Friday, November 30, 2007

SORE.

Status: Isn't it kinda obvious?

Awesome Personal Trainer kicked our butts last night. I am so sore in places I didn't know I COULD be sore. She's stepped it up since Hawaii is three and a half weeks away.

And I am cutting out sugar and cutting WAY DOWN on carbs until then. That should help. At this point, I am what I am, but after all these intense workouts I'm definitely not as jiggly in my swimsuit. I loathe the jiggle. The jiggle must END. But it will be a few months before I am down to where I want to be. But hey, I'm working on it! :-)

I am tired, too. All this working out makes me sleepy. Well, so does staying up until nearly midnight catching up on shows....*ahem*...

Time to go play with the baby! I didn't try any additional foods yesterday. Today I'm trying peas. Cross your fingers for me...

This weekend should be fun. We're supposed to get 3-6 inches of snow tomorrow, so I'm ready. All the kids have snowboots, snowpants, new gloves and hats and scarves, and down coats. We're making a gingerbread house (you know those ready-made kits) and I'm making a yummy Sunday dinner. Winter is here! I love this time of year!

Thursday, November 29, 2007

I HAVE FIFTEEN SHOWS TO WATCH!!!

Status: Frustrated. We can only manage two a night, at best!

You gotta love the whole "DVR" concept. But when you go on a long vacation, and you're addicted to, say, EIGHT different shows, then they tend to add up while you're gone.

Hubby and I watch the gruesome shows, like Criminal Minds, NCIS, CSI, etc. So our only choice is to watch them after the kids go to bed. Which is 8:30. Since Hubby's average coming-home time from work is around 8pm, we have just enough time to get the kids in bed, do a 45-minute workout, and by that time it's already 9:15-ish and we can only squeeze in about two shows before we collapse in bed at 11:30. Which in my opinion is WAY too late. Sometimes we only do one show. We are up at 6am, you know.

So, the shows keep piling up, and we just don't have enough hours in the day to watch them. Hence the frustration. AAAAACCCKKK!!!

Okay, I have decided that Thing Four is weird. Not WEIRD weird, but DIFFERENT weird. My other three Things all loved to take medicine when they were little (they sucked it down and wanted more) and when I introduced them to fruits and veggies, they LOVED them and couldn't get enough of them.

Not Thing Four. He HATES taking medicine. I always have to give him one half more than his usual dose because he has mastered the talent of pushing most of it back out of his mouth with his tongue as soon as I shoot it into his mouth.

SO, I started him on fruits this week. Well, I thought I'd start with Carrots. He was very hungry, and I figured he'd love the sweet carrot taste, and when I stuck the spoonful in his mouth he got this look on his face. He squished the carrots around in his (mercifully closed) mouth for a moment, and gave a little shiver as he swallowed them. Thinking he would take more, I held the spoon up to his mouth again.

DENIED.

He had those lips pursed so tight I couldn't have gotten a power drill past them. He wanted NOTHING to do with the carrots. And no amount of coaxing (I really did TRY, for about five minutes) was going to change that.
So, I figured I'd start with Bananas. My other kids couldn't get enough of bananas! So I put the carrots in the fridge, cracked open the bananas and sat down beside his high chair. It took a lot of coaxing to get him to open up his mouth, but when he did I scooped in a bite of banana. Chew chew chew. And I swear the look he gave me was a look of "why are you doing this to me?" Shiver swallow. I tried to give him another bite of banana.

DENIED.

Starting to panic, I made him some rice cereal (which he's happily gulped down for two months) and put some banana in it.
After one bite, he wouldn't eat ANY. Not even one more little bite. I had to throw the whole batch away. I made a new batch of just plain old rice cereal, and after an eternity of coaxing him to open his mouth, I got some in and he realized I hadn't tainted it and he ate it very happily.

Yesterday morning I thought I'd try peaches. My kids LOVED peaches too.

You can guess what happened. Don't worry, he hates peaches too. HATES them.

Do I have a weird baby? Does he hate sweet stuff? It would all make sense. The medicine is sweet. Carrots, Bananas, Peaches, he hates them all. And they are sweet.

Today I'm trying the nasty Green Beans. Not sweet at all. We'll see what he does!

