Another One Bites the Dust...

We were at the dr. yesterday afternoon. Guess who has Swine Flu now?

Thing Three. Only he had a chest cold first...so I'm nervous. Last night he woke up with night terrors (he only does this when he has a fever) screaming that he was floating, and he was going to die.

Not a fun time for me. And Hubby leaves for NYC on Sunday. I just wish all the kids would get it at once, instead of this "dragging it out/one-kid-at-a-time crap.

Keep us in your thoughts!

Eh.

Eh.

'nuff said.

My Toddler, the Potty Mouth...

Okay, well, he's not exactly cussing or anything, but the things that come out of my two-year old's mouth could only have been picked up from his siblings. I mean, the kid is a sponge. He absorbs everything, and retains it for later. For very opportune moments. Like, for instance, while Thing One was unwrapping her birthday presents monday night, Hubby was distracting Thing Four by tossing him in the air, and holding him up high in his hands.

Thing Four, like all my other children, has an irrational fear of heights. It's from Hubby's side of the family. So, imagine our shock when suddenly, my dear sweet angel baby shouted at the top of his lungs to his father:

"PUT ME DOWN, YOU MORON!!!"

We all gasped. It seemed unnatural, for such words to be coming from our little Thing Four. Then, of course, we all started laughing our heads off, which caused Thing Four to start repeating himself gleefully: "Put me down, you MORON! Put me down, you MORON!"

Great.

Cut to last night, where Thing Four was acting a little crazy and dancing to Halloween music, and he kept "falling down" at the end. (Such a ham.) At one point, Hubby stuck his toe out and nudged Thing Four in the rear end. Scandalized, he clutched his backside, and yelled out with a large delighted grin:

"DAD! YOU KICKED ME IN THE BUTT!"

What has happened to my little angel, who only says sweet baby things? He's become a human digital recorder, who spits out what he's recorded without warning. Literally. As I was trying to scrape up the last of his oatmeal to feed to him (he can't get the last part himself) he put both hands up to me and yelled:

"DOCTOR OCTAGONAPUS, BAAAAAAAUUUGGGHHHHH!"

No more Lazer Collection for his older brothers. Click here if you dare. (Pretty harmless, actually, but you'll know what I'm talking about. My older kids love this stuff.)

So, we had a "little discussion" with the older kids about how we need to curb what we say around our little sponge. No more letting him watch "older cartoons" or peeking over shoulders while we're on the computer.

Because I don't need my little cherub yelling "HOLY CRAP IT'S BUZZ LIGHTYEAR!" again in the church nursery. I think I might die from embarrassment.

HOORAY!!!

Thing One's fever broke yesterday afternoon! No more Swine Flu!!! She still has a cough, and I'm keeping her home one more day (she has to be fever free for 24 hours) but she at least got to come downstairs and open her birthday presents and have cake and icecream.

I totally faked her out--her biggest present turned out to be a diaper box. Inside was an oatmeal box. Inside that was a ziploc bag box. And inside THAT box was an Advil box. And what was inside the Advil box? A new ipod Nano. A purple one. I think if her throat wasn't sore she would have shattered our eardrums with squealing.

The new nanos are cool--they record video! We gave her an iTunes giftcard, too. That was spent within ten minutes. She knew exactly which songs she wanted. And whoever Justin Beiber is, she LURVES him.

I just can't believe I have a TWELVE-year old! Waaahhhh!

This morning was strange--I didn't trust my boys to take the bus with their blow-up Ghostbusters proton packs (today is costume day at school) so I drove them. And it was the craziest thing--our house is at the top of the subdivision, and as we drove downwards, a thicker-than-thick fog bank had settled in the low areas, and I probably had 15 feed of visibility. It was freaky. And it felt like I was suffocating while I drove. I didn't see other cars' headlights until they were right in front of me. I have never seen it thicker in my life! Freaky.

