The Fair

We're going to the fair today. We bought advanced tickets so today is FREE. So we have to go RIGHT??!

The kids are out of school today and Monday, too. I think it's the school board's plan to make sure all of the parents are thoroughly insane. The kids just went back to school from the holiday vacation and here we have a 4 day weekend. Maybe it's to keep parents from every being financially stable so we'll never be able to send our kids to private schools. Who knows?

The last time we went to a large entertaining venue it was Epcot on New Years Eve and we actually LOST Goober for hours. I can't believe I didn't make a post about this - I think I may have been trying to forget it. Disney isn't quite as organized about lost children as you may think... but I digress.

So considering the last time we were in a large group of people with all three kids we lost one I'm a little nervous about going today. But I'm sure we'll be fine. We're smarter and better prepared this time. Yep.

Wish me luck!

Drowning in scouts

Yesterday the cub scouts had their pack meeting. For those of you who don't know, the pack is the larger group of boys encompassing all the different dens in the area. So the pack meetings are kind of important and a little more formal. The boys are supposed to wear their uniforms.

So yesterday I throw Bug's shirt in the wash so it will be nice and fresh for the meeting and ALL of his patches fell off. It's a wonder I found them all in the washer afterward. Why is it that no one told me this would happen?? I attempted to sew the patches back on and had some success getting the pack numbers to stay on but as far as anything else, it's sort of a joke. I'm pretty hopeless.

The Man even dragged out a little tiny sewing machine we had in the attic and spent a good portion of his evening trying to figure out how to get that to work. No dice.

So Bug did not wear his patchless uniform to the meeting. Almost every other boy there was in total uniform so Bug stuck out like a sore thumb. I counted three times that the leader speaking on the microphone mentioned how important it is for the boys to "show the pack some respect" and "wear their full class A uniform to pack meetings." I felt their eyes burning through me...

After being informed of all the trips coming up, the meetings (pack and den), the parade they're marching in, and the banquet that happens to be falling on the only day I might be able to spend some time with my sister who is going to be in town we got back in the car and were off to Munchkin's brownie leader's house to pick up six cases of girl scout cookies. Thin Mints, Lemonades, Shortbread, OH MY! Yep, that's right, it's COOKIE TIME.

We're signed up for two booths and are expected to try to make it to more, we have numerous relatives to visit to peddle our cookies, and don't forget the regular scout meetings and our field trip on Monday.

You should see my homemade planner NOW. Between the boy scouts and the girl scouts and work, it'll be great if I have time to take a shower before mid February.

WFMW

Yesterday I discovered many new and wonderful blogs to add to my procrastination problem read for daily enlightenment. Robin at Around The Island linked to Rocks in My Dryer today which introduced me to (insert drumroll here) Works For Me Wednesday.

Honestly, if every blogger was required to do a WFMW we'd all be in better shape. Imagine combining the tips of people all over the world. Someone should write a book. Wait, has anyone written a book yet?

For my own WFMW I'm going to feature my new hand drawn notebook planner. Every year I head out to the store to get a planner. Half way (or sometimes sooner) through the year it is abandoned because the darned thing (a) didn't have enough room for me to write in it, (b) was too bulky to carry around, or (c) was destroyed in some freak kid accident.

So this year I made my own. I made it just how I like it in a notebook that leaves me plenty of room to write with Saturday and Sunday having JUST AS MUCH room as any other day (because seriously, I'm a MOM... these days are often busier than the weekdays) and still fits in my purse. Rock on.

Here's the cover. As you can see I have stolen some of Munchkin's Lisa Frank stickers that Santa put in her stocking. The 12 year old in me lives on.



Here's my month view. I put these at the beginning of each month instead of all grouped together like I usually see them. Works for me, yanno?



Finally, the all important week view.



So that's it. ;)

In other news, I did not get sick last night. Yay! However, Goober evidently lost his dinner all over his pillow last night while sleeping.... and did not wake up and let me know. Anti Yay.

So today we have two sickies at home. Bug has a boy scout meeting tonight and afterward we're picking up six (!!) cases of Girl Scout cookies to sell for Munchkin. Yowza. Maybe I should have them all wear surgical masks. Or take their vitamins! Does anyone have a WFMW on how to get kids to take their vitamins? It's not like I can just shove it in a ball of raw hamburger like the dog.