Lots to do today, and I'm finishing up a read for a friend. I'm getting caught up in it! I love it when I do a read and it doesn't feel like work! :-)

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Vote For Pedro.

Status: Not feeling the Love. It's already shaping up to be one of those days...

My workout last night was lame. I just wasn't into it. Hawaii is four weeks away. So I guess I'd better get into it in a fierce way. I was so good over vacation. Except the last two days. I did absolutely nothing but eat really good (aka "bad") stuff. But when I got back home I had lost two more pounds. So at least I didn't gain!

Thing One is starting to really HATE school. I distinctly remember hating Fourth grade myself. The pace (and homework) really took off in that grade. And I had probably the Meanest Teacher On the Planet: Mrs. Turnbow. I truly believe she hated me. And I never did my homework. Both my parents were working so it wasn't like they could "get on me" about it either. Fourth grade was a big black hole to me.

So, in a way, I feel Thing One's pain. But mostly I am practically standing on top of her head to make sure she gets all her homework completed, and studies for her tests. She loathes it. But if she doesn't develop good homework habits now (as I didn't) she'll fail. Or be mediocre. I don't want that for her. She'll thank me later for the tough love. This morning she broke down a little and said it was "too much" and she hated school. Aw, the raw emotions of a ten-year old.

She's just mad at me because I told her until her Math grade improves, no more taking her Pokemon card collection to school. ;-)

So why "Vote for Pedro?" No particular reason. I coudn't think of a post title, and I have this little grocery list pad next to the computer that is from the movie Napoleon Dynamite. It says "Vote for Pedro" on it. Yes, I'm lame.

Sorry, folks. That's as good as it gets today. I have Writer's Block.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Don't You Just Love It...

...when you get back from a long vacation and you have 27 suitcases in the living room all needing to be unpacked and gone through? Oh, and WHAT JOY-- you have about nine loads of laundry to do now!!! WHOOPEE!!!!

...when while going through said suitcases you realize with dismay that your conditioner and the box of baby cereal you had carefully packed have both exploded all over everything in some sort of tar-and-feather parody?

...when you are all wonky on time because of a time zone difference you got used to while on vacation and your baby is all messed up and thinks it's time to be awake at 3am again?

...when you look at the shows that you DVR'd while gone and realize you now have to watch 15 shows in five days just to get caught up?

...when you don't have one egg in the house? Or bread. Or Orange Juice. Or Milk that isn't expired...

...when you had gotten used to sleeping in while on vacation and now getting up at 6:30 seems like torture, at best?

Yeah, you gotta love it.

Today should be fairly exciting. Pay the end-of-the-month bills. Dry Cleaners. Grocery store. Laundry. Cleaning. Attempting to pick #$%&**!! baby cereal out of my toiletries...

Hope everyone has a good day!




Monday, November 26, 2007

I'M BACK!!!!!!

Status: Kinda Crazy. Am I not supposed to be "rested" after a vacation? *wink*

This last week has been a real blast. A little here and there and everywhere, but what fun! All the kids magically were healthy (except Thing Four but he got better during the week) and SIL and I got to go to a spa and get MASSAGES and FACIALS and PEDICURES and it was wonderful. But of course, the highlight of the week: THE BYU/UTAH game! WOO!

Hubby's brother works for ISP, so he gets great seats to games. And we had AWESOME seats. We also got to spend the pre-game and Halftime in the Corporate Sponsors Tent, which was warmed and had flatscreen TV's and they were serving steak and shrimp. Yummy.

The game was a little slow the first three quarters, but can I just say: Fourth Down with 18 to go? (BYU fans will understand.) AMAZING! They really pulled it out, last minute. And the obnoxious Utah fans two rows behind us fell quite satisfactorally silent...which was pretty funny, too. We left the game with absolutely NO speaking ability (our voices were hashed) and it was the best game since...well... last year when we pulled it out at the last moment too. I haven't been in that stadium for about 12 years. It felt great to do the Cougar Fight Song and take in the atmosphere. But I did keep my dignity and I didn't rush the field with everyone else at the End. Guess I'm too old for that. ;-)

TWICE IN A ROW, UTES! CHEW ON THAT!!! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!