Today is Tuesday! I feel like I can breathe, now, since Thing One is out of the Swine Flu Woods. And her siblings are still symptom-free! Is that luck, or what? Divine Intervention, if you ask me. But of course I'm stripping her bed and washing everything I can wash, and vacuuming her floor and spraying everything and wiping down every surface with Clorox wipes. Don't want to take any chances!!

Today is a good day!

Quarantine.

I've got Thing One (a.k.a the Swine Flu Queen) quarantined upstairs. She has a pretty sweet setup. She's got a sofa with a flatscreen TV/DVD with Directv, a DS, an ipod, and her own bathroom. So, all the germs stay in one spot, and no one is allowed upstairs. She's got it made.

Except for having the Swine Flu, of course. I'm piggybacking Tylenol and Motrin every four hours for the fever, and she is doing ok..except her throat really hurts and she's coughing a lot. I'm trying to keep her as comfortable as possible. She's been in her room since Friday morning, and she's going a little stir crazy, but at least she has plenty to keep her occupied.

The best part is (I need to find some wood to knock on) the boys haven't gotten it yet. Thing Three felt warm yesterday and complained of a headache, but other than that we haven't had any high fevers. Maybe because I quarantined her early we isolated the germs? That's what I'm hoping. Plus we are all using hand sanitizer, washing our hands, NOT touching our faces (why is it whenever I'm upstairs dealing with her I suddenly get an itchy nose or eye? WHY IS THAT???) and I'm wiping down everything daily with Clorox wipes or spraying with Lysol.

Fingers crossed. Although it has put a crimp in today, because it's her twelfth BIRTHDAY! Happy Birthday Thing One! I'm sorry you have to have your breakfast upstairs away from us this morning, and your cake too. I'm sorry we're going to have to bring your presents to you and let you open them in your room. I'm sorry you can't go to school and I can't bring cupcakes to your class and embarrass you when they sing you "Happy Birthday" in the cafeteria at lunch.

I'm so, so sorry, sweetie. Get better fast!

And the Winner Is...SWINE FLU!!!

Yes, Swine Flu has invaded our house. Thing One is in quarantine, but of course yesterday when she came home with symptoms she was all over the stinkin' house. Off I go to disinfect...well...EVERYTHING.

BLECH. Poor Thing One. She'll have Swine Flu for her birthday. :-(

The Yucks.

You know, sometimes I think public school is a bad idea. We are so HEALTHY during the summer, and then the kids go back to school, and the illnesses begin. We're all getting over bad colds right now, and NOW Thing One has come down with a high fever/sore throat/cough. And Thing Four has a low-grade fever and what I like to call the Grumps.

Apparently several kids out of each of my kids' classes are out sick. Swine flu? No idea. I just know I have a long weekend (possibly week) ahead of me...taking care of sickies, making them comfortable, comforting them during the night, giving them medicine, changing their sheets, wiping everything down and spraying it. I just hope I stay healthy so I can do all of it. There's nothing worse than being sick yourself and having to take care of the sick.

I can't believe it's Friday already! Wow. This week was like the blink of an eye. We were supposed to go out and celebrate Thing One's birthday dinner tonight, but that obviously won't be happening. We'll have to order in.

Cross your fingers for us!

The Alarm Didn't Go Off!!!!

I'm sure everyone has had this happen to them. We usually don't. Hardly ever. So, imagine our dismay this morning, when we snapped awake (more like heard Thing Four upstairs shouting to be let out of his crib!) and realized the alarm hadn't gone off and it was 7:30. TWO HOURS later than we normally wake up! (Well, Hubby wakes up that early, I wake up at six).

Yikes.

The kids' bus comes at 7:35, so missed that. We had a mad scramble to get the kids fed, dressed, hair done, packed up and into the car. We almost made it. It was 8:05 when I dropped them off. I'm sure the ladies in the school office had a good laugh when my kids all trooped in.

*sigh* This morning started out...a little crazy.

