The Neo-Hippy Housewife

A lot of nothing.

2009-03-26T11:34:00.001-04:00

I know I said in my 101 in 1001 that I will try to blog once a week, but really there is nothing to talk about lately. I am boring. I am tired. I am pissy. And I'm sure no one wants to hear about that. So.

This is me half-assedly fulfilling my contractual obligation. :P

I promise a more interesting post next week.

#27...

2009-03-07T12:16:00.004-05:00

...learning to work my camera.

I messed about with the zoom feature today (oh so difficult, I know. I am no photographer, people. I barely know how to work those disposable cameras. Do they even make those anymore?)

I perfected my super-stealthy spy skillz, taking pics of my kids. I kicked their butts outside in the rain (hey it wasn't POURING rain), and spied on them from my bathroom window.

And then, I was caught! I tried to quickly hide around the corner of the window but she'd seen me, and was giving me the eyebrows:

So then of course the spy mission turned into a photo shoot and she posed for a minute.

They came in filthy, wet, and cold. They're bathing now, then lunch.

Rowen pictures later! He is sleeping, thank the heavens.

Welcome Back....

2009-03-06T20:36:00.001-05:00

...your dreams were your ticket out..... (Oh no she DI'N'T!)

HI!!!!!!

So yeah I totally neglected my bloggy for a long long time. But now I'm back, and it's part of my 101 in 1001 to blog at least once a week, so there will be a bunch more of me here (hopefully!).

I'm pretty new to the thing, I just started my list today, but basically the 101 in 1001 is a list of 101 things you would like to do/make/have/accomplish in 1001 days (about 2.5 years). The things can be anything, big or small, but they have to be specific. And I need to read more about it, myself, but I figured what better a first-post-in-forever than my list so far?

101 In 1001:

1. Find a doable exercise regimen I *ENJOY* and stick to it.
2. Have a table at a craft fair or at the farmer's market in our town.
3. Get chickens (and/or other farm-ish, "useful" animals).
4. Make a quilt (tee-shirt quilts don't count!).
5. Learn to make sushi.
6. Go to a winery.
7. Get my driver's license!!!!!!
8. Meet some of my internet bff's in person.
9. Learn to knit (no, I don't know how! And technically I don't know how to crochet neither so...)
10. Learn to read patterns for crochet.
11. Try raw figs.
12. Teach Brenda cursive before June 2009 (more on that later).
13. Have a system set up to organize and store all of my towering, toppling craft supplies.
14. Learn to play the piano. And read music.
15. Absolutely NO drastic haircuts. For two years! This will be a hard one. Just trimming of split ends.
16. ***Secret***
17. Let my father know that he is not.
18. Spend more time with people I care about.
19. Try octopus.
20. Go strawberry picking.
21. Make a bookshelf dollhouse with Brenda.
22. Start composting for our garden.
23. Get to 145 lbs. (Currently at 158 lbs. Yeah, I said it out loud. It's not far, it's do-able, but still technically "overweight". Whatever.)
24. Use my day-planner. Keep it in my purse or by the coffee pot. Open to the right day.
25. Track my period.
26. Use our never-used Rosetta Stone software (or whatever brand it is) to learn Spanish. At least the important stuff.
27. Learn to work my camera (perhaps find some sort of written instruction?).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So that's what I have so far. I have a long way to go, but I did only start today. So.

Kids' news soon. I promise. I have to blog once a week for 2 1/2 years now, remember?

Tag, I'm it....

2008-08-25T09:52:00.000-04:00

Thanks PrairieKnitWit, I needed a distraction from unpacking and putting my life back together.....

A. attached or single? Attached.

B. best friend? My husband. It's like we share a brain sometimes.

C. cake or pie? Hmm. I like cookies. How about, cake in spring/summer, pie in fall/winter.

D. day of choice? Sunday, it's usually a lazy family day.

E. essential item? Huh. I'm not sure I find any items essential. I'll even go for like a week forgetting to wear my glasses.... how about.... Xanax (kidding).... or.... the stroller.

F. favorite color? Scarlet red, or jade green. But not together, I hate red and green together.

G. gummy bears or worms? Both. I LOVE gummies. My favorite kind of candy.

H. hometown? Hick-town in the far suburbs of Buffalo NY.

I. favorite indulgence? Sleep.

J. January or July? Both.... January when it's July, July when it's January. Can't just be happy with the weather, you know. :P

K. kids? For sale! :P I have three. A girl and two boys.

L. life isn't complete without? Death.

M. marriage date? (Oh crap what is it, oh yeah) April 6th. I didn't really like my wedding so I don't exactly hold the date close to my memory. (Nothing to do with the person I married, it was just hurried and not what I wanted in a wedding. But, whatever.....)

N. number of brothers & sisters? Zero.

O. oranges or apples? Both.

P. phobias? Lots and lots of stuff. Spiders, bugs, drowning, zombies, heights. I just recently explained to my husband that my fear of heights isn't exactly a fear of heights but a fear that I will involuntarily throw myself off of heights, more like conceding to the gravitational pull than any actual suicidal thoughts... yeah, he looked at me like I was nuts.

Q. quotes? "All that is certain is that nothing is certain."

R. reasons to smile? Cute babies. Happy endings. Watching my kids be nice to each other. Music. My husband's vulgar and hilarious sense of humor.

S. season of choice? Autumn. Crisp. Clean. New and old. Baked goods and crockpots. Sweaters and boots. Awesome colors.

T. tag seven peeps! Nah.

U. unknown fact about me? I like to have unknown facts to myself, thanks.

V. vegetable? Asparagus. Zucchini. Pumpkin.

W. worst habits? I curse a lot. A LOT. More than a mother really should. I am trying to censor it more now, though. Also, my housekeeping is just awful.

X. x-ray or ultrasound? I always loved getting a fetal ultrasound and would get as many as I could when I was pregnant. So cool.

Y. your favorite food? Fish and shellfish. Or non-tomato based pasta dishes.

Z. zodiac sign? Gemini. Which is probably why I gave more than one answer to most of the questions above.

No tagging, if you want to play, link to your meme in my comments section. I am too lazy to tag people.

Under the Table and Dreaming

2008-07-31T12:13:00.000-04:00

Family Tree....

2008-07-27T13:21:00.000-04:00

Back from a weekend of debauchery. I was thrilled to make like I'm ACTUALLY 23 again. Lovely, relaxing, smooth and just felt right. We did dinner and cocktails and wandered about aimlessly (like we NEVER do). I did laps in a pool by myself without having to worry about which kid might slip and fall on the concrete or dive into the pool without swimmies. Then I took my vampire romance novel and read in the jacuzzi tub. And went to bed at 12 and woke up at 3 (that's the afternoon people... the AFTERNOON!!! :-O ) Then came the tattoos....

Mine, (kinda fuzzy picture sorry), is my "family tree". Husband on top, the two older ones on each side and Rowen on the bottom. If there are any more oopsie-kids, we'll have to just add below Rowen I guess. I drew the names myself, and then the tree is a 12th century Celtic engraving of the tree of immortality and love.

LOVE IT.

Now Tim's tat. The square one was already there... he added the celtic dragon circle last night. A little play on the infinity snake (not sure that's the technical term but I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about). I love the dragon heads.

All in all a good time. I am hungover and sleepy, although I got more sleep this weekend than I do in a normal week.

Back to the daily grind.... SIIIIIiiiiigh........

I appreciate all of the happiness I've gotten about me getting away. I feel like you all are as happy for my little break as I was. That makes me feel all mushy inside.

Oh and a special shout-out to my Momma who corralled the monsters (including and especially Lushifer [that's Luke to you], owch. SO glad I wasn't here this weekend. You earn the granny medal of endurance).

Now it's time for me to eat as much as possible before I start back on the diet-wagon tomorrow morning. :P

(And, P.S., does it make me a mom-ster that I didn't miss my kids AT ALL. Not even the little one. I hope not... hey, at least I included them in my tattoo....)

Hippy Chic.

2008-07-21T13:24:00.000-04:00

I finished a baby blanket for my friend's soon-to-be neonate in LESS THAN THREE DAYS. Wow.

*Applause*

Thank you, thank you. I'd also like to thank the absolute lack of motivation to do anything but sit on my couch and watch tv that made this possible.

Photos....

It's also baby-tested for snuggle-ability (and thrash-ability, as well)....

I anticipated needing much more yarn than I did, so I have one skein each left of the blue and pink colors, as well as some cream (which was leftovers from an earlier project anyways). So anticipate more, blanket-matching baby stuff to be shown in the near future.

Also, I am in the process of making some clothespin dolls and a portable dollhouse for Brenda's birthday (but mostly for our long driving trip and week vacation afterwards, so she has something to play with there that's small but fun and versatile)....

Yes, those are mermaids.

Edited to add:

1.) Yes, the blanket IS even, but I didn't have patience to take time and even it out for a picture so my baby could snatch it up just the moment before I snapped the photo.

2.) No, I apparently didn't find arms important in doll-designing. I just noticed... hmm...

Brenda's New Hair.

2008-07-19T09:56:00.001-04:00

Yep. Brenda actually wants to be like me. I've been telling her I'd cut her hair for weeks now, but I finally got around to it a couple days ago. She looks positively grown up.

Before:

After, when she said she wanted her hair cut "...like yours, Momma. But straight." (Brat)

Pretty little Sister. She absolutely needs to stop getting bigger, effective immediately. I'm sending her the memo now.

Saturday Morning Cartoons.

2008-07-19T09:40:00.000-04:00

And I give you one of the very few moments my baby son has clothes on....

Isn't he the sweetest little muffin you've ever seen? :)

(Now where, oh WHERE did I put that camera manual? Sigh... photography isn't my strong suit.)

"New" Clothes.

2008-07-18T21:06:00.001-04:00

I made this jacket for Brenda last night, from 4 different articles of clothing....

I might change the collar.

Also, yesterday the kids were bored (as usual) so I let them paint some tee-shirts.

Luke has worn his all day. I was told that both tee-shirts have butterflies on them.

UPDATE Again, Jeez I am getting bad at this Life-Blog Thing....

2008-07-16T11:00:00.000-04:00

So. It's been like 4 months. I am really not great at keeping up with anything at all. Housework, diaries, schooling, meal plans, coupon clipping, finishing projects, etc, etc. I'm all about instant and constant gratification without actually having to do much. I guess that makes me lazy. Or maybe I'm just tired (since little Mans doesn't sleep through the night yet and yes, still wakes up 2-4 times a night, on average. Yawn). Yeah, that's it. Tired, scatter-brained, but not lazy.

Anywho, it's time for Kids Pictures!

Friday was Luke's birthday (THREE! Omigosh.), so let's start with him...

The thoughtful chew.....

Running crazy at the splash park....

His "cool" pose....

He's quite the crazy monster, still. Too smart for his maturity level.

Now Rowen.

Just about my favorite picture ever....

Yeah, he's the gross one...

The Casual Ignore....

And last but certainly not least, little Brenda Lee.

Crazy eyes. (Psst, she made that necklace herself. Wears it everywhere. So proud.)

At the splash park (it's pretty much our place to go)...

Lazing about on the couch with Daddy's tee-shirt quilt.

Miss Smarty Pants is bored and can't wait to go back to school.

Well there they are. My pretty family. Hopefully it won't be another 1/2 year before I update again....

(Oh yeah, did you like my artsy black and white pictures? I'm getting mad at my camera because when the pictures go on the computer, the colors are weird. Maybe it's actually the computer.... whatever. I didn't like the color. So they're b&w. So there. :P)

Warning..

2008-03-24T13:34:00.000-04:00

Some jerk tried to put some sort of virus in my blog, I removed all comments from my last post & am now screening all calls, so to speak. Thanks, jackass.

Happy Half-Birthday, Little Mans!

