Okay, just let me crumple up yesterday and throw it in the garbage...although I will say, it ended on a positive note.

Had to take the baby to Thing One's fifth grade band concert--we were in the front row, and when they first started playing, he almost cried. But then he started thinking the drums were "cool" and all was fine. It was only a half hour, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. And Thing One held her flute the RIGHT way, and all the others had them at weird angles, etc. I was very happy that she played so well.
She was coughing through the performance, though, and of COURSE, we were up at night coughing, too. Delsym (which is usually my miracle cure for coughing) didn't really help, and this morning her chest is tight and the cough is really nasty in her chest. So, we're headed to the Dr. I don't want to be taking her to urgent care over the weekend. I want her BETTER. Poor thing.

I feel bad, because since I was having a yucky day yesterday, I was VERY short with my kids. Downright mean, in fact. Normally, when Thing Four spills his milk all over his tray and swirls his food around in it, I tell him "no" and clean it up. Well yesterday, I YELLED no and I felt so bad when he burst into tears. Some days you just really are tested, as a mother. Your kids do "little" things to annoy you, but soon they begin to snowball and then you have a big ol' avalanche of annoyance and it has to land SOMEWHERE. I felt really bad after that, but I've been under a lot of pressure lately. I guess it comes out in my parenting, and I REALLY hate that.

I broke 60K on my story, and got 2k in yesterday. I am near the end, I can feel it. I want to get this puppy written, edited, and out there. I figure the more material I submit, the more chance I have of getting sales!

I hope this weekend is relaxing. Hubby is wasted from work because of year-end, and times are pretty tense. I scheduled massages for us at the spa for tomorrow (I have a giftcard from two years ago I've never used!) and hopefully that will help. I honestly have zero emotional investment in the Super Bowl this year, but it will be a fun excuse to make Seven-layer Taco dip and Lil' Smokies and eat them in front of a football game. :-)

Happy weekend, all!

I Don't Facebook.

Yes, I'm marching to beat of my own drum/a luddite/a bit odd. I'm one of the freaks that hasn't converted to Facebook.

My reasoning? My highly addictive personality. :-) And FB is highly addictive. My SIL wants me to join. My Dad wants me to join. I got an invitation the other day from my good friend, Aimee. And last night, my good friend Mik said I should join.

I figure since I spend an inordinate amount of time on the computer AS IT IS, doing writing and research and plain ol' surfing, getting a Facebook account would just suck away more of my time. I know, only a handful of people read this blog. Because everyone else is on Facebook. But I'm OK with that. I'm small potatoes. I'm a nobody. And that's the way I prefer it. ;-)

So, if I don't accept your invitation to join FB, don't be offended. I just have hangups about it and I know my limitations. I...MUST...RESIST...

I'm being bad and eating a bowl of Froot Loops. Yeah, I know it's full of sugar, and I'll probably drop flat in about two hours, but you know--I have to take SOME risks in life.

...just not Facebook.

:-D

BOOKS!

You know how sometimes you do something, and then, you forget you did it, and years later, you discover what you did and think WOW! I didn't know I did that/those were there/about those!

Yeah, that was me, yesterday.

Years ago, I went on a "pretty" book-buying binge. 2005, I believe. I didn't have a financial care in the world, wasn't on a budget, and I wanted some PRETTY books. You know, those leatherbound, gold-gilded ones that look like they come from the Easton Press, etc. They also have those "works" books, like the ones you can get at B&N for $19.96 or something like that. Yep. Bought all those. Or at least the ones I would read. And I went to antique stores VERY often, and even found an antique bookstore close to downtown Denver that was literally a hole in the wall, and the guy knew me by name after a while. I'd snap up all his "pretty" books.

Well, when we moved back to Wisconsin back in 2006, I wasn't sure what to do with all my "pretty" books. When you walk up the stairs of my house, there is a foyer/reading area with a fireplace with bookshelves built into the sides of it, and a sofa with a table and lamps, etc. We call it the "reading nook." I thought it was the PERFECT place to put all my pretty books. So I did. And then, I promptly forgot where I put them. Yes, I really did.

