HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Sidenote: The BYU Bowl game was awesome, last night. I don't think Oregon really showed up until the 4th quarter. Woo hoo! Go Cougs!

Okay, so I'm realizing that this will be my last post until next year. Sounds kinda ominous, but I have family descending tomorrow and I won't even mention how much baking I have to do. And they are staying until January 1, so this blog will resume on January 2nd.

I'm still very excited we have the new Harry Potter title, although it's irking me to pieces that some news networks are reporting the title as Deathly "Hollows" instead of "HALLOWS"--which isn't right. I mean, that's sort of a MAJOR mistake! MSN still hasn't caught it. Annoying.

Well, I have to work today, so I'm writing this furiously, but I'm going to waddle into non-PC territory and say "Merry Christmas" to everyone, and to those who don't celebrate Christmas, "Happy Holidays" and to those who don't celebrate any sort of holiday at this time, I'm sorry you have to put up with all this holiday cheer, but it's not going away any time soon. So please drink some cider (a non-denominational WINTER drink) and let's all get along!

And for those "Christmas" celebrators, I would remind you that Santa and presents aren't the real reason for the season! :-)

I hope everyone has a happy Holiday, and the safest of New Years. 2007 is going to be a GOOD year, I can feel it!

Take care everyone, and be safe,

Lara

OMGOSH!!! IT'S HERE!!!!

JUST IN: Okay, those of you who know me, know what a HUGE MONGO Harry Potter fan I am. So, if you don't want to be "spoiled" STOP READING!!!

The door to the room on J.K. Rowling.com is open, and after some finagling, you can find out the title of BOOK SEVEN!!! IT is:


HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS


Okay, that's just creepy. You KNOW Harry has to die with a title like that. He is SO doomed.

OMGOSH does this mean it will be done in 2007? One can only hope! I fully expect the Harry Potter Internet World to go literally APESH*T over this for the next few months. How fun!
Oh, and read my previous post...if you need a laugh, because this time I actually TRIED to be funny!

Happy Holidays!

Some Things I've Learned...

Status: Paying bills (because it's getting to the end of the month) and SO excited because I have people cleaning my house from top to bottom today, but not that excited because I'm probably going to have to sell one of my children to pay for what they're charging me on such short notice.

Kidding, of course, but I'm desperate. I am beyond caring.

Okay, to the topic at hand. You know, I worked retail a million years ago (for a million years it seemed) and now that I am officially working it again at Christmastime, I've learned a few more things. About working at my store, and SHOPPING at my store. For instance:

1) You must cover your employee nametag as you walk to the bathroom because any customer who sees you will automatically assume you are an expert in the department you are passing through to GET to the bathroom.

2) If you ever stand in the aisles to straighten, you might as well staple an "INFORMATION/DIRECTIONS TO ANYWHERE" sign onto your forehead.

3) Never make shortcuts through the hosiery department. You will be attacked by one or more ladies (at any given time) and will be subjected to a tirade on why they don't like the layout of the store, or a whining tangent on how awful it is that we don't carry knee-hi's in the pantyhose section.

Now, to SHOPPERS:

4) Never shop with small children on Senior Day. (Wednesday) You won't find a cart ANYWHERE in the store because the Seniors all have them and are using them to help themselves walk. And no, we don't have them hidden away. Even though you think we do. The Seniors have them all. Not anything against Seniors, mind you, this is just a fact.

5) If you see something you like, and you want to buy it but think you'll come back for it, DON'T WAIT. Buy said item RIGHT AWAY because it won't be there the next time you come back and you'll whine about it to me while I'm checking you out and I'll want to stuff a comforter bag up your nose because you'll be the 659375th person to tell me that.

6) Come at 5am (When the store opens on the Day After Thanksgiving or the Day after Christmas) to buy the Portable DVD player we have for next to nothing. Because it will be sold out in the first 30 minutes and you'll be out of luck because EVERYONE wants a Portable DVD Player for Next to Nothing. And I'll already be tired of telling people that we're sold out by the time you wander in at 10:30 and ask me where the "Portable DVD Players That are In The Ad" are.

7) Yes, EVERYTHING in the store is on sale, plus an additional 15% off. It usually is. You don't need to marvel at that fact every time you check out. We know everything is on sale. In fact, if you ever found the lone item that WASN'T on sale, we would be aghast with horror and mark it down immediately because EVERYTHING IN THE STORE IS ON SALE.

Disclaimer: Okay, now, I don't mean any disrespect to the current store I'm working in. In fact, I quite like working there. I am merely remarking on the idiosyncratic behavior of the customers who SHOP there.

8) Fitting Room people who find your mess of inside-out clothes on the floor, really AREN'T HAPPY THAT YOU'RE ALIVE. So STOP BEING A PIGGY ALREADY!!!

Okay, that's about it for now. If I think of any more, I'll let you all know.

Time to pack cold lunches!

Indiana Jones A-thon...

Poor Thing One is sick. She caught the virus. We tried to keep it from our kids, but HELLO, we all live in the same house! She has a fever and a sore throat and stuffy nose, and therefore I've knackered her up with Motrin Cold. She's watching all three Indiana Jones movies today in her jammies, in her room. She feels much better, but that's the medicine.

I've decided to call a cleaning service for the house. I'm still weak from being so sick and my bathrooms are about to have something rise up out of the toilets and attack us all in our sleep.
(Okay, they're not THAT bad, but they will be if I don't do something about them.)

I finally got to watch The Devil Wears Prada the other night. Cute movie. I wouldn't have lasted five minutes in that office. I would have thrown her iced mocha latte ALL OVER her dictatorial ass. Seriously. Degradation is not one of the things I can tolerate. Although I TOTALLY would have gotten busy with Simon Baker. :-)

Okay, I got tagged by Mik, so here goes:

Six Weird Things about Me:

1) I absolutely can't have my food touching on my plate, especially breakfast foods. If the syrup gets on the eggs, etc... I fly to the moon. Separate plates are a must for messy foods. Eeek--you should see me at Thanksgiving. (i.e. I won't eat if the fruit salad touches the turkey.)

2) I could subsist entirely on bottled water and Cool Ranch Doritos and Kraft Creamy Ranch dip...for at least a week, and be happy as a clam.

3) I prefer men with black hair and I like 'em hairy (except NO back hair) and I've been that way my whole life and I married a blond.

4) I think fish or shrimp tacos are just WRONG. They don't make sense. I don't understand them.

5) When I watch a movie with others, it makes me CRAZY if there isn't anything but absolute silence in the room, so people can absorb the "true meaning" of the movie. Yeah, I'm a Movie Nazi.

6) My house is in a constant state of disarray...but my craft room is categorized and organized to the point of obsessive/compulsiveness. Everything is sorted, filed, and labeled to the minutae. And it's ALWAYS perfectly straight.

And there you have it, folks! I'm tagging Colin, Brenda, Laura, Karen, Pamela, and Ann.

Have a happy day, everyone!

It's a Christmas Miracle...

Believe it or not, I'm feeling better today! Of course I'm running around, and Hubby is going to Vegas until Saturday for the BYU Bowl Game so I get to clean the house by myself (for our Christmas company) but it's all good. I CAN BREATHE!!! And I don't sound like Lucille Ball in her later years anymore. I have my voice back!

But I'd better go right now or I'll be late for work! EEEK!

Happy *HACK* *COUGH* Holidays...

Have to get the kids to school, run to the cleaners, the grocery store and then to work. Then run home for the TV repairman. Hopefully they ordered the part for my 50 inch plasma TV as opposed to the 37-inch part they accidentally ordered last time.

This day had better get better...

*COUGH* OH--and I found out that what I have is viral...so no amount of antibiotics in the world are going to help me. Woo hee! I get to suffer until it runs it's course!
What joy is mine.

Sorry folks, I get hideously sarcastic when I'm miserable. Can't help it.

Bah Humbug From Bed...

Well, I've been in bed yesterday and today. I am afraid I officially need antibiotics. Apparently you can take certain kinds when pregnant, so I am calling my OB first thing tomorrow to get some. My head cold has gone into my chest now, and I'm a hacking, cement-headed mess.

Hubby was an angel yesterday. He's been on antibiotics for a few days and is feeling better, so he took the kids to see Eragon while I slept. Then he took them to dinner, and THEN to the mall (scary move, in my opinion) to buy my Christmas presents.
And he only called me once, to tell me that the boys were being *turkeys* at Barnes & Noble. (Heh heh, I noted with glee after that phone call that he was indeed following the Christmas List I wrote out for him...#3 was a B&N Giftcard.) :-)

They got home really late for the kids--Ten p.m., but I could tell they were very excited and bursting with secrets.

So I'm in bed again today and I'm already halfway through my favorite novel of all time: Pride and Prejudice. Yes, I'm a walking cliche--Jane Austen is my heroine. But I haven't read it in about five years, so it's about time.

I am also reading my other writing buddies' blogs and they are all cooking and baking up a storm, and I feel DEPRIVED. This is the time of year I love to do that too, and I am a sickie, and have no desire to stand in the kitchen for hours. I have a ham in the crockpot today, but that's about it. Hopefully I'll get better in time for THE BIG DAY and I'll want to bake, because I always do a big tray of assorted cookies for Christmas Eve and also cookie plates for our friends.

Given the state I'm in, I currently don't have the desire to do any of it. Hence the need to get better...fast. Not to mention the in-laws are descending on Christmas day, and I have a house to clean (and KEEP clean) until then.

Where's the damn bubble bath? I need one, and some chocolate. Oh, never mind, I can't taste it anyway.

Hmmmph. Bah.

PINK IS FOR...

Sugar and Spice and Everything nice.....

HOWEVER, I'm getting slime and snails and puppy dog tails, because we're having a boy. ;-)

Ha ha, fooled you! Yes, it was actually very apparent as soon as the tech started the ultrasound. Hubby and I looked at each other and said in unison: "That's definitely a boy. "

Because trust me, if it's a girl, well...it just isn't, ok? It's 100% boy. We have photographic evidence at this point. :-)

So, I got the best night's sleep last night that I've had all week. I also know this because Hubby woke up at 2am again and watched me sleep while he played on the laptop for four hours. He said I was sleeping so deeply, I didn't even toss and turn like I usually do.