2008-03-19T11:56:00.000-04:00

Man, they grow up too fast. Today Rowen is 6 months old, & I can't even believe it. He can scoot backwards on his back... he's trying to roll over, and I distinctly heard him say "Hiiiiii..." twice yesterday. :-O He plays with his toys with vigor and appreciates good food... mostly of the pureed soup, stew and casserole variety. He loves his brother and sister and they think he's pretty cool, too, and they watch over him like mama hawks. He (for the most part, of course) sleeps through the night until about 4:30 or 5, which is MUCH BETTER than what was happening a couple of months ago. He is the apple in my eye and I love him to death. Squish, cry, heart. Smoosh. Love.

My baby. :-( :-) Pretty soon he'll be going to school. I can't even think of that right now.

I might make him some sort of yummy pureed apple crisp or something for his birthday. I think he'd like that.

Hope everyone has a good Rowen's Half-Birthday! :-)

My blonde hair.

2008-03-11T15:51:00.000-04:00

Finally, I am getting up a picture of my blonde hair and new glasses. Don't mind the roots and the no makeup.Yuck, when did I get so chubby? Thank god it's almost spring.

Rowen!

2008-02-20T17:40:00.000-05:00

Ok, Rowen update:

(The first picture, he is in a sling made for me by one of my dear friends on a website that will remain nameless... thanks missy! You can check out her shop here.)

So, Rowen. Still *hearts* boobies, but is expanding his palate to include cereal and fruit. Cute little monster. Insomniac. Momma-obsessed. Enjoys a good hockey game (no, really). Found his voice recently & LOVES screaming... no words yet though.

More later, must feed the baby beast!

UPDATE: Kids.

2008-02-20T15:22:00.000-05:00

So it's been a while since I filled in my loyal readers (what are there, like two of you?). Here you are.

Brenda:

As you can see, Brenda just lost another tooth, "and the tooth fairy knows her NAME!" in her words. :) She is doing fantastic in school. Very smart, big on reading, listening to music, and practicing for PMS. Loves macaroni and cheese. Loves her brothers. Is a big helper-girl, all of the time. However, she is testing me constantly on how much back talk she can get away with. She also loves to watch Iron Chef America and Scooby Doo.

Lucien:

Ah, the elusive middle child. Most of his pictures look like those above. But here's one and you can KIND of see a face... he DOES indeed exist (although cynics still speculate...)

So. Lucien. He is a holy terror. Still cute. Still red. He is starting with the potty training... he will go if he's asked to go, but won't tell us yet that he has to go potty. Baby steps. He enjoys making momma crazy and drinking maple-syrup milk. He likes to put dishes away and wipe down surfaces with baby wipes. Still loves Ted. Loves his baby brother, finally... he holds Rowen's hand and sings to him. "Iss'akay, my widdle Row-wen, beebee Row-wen, widdle Row-wen... I yuv yew, an' I yuv yew, an' I YUUUUUVVV, my yiddle GUYYYY..." He likes to make up songs, such as "Buff-lo Bills, an' Buff-lo Bills, an'..... HOCKEEEEYYYYY...." And I am still clinging to nap time, although I'm sure it's nearing it's end.

For a Rowen update, you must wait... he is screaming, teething, constipated and generally PISSED OFF at the world. Bye!

2008-02-18T13:17:00.000-05:00

Huh. Last time I took this quiz, it told me I was 2:11 A.M.

That's a Gemini for you I guess.

It's been a while..

2008-02-18T12:40:00.000-05:00

Man, you keep putting it off and putting it off, and before you know it it's the middle of February. However, I do have an excuse.. I had no memory card, so there were no new pictures to be had.

Some news... we just got a new puppy! A cocker spaniel, Shamrock... Roxy for short. She's pretty cute but a handful, to say the least, and I feel like another child has been added to our household. Because that's what we needed. Yeah.

Anyways, pictures....

(Oh, and don't mind the ogre holding her. This picture was taken pre-face application.)

More to come, after I get some breakfast and clean up a bit, and there's not a giant loud annoying truck outside my house. Grrr.

Oh great, 2008..

2008-01-17T18:54:00.000-05:00

As usual, I am multitasking by nursing & typing at the same time, so I don't have the patience to say anything substantial right now. But, pictures! (And that really is all you come here for anyways, isn't it? :P)

Happy New Year everyone!

Personality...

2007-11-08T17:42:00.000-05:00

...is not lacking around here. (Sorry all of my posts are pictures lately, you'd rather look at my cute kids than hear any of the boring drivel I could post though, anyways, right? :P)

BOO!!!

2007-11-01T19:45:00.000-04:00

Trick or Treat, stinky feet....

And I absolutely could NOT resist taking this one earlier in the day (that's one for the teenage girlfriends, for sure)...:

I didn't dress up the littlest monkey. I had a feeling he'd hate it. A lot.

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-30T14:36:00.000-04:00

Updating for you all, it's been a while.

Brenda is doing well in school, not as well at home. She is so mouthy I just wanna smack the mouth right off of her face sometimes (don't worry, her mouth is still attached where it's supposed to be). But we had a very long, very adult talk the other day about why mom gets mad and yells at her when I've told her for the 100th time to do something and have been ignored (I actually said to her, "how would you feel if the people you were around all day long just completely ignored everything you said to them?" I think she kind of gets why she needs to listen to me now... but that might not be the thing to say to a five year old. Oh well, she didn't come with a rule book to look things like that up). Lots of little girls calling all afternoon after school. She's a popular kid... who knew my kid would be popular? I was SO not. :O :)
Luke is cutting molars (as you can tell from the picture... his hands are always in his mouth lately) and being a crazy little butt. He takes his bed completely apart nearly every single day. I wish he'd learn to put it back together. His favorite foods are salad and candy and peanut butter-jelly right now... that's all he asks for. We're still working on potty training.. he hasn't gone poo in the potty yet, but he will try to make it to pee, and does almost half the time. Baby steps.
Rowen is a cute little monkey and I love to squish him. He is a boobie-boy and holds the boob with both hands while he eats. He hates it when you try to trick him into a bottle and when no one's holding him. He's got TONS of dark hair and blue blue eyes. The kids love him, surprisingly and thankfully. I wish he'd sleep more at night, it feels like he's got day and night cornfused. Aaaand, I just heard him poo from two rooms over. I'm scared to see what is in that diaper, but I'm not going to wake him up to change it. Instead I will go get coffee.

Happy Halloween, as well! (Ok, I finally got pics taken of the house, now I need to adjust them and put them up. I swear it'll happen before New Years.)

Dad and Luke's pumpkin (Scary Pumpkin)

Mom and Brenda's pumpkin (Happy Pumpkin)

Mom got to do an extra pumpkin this year. He's the Spit-Up Pumpkin, in honor of our newest family member, Mr. Pooker. :D

Rowen James Oakley...

2007-10-27T21:20:00.000-04:00

Born September 19th, 2007 at 9:17 AM. 6 lb, 13 oz.

Mom is going crazy and has absolutely no time to blog or compute anymore. Here's some pics and hopefully going into more detail on life later... when I can find my head.

Miss me?

2007-08-16T01:42:00.000-04:00

So, I decided my poor blog has been neglected as long as I could get away with. We are here, we are here, we are here! At the new house. Mostly unpacked, even. Impressive, I know. Very happy, comfortable and content here... well, for the most part. It's still a little freaky when I'm alone here at night. I promise pictures when I find my misplaced battery charger for the camera and charge it up. Promise!!

Sunday was Brenda's birthday party. Look at my boogerhead.... Brenda, age two (oh my god, that's how old Lucien is... no more growing!):

At her party the other day... (it was actually cold for once, but daddy bought a *SPIDERMAN* Slip-N-Slide, so it just HAD to be tried out:

Aaaaaand then, my camera died. Poo.

And this week, the girl has been going to Kindergarten Camp. I told her she's not allowed to get big and go to school, but she's not listening, for some reason. So sad. She's such a big girl.

On the baby front, I am 33 weeks now (or, in a couple days anyways). I have been having contractions, and some other stuff that tells me that Mr. Baby will not be waiting until his due date to join us. I had a fun trip to the hospital, where they sent me home and told me to drink water. Again. Seriously, if I hear my doctor tell me all of my symptoms can be cured with 10 glasses of water a day one more time, I might scream. Contractions? Drink water. Severe pelvic pain? Water. Dizziness? Water (oh, and don't forget to eat. Cuz that'll happen). High-ish blood pressure? Make sure you drink some water. Meanwhile, I've been practically drowning myself and it's not really doing the magic I've been being told it's supposed to. But it is making me have to run up and down our new stairs all night long to use the bathroom 20 times. Which, most likely, is NOT helping with the contractions. Argh. Well, Dr. said that if the baby can wait a week (a week and a half when I talked to her on Monday, actually), they won't stop my labor if I go early. So let's just wait until I'm 34 weeks, yes?

Enough for now. I must go lay down. But first, pee. Always with the peeing. Also, if I hear another weird noise in this house where there's no one else here and awake but me, I'm going to freak myself out and not be able to sleep. Cheers.

How moving.

2007-07-26T23:06:00.000-04:00

Ohkay, people. So I haven't lost my mind entirely yet. In about a day and a half, we will be moving into the new house and officially the **** out of here. (Although, maybe I should stop saying things like that, it seems to jinx us terribly every time I even think it....)
I don't even want to go through everything we've been through in the past three days to record it in the blog. Suffice it to say, it's been hell. Surprised that I haven't killed anyone, why yes I am. Even more surprised my husband hasn't.
This is my last blog post before we have no internets for a while, so hopefully everyone is all good, perhaps my next post will be about Brenda's fantastic birthday party in our new home, and all the new crafty stuff I've done with the place.
Wish me luck, it seems we've been needing it. Blargh.

Reunited and it feels SO good...

2007-07-25T03:45:00.000-04:00

Daddy found the Ted. The kid next door stole him (grr, when are we moving again???), but must've left him outside on accident and now he's back! Yay! (He was very grimy, so I had to throw him in the washing machine after we found him, much to Luke's dismay.) I've never seen a kid love a bear as much as Lucien loves that nasty old thing. :D He's so happy Ted's back it makes me kind of teary.

On the house front, lots of drama and nonsense I'd rather not go through again, as it stresses me out. However, we should close on the original closing date (the 27th) and that's that. Well, that had BETTER be that or I might hurt someone. Meanwhile my house has been reduced to boxes of stuff and I have nothing to do but sit on the computer all day, or watch TV. It's gotten too hot to go outside again (well, muggy, pregnant-ladies-can't-breathe kind of weather, anyways), so I could clean, or nap, or play on the computer. This is going so slow... Friday is it. Hopefully (I say that a lot) we can get into the apartment this weekend? Please, universe? Stop messing with me for a few days and let me get into our new house?

Baby's been going crazy. He's decided my organs don't need the room, after all, and has taken up space where my lungs used to be. Three more months? I'm not sure about all that, he might get evicted before then.

We took Brenda to the store for some school shopping today. I guess that means she's really going, huh?

Good, I could use a couple of hours without her attitude. Where did my baby girl go and who is this small child that thinks she's a teenager? Slamming doors and being mouthy and whatnot. I used to be sad she was going to school, but lately I can't fricking wait, man. Lucien doesn't form sentences good enough to give me the kind of attitude she can. And the baby won't talk for a good year from now, at least.

Ending ramble. Maybe will go make some iced coffee... needing the caffiene today, but not the heat of regular coffee. Bye now.

When is my shift over, already?