So, yesterday, I was in a panic, (for about five minutes because that's all the time I had) searching for those books, because I had a space in my family room that would look fabulous with some nice looking books on it.

I didn't find them. I was sad. I looked in boxes in the back, thinking I hadn't unpacked them, yet.

Then, last night, as I was tucking the kids in, we walked up the stairs and I saw...just as I "see" every night...all the books in the shelves of the Reading Nook!

I know, I am special. But hey! I found them! It was like finding a trove of treasure! As you can see, they were very dusty, and I'll have to change that, but today I have to run errands. But it was neat to realize they were there!

I figure the kids won't miss them, because they never really read them. Thing One who is 11, attempted to read Pride and Prejudice and promptly gave up, and she thought the Grimm's Fairy Tales were depressing and violent (heh heh they are!) so the books have been collecting dust for about two years.

Bad Lara.

So they're ordering the lamp for our big TV that went out. That will be one arm, one leg, and two fingers, please. Sheesh! IT's a LAMP. Since when are lamps that expensive? I hate TV. I especially hate the fact that I am addicted to about nine prime time shows and I must DVR them and watch them with Hubby after the kids go to bed. Yes, TV is deliciously evil, isn't it?

Happy Wednesday!

I Breathed.

Or rather...took a breath. Yesterday was crazy. Today will be the same, but not until around noon. This morning is mine, and I'm going to just tidy things up and try to get some writing in.

Sent my two little cub scouts off to school today wearing their BSA garb--they loved it. They've been begging to wear their stuff to school on Pack meeting days for MONTHS, and I have been telling them no.

My reason? I hot-glue-gunned on their patches, and I'm worried they'll fall off. Because they're boys. And stuff falls off when you're a busy active boy.

So, last night I sewed the patches on, taking care to use the appropriate color thread, because frankly, I think it's tacky when you can SEE that the patches are sewed on. I know. I'm anal.

Thing Three is a Wolf, and Thing Two is a Bear. They are so proud. I say, good for them. I think Boy Scouts is a FABULOUS organization for boys. Heck, I remember being a little girl and saying to myself "I'm going to marry an Eagle Scout!" Lucky for me, I did!

I've realized lately that if I don't write EVERYTHING down, I forget EVERYTHING. Seriously. I've forgotten so many things. I have to sit and make a list every day, and double-check it against the large calendar I do every month with all the kids activities and sports practices and games on it, so I can know how crazy my day/week is going to be. This one happens to be really busy for some reason--and of course Hubby is closing out the fiscal year at work so I won't see him until 9pm every night this week.

Okay, I'm done whining. I am going to just buck up and take care of business. It's kind of funny the chaos that goes on behind the scenes to ensure that LIFE goes as planned...

And even then, it never really "goes as planned," does it?

;-)

Help.

Can I just (lightly of course) say that I hate my life? This week is so crazy busy it's...insane.

I don't even have time to do a long post! AAaaack!

"You Did Your Hair."

Uh Oh. Should I shudder at those words? Perhaps.

I took Thing One to her basketball team tryouts last night, and since I had some time, I washed my hair and used the velcro rollers. Hubby came home and we traded off kids, and I went to the tryouts (I drove to the wrong school, wasn't my fault, I thought they meant the PRIMARY school instead of the INTERMEDIATE school by the same name) but luckily the schools are right next to each other, so we basically had to drive across a parking lot.

Got inside, saw all the moms I normally see in the sports world, and we started gabbing. By 9:15, the teams had been selected, and we went home. Thing One ran upstairs, Hubby was on the sofa watching the Australian Open, and as I walked by he said "You did your Hair. It looks pretty."

I thanked him and went to go get into some jammies, and while I was dressing I realized--do I really "not do my hair" THAT often?

The unfortunate answer: yes. I'm a STAY HOME mom, people. If I did my hair every day-- A)It would fall out, B) everyone would have unintentional dark hair(s) in their food at every meal and C) I'd be nuts because when I'm cleaning or running after the baby, I HATE having hair on my neck. So it's up in a clip. Or in a ponytail.