Thanksgiving was busy, but wonderful. Now we're back home and I get to run out and do about 586 things. And I want to get at least one more tree up. But today I have to buy stuff to do Thing One's Girl Scout meeting after school. I am teaching the girls how to stamp Christmas cards. One of my favorite things to do!

Only 28 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!!!

Thursday, November 22, 2007

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! AND...

I'M GOING TO THE BYU/UTAH GAME THIS SATURDAY!

WOO HOO! GO COUGS!!!

Yes, I am going to freeze my butt off, but I am going!

Five Things I am Thankful for:

1) My Family
2) Freedom
3) My Friends
4) My Religion
5) The Internet

*Not necessarily in that order!

I'm tagging Mik, Brenda, Laura, and Karen!

What are YOU thankful for?

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Lost My Cookies...

I GOT SOME SLEEP!!! HURRAH!!

Well, only about five hours, but I'll take it. :-)

So I lost my cookies...but not in the way it might sound. I hate it when you download an update onto your computer and after its installed and you restart only to discover that suddenly all your cookies are gone. Lots of work to get things back. ANNOYING!

Thing Four is still not good. I stopped giving him medicine to see if his fever was gone, and when the thermometor read "103.5" I about freaked and gave him more Motrin. We actually had him sleep in his bouncy chair last night, so his head would be elevated. Hey, whatever works!

We are on a plane to Utah at 6am tomorrow, so I get to spend today packing. I got a little overzealous with Christmas decor yesterday (okay so it took FOUR hours to set up the tree--I guess I was wrong, Devon!) and I even decorated the main stair bannisters with garland and lights and strategically-placed burgundy bows. It looks awesome. I HAD to do it. It was therapeutic and fun for me. And for those of you who think I'm crazy to set up in November--we're going to be gone for a little while and I won't have to do it when we get back. ;-) I always put the tree up right after Thanksgiving anyway. It's a win-win.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving--it doesn't look like I'll be posting for a while. Unless something crazy happens. Hopefully not. I always like a lack of drama in my life...

Take care, all! Be good! GO NANOERS!!!

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

EXHAUSTION.

Status: ohmygosh if I don't get some decent sleep soon I am going to FREAK OUT!!!!!!!

Was up most of the night with the baby. Who has a chest cold/cough/congestion. Top that off with a flu, DTAP and tetanus shot (his six month checkup) and he's had nearly 103 degree fever since Monday night. I called the nurse and she told me "Well, with this combination of shots we'd see fevers as high as 104. If he gets above 104 go ahead and call us."

ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME? You actually think I'm going to LET my infant's fever actually GET THAT HIGH???

Yeah, sure. I'd love for his brain to fry in his own head like an egg. Sure. NOT.

So I've been piggybacking Tylenol and Motrin and keeping him as comfortable as possible. He was a mess yesterday--if I left his line of sight he'd start crying. And he wanted to be "cuddled" all day. Which I was happy to oblige, but the whole "I will scream if you put me down" thing got a little old after a while. THEN I made the colossal mistake of sleeping in his room again last night--every time he moaned, choked on his own phlegm or coughed, I was WIDE AWAKE. I think I put his pacifier in about 7345 times. I also had to set my phone alarm for every three hours to dose him, to keep the raging fever down.

Hence, I'm a "little" tired. As soon as I got Hubby off to work and the kids off to school, I set the alarm for 8:30 (one hour of sleep) and went right back to bed. Thankfully, the baby was so dog-tired from being up all night he actually stayed asleep for me.

I just fed him, and he coughed up most of his cereal. I feel so helpless. We are on a plane at 6am Friday morning, and I hope these antibiotics kick in ASAP. Otherwise the three-hour flight will be miserable, because he'll be miserable.

And I had planned to put the Christmas tree up today. We're going to be gone for a week and a half, and when we get back, I'd love to come home to a tree. So I just might bust my butt and get it up. I've perfected my technique over the years. It's the same tree and the same ornaments that Hubby and I have had since our second Christmas together. And if I light it correctly, it takes from start to finish about three hours to put together and trim. I could so totally do that.

The rest of the house will have to wait. I have to pack and do some major laundry! This week is closing in on me...

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Attack of the Neanderthals...