2007-07-21T14:41:00.000-04:00

I feel my agitation with everything escalating lately. I woke up in a good mood, but it quickly went downhill from there as my son systematically tried to mess up every single room in the house. Between his awful whine when anything is even slightly frustrating to being followed around so close I could trip if I lost a step... to just constant shrieking and fighting between the two of them... to having to decide whether I should follow them around picking up toys, or let my house become a known disaster area... or even just trying to keep THEM clean (I think tattoos are in Lucien's future, as he feels coloring all over himself in marker is the best way to spend his "color time")... and then there's Brenda, with her rapid-fire questions to which she already KNOWS the answer... I feel like if I hear the word "momma" one more time today my head will explode.. I put him in bed and asked Brenda as nicely as I possibly could muster at this moment to be very quiet, so instead of her constant out-loud monologue to herself she's doing a whisper. I feel like smashing my own brains in to get some peace and quiet lately. I am guessing it's because I am with them from the time I wake up until pretty much the time I go to bed every day all day long without having had a break from them or even like a nap (as Luke has decided he doesn't want to sleep alone and Brenda thinks naps are for babies) or shower (well, not as true, I had a shower all by myself yesterday and it was like heaven... but usually, I have at least one if not both of them with me) without them in, I'm going to say... pretty much MONTHS. I'm not even allowed to close the door when I go pee, or Luke yells outside and tries to open the door until I'm done. I need a break. Seriously, health insurance should pay for mothers of young children to get a babysitter. For mental health reasons. And it seems the longer it goes without me getting a break, the more they won't listen to a word I say unless I yell. I haven't been the best mom ever lately, and I feel a bit guilty about it, but my GOD I need someone else to take over for a little while. Please??? (Yeah, not likely.)
I know it sounds ridiculous coming from someone who doesn't have a job, but I need a vacation. Bad.
Aaaaaand, since the bank thinks it's fun to keep telling us they'll be done and then not being done when they say they'll be, we're still in the hole of an apartment when we should be in our nice new house. Which I'm sure isn't helping my aggravation.
I need a drink and a Valium lately, but I guess I could settle for laying in bed for a whole day without anything needing to be done by me. And no one yelling "mommy" at me, either.
Also not likely.

End rant.

A picture is worth 1,000 guilt trips.

2007-07-16T20:33:00.000-04:00

Guess what they're staring at so intently? Yeah... mom's tired. Times like these, I thank the sweet baby Jesus for Spongebob. For real.

Still, OH, the guilt... look how sucked in they are! I can almost HEAR it melting their brains... sigh.

16 days and counting....

2007-07-11T15:26:00.000-04:00

Note to self, get off my ass and start packing our crap. Seriously, I was on a roll for a while, then Tim decided he's too cool to go get boxes so I ran out of steam. Not like he actually has to PACK anything... just get the fricking boxes. Ahem.

We went to the farmer's market today. You're jealous, I know. I got yellow and zucchini squash, and pretty cherries, and apples, one of which is about the size of a deer's heart (yeah, eww. Like you've never seen one. Come on.... well, that's what you get for living in the country your whole life, I guess). Today it is raining, hopefully it'll get cool enough to cook finally and I will make stuffed zucchini, zucchini bread and maybe some lasagna for dinners/lunches this week. I'm not sure what else to do with the rest of my squash, I'll probably just freeze what i don't use.

Today is my boy's birthday, he's two. Sniffle. I am sad about it, he's way too big already.

Look at how little... he was brand new...

Then, a picture of when he was one (what? 1 is the legal drinking age in any Irish family, didn't you know?) (And also, why is my husband's hairy leg in every picture of my son... hmm..):

And now he's like me... he's so old that he passes out on his birthday before he even gets the chance to drink.

Stinky head. Happy birthday Widgey-Widge, Mr. McSir and all the other stupid little names you don't care about now but will be pissed when I call you them in front of your friends. Ha!

2007-07-09T12:08:00.000-04:00

Happy birthday to my little mans... (well, on the 11th, but his party was yesterday). It was exhausting. Too many kids, no sleep and it was HOT. But Lucien seemed to enjoy himself, got some cool toys and new clothes, I'm a little sad I didn't take a picture of his cake, it was awesome, but for some reason every time it's important, I lose my camera... so I have one picture of his birthday. This one:

Sigh. Oh well... anyways, the cake looked something like this, but I put gummy worms on top for added effect, and the truck was WAY cooler (a giant metal Tonka that he can fit into... to credit my husband, I did say that he has about 400 toy cars and trucks, but he said Tonka is different and bought it anyways. It's a cool truck. Don't tell him I said that, though, cuz I'm always right). It was a hit regardless, I wish I had a picture of the cake. Lots of messy faces and cake crumbs abound yesterday (glad we bombed for ants last week, or they'd be invading again for sure). Brenda went for a sleepover at my cousin's house, so Lucien and I are partaking in a chocolate cake breakfast. My tummy hurts.

In other news, the chick that lived in our house before we bought it is OUTOUTOUT, hooray, so we're just waiting for the loan to close (which should be the 27th). 18 DAYS, everyone. I suddenly feel as though I have nothing packed and need to get going. Crap. Why am I on the computer again!?!

Baby is fine, 7 months, 2 months (3 if you believe that I'm going to be full term, I don't believe it for a second) to go. Things are moving right along around here. I am going crazy with the 5,000,000 things that need to be done *rightnow*. Oh well. Later....

And now for something completely different...

2007-07-01T18:49:00.000-04:00

I know I was working on my son's birthday present, but how can someone call themselves a Gemini without having 2500 unfinished projects laying about? :P

I am currently working on this... I was cleaning up the crap in my house for impending garage sale, and I decided instead of throwing away that yucky old cookie sheet, I'd make something out of it. Now it's a magnetic calendar.

And the back holds all of the magnets I'm not using on the calendar this month:

I'm excited about it. It never goes obsolete, all of the months, days and numbers are interchangeable, and I can add whatever words I want... even the picture can be changed. I will add some marble magnets to hold appointment cards, etc., and maybe some more picture magnets. But otherwise, it's pretty much done. Very cool. And recycled!

Wedding Pictures (Finally)....

2007-07-01T18:34:00.000-04:00

I know they've been vastly anticipated, so nearly 3 months later here's a sneak peek into our teeny tiny wedding. :) :) :)

I know, they're not the greatest... but since I took pictures of actual photos with my digital camera, I think they turned out ok. Yay, pictures!

Fakey Food...

2007-06-29T01:16:00.000-04:00

So I started working on Luke's birthday presents... he's been really interested in the felt food set I made the kids for Christmas, so I decided to make some additions to the set....

We have his favorite, 'Za 'Za....

Another favorite. Ice cream cone (strawberry, and chocolate) with some whipped cream on top. No room for a cherry, oops... maybe next time.

What I had made previously, for Christmas...

We have breakfast (egg, sausage, bacon and toast with butter)...

Lunch (the bread used previously for breakfast, with sandwich fixin's, pictured better below; watermelon and a carrot, yum)...

And dinner (chicken drumstick, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans with butter).

Everything set out... from top to bottom, (row 1) watermelon, cake, bread, peanut butter, ham, (row 2) egg, cherry danish, bread again, jelly, cheese, (bottom) bacon, sausage, butter, carrot, tomato slice, lettuce, mashed potatoes and gravy, chicken, green beans, and at the very end a cucumber slice.

Now for the birthday, I have the pizza and ice cream... trying to think of what else to make? I think I'll be doing some chocolate chip cookies, a strawberry, maybe a banana... a few more lettuce leaves so there can be pretend salad, and I was considering the makings of a taco... yellow corn tortilla, meat blob, sour cream, cheese shreds. They already have the veggies for it!

I know I'm not the first person ever to do this, but it's something I"m super proud of and hope my kids keep until they have kids and my grandkids can play with it... that's why I want to add to it. I was considering making sushi, too... maybe... hmm.

I am a dork. Isn't it awesome? :P

When Ants Attack!!!

2007-06-27T23:57:00.000-04:00

&$#$#^&!!!!!!! Seriously. Ants. Everywhere in my kitchen, all day long... just all of a sudden, today. None yesterday, dozens when we woke up. I've killed at least 100 of them throughout the day, no exaggerating. MY HOUSE IS NOT DIRTY!!! I freaked out midday and got down on my hands and knees in the kitchen with a bucket of bleach water and soap, a scrub brush no bigger than one you scrub your nails with, and a drying towel and scrubbed every inch of the floor, square tile by square tile. Seriously. It took an hour. It seemed to work for a couple of hours, but now they're back again. I'm going to seriously, seriously lose it. I hate bugs, I hate bugs in my kitchen, I hate VAST QUANTITIES of bugs in my kitchen, and I hate not being able to do anything about it. I am itchy from knowing that there's ants everywhere and I can't get rid of them. Every time I go into my kitchen I have to kill like 10 of them. It's so sick, and so frustrating. ARGH! Waaahhh!!!

Can I say it again, I can't WAIT until we move. 34 days. That's all. Until then, I have to pray the sugar ants don't eat us in our sleep. Eww.

Meanwhile, it's been too hot to pack, so I'm not getting anything done. Sigh.

Hopefully better news tomorrow.

Packing!

2007-06-26T10:44:00.000-04:00

I've been going insane since Friday packing up crap and throwing stuff away... it seems as though the "we're moving, must pack" factor is combining with the nesting instinct of late pregnancy to create the perfect storm of energy to get stuff OUT, NOW. We're even doing a yard sale (eek!) next Wednesday (Fourth of July). Maybe Thursday too. So not looking forward, but if it'll get stuff out of our apartment and maybe make a few bucks too, I'm willing to expend that much energy. Hopefully people buy our junk... one girl's trash is supposedly another old lady's treasure, right?
Besides that, I've been packing up the stuff we DO want to keep, but aren't using at this moment, into boxes (which I've run out of, must find more). And to top it all off, today is garbage day, we have 5 bags of garbage (FIVE!) already PLUS recycling, and I haven't even gone through the whole house yet.

HOW DID WE AQUIRE SO MUCH CRAP?!?!

Who knows, but it's not all coming with us to our pretty new house. I will make sure of it... single-handedly, if I must (and it seems as though that's how it's gonna be).

To Do Today:

Go through junk room's closet (the scariest part of the junk room, by far).
Go through miscellaneous appliances and pots/pans in bottom kitchen counters.
Go through all jewelry, untangle and organize accordingly, pack away jewelry box.
Throw away good amount of bottles/cannisters/etc. in bathroom. Pack the rest we want but don't need soon.
Pack kids' VHS movies, put others into sale box.
Vaccuum.
Sweep.
(Mop?).
Dust around top of rooms (eww, you should see some of the dust. I didn't notice...)
Junk drawers cleaned out (2 in kitchen).
Clean off top of refridgerator.

As well as making dinner, parenting, bathtimes, perhaps a nap! Doubtful though, I wanted one of those yesterday and worked right through Luke's naptime anyways. Duh.

Wish me luck... must go do some coffee!

Oh yeah!

2007-06-22T17:20:00.000-04:00

I forgot to mention, Miss Brenda's tooth "fell" out that night (actually, daddy pulled it out "on accident". Yeah. It WAS really loose, though). She was very happy to put the tooth under her pillow (in a little box, so the tooth fairy didn't have to search around in the dark for a teeny tooth), and in the morning she was going to buy us all breakfast with the dollar she got from that old fairy. :) Cute little monkey. She's currently trying to learn to whistle through the gap in her teeth.

What a face.

No title, too braindead...

2007-06-22T14:42:00.000-04:00

So it's been a bit, and although I don't have anything to say, I wanted to pop in to say hi to anyone who thinks I've died or gone into labor already. We are fine, very bored, waiting to get into the new house. We went to look at it again yesterday and the woman that lives there said she will most likely be out by August 1st, if not sooner... so that's almost two whole weeks before we thought! Hooray!
This whole month has been a crazy whirlwind of doctors' appointments, must to my dismay (and my wallet's dismay, as well. Argh). Now in physical therapy, my "therapist" is some old hardass that thinks he knows all about me because he has a 22 year old kid. Yeah, well, you don't know me. Don't keep me waiting for 1/2 an hour on top of my wait in the waiting room, then act like a jerk to me because I've had too much on my mind to call my fricking insurance company to see if they'll pay for a brace that, even if they DO pay for, I can't afford the co-pay anyways. Yes, I know you want my money. However, I don't have any. And then the OB, they're very dismissive of me and anything I think is wrong. It's all very frustrating. Next week I have three(!) appointments... Wednesday (PT),Thursday (regular doctor for my hips), Friday (OB). How. Annoying. And expensive. It costs an awful lot of money for them to tell me nothing. I hope they don't charge extra when they actually find SOMETHING.
So, in the process of moving, I thought it may be a good idea to have a yard sale. Because deep down, I'm a masochist at heart. That needs planning, probably will do on the 4th of July (which is a Wednesday) or the 18th. Scary.
So, that's about it for now, I have nothing at all to say. Need to clean my house and use up the bananas getting brown on the table (most likely banana bread, and freeze the rest for smoothies). I feel like I'm going to get a lot of throwing-away done today. I'm feeling the need to purge.
Ta, blog.