Getting down with the sickness

So the Munchkin is sick today. Earlier tonight she said she didn't want to eat and sort of felt like she was going to throw up. So she lay down in her bed and watched TV with a big giant pink bowl in case she had to throw up.

We all ate dinner and were sitting in the family room when she proudly brought in her bowl full of vomit.

Joy.

So we flushed the present she gave me and I put her in the bathtub. I washed out the bowl and changed her sheets (no she didn't vomit on them and they're pretty freshly cleaned... but my mom always changed my sheets when I got sick so I do it, too) and gave her the quilt of mine she always wants but I never let her have.

She went back to bed and then I felt it. Just slightly... a little twinge in my stomach. Enough to know what very well might be coming soon.

So what do I do? Do I crawl into bed? Do I take a bath myself and go to bed with a bowl and watch TV?

Nope.

No... I'm a mom. There are things to be done and darnit if I'm going to get sick I'd better have them done before the first bit of puke passes my lips.

So I quickly threw our sheets in the wash (they're the nice ones and if I'm going to be sick I'm gonna sleep on clean Egyptian cotton), cleaned up the kitchen, made a grocery list and ran to the store. I got home, put the sheets in the dryer and the groceries away and just as soon as I lay Bug's clothes out for school tomorrow and get that bed made I'll be able to actually get sick.

I ♥ being a mom.

My New Hero

As I said before I've been spending some time perusing blogs and found one by a mom who I am now deeming my new hero.

White Trash Mom, you've earned it. You captivated me this morning with your definition of Muffia (which by the way, should really be updated on Urban Dictionary because their definition is so incredibly not correct), made me literally LOL at your Weird and Random White Trash Mom Facts, and completely indulged my procrastination fetish by introducing me to LINKSATIONAL.

I can't wait to have more time to read your blog further but I do actually have to do some work today.

The New Blog

I've started a new blog about FOOD. Since deciding to venture out into the cold, dark world of vegetarianism I decided I'd like to force myself to try new vegetarian recipes and stop relying completely on Morningstar Farms and the Boca company. Seriously.

So I started Meatless Munchies, where I will make a four course meal every week and post my recipes and what all of us here think about it.

So last night I made my first two posts.... an introduction and the first recipe. This morning I spent some time looking through other food blogs and mom blogs and realized how completely amateur mine really are. That's okay, a little humility never hurt anyone.

Today I discovered a pack of crayons on the ground (isn't that where you keep YOUR crayons?). They were Crayola Silly Scents crayons.



My first thought was "Where the crap did those come from?" Ah yes... Christmas. The time of year your children receive so much additional stuff you have no idea where the crap anything comes from.

My second thought was "Shouldn't we be teaching the children NOT to sniff crayons or any other writing utensil?"

And then I remembered them... so popular in my childhood it's no wonder my generation began sniffing everything they could get ahold of.



Yes... there they are. The infamous Mr. Sketch Scented Markers. Oh I can still smell Green Apple right now. Watermelon and Grape were two of my other favorites. And who can forget the Black Licorice marker! I vividly remember sitting on the brown and gold shag carpet of our wood paneled living room with a clean white piece of paper (aside from the State Farm logo in the corner) that my dad brought home from the office. I would slide that happy scented rainbow of color, nestled snugly in it's white Styrofoam nest, out of the cardboard box (it looked just like the picture above!) and carefully select my first marker. Popping off the cap and inserting it into the butt of the marker I would begin to make my fruity scented masterpiece. Oh Mr. Sketch... I love you so.

I'm gonna have to get me a box before they're discontinued. It's only a matter of time!

Back to Normal... sort of

Yesterday the kids went back to school. They were supposed to be there at 8 AM. That's when I woke up. Oops.

Poor Bug somehow thought it was his fault and looked at me pitifully and said "Sorry, Mommy."

Awww... what kind of bitchy morning torture must I be putting that boy through? It's true though - I'm not even really human until 10 AM. Someday all my children will ride a bus in the morning and be able to dress themselves and wake up to alarm clocks and I won't emerge from my bed until 10 AM. Until that day, I am fueled by coffee and as little noise as possible.