I think I'm just so tired from all the sleepless nights, and I can relax because the baby looked healthy and it was a BOY. Hooray! Just call me the Boy Factory, because it's looking that way!

Today I'm cleaning, because I haven't deep-cleaned in a while. I still can't believe that CHRISTMAS IS IN TEN DAYS!!! Yikes! It's kind of sad though, because after Christmas the tree is bare and we are in such a hurry to take everything down and get rid of all evidence that it ever WAS Christmas...it's always a strange transition. But me, I'm ENJOYING the next ten days!

Have a Merry Weekend, Everyone! Stay away from Malls!

Today is the DAY!

We get to find out what the little tyke's sex is. I have the 20-week ultrasound this afternoon--Hubby is getting off work early so he can see it with me. I just hope the baby cooperates! With Thing One, we were trying to determine it and she had her butt to us the whole time, and we didn't find out until a later ultrasound.

I just want a healthy baby, although a boy would be nice. :-) They're easier. (oops, did I really write that out loud?) *Ahem* As I was saying, I'm game for anything.

Today is WRAPPING and MAILING day. Lots of packages to get out, and I'm waiting for plumbers until noon, so I have time to do it all. That's the only thing about having a new house I don't like. Little things go wrong and you have to call people in to fix them, and it really puts a crimp in your day. Oh well, I shouldn't complain, and BE GLAD that we're still under warranty.

I am REALLY cranky today. I hardly slept AGAIN, and my throat hurts now. Ugh. Although my OB yesterday said I could take Sudafed if I was really desperate. I am going to sterilize the sheets and everything today, so we can get better. I mean, good grief! We are holding onto these colds way too long! I have no desire to bake, no desire to cook, and I just want to curl up in front of a fire with herbal tea. I'm a mess.

Okay, now that I've throroughly depressed you all, I have school lunches to pack.
Or maybe they can take HOT lunch today...

All Hail Vicks Vapo-Rub...

Status: Feeling better today, but not out of the woods yet.

My friend Devon recommended Eucalyptus oil to help me breathe, and since it was late at night, I discovered that a major element to Vicks Vapor Rub is...lo and behold...Eucalyptus, so I unscrewed the jar and inhaled it for a while. It actually did help, although trying to sleep was interesting. I only woke up once last night, but I was choking. NOT a good feeling. Poor Hubby was still up several times to blow his nose. I think we are ready for these colds to be DONE.

Busy day today. I have a morning Dr.'s Appt (my monthly O.B. checkup) and then it's off to work--only four hours, thank heaven, and then I have to run to the school for an IEP meeting for Thing Two. So, another day of running around and no down time. Thursday is going to be CRAZY. I am sitting on tons of packages and Christmas cards to be mailed and if I don't get them out this week I'll be a dork. I mean, why expend the effort, and NOT mail them? Doesn't make sense.

Tomorrow I get to find out what the baby is! It's my 20-ish week ultrasound, although I'm 22 weeks. So hopefully the baby will cooperate and his/her Control Freak parents will get what they need to know. ;-)

I told Hubby to get me a big giftcard to Barnes & Noble or Half-Price Books this year, because I have some RESEARCH to do for my novel, that I'm determined to get written after all the Holiday craziness. I will be a little rusty, but it's good and damned time. Enough "but the house isn't unpacked, and I'm crazy" crap. No more excuses. Only New Year's resolutions, and writing.

Into the shower I go...

Still Sick.

Sorry Folks, I'm pretty miserable. And I have to work a very long shift today. Cross your fingers for me. It's not looking like it's going to be a very good day.

In fact, my head is so full of yuck, I can't think of anything to blog about.

The Doldrums of Sickyness...

...as Thing Two would put it. We were all sick this weekend, with assorted ailments. Hubby and I have nasty head colds (only I, being pregnant, can't take ANYTHING for mine) and Thing One had the stomach flu over the weekend. At least she was clean about it. She made it to the toilet every time, and I quarrantined her to her room for the entire Saturday. She seems fine now, if not a little peaky.

I folded about 4 o'clock this morning and took some regular strength Tylenol, for my sore throat. Today should be fun. But I always feel worse in the morning, and I feel better during the day. USUALLY. We'll see.

We obviously didn't go anywhere this weekend, we just stayed in our PJ's and layed around. Hubby did laundry and tidied up for me while I was at church--I had to go because I was a speaker during Sacrament Meeting, and the primary kids were laughing at me because I was croaking like a frog when I was trying to teach them a Christmas song and singing it to them. But when I came home I had a clean kitchen and Hubby had the kids all diligently cleaning for me. It was very nice.

It's been warmer here...about 40 degrees. It's pretty sad, but it feels WARM compared to the single digits and windchill we've been having. I am only running to Target this morning, and then I'm going to sequester myself in the basement, so I can move all the boxes around so our shelf guy can bring all his things down there and build shelves tomorrow.
No work today, but I work another LONG shift tomorrow. I have to say the Belly is starting to make things miserable. But I always push through. I'm NOT a quitter.

I just remembered it's Garbage Day. Time to get the kids working on it!

It's Friday!!!

I don't work today...but I have to sit at home and wait for the TV repairman from 9-12, I just hope he comes early so I can run around!

I have to give a talk in church this Sunday, so I guess I'd better work on that. They only need about 15 minutes from me. So I can gather info and put it together while I'm waiting for the FedEx truck, because I bought Hubby a Christmas present that requires a signature at delivery, so I get to wait for THAT too. But it's worth the secrecy. Hubby will be surprised!

Okay, had a VERY funny conversation with Thing Three this morning. He came bounding down the stairs, with the energy only a six-year old has, and he got into the bed and cuddled with me while we talked. At 6:30, I asked him to go and wake up his brother and sister. He ran upstairs, flipped on their lights and told them to wake up, then ran back down to our room. Thing Two came stumbling downstairs, but the Princess was still fast asleep. So I knew I needed to go up there. Thing Three leaned in to me and said:

Him: I can do my trick on her to get her to wake up, Mom.

Me: What trick is that?

Him: I just tell her I'm stealing something from her room and she pops right up out of bed and gets up! Ha ha ha!

Hubby had just gotten out of the shower and we both burst out laughing. One thing our daughter HATES: when her pesky brothers mess with her stuff. Thing Three definitely has it nailed. It was too funny.

Needless to say, I went up and woke her up. She went to a late birthday party last night and I knew she'd be tired in the morning.

This weekend should be good...we're hitting all the local Boston Stores for fun and of course we always end up buying stuff...I LOVE Boston Store.

And then I have about 3947 presents to wrap because if I don't, my closet is going to EXPLODE. I need to wrap and label and move them into the "hiding spots" in the basement. Although that will prove problematic since we have a guy coming over Tuesday to build shelves in our basement for all our food storage. So I need to think of a new hiding place. Hmmmmm.

Well, got to get the kids to school! Have a happy weekend, everyone. I just hope we have two degrees to rub together, here. We're in the MINUSES with windchill. NOT FUN.

Whoa, There.

I swear this baby has doubled in size in the last week. I have officially "popped out." Can't hide the pregnancy any more. And we get to find out what the sex is, next week. That will be fun. They are having a HUGE infant sale at Boston Store so we need to find out so we can go crazy.
:-)

I was a little stressed yesterday because Thing Three had a high fever. He came home from school with it (eek!) and was burning up until I dosed him with Motrin. I set my alarm for 2am this morning to check on him and give him more medicine, but he was sleeping peacefully and he wasn't hot. This morning he feels fine, too. I am more than relieved. I will NOT send a child with a fever to school, and I have to work a long shift today. So I had the major dilemma of calling out or not. Luckily, he seems OK this morning so I don't have to worrry. But the last thing I need is to have to send my sick child out in 5 degree weather! UGH. And this school has FOUR recesses. I will just have to bundle him up more than usual. I had this conversation with him yesterday:

Me: Are you warm enough during recess?

Him: Not really.

Me: What part of you is cold? Your feet? Your hands? Your legs?

Him: Well...just my nose.

I had to laugh at this, because his NOSE is the only thing not covered when I bundle him up. At least it wasn't anything more vital. Besides, the kids run around so much at recess (have you ever watched them play? They are absolutely manic the way they run around) I'm sure they keep plenty warm.

Time to get ready for my loooooong shift today. I hope my feet hold up!

St. Nick's Day? What???

Status: Hoping I haven't put all you fine people off Potluck food... ;-)

Okay, talk about Uncomfortable. I took Thing Three to the Dr. yesterday for his annual physical (I take them on their birthdays if I can, it helps me remember) and the Pediatrician started talking about "Saint Nick" and if my kids were going to put a shoe by the fireplace that night.

The kids had apparently already heard about St. Nick in school and begged her to tell them about him. She told them that on St. Nick's Eve (the 5th of December) Wisconsin kids put a shoe by the fireplace and during the night, St. Nick comes and puts candy and toys in their shoe.

The whole time I was thinking "When was THIS invented?" She looked at me and winked and said it was a "Wisconsin Thing."
My daughter, not one to miss a beat, told the Dr. that we lived in Wisconsin for three years before we lived in Denver and St. Nick had never visited our house. The Dr. replied "Well, I bet you never put a shoe out for Him!" And it was like a light went on in the kid's eyes.

I was positively SQUIRMING at this point. I'm not one to like being "put on the spot" and the entire way home the kids were begging me to let them put a shoe by the fireplace that evening.

Hubby had the predictable reaction. "You're Kidding" he said when I told him. "That's silly." We agreed to play along, but in the morning, I told the kids it was just a fun tradition that parents did with their kids to get them excited for Christmas. They were actually pretty cool about the whole thing.
I guess I need to study up on Wisconsin Traditions. Next you know they'll have a "St. Sausage" day or something where we have to leave a grilled sausage by the fireplace, and see if it turns into a bag of candy. Okay, that was lame. But I'm still scratching my head.

