The Laundry

Okay, going for a record here. Four times in one week.

I just love it when my daughter wakes me up because she is hungry. I get up, of course, and make her a bottle, go in to get her and she is back to sleep. Lovely. Now I am up and she is not. The only saving grace is that I can get a little time to myself, and be able to make a cup of coffee without anyone screaming. Maybe it's not so bad after all.

Laundry again today. It's been two days of laundry already. I had just gotten caught up about a week ago when Tim decided to clean out the garage. Now, mind you, he had cleaned out his car a while before that. By cleaned out, I mean stuffed everything into garbage bags and put it inside the garage...and left it there. For a long time. And there were lots of clothes. So, in turn, my "caught up" laundry quickly turned into three more large piles of dirty clothes - some with tags still on - for me to wash. Now, do you think he does the laundry? No. It's actually all I can do to even get him to THROW it down the stairs for me. (Laundry is downstairs, bedrooms are upstairs). Either way, I am doing some more laundry today, and then weeding through his clothes and getting rid of half of them, whether he likes it or not. It's like the leaning tower of t-shirts down there, and if I don't do something soon, I am going to be saying "timber". Not to mention, he's been promising to do it himself...since we moved in. Yes, that's right, two years ago. I think the grace period has expired.

The Lamb

Three posts this week? Can you stand it?!

I'm actually just sitting here trying to get motivated. Drinking some coffee ::shocker:: and reading some e-mails. Last night we did get up the strength (mentally) to clean out some of the basement, or as I say, the toy cave. That is where Zachary's 4,592,376 toys live - in the toy cave. This summer we also moved his bedroom down there, so that works out really well for everyone. He is close to his toys, and his toys are out of my way. It's a beautiful thing. Yesterday was the weeding out of the garbage toys that pretty much NO ONE would want, and today I think I am going to have to go through and pick out some to get rid of that just plain do not get played with. The biggest tub I ended up with was full of "guys". Who ever thought of making little tiny people, dinosaurs and animals must have been insane. The only people worse are the ones who buy them, i.e. me. Have you ever stepped on a plastic cow the size of your thumb. It can do some serious damage. Don't try it at home, folks. Or, in the case of my brother Nicholas, a sheep...

The other night we went over to my parents house to visit, have some dinner and relax. My mom had just gotten out her Christmas stuff, and has precious moments nativity set that she tells Zachary, and I quote "I have had longer than I have had your Momma!" Yeah, old. So, anyway, although it is glassish (ceramic?) she says he can play with it carefully. So he does, and the people are talking to each other, and they kiss and hug, and it's a grand ol' time to be a wise man. He particularly loved the tiny lamb and carried it around for a while. When he was done playing with it, of course he didn't pick it up - he left it in the floor. So, my brother Nicholas gets up to leave the living room and all I see is him fall flat on his face into the dining room from the living room, spilling whatever it was that he was carrying. I couldn't figure out what he had tripped over. Well, yep, you guessed it, he stepped right on the sheep. Now, you would think that it might break or something, but it did better than that. The tiny sheep turned to sheep dust! I had never seen anything quite like it! It was so weird. Luckily my mom is a firm believer in "it is just a thing" but as for Nicholas, he's lucky he didn't have to take a trip to the ER to have some lamb removed from his foot.

The Weirdos

It's been quite a day so far. First I didn't meet my weight requirement for the diet that I am doing, thus almost losing roughly 150 points. Luckily my mom pointed out a loop-hole, and I immediately jumped through.

We had a good weekend, but getting back to the hustle and bustle of being in your own house can be relieving, yet stressful. There is nothing like coming home to the laundry that you had 'accidentally' forgotten about, as well as the three new loads just waiting to be done, still in your suitcase, still in the car. How many days can you ACTUALLY go without clean underwear? At least two, right? I mean, can't you flip them inside-out or something? Needless to say, I have yet to start a load, and the promise of cleaning out the toys before Christmas arrives is not on the top of my list at this point. Instead, I sit here drinking some coffee and typing to you the details of my life that, although seem less than amusing to me, prove to be very interesting to most of the rest of you.