Memememe....

2007-06-16T14:00:00.000-04:00

I am bored so I stole a Meme off of Jen's blog. Let's try it.

The game is SCATTERGORIES…it’s harder than it looks! Here are the rules: Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following. They MUST be real places, names, things…NOTHING made up! If you can’t think of anything, skip it. Try to use different answers if the person before you had the same 1st initial. You CAN’T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

Your Name: Ashlee

1. Famous Singer/Band: Ani Difranco

2. 4 letter word: Ammo

3. Street: Ashford Hollow Road

4. Color: Auburn

5. Gifts/Presents: Anything! (it's the thought that counts... :P)

6. Vehicle: Altima

7. Things in a Souvenir Shop: Atlas

8. Boy Name: Andrew

9. Girl Name: Anne

10. Movie Title: American Beauty

11. Drink: Appletini

12. Occupation: Artist

13. Celebrity: Angelina Jolie

14. Magazine: Allure

15. U.S. City: Albany, NY

16. Pro Sports Teams: Atlanta Falcons

18. Reason for Being Late for Work: Always late for everything.

19. Something You Throw Away: Ashes

20. Things You Shout: ARGH!

21. Cartoon Character: Ariel (the little mermaid)

That was harder than I thought it'd be! (That's probably why it says that at the beginning, huh? Duh.)

Oh yeah. Brenda's tooth is ok. It's still loose, but it doesn't hurt and she's actually excited about it. Someone must've told her about the tooth fairy already.

How simple.

2007-06-16T12:42:00.000-04:00

Right now, my daughter is reading (!) a book to her brother. He is following along loudly, yelling the words a second after she does into a paper towel tube. Then he says, "Bee-da, 'nor boook?" It is so sweet. It's actually quiet for a second, and I am considering coffee for the first time this morning. Lucien slept in my bed last night, so I didn't get much sleep as his favorite part of sleeping with mama is kicking me in the face every hour or so. I didn't have the energy last night to make him sleep in his own bed.

Today is the 6 year anniversary of my grandmother's death. I feel weird about it. I can't believe it was that long ago already, but I counted and I was 16 at the time, so it must be true. So much is different, and I wish she knew *I* am different, too. I for sure wasn't much to be proud of at 16.

It's very surreal. I'm not very good at handling things like this anymore... I'm actually not good at handling anything very well anymore, since then, probably. I've gotten a harder exterior, but my insides have been mush since 6 years ago, today. You would think time would make things easier. It hasn't, not really.

On a different (and quite a bit less depressing) note, I think we might be going to see the new Fantastic 4 movie tonight. Brenda wants to see it really bad, and Tim generally wants to see that type of movie... I'm not as excited, but I think it's cool that Brenda likes something so much that's not princesses or frills or squishy bunnies. She needs to develop her tomboyish side a little more, in my opinion... her girly side is fully developed and flourishing. Besides, how else is she going to survive in a house with two little brothers?

That being said.. I don't wanna go. I want to soak in a bubble bath, do my nails, and maybe sew/crochet a bit. Some tomboy-role model I am, huh? And along those lines... I wonder what 15 year old me would think of me now. She'd probably shake her head at me pitifully and demand I make some food. She'd try to talk me into believing that motherhood, and being a stay-at-home-mom, is a rediculous waste of time you could be free to do whatever makes you awesome. I think I'm pretty awesome, and I'd be kind of scared to know what she thinks is a good time, anymore. So. There's that.

And I must go now, as Luke has seemed to have knocked one of Brenda's front teeth loose. There's no crying or blood, but holy crap, it's way too early for her to be getting loose teeth.

Friday Morning.

2007-06-15T11:29:00.000-04:00

I promised pictures of Brenda in the dress, so here they are...

Even a picture of the offensive back of the dress. Well... it offended me, until I saw it on her, then I stopped caring so much:

And Lucien needed to get in on the action, too, once he saw the camera. He's such a ham..

Baby doctor appointment is today at 10. Not looking forward. I've become very skeptical of the whole office.... but there's really no one else for me to go to. However, it's the first time I'm seeing *my* doctor in months, so hopefully I get some answers, or really, anything that's not, "You aren't eating enough; all women are uncomfortable when their pregnant," when I ask why I get dizzy and feel like I'm going to faint, and why I have back spasms and pain in my hips/legs that is bad enough to put me out of work. Man, I never want to see THAT woman again.

Hoping I don't have to walk up there, too. That would make the rest of the day be all laying on the couch recuperating, and I don't have time for that today.

Half-Finished Projects...

2007-06-15T01:03:00.000-04:00

So, it's apparently that time in my "cycle" (what cycle that would be, I'm not sure, but I definitely have a crafting cycle) where I am craft-manic. I start 5,000 projects before I finish one, and end up with about 2 or 3 cool things out of the mania. Happens all the time.

I finished the baby blanket early, and that just sparked the fire. Today, I made Brenda a pretty new hippie-sundress out of an old skirt I would've never, ever fit into again (sigh.. I was THAT little? Really?), and I am jealous of it:

Eww, I know... why is the picture so blurry? I'm a little shaky (I had another fainty-feeling/dizzy/nauseated/hot/sweaty/am I gonna pass out thing earlier, I'm ok now and my mother-in-law came over until I was ok), that's probably why. Here's a close-up of the fabric I used:

Cool, huh? It was my favorite skirt, and I didn't know what I was going to do with it now that it doesn't fit me anymore. I'm glad I made a dress for Brenda, now it goes to my only girl... sniff. It only took about 2 1/2 hours (yeah, that's what I did while Luke napped, so? I know my house is filthy. I needed some crafting time), handsewn, no pattern (pshhh. Patterns are for sissies. :P). I also have a big scrap of the fabric left, I think I want to make a quilt or maybe a patchwork apron for myself with it. Hmm... Oh yeah. Also, it looks REALLY good on her, I will take pictures tomorrow as she is in bed now. It's SO cute. Love. I thought I'd care that the pattern didn't line up in the back a lot more than I do, but it looks so pretty on her that it ceased to matter. And I will just never do a dress pattern that needs straight lines to line up again. It frustrated me so.

And now, on to some unfinished projects. First, we have the plastic shopping bag recycled from plastic bags. Now, I have a legitamate excuse for not having this one done... I lost it. For like a week. However, that gave me ample time to collect more interesting bags than just plain old grocery bags (though I'm using them, too), and this is what it's looking like as of now:

Not exactly pretty, but definitely cool. Will for sure use it when it's done, for shopping. The thing about this that takes the most time is cutting the bags into thin, long strips. I will gladly hire someone to do it and pay them in dinners, if someone else wants the job. My scissors are starting to make my thumb hurt.

Next we have:

Is it... seaweed? Is it ALIVE?! No, it is a... something. Well, it WAS my tablecloth, I can tell you that much.

I cut my tablecloth into strips and started tying it into circles, and linked the circles into chains. I have a kind of.. chain-mail... thing. I started as a rag-rug for our new (YAY!) kitchen, but I then realized it wasn't quite right, after all. Then Tim said that it'd be cool as a net, over Luke's bed (kind of like the... umm.. army.. net... things? You know what I'm talking about. I'm not too into the army (as you might imagine), so I'm not sure what they're called, or even what they're for.), then *I* thought it'd be a cool net to hang on the wall for his stuffed animals, and THEN I thought, hey! that'd be an AWESOME curtain for a little boy's room! Then I said to myself.. wow, this really looks like a big hunk of seaweed. Either way, I will keep working on it, and I predict it will be going *SOMEwhere* in Lucien's bedroom.

Now, on top of all of this, I have to get crackin' on making some little things for my kids' birthdays, which are fast approaching. I haven't even thought of it, so I'd probably better get a move on. I think I might make Brenda some pretty, flowy skirts to wear to school (SCHOOL!?), maybe crochet her some pretty bandanas for her pretty head. She's easy to think of things to make for her, she's a girl. Lucien, however, is a different story. I'm thinking about making him another pair of slippers (the only pair he ever liked and would leave on his feet, alas they have up and walked right out of the building), I might get him some plain tee-shirts and embroider a little punk skull on them or something. We'll see. Maybe their only presents will be accessories to decorate their brand new bedrooms (again with the YAY!).

I am so freaking tired, I probably should take this opportunity to go sleep peacefully for an hour and a half before Tim gets home (oh yeah, Lucien went to his big-boy bed with no complaints today and is sleeping soundly. Amazed, am I). But I wanna MAKE stuff! Waah!

Also, for your enjoyment, I would like to present to you this lovely blog. This woman may be my new idol. I'm not sure if I want to BE her, or just wish she was my best friend. Either way, I have a giant girl-crush and now must read her. And to think I only stumbled accidentally onto the blog. It's just so.... pretty. It makes me have warm fuzzies.

Well, I think I will make myself a snack and go pick which craftie I want to pick up and work on until my boy is home. I miss him. A lot. A really lot.

House!!!

2007-06-13T19:20:00.000-04:00

So much going on... so we got the cute, perfect little house! We love it and we're both so excited we could dance. We want to go kick the people who live there out so we can get in there now and start loving it. Unfortch, we can't move in until August 11th. Oh, how far away that is.... two whole months. It's OUR house, dammit! Move out already!

So excited, so excited. I feel the urge to make beautiful things for the new house... it's too bad I didn't measure windows and stuff so I could do that while we're waiting to get in. I keep thinking of all the cool things I want to do to it. Must write them all down in a notebook lest the baby eats my brain and all of the ideas I have.

Also, another excitement... Lucien is getting a new bed (for free!). My sister-in-law's sister had a garage sale and Tim's mom mentioned I might want the bed for Luke. Yay! So we don't have to make yet another purchase, and he gets to get used to a bed before the baby comes and needs the crib. I just hope the kid stays in it. I'm a little nervous.. I think I'll try and set it up for him tonight, or tomorrow, just so he can get used to it for a couple of months before we move, and he's not having to get used to a new room AND a new bed. Poor little monkey.

Yay! I am happy today. What's for dinner?

Sleep Deprivation -or- Why I Ordered In Today

2007-06-11T17:50:00.000-04:00

Man, and seeing that woman's blog made me want to be so much better about my eating habits. However, no nap + INDESCRIBABLY stressful morning = mom ordered chicken fingers, deep fried cheddar broccoli (you know, the vegetable) and a turkey sub with tons of mayonaise for lunch-ish (it's a bit late for lunch, the kids have just been snacking all day). Oh well. Tomorrow is another day, I suppose.

Seriously though, this getting-a-house-and-being-an-adult crap sucks. I just want the house, I don't wanna deal with banks, loan officers, lawyers and real estate agents (granted, *I* am not the one actually *dealing* with them, but for right now, just having to talk to them on the phone is enough... see my phone anxiety, lower to the page. Blech.), not to mention everyone putting in their two cents about what I should/should not be doing (I realize they are trying to help, but hey... I got like 4 hours of sleep here, people!). Besides the fact that *I* do not know what I am doing, that is why Tim is in charge.. everyone needs to talk to him, and he's not here. I'm his secretary, and I feel (well, felt like this morning) as if I was just getting DUMPED on. Just piles and piles of information and talking that made NO sense to me. Constantly saying, "I really just don't know, you need to talk to my husband about this." (Which, by the way, makes you feel SO smart.) Also, the fact that it took me an HOUR to get ahold of Tim at work this morning... ok, I started freaking myself out thinking, "What if I was in labor/had a problem with the kids and it was taking me this long just to talk to him?!" and by the time I actually got ahold of him, I was crying and my heart was pounding like that was the actual scenario. I demanded a number where I could for-sure get ahold of him. I will nag accordingly about a cell phone when he gets home.
My food will be here soon, gonna go.