Picked up my copy of DEAD MAN'S CHEST yesterday, and despite the kids' protests, we are NOT letting them watch it. Davy Jones' CG alone will give them nightmares. Heck, the opening scene had ME recoiling. (Birds eating the eyes out of rotting corpses anybody?) I was a bit surprised that they made it so...gory this time around. Especially since kids are their major target. Oh well. I read somewhere they were making like, SEVEN more movies, and they were going to kill off Orlando's character down the line. I say don't go crazy and have half-baked shoddy sequels. Friday the 13th comes to mind...

Time to get going. I have to work today. I work today and tomorrow, and two days next week. Just how I like it. My house is the cleanest it's ever been!

Oh, and Happy Sausage...er... I mean, St. Nick's Day, everyone!

A Christmas Potluck Tale...

Status: It's now 3 degrees F. outside. Looks like I'm driving the kids to the bus stop today again. Oh, and we're supposed to get MORE snow! I'm turning cartwheels as I type...Oh, and HAPPY 6th BIRTHDAY THING THREE!!

A reader emailed me yesterday and asked me why I was being so hard on Potluck food in my last post. So, let me explain:
It really started in the early nineties with a story my Mother in Law told me about her church Christmas Potluck:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MIL and her good friend were in charge of the food for the Christmas Program. They opted for Roast Beef, baked potato, steamed peas and a roll. Nice dinner, right?

Only they planned on having enough food for 100 people, and 150 showed up.

They were in the kitchen, doling out plates to the servers as fast as they could, and lo and behold, they started to run out of Roast Beef. Yet the servers kept coming and asking for full plates. They began to get desperate. What to do? What to do?

Then it came to them. And what they did next, they both swore never to divulge to anyone, and take the secret to their graves. (But my MIL, bless her, can't keep a secret to save her life, and ten years later, she was telling me all about it, unknowingly putting me off Church potlucks forever...)

So what did they do? They began taking the PARTIALLY EATEN old Roast Beef off of the DIRTY plates that were coming back to the kitchen, and plopping it on the NEW plates of food.

And no, I'm not kidding. MIL said it took up to three dirty plates of half-eaten Roast Beef to make up one plate, but they scrambled and filled the plates with the old Roast Beef as fast as they could. They ended up having enough for everybody, and those poor souls in the dining hall never knew the truth.
And of course while they were switching out old gross Roast Beef and giving it a makeover on a new plate, they were in complete stitches over it, and eventually tears, because they thought it was so funny. Little did the Church People know that they were getting Someone Else's partially eaten Roast Beef.

THE END.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now, granted, this debacle happened in the early eighties, when no one had any Germs (you know what I mean) but STILL.
It sicked me out so badly, now, I won't eat at Church Potlucks. I've been in some of these people's houses, and I've SEEN their kitchens. It's called the"I-Have-Lots-Of-Kids-And-I-Therefore-Have-Sticky-Counters" Syndrome.
And as much as I love you, I'm not going to eat the cookies you plopped on those counters out of the oven.

This is why I don't like Potlucks. I might consider eating the food if it's served right out of a crockpot, (that is still TURNED ON) but that's it.
Sorry, I don't know where the food has been, and that scares the jeebies out of me.

Can you fault me? :-)

It's 9 Whole Degrees Out...Where's My Swimsuit?

Two Words:

Hot Cocoa.

Make that a Venti, and we're good. BRRRRRR! I am bundling my kids up in about 50 layers today...they resemble something out of The Christmas Story (you know, the kid in the snowsuit) and can I just say I LOVE taking 20 minutes just to get all three of them wrapped up?

Luckily the school doesn't let them have outside recess if it's colder than 20 degrees. (That's Farenheit for you Canadians!) And currently with wind chill figured in we're about -15.

Oh yeah, Florida is looking WAY good right about now...

I am officially DONE with Christmas shopping! So happy, and I divvied everything up equally, which is very important.

Oh, and I ended up going to the Church Party on Friday night, Hubby came home from work early so we could all drive together, and it wasn't bad. The kids sang beautifully and I was glad I was there to direct them. But we left right after that. There's something about Potluck Food that gives me the Heebie Jeebies. Especially when you don't know where it came from or where it's been, or how long it's been sitting out. YUCK. I guess that's just something I have to get over.

Well, many errands to run this morning. I'm going to get the Expedition warmed up and drive the kids to the bus stop...it's way too cold to make them stand out there this morning.

Oooh, fun, and it's garbage day. Maneuvering two giant garbage cans down the sheet of ice that is my driveway should be SPECTACULAR.

And I wonder where my kids get their sarcasm...

SNOW Part II

My three Things are having WAY too much fun today...

Hot Chocolate, Anyone? (Dang it, I wish we had a sled!) *Note to Self*: BUY A SLED.

Slammed by Snow!

Wow, they weren't kidding about the weather this time. As of ten o'clock last night, there wasn't a flurry to be seen here in Pewaukee. I decided to go to the store just to get some basics, and they were completely sold out of milk. Not a gallon or a quart in sight. Apparently people were freaking out about the impending blizzard. Luckily I have about four gallons in the downstairs fridge, so I wasn't worried. I bought my stuff (including the last of two car window scrapers) and then I went home, and we went to bed.

We woke up this morning to this:

Naturally they've cancelled all the schools, and naturally, workaholic Hubby just left ten minutes ago to brave the drive Downtown, which they've dubbed with a BLIZZARD warning. I told him to call me the second he puts his big toe in the office.

I'm kind of laughing at my neighbors, though, they are out there, diligently shoveling their driveway, and in two hours it will be all snowed up again. But hey, they're bonding, I guess.

I had to call in to work, I have already tried the two babysitters I trust and they have both been snatched up already. I can't think of anyone to watch my kids, who doesn't live 40 miles away. Not a good sign. My kids are excited to go out and make snowmen and snow angels, but I told them not until the snow finished falling, around noon.

The only major stresser is our Church Christmas party (which I'm directing the music for and must be there) is tonight and I have to drive 40 miles there. I wonder if they will cancel it. So many people have to drive long distances to our little church, which is in Wales (a.k.a. BFE SIBERIA) Wisconsin. Should be pretty interesting.

If I don't blog tomorrow you'll know I'm in a ditch somewhere. Let's hope they get smart and cancel it.

Cross your fingers for me...

Introducing: The Gingerbread…HOVEL…

Okay, this is slightly embarrassing. We decorated our Gingerbread House last night. At least, it was supposed to be a house. Apparently the gingerbread kit I got was SO fresh, one side of the roof caved in after we decorated it. The weight of too many gumdrops I suppose.
Hence, we have more of a hovel, than a house. But it was fun putting it together and eating more gumdrops than we put on it.
It’s truly a mess, but the kids had a blast. And you can get the kits for $9.99 at Target. Fun!

And on a sour note, I'm experiencing my first pangs of of what we Retail People call Holiday Jeer. It’s all coming back to me now, as I’ve been working at this store.

I worked retail for years and years, and I remember HATING Christmas. Christmas to me was just tired feet and endless hours of bitchy customers and Floor moves and re-arranging floor displays when they sold out. Not to mention the endless stocking of merchandise and calls to deal with upset customers.

I am seeing such people at my work now. Tired, burned-out “over it” people, and they just want the Holidays to be over.
Since little pee-on me just works about four or five hours a day, I can afford to have a little Holiday cheer. But these poor souls who put in long days, all I can say is UGH. I remember those days, and may they always remain in my memory only. May I never have to re-live them. Luckily the store I’m working at is pretty well run. Not too much chaos.

Oh, and a note to shoppers…please, don’t be a piggy and leave all your clothes inside the fitting room—inside-out on the floor. We will curse your name and stick pins in Voodoo dolls that resemble you. You SUCK when you leave those kinds of messes for us Fitting Room people. Yeah, we may seem cheerful, and unperturbed by it all, but we really REALLY hate lazy people like you. While we’re smiling at you, we secretly want to run at you and push you over a very jagged cliff.
Just in case you wondered.

Time to get going! Just one question: Why is it that all my really comfy shoes are older than my kids, and out of style? Why is fashion so uncomfortable these days? We went and bought me some “comfy” shoes, and my feet are worse off than before. Maybe it's because my toes don't naturally go to a point, and DO NOT enjoy feeling like they're being pushed through the end of a ball-point pen.

Hmmmm…….

One Down, Two to Go...

Status: Feeling pregnant and a tad overwhelmed but happy because I found Applets and Cotlets in the Christmas candy section at Target.

I got the Main Tree up yesterday. The same artificial tree we, as newlyweds, spent way too much on at Dillards when I worked there. (I'll never forget that day, it was the day after Christmas, and people were CRAZY over the Christmas trees--luckily I grabbed mine up fast, but it was still $400 at half price...and one man, he was fighting over a tree with another man, and suddenly he pointed at the man and shouted (at the top of his lungs, mind you) :
"I CURSE YOU FOR YOUR SELFISHNESS!! I CURSE YOU AND YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY! MAY YOU NEVER HAVE A HAPPY CHRISTMAS WITH THIS TREE!!!"

And no, I'm NOT kiddding. It was that crazy. But anyway, we got the tree, and here we are, ten years later and it still looks fabulous. And I still have all the same decorations I bought ten years ago, including the ribbon. This tree has looked the same for a decade, and it's practically an antique. I lurve it.)

ANYWAY, it looks very nice in the Great Room.

So, one down, two to go. But sadly, I have to work today, tomorrow, and the next day (tis' Christmas time you know!) and I won't be able to get any more trees up until the weekend, at the earliest.

I found all the Christmas CD's, and I was listening to them as I trimmed the tree (I sort of ran out of lights at the top) and it was really nice. I just think it's funny because my kids LOVE Johnny Mathis. I grew up listening to him at Christmas, and so are they. Luckily Hubby likes him too. But even if he didn't, I'd still play my Johnny CD. ;-)

Ugh, the boys are running around in their underwear upstairs and whacking each other with their shirts. Time to intervene!