Status: Typing with one eye open. Was up all night with Thing Four (who is now sick) and had to drive Brother-in-Law #1 to the airport at 4am. In desperate need of a nap...

So the Packers beat the Vikings. Spanked them, is more like. Hubby and his brothers were at the game, and I watched it on television. Don't get me wrong, going to sporting events is fun, but when you're on your comfortable sofa, watching a big screen, it just seems better. ;-)

I've lost ten pounds! I am way excited. Of course when Hubby's brothers were here they were trying to sabotage me, I swear. They had icecream sundaes every night, and popcorn, and Krispy Kreme doughnuts. I did have ONE doughnut (how could I not, have you ever tasted Krispy Kreme? If you have, you'd understand) otherwise I was very good.

And I don't get how when men get together they suddenly turn into Neanderthals. I mean, cussing, gross poop jokes, etc. etc. Thing One (my very impressionable ten-year old daughter) came to me on several occasions all disgusted because of various things they were doing. (Mom, Uncle So-and-so is burping really loud!) I told her to just ignore them and do something else. About 100 times.

So now that they have all gone back home, and I have the house to myself, we can settle back into relative normalcy. Thank heaven. Having guys in the house is equal to having more kids. They leave their towels on the bathroom floor, never make their beds, etc. etc. It's because their WIVES do it all for them.

Thank heaven my hubby is conscientious about that stuff. He is very neat and clean (more so than me I would admit) and whenever we stay at someone's house he always picks up and makes the bed. It's just...polite, you know?

Well, enough about that. We actually got some use out of our pool table and dart board, and had a lot of fun. Now I have to go back to my usual running around.

I'll disinfect the guest room later. ;-)

Friday, November 09, 2007

OUCH.

Status: Sore. Super Awesome Personal Trainer has recommended I take up Yoga in addition to my weight/cardio routine, to help stretch out the soreness and limber me up. I am a big fan of Yoga, I did it for a couple of months while in Denver, but the whole "peaceful environment/time to do it" thing has evaded me since. She's going to find a good program for me. Now if I can get Thing Four to nap for more than 15 minutes at a time...

Lots to do today. Oh, and in case any of you are wondering, I've been tearing up the edits on my story, I just haven't adjusted my Zokotu meter because of a very simple reason: laziness. You have to re-insert the html code into the blog template every time you make progress. Frankly, I think I'll update it every Monday. Every day just isn't going to happen.

Thing One is being a downright RAG lately. It's like, as soon as she turned Ten, she turned from a happy, bouncing silly girl, into a moody, grumpy sassy-pants. I want the old Thing One back! :-( Today she's mad at me because I told her she couldn't go to her Pokemon Card Collecting Party/Sleepover at her friend's house unless her room was PRISTINE. She's dragging her heels. Hubby and I decided this morning that if she didn't finish her room before tonight (the party) I am seriously calling up the mother and cancelling. It won't be fun, but it's the only way we can get through to her, if she doesn't do what we ask.

She's a bit spoiled, I will admit. She's our only girl. But she has a lot of responsibilities and chores and she works around the house. I just wish the whole "cranky" thing was not a factor. But then I look at what *I* was like growing up, and I had the capability of being a Class A Beotch, when I was in a bad mood. Heh heh, not that you'd know it now. ;-) Just ask my Hubby!

Have a happy weekend, all! Time to feed the baby and mop some floors! Cheerfully I go...

Thursday, November 08, 2007

YEE HAW!!!

Here we go again! I'm off to the Dr. because now that Thing Two is all better (and returning to school today) Thing THREE has decided to take his place. Coughing, wheezing, etc. etc.

LOTS of fun.

Yes, sarcasm. Sorry. Oh, and thanks for all the helpful suggestions on my Guest Room Situation, I followed Lynn's advice. I LOVE putting stuff in garbage bags and dealing with it later. So, after I've forgotten all about them and a year later I go through them again, it's like...Christmas. :-)

I am starving. Going to make breakfast first. But only a teeny one. The Personal Trainer is coming tonight and she'll kick my butt if I am bad!

Cheers everyone!

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

The NON-Guest Guest Room.

Status: Feeling OK. So far I have managed to escape the yuckiness that is going around in the family. The baby hasn't gotten sick either. (Of course now that I have typed this you know we'll be getting it in the next five minutes.)