So, I guess I'm the Ponytail Queen. And the zero makeup queen. Why would I get all dolled up, for a twenty-month old?

Am I crazy? It's not like Hubby comes home and I'm still in my jammies, unshowered, with dirty hair and stains all down my shirt--nothing like that. I just...like...to...pull...my...hair...back...

I wrote two new chapters yesterday morning and evening. I'm nearing the end. I probably have about five more to go, and I'll be finished. I'm excited to see how it turns out. I've plotted it, but my characters have surprised me along the way.

Better get my hair in a ponytail and get to work! Have a great weekend, everyone!

Making Changes.

I've started doing things "new" this year. Yeah, I know. How long will THAT last? Well, as far as I'm concerned, a while.

For some reason, I'm thinking a lot about AGE, lately. Probably because after my birthday this year I will be officially "Late Thirties" instead of "Mid Thirties." I'm thinking more of taking care of myself, and not utilizing the bad habits I've acquired over my life. What sorts of bad habits?

Hmmm, falling into bed without washing my face. Not drinking much water. Exercising only when I feel guilty. Flossing sporadically. Not taking vitamins. Stuff like that.

I am on a "rejuvination" kick, as of late. I've started doing Yoga regularly, and I have to say, at first, I was pretty much laughing as I did it, because I was shaky and NOT breathing rhythmically, and NOT "focusing without hardening my mind." Now that I've been doing it regularly, I feel stronger and more relaxed. I actually look forward to it.

I've been making sure I break a sweat once a day--whether on the elliptical or treadmill or just dancing to the iPod while cleaning the house (trust me, a sight NO ONE wants to see!), but I want to keep active.

I'm drinking more water, eating more vegetables. I'm trying to get at least seven hours of sleep at night, instead of five or six. I'm trying to kick the Diet Coke habit. (Now, that's HARD and I'm sure I'll fall off the wagon!)

I also tossed out all my skincare products I've used for years (Clinique) and I've decided to try a new line. So far I'm liking Aveda and Murad. Because now, I'm thinking "wrinkles" and "skin damage" instead of just washing my face and being done with it.

Yep--getting older (wiser?) changes everything.

Or maybe I'm just having a mid-life crisis because I have crow's feet? ;-)

I've been working heavily on my NaNo story. I'm still "iffy" on it, whether it's worth submitting or not. I have some weird concepts in it. I was really stretching my writing muscles, going for this one. It's not something I've ever done before.
I've been reading my friend Mik's NaNo and I LOVE it--but I'm also partial to Ancient Rome for a setting, too. She did the same thing I did--got to 50K and stopped. So, we've made a goal to finish up before Feb. 1st. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

I have to run to Home Depot again today. Luckily I LIKE going there. I have decided to change out all the lightbulbs to the "green" bulbs in the kids closets, too. Besides, they can't seem to EVER turn their closet lights out, and this will save us money.

Tonight Thing One has Basketball practice. It was cancelled because of bitter cold last week, and because of the Boy's B-ball schedule, she has to practice from 7:30 to 9pm! I am not happy about that. Especially since her normal bedtime is 8:30. We won't even be HOME until 9:30.

Ugh.

Rest In Peace.

My laptop has died, I think. Not my shiny HP one, but the Sony Viao I got for Mother's Day--2002. Yeah. It was seven years old. It was going out. The screen started flickering, and I took it in. They told me the hard drive was bad. So, I bought another hard drive on Ebay, and replaced the old one.

It's flickering again. So much so, I can't do anything on it. So, R.I.P., my first laptop. I shall retire you to the basement storage permanently, until I can figure out what to do with you.

I'm coveting my SIL's Christmas present--one of those HP mini netbooks. They're teeeeeny.You know, they have a Vivienne Tam edition--it literally looks like a small clutch purse. You can surf the internet wirelessly, write, check email--basically it's a large cellphone. I just want the plain old black one for my kitchen. Because I always seem to be finding myself around the kitchen--whether cleaning it or preparing meals or just baking.

