent on just a simple Coke, it really does mean something to us.  We are busy people.  But to know that he stopped just to put a little happy in my world does make me... happy.  It's the simple things. 





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