Hubby scored some great Packers tickets to this Sunday's game. They're the kind of tickets that are so good, you HAVE to go, even if the game IS on Sunday. The only babysitters we know (and trust, which matters most) are the ones who wouldn't babysit on a Sunday, because they go to our church. So the babysitting thing isn't happening. I suggested to Hubby to go ahead and invite his brothers, so they could all go. So far one brother is definitely coming. The other two are looking into it.

Guess I need to stop dumping stuff in the Guest room and make it actually inhabitable for...well...GUESTS!

One thing Hubby and I have gone around and around about since we owned our first home--he has insisted that we have a "guest room." A room in the house with a bathroom either IN it or really close to it, so that when family comes, they will have their own space. Every house we have ever bought or built, has had to have certain factors, and the all-important factor: a Guest Room.

I think it's kind of lame, personally. A room that sits untouched and unused 97% of the time? Oh, heck no. It MUST be used. Hubby likes to joke about my lax cleaning style: "If there's a shelf, Lara will pile something on it. And if there isn't a shelf, Lara will make a non-shelf into a shelf (like a chair or something) and pile stuff on it."

Nice, I know. We just have so much STUFF. I give to Goodwill and various other charities, I give away furniture and clothes and toys and THROW AWAY enought junk to make the equivalent of a contruction-sized dumpster, and we STILL have too much crap. But I digress...

So, lately, I've resorted to using the Guest Room as a Catch-all. I like to call it a "Multi-Purpose room." Sort of a Video Gaming/Clothes Folding/box storing/shopping spoils hiding/dumping off room, where I can just shut the door on it and Voila! it goes away, because NO ONE EVER USES IT.

I think I'm all smart and ha ha ha and everything and then Hubby decides to go and invite family, who will be descending in TWO days. So guess what I get to run around cleaning? THE GUEST ROOM. So I have to find a place for everything I've shoved in it and frankly that means shoving it somewhere else. Lovely.
I swear, all the junk I have makes babies or something, because I can't seem to get out from under all the STUFF!

Okay, I guess I'm ranting a little. It's hard to "simplify" your life when you have four kids (one of them being a baby) and a husband who is a workaholic.

Time to end the rant and get cleaning!

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

I'M DOOMED.

DOOMED, I tell you!

Status: Doomed. Other than that, just OK. Thing Two was diagnosed with Pneumonia so we've got him on the Super-Duper-Wipe-The-Germs-Out-3-Day antibiotics. He's actually already better after one dose. We're out of the woods, thank heaven.

So you may be asking, why am I doomed? I'll tell you. The Holidays are here. I am really big on the Holidays. And Holiday Food. And Cold Weather Comfort Food. I go crazy baking cakes and pies and warm cookies and lots of Holiday treats, in fact my specialty? Delectable Fudge. And nothing is better than Applets and Cotlets. Oh, and don't forget Egg Nog. And those white chocolate covered pretzels with green sprinkles...

I think you can guess where I'm going with this. I just had a baby, folks. I am not genetically blessed like my friends Aimee and Jenni, who walk out of the hospital after having babies wearing the same jeans they wore in College. Nope, not me. And this last pregnancy I was on bed rest, which wreaked havoc on my waistline. And I wasn't exactly Gisele Bundchen before I got pregnant either, so let's just say, I have some weight to lose.

And don't worry, we're going to Hawaii over Christmas. Six Weeks away.

This is why I'm Doomed. I barely survived Halloween Candy. Now that the Christmas stuff is pouring into the stores, and Hubby gets tins of cookies and baskets of goodies and boxes of chocolates from his people (which I might have to be bad and "redistribute") I am telling you, TEMPTATION GALORE.

I have been very good as of late--I've lost six pounds already. But I have to make some drastic changes this Holiday season.

1) No baking unless it's for OTHER people.
2) No trips to Target's Christmas Goodie Aisle (a sure failure if I even go within ten feet)
3) When Hubby comes home with candy/baskets/anything high fat, our neighbors will be "Christmas Ding-Dong-Ditched" with said Christmas Goodies. Anonymously of course, so they'll have to take it.