I slammed my thumb in the drawer this morning. It was all I could do to not scream F***! I am pretty sure the only reason I resisted is the fact that we have been telling Zachary that "Oh damn" and "shit" are not appropriate responses to breaking a crayon or spilling a glass of juice. The reason that this made me SO incredibly angry is A. I just slammed my SAME thumb nail in my van door about three weeks ago while trying to stop the popping of a balloon in the bush in the driveway. I figured that it was worth it to not have to endure the 30 minute tantrum that would surely follow and B. I am stressed. I don't do well with the change of the season or the lack of sunshine and I have been what I like to call "wacky off the junk" since I decided I would try to go off of my antidepressants.

Which leads me to my next point. I attract a lot of weirdos. Except for you, of course....(right) So anyway....I have decided that one of two things need to happen. Either I need to find all new friends and family, or I need to consider the common denominator and go back on the Prozac. I think I'll call in my refill after all.

The Oh wait...update

Okay, okay. So I've been busy...I'm sorry. If you are needing the fix of a post from me, just send me a message. That will surely motivate me. Well, sometimes...depending on my schedule, and the amount of screaming that is happening at that very moment, and the time of day, and how much laundry I have left to do, and how well I am doing at Bejeweled Blitz...and 107 other things. Okay, so chances aren't good, but as recently requested, here is your update.

Everything has been going well. Almost nothing to tell! Kids are good, and Zachary is potty trained. Honest to God, it only took two days. Ask me how! I'm like an infomercial. Elaina is getting big and is now eating cereal, squash, peas and applesauce. She thinks that she is basically awesome, which, ofcourse, she is.

We have been doing the Game On! diet for almost four weeks now, and I have lost about 11 lbs. Tim has lost about 10, and we are feelings great. We even cleaned out our pantry, letting go of anything 'not occuring in nature' and are starting this as our new healthy lifestyle. Now, don't get me wrong, sometimes I do need the comfort of a deep-fried something-or-other, or a large piece of dessert, or two (or more) but other than that, we are really making a change, and I feel great about it. We are starting another game on the first of the year, so if you are thinking you want to get in on it, buy the book, read it, and let me know!

We put up our Christmas tree last weekend, and Zachary said "Look Mommy, it's so cute!" I laughed. He has been saying lots of funny things lately, but the best day was when he said "Mommy, I love you....so much."

Do you need to refridgerate baby carrots?

Oh..wait...I have the perfect story that I JUST remembered, and you will be glad that I did since I was just about to close this post.

Tim and his exercising. It is a sight to be seen. OMG I am practically rolling around on the floor laughing just thinking about it. Here goes...

So, for this Game On! diet, you have to exercise at least 20 minutes per day to get your points. That said, my teammate, Katie, bought me a DVD for my birthday. It's Jillian's (the trainer from The Biggest Loser) 30 Day Shred, otherwise known as Hitler's 30 Seconds of Exercise until you pass out on the floor. It's intense. There are three levels and being the wise one that I am, chose to start on level one.

Now, we all know that no on can possibly look 'cool' doing a workout video. We pretty much look like morons flailing around in the air and humping and bumping on the floor while thinking we look so good that we could practically be IN the video. And yes, you look like this, even if you are really good at the 'moves'. Don't kid yourself.

I finished my workout, and Tim decided he would try his hand at it because he also needed his exercise points for the day. I took my shower, got ready for bed and went to watch some TV in the room. As I get into bed, I hear a lot of romping around, and this continues for about 40 minutes. I was confused by this because it is only a 20 minute workout. I go out to the living room (mind you, it is dark, the picture window is huge and the curtains are open) only to see my husband in his whitey-tighties and dark green socks pulled up to his knees (yes folks, that is ALL he was wearing) doing a move that no person, especially one dressed like this, should be doing. It was like a push-up position, but with your but WAY up in the air, and then with your hands on the floor, doing jumping-jack moves with your legs. Oh yeah, it was awesome. I lost it. I laughed so hard I almost died. Literally, I was suffocating. Not to mention the fact that sweat is pouring off of his face. Not wanting to be one-upped, he decided he would do ALL of the levels, one right after the other. He said he started out with more clothes on, but just couldn't handle it. So, not only did I get a show, but so did the whole neighborhood. And let me tell you, he was less than fluent in his moves.