WOWZA.

I suspect this might be some sort of record for me...not blogging for an entire week is so...unlike me. I usually have something to say.
But then again, I usually have the TIME to say it.

This past week was busy, crazy, fun, and draining, all wrapped into one. Yesterday was not-so-fun because Hubby was home sick (we suspected flu but he's better and on his way to work today) and I had to work yesterday.

So, the highlights of last week: we convect-roasted our 20-pound turkey in half the normal time, and I have to say, it was delectable. I even took pictures. I'll spare the vegans among you and I won't post them, but let me say, the turkey was perfect.

Another highlight: can I just say that I'm a bit hoarse and I have shin splints from jumping around and screaming at the tail end of what was probably the BEST BYU/U of U Game ever? I was so stressed at the end, I was on the sofa, cowering under the blanket with one eye peeking out at that last play, and when it was over I was hitting the ceiling. (Can I just say I've never actually moshed with my In-Laws before? It was weird.)
But the game was Amazing. It reminded me of the "old days", when no matter what, it seemed BYU could pull it out. What a great game.

We got a lot of shopping done, spent insane amounts of money, and basically had a blast. I guess that's what you do this time of year. I am determined to get Christmas cards out this year...maybe not with a family picture this time because with Hubby's work there's about 500 to send out, but I want to let people know I care, you know?

I'm off work today (my only day off this week) and I want to get our main tree up. I'm only doing three trees this year. The BIG One, the "Front Show Window" one, and the upstairs "Hi Look At Me" one. That's it.

Oh, and Hubby and FIL did the Griswald Christmas light thing...our house is now covered in these huge snowflake icicle lights. It only took them two days. And I drew the line at doing the upper roof, because it was too high and too stressful. But it sure is pretty.

Time to run to Target! I need to see if they have any Gingerbread House Kits left. Man, I love the holidays!

EEEEEK!!!

No time to blog today! In the middle of CRAZINESS!!!!

Wish me luck!!!

It SUNNED!!!

Okay, yes, thank you-- I'm aware that "Sunned" is not a word. Thing Three coined that phrase this weekend. Why?
Sunday was GORGEOUS...the sun came out, and it shined all day, and the sky was blue with puffy white clouds.
(Thing One couldn't resist singing "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow" every five minutes until I had to threaten her with pain to get her to cease and desist)
It was freezing cold, but it was sunny. And today the sun is out too, it's streaming over my face as I type this. WOO HOO!

I fully expect Craziness to ensue this week...the In Laws decided to come for Thanksgiving last minute (as in YESTERDAY) and so I have roughly today and tomorrow before they Descend. Not that I'm stressed or wanting to yank my hair out in frustration or anything. I'm always up for a challenge. Luckily I have today off, so I can run around like a head with my chicken cut off for one day, and then pace myself tomorrow. And yes, that switch about the chicken was intentional.

We saw "Happy Feet" this weekend, and although the middle was a tad weird, it was a good movie. Hubby and I have to keep reminding ourselves that we are ADULTS watching a movie geared for LITTLE KIDS so there are going to be some "far-fetched" storylines.

The only freak-out for me was Elijah Wood as Mumble (I've always been freaked out by Elijah Wood, ever since LOTR, so watching his face come out as a talking fuzzy penguin didn't help much in the Freakish Department) but everything else was very cleverly done.

But the HARRY POTTER TRAILER was awesome! Granted, it went WAYYYY too fast for me and when it was over I was like "That's IT? I'VE BEEN ROBBED!!!" but other than that, it was pretty cool. A Teaser if you will. But it looks like it's shaping up to be a good movie. (Although all my harping on Dan Radcliffe to cut his hair has backfired, he finally did and now he looks TWELVE again. Careful what you wish for, right?)

Ooh, the clock is ticking. Time for Craziness! Wish me luck!

Where's the Sun?

Okay, I'm not typically one to whine, but WHERE IS THE SUN IN THIS PLACE LATELY??? Coming from Denver, where the sun was nearly ALWAYS out, and the sky was ALWAYS this bright pretty blue, I am now finding myself in Sun-less Purgatory.

AKA Wisconsin. Gray, flat, drab, gloomy, dark, and did I mention windy and cold? Granted, we haven't had a true snowfall yet, which is really strange (I read something about Global Warming affecting WI the other day) but this lack of sun is really affecting me lately. I prefer snow. Then at least you have light outside your windows. I am feeling really depressed lately. I wilt when there isn't sun.

I've heard of those lamps that mimic the sun's natural light. I think I need to invest in a couple of those, and put them in the house. Hubby says it's time to plan a vacation, in January or February, to someplace warm and tropical, and sunny. It would be nice if we sold our house in Denver first! UGH. I heard that after November 15th, the market goes dead and we won't have a chance to sell until after the new year.
A lot to be depressed about, but I'm still going to try and have faith. Otherwise I'll end up shuffling around in my bathrobe somewhere, which isn't what I want.

We are staying home for Thanksgiving, and for the first time in a long time, we aren't having houseguests. So we get to prepare all the food ourselves. I am actually looking forward to it. Hubby and I have great fun when we're in the kitchen cooking together, and he is really good at cleaning up after me. He has this little chant: "Lara messes it up, Hubby cleans it up..." and he always sings it when we cook. Sometimes I want to whack him, but it's all in fun.

I love the Holidays. I think next week will be the perfect week to get up all my Christmas stuff. Lights and trees and bows and Christmas music will be the perfect remedy for all this...depression. Nothing like Holiday Cheer!

Hopefully I can be "cheerful" during all the sales they have at work. People go CRAZY over sales here. I mean seriously mental. Which reminds, me, I have to work today! Time to go!

Have a good weekend, all, and be HAPPY!

A Sad but Obvious Truth...

I read an article in which Dan Radcliffe, the kid who plays Harry Potter in the movies, gave an interview about his thoughts on the end of Book Seven. Much of what he said makes sense, sadly:

"I'd like to think that I'll be playing a Death Scene at the end. I think, personally, that's the only way J.K. (Rowling) could ever halt any call for her to keep writing Potter books, because, I mean, if Harry survives, she'll just be getting plagued by requests to write an eighth book the rest of her life."

I hate to admit it, but it rings true. So it will be interesting to see what happens in the last Book. I mean, it IS the last book. It's THE END. Harry could very well die. But readers who have stayed with him through every adventure, every close call, will feel a sense of loss. We've all grown "rather fond" of the boy wizard (as evidenced by a poll conducted by the Leaky Cauldron in which people were asked to rate who they wanted to survive in Book Seven the most, and guess who the clear winner was).

I have the day off today, which is good because the kids have a half day at school. I am going to do about 12 loads of laundry that have piled up over the last two weeks. I have been bad and let it accumulate. I guess the Laundry Fairy decided to fly over my house and skip it. ;-)

Well, got to get the kids to the school bus stop! Why does it feel like Friday?

ps---It's Freezing!!!

Exhausted.

Being a current "baby-maker" I am seriously NO GOOD past ten o'clock at night. But when Hubby travels, I can't sleep.
So, last night, around ten pm, I went downstairs and picked a movie to watch to get me to sleep. Of course I picked a really cool one with snappy music: Sahara.
So, around Midnight just as it was ending, and I was concluding that Matthew McConaughey has suspisciously stubby arms, I started feeling sleepy.
Now, six hours later, I am dead. And my day is full. Dr.'s appt. at 9:30, work from 11-3, and then I have to run home and clean up the mess I left in the mud room with all the leftover junk and empty boxes.
I cleaned the guest room yesterday. Well, UNPACKED the guest room. It looks fabulous. But it took me four hours, from nine to noon. So, now, the only thing left is the basement. But the basement is the daunting part. Granted, my office in the basement is done (hey, I PRIORITIZED!) but now I have to do the family room, gameroom, Movie Theatre room, bathroom, 2nd kitchen, and the back area needs to be organized so I can have my little craft room.
Yeah, did I mention my basement is GINORMOUS? This project will take a month or so. But when I'm done, I'll be done with the whole house.

The age old question: How do you eat an elephant?

I've got to look at it that way. I'm almost there! We are having houseguests for Christmas so I have a deadline.

I was reading in the news that there is a new massage that was invented specifically for "Blackberry Thumb." I laughed and laughed. Hubby had a blackberry for his last job, and all he did was stand like a Greek statue and scroll with his thumb, all the time. He had to have that clean inbox. He was checking it constantly, in restaurants, at home, everywhere.Now he has a Treo and he's just as bad, but at least he doesn't have Blackberry (aka CRACKberry) Thumb.These poor Crackberry addicts! But I can joke about it because I don't have one. I can imagine it's highly addictive.

Time to make lunches and run. I am so dang tired, I think the kids can have hot lunch today. Yes, I'm a bad mommy. *Yawn*

Tuesday Toast Day II

The kids love today. Instead of cereal, they get toast, or english muffins, or bagels. Hubby thinks it's not the most nutritious breakfast, and he's right, but it's only one day a week and frankly, they're kids, they have to have SOME fun to break up the monotony of cold cereal.

Oooh, I was sooo mad about "Heroes" last night. We DVR it and watch it after the kids are in bed, and lately it's been running "over" time. Well, I keep forgetting to set the timer to tape a few minutes later, and for the SECOND week in a row, the ending has been cut off. I was livid. I mean, the ending is "kind of" important, right? All we saw was Hiro's friend sitting by himself in the cafe, and CUT! Would you like to erase this program now? flashed on the screen.

*GRRRR*

I have remedied the problem, and let me tell you it won't happen again. If anyone has any insight as to what happened at the end last night, please feel free to let me know!

Okay, to clarify about my boys singing songs from the musical "Annie" yesterday, it doesn't bug ME so much, but I know if HUBBY hears them, he'll freak out. It's just a man thing.