I did manage to get them there by 8:45, even putting Munchkin's hair in a nice slick pony tail. I didn't even freak out or run around like a banshee to do it, either. I calmly fed them both Lucky Charms, drank coffee and ate my granola (Did you know granola had that many calories! Diet food my butt!), and sat watching Morning Joe on MSNBC while they ate and got dressed. I'm not actually sure why I watch Morning Joe... I'm trying be a little more versed on current events but it's not working. Now I think I just know enough to stick my foot in my mouth in conversations with better educated people.

Me: "So Obama seems to be pulling in front for the nomination."
Smartee: "Yes, he's quite charming, isn't he? Aside from being a socialist baby killer with little to no experience, I believe he can inspire our American people to stand up and take responsibility for their own nation. Certainly a trait that is lacking in Clinton."
Me: "My thoughts exactly..."

I'm learning (slowly, but surely) to keep my mouth shut about politics and religion. Neither subject is one that I am very well educated in but I do know what I don't agree with. Unfortunately, I'm finding that my opinions seem to be in the minority - especially among my conservative Catholic family. It's not exactly as though this realization is a big shock to me, or even that it's a recent realization. I've known I'm different than they are for quite some time. It's just lately that it has really affected me so much.

You see, I've been trying this whole "be true to myself" thing recently and though it truly does make me feel more complete and honest as a person, it really does change the way I see those around me. It makes me more inclined to stand up for myself and share my beliefs with those who may disagree with them. It makes me less scared to offend, less worried about what people may think. Because truly - if you don't like me for me, then our relationship isn't real anyway.

My Dad has said recently that I've become more sensitive. He's wrong, though. I'm just as sensitive as I always have been, I was just scared to let people know they had hurt my feelings before. Now I'm learning that it's alright to let it out, alright to cry, alright to disagree. Conflict is not my enemy.

More on that another day. Today I must get some work done and clean up the house a little. I still have Christmas up. Not sure I'm ready to take it down yet. ;)

I'm 73 today

According to our new Wii. I've found a new fitness routine and the Wii says I can boogie like I'm 73. My goal is to at least get that thing down to my REAL age of 30! Geesh!

I've decided it's my new morning routine.

Our Christmas was just an onslaught of wrapping paper and shiny new objects. My children have so many new toys they still have things they haven't opened. I think I could probably wrap some of the stuff up for next year and they'd probably only have slight deja vu when they opened them up again.

It all started on the 22nd. The Man's cousin has three kids as well and is divorced from their father who got to have the kids this Christmas. So we had a kid Christmas on the 22nd for her kids and our kids. We all piled up and went to The Man's aunt's house with our sacks of goodies and had lasagne and watched the kids tear into brightly colored packages for the first time of the season.

Just this one escapade filled the back of our minivan. And it was only the beginning!

On the 23rd I went to my mom's house to help her prepare for what would be our family Christmas dinner as my poor mother had to be admitted into the hospital in Miami on Christmas Eve for brain surgery!

Side note: my mom has Parkinson's disease and has had a Deep Brain Stimulation surgery in the past which was successful. Unfortunately the sensor in her head had malfunctioned and it needed to be replaced. So it was scheduled for Christmas Eve morning at 6 AM.

After making the killer potatoes that we only dare to eat once a year (boiled in Heavy Cream and garlic - OMGosh) so they'd be ready to put in the oven on Christmas, setting the table, polishing silver, and making sure the presents were under the tree just so, I went home to bake Christmas cookies for Santa.

I wish I had taken a picture of the decorated cookies. They were.... ahem.... um.... beautiful.

I went to bed around 1 AM and woke up at 4 AM and The Man drove me over to my sister's so we could head down to Miami. After much emotional break down in the hospital on my sister's part, my mother was admitted, operated on, and out with flying colors. When the surgeon came down to tell us she was great I lit up with joy and my sister burst into tears. Ah, emotional stress coupled with the holidays.

Sis and I drove back to her house where I drank a glass of Merlot and promptly fell asleep while waiting for The Man and the munchkins to pick me up on their way to The Man's dad's house for our Christmas Eve festivities.