I think it's for the best. I would like to lie on the beach and not have news crews swarm around me and people mourning for me to be put back out at sea before I suffocate. When I snorkel, I don't want to be NERVOUS that there are whaling ships close by, you know?

Maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but I want to be trim again. My wedding dress was a size SIX, dammit! (Okay, so I was a little "thin" for my wedding) But, the Holidays are going to test me. The odds, frankly aren't in my favor. But I will be vigilant.

CONSTANT VIGILANCE! (Okay, for some reason I don't think I spelled that right. It looks weird. But you get my point.)

Monday, November 05, 2007

Expired Gravy Mix Debacle...

Status: Okay, actually. Beginning to wonder if I'll ever get a good night's sleep again, since I've been up most of the night tending sick kids! Apparently most of the kids in my town are sick, because I couldn't get Thing Three in to see the Doctor until noon. So, we wait.

So the Patriots won. Thank Heaven. For a while there, I thought they weren't going to pull it out. At the end, my kids kept asking me to stop yelling at the TV. I was texting Hubby (who was stuck in NYC at a business dinner) and giving him play-by-play results in the last 3 minutes. It was a good game. Well, in the last quarter, anyway! :-)

So, some of you asked how I get my pie crust not to burn? I have a little trick I do. I put it in the oven, and set the timer for 20 minutes. Then I take tin foil, and tear it into strips about a foot long and three inches wide. After the 20 minutes are up, I open the oven door and mold the strips of foil around the edges of the pie only (this is tricky, because you don't want to burn your forearms, I recommend pulling the rack out slightly) and then I put the pie back in and set the timer for the remaining time. Voila! It works every time. Perfectly brown crust.

I still am baffled over how the pie crust did that. Weird. Sometimes I use ready-crusts. Sometimes I make one from scratch. I've NEVER had one do that. (See previous post if you're wondering what the heck I'm talking about.)

So, Sunday Dinner is a big deal for me. Even if it's in the middle of a Football game. I always cook a nice meal. Last night was Turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans and rolls. (Hey, it's November. I'm into Turkey!) My kids love gravy on their meat and potatoes, and I didn't have enough from the turkey to make gravy, so I went downstairs to the food storage and found some poultry gravy mix. I couldn't remember when I'd bought it, so I looked at the expiration date, and it said "Best Before Jan 2008"
I made the gravy, and pre-poured it on the potatoes and meat on each plate.

I called the kids to the table (I had the Patriots game on pause downstairs) and we all sat down to eat. Prayed. Started eating. I, of course, ate my vegetables first, and my kids dug into their potatoes.
Suddenly Thing Two makes a disgusted noise and puts his fork down. He tells me the potatoes are gross. I tell him it's because he's sick, everything probably tastes gross. (my mashed potatoes are NOT gross, thank you very much!) but then Thing Three, who is usually very diplomatic, puts his fork down and starts chugging his milk. Thing One, my ten-year old daughter (who is NOT diplomatic) makes a gagging noise.

"Mom, these potatoes are disgusting!"

I look at her, mortally offended, and take a bite of potatoes.

Have you ever broken an aspirin open and tasted it? That bitter, nasty taste? Well, mix that with a little meat gravy and you had the gosh-awful taste I was experiencing. I almost spit it back out on the plate. It was HIDEOUS! I told everyone to take their plates to the kitchen counter. I ran and checked the date on the gravy again.

Here's where I felt horrible: it was very fuzzy, and upon closer inspection, to my horror, I realized it actually read "Best Before Jan. 2006"
#$^&*!*!! 2006!!!!! I had probably just poisoned my children, and myself! ARRGH!!!

The kids thought it was very funny. They drank their milk, and had their rolls, and I made mini-pizzas. Probably more fitting for a Football game anyway, right?

R.I.P Poultry Gravy...and our Sunday dinner...

Sunday, November 04, 2007

It's Been One Of Those Weekends...

So, this is what my apple pie did in the oven. I've never seen a pie DO that. I guess it was an omen, because this has been the WORST weekend so far. All my kids are sick, fevers, coughs, stuffy noses, and Thing Three has chest wheezes. He'll be going to the Dr. first thing tomorrow morning. Poor Things. And Hubby is in New York.