Today I'm off from work (had a close call yesterday when a lady asked me to cover her shift, I said no and I felt so bad but I need these days off) and I intend to fully work on the first floor Guest Room. We got lucky with this house. First floor Master, and First Floor Guest room, with it's own full bath. But unfortunately, it's currently full with about 50 boxes, all of which either go in there, or I just didn't want to unpack and moved in there. So, this will be a chore. And I have to change the curtains. They put these really nice draperies in there, but they are PINK and BLUE and YELLOW flowers and I have no idea what they were thinking. The rest of the house is so earth-toned and subdued and...dignified. So I bought some khaki-colored draperies and they should look good on the windows. I hate to change them out, because they really are nice, but they just don't match anything I have.

Okay, rambling. I'm off to Sendiks for the weeks' groceries (and I promised the kids they could have Sushi tonight (although Thing Two won't go near it and so he'll have a corn dog, how's that for dysfunction) and then it's KNOCK OUT THE GUEST ROOM time. And I will officially be done with the first floor.

Go me.

Da Vinci and the Mask of Atreus...

Da Vinci Code is out this week! I heard somewhere they were filming the Prequel: Angels and Demons, but I wonder if they have even started. I LOVE those two Dan Brown books. Sheer Entertainment, if you take it all with a grain of salt.

Currently reading THE MASK OF ATREUS by A.J. Hartley and I'm smitten. It has everything I love in it: Adventure, Travel, Mystery, Archaeology, Greek lore and... Treasure. I'm in deep "smit" over this one. But alas I have to put it down because Mondays are a bit errand-heavy.

Okay, I'm a little worried. Thing One is heavily into "Annie" so I bought her the original Broadway Soundtrack (1977--the BEST version, in my opinion) and the movie, and she has been entranced. (Well, she bounces back and forth between that and "High School Musical"--enough to drive even the most patient mother--which I'm not--bonkers.) The cause of the worry? My SONS are now singing "Maybe" under their breath, and "Tomorrow." And listening to my five year old son hum "it's a hard knock life" while putting together a puzzle yesterday inspired me to limit Thing One's viewing/listening of Annie to her bedroom only. Yikes. Where's the Football?

Time to pack lunches. Hopefully I have gotten over the clumsiness of yesterday (see previous post) and will be able to function normally. Although I did drop the toast jam-side-down this morning.

Not a good sign.

I'm a Spaz...

Today was weird. I was totally clumsy and spazzy and...embarrasing at church. I don't know if it's the "pregnant lady = uncoordinated" thing or WHAT.

So, we're in church, taking the Sacrament. I take my piece of bread and unwittingly take another piece with it and it goes flying into the lap of my son next to me. I heard the people in the pew behind me chuckling. Ugh.

Then, about 20 minutes later, I take off my wedding ring because for some reason it's itching my finger, and when I try to put it on it flies out of my hands and bounces on the floor, rolling and finally coming to a stop two pews ahead of us. (Of course I didn't know this, I just assumed it was lost forever and acted accordingly.)
Some poor missionary was at the most emotional part of his "farewell" talk, and I had about six people on their knees searching for the ring right in the middle of the floor for me. I wanted to die. Hubby was completely mortified.

THEN during singing time I clumsily ran into the music stand and scattered about 27892 sheets of paper and instead of just falling, of course they fanned out until they covered the entire front of the room.

To top it off, I rolled my ankle in my spikey black boots as I was going out the concrete steps to the parking lot. A farewell gesture, if you will.

I'm glad I'm home and I'm just sitting still.

At least I didn't burn the lasagna.

No Work Today!! WOO!

Today is weird, because I've gotten so used to flying around on my broomstick every morning, so I can get to work at 8am. I'm off today, and the kids are out of school, and we just had waffles to celebrate. (Poor Hubby. He had Total Raisin Bran before he left.)
I told the kids: "You'd better sleep in today!" Turns out they woke up at their normal time...6:30, but they played quietly in their rooms and let me sleep. Sweethearts.

So BYU SPANKED Wyoming 55-7 last night. We don't get the game here, but we had the realtime scoreboard and while we were sitting around Hubby had the laptop and was giving us a play-by-play. It was hilarious. I was thinking of those poor cheerleaders...all the times they had to do the Fight Song. (hee hee).
I remember a few games in High School, (yes, I admit to being a cheerleader) one football game in particular, we seemed to get a lot of touchdowns. Soon I felt like if I had to do the fight song one more time, my arms would fall off. And of course it didn't help that the band hated us (and us them) and they played the Fight Song at Mach 10 just to piss us off. Ah, those were the days!

Today is "knock out the house" day. I've unpacked everything on the first and second floors, now it's time to organize, clean, set, and finish. The kids are responsible for cleaning their own rooms and making their beds (we have central vac, and they're always begging me to vacuum, so I'll let them) and I'll take care of the Guest room, Kitchen, dining room, formal dining, Great room and entryway and Master. Hmmm, maybe I'll have them help me a little. ;-) I have a lot to do!

This weekend we are finally getting to see "Flushed Away" and next weekend I'll let the kids drag me to "Happy Feet" but only because the trailer for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will be debuting before the movie. July can't come soon enough!

I have a funny Harry Potter story to tell. My brother, who is "too cool" for Potter (aka he's never read the books and is suffering in ignorance) called me up a few weeks ago and asked me if I could recommend some good reading material. Of course the first words out of my mouth were "Have you read any of the Harry Potter books?" He hemmed and hawed and said he really wasn't "into that sort of stuff," which is EXACTLY what I said four years ago when *I* was "too cool" to read Potter.
I told him to go and buy the first book, and give it 1/2 an hour of reading. If he still wasn't interested, fine. He promised me he would.
So, a week and a half passed by, and I called him, and we made small talk, and I finally asked him, "so, did you try reading the first Harry Potter book?" His response:

"Oh, that. I've already read that and Chamber of Secrets and I'm halfway through Prisoner of Azkaban."

I laughed and laughed and laughed at him. He sheepishly admitted that he was hooked after the first chapter, and he was no longer "embarrassed" to buy the books at the bookstore. As of now he's read all of the first five books and he's "gathering his strength" to read the sixth book.

Another one bites the dust. I knew he'd like it. But I digress.

Hope everyone has a relaxing weekend, and to NaNoer's: keep it up! My hat is off to you guys!

I'M SAVED.

Or rather, my FEET are! I just got home from a seven hour shift, and frankly, even the most comfortable shoes weren't going to save me. I ripped this thing out of it's box as soon as I got in the door and used it, and it's AWESOME. It has two settings, cool and heat. My feet loved it. Whew!

I've had a trying day. I got some really bad news today. We found out my SIL may be losing her baby. She was only five weeks, but that is just terrible. I've been sick all day for her. But she's strong. Stronger than me.

The kids are bringing home all sorts of cute little things. Thanksgiving "turkeys" made from pinecones, turkey picture frames, and pins, everything you can think of that is Turkey themed. So cute. But no idea where I'm going to put all this stuff.

Short post because I have to hobble around and tidy up. Tomorrow I'm off, and the kids are home from school. It should be interesting. I just can't get over this weather. It's 60 degrees outside, but tomorrow, the high is supposed to be 34 or something crazy like that. That's Wisconsin for you!

I'm going to curl up tonight with a friend's WIP, and take it easy. I love my new foot massager! (Thing Two came in from school and asked "Mom, did you buy a new radio?")
*Snort*

Is it Friday yet?

Just finished my 8-12 today. I wore really comfy shoes so all is well. But I am going for a power nap after this post.

Voted yesterday, and I have to say, the results this year are...interesting. And that's all I have to say about that.

I was going to make my yummy scratch Clam Chowder tonight, but it's supposed to be 70 degrees today. It's sunny and hot. IN WISCONSIN. We still haven't sold our house in Denver, and apparently our realtor has been shoveling snow on our driveway himself. What is up with that? Wonky weather, for sure.

Okay, I never get "emotionally involved" in these things, but I had to let out a whoop of joy when I read yesterday that Britney Spears filed for divorce from that blood-sucking overly-fertile leech she called a husband. Good move, girl, you go!

In lighter news, a writer acquaintance of mine just sold a two-book deal for seven figures. WHEW. It was pretty amazing to hear. Stories like that give a writer hope, you know? I had to laugh though. She's going to meet all the cousins she never knew she had, with that kind of money in her bank account. Good for her, I say.

I'm still currently writing novels in my head. Hubby and I sort of got into it last night, when I was talking about my lack of writing time. He was like "why can't you write now?" I looked at him (somewhat incredulously) and asked: "you really wouldn't give me a hard time about writing with half the house still in boxes?"

His response: "You can always make time to write."

I rolled my eyes at him. Yeah. He says that now, but I know myself better. I am not a good juggler. I either write and neglect pretty much everything, or I do everything and writing falls to the wayside. That is it with me. I am not good at balancing.

But I am good at sleeping...nap time!

Happy Voting Day...

Get out and VOTE, Y'all! Let your voice be heard!

*ahem* I'm glad I'm not alone in the disgust I voiced over yesterday's post. As for the Movies, we never got to see "Flushed Away" last weekend because of sick kids. We are planning on it this weekend. I think I'm as excited to see it as the kids! ;-)

I have to work again today, 11-3. I like the short shifts. Just enough to where my feet are screaming in their shoes by the last hour. I am SO not used to being on my feet for hours on end anymore. But it builds character, right? I'm off tomorrow, so I will definitely be doing house unpacking stuff. Eating the Elephant One Bite At A Time.

I am miffed. Our house came with a 50-inch plasma TV, set into the wall (and they very cleverly put an ornate picture frame around it, to make it look like a large mirror in the Great Room) and Hubby was just watching the TV on Sunday and it winked out. We couldn't get it to turn back on. Just a little blinking red light. We tried the breaker switches, then unplugging it and plugging it back in. Nothing. So I get to call and find out what's wrong, with this basically BRAND NEW TV. Is Mercury still Retrograde? Because I was enjoying a bath with the jets on and when I reached over to turn them off on Sunday the jets wouldn't turn off. Hubby had to pop the breaker switch in the master closet to turn the jets off. LAME.