They run around $379. Yep. For a computer. Granted, they have zero memory and no dvd drive, and I've heard the webcam and speaker are crap, but the 2009 versions are more promising. They weigh around 2 pounds. THAT is LIGHT.

I just think it would be nice and convnenient to have. Although who knows when I'll get one!

SO--we have a dilemma. Thing Four, who is 20 months, is a blanket-chewer. It's his "pacifier" if you will. When he goes to bed at night, he has a chenille-knit blanket he calls "nonny" and he sticks the corner of that thing in his mouth and sucks on it--literally--like a pacifier. And that is what he needs to go to sleep, for naps, and bedtime.

He's getting buck teeth. No joke. He really is. All that blanket chewing is wreaking havoc on his two front teeth. So, Hubby and I have decided to get rid of the blanket. It would be okay, if he didn't CHEW on it. But he does, so it has to go.

The first night, he asked for it, and we told him it was "all gone." He whimpered, but that was it. We gave him a rougher, heavier blanket, and tucked him in. He must have been tired, because he fell asleep. The next DAY, however, he screamed and cried for 15 minutes at naptime because he wanted Nonny. I gave him the rough, thick blanket instead.

Don't worry, he ended up chewing on the rough, thick blanket. So, night before last, we had to tuck him in with ZERO blankets. I was a mess, he was whimpering and begging for a blanket, and we told him it "went bye bye." He was okay, but woke up in the night crying for it. LAST night, Thing One slept in his room with him, and she told us she checked on him a few times and he had his THUMB in his mouth.

So, I'm thinking he's just orally fixated and no matter what we do, he'll find something to chew on. He's doomed to have buck teeth. Suggestions, anyone?

Blueberry Special K is NASTY.

Yeah, looks enticing, eh? Um, yeah. NO. NOT ENTICING. Looks can be deceiving. I feel it is my civic duty to warn all you potential consumers of this CLEARLY test-market cereal. I found it in the local grocery store, and since I adore all things Blueberry, I thought "how fun! I'll try it!"

The first bite was awful. The second bite was...well...shame on me for even taking a second bite. You taste the fake blueberry flavor for about a nanosecond, and then the AFTERTASTE kicks in--a nasty bitterness that belongs to certain breeds of Amazonian beetles when you eat them. Only if you're lost in the jungle and starving and you're desperate enough to eat them.

I think you get my drift. DO NOT try this cereal. BLECH.

I am feeling much better, although I did overdo yesterday. I did 50 minutes of Yoga, and hurt my neck. Yes, I know, I use a Yoga DVD because I don't know the poses by heart, yet, and I have to TURN MY HEAD to see what they're doing on the TV, and I I'm in the middle of a difficulte pose and the instructor says: "NEVER TURN YOUR HEAD WHILE IN THE SUCH-AND-SUCH POSE" and I got mad because I was totally turning my head to look at the TV screen. Almost immediately afterward, even while I was finishing up in Relaxation/Corpse Pose-- the headache started. At the base of my skull--it was the worst. I finally had to take what was probably an illegal dose of Advil to get rid of the pain. It's still a little sore this morning, but I will baby it today.

I am a VERY conservative Republican (bet you'd never have guessed, ha ha) but I am going to watch the swearing-in today because it is historic. I have to give kudos to Obama, because he's inheriting, frankly, a mess. I wish him well. I just wish my taxes weren't going up.

Have a happy Tuesday, all!

Little Kodak Moments...

Here's a candid of Thing Four--who was fifteen months at the time--is he playing with toys? NO! He's reading books! He prefers BOOKS over toys! Hooray! He is MY child...You gotta love it. I mean, I HAD to blog about something happy, because, frankly, I'd rather stab my eye out than be as sick as I have been the past few days, ever again. Stomach flu followed by nasty viral fever/sore/throat/body aches. Yeah, FUN.