I'm not sure how I made it through that evening. I was like a zombie the whole night. The kids tore into more presents... Bratz dolls, Legos, Hot Wheels... it was the theme of Christmas this year.

I got a very cool pink ceramic knife from The Man's brother. More information about it can be found here. Proceeds from it's sale is donated to the Susan G Komen foundation. He was actually looking to buy a ceramic knife for The Man but since it was pink it went to me. ;)

He describes the conversation with the sales girl like this:

Bro: Do you have any ceramic knives?
SG: We have this one, the proceed benefit the Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation
Bro: But it's pink... he's a guy.
SG: But wouldn't he want to help cure Breast Cancer?
Bro: Well.... he does like breasts....

And so it came to be that I would possess the knife. It is super sharp and very pretty.

That night Santa came and delivered the motherload to our tree. And I really didn't think my kids were all THAT good this year. Sheesh!

I fell asleep as though knocked bluntly over the head around midnight.

At FIVE AM we heard them. Trying deseperately to be quiet, bless their little hearts. So up we got and the violent unwrapping of presents ensued. Bratz dolls, Legos, Hot Wheels, OH MY!

The Man gave me many lovely gifts but shockingly my favorite is probably the 12 Cube World stick figures I received. They're so darned cute!

At 6:30 I fell BACK asleep while the kids played with their loot. At 2:00 we were off to The Man's aunts house again for the official Christmas celebration where the kids again tore into gifts with reckless abandon.

The back of the van was loaded heavy with toys as we ventured to my parents house. My mother sat tiredly at the couch, my neice squeeled with delight upon seeing the munchkins, my dad handed out glasses of Crown Royal. (Which, btw, is just plain heavenly in Diet Coke.)

Our family received a Wii and the kids received numerous other gifts, big and small. Among them is a train set with probably 300 pieces, a HUGE Bratz party bus, and a Robo Quad. Yowza.

Yesterday was spent trying to find my house under all the stuff we got. I still haven't found it and I'm hoping the task can be done by next year. :)

Injustice

I was reading Julian's Care Page today and I'm having such a hard time with the injustice of the world. Why should a beautiful little boy like Julian have to endure so much suffering? What is the purpose? Is there a purpose? Is it to teach us a lesson? Is it because Julian himself has done something to deserve such suffering (surely that can't be the case)? Maybe those who love and are close to Julian have some lesson to learn?

But why should such a lesson be taught through an innocent little boy?

And why should I be so lucky to have three amazingly beautiful children who are healthy and active and have no problems at all? It's incredibly unfair... but then again, life isn't fair. Is it?

I don't read Julian's page every time it's updated because I can't control my tears. I can't keep myself together when I think about it. I wish there was something I could do... for Julian, for his family, for all the children suffering in the world. But I sit here feeling helpless. We don't have a ton of extra money to donate, we don't have a ton of extra time.

But my children do have a Christmas tree loaded with presents under it and they'll have a wonderful Christmas... just the sort of Christmas I want to provide for them... just the sort of Christmas I always had as a child. I can't shake the terrible guilt I feel for giving my children such a wonderful experience when there are so many children who are sick or living in poverty or living in abusive situations.

I feel helpless and I'm not sure what steps to take. And I wonder what good I could really do? And to what expense to my own children?

Bug made a difference this Christmas. He donates his Club Penguin coins to help sick children every day. I knew nothing about it but when he told me he was doing it last night I looked into it. I'm so proud of him for caring. I'm so proud that he is so willing to give.

Here's our Christmas picture this year. I'm so proud of my 3 little munchkins.



(To read about Julian, go to www.carepages.com and set up an account - you have to have one to view his page - and type in juliansworld in the search... and get a box of tissues.)

OMGosh! I finished working!

For once I've actually completed my work goal for the day! And I even did it by 5:00! Shocking. To celebrate, The Man and I are going to go see a movie tonight. Date night!

I'm going to see if I can get him to spring for dinner, too. ;)

So much has happened since I last posted. Where to start?

