Oh, Goody, it Snowed Again.

Status: Tired of Snow. Sick of snow. LOATHING snow. Snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow.....

Well, I live in Wisconsin. Why am I even complaining? We got about three inches last night, not a ton, but enough to slow up things. UGH.

Tomorrow is the day! First day of my own March NaNo!!! Woo! I am researching famous battles of history, and then the bulk of my research will be complete! I made another MAJOR discovery yesterday, and was so tickled I had to email people. My research will be MUCH different from now on. I have a new weapon!

So it's Friday, and tomorrow will be a little crazy. A birthday party, shopping for jeans (my boys officially have worn holes in the knees of ALL their jeans) picking up Girl Scout Cookie orders, packing for NYC (Hubby always needs my "consultational help"--is that a word?) and dry cleaners. At least soccer hasn't started up yet. Then I would be INSANE.

Have a great weekend everyone! Stay warm!

Keeping the Muse Happy...

Status: Hurried. About to dash to the cleaners (I forgot to add something) and the grocery store, because we're running out of milk and it's only THURSDAY!!!

I am positively itching to write. I'm not starting the official word count on EMMA2 until Saturday (March 1st) but let me tell you, the Muse Is In and I have been playing one very important scene over and over in my head. Of course I've been jotting down notes about it, but I don't want to lose the momenteum, you know? Hold on til Saturday, hold on til Saturday...

Hubby leaves for New York (I know, AGAIN) on Sunday morning and won't be back until Thursday night, so I can forsee loooong nights of writing ahead of me until he gets back. I am so stoked!

I am very excited for The Other Boleyn Girl to open this week. I've read the novel about four times, and I could read it four more. I wonder how much they've chopped out for the movie? I'll have to find someone who will see it with me, because I can promise you Hubby will be Allergic to it. MEN. If I said I wanted to see "Vantage Point" he'd sign right up. Unfortunately (and understandably) he doesn't share my enthusiasm for Tudor-era movies. Or any period film, for that matter. He's allergic to them all. Or they make him very sleepy...

I'm starting to smell something--I think it's time to change a diaper! (Yeah, I had to throw that in, didn't I?) ;-)

Happy Thursday!

Rush Rush Rush

Status: Rushing. You couldn't tell from the title? ;-)

Rushing around this morning. Already got the kids on the bus, now I have to put Thing Four down for a nap from 8-9 (I've kept him up since 5:30) and jump in the shower then we have to eat breakfast and rush to a church visit, then another visit (we'll be home around 11:30) then a quick lunch, then off to the dry cleaners, post office, and of course it is Laundry Day and once I get the loads loaded only THEN, will I be able to do my research.

I'm so close to being finished. Just a few more things to dig up, and I will be ready to write this novel! Since there is so little known about this real Historical figure, I get to make up quite a bit, but I am a stickler for having my "made up stuff" at least rooted in FACTS.

And there's the small difficulty of having never been to the U.K., and my heroine has to fly there and visit Plymouth and Buckland Abbey and St. Budeaux and Saltash, and describe her surroundings, so I have relied heavily on first-hand accounts, emails from people who live there, and amateur photos of the places I describe. Hey, it's the next best thing to spending a ton of $$ and hopping on a plane! (Can't do it with a baby anyway.)

I am becoming quite the amateur (and I stress AMATEUR) historian. It's a ton of fun, digging up stuff and when you make that elusive discovery, or find a mention of your subject in an obscure newspaper article or journal, it is AWESOME. It's almost like being an adrenaline junkie. Because its such a thrill when your research pays off!

Well, I've blogged too long already. Time to rush!

I Repeat Myself...

Mornings are SO draining for me. I find that all I do, all morning, before the kids get on the bus, is REPEAT MYSELF.