I fully plan to GET OUT of the house today, even though I'm still not 100% better. I think I'll get better faster if I just get out and do my normal routine.

Hubby got back from New York ok, that plane that crashed into the Hudson was right after his plane, in fact one of our mutual good friends works at Belk in Charlotte, and she MISSED her flight. She was supposed to be on that plane. But her boss and co-workers were on it when it crashed. Luckily all were ok, but you can imagine the perspective those people have, now. All I know, is if my plane takes off, and suddenly we're going down into icy water, and then we're SAVED, I'm going to be GLAD AS HELL I'm alive...

I have a lot of catching up to do. Best get to it!

I'm Sick.

Stomach flu sucks. 'Nuff said.

Frostbite in TEN Minutes...

That's what they are saying on the news. DON'T GO OUTSIDE.

We are all sick. Two of my sons are still sick, and now, Thing One has been throwing up since early this morning. And I've been sick all night, too. I'm not sure what we ate, but UGHHHH. It's definitely food poisoning of some sort. I suspect what it is, because my other sons didn't eat it, I had a little bit, and Thing One had a LOT. So, it makes sense.

School got cancelled. It's 40 below with windchill, the DirecTv isn't working because of the cold (Its telling me "multiple cable failure"--which CAN'T be good) and we're all stuck inside today.

This is the part where I start running and screaming...

What Day is It???

The garage door people cancelled on me because of the cold. I can't blame them. It IS cold. It's currently snowing, and I'm waiting for it to stop so I can snowblow, before the 35+mph winds kick in, and we get the 40 below temperature that's supposed to hit tomorrow.

Yep, FORTY below. *sigh*

Thing Four has a fever. Not sure what's wrong with him, he's a little whimpery and quiet, but I'm not sure what else. Hubby says take him to the Dr., but he's just begun to have symptoms, and I'm not sure if it's molars coming in or not. It could be his throat. He cries when he eats. But he sticks his fingers in his mouth and chews on them, too. So it could be teeth. I keep asking him where his "owie" is, and he just looks at me. Usually he can point, so I can give it a kiss. Not sure what it means when he can't tell me where it hurts...so I am going to just watch him for now.

This has been a strange week. Usually I'm out and about with lots of errands to run and things to do--and because of the weather I've been pretty much sequestered in the house. No one goes out in this weather, unless it's for work or school, or a desperation run to the grocery store. (I did that, yesterday--we were OUT of milk.) So I've been working on my story, avoiding the laundry, and playing with the baby. LAME.

I want to get OUT. I want to GO SOMEWHERE. But, alas, it's not safe to drive around and everywhere I would want to go is a freeway drive away. DOUBLE LAME.

So, today is Laundry day, and Editing Day, and Cuddle The Sick Baby Day. The days are just melting into each other.

You gotta love Winter weather. It takes the humor right out of me.

You Know You Live in Wisconsin When...

It's zero degrees outside and fifteen below with windchill, and you shrug your shoulders and say "Eh, it's not so bad."

HELLO!!! IT'S COLD!!! FIFTEEN BELOW IS

FREAKING COLD!!!

Okay, had to get that out of my system. Anyway, I drove the kids to school this morning, because I didn't want them standing out in the bitter cold wind at the bus stop. Thing Two has a cold, and the other Things are probably GETTING a cold, so I am taking precautions.

Hubby started texting me at 5am this morning, and finally I had to remind him that he's on New York time, and I was still trying to sleep. I think he was a little mortified, once he realized. ;-)

Today I'm staying indoors. Not going anywhere. Well, technically I can't anyway--I have to wait for the garage door people to come and replace the two bottom panels on my big garage door (since I sort of backed into it while it was down) and I don't know when they're "scheduled" to come. I really detest large windows of time like that. You feel...stuck in your own home.