I'm going to the dr. today. I suspect a sinus infection. My left eye/surrounding area feels like it's going to explode with pain, and don't even get me started on leaning forward. Antibiotics here I come...

Hubby is getting sick too. Even with all his hand sanitizing/wiping down/spraying/ingesting copious amounts of Zycam and Airborne, he's got the scratchy throat and stuffy nose, now.
To that I say HELLO, you've been sharing a bed with a sickie! (me). It's bound to happen. He's actually glad it's happening now, and not when he goes to New York in ten days. He should be over it by then.

I'm not running around much today. I'm going to do some research (I'm NaNoing this year) and stay in. It's pouring outside anyway. It was 70 degrees yesterday. I'm going to have to mow the *&!#%()**!! lawn again before Winter sets in. BLECH.

No Mallet-On-The-Head for Me...

FINALLY feeling better this morning. I did a 45-min weight workout yesterday, and cloaked my head in a bowl full of steaming eucalyptus water (thanks, Dev!) and I felt MUCH better. Although I'm usually tempted to reach for the super-dooper drano-strength Afrin Nasal spray--with menthol. It's like the Lexus of Nasal Sprays. Yes, I know prolonged use is bad for you. I only use it when I feel claustrophobic. I swear it got me through my sister's wedding weekend. I LOVE it.

Thing One had a basketball game last night, and it was a slaughter. As in HER TEAM was slaughtered. The opposing team's girls were HUGE. It was ridiculous. Thing One, who is 5'3, was matched up with a girl who was 5'11 and probably weighed 180. I am NOT kidding. She was Huge Girl. I have to hand it to Thing One--she tried to guard Huge Girl, but it was like watching a fly bounce off The Titanic. And there were two more Super Amazonian Girl players on the opposing team who kept stealing the ball and scoring, and the score ended up 26-7. OUCH.

But at least they were trying. Our school is a small school, and half the girls on the team haven't played before, and the ones who can play are pretty short. Except Thing One. (I was pretty happy when she won the tip-off, at least!)

Thing Two, who is NOT athletic, has decided to go for 5th grade boys basketball this year. (*cough cough* I sort of bribed him *cough cough* with a video game *cough*) But it will be a good experience for him. And the bribe WON'T be awarded until after the season is over. Who knows, maybe he'll actually like it?

I made it through Craziness Day, and today is Run-Around Day. I have stuff to mail, birthday presents to buy (Thing One turns TWELVE on monday!) and lots of little errands that are annoying and eat up gasoline.

At least I refrained from using the mallet!

Cement and Red Berries.

Why cement? Because that's what my head is made of today! It still amazes me the amount of snot/congestion our sinuses manufacture during a head cold. And how the simple act of blowing one's nose can bring on severe sinus pain. Not cool.

Red Berries, because I've discovered them. Special K with Red Berries. I've never tried it before, and I decided "what the heck" and bought some, and now it's my favorite cereal. (Well, actually, a good bowl of oatmeal with raisins is my favorite, but it's my favorite cold cereal.)

Today is CRAZINESS day. I have to clean the bathrooms, do a weight work out, THEN go to a RS presidency meeting at someone's house in scary Waukesha (I get lost there all the time--even with a nav system, I know don't laugh!) and then I get to pick the kids up from school, and run them home, only to run one to soccer and one to a basketball game. I only get to stay for half the game because then I get to run pick up Thing Three from soccer and go BACK to the bball game to finish it out, and then as soon as it's over we have to runlikeheck to Cub scouts at the church 35 miles away. And I have to fit dinner in there...somewhere. Oh, and I get to do all this with a toddler. In a stroller.

Yep. CRAZINESS day. I am not looking forward to it. I need to take some cold medicine.

Or I could take a big mallet and gong myself in the head and wake up tomorrow, after it's all over.

:-D

Barely There.

Heh heh. I remember in the 90's that was the color of nylons I once wore. Hanes "Barely There." I remember people wore nylons with sandals, too. The horror!

BUT, I only wore white shoes with black tights--ONE time. I swear.