4:45 is way too early, Lucien!

2007-06-11T10:33:00.000-04:00

So guess what time my son decided to get out of bed today? I am starting to dread having him AND a new baby that wakes up every two hours, too. It makes my stomach feel a little sick. I am just NOT the kind of person that can function (on any level... physically, mentally, emotionally, cognitively....) on like 3-4 hours of sleep. I fear it will make me go postal. So, so, so tired... I need to go back to sleep SOON.

On a happier note, we saw THE house yesterday. The first one we looked at yesterday... we didn't even want to see the other two we were supposed to see. The backyard was so pretty, in a little valley and surrounded by trees. The house is little, but laid out nicely and just perfect. I love it. It was so clean, and so well kept and put together. Big, bright windows. Great landscaping. And it's in the country... the neighbors across the street are COWS. Tim went to go sign for the loan yesterday, but they weren't there, and then the lady from the realty place called us to tell us someone else bidded on it so we'd better hurry up and bid if we want it. I will be SO SAD if we can't have that house.... we both have been saying to each other since we saw it, "I want that house.. that's OUR house, no one else can live there..." etc. I will cry if we can't have it.

I had so much stuff I wanted to get done today. It seems like Luke picks up on that and hates me so he just loves to ruin any chance of me getting anything done at all by waking up at ungodly hours. Even if I get a nap today, it won't be the same as me being able to sleep until like 7. Damnable child, with his terrible sleeping habits. He's so lucky he's cute. Cute might not matter when there's another kid waking me up every 1-2 hours to eat, though. We also need to get him a bed soon, but we might wait until we know if we're getting the house now and get bunk beds for Brenda and Lucien. He's trying to climb out of the bed and I'm scared he's going to fall. His birthday is in 1 month exactly. I can't believe my little monster is going to be two already. I should get on planning that birthday party.... hmm...

Whoa, I almost just totally flipped because I thought my computer deleted this whole post. Luckily for my computer, I found it. Or it would've gone smash. Seriously, I felt myself turning green and growing giant muscles for a moment. Don't make me angry... you wouldn't like me when I'm angry.

Also, I just wanted to put this link in here, so everyone else can marvel at this woman's ability to get her son AND husband to eat like this. I am impressed. You should be too. And it all looks pretty yummy! Not that I'd consider giving up meat... although baby is VERY adverse to red meat lately. Just thinking of the smell is making me squirmy. Uck.

I so want to go to bed and watch movies for the rest of the day. And NOT deal with children. At least until dinner time.

She can cook, part 2

2007-06-09T12:21:00.000-04:00

So I forgot where I was going with this... oh yeah. Recipes. Proof that I cook. Validation of my mothering skills. Right. :P

Ok, so breakfast burritos... super easy, and lasts all week, if you let it. Very, very yummy. I am eating the last one right now. Yes, as I type. I am multi-tasking, what?!

Breakfast Burrito Filling

About 1 lb. ground pork sausage/fake veggie sausage

1 cup of corn (white or yellow)

1 cup of black beans (if you use dried beans, cook them first)

1 cup of salsa (no chopping tomatoes, onions, peppers etc. at 8 in the morning!)

about 3 Tablespoons of taco seasoning mix (*Hanging head in shame.. yes I use mix*)

6-8 eggs, beaten with a splash of milk

Soft tortillas

Fry up the sausage however you like to. Make sure it's adequately crumbled, and drain it. Put it back into the pan, add about 1/2 cup of water and the taco seasoning. Mix it together, and cook on high until the water is pretty well reduced. Don't forget to stir it often, or else you will have meat stuck to the bottom of your pan. Not fun.

Turn down the heat to medium, medium high. Add in the corn, beans, and salsa. Cook a bit, stir a bit, etc. Move all of that mixture in the pan already to the side, or into a separate bowl.

Pour the eggs into the empty (or empty part) of the frying pan. Scramble a bit, make sure it's cooked well enough to your liking. Stir back in the meat mixture and cook some more.

That is the filling. Add shredded cheese, sour cream, refried beans, lettuce, taco sauce, hot sauce, whatever, into the tortilla and fold and enjoy.

I either put the whole bowl of filling in the fridge to fill tortillas as I want one (leave in the fridge a week, tops), or fill some tortillas with with the filling and toppings (I don't do lettuce), wrap them up in foil and throw them in the freezer. Preheat an oven 400 degrees, and cook for about 30-40 minutes, or you can freeze them in plastic wrap and cook in the microwave for hmm... 3-5 minutes, I'd say, on high.

Pizza Salad

1 cup sour cream

1 cup cream cheese

1-2 cloves of garlic, diced fine

1 tsp. onion flakes (I'm not sure if that's what they're called, that's what I call them)

1 tsp. parsley

Any other herbs you like... dill, chives, basil etc.

Assorted veggies, diced or shredded

Shredded cheddar cheese

Pizza crust (cooked)

Process sour cream and cream cheese in a food processor or blender (a hand mixer would work, too). Add in the garlic, onion flakes and herbage. Blend until well combined. Spread on a cooled pizza crust. Top with the veggies and cheddar cheese. Chill for at least 4 hours or preferably overnight, to let the flavors blend.

That's it! Cut into pizza slices (or small squares for a party) and serve.

More recipes to come. I'm sure you're all waiting anxiously. :)

So... irritated... must... not... smash....

2007-06-08T16:17:00.000-04:00

OH MY GOD I HATE REPAIR MEN!!! Ahem. Ok.

So like A MONTH ago our television broke. We called a repair place to pick it up. They said, cool, in a few days we can do that. Fine. On the Wednesday they were supposed to pick it up (between 1 and 4, annoying, but reasonable), I waited... and waited... and no one showed. At 5, I called the place, and they said they might be another hour. An hour rolls by, *I* call *them* back, and they say they can't do it that day anymore. I have wasted a whole day waiting for them. They say they will come get it the very next day, between 1 and 2, for sure. For. Sure.

It's about five minutes to 2 the next day. They call, and say they'll be another hour. I flip a little, saying I have now sat and waited for them for TWO days, and they haven't come or even *called* me until two minutes before they're supposed to come the SECOND day I've waited?! They come and get the TV an hour later.

I call a week from THEN. Well... we don't know when it'll be done. Umm... we need you to bring the remote, can you do that? Uhh well, NO I can't seeing as how the reason we needed you to come get the f*ing thing in the first place is because *I* don't have a car and my husband is always working, and neither of us ever go to Arcade (well not NEVER, but come on. They should've taken the stupid remote when they took the stupid TV). Also, if it was something you needed the REMOTE to fix, why would I send it to you so I can pay you $350 dollars to fix it? They then decide a few days later that they don't need it, after all. Grrrrrrrrr.....

Last Friday. They call and say, well, we'll be dropping the TV off on Monday. Ok, good. Monday? No show, no call. Tuesday? Still no call, not expecting a show. Wednesday, Tim calls THEM, flips a lot, gets the person on the other line to agree that we do not pay the pick up or delivery fee since they wasted one, two, three, FOUR days of my life waiting for them to just come fricking get it and drop it off. Cool. Sounds good. But we still owe them like $300. Sucks.

They just came here. 2 hours after they were supposed to be here (I had totally forgotten they were coming, anyways). The guy says to me, "$380.16." Um, HELL no. I explain to him that since we (I) wasted our (my) time waiting for them for four days, we were not supposed to be paying the delivery charges, per one of his staff members. He calls his boss with much "I *GUESS*"ing and huffing and rolling eyes, from my phone, in front of me. He says to me, Well, it's not OUR fault your husband talked to someone that wasn't the boss. WELL, maybe not your *FAULT*, but certainly not OURS, either, and definitely not our PROBLEM. He should've damn well said so and given the phone to the manager, then. I wrote a check for the cost of repair and said my husband will call you or come with the rest once he talks to someone that knows what the hell their doing.

No one go to Phil's TV and Repair in Arcade, NY. Awful. Just. Plain. Awful. I want to break things.

Must. Breathe.

I have become domestic.

2007-06-07T18:57:00.000-04:00

I am bored. Time for another quiz-like thing.

aprons - y/n? Yes.. I mean, I don't have one, but I haven't found one I love yet. I used to have one with ladybugs on it, and it was awesome. I don't remember what happened to it.

baking - y/n? I *like* to, but I'm not very good at it. Too much math.

clothesline - y/n? I keep meaning to, but we rent anyways, so I'll probably wait until we have a house with a backyard.

donuts - ever made them? Yeah, but I kinda cheated. They were very yummy, anyways.

everyday.. what chore do you do every day? - Umm, if I'm being good, dishes and laundry. If not.. well... feeding my children counts, doesn't it?

freezer - do you have a separate deep freezer? I would like to when we have a house of our own.

garbage disposal - y/n No. I don't really see the point, either.

handbook - y/n?? - There's a handbook? Why didn't I get a copy?

ironing - love it or hate it? I don't really *hate* it, but I'm not very good at it. I'll put stuff in the dryer to get the wrinkles out... if something needs ironing for real, Tim does it. He's good at it.

junk drawer - where is it? Every drawer in my house has junk in it. (But seriously... I have two in the kitchen.)

kitchen style? - It's not too bad, but not what I'd pick. Green everything.

love - what is your favorite part of homemaking? I love cooking, and I really really like when I have enough ambition that my whole house is ultra-clean. However, it only lasts about 10 minutes.

mop - y/n? Yeah, when it gets icky enough. Mopping hurts, so I try not to do it unless I absolutely must. I spot clean the floor with a rag a couple times a week.

nylons - wash them by hand or in the washer? What are nylons? (just kidding... kind of.) I guess if I have to wear them and they're actually not totally ruined the first time I wear them, I throw them in the washer then air dry them.

oven - do you use the window or open it to check? It depends on what I'm cooking. If it's something delicate or I'm baking, I peek through the window. If it's like, a frozen pizza or something, I'll open it.

pizza - what do you put on yours? I'll pretty much eat anything on pizza. My favorite is... hmm.. I don't know! Black olives and banana peppers... but that will change tomorrow. I love all pizza. Even not very good pizza is yummy. I especially like pizza with sauce inside of the crust, instead of cheese.

quiet - what do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment? Shower. Or sleep.

recipe card box? I have a box in my kitchen with a bunch of recipe books and loose papers with recipes on them in it.

style of house you have/want? Mine. No neighbors upstairs, downstairs or too close next door.

tablecloths and napkins - y/n? I have a tablecloth, but it needs replacing. I don't even have cloth napkins, but I'd like some. When I have room for such things.

under the kitchen sink- Recycling.

vacuum - how many times a week? 2 to 4. Depends on what my kids spilled on the floor.

wash - how many loads do you do a week? One or two about every other day.

x’es - do you keep a list of things to do and cross them off? Yeah, but I never seem to finish the list, just add to it.

yard - who does what? We don't really do much for our yard, because it's not ours. My husband mows cuz he likes to. When we have a house, I will do the gardening.

zzz’s - what is your last homemaking task for the day? It's different every night. I try to pick up toys/clothes/whatnot off of the living room and kitchen floors every night before the kids' bedtime, though, but that's just so I don't trip on it and kill myself trying to go pee at 3 AM. :P

Ok then.

Today is...

2007-06-06T15:06:00.000-04:00

...our two-month anniversary. I just realized. I made a point of thinking to myself yesterday, "Tomorrow is our two month anniversary, don't forget!" and then forgot to say something before Tim went to work. Sigh. I'm not sure it matters that much, he probably forgot too. But it seems like something that should be important.

We apparently grossly qualify for the WIC program, so today I got checks for cheese, juice, milk, eggs, peanut butter and dried beans. Oh, and cereal. I was excited, though, about getting checks to use at the farmer's market, because we were going to go today. I got them, but I'm not allowed to use them until July 1st. That is crap. Oh well. No free fruits and veggies for us this month. I'll have to just use money like a normal person.