"Get up! Get up Guys!!! Out of bed!!! (23 times)

"GET UP OR I WILL GROUND YOU FROM THE NINTENDO DS!!!" (1 time)

"Clear your place after breakfast!" (7 times)

"Have you brushed your teeth? (wait for answer) Brush your teeth!" (15 times)

"Stop mauling the baby!!!" (with kisses, hugs, smooches, etc.) (283 times)

"No I will not drive you to school, I don't care if the bus smells!" (12 times)

"I want you to wear CLEAN socks, go change your socks!" (8 times)

"The Bus is coming soon! Get your snowpants on!" (11 times)

"BOYS! STOP PLAYING UP THERE AND GET DRESSED!!! IF I HAVE TO COME UP THERE..." (67 times)

So you can see, I'm an exhausted wreck by the time I get them out the door and off to the bus stop. And THEN, I run through the house flushing toilets and turning off lights (yeah, all those signs I put up didn't work).

I love my kids, but sometimes they suck. They act like...KIDS for pete's sake! They need to stop it already!!!

I am very excited. A writer friend and I have decided to attempt our own personal NaNo for March. I've got the synopsis down, and I just need to flesh out some more details with backstory for one of the secondary characters, and when I'm done, I should have a 50K word novel! Woo!

Then it will take about a month to polish it, I'm sure! Ha! I'm excited to do it. The first book is a fun romp, I'm looking forward to getting into Emma's world again. Happy Tuesday all!

Count To Ten...or Twenty...or THIRTY...

Status: Ornery. Did I spell that right? Who cares. Well, *I* care, being a writer, but I'm too tired to check it.

I'm struggling with the four-kids-getting-ready-in-the-morning thing. I have a tendency to yell up the stairs, and I yell pretty loud.
I come from a yeller family. We yell, because if we didn't, we'd blow up. Hubby comes from the "keep-it-inside-all-pent-up-until-you-shut-down" family. Yeah, and they're all going to be dead from brain embolisms by the age of 40...

So, I don't really like being a "yeller." I have started counting to ten. Sometimes I have to count to twenty. Sometimes more. But I am doing it.

"Mom! Thing One is laughing at me!"

One, two, three, four...

"MOM! Thing three stole my super rare Pokemon ultra level X card and he hid it and he's not telling me where it is!"

One, two, three...

"MOM! Thing Two just spilled his chocolate milk all over the carpet!"

AAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!

I am trying, really I am. Because the baby gets scared when I yell, and he looks at me like I've grown horns. I probably have. So I need to find a different tack, or ship my kids off to Siberia.

Hmmm, which one do I choose??? ;-)

Got the standard impersonal "not for us" rejection. I'm not sad about it, because she was the first one I tried. There will be more, I'm sure. It always hurts when they LIKE the idea, ask for a partial, and THEN reject you. Those are the ones that smart a bit.

Well, it's Monday, so I'm off and running! At least I don't have to count to ten with the baby. He's a sweetheart. Wait until he's five...heh heh heh. Off to Siberia he will go!!!

Eau De Poop.

Funniest News Headline I Read Yesterday: "Man Urinates on Freedom Statue, Loses Freedom."

Yeah, so the last thing you want to read about is baby poop, but I have to forewarn you, since I have a baby, I'm going to write about baby poop.

I had gotten so comfortable. Let me explain: I had my first three kids 19 months apart. So, by the time the third one was born, I had THREE kids in diapers. (I think I have blocked that time from my memory. It must have been very traumatic, because I have no recollection of it.)

Then they got older. Cut to last year, my youngest was six. He hadn't been in diapers for eons. I had forgotten the whole "poopy diaper" thing. I was comfortable. Life was good. Then along came Thing Four.

You know where I'm going with this. I had a very Pooptacular experience yesterday. Thing Four had been working on something all day long, grunting and grunting. The day before, he hadn't pooped at all. So I was worried. I plied him with juice, fruit, anything to get the "mechanics" working.

FINALLY, at about 5pm, I was changing him, and he had one tiny turd. So, as I was wiping it away, I coaxed him to push, and naturally he did. And let me tell you, he LET LOOSE, right into my surprised hands! He gave birth to a golf ball. Poor thing. After that, the floodgates were open. I changed poopy diapers two more times last night.

*SIGH* I had gotten so comfortable...