ANYWAY, I'm sick. Barely here. My whole family has been battling the fever/sore throat/cough/chills thing, and finally, Saturday, during an all-day church thing, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Suddenly my throat hurt, felt scratchy, my nose plugged up, etc.

I skipped church yesterday, stayed in bed. I don't have chills today, so I just need to muscle through the cement head part. I'm taking my vitamins and my C and getting lots of rest. But we made a great Sunday dinner of pot roast, rhodes rolls and mashed potatoes last night, and I COULDN'T TASTE ANY OF IT! :-( Major Sadness.

Oh well. I rarely get sick. And when I do, I whine. So, forgive me.

I made a great discovery on Saturday. I was getting ready for a presentation on 72-hour kits (mine definitely rocks, I have to say) and I was going through our "go bag" and realized it hadn't been updated since 2005. And inside a packet I had three cd's, with our computer from 2005 backed up on them. That computer has long since gone the way of the dodo, and I popped the cd's into the computer to have a look at them. And I was SOOOOO glad I did! All the pictures and videos I'd thought we'd lost were on the CDs! Basically all the pictures of our Germantown house and all the kids from 2002-2005. I was so excited! And it was a bit like looking into a time capsule--the kids loved laughing at their pictures and hairstyles and how chubby they used to all be as babies. It was a fun even, to look through all those pics!

*sigh* Time sure does fly. And now, before I get all syrupy and sentimental, I'd better bundle myself and Thing Four up, we have some errands to run!

Adios!

A Public Service Announcement

Today's Announcement Topic, Fiber One Bars:

To say they're fabulous is an understatement. I especially love Oats & Chocolate. It's a little piece of Heaven in a granola bar. A fiber rich granola bar. Which brings me to my other new favorite fiber product: Fiber One Yogurt by Yoplait:

Yummy. Seriously. Here's where my public service announcement comes in. I unwittingly the other day decided it would be fun to have, for my afternoon snack, a Fiber One granola bar, AND (drumroll please) A Fiber One Yogurt.

TOGETHER. At the same time.

I have not yet recovered.

So, please, for the love of heaven, DO NOT EVER eat these two things together. Unless you like liquefied insides.

Consider yourself warned.

Okay, Here's Another One:

Photoshop Disasters. HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!

Brrrrr. It's a crock-pot chili day, for sure! Besides, I am going to be gone most of the day, and Thing One has another basketball game almost right after school, so dinner in a crock pot seems ideal. And the fact that it's BUTT cold outside! Chili is comfort food in my opinon. :-)

Although thankfully, it hasn't snowed. It rained most of the night. We got lucky. In fact, I'm surprised it isn't snow. Suprised and thankful. I finally hung up all the kids bikes and scooters on the garage wall yesterday, they're done for the season. And the jogging stroller, and pretty much anything I could hang up, I did. Even the fertilizer spreaders. Hubby and his brother went nuts buying wall strips and assorted hooks and gadgets a few years back, why not make use of them? Because a three-car garage is never truly a THREE car garage. More like a two car garage plus your junk. You know?

I mowed the lawn for the last time on Tuesday, down to a three. Time to move the mowers to the back of the garage and the snow blowers to the front. Eeek!

I really have nothing more to blog about. Hmmm. Haven't run into that problem in a while. Guess that's it for me! Have a good Thursday.

Can I Veto Winter?

Can I get a petition together and get signatures on it? I would like to rally to put Winter off, for at least two more months. My heat was running all night long (only because I don't want kid-scicles when they sleep) and that means it was BUTT cold last night. It was in the twenties, I just found out.

That's just not right, for this early! If we're supposed to have this "mild" winter like everyone is predicting, why is it getting such an early start? Unfair!

I sound like my nearly twelve-year old. But I'm honestly perturbed. At the weather. Yeah, I know.