Not much to say today. I am bored, and tired, because Lucien woke me up at 5:45 in the morning. And at 1:00 in the morning. And didn't go to sleep until like 10 at night. Poopyhead.

Oh yeah.... so I have an either brilliant or incredibly stupid idea, I can't tell yet. I started cutting all of my plastic bags I'd otherwise recycle anyways (bread bags, shopping bags, packages diapers come in etc.) into strips, and have been crocheting them. I want to make it into a reuseable shopping bag, but just now I thought that it'd be a kind of cool doormat, too. It's washable, and it's super-sturdy once crocheted together. The plastic is a bit harder to work with than yarn or string or hemp, so it's taking a bit longer than I thought it would, but it's still an interesting project. I was considering whether one of the fancy/handmade/hippie/health food stores downtown would be interested in them, if they're relatively easy to make. Yes, I am trying to find ways to exploit my talents. What can I say, I'm sick of being poor. I was poor for way too long when I was young, and although I am an expert at it, I don't really like it. I probably won't sell stuff anyways... I always say I'm going to then end up not doing it. I have about negative 20 ambition. Whatever that means.

Tagged again...

2007-06-05T14:07:00.000-04:00

Ok, I will do the 7 random things again because I've been tagged again... however, I don't know anyone that has a blog and hasn't already done it, so no one is getting tagged by me. Sad, I know.

Let's see. I'm actually the awfully boring type (I know, SHOCKING, isn't it?).

1.) I used to have a mohawk. And a shaved head. My hair's been red, orange, yellow (no, not blond.. but it's been that, too), blue, purple, and pink. But never, ever green. Also, black, blue-black, dark brown, light brown, auburn, dark blond and bleach blond. Right now, it's my natural color... complete with greys. I am getting old.

2.) I like to take showers so hot that your skin turns pink and you shiver like you're cold. But it's been too warm for that lately.

3.) I don't remember the last time my bedroom was spotlessly clean. For real. I hate our room... I need to seriously purge, because we do actually have some really nice furniture in there.

4.) I am embarrassed to admit when I have nice (or, expensive) things. It's weird.

5.) I also have major phone anxiety. Just having to talk to like, the pizza guy, or sometimes even friends, or family. It's really weird. Makes me freak out a little (or a lot, depending on who it is). But I'm working on it.

6.) I crochet. But I wouldn't be able to figure out how to knit if my life depended on it, and I have tried so hard to learn to read patterns for crochet and have discovered that I am pattern-retarded. So I don't even try to do patterns anymore. But I have made some pretty cool stuff on my own.

7.) I wish I were an Oscar Meyer Wiener. That is what I'd truly like to be. 'Cause if I were an Oscar Meyer Wiener, everyone would be in love with me.

(Sorry, I couldn't think of anything for the last one. :) )

There you go missy. I don't have anyone to tag, so I guess I'm *It*. Whoo-hoo!

Blankie!

2007-06-05T13:02:00.000-04:00

I finished up the baby's blanket... hopefully he doesn't take a cue from Luke and come out just cuz his blankey is done. Lucien was three weeks early and he decided to show about two hours after I finished his blanket.

The kids seem to enjoy it... (oh yeah, I cut Brenda's hair. But I *did* give her several warnings that if she didn't stop chewing on it, I was going to cut it. Oh well. It grows back, and it still looks cute.)

Lucien's enjoying it more than I hoped he would. I hope he doesn't think it's his... Sigh.

Corner and edging detail. (It isn't all ripply like that, it really does have straight sides!)

She can cook, too...

2007-06-05T10:54:00.000-04:00

This weekend was a good cooking weekend for me. I have a few recipes I tried that were awesome, so I will share.

The first is a muffin recipe that is so yummy and easy. I think I'll be making them today once I get my bum off of the computer. It's even easier because I made up some bags of the dry mixture in the muffins, so I just have to mix them with the eggs, milk and fruit.

Oatmeal Muffins
(Oven 375 degrees)

-1 3/4 cups all purpose baking mix (Bisquick or Jiffy)
-1/2 cup quick cooking oats (hint: the packets of oatmeal are exactly 1/2 cup, I used a few flavored ones in the mixes I made.)
-1/2 cup sugar plus enough to sprinkle over tops of muffins
-1 to 2 teaspoons of cinnamon
-3/4 cup of milk
-1 large egg, beaten
-2 Tablespoons vegetable oil (or 1 Tbsp. oil + 1 Tbsp applesauce)
-1 cup of fruit (blueberries, mashed banana, chopped strawberries, diced peaches etc.)

Line 12 muffin cups with liners, or spray with cooking oil. Combine baking mix, oats, and 1/2 cup of sugar in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, beat together the milk, egg and vegetable oil.

Stir wet mixture into dry mixture just to combine. Add fruit and stir. Fill muffin cups about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way with batter. Sprinkle tops with sugar.

Bake in the oven for 17 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Ok, so now my kids are demanding food. More recipes later.

It's (Peanut Butter) Jelly Time!!!

2007-06-01T16:00:00.000-04:00

At the request of a reader (I have a readers! :D) I am posting my juice jelly and tea jelly recipes. Enjoy, lady!

Juice Jelly
(5 half pints)
4 cups of 100% juice of any kind, must be unsweetened
1/4 cup of lemon juice
1 package of regular powdered fruit pectin
4 1/2 cups of sugar

Pour the fruit juice and lemon juice into a big, heavy pot (soup pot?). Sprinkle with pectin, let stand for a couple of minutes. Stir to dissolve. Bring to a full rolling boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Stir in sugar and return to full rolling boil, stirring often. Boil hard 1 minute with constant stirring action. Remove from heat, quickly skim off foam with a metal spoon.

Ladle immediately into hot, sterilized 1/2 pint jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe jar rims and adjust lids. Process in boiling-water canner for 5 minutes. Remove from water and cool on racks until set.

Tea Jelly
(4 half pints)
2 1/2 cups water
6 tea bags whatever flavor you like
1 cup unsweetened WHITE grape juice
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 package regular powdered fruit pectin
3 cups sugar

Combine water and tea bags in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Remove tea bags and measure 2 cups of tea. Place tea in a big soup pot, add the grape juice and lemon juice. Gradually stir in pectin. Bring mixture to a full boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Add sugar, stirring to dissolve. Return mixture to a full rolling boil and boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off foam, ladle immediately into jars, with 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rim and threads with a clean damp cloth and adjust lids. Screw band down evenly and firmly until resistance is met and you can fit a fingertip between the jar and the band.

Process 10 minutes in a boiling water canner.

Mmm. Home made jelly.

2007-06-01T11:44:00.000-04:00

It is beautiful outside. And by beautiful, I mean it looks like it's about to start thunderstorming. I know, not most people's idea of good weather, but I love it. (Did I ever mention I am a weirdo?) It puts me in the mood to cook. Maybe I'll even actually can some stuff today.

I got up early, washed Luke's blankets (again... I'm going to start duct-taping diapers onto him, I swear. Tim doesn't want me to), worked on the baby's blanket (pictured along with my ugly couch, not quite done yet but hey, I started three days ago) and now I'm drinking my coffee and thinking about what I want to make in the way of nourishment today. So many possibilities. I have some strawberries that need using up, I think I might make some strawberry muffins for starters. Sounds good for breakfast (no, I haven't done breakfast yet, really, but they had some jello with fruit, and a banana split between them. I am not an at-the-table breakfast person unless my husband is home.

I can't wait until we go see that house tomorrow. It isn't as chronically cute as the last one we saw, but it has a TON of character and I think it'll be fun fixing it up (it really doesn't seem to need a LOT of work, just... I don't know. The current owners aren't exactly interior decorators, at least that's what the pictures of the house tell me. Wallpaper borders of hunting scenes, eww.), and there's a whole lot of yard. We could put a fence up around some of the yard so the kids can play safely, behind that I can put in a garden, and then who knows what else. I always thought I'd be good at landscape design. We'll see, I guess.. I probably shouldn't get my hopes up about the house, anyways. I think I'm just so set on the idea of moving that I'd move into a cardboard box to get the hell away from our neighbors (it'd have to be a big box, though, what with two kids and one on the way....).

So, I have high hopes for my canning skills this year, but I think that what with the baby coming in October (actually probably September since my babies like to be early) that it would be nice to have some stuff put up for the fall/winter months. This is what I would like to get done this summer:

Salsa (Mild, Chipoltle Lime which is hotter, and maybe fruit salsa but probably not)
Spaghetti sauce (I don't have high hopes for this, though, because it tends to get eaten as soon as I make it)
Jelly (I make a wicked juice jelly, which takes like two seconds and is so yummy. I am looking at white grape/raspberry, peach tea, apple, and orange jelly for flavors. I know my mom wants some cherry-berry tea jelly, too, so I'll probably get some of that done too)
Apples (I'd like to do apples in syrup, cinnamon applesauce, and apple pie filling)
Tomatoes (Diced, I use a lot of diced tomatoes... but tomatoes sound like a lot of work)
Pickles (garlic dill spears, maybe some chips too, but not sure)
Pumpkin butter (my favorite thing I ever canned)

Sounds ambitious, doesn't it? I'm sure only about half of it will get done, but I want to do it all. I love canning, as long as my kids let me just do it and don't sit and whine and try to climb me while I'm doing it. Or, you know, rub poop into my carpet while I'm doing dishes (which actually happened yesterday. NOT cool. They both got in trouble for that one, as Brenda just sat and watched him do it. Butts).

Going to get some stuff done, now. I can't wait until it starts raining (don't get me wrong, I love the sun... just not as much. Like I said, weird.)

2007-06-01T00:27:00.000-04:00

I painted this on Sunday. I can't tell if I like it or not. In case the computer messed the color up that bad, the background is chocolate brown, and the lotus flower is teal-blue-greenish. I *think* I like it. I think it matches our bedroom. However, it is a weird mixture of 70's-abstract-oriental-stained glass that I'm not sure about. And I don't think Tim likes it, but he wouldn't say so cuz he thinks he'll hurt my feelings.

I miss my honey. I want him to come home right now. I hate his stupid, stupid work. Pout, pout, stomp, whine.

Good night.

Yawn.

2007-05-31T13:28:00.000-04:00

Ok, seriously, I feel like I need to inject caffeine straight into my veins today. None of this through-the-digestive tract crap... takes way too long. Don't have that kind of time.
I have so much cleaning to do today. I woke up this morning and looked around.... how did I not notice what a humongous mess my house is before today? I think I noticed, maybe, just was totally apathetic to it? Whatever, now something must be done. Luckily, I've made a list of stuff I have to do in just such an emergency. Now, to find the ambition. What was my motivation again? I should force myself to have people over... that's about the only time my house gets cleaned.
It totally doesn't help that Luke follows behind everything I do, completely and systematically undoing it. Right now, for instance, he is unfolding every article of clothing I folded this morning but didn't get around to putting away yet. You'd think he could at LEAST put it all back in the basket... but no. It goes on the floor. This morning I swept first thing when I got up because he had poured pepper all over the floor. I guess I can't have a clean house until I don't have kids anymore. Which is a really, really long time from now. The fact that it will be dirty within an hour of me cleaning up is *SO* not motivating me to clean.
I'm not sure why I think that people care about reading four whole paragraphs about me not wanting to clean my house. I think I'm just wasting time... hopefully you have skipped over this whole thing....
Look, there are some quizzes from last night! I promise next time will be more interesting.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that we're looking at another house on Saturday. Big, 4 bedrooms, huge huge yard (especially for town), cheaper than it should be. However, does need a bit of work. We'll see.. Tim is hopeful about it. It has big, white pillars and a balcony all along the front top floor! The pictures of inside the house, though... eh. Not so pretty.

Quizzical!

2007-05-31T02:02:00.000-04:00

I am so bored, trying very hard not to sleep (why!?, you may ask in sheer shock and surprise... I am waiting for my man. {~26 dollars in my hand...~ ok no more Lou Reed for now.} It is late, I am tired, and couldn't possibly think of anything intelligent to say. So, I went searching for some quizzes, and found them! Here we go... you can thank sleep deprivation.