But I'm not complaining too much, because I'm really getting into the edits of my NaNo story. I'm starting to have fun with it. Once I hit my 50K words, I stopped, and frankly, there is a HUGE scene that I haven't written yet, and I'm looking forward to doing that. As I edit, I am getting reaquainted with my characters and the world I've created. Although I need to keep a running list of all the words I make up, so I don't use the wrong words later down the line. I also have to Google them, to make sure someone ELSE hasn't made up the words. ;-)

We're supposed to get more snow. I snowblowed the driveway this morning and about froze my #*&*&!! off--the wind bit right through my thick clothes and super-cold-resistant-technology gloves and underclothes.

Yep. I live in Wisconsin.

My Kid is a Potty Mouth

Ahhh, the joys of listening to a toddler learning to talk. They're so cute, aren't they? My twenty-month old is talking up a storm. Granted, a lot of it is "clear-only-to-him" gibberish, but it's starting to make more and more sense. For instance:

Me: (while I'm changing his diaper) Did you have a good sleep last night sweetie? Did you have any good dreams?

Him: Blah blah blah dinosaurs blah blah blah cuppie blah blah take a nap blah blah blah blah chocolate milk blah blah blah take a bath blah blah blah airplane blah blah coat and hat and go bye bye in the car blah blah Woody and Buzz Lightyear blah blah blah...

This is usually the response I get. He's very chatty.

Of course, there are the "unfortunate" times where he sounds like he's saying cuss words. Granted, he's NOT saying them, but some words just come out...sounding...dirty. Take Sunday. He was walking around the living room with a book in his hands saying the F-Word. No joke. Over and over and over. My nine-year old son was blissfully ignorant of this, since he was buried in his Nintendo DS, but my eight year old son came gleefully running up to me.

"Mom! Thing Four is saying the Eff Word!"

I rolled my eyes and walked up the baby to question him, and I asked him what he was doing.

"F***!" he said proudly. And he showed me his little book, on which a FROG sat on a lily pad. I said "Oh! A FROG! What does a frog say?" To which he responded:

"F*** says Ribbit!"

Of course my sons fell all over themselves laughing, and I had to make them leave, because since they had fallen all over themselves laughing, the baby decided it was VERY funny and he needed to dance around the room SINGING the F-word over and over.

I could have killed my boys. So I guess I need to keep the baby in the house and out of all public places until he can pronounce FROG correctly. Sheesh.

But I have had the same problem with babies in the past. When Thing Two was two years old I would never take him with me to the bank because they always handed out suckers and we would get twenty feet within the bank and he'd start to bounce up and down in his carseat and yell "F***ER!!!" over and over.

As the for the baby, I won't be taking any more "frog" books to church for a while...

"You're a Mean Mom!"

Yep. That's what my daughter told me today, as she trudged through the snow, in her shoes. Why? Becasue she'd left her boots at school for the umpteenth time. Because she couldn't be bothered to bring them home.

So, to teach her a lesson, I "couldn't be bothered" to drive her to the bus stop, OR to school. I'm tired of empowering the laziness. Her BROTHERS manage to bring their boots home every day. Heck, they wear them home from school. There's nothing embarrassing about snow boots in Wisconsin. Even hers. They are black, with little white daisies on them. She LOVED them. She PICKED THEM OUT. So, after a few times of sighing and loading the baby and everybody into the car and driving her to the bus stop so she wouldn't have to walk in the snow bootless, I finally put my foot down.

I'm a mean mom. I wear that badge proudly. How else is she going to learn to remember her boots? Having an unpleasant walk through snow just might do the trick. And it's not like she has to walk MILES. The bus stop is in front of the house next door to us. We just happen to have big lots, so it's a "bit" of a walk. Nothing she won't survive.

Yes, I'm a mean mom. I make them eat their green vegetables. I make them CHANGE their underwear every day. I make them finish their homework. I make them do chores. I make them clean up the basement when it starts to look like a level 4 cyclone blew through. I actually make them shovel snow. I'm horrible. The worst mom ever.

*grin*

Late posting today because I'm just...tired. Had a restless night for some reason, and had to get the kids up earlier than normal. Lack of sleep never goes well with me. Unless it's for a reason, like a brand-new baby or something like that. But when I just "don't sleep" it wreaks havoc on my day.