I think I'm just grouchy this morning. Thing One decided to sleep with the baby (there's a queen bed in his room) and she must have snored or something, because he was bouncy and awake and ready to play at 4am. I wanted to die. Because I went to bed at midnight.

Thing One's basketball game was yesterday. They got spanked. It was the whole same thing as last year--one star player on the opposing team never sat out, and got the ball every time and sank basket after basket. Granted, Thing One's team held their own, but they lost by ten points. Thing One played well, she scored and had lots of key passes. I am proud of her. Every year she improves. But it always stinks to lose your first game of the season. Plus there was a lot of traveling and errors--it happens with sixth grade basketball!

I am NOT looking forward to the soccer game this saturday. I will be the shapeless lump on the field (because I will be wearing 8435 layers of clothing) with the thermos of hot cocoa, an electric blanket, hot bricks at my feet and pocket warmers. And a hot water bottle. The wind that comes off those soccer fields is RIDICULOUS. It should be a blast. (Yes, sarcastic pun intended!)

Help me.

Creeping Chaos.

Mom's operation went smooth as glass. She's recovering well. Thanks for all the well wishes!

And I finally figured out why I'm grouchy. Irritable, even. Because living in a house full of kids is always...messy.

You know those paper towel commercial slogans: "Life's Messy. Clean it up." Well, it's the "Clean it up" part that really really REALLY gets on my nerves.

I seem to be cleaning up... a lot. Even with the kids helping. The house never stays perfectly clean. Chaos always seems to be around the edges, and if I don't keep up with everything, it creeps up, inch by inch, until it's HERE TO STAY and everything is a mess and I want to blow my face off. (That's Hubby's and my new favorite expression: "I want to blow my face off.")

I will be fighting this battle for the next 17-ish years. It's enough to make even the stoutest heart shrink, let me tell you. Why? Constantly keeping chaos at bay doesn't sound like much fun.

I stayed up until Midnight last night. I am so dumb. Shouldn't have done that, and now I'm going to be tired all day. Poor Hubby had a long day (he worked out at 5am) and didn't get into LAX until around midnight. Well, midnight OUR time. It was only 10pm on the west coast.

Poor Hubby. I can take a nap. He can't.

Thing One has her first basketball game of the season today, the 6th-grade team was so big, they split it into two teams, so the girls would get more playing time. Pretty smart, in my opinion. Although I'm not looking forward to dragging my very active two-year old to the game. I'll have to keep him in a stroller, and he's NOT very happy when I do that. Snacks and toys. Those are going to be the bribery items of the day. ;-)

Cross your fingers for me! But I guess it's okay if he screams, no one will hear him above the crowd. :-)

Rise and Shout...

...the Cougars are out!

I promised Hubby I'd wake up with him at 5am this morning to work out (he leaves for L.A. today and can't work out much when he's there) and I think I could do the early morning workout thing...occasionally. :-)

There are couples who swear they won't workout together because they like to have a little "mystery" in the relationship. I know for sure Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale do this. But I figure, hey, we're in this for the long haul, we've been together 15 years, is he really going to "leave me" because he's seen me red-faced and sweaty, laboring over an elliptical machine?

I think not.

Plus, it gives us more "together time" sans kids. It's a win-win, in my book.

Okay, it's cold. We had our first official freeze yesterday morning, and all my beautiful hydrangeas have turned brown and ugly. The black-eyed susans died last week, and now, everything else has started going brown and mucky. We'll have to whack everything down this week, and get the driveway stakes up, and get ready for Winter.

I have to say, though, Wisconsin trees in Fall are breathtaking. Absolutely gorgeous.

I'm listening to "I Gotta Feeling" from Black-eyed Peas on my ipod right now. And so far, it seems to be true!

Happy Monday all! And cross your fingers for my mom! She goes into surgery today!

Awkward Family Photos Dot Com

I have discovered a new site--and I have spent the last five minutes HOWLING.

This one and This one are my favorites so far.


Try it for yourself. :-)

The "S" Word.

SNOW.