Take the 100 Acre Personality Quiz!

This one says I sound more like a Cancer than a Gemini... interesting....

Discover your Zodiac Personality @ Quiz Me

discover your dog breed @ quiz meme .... I guess....

I think I'll go work on the baby's blanket now. I may pass out before 11:45.

And then some....

2007-05-28T15:08:00.000-04:00

So I can't seem to extract my bum from the computer chair this morning (which is quickly turning into afternoon... 11:57.... 11:58...). Is my de-motivation directly connected to dreading doing things I *so* don't want to do today? Actually, there's not much I *do* want to do today. Take a shower, maybe if I feel like STANDING that long. Geez. A whole half hour seems a bit much. Take a nap... mmmm... dear, sweet sleep. How I love thee. Maybe starting a baby blanket, but I want to go get some pretty new yarn (not that I am lacking in yarn, dear gods that would be a sacralidge. But, I need MOoooOOore... maybe a birthday present to myself?). That sounds like a fun day to me. And pizza with wings. Mmmm.

I want pizza like it's my job right now. And I did end up eating some of the ambrosia salad for breakfast... because, you know, marshmallows and canned fruit in syrup and artificially-flavored strawberry whipped topping is a nutritious breakfast (oh yeah, and can't forget the shredded candied coconut). Good thing I bought extra supplies for that beast... I might have to throw them in the bowl and pretend like nothing happened. My kids had fruit and toast.. I'm not that terrible of a mother. However, we had a small meltdown because every time I'd ask Luke to say please, he'd flip his lid. It went like this for about twenty minutes...

Me: Apple.........?
Him: Mmm-hmm.... (Nodnodnod.)
Me: ...........please? (Pleading eyebrows included.)
Him: WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!

(Rinse and repeat.) I finally gave in. Sorry, Dr. Spock or whatever new person who never had kids but thinks they know how to train them... I'm not that dilligent. I peeled the apple and handed it over. (He said thank you, for what it's worth.) Now, I don't know where the core went, but either he ate it which... you know... probably won't kill him but WILL make for some interesting diaper material (hopefully for dad) later. Or I will find it three days from now because that's where the trail of ants will lead. It's like a fun surprise!

Ok I probably should go get dressed for SuperFunDay. It's probably not going to be so bad, I just feel too lazy to do anything. I hope there's good food at least. And a place to hide if I need to.

Happy Birfday to Me.

2007-05-28T12:56:00.000-04:00

(Me, 22 years old today. Immediately after waking up, and before coffee. Baby, don't fear the Reaper. I promise I will attempt makeup today.)
So, today is my birthday. Nothing exciting is happening. My son peed on the floor after sitting on the potty for 1/2 hour this morning. Now he is dumping all 1,000 of his giant Legos on the floor. I do not care.

Today I am supposed to go to a party kind of thing for Tim's grandpa, because he's leaving to go home to Washington. So, I made star-shaped, tye-dyed cupcakes (The closest thing to a birthday cake I'm going to get. :P) and some ambrosia salad which Tim has informed me tastes like we should leave it home and pretend we forgot it so he can eat it all himself. I don't wanna taste it, for fear I'll eat the whole bowl and actually have to say that. It smells good, and it's a pretty pink color. Hooray for me. A domestic goddess, I am (not).

I am tired, tired. So what's new. We did not like the house, we'll keep looking... there's one that's big with a big back yard in town that we are going to look at. I just wanna MOVE. I cannot stand our neighbors for another second.

For my birthday, we got a new TV for our living room (actually for our bedroom when our old TV comes home from the repair shop), and I got a new glass tea set from my mom. I think I will use the TV today to play some video games. And then get ready to go to a party for a guy I don't really know at all. (Yep, again, on MY birthday. Whinewhinewhinepoutstompwhine. I wish I was still five. Just sometimes, though. Brenda always looks like she's having fun.)

I want to do something fun today... maybe there's fireworks or something somewhere for Memorial Day. I have to go check that out.

I've Been Tagged!

2007-05-25T16:03:00.000-04:00

Well thanks Jen, I was looking for something to avert my attention from my pigsty for a little while... :D

7 Random Things About Me

1.) I've always wanted to be a teacher, but ironically, I am not up for the schooling. Some teacher I'd be, huh?

2.) I cannot wait until I have a house and the time to (learn how to) grow my own veggies, fruits, herbs, and flowers. It sounds so fulfilling.

3.) When I was a teenager, I wanted to live in a city. Now, I'm terrified of the city and want to live on a farm.

4.) I love Final Fantasy. I cannot get enough, and sometimes I don't finish games if I know they're almost over because I don't want them to end. (Now everyone knows what a dork I am.)

5.) I can name most songs in the first 15 seconds. Mostly when they were written between 1963 and 1995. However, I do not recognize ANY songs on the radio on new music stations. Yes, I am 22.

6.) I suck suck suck at baking. Really, I do. But I'm trying to improve. It's too much math for me. P.S., I never ever make my own pie crusts. There, I said it.

7.) My birthday is on Memorial Day this year. Everyone will be drinking but me. It's not like I'm normally a lush or anything, but damn could I go for a fricking beer right about now. Or a Sea Breeze. Or a SoCo and Cran. Or.. or.. or...

Nothing to say...

2007-05-24T10:55:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted lately because I have nothing to talk about. I lead a boring, boring life.
Little boy has had a crazy-high fever the past two nights... I think I finally got it down to 102 before I felt comfortable putting him in bed and falling into my own bed, face-first. By the way, cold, wet washcloths when you have a fever of 104.8 and are a two year old boy? Make you SCREAM like someone's murdering you. Just so you know.
Brenda is not sick. Which is good. But now, since I said that she will be. Smart me. She is SO into super-heroes right now... Tim went over to his brother's house to get his big collection book of super-hero cards and she is just entranced with it. She watched the Ultimate Avengers before bed last night. No princesses for her right now! Actually, she switches on and off between them. She's a super-hero-princess. Crazy little girl. :)
Ok, who wants to come over and clean my house for me? I have no motivation. Probably because I'm sick and it's pretty bad... although I did do the dishes yesterday, so the big battle is over. And I only did them because we had NO silverware or pans left to eat/cook off of. Embarassing.
So, we're looking at a house on Saturday. Fingers crossed, no jinxing, but it's a 4 bedroom on a cul-de-sac with a fenced in back yard, the roof and carpets are brand-new, there's no butt-ugly wallpaper on the walls (from the pictures, anyways) and it's super-cheap for the size and kind of house it is. Shhh.
I am hungry... probably should go make breakfast before I faint or some crap like that. Off with the computer....

Sunshine day...

2007-05-18T08:36:00.000-04:00

I woke up at around quarter to six this morning to the ohmigod, STENCH of hair dye. NOT good for a pregant woman to wake up to at 6 in the morning. *Ralph*. Tim dyed his hair yesterday, but he still had the conditioner which smells just like hair dye and oh man. So that was that, I am awake. I felt pretty good after that, though, got a little tidying done, made coffee, washed clothes, made breakfast... then started to feel icky again. I'm getting tired of this... tiredness. I almost always feel crappy in the daytime, now. Maybe I need iron. Add that to the list of crap I need to ask my doctor on Monday.
So, I got a new video game, and I can't play it. I don't know if it's because I can't concentrate on it because the television's all messed up (something's wrong with the colors, we need to get it fixed), or if it's because you pretty much NEED a keyboard to do anything, but it LOOKS like it would be fun if I could play it. Also, it's live, so you have to actually talk to people, which is a little intimidating to me (I am a dork).
Baby continues to kick. A lot. He kicks most when Tim is anywhere near my belly. Baby says, "Get away from my momma!" :) He's going to be a stinky-head. I can tell already.
It's all nice and sunny today. Maybe once the sun dries the grass off a little, I'll go make a clothesline somewhere outside and hang our laundry and let the kids run around and tire themselves out so I can take a nap. I love naps.

Randomness.

2007-05-17T20:47:00.000-04:00

So I guess I should post... it's been a couple days.
Well, I've been feeling really crappy during the days, and good with lots of energy at night. This pregnancy is doing me in, I hope my doctor doesn't pull some "you're too young" crap when I talk to him about getting my tubes tied when I'm in delivering this boy. Dude, I have three. Trust me, if I ever get the hankering for another baby, I'll get a bitty bitty puppy. Seriously. I look forward to being 42 when my last kid turns 20 and still having enough energy to have a life. I think I'll talk to Doc at my next appointment (Monday).
I am feeling the baby kick a lot more lately. This makes me happy, because for some reason I seem to remember feeling it earlier with the other kids. I felt stuff with this one before, but the past two days it's been hard enough that you can feel it on the outside, and when I was laying down on my back Tim said he could see something bouncing around in there. How exciting! We were discussing names again, and we now like the names Delaney and Murphey (no, not Irish at all....). Also, I like Will, but he thinks it's too plain, I think. We'll see. Still 4 months to go!
Another side of the baby Rubik's cube.... I have been staring at fricking tandem and double strollers for like 4 days now and have no idea what I'm supposed to be looking for. Aggrevating. I asked Tim his opinion, he has none (no surprise). So I guess I just pick one, tell him the price, and we go get it? The problem is, the things go from like $100 to I saw one that was $800(!!!). Dude, I wouldn't pay $800 for a CAR at this point. In-Sanity. I just don't know. They all look massive. I guess I just gotta bite the bullet and actually go to the store and look. Ugh.
Ok, so on the Lucien Badman front... Mr. Sir went pee on his little potty yesterday! Yay! He was so happy and excited when he did it, too. I guess he just hates the big potty... understandable, it IS taller than he is, poor little midget. But eww, if I didn't have to clean out the little one, it'd be better. Whatever. If he'll potty train, that's fine. I do NOT want two kids in diapers.
Brenda had Kindy-garten "screening" yesterday. They took her away from me and put her in a room with other kids, while I filled out paperwork and waited. It was traumatizing (for me, she had fun). Lucien ran around and generally annoyed the other parents that were in the room. I let him. I guess I get a letter in the mail soon telling me how she did, but I am sure she was fine.... she told me they worked on colors and shapes, and stacking. The kid's been doing that since before SHE was potty-trained. I just don't want her to go to school. It's sad. :(
I guess I should start some sort of dinner tonight. Roast chicken sounds good, lots of leftovers to do with what I will.
Oh yeah, Happy Birthday, Mom. :)

Some pictures.

2007-05-16T17:37:00.000-04:00

Just some pictures today because they make me happy, and I'm not feeling very happy today. I will go make dinner, maybe some milkshakes afterwards, play some video games, and laze about today. Will post tomorrow. Lots to say, no inclination to say it.

Is there a dentist in the house?!

2007-05-15T09:50:00.000-04:00

There is something I've considered a lot recently, especially while in the throes of a dental attack at 3 AM, that most people would consider rediculous. Tooth pain hurts more than I EVER remember childbirth hurting. No, really. Maybe it's because I was drugged enough to not feel it, but for me, tooth pain tops any pain I've ever had, including the ever-dramatic teenage angst-fueled emotional pain.
Holy *bleep*. I seriously considered stealing my husband's car out of the driveway and driving myself to the ER about this damnable tooth last night, but I wasn't sure my bank account would cover the visit. Another all-nighter, this time NOT my son's fault (he slept all through the night; go figure). And the reason the rotten thing hasn't been dealt with? Well, that's because dentists think it's ok to charge people the equivalent to their rent up front or not treat them at all. (Yes, our healthcare system is fantastic, why do you ask?) No teaching clinics close enough for me to walk to, or I'd have had some eager young student work me up for $50 by now...
Something needs to be done. I think I should just bite the bullet, borrow money from someone, and have them yank this baby out. Or, do it myself with some whiskey and pliers. But that'll have to wait until after the baby's born. I might not live that long, at this rate. Grrrr.

Hope everyone's Mother's Day was good. Mine was nice, I made dinner for my mom and got a new badass crockpot. I'm going to try to either make meatloaf or a chicken dinner in it today. If I stay awake long enough to remember to put stuff in it. I have a couple hours yet.