At this point-- the ONLY thing that would cheer me up, is a certain football game that I will be watching this afternoon...

GO PATRIOTS!!!

All I can say is, they'd better win. But the way my weekend is going...

Friday, November 02, 2007

Crazy Morning

Status: Calm again. Well, now that the kids are in school, Hubby is at work and Thing Four is asleep--I'm having "me" time at the computer. And it's cold so I'm wearing my awesome pink Pashmina. LOVE.

So this morning was insane. It started out as any usual morning:

1) Drag myself out of my warm bed 2) March upstairs and attempt to wake the Living Dead 3) tell them to come downstairs for cereal 4) threaten to pour ice water on their heads after telling them FIVE times to come downstairs for cereal 5) Finally succeed in getting them up by pulling the covers off, turning on the bright lights and yelling the BYU Cougar Fight Song while clapping as loud as I can, etc. etc.

...but as soon as everyone got downstairs, things got a little...well...crazy.

Suddenly everyone wanted my attention, and they all wanted it at once. Hubby needed me to look something up on the computer for him because he was running late--Thing Two wanted to tell me about his Lit Circle story he was reading, Thing One wanted me to listen to descriptions of her favorite Pokemon cards, and Thing Three kept telling me how cold he was, and wasn't I listening?

Thing Four was happy screaming in his high chair, which only added to the chaos.

Finally I raised my hands and said "TIME OUT EVERYONE!" and tried to address every one in order. Which made them all put out.

So, WHY IS IT, that they want my attention RIGHT NOW and RIGHT AWAY, but I have to tell them at least seven times to pick up their shoes? Am I not as important as them? Children are such little IDs. I want it now, it's all about me, me me ME.

So I was very cranky this morning and my ten-year old daughter (since she's worn her hair in a ponytail every day this week and I refused to do it and made her wear it down) told me that she was going to "tell all her friends how mean I was" as she ran off to the bus stop. Which made me even crankier. And Thing Two couldn't find his hat. Which makes THREE hats he's gone through so far, and we haven't even had our first snow. So I told him to just "freeze" and kicked him outside.

Okay, no, I didn't really do that, I found him an embarrassing old hat and told him he had to wear it and if he wanted a cool hat to find the other three at school. DUH.

I've just discovered that I'm rambling. Well, isn't that what I'm supposed to do? Sometimes you just have to get your frustrations out, and this morning, was just...icky.

Time for a pot of Postum with creamer and splenda, and some editing time. And here's a shout out to all you NaNoers: GOOD LUCK! You know who you are!

Have a good and NON crazy weekend, everyone!

Lara

Thursday, November 01, 2007

The NUTRITION MAN

Status: Calm. Somehow I am feeling this is the "calm before the storm." What does that mean?

So, we have Halloween Candy coming out our ears--I finally had the kids dump their buckets into one big bowl, (which I keep up high) and they can pick ONE piece a day out of it. Usually after dinner. Yes, I am a control freak with the candy. But I remember when I was a kid, I was allowed to take it to my room and eat it at my leisure, and frankly, that wasn't very healthy. Probably because I usually ate more than half of it in one day.

It's a miracle I still have all my teeth.

My parents played a cruel trick on me when I was much younger--I remember being very excited about all the candy, and then, usually a day or two after Halloween, it would all suddenly "disappear." I was distraught, of course, but my mom would tell me that "Nutrition Man" had come in the night and spirited away all the candy.

I HATED Nutrition Man. He ruined all my fun. He was downright MEAN to take all my candy. Of course, now that I'm all grown up and I know that Nutrition Man was actually my parents, and THEY took my candy, well, it's one of those things you just can't forgive your parents for.

I was giving my mom a hard time about it a few days ago, and I told her "YOU GUYS ATE MY CANDY!" She protested that it wasn't their intention to eat my candy, just to get it away from me. (which makes sense, I was a bit "hyper" when I was little, it would be like giving Crack to a Monkey.)
So Mom said it was just a natural circumstance that they ended up consuming it.

Yeah, yeah, whatever. Lucky for you, I'm a parent and I get it. ;-)

Well, I'm off to change a diaper! Then it's time for some editing. And a sweater. It's COLD today! Brrrrrr!