Early last month my beloved laptop started giving me problems. When I would pull something out of the USB port it would shut the computer down - and not let me restart it. We took it to Best Buy and the Geek (it's okay that I call them that, they call themselves that) behind the counter took the battery off and opened it up and did some stuff and it started up again. So I took it home and the problem happened again. The Man, a geek himself, repeated whatever the Geek Squad geek did and it started up again. We backed up all my info and took the laptop back to Best Buy for them to take it in to service it. After 3 weeks I got the call that it was repaired. YAY! I drove all the way back to the store (it's almost 20 miles away) and picked it up. It didn't boot up at the store but I was assured it was just because the battery was dead and when I got it home and plugged it in it would start right up. Trusting the geeks I took my baby home.

At home I plugged it in excited to be using it again and no dice... not even a light, a sound... NOTHING.

Back to Best Buy I went. The geek again tried to get it to start but it wouldn't happen. So he sent it back in for service. GRRR.... After another 3 weeks I got the call that it was ready again. I go into the store and they say they booted it up several times and all was well. So I asked Mr. Geek to boot it up. Didn't happen. Nothing, nada. Mr. Geek messes around with stuff for a while and poof it starts up! He give me some reason why this is all normal and I reluctantly take it home.

Now the thing barely runs. It's lagging, the USB port isn't even fixed and when it does boot up it takes about 15 minutes to start. I called Best Buy and they of course told me I need to bring it back in. *sigh*

So the other day The Man and I went and bought a new computer. I have to work while the Geek Squad figures out what is wrong and it's just been entirely too long. But I do have a pretty new computer now. :) I've never had a monitor this big... it's 20 inches! And so shiny!

Last weekend we took our annual family vacation. My side of the family takes a vacation together every year and this year we went to Atlantis Paradise Island. You'd think a vacation to the Bahamas would be relaxing, right?

We got to the airport early Friday morning and had fun taking our shoes off and stripping for the security people. When she snapped on a rubber glove I got a little nervous but we all escaped cavity checks thank goodness. Our plane sat 19 people. I knew this going in but I still wasn't prepared for the teensy tinyness of this little plane. My family took up 11 of the 19 seats and I sort of felt sorry for the other passengers. :) My family is very vibrant.

The kids ~loved~ the flight. Faces plastered to the window the whole time. I was the only person on the whole flight who didn't get a window seat. I covered my fear pretty well and didn't have a nervous break down in front of my children even though the landing in a little plane like that isn't at all the same as I'm used to. Quite an experience. The little plane was going right and left and we could look straight through to the cockpit window and see the runway coming up. I've never been so glad to have wheels touch pavement in my life. My whole family cheered and clapped. I was only slightly embarrassed. :)

After an adventurous ride from the airport to the hotel (on the left side of the road) we arrived at what can only be described as a beautiful oasis. We stayed at The Cove and it was truly just as beautiful as any picture you might find of it. Gorgeous. In the lobby where we checked in there was this beautiful wall that had water flowing down it into a little decorative pool you could sit next to. Our four year old FELL IN IT. Yes, the vacation had begun. Luckily, the nice people who work there didn't even act shocked. I quickly took him outside while The Man checked us in.

We got up to our room and it was absolutely gorgeous. The view was phenomenal! I've lived in South Florida all my life and been to the beach hundreds of times... but the waters of the Bahamas are so incredibly beautiful. Flying over them is amazing but viewing them from the balcony of your 5 star hotel room is just breathtaking.

After changing we went down to a buffet lunch and after receiving our check I was a victim of sticker shock. $130 for a buffet lunch for two adults and three kids. A little pricey. It must have been that Bacardi and Coke I ordered.

We laughed it off and went on to have fun. :) Atlantis is filled with water adventures like you wouldn't believe! I went down a slide that propelled me 14 feet down in total darkness and I screamed like a girl! So much fun. :)

The rest of the weekend was filled with much of the same... I only regret I didn't spend more time relaxing and drinking Rum Runners. I won $15 in the Casino and tried on an $81,000 diamond necklace (oh pretty pretty) and picked up a couple beautiful bracelets at the straw market in Nassau for the bargain price of $15 each.

It was over too fast. :)

Looking forward to our movie tonight... The Man's mom is watching the kids... I love her.