We got a couple inches of snow last night, ON TOP of the ice, so now, it's lethal. The kids of course ignored my warnings of the driveway and slid down it SEVERAL times before running to their bus stop this morning. Turkeys. Wait till one of them falls. Then they won't be laughing so hard...

I have been heavily editing my NaNo story. I gave it a solid month off, before I even looked at it again, and now I'm in the stage where I sit at the computer with my hands over my mouth in horror at the rubbish I'm reading. ;-)

Well, when your fingers are flying and you're basically doing a "freewrite" you don't have time to go back and correct your punctuation, grammar and spelling. You're getting the idea OUT, and that's good enough.

Now I have a hefty mess of garbledygook to unravel and piece into a coherent story, but I'm actually enjoying it. I have set a deadline of March 1st, to have it polished up and ready to either submit or stuff in a drawer. I'll figure out which I should do after I'm done.

January is so...EH. You're stuck with the fallout from Christmas (paying bills was never fun anyway) and the weather is gloomy and gray, and unless you enrolled your kids in Winter sports, there really isn't anything remotely motivating. Because New Years Resolutions are usually broken within the first week, heh heh...

Thing Four is down for his nap, so I'm "back to the page" as my good friend Devon would say...

OH, and Thing One surprised me this morning. I woke her up at 6am, she showered and blow-dryed her hair and styled it all by herself. It was very cute. She actually liked the way it felt to do it herself, so now, we may be on to a new trend of independence. Hooray! We'll see how it goes for now...

The Hair War

I have one daughter. Only one. All my other children are boys. But of course, I had the daughter first. So she's the oldest. She recently turned 11, and in the space of about TWO days she suddenly became a fashionista a 'la Gossip Girl (and I suddenly knew nothing about what was "cool") a tech-savvy computer enthusiast and a power reader, reluctant to let me "guide" her in her reading choices.

And she's only eleven. When *I* was eleven, I was reading the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, and thinking it would be cool to be a pioneer. I had a purple sweater with pink hearts across the front of it and it was my COOLEST piece of clothing. My one ambition was to sing like "Annie" on broadway. I had a Cabbage Patch Kid, who was my prize possession. I wore jeans every day and my hair either pulled back or hanging down. Those were my two choices.

Life was so much simpler for kids, back then. Thing One stopped playing with dolls a LONG time ago. She would be mortified if she knew what I was like, at eleven. I would have been a "nerd" for sure.

She's become this contradictory monster, lately. Granted, she is a sweetheart and she loves to help out around the house and babysit her baby brother, and she's creative and funny and I love her to death, but sometimes...SOMETIMES I could seriously lock her in her room until she's 18.

Especially over the hair. OY, the hair. I swear she's bi-polar about hair. One week, she can't have the same hairdo twice, and the next week, she wants a ponytail every day. She wants to chop it off. She wants it in rollers. She wants it in a bun with a sporty headband...with a NICE outfit. EGADS!

And guess who is stuck doing her hair? ME. She has this "thing" where she is allergic to styling her own hair. I just recently sat her down and made her blow dry her own hair. I might as well have been shoving needles under her fingernails. "I'm just not as good as you, Mom!"

To which I replied: "That's why you need to do it yourself. To practice."

I had her, there, and she really loathed that I did. But what can I say? I was 100% right.

This week we've been battling the "I want it in a bun with a headband every day no matter what" syndrome.

Me: "You are NOT wearing a bun again."

Her: "MOM! All the girls are doing it! They wear their hair in buns, and they wear funky headbands. Claire wears the same headband every day, and she's the most popular girl in school!

Me: Carly has hair to her ears. I doubt she's wearing a bun and a headband. She doesn't have enough hair. So you're wrong. Not "every" girl is doing it..."

Her: "MOM! I hate having my hair down! It's static-y!"

Me: *Heavy Sigh* Go get a headband...

See? This is how I lose the Hair War. I remember having static hair in school and how much I loathed it. She preys on my sensitivity to the non-practical hairstyle. She's manipulative...