Yep, that's a bad word around here. Only because I'm not ready for it. And we had crappy sporadic weather this summer.

And we're getting the dreaded S-word on Monday. Snow Flurries. Yeah, I know, I should be grateful they're only flurries, but SNOW in any form is not welcome. Not in early October.

'Nuff said.

I don't remember falling asleep last night. Hubby and I watched two shows, had popcorn and Coke zeros, and around 10:45, I could barely keep my eyes open. I went up to bed, he puttered on the computer for a few minutes. He says when he came up, he said something to me, and I didn't answer. I was GONE.

I think it's because I've started regular workouts this week. As opposed to sporadic workouts. I do 30 min of cardio six days a week (off on Sunday) and weight training 3 times a week. We don't have our personal trainer any more, but I have all the workouts she emailed me over the years, so I'm doing it right. I'm going to implement Yoga next week, in the mornings. I always feel great when I do yoga, and I miss it when I don't.

Why the big rush to get in shape? Because this is the time of year I could potentially pack on the pounds. Halloween alone could sabotage any diet. And I already have some weight to lose, so I don't need any more.

*sigh* That's what I get for having four babies and not exercising regularly. Well, in a few years I'll be in my forties and the weight will be harder to get off. So, I'm doing something about it now. What's funny is, I feel fine. I have energy, I am extremely busy and I run around without any problems. (Then I look in the mirror and see my full moon face and think "yikes!")
I was relatively thin all my life (until I had the aforementioned babies) and since I'm not genetically blessed with a naturally fast metabolism (like two of my longtime friends I'm supremely jealous of--you know who you are!) I have to WORK at it.

So, work I will. Because I don't want to eat the Holidays. :-)

ANYWAYIGOTONATANGENT, I am not looking forward to snow. I guess I'd better put in the driveway stakes, just in case. And move the snowblowers to the front of the garage, instead of the lawn mower. Freaky. Time to batten down the hatches and get ready for winter! Just like all the little squirrels I've seen lately.

Although I wish they'd stop digging and hiding acorns in my lawn...

Hubby came home safe and sound yesterday, and on Monday he leaves for L.A., again. Toy Fair. I had a lady at Cub scouts the other night ask me how I juggled things with a husband who traveled so much, and I joked, "well, when he's here it's still like he's not here, because he's working so much. The only difference is we can kiss each other goodnight."

:-) Poor Hubby. But we do get QT at night. Once the kids are in bed at 8:30, we can cuddle on the sofa and watch the DVR. That's our "together" time.

I have my class this morning (hooray!) and Thing Four has decided he likes going into the nursery. (I suspect it has something to do with the large plastic airplane-riders they brought out last week!) So, all is good.

My mom goes in for surgery on Monday, and I'm nervous and excited for her. Her health hasn't been the best, and this surgery will literally give her a new lease on life (pardon the cliche). I can't wait to see her improve and get healthy!

Time to shower and run run run! It's a half day today at school and I have a lot to pack in before they get home!

STOP THE PRESSES!!!

Seriously, it's crazy! A miracle! Unheard of!!!

I went to bed at 10:30 last night. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I actually did NOT drink any diet coke, and watch movies or play on the computer until the wee hours of the morning, which is my modus operandi whenever Hubby is away on a business trip.

(Whew, run-on sentence!) Anyway, I simply got the kids in bed, finished folding all my sweaters into my closet shelves, and trooped downstairs to watch two episodes of GG, and when I was finished, I looked at the clock, and it was 10:30. And I was tired. Probably because I'd only gotten five hours of sleep the previous night. So, I took the plunge and went to bed.

It was AWESOME! I feel so much better! I feel "awake" for once! Although I was ripped rudely out of my sleep at 6:23 this morning (only 8 minutes before we all get up) because Thing Four had gotten his chubby leg stuck between the crib bars and was crying for me to come save him.

WHEW.