So, it would seem my brand-new house is tempermental. Or at least the electrical stuff in it!

Well, time to run errands. Vote, Kinko's, store, then work, then run the kids to their DR's appts after school. Oh, and I have to squeeze in a Dry Cleaning drop-off somewhere in there.

Ah, yes, my life is full right now. Full of crappy errands! ;-)

Sickie Weekend...

Well, that was one weekend I could have done without. The boys and I had sore throats and stuffy noses (and thing Two had a fever and a wonky pink eye) all of Saturday and Sunay. And Hubby and Thing One spent the weekend staying away from us, so they wouldn't get sick.
At least the boys could take Motrin and cold medicine. I couldn't take anything, because of the baby. And I am not exactly a "tough" sick person. I did my share of whining this weekend.

Hubby just left for NYC. He'll be there until the end of the week. Yes, he was just in L.A. Don't worry, he's got a trip next week too. But it's only three days, instead of five.

I have to work every day this week except Wednesday. Wow. It must be the holidays again! I'll have to resurrect my "Retail Woes" blogs from a couple of years ago one of these days. Maybe I'll post them on my website for your reading enjoyment. Few people realize the hell retail people go through during the Holiday Rush. It's indescribable. It's like being in a SAW Movie, and nearly twice as painful.

Speaking of the SAW movies, my daughter was telling me about one of her friends at school, a boy; and he was asking her if she'd seen SAW III yet. She told him she wasn't allowed to watch rated R movies, and he replied: "I just saw it with my parents. It was SOOO cool!"

Okay. This boy is eight years old. I have read about the SAW movies, and frankly, it makes me sick. And this young kid is watching them? Shame on his parents. I'm sorry, but I would never let my kids watch a movie where some deranged butcher named Jigsaw tortures/mutilates/chops up people for the sheer enjoyment of it. NO SIR.

I told Thing One to be wary of this boy. I'm sure he's a nice kid, but if he is so desensitized as to think a movie like that is "cool," well, I worry for him.

And yes, I'm overprotective. It's my right as a parent.

Well, time to go have some lemon herbal tea with honey and get the kids off to school! I hope I don't have this cold for long.

*sniff*

FRIDAY.

Short post today, I just got called in to work. Wasn't expecting it, but I am a sucker and can't say no. It's only 9-3. But it's the longest shift I've worked yet. I'll just have to pack a really nutritious lunch. Being on my feet for six hours will be interesting...;-)

We're taking the kids to see "Flushed Away" this Saturday, Hubby gets home from L.A. and it should be a relaxing weekend. We have to stop going to the Original Pancake House every Saturday morning though. Or I'm going to blow up like a balloon. There is nothing like their Buckwheat pancakes. To DIE for. And their bacon. Don't even get me started on their potatoes and omelettes. MMM.

Okay, time to get my bowl of Grape Nuts and shut up. Have a good weekend, all, and be good!

Arrrrrgggghhhh!!!!

And no, I'm not practicing to be a pirate. It's called FRUSTRATION with moving, yet again.
Case in point: I have a big-screen TV in the basement with all sorts of stereo equipment and surround sound system, etc etc and I don't have the foggiest idea how to set it all up. So I called Flanners and they were to send a couple of guys out to hook it all up for me, and get it all set. So, I find the box that says "Basement Entertainment/Stereo Components" on it, and think I'm ready for them.

Well, pregnant lady that I am, I totally spaced the appointment, so when they arrived on my doorstep I wondered who the heck they were until I saw one of them had "Flanners" on his shirt. So we went down to the basement (I prefer to call it the "Graveyard of unpacked boxes) and I showed them where all the speakers were and where I wanted everything and opened up the box with all the stuff in it.

What was in the box? A pinball machine, workout room towels, and a half-empty bottle of water.

"Um...excuse me for a moment guys, I apparently have the wrong box."

They were super nice. They admired my stuff while I frantically searched the description of every box, and found nothing that said "Stereo stuff." After about five minutes I started ripping open boxes. And we're talking these HUGE dish-pack boxes. I had about 15 of them, and the intall guys were soon breaking out their pocket knives and helping me open up boxes. 10 minutes and 15 searched boxes later, we were still out of luck. I was starting to get pissed off. I excused myself and went into the back storage room, where I kid you not, the movers put every box that didn't have a place. We're talking about 100+ boxes in there. I looked through about five of them, and they were stacked three high, and about six deep. There was no way.

I went back out and apologized to the guys for coming all the way out, but I couldn't find my stuff. They volunteered to bring in their own stuff, but I wasn't born yesterday. I wasn't going to pay for wires and components when I had it all, already. So I told them I was sorry but I would have to reschedule.

They left, and I became a Madwoman Possessed. I pulled every single box out of the stack and looked at them. No Stereo stuff. Not even a box that said "Pinball Machine." I worked my way to the boxes down the hall, and in the other storage room. Finally, I got to the other end of the basement, cursing and sweaty, and saw one huge box sitting by itself by the sump pump. It was the VERY last box that was untouched. I walked over to it, and read the description:

"Pinball Machine, Towels, etc. Basement."

I tore it open and there it all was: the receiver, the mass of wires, the DVD player, etc. It was all there. I hurried up to the phone and called and rescheduled the hookup for today. Thank heaven they were nice and didn't charge me the $79 trip fee for yesterday.

But I'm sure they had a good laugh about it. I'm not exactly laughing. I HATE moving!

Ready, Set, GO!!!

A Shout Out to all you NaNoers out there, Good Luck!

I have always admired the drive NaNoers have...one day I will do NaNo too.

I forgot I had to work yesterday, and I was tired when I got home. Hubby has a huge meeting with the CEO of the company today, he wore a suit to work and I have to say, they have to love his presentation based on the suit and tie alone. He looked pretty dang hot. (Hey, I can say that about my own hubby!) Power suits look good on him.
Then he's off to California tomorrow. Next week, it's NYC. The week after that, it's Minneapolis. Then, he travels the week after that, but I've lost track of where he'll be.

At least he'll be home for Thanksgiving. And he'll be home for the day AFTER, which I will have to work. It's mandatory. That's the only thing that sucks about working a retail job during the Holidays, even if it's WAY part time. I still am required to work the day after Thanksgiving and the day after Christmas. But its ok, we aren't going anywhere this year, family is coming to us.
The only downer is Hubby wanted me to go to New York with him in December--I've never seen Times Square at Christmas, and he's going to be there an entire week. I was all for it until I realized I had to work. D'OH!!!
And yes, I could quit, but that would nullify my credibility with my employers. I told them I was a hard worker and dependable, and I am. I'm not a flake who doesn't show up or shows up and talks the whole time and can't be bothered to work, like SOME people at that store. Besides, it's been nice to get out of the house. It forces me to stay active, as this baby grows. And I need that. Oh, and this store is fun, it gets all the celebrity visits. Last week it was Vera Wang. Next week it will be...oops, I almost spilled the beans! I'll tell later, after she's visited.

Happy Hump Day (Wednesday), everyone!
(Why does that sound faintly vulgar?)

An Intruder in the Night...

Happy Halloween, everyone! Of course we Trick or Treated on Saturday night, because in Wisconsin, they assign every town certain nights to Trick or Treat, because this must be the Child-Breeding Capitol of the World or something...(kidding.)

So tonight we are grilling Brats (a delectable Wisconsin dish) and having doughnuts and cider, and decorating Halloween cookies. The kids already got enough candy to keep an Army stimulated for weeks, so we're rationing it out.

As for the title of this blog, we had an intruder last night. We didn't even know he was in the house, until he made his presence known, in the Master bedroom, where Hubby and I were sleeping.
It was 3:15 am, and Thing One came charging down the stairs to our room, because she'd had a horrible dream. (her speech was a little garbled but it was something about falling off a horse into quicksand and getting s-l-o-w-l-y sucked under) and she begged to sleep with us for a little while. Then around 4am I walked her back up to her room and tucked her in. I got back in bed, and 15 minutes later, Hubby sits up and turns on the light. Why is it that a single 60-watt bulb can be SOLAR-LEVEL blinding at 4am?

He said: "There's something in our room."

Naturally my blood ran cold at this, I didn't know what the jeepers he would be talking about, but then he yelled (a manly yell) and pointed and I saw our intruder, as it scurried underneath the leather chair by our bed:

A mouse.

Unfortunately yesterday was Laundry day and I had piles of reds, whites, darks, etc etc all over the floor waiting to be washed, and the mouse was probably hiding in them. We turned on all the lights, and got shoes on our feet, and made a ruckus to scare the little bugger out. But to no avail. He was either long gone, or he was hiding really well. We finally gave up around 5am and went back to bed.

I have a mouse exterminator coming tomorrow...who knows if it's just one mouse that got in. But I can tell you who the culprits are: my children. They always leave the inner garage door open, and we do live on the edge of a large field, in a brand-new subdivision.

I just don't want to find the mouse, dead and rotting somewhere. I WILL NOT have mice in my house! EEEK!

Well, I'd better get cleaning. There's nothing worse than "unpacking clutter" all around because it's perfect for mice to hide in. And I'll be damned if I get any more mice in this house.

Crazy Weekend...

And how, but I have to say at least it was productive. Hubby and I got the rest of the entire upstairs knocked out, the kids rooms are all unpacked, and the Jack and Jill bathroom now actually has carpets and towels and a shower curtain in it, and the upstairs library nook is looking pretty cool, now that it's not choked with boxes and...well...crap.

Of course my children have been living in chaos for so long, they seem to have forgotten how to make their beds and pick up after themselves...*grumble*. I'll have to "re-teach" them.

I worked hard Saturday. I was worth absolutely zilch after 9:30 pm, and I think Hubby was tired too because he went to bed the same time I did.
And of course on Sunday, my brain woke me up at 6:30 am, but in reality, it was 5:30, because of Daylight Savings. I couldn't go back to sleep, and I remembered that it was the first day of my new calling as the Church Primary Chorister, so I spent the next couple of hours making games and posterboards for the FOUR songs we have THREE sundays to learn for the Christmas program. And I only get 15 minutes with the kids each Sunday. So I'm making "choir books" so they'll at least have the words. Yes, it's cheating, but I'm not that good at teaching new songs. I sent a letter home to the parents and asked them to help their kids sing the music at home. 45 minutes just isn't enough time for four-year olds to learn four songs and ALL the verses!