Now that I've gotten that out of my system, no more Poopy Posts. I'm having a funeral for my nose later this morning...

I am going to change my status bars to the right. I am done with my GARDEN edits, and I'm querying. Haven't heard back from Current Submission, but I believe this agent is traveling, and out of the office. So I'll wait. In the meantime, I am going to do research on EMMA2, Edit the sequel to GARDEN and work on another wip. Going to be busy!

Have a good weekend!

Don't Believe the Critics...

Status: I feel strange. The baby slept through the night. As in, I put him down at 8pm, and at 6:30 when the rest of us got up, he was still asleep...

It was bizarre. That's the first time he's done that. Hubby ran up the stairs to make sure he was breathing. He brought him down all rosy-cheeked and happy. So I fed him. He's working on filling his diaper now. He's grunting right next to me. Niiiice.

Sent my first query off yesterday. I'm going to query one at a time. That's just my style. I tried something a little risky (not your typical dry query) but I felt I had to do SOMETHING to "stand out" a little to this agent. We'll see what happens. My expectations are low, hopes a little higher than low. Fingers crossed!

So when a new movie comes out, Hubby is one to always check the reviews. He lives by them. If a movie reviews poorly, we'll skip it. But I have decreed the "Bad Review Rule" should NOT apply to kids movies.
Take Spiderwick, for example. It got two stars, and dismal reviews. But when I took the kids to see it, they LOVED it. I even enjoyed it. (I haven't read the books.) It's a KID MOVIE for pete's sake. Just because some jaded cynical critic who hates himself and everyone around him gave the movie two stars, doesn't mean KIDS won't like it. Kids aren't so particular. Kids love monsters and goo and whimsy. I know my kids, and they're the ones I write for. And if it doesn't get past the editors, well, at least my kids have enjoyed my stories. (Yeah, I had to slip that in, didn't I?)

Time to change a diaper!

I Could Write a Book...

Status: Running out of white t-shirts. Every time the baby sneezes with a mouthful of mushed-up carrots while I’m feeding him…well, you can guess what happens. UGH!

So I’ve decided to query early. (I wasn’t going to start until March.) I’m just going to do it. Hopefully I’ve got a story someone out there will like, and I’m going to start with my “dream agents” and work my way down the list. We’ll see what happens!

In the "I Knew It Would Happen Eventually" category--Thing Two needs glasses. I took the kiddos to see “Spiderwick” on Saturday, and Thing Two mentioned that the words on the screen were blurry. So, I have made an appointment for him. Since I already have Thing One in glasses, I'm a seasoned pro. And if he really can’t see, that would explain a few problems he’s been having at school with “paying attention.” :-)

Oh, and I’ve decided that yesterday I may have earned another “SUPERMOM” badge for my collection. I washed (and folded, it doesn’t count unless you FOLD them!) twelve loads of laundry, made three peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches in under a minute, changed FIVE diarrhea diapers, made muffins, edited my novel, played board games with the kids and organized the fridge. (Which I haven’t done in a while, and frankly, I needed a chisel and a pair of pliers for the job.)

Yep, I rocked yesterday. And yes, today, I need a nap.

Happy Wednesday!

Okay, I Get It, Wisconsin is COLD!!!

We have a heat wave going through...it's only minus three right now! Wow. Maybe I should get out my short sleeved shirts...heh heh. I have to laugh about it, to keep from crying.

Thing Four (my nine-month old) is hilarious. He has finally mastered the art of the "pincher grasp" and he's an expert at picking up cheerios, etc. But NOW, he seems obsessed by the tiniest things he finds. Whether on the floor or in the carpet, he finds the tiniest crumb, and tries to pick it up and eat it. If I drop any cereal or food on his tray while he's eating, out come those pincher fingers and he's trying to pick it up. I have to vacuum a LOT more, because he doesn't miss ANYTHING. He finds SPECKS, and tries to pick them up. I had to laugh because he got a hold of a pillow, and was trying to pick the snowmen pattern off it. OBSESSED.

Well, laundry calls! Time to get folding!

What Day is IT???