Okay, here's something gross. I went in the back basement storage yesterday to formulate a game plan for the Fall decorations, and I noticed my old yoga mat was sitting on the floor. (It must have fallen out of the tub I'd set it in. So I picked it up, and it unrolled and...

Ramen fell out of it. A lot of it. Yes, ramen. Like, those noodles that come in packages and are so tasty but give you, like, your next 50 years worth of sodium and fat. Yeah, Ramen.

I immediately realized something wasn't right. How did the ramen get there? Then I finally realized and dropped the mat with a squeal of disgust. Mice had been living in it!!!

This happened two years ago. When the weather got cold, the mice found a way in. Well, apparently they have again. With goosebumps, I walked over to the shelves where we have lots of food stored. Mostly cans, but I have one shelf with packages of ramen on it. To my horror, I found that THREE whole packages had been nibbled into and eaten COMPLETELY. As in, all gone. I immediately got on gloves, scooped the rest of the packages off the shelf and into a garbage bag, and ran to the store to buy D-con. I set out big trays of poison, and this morning, all of them have pellets missing.

*shiver.*

I will NOT have mice in my house. I'm going to zap them all. I am normally a creature-loving person, but once you come into my home and bring disease and danger, I am TAKING YOU OUT.

Time for breakfast!

It's Fall and I'm Freaking Out.

What is UP with me??? I am on this super-de-junking-organize-everything/toss-it-because-it's-just-stuff kick. Especially this week.

I think it started when Hubby left for L.A. yesterday, and I had some time to myself last night. After a few episodes of Gossip Girl (working my way through the second season) and an abundance of Cherry Coke Zeros, I figured it was high time I de-junked my bathroom cupboards and cabinets. And I needed to do it RIGHT THEN, because today is Garbage Day.

I think I threw away enough expired lotions/shampoos/creams/medicine/assorted GUNK to start my own spa. SERIOUSLY. Stuff I have been holding on to for years. (See my previous post where I lament my Pack-rat-itis.)

After that, it was midnight, and I HAD to rotate the clothes in my closet. Yes, I have to rotate them. Out with the spring/summer clothes, in with the long-sleeved shirts, jeans and sweaters. Oh, and I had to pull out all my boots. Long boots, short boots, mid boots, cowboy boots, you name it, I probably have them. And there's the tall spiky-heel boots I never wear because of an unfortunate incident with some soft grass on a soccer field I won't get into.

ANYHOWIWASHIGHLYCAFFIENATED, I collapsed into bed at 1am, with lists and lists of stuff I need to organize. Today? The upstairs closets. I have nine tubs of Fall decorations I need to break out this week, and it would be chaos if everything wasn't in its place. I need to GET GOING!!!

This house sucks. Well, in the sense that it has GREAT storage and I have filled it up! I need to THROW IT OUT. My garbage men are going to hate me these next few Mondays...

:-) Happy Monday, all!

I WOULD KILL FOR THIS I Think I’m In Love…

'Nuff said.

Packrat-itis.

Okay. Holy Moses, enough is enough!!!

I remember helping my parents move a few years back, and I was astounded at the amount of...stuff they had accumulated. Well, junk, too. Let's say my parents are the "sentimental" type.

The less-kind term: PACKRATS.

And I, of course, have learned their ways. I have tubs of stuff that I should just toss, but it all has memories attached. I know, I've lamented this on the blog many times before, but now, my KIDS are becoming the same way!

I went through their rooms yesterday, because inevitably, not all their clothes make it into the hampers, and I was, yes, ASTOUNDED at all the stuff they had accumulated!!! (Does that sentence sound familiar?) I think Thing Two has every art project he ever did from grades 2-5 stuffed into his desk and closet. Thing One has scrapbooking stuff EVERYWHERE. Bits of this and that. It's CRAZY!!! Enough to make me want to tear my hair out and sit in a corner with my arms around my knees and start rocking.

MY CHILDREN ARE PACKRATS.

I wonder if there's a "Packrats Anonymous" for those unfortunate souls who can't throw