Whew that sounded like a rant. I am excited because today is warm--50's and sunny. I've already been to Walmart and the grocery store and stocked us up for the week. Now I just need to knock out some more boxes today, and call it good. I don't work until Wednesday, and it's a weird shift, 11-3. I am usually 8-12. But at least I won't have to run around in the morning!

Still itching to work on my novel. A lot of my writing buddies are doing NaNo this year, and to them, my hat is off. Good luck! They're a talented group, and I know they'll churn out some great stuff. For those of you who don't know what NaNo is, it's National Novel Writing Month and people challenge themselves to write an entire novel...in one month. I did that once, it's how Emma Roy was born, but it wasn't for NaNo and it was in July. Man, I was crazy. All I did was write. It was so much fun!

I'm rambling now. If you've made it to the end of this post, well... you must be bored! Have a good day! At least it isn't snowing...

I have an OFFICE!!!

The furniture arrived yesterday, (of course at the tail end of the delivery window--ugh) and it was worth the wait.
Of course the room was too small to have the desk with the arm jutting out, so we broke the two parts up, and I have two desks. One for reading and taking notes, and the other for writing. And I have these huge filing cabinets with bookcases on them, and I'm going to go down and put all my research books in them after I write this. I was laughing because all of our personal files filled up only half of one of the filing cabinets, and my writing files will only fill up the other half, so I have TONS of filing space. I am going to be the Filing Queen. Hooray! I need some organization in my life! Besides, if I'm going to write the rest of my life, you can bet I'll need those filing cabinets. Lots of facts to keep straight when you're writing Historical fiction!

I put plants and candles and antique books all around and hung my Monet's "Champ de Coquelicots" print on the wall (the art that inspired my first novel ever). So it's officially mine. I'm very excited!

Of course my "craft room" is a different story. In the unfinished part of our basement, it's very well lit, so it isn't dark and scary, but it's a "jog." You walk into this room, then you turn left and down a hallway that leads into an enormous room, then you turn right and go down a longer hallway, then you turn left again and there's this little room allllllllll the way in the back, and THAT, is going to be my craft room.
I put some area rugs down and I'll have all my tubs and drawers in there, and I'll put posters up on the walls so it will be all cozy. It's not as bad as it sounds. But eventually we'll drywall in there because I don't want spiders dropping on my head. ;-)

Well, I'm off to unpack Thing One's room--she has been a pill about cleaning it and I finally threatened her with taking away a privilege she REALLY doesn't want taken away and she cleaned it. Sheesh. I am NOT going to unpack in an already messy room. No Sir. It's been kind of strange because usually Thing One is neat as a pin. Anal, even. So this has been a departure, for sure.

I hope everyone has a good weekend...I'll be in my new office!

Happy Birthday Thing One!!!

I can't believe I have a NINE year old. That is just messed up. Bring on the Wrinkle Cream! Time is sure flying fast. Just yesterday she was being wrapped up like a burrito and being handed to me in the hospital. I looked at her for the first time and was like, "I made this thing?" It was very surreal. It still kind of is. ;-)

We just finished our waffles (a nice departure from the usual oatmeal and cold cereal) and the kids are home from school the next two days. We are going to carve pumpkins, play outside, and I'm going to bake a cake. White with Rainbow Chip frosting...her favorite.

And I'm getting my OFFICE FURNITURE TODAY!!! HOORAY!!!

The novel in my head is not being patient. It wants me to start writing. I woke up this morning to Hubby's alarm, and immediately grabbed the notebook at my nightstand and began scribbling images and a very clever description that had popped into my head during sleep. I'm dreaming about this novel now. It is BEGGING to be written. I just don't know if I have the chops to pull it off. I have to write about a place I've never been, and in my current condition, a place I won't be visiting any time soon.
I've lamented about this before. I am a stay-home mom with young children, and husband whose career demands much of his time, so "traveling all over the world" for research just isn't something I can do.
So I do the Nora Roberts Thing. I google the place my story is set in, and try to pretend I've been there. Which frankly takes a major effort, because I haven't sat in a pub in Scotland and drunk in the atmosphere, or sloshed around muddy country roads and smelled the farm animals. I have to "fake it." At least for now. And for as long as I keep having babies!

*grumble*

Well, I'd pick a sweet newborn over all the trips to Scotland in the world, but I would like to eventually VISIT one of the places my stories are set in, you know? But I digress.

I hope Thing One likes her presents! She's really crafty so I got her a bunch of scrapbooking stuff and yarn for making things. She's getting really good with her hands. She can knit a scarf in a few hours, if she sat still that long.

Ugh, the boys are screaming upstairs, time to break it up!
Tonight will be a Bubble Bath and Candles night!

The POUTING PRINCESS and Other Stories...

Thing One (my nine-year old daughter) was in fine form this morning, fine form. The kids were to wear their Halloween costumes to school today, and they were all very excited. Thing Three was a Red Power Ranger. On with the costume, and he was running around flexing his built-in muscles and happy as a clam. Thing Two was Captain Jack Sparrow. We got on the garb, fitted him with a pirate hat and boots, and he was running around yelling "Argh, me hearty!"

Happy as a Clam.

Thing One? Well, she was a Medieval Princess. Her dress, I must say, is beautiful. It has a gold underskirt with a blue velvet overdress, and a pearl choker on the bodice with strings of pearls, and a high gold princess collar. So we get on the dress, and I have to give her "Princess Hair" which I was happy to do because you only get to dress up like this once or twice a year.

Then the problems started. She pouted because when she sat down the hoopskirt bulged out embarrassingly. (Or so she said. She didn't want to listen to my plea for authenticity.)
So we cut the hoop out of the slip. Then it was the whalebones in the collar. She didn't want it to stick up straight; that was embarrassing. So we had to cut the whalebones out of the collar, so it would lie flat on her shoulders. Then she was upset because she had to wear her glasses. Medieval princesses didn't wear glasses.
I agreed that no, they didn't, but half of them were blind, too, I'm sure.

THEN it was her embarrassing undershirt, which I, mean mom that I was, was forcing her to wear underneath the dress. You could see it peeking out of the neckline. I didn't bend on this one. I wasn't going to let her go to school naked underneath the costume so her ta-tas could hang out for all to see. I explained to her that the neckline was a little low, and of course, she pouted over that.
At least she didn't pout about wearing black leggings underneath.

Then of course at the bus stop she wanted to skip school because no one else was wearing a dress. I shoved her out of the car ( not really, but sort of) and she pouted all the way onto the school bus.
Why can't I have a HAPPY daughter? My sons are happy. My daughter is moody and grumpy. Especially when she feels like the potential for being "embarrassed" is high.

I am SO OVER the Pouting Princess. This next baby better be a boy. At least they're generally happy.

Here's a Happy note: My office furniture arrives tomorrow between 9 and 1pm! Woo hoo! I am SALIVATING over having an office!

I'm a Wimp

AND a failure. I feel so stupid. I just couldn't do it. Man, I really suck.

*The following is not for the squeamish*

Why the self-abuse? Well, I was scheduled to have an Ultrasound today at 10:30, and the instructions were to drink 24 ounces of water between 9 and 9:30, and NOT PEE before the appointment. Apparently a full bladder helps them see the baby better. Of course, this is my FOURTH pregnancy, and the first time I've received the "drink 24 ounces" rule.
I figure: should be simple, right? Well, maybe challenging, but something I can handle, right?

So, 9:30 rolls around, and I down the aformentioned 24 ounces. Easy. I love to drink water anyway. I get on the computer, and hit my daily sites, and around 10am I start to feel uncomfortable. Okay, yes, I just drank a LOT of water, but to have to go this early?
Finally, at 10:07, I grabbed the keys and got into the car. I really had to go, and I figured that even if I got there early, they could take me in for my ultrasound and my agony wouldn't be prolonged.

I get to the med center at 10:20. I walk very carefully (let's just say I felt every bump in the road during the 10 minute drive) upstairs to the imaging center, and I give them my name, and discreetly mention that I really REALLY have to go to the bathroom. The lady nods and tells me she'll mention that. Was that a glimpse of an evil little smile? I decide it's my imagination.

I sit very uncomfortably, and check my phone. 10:22. Now I really feel like I'm going to explode. I check my phone again. 10:25. Hello! I have to pee! I shift and it becomes worse. I try not to make faces, and check my phone again. 10:27. They're torturing me.

Finally, at 10:30, I get up, and tell the lady I'm sorry, but I HAVE TO GO OR I'M GOING TO HAVE AN ACCIDENT RIGHT THERE IN HER LOBBY. She looks at me like she's disappointed, and tells me to go.
I limp to the ladies room, and I go to the bathroom. Feeling about ten pounds lighter, I wash my hands and step back into the lobby, just as the nurse steps out and calls my name.

I couldn't wait 20 more seconds. I just couldn't.

Ergo, I'm a failure. The tech lamented the fact that my bladder was completely empty. I apologized, and apologized again. Luckily she didn't make a big deal out of it, and we could see the baby just fine. It even woke up halfway through and started kicking like a Russian Folk Dancer. It was hilarious. And I have pictures.

But I'm still a wimp.

All Hail Vera...

Vera Wang was in my store today. It was so fun! She was just there to breeze through with the bigwigs, but she was very personable. And her entourage was friendly. Everyone in the store was pretty starstruck, one of the cosmetics ladies was freaking out and telling everybody that Vera Wang actually smiled at her and said hi, and I was sort of laughing. I didn't have the heart to tell her that Vera smiled at a lot of people... including me. Celebrities (even designers) are people too, but we all thought it was pretty cool to see her in person.