So, what happens when she actually BECOMES a teenager???

I Have Ants In My Pants...

You ever feel that way? Like things just aren't "coming to fruition" fast enough? Or since you're just "one person" you can only do so much?

I am antsy, because organizing takes TIME. A LOT of time. For instance, I spent four hours yesterday, completely organizing and cleaning my walk-in pantry. You wouldn't believe some of the stuff I found in there. And I was very sad to have to toss quite a bit of stuff that was WAY past the expiration date. We're talking stuff that expired in 2007. Yeah, gotta get rid of that stuff.

So, now my pantry is fabulous, and everything is organized and up-to-date (I even lugged stuff from the basement food storage up to fill in) and I am very happy with it.

But that was just ONE thing. You know how many closets and "stuff spaces" I have? How many drawers and cabinets?

AUUGHHH!!!

Okay, that felt better. It's going too slow. I want my house to be "Instant" organized. When I do it right, it takes too long. It's worse than Crosstitching. Seriously.

I went to my "other" favorite place yesterday, Home Depot. I got all those curly-lasts-nine-years-uses-less-wattage lights and changed out most of the bulbs on my first floor. It really is amazing that now I've lit about nine lamps and I'm only using the equivalent of TWO of the old regular bulbs. That ROCKS. (Since I got home and saw my energy bill for December and immediately started screaming in horror, something needed to be done.)

I also have ants in my pants because the publisher I've submitted to is S-L-O-W. They told me they take up to six months to respond. It's now been two. Does it REALLY take six? More ants in the pants...

It rained and froze, and my driveway is literally an ice rink. I was telling my friend yesterday I should just Zamboni the durn thing and let people skate on it. It's CRAZY. I have to put my car in 4X4 Low just to get down it. Scary. And it is still about twelve degrees, all day. Yep, it's January!

So, I'm antsy because things take time. But I suppose all the hard work makes them worth it? Who knows. I just want them DONE. I guess I need to just take a chill pill.

For your viewing pleasure, here is Thing Four, thinking he wants to be a Knight...

Didja MISS ME???

Yeah, I didn't think so. Hey everyone, it's 2009!! WOO! 2008 was just OK, but the end kind of sucked. So, I am looking forward, and jumping head first into the "fresh start-ness" of it all.

First item of business, Christmas decorations. We got back into town late Friday night, and I realized that I really did cover everything we owned with lights. And bows. And...stuff. So now, I need to basically getitdownasfastasIcanbecauseChristmasisover.

That's how I feel about Christmas decorations after Christmas. Done. Finito. Get them DOWN!!!I took the main tree decorations off last night. It was bittersweet. I've taken those decorations off for twelve years now, and they're still beautiful as the day I bought them, as a newlywed. I'm always a little sad when I take the tree down, but then I'm in the "clean and uncluttered" mood by then and it's all good.

Christmas vacation in Idaho was...busy. I really have married into a busy family. I, naturally, came from a VERY laid-back family (as in-- were we any MORE laid-back we'd slip into comas) and Hubby is from the go-go-go-never-sit-down-run-here-run-there-work-until-you-fall-into-bed-exhausted family. And they're not even farmers! So we had to be doing something all the time, and of course I lost my voice and got a nasty head cold from the climate change.

But Santa was good too me, and my favorite present: a big ol' Barnes & Noble Gift Card. Yeah, my Hubby knows how to get to me. ;-)

So, like most people, I'm now on an organizational kick, and I want to dejunk my house and my life and manage my time better. Oh, and fit into smaller jeans. And live within my means. 2008 set the stage for how we need to act in 2009. So I'm going to act accordingly.

I only have about 768 things on my to-do list for this week. You think I have enough? Sheesh. I guess all I can do is do what I can, each day.

Now I just need to remember to write 2009 on my checks, instead of 2008, as I have been lately...

Happy New Year!!!

2009 will be a GREAT year. I have no doubt. Better than 2008. Hooray!!!

Have a safe and happy one, everyone!