Now aren't you glad that I remembered that little morsel?

The Hair-Do

If you never read my blog, this is the day to start. It's sure to be enjoyable for all tuned in.

I would like to call today...the day from down under. And by that, I am not referring to Australia. Yes, that is right. H-to-the-E to the double hockey sticks. I feel like I am out of control. I just read that after I wrote it, and I though...hmm, am I a control freak? Well, yes, I am. I will admit it. And sometimes there is no controlling your kids little minds. i.e. Mr. Glossy Hair.

Let me preface this by saying that my favorite lip gloss is from Victoria's Secret. It's very thick and sticky, and is more of a lip shine that gives you a very glamorous look...

You see, today a friend of mine called, and I talked for a few minutes while I was feeding the baby. I figured that Zachary was in my bed watching "Homas" as usual, and having a small break from running around and driving me crazy. I should have known that the silence was not a good thing. I called his name...no response. I heard him in the bathroom where I figured I would find him washing his hands, as he loves to do this. The hallway smelled very vanilla-ish and very familiar, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. When I walked it, he was sitting on the counter washing his hands surrounded by bubbles from the foam pumper. His hair was very shiny. It really just looked wet and I figured that he had been trying to wash his hair with the soap. Not the case. He had squeezed an almost entire, brand new VS lip gloss/shine into his hands and put it in his hair. Five hair washings later, and it is still as thick and sticky as ever. Needless to say, we are going to try dishsoap, and then lava soap if that doesn't work. Otherwise, head shave.

The Hot Date

Yes, that's right folks, my first hot date in what seems like forever. We finally got to have a little get-away at Tim's yearly training. We went to the Kalahari resort in Ohio and it was fabulous.

The first day was good. The welcoming meeting was excellent. I tell you what, after watching the video shown by the commander, I will never text and drive again. For those of you who haven't seen this PSA, they are showing it now in the UK and it was recently on the news. It is very graphic, but worth watching. It is also extremely powerful. Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGE8LzRaySk

Everyone always tells me that I shouldn't be doing that, and I don't listen. After I saw this, all I could think about was my kids. I can't even explain the silence in the room while it was playing.

On with the date - next was the spouses meeting, and that evening we went to a costume party. Tim did end up being the Tin Man, and I, the wicked witch. It was quite a sight.

The next night was the formal, which was wonderful, and our flight won lots of awards. On Friday, our last day, we did go to the water park, which is the biggest indoor water park in the country. My body hurt so badly the next day I could hardly move. I think I am getting old.

The Halloween Weekend

I ran out of coffee creamer this morning. Luckily it wasn't until I had poured my third cup. I am exhausted. Elaina has been sick with a cold for going on two weeks. She hacks and gurgles all night long. We rub her down with Vicks and use the warm-steam humidifier every night, but she still only makes it a few hours before she starts up again. My poor thing. Last night was especially long because of the weekend. Both kids were completely off schedule and Zachary thought it was time to wake up and watch Thomas at 11. Then again at midnight. Then again at 4. He did sleep in until 8:30 (or until what would be the equivalent of 9:30 with the time change.)

It was a great birthday weekend. On Thursday I met up with my mom and had the kids pictures taken at Milham Park. We all agreed that the pictures turned out nicely, but that the Mill Park in Scotts is a much better location for Fall photos. If I can figure out how to post them on here, I will so you can see them if you aren't on Facebook. I am still learning about this blogging world. (If you are on Facebook and we aren't friends, just click on the picture of me to the right and it will take you to my page.)

On Saturday I went shopping and out to lunch with my mom and Debbie. It was a grand ol' time. I found a dress for the annual which is this week (so excited!). Then on Sunday we had Tim's promotion luncheon at TGI Friday's and headed back to spend some time with Papa Mark, Uncle J and Auntie Katie. We finally made it home last night around 7ish.

And update: Tim has yet to prepare his costume for the party. "Toto" said he doesn't have a costume, and Dorothy is bailing out. Looks like its going to be me (the wicked witch) and Carol who is dressing up as a munchkin. That will be a sight. The flight chief is supposed to be The Wizard of Oz, but we will see if he follows through on that. More to come.