Tim is home sick today. Mayhap I can get some stuff done. At least a shower.

Later, dudes.

Happy Impending Mother's Day.

2007-05-12T10:24:00.000-04:00

Today my kids gave me a great Mother's Day present... I was allowed to take a shower all by myself, with minimal interruptions, until the hot water ran out! And there were no cartoons on! And the house is... kind of a disaster now, but it was a decent trade off, I think. I was allowed to wash my hair, wash my face, scrub down, and shave half a leg before Lucien came in and demanded to know who the hell I thought I was for taking a shower all by myself, anyways. And while I was shaving my legs, I looked and saw my feet. I was like, "Oh, hello feet... long time no see. Damn, you've both let yourselves go..." So I got out my rose stick and my nail file and clippers, and some blue iridescent nail polish, and struggled to give myself some sort of fake pedicure today, too. I must say, they look a lot better than they did, even though it was a difficult reach.

Right now the kids are coloring pictures and being quiet. I think it's cuz they're sick. No way they'd be this good if they were feeling ok. Oh well.

I have beans soaking for chili, and I'm going to make cornbread too for dinner tonight. I'm starting to get this frugal shopping/eating thing down pat. I bought enough groceries for about two weeks or more, and Tim even bought the kids a movie (Wonder Pets, Lucien's favorite. I don't think there's ever a day when one of the dumb songs isn't stuck in my head. Sigh.), and some bubble guns for outside, and I only spent $80 on groceries yesterday. I am proud of myself. I think I'm also going to can some salsa and some jelly today, because they're staples in our house and it's SO much cheaper for me to can them than buy them every week or so.

(I'm still only 21... really, I swear I am...)

Also, yesterday Timothy did the sweetest thing ever for me. He bought me white roses with some pretty berry-looking thing... anyways, a bouquet of flowers, and a card. He so doesn't do cards... I've never gotten one from him before and we've been together 3 years or so. I cried. And he had the kids give me a card, too. I cried again.

Then later, my stupid hormones made me start a fight about something stupid. Stupid. Sigh, I'm still irritated with myself about it. Even worse, I cried about it for like 45 minutes even after I knew I was wrong, which took like two seconds. I really hope he realizes I was just being dumb. I tried to explain but he basically told me to stop talking about it. So. I suck. Again. Boo to me.

Must... clean... house. Must... finish... Mom's... presents (and how is it fair that Mother's Day and her birthday are like, four days apart, anyways? Come on, now).

Insert Homer Drool Here.

2007-05-11T16:34:00.000-04:00

In case anyone cared, I'm going to just say really quick that I have never, ever wanted an appliance more than I want this one right here. Holy crap, it's like the most wondrous cooking tool ever invented (and this one's pink, and $50 of proceeds go to breast cancer research!). Probably why it's like at least $350. Oh well. A girl can sit, stare, and drool, can't she?

Oh man, I can't even imagine the wondrous, fluffy, yummy bread I could make if only this tool were here to do the kneading for me. Did I mention how much I hate kneading?

Or pasta that doesn't take hours of hanging gooey strings of dough on coat hangers. Or ice cream. Or sausage. Or, or, or.....

Ohhhh, BOY.

2007-05-11T16:05:00.000-04:00

So, the radiologist confirmed that what is swimming about in my uterus is "100% boy". Apparently he is not afraid of showing of his, um, boy-ness, either. Sounds about right.
So Brenda isn't thrilled, but she knew this could be coming. But, I told her, being the only girl has its advantages, too. Like being the one with your own room. And getting to do girl stuff with mom, alone. And.. um.. well, I think that's about it. I'm sure there's other things.. I never was the "only girl", just the "only one". So I'm not sure how that stuff works. I'm learning right along with her.
So now, I have no clue what this kid's name is. We'll probably decide the week before he's born... like we did with Lucien.
It's a nice day out, too bad mommy didn't get any sleep so we're going to waste the good part of the early afternoon sleeping. Oh well. But before that happens, I should make a plan to take with me to the food store to restock my cupboards and refridgerator in a timely and cheap fashion. And probably do some dishes. Blah.

The Neverending Grumpy.

2007-05-11T10:25:00.000-04:00

Oh, my god. Third day on about 3 hours of sleep per night. My body is going on strike. I feel it happening. Lucien was up from 1:45 AM until 4:30? 5? I fell asleep before he did, I know that. No reason. Just felt like being a demon. Oh, the kid's sleeping NOW. He had a rough night.
Also, the ear drops that are now antibacterializing my bathroom sink? Yeah, I had like, one dose left, so I dropped it in my left ear. Now, instead of it being muffled, I can't hear ANYTHING. Maybe the kid was just trying to save my life, afterall. Although, most days I think being deaf wouldn't be so bad.... at least for a few hours.
This morning.... 5:30 AM ish. The alarm goes off for Tim to go to work. In my total unconsciousness (finally) I didn't think to roll over and turn it off, so he had to get up, walk all the way around the bed, and turn it off himself. He said to me, "Thanks for your help." Well, as I was thinking, "Thanks for YOUR help last night with your devil-spawn,", I rolled over to make room for him to climb back in bed, and whacked him in the face with my hand. :D I'm laughing now, but it was totally not on purpose and I feel really bad about it. Poor guy. However, karma will get you. :P I'm a bad woman.
Going to find out what the baby is today... if I can stay awake until 11. I'll do my best. I have a feeling that caffiene will be a big part of my diet today.

Oh, baby...

2007-05-11T00:53:00.000-04:00

I'm excited about tomorrow's impending baby results. Brenda just told me that if it's a boy, she wants me to name it Arthur Sebastian. And if it's a girl, it's name will be D-Devil. Uhhhm, Hooookay then.

Personally, I think D-Devil is unisex. Yeah, we'll go with that. :D

The kid is quick, like lightning! >:(

2007-05-10T22:55:00.000-04:00

My naughty little not-yet-two year old son just did a bad-man thing. I got ear drops for my ear infections, and was putting them in in the bathroom. As I was dropping them into the second ear, quick as a flash, he got up on the step-stool, grabbed the tiny and very, very full bottle, and promptly dumped it down the sink. Momma is NOT happy. There is maybe one more dose left in the bottle, and it's too late to call the doc for a new Rx, besides the fact that I already paid the stupid copay for the doc AND the 'script today, umm, $45 dollars I don't have, plus now I feel even more like an arse-hole than I did about ordering pizza because I didn't feel good enough to make dinner, because I'm going to have to pay for my perscription again.

This is a picture of the culprit after the dastardly deed was done. Does he look sorry to you? I didn't think so, either. Hieney-head.

Naptime!

2007-05-10T17:23:00.000-04:00

Very stressful and tearful morning, for all three of us (Tim got to go to work. :P ). When momma's grumpy, everyone gets grumpy apparently. Well, actually, Brenda pretty much takes it all in stride, but Lucien... argh. He has been screaming/yelling/shouting/whining since about 7 this morning, and he finally went down for a nap about 20 minutes ago. Brenda decided to lay in her bed instead of mine today, who knows if she'll sleep, I'm surprised that she ever does anymore. She's going to kindergarten... hopefully Lucien will take naps til he goes to school, too, but I doubt it. He's too hyper for that. The only thing keeping him in bed now is that he's too short to get his chubby legs over the bars to climb out.
So, why am I even online, do you ask? Why doesn't mommy sleep, too? I don't have a freaking clue. I never claimed to be the brightest crayon in the box.
So I guess I should either clean up or lay down. Baby says lay down. Momma says she can't even believe this sty. And yes, the mattress is STILL in the living room. It looks comfy.
I'm just not feelin' it, lately. Maybe after naptime.

Grey Area....

2007-05-10T11:45:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow I get to find out what kind of baby I'm having for sure. I was told it "looks like a boy", but not that it *is* a boy. I thought we had names picked out, but Tim came home last night and vetoed the only boys name we had previously agreed upon. Apparently he asked someone at work and they said it was a girl's name. Boys are dumb. Anyways, the names were Kelsey James or MaryJane Rose. Now, I cannot for the life of me find a name I like, that no one in our families already have, and that sounds good with our last name. I hate this part. Why doesn't the kid just come out with a sticker that says, "Hello, my name is:_______"? SO much easier.

I feel like baking today. We don't have any snacks, so it sounds like it'll be cookies or oatmeal bars. I want to try bread again, but I just really suck at it. It always comes out like a large, heavy brick. I'm not a good baker. I can cook, but that's different... it's not so specific. Math + food shouldn't ever mix. Or maybe I just don't have the patience for kneading. It gets old after about an hour of squishing the dough.

They took me off of work for another two weeks, until I can see the "real" doctor. I'm supposed to go to physical therapy. I am just really getting sick of bouncing from doctor to NP to OB, all of them taking money and telling me absolutely nothing. I have 4, count them, 4 doctors appointments this month, just for me. How fricking annoying. Plus, now I'm expected to go to PT. Yeah, cuz kids will sit still for THAT. I'll see what I can do, but I'm not promising anything.

I woke up at stupid 5 in the morning, again. Somebody, please come get my kids so I can take a nap! You can bring them back in, oh, say, 18 years..... look, they're cute! Sometimes I think I'm just chronically grumpy.

Flight of ideas is a symptom of SOMETHING.....

2007-05-09T23:45:00.000-04:00

Right now I feel like yuck. I am sick. Headcolds are not fun when it's 80 degrees out. Also, I'm getting awfully sick of having a hard time walking. And what's wrong with me? Oh, my hips are uneven. I know, that sounds really stupid. And not like it should be excruciating. But it is, sometimes, and it ALWAYS hurts, and I'm tired of a.) hurting, b.) sounding like a whiner because of it. I wanted so bad to go to the farmer's market today, but it's up a bigass hill, and there's no way I would've made it without crying. Crying in public is just not my thing. The doctors say there's nothing they can do except take me off of work (because babies don't like medicine or chiropractors, which I'm kinda scared of anyways), which just makes me feel guilty because now we're poor and it's my fault. Which is why I wanted to go to the farmer's market. We need veggies, and they're pretty darned expensive at the dumb grocery store. Plus, I like the atmosphere.
I feel like I need to go do something productive, but like I said, I don't feel good so I'm lazy. I dragged the old mattress out into the living room because it was too hot to sleep in our room today, and the kids are having a "sleep over" on it now. I know the dishes need to be done before I collapse on the mattress. I don't WANNA. I wanna drink tea and eat popcorn and watch the Wizard of Oz with my babies. Or my monsters, as they're acting right now. Who are these small people, anyways, and why do they keep asking me for stuff and calling me "mommy"? I'm still 21, right?
I think I might need to get a life. But it sounds like a lot of work. Right now, my kids are fighting over about 10 pieces of giant Lego. There are 200 pieces in a big box in the bedroom. It just makes no sense at all.
I wanna sleep. Deep, uninterrupted sleep. For at least 8 hours. And wake up refreshed, not still tired for no reason. Is that really too much to ask?
I think I'm going to go wash dishes, then make some popcorn. And laze. Why are my kids still up, anyways?

A blog? For me?!

2007-05-09T18:15:00.000-04:00

So, I'm starting one. I never really thought I had much to say, but I figure what I'm lacking in words, I can make up for in pictures of my children. I'm sure they're cute enough to have their own webpage. See?

(Of couse, my son's hair is nearly non-existent now because his father thought it was a good idea to cut his hair into a mohawk while I was at work. Needless to say, I'm the one that usually takes him out in public, not him, and since I'm the one getting dirty looks {and I had quite a few dirty looks in my time because of my own mohawk... I'd rather wait a few years to get dirty looks about my kids...}, I asked him very nicely to remove the mohawk. So there's just a little fuzz growing back. And my husband is lucky it's growing back red.)

Anyways, I am starting this blog because I am sick (thanks, mom-in-law) and am too lazy to clean my house, but am bored with watching Elmo (I know, how could that be possible?!), so I figured I'd give it a shot. I'm not sure if anyone will be interested in my mind-jumble, but whatever. It's free. :)