Status: Suffering from MAJOR cabin fever!!! Will the snow/ice/winds from hell ever end???

I officially have tired of Winter. Wisconsin can be gorgeous and green in the Summer, but this is ridiculous. Enough already. Our school has sent out a notice saying that we've taken so many snow days, they are going to have to cut into the vacation days as "snow makeup" days, so the teachers can work their quotas.

They cancelled church yesterday, due to severe ice. And we woke up this morning to another five inches of snow. BAH. I was lamenting to a friend yesterday that I am going a little crazy. It's not like I can pack up the kids and take them somewhere, because it's treacherous on the roads.

Luckily this weekend, I had a manuscript I was reading for a friend. It's awesome. I couldn't "put it down." I've finished it, and I'm sad to see the end of it. But there's a promise of more...hooray!

So, school is out today, as well. I swear, all these days of horrible weather and staying inside make me lose track of time. Seriously. Yesterday felt like Saturday. Today feels like Saturday. We're all cooped up for one more day YET AGAIN. I am going to make the kids play outside, luckily they like to do that. And today is Destroy The Overwhelming Pile Of Laundry Day. The kids and I will be folding and carting and putting away all of it. I've already forwarned them.

I just want to get away and get to a bookstore by myself. To get my sanity back. With Hubby in NYC, that isn't going to happen anytime soon. I just need to hang in there...

Stop The Presses: I Got Some Sleep!

Status: WELL RESTED!!! Yee haw!!! Thing Four didn't wake up until 6:30. (at least I think so, horrible mother that I am, I forgot to turn the baby monitor up so if he woke up earlier I didn't hear him and he must have fallen back asleep...) Oh well. He's nine months old. He doesn't hold grudges yet.

I didn't get roses yesterday, because, well, I told Hubby not to get me any! I am still a little sore with him about Christmas. You see, we decided that going to Hawaii was our "present to each other" and we weren't going to spend any more money on other gifts. He made me PROMISE not to get him anything, the day before Christmas he even sent his mother to question me and make sure I hadn't gotten him anything, so he wouldn't feel stupid if I did. I knew he'd be mad at me, so I didn't get him a thing. Not one bloody thing.

And of course, Christmas morning, what do I have under the tree? An 8-Gig Itouch.
I wanted to kill him.

I didn't have ANYTHING for him! So, I told him to get me nothing for Valentine's day. But he did drive to Walmart on the way home from the airport last night (he detests going into Walmart so you get the whole significance of this) and he got me a great card that sings "Everlasting Love" when you open it, and one from the kids.

That's all I wanted, and it was perfect. And I gave him a card too. Nothing else!

Kids are off school today and Monday. We're not going anywhere, it's too dang cold and there's about seventeen feet of snow outside. So it's a hang out inside day. I'm excited, because Thing One can watch the baby so I can get lost in my friend's manuscript! Loving it!!!

Happy Heart Day!

Status: Running!!!!!

So, Happy Valentine's Day to those who care, and for those who don't...well...Happy Thursday!

;-)

You know, this day doesn't have to be about Romantic love. That's where I think some people have it wrong. Today I tell the people I love in my life, that I appreciate them. Parents, siblings, kids, friends, pets...the possibilities are endless! Oh yeah, and my SPOUSE, who happens to be in Las Vegas on a business trip...I love him too. :-)

So tell the people you love (even in a non romantic way) how much you love 'em today. Makes sense to me!

Becoming a Beotch...

Status: Thing Three is home today with a head cold and a fever. I am spraying anything and everything with Lysol. Here we go again...

I went out and bought "Becoming Jane" yesterday having not seen it, just because I knew I'd love it and want to buy it anyway.
I hated, HATED Anne Hathaway's portrayal of Jane Austen!!! To the point of not enjoying portions of the movie! Sure, she had her moments, but mostly she made Jane seem...well...bitchy. I know she wasn't a saint, but was she a total beotch?
James McAvoy made the entire movie. I was completely mesmerized by him. HE made it worthwhile.