Good news: Hubby and I found THE PERFECT office furniture this weekend. We hadn't visited the Ashley Furniture in Pewaukee so we went there, and we fell in love with the first set we found. And BONUS: they had it in stock and will deliver it THIS THURSDAY!!

I will have an office! Woo Hoo! I can't wait to frou frou it up and make it fabulous. Hubby did good. I told him not to tell me how much it was, and mums the word. But it's the real stuff, and it's really pretty. I am so happy.

Now I have to run about 438961 errands but I'll write more tomorrow!

ZZZZZZZZZZZZ I'm Tired!

I worked 8-12 today. I got home, had lunch, decided to tidy up, and then CRASHED. I am tired. Gone are the intentions of cooking a fabulous dinner. Hubby is picking up Papa Murphy's tonight.
I am tired. All this unpacking on top of being pregnant, and it's taking a toll. I think I need to go to Azana and do some facial/massage/pedicure action. I haven't treated myself in a looong time.
I only work one day next week, because the kids have a couple days off from school. Oh, and the day I work, a major celebrity will be at my store! Woo! I just love her to bits. It will be hard to not be star-struck. But I don't know if I'm supposed to reveal who she is...maybe after her visit.

;-)

I've had a novel churning in my head for about eight months now. Its an adult novel (only in the sense that it revolves around 30-something aged characters as opposed to teens or tweens)--a definite departure from all the Young Adult I've written. But it's a great story (I think) and it's begging to be written. But I need to do MAJOR research on it before I even write a word.
I've written the first chapter, but before I go any further, I need to know what I'm talking about. So, I've been Googling like mad, and ordering books on Amazon. All I can say is it takes place in Scotland, and I need to find out all about the care of farm animals.
Yeah, I am sure your interest is piqued. *wink*

Hubby told me after the baby is born, I'll have all my days free with just a sleeping baby, and I should take the opportunity to write up a storm. I agree with him. I haven't had that opportunity in a long time. And I probably won't for a long time. I'm glad I have a partner who encourages my writing, and believes in it, and me. Now if I can just get my office together!

This weekend should be busy. Desk-hunting, and Hubby and I are determined to get the first floor unpacked and set. But tonight I'll just want to cuddle up with some popcorn and rootbeer and watch all our DVR'd shows.

Have a great weekend, all, and if you live in a "seasons" place, try to stay warm! Unless you live in Australia. Then I am very jealous of you.

Lara

I am the Queen of Frou Frou

For those of you who don't know what "frou frou" is, it would be, in decorating terms, "stuff that you put in a room to gussy it up." Like Candlesticks, plants, pictures, and knick-knacks, etc. etc. etc. etc.

I am obsessed with it. Granted, I don't want every surface crammed with stuff (we are OUT of the Victorian Era, thank you) but I sure like my candlesticks, plants, vases, pictures, etc. etc. etc.

;-)

I figured out the #$%&*!! Unpacking is taking so long because after I unpack, I have to "place" everything. This can take several hours. Which pictures to hang? Which decorative plate to set next to the plant that goes here, and which set of candles go here, and yadda yadda yadda.

I am so screwed.

Hubby and I are going office-furniture hunting again, and thanks to your comments, I now have a more open mind. I really have a "vision" of how I want the office, and although it is small (14X12-ish) it will be my sanctuary. And there's a big closet, shelved out for all my writing files and research.

I went to Hobby Lobby this morning and bought stuff for the office. I just hope the furniture we buy for it doesn't take MONTHS to get delivered or anything like that. I would be very sad. 4 weeks, max. I guess we'll see!

I have to run now and buy a snack for my son's kindergarten class because don't worry I totally spaced it. Where has my mind gone?

Hanging in There

Well, I think I officially have about 30 percent of my moving boxes unpacked. WHEW. And where I am sticking all the paper and empty boxes themselves is a good question. But I have Thing Three and Thing Two's rooms done, and Thing One better CLEAN UP her room or I won't unpack even one box. She is eight, and her room is trashed.

I went to the Dr. yesterday. She thinks I'm farther along than originally thought. I had an ultrasound and there was the baby, squirming around with its legs up and over its head. Too cute. I am at the point where maternity clothes are going to be a must, any minute. Oh well. Life goes on. I am just not partial to wearing TENTS, thank you.

Why is it that the more I unpack, the messier things get? I am slow at unpacking because I have to figure out where everything in each box goes. I have also learned that you can get burned out on unpacking pretty quick!

I pulled up some of the wips I've been working on and I REALLY wanted to work on them again. But the unpacking calls. I just can't write while all my bathrooms are in boxes, you know?
*grumble grumble*

One day this too shall pass...

Woes of Desk-hunting...

You would think after nearly eleven years of marriage, I would know better...

Hubby and I established while we were dating, that it was pointless to go into a Blockbuster together, because our tastes were so different. He went for the action films and the comedy, I went for the romances and dramas. Generally speaking.
We had times where we spent a half hour looking, and actually left the store empty handed, because we couldn't agree. The simple solution? Get two movies: a Hers movie and a His movie. Voila! Success!

So, now that you have that bit of plot exposition down, on to the problem at hand:
The movers lost a vital part to my old writing desk. I was so excited to set up my office too. It was going to be MINE. Well, since my desk was in pieces and not going to be fixed, Hubby gallantly volunteered to buy me a new writing desk, and make the office very nice. He would use the computer occasionally, but it would be my writing space, with all my stuff in it.

I said "that's great!" He said "Let's go desk hunting!" We both agreed we wanted dark wood, like Cherry or Walnut. We both agreed we wanted a desk with a hutch, and matching bookcases.

We didn't expect Blockbuster Syndrome to strike, however, at every store we went to...

We visited Boston Store Furniture, Steinhafels, American, World Market (and found the perfect set, but no desk) and various other small furniture stores. Desks bought: ZERO.

He found a set but the finish was too light. I found a set but it was too cheap for his tastes. We both found a set we LOVED but it was an arm and a leg (and maybe a couple of knees, as well) and I balked at the price and wimped out after the lady had written up everything, and Hubby was not amused.

Four hours and three extremely cranky kids later, we sat and talked about our desk-hunting debacle.
Hubby wants the office to have REAL furniture, that will last until our grandchildren's children have great-grandchildren, or something like that. I'd be happy to buy something at Target for $199 that I put together myself, as long as it looks good.

Ergo, we're at odds again. I am not spending $3000 on office furniture, for crying out loud. Give me a build-it-yourself desk and slap some plywood bookcases in there, and I'm good.

So, finally, I went online, and found some great stuff. But Hubby said if he has to put it together, it won't last. I told him fine, *I* will put it together. He said I was missing the point. I told him I wasn't spending a small fortune for that office.
Finally, I told him to find it himself. I said "I don't want to know how much it is, just pick it out and I'll love it."
Basically, we have the same taste, but I'm Mrs. "Why Buy The Real Thing When You Can Buy Imitation (which is usually just as good)For 75% Less" and he's Mr. "I Don't Look At Price Tags, Ever."

As you can see, we balance each other out that way.

So, this weekend, we're hitting the furniture stores, again. I might stay home with the kids. He wants my input, so I'll probably come with him. I just want my office to be done, and soon.

Do you think we'll find anything?

I (Heart) Homework...?

...NOT.

So I'm beginning to wonder why MY kids have so much homework these days, and I had relatively little in comparison when *I* was growing up? Is it overzealous teachers? Overzealous school curriculum? Who is to blame here? I don't remember them having this much at any of the other schools they attended. So it is definitely this new school. That we pay taxes out the nose for them to attend...
For example: Thing One usually has two to three pages when she comes home. Thing Two has three to four. Thing Three has one to two. And yes, they are in KINDERGARTEN, SECOND and THIRD GRADE!
I didn't have that much homework until I was in Junior High! So, after school, the kids come in, have a snack, and we spread out the homework and spend anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, completing it, while I bounce back and forth between all three kids.

My kids hate this. They seriously LOATHE it. I mean, they just spent seven+ hours at school, and they have to come home and do an hour more? (We've tried night time, but it doesn't work.)

And as their mother, I'm stuck doing it with them, because they are so young, I have to help explain concepts, or help them stay focused. It's really become drudgery. I've tried to make it cheerful and positive, but I'm met with a chorus of groans every time.

Deep down, I think having this much homework at such an early age is making them NOT LIKE doing it, and they will carry this prejudice over into their later years. But I'm holding firm. If I don't teach them to do it responsibly, they won't do it at all, if given the choice later on. They won't have good study habits.
But then I run the risk of them getting "burned out" on homework, and frankly, I think we're in jeapoardy of that now.

So what can one do? Am I crazy, or is something not quite right?

Paraskevidekatriaphobia, Anyone?

Paraskevidekatriaphobia, or "fear of Friday the 13th" was definitely in force today!

I think it's all a bunch of Hooey, personally. For instance, I was POS training with another lady at work today, and I was whipping through the course (wearing headphones at the register) and the lady with me kept getting stuck, her computer kept freezing, or she'd punch the wrong button and send everything into a frenzy, and what did she blame?

One guess.

Friday the 13th had doomed her. She was absolutely positive. (I didn't have the heart to tell her that in her manic nervousness she was screwing it up all herself.) I had a customer claim "Friday the 13th" had gotten her today too. I had another customer tell me she usually just stayed indoors on a Friday the 13th. Why tempt fate?

I say, what's the big deal? But I've had nothing but good luck on Friday the 13th. Although I did get to the point where I decided if I heard another "Friday the 13th complaint" from someone I'd break my scanner over their head and tell them they REALLY now had something to complain about. (Kidding, but you get to that point sometimes!)

I'm not a superstitious person, per se. Yes, when I spill salt, I throw it over my left shoulder. Don't ask me why. And when I complain I've had such good fortune lately, I always knock on wood. But that's about it. I don't do the really wonky stuff some people do. Friday the 13th is definitely included.

Today has been a great day! I had a good day at work. And I don't have Morning Sickness today. And I've gotten various forms of good news. So to those Paraskevidekatriaphobics, I would say, PHOOEY! Try again!

It's all about chance anyway, isn't it?