*STOP READING, SPOILERS AHEAD!*

I actually cried at the end of the movie, when Jane was reading and he was staring at her. You could just imagine his thoughts. WAAHHHH!!!!!

*END OF SPOILERS*

So, my nearly nine-year old son has his first "girl friend." She's a girl in one of the other 3rd grade classes, and he told me sometimes, SOMETIMES she lets him sit next to her on the bus home. But mostly she sits next to "Henry" and Henry is his Arch Enemy. (Only because they're competing for the affections of the same girl, is that precious or what?)

I think it's adorable. But yesterday after school, Thing Two came home on Cloud Nine, and informed me that he asked the girl if she would "be his valentine" and she said she would, and kissed him on the cheek, and told him she liked him better than Henry.

UH OH.

It was cute, however, how twitterpated he was over it. Of course all the dumb kids are teasing them, saying they're "boyfriend and girlfriend" and they'll both get so embarrassed over it they won't ever speak to each other again after a few days. Elementary school kids can be so...LAME.

Time to play with Baby!

It's Not Spinach in Brownies, but...

Status: It's 8am and I've already changed shirts. I just love it when my 9 month old SNEEZES immediately after I've put a big ol' spoonful of rice cereal in his mouth...

SO, I am a sneaky mom. I am singing the praises of V-8 Fusion. It's that drink they crammed a buttload of vegetables in, yet it TASTES like a juice drink. I have totally gotten my 8-year old (who loathes vegetables in any form) addicted to it. He has a glass in the morning with breakfast, and a glass after school. He loves the Banana/Strawbery. He has no idea he's "drinking" vegetables. I am SO GOOD!!!
So he's definitely getting at least four servings of fruits and veggies in the morning. So, when I'm practically standing on his head to get him to eat ONE BITE of broccoli at dinnertime, at least I know he's getting some sort of veggies and won't get Rickets.

Jessica Seinfield I'm not, but I think I'm doing OK.

Well, time to play with the baby. I'm reading a manuscript for a friend and I want to keep reading! But alas, I have to wait until naptime...

Chaotic Morning.

Status: Ready to move to a warmer climate. Yesterday.

Had back-to-back dr. appointments this morning. One for me, one for Thing Four. He turned nine months yesterday! Thank heaven he only had to have the Polio vaccine. Last time he had four shots and ended up with a fever averaging 104 for four days. Niice.

He's sleeping soundly right now, and I'm just having breakfast. Hubby left for Vegas this morning and between that and getting the garbage out and the kids off to school and getting ready for the Dr it was UTTER CHAOS.

Now it's all quiet and I'm having a pot of postum.

I finished up my tweaks, now I've shipped the novel off to a couple of trusty readers and we'll see what they think. I always get "cold feet" when I get this close to querying. Last time it took me 27 tries to get an agent. This time, I might not even get one. It's so hard these days to find someone who believes in and loves your work, and is willing to fight for it. I have already started compiling my list of "dream agents" and will start querying in March. It's a month later than I planned, but this conversion from Third person to First person took a while. And frankly, I think it works better and was worth the work. We'll see!

Now I need to decide if I edit the sequel (already written, but REALLY rough) or start on something else altogether. Hmmmm...

Oh, and we're having a warm spell. It's only minus 20 today. The newspeople said one could potentially get frostbite in TEN minutes standing outside here. I told my kids that if the school tells them to go out to recess, to call me, so I can HAVE WORDS with them. But I highly doubt the school will have the kids go out in this weather. And yes, Lynn, it does freeze the eyeballs!

:-P

Just Kill Me Now.

I just thought I'd let you all know that the "high" today is zero. It's currently MINUS SEVEN with a "feels like" temp of MINUS THIRTY THREE, because of the crazy wind that is blowing 45 mph right now. My backyard looks like a White Sahara in a sandstorm.

Add that to about two feet of snow, and what do I live on?

AN ICEBERG!!! WOO!

Insert Witty Title Here.

Status: Off my head with joy. It's snowing again.

Yeah, I'm feeling a tad sarcastic today...

But hey, it's Friday! Friday in our household is Pizza and Movie night. I go and get a family sized Papa Murphy's pizza, and right next door (how convenient) is Blockbuster. Sometimes we're really rebellious and we shake things up, and get PIZZA HUT pizza, but Friday means Pizza and movies.

I am dying to see "Elizabeth: The Golden Age," but how much do you want to bet Hubby will have NOTHING to do with that movie? He's more of a Bourne Identity guy. Well, he's leaving for Vegas Monday for a week, so I'll just rent it and watch it one night while he's gone.
I think I'll get that snow dogs movie for the kids. Thing Three has been asking to watch it...

Still tweaking the novel. I have a scene that I LOVED writing, but it ended up on the editing room floor when I had to chop 20K words. (That was PAINFUL, believe me!) Now that I've cut a lot of "mundane" stuff, I want to stick the scene back in! I am having Trusty Reader take a look and tell me what she thinks.

Well, I can't think of anything fabulous to report, off to do the Rump-bump-a-stump with The Wiggles and Thing Four! Have a good weekend!

Baby from Heaven, Diaper from H#!!

Status: Feeling pretty good. The kids are in school, Hubby's at work, baby is next to me, playing happily.

SO, we got a TON of snow. It didn't stop until around 7pm last night. 24 hours straight of snow. Sheesh. Yeah, ten-foot snow drifts are FUN. We wrapped the kids up and let them play in it for about an hour, and they made a "Stitch" snowman with two pairs of stick arms and antennae. The snow was heavy and wet, perfect for snowman-making. But it was also WINDY, and they only lasted an hour with the snow blowing in their faces.

So Thing four (who will be nine months old next week!) is eating pretty well now. He can even feed himself cheerios and small things. And of course when we eat dinner, he gets "tastes" of stuff sometimes. Now that he's eating real person food, and not just formula, I have to admit, his diaper-changings have gone from just OK to CODE PURPLE LEVEL TOXIC WASTE.

Yesterday I was changing him, and the diaper was especially fragrant, and Thing two (who is eight) was hanging around. He caught a whiff of the caustic fumes and said "Whew, baby from heaven, diaper from Hades!" (He's not allowed to say "Hell," only Mommy gets to.) ;-)

He was very right. No more normal diapers for us! This is the part I conveniently forgot about for six years until we had another baby. Here we go again!

That's why we have a diaper trash bag in the GARAGE. Frozen smellies don't "smell."

So, check out my status bar on the right! I finished my edits last night! Woo! Go me!
Although I still have some tweaking to do. The last two chapters seem "rushed." I need to slow the pace down and add some more detail and richness. I am not a "description" gal. I write the bare bones of the story, then go BACK and add in the descriptions, color, etc. Which means I edit for about ten bazillion YEARS before I feel it's completed. Yeah, I know.

Time for laundry! I can't believe it's Thursday already!

MAJOR Snow Day.

And the snow just keeps on keeping on...we're expected to have about 20 inches when this is all over. MAJOR blizzard.

The schools are closed. Hubby made history this morning, he actually decided to not go in to work. It's selfish of me, but I want him home safe with us, instead of sliding into some ditch on his way downtown. Normally we would trade cars and he would take my Expedition, because it has 4 wheel drive, but his parking garage downtown is ancient, and too low for my car to fit in.

So we're all here for today. I foresee a yummy big breakfast, lots of playtime and hanging out in our jammies.

And of COURSE since the schools are closed, my kids were up at six am TOTALLY AWAKE, when I normally need a crowbar and a pair of pliers to get them out of bed...

As you can see by my status bar to the right, I edited my head off last night. I'm nearly finished! Hubby was a nervous wreck, glued to Fox News watching the Super Tuesday results, and I was so nervous (we're big into Politics)I decided to go into the office and edit. I'm nearly done!

Well, the baby is babbling upstairs in his crib. Guess I'd better go get him before he poops his pants.

:-)

!#$&*#!!!! AAACK!!!!

I just spent THIRTY minutes composing a blog post, and I lost the whole thing as soon as I hit publish!!!

ARRRRRGGGHHH!!!

I'm done. (Insert string of curses here!)


Pppphhhbbtttt.

Lame Monday.

Status: Taking a breath, I'm already having a bad day, dammit!

So, I drop the kids off at school this morning and run to the post office, to mail our taxes and a few other things. I get the baby, the handbag, the package and envelopes all piled in my arms, and make it inside only to realize that they don't open until 8:30. It is 7:59. Sssssssss.

So I decide to run home and feed the baby, and get ready to go again. I change his diaper, and get him in the car, and we run to the post office. Then I decide I need to run to Sam's Club (across town) because the baby is almost out of formula, and it's so cost effective to buy in bulk. So we make the long drive to Sam's, during which 98% of the time we are stuck behind a semi-truck (which is apparently ALSO driving to Sam's) and it nearly drove me nuts. Then, we get to Sam's and OF COURSE the baby has pooped his pants during the drive. To my chagrin, I discover I used the last diaper in the diaper bag yesterday at church, and I don't have any diapers. I grab the baby anyway and attempt to walk into Sam's and SPHINCTER LADY at the door informs me coolly that "Sam's isn't open yet, only to Key Club members." I look at her and ask her when the store opens and she says "not for an hour."

So, I had to load Poopie Boy (whew, I am NEVER letting Hubby feed him refried beans again!) back into the car and drive all the way home, singing songs at the top of my lungs just to keep him awake during the drive because after he's eaten and pooped, he's ready for his morning nap and if he falls asleep in the car-- he won't nap and my whole two hours of peace will be gone.

He's down now, and I'm over it. We'll go again later after lunch. I have to stock up on milk. Apparently we're getting NINE inches of snow tomorrow. Would anyone be offended if I cursed on the blog? I have a few choice words in mind...

I had something interesting happen to me this weekend. I'll have to blog about it tomorrow because, frankly, I want to go take a nap.

Cheers.

Happy Friday!

Status: Harried and Hurried. Yeah, you know...NORMAL stuff...

I just rescued my nine-month old and fished a tissue out of his throat. Now that my heart rate is back down, I have to say I don't miss moments like those. You know what I'm talking about: when your child chokes, or when they get water up their nose while swimming and panic, or you LOSE THEM in a crowded park---yeah, those heart-arresting moments that I'd rather not go through, thank you very much.
I'm still trying to figure out where in the heck he got the tissue from. Heaven knows I've used enough of them on him and myself and all the kids in the last week. Maybe one fell under a chair or something. STRESS.

So I still haven't figured out what kind of Super Bowl food to make. Taco dip is out. Pizza is out. Hubby vetoed KFC last night. We are trying to be healthy, but when do you eat healthy food for the SUPER BOWL???
I told him since he vetoed my best idea, HE gets to think of the food. So far, we've come up with nada. And I want to eat something simple, that isn't going to make my kitchen look like it was struck by a Level 5 Tornado when I'm done making it. Eh, thinking about it makes my head hurt.
So we're rooting for the Patriots. I've always thought Eli was a sort of a...well, I won't say it, but those of you who know what I'm talking about, know what I mean.

We got six inches of snow last night. OUT DAMNED SNOW!!! I am officially sick of it. It can go away now. So, maybe I'm cheap, but I paid $300 last month for snow-shoveling/plowing. Our driveway is just too big to shovel or snow blow. So we have to shell out every time it snows. I know, wah wah wah, but I really am tired of the snow!!!

:-(

I'm reading a REALLY fun book right now, called "An Assembly Such as This" by Pamela Aidan. I am LOVING IT. Since "Pride and Prejudice" is probably my favorite Jane Austen novel EVER, I thought I'd give it a try. She tells the story of Pride and Prejudice from Mr. Darcy's point of view. It's very clever. She uses the language of the day, and the insight she gives into Darcy's character (since we all know how it turns out) is delicious, and I am having fun watching him wrangle with his affections. Highly recommend.

Well, time to run around. Got to buy a birthday present (yes, the party is tonight, I suck) and run a few errands. Did I mention I HATE SNOW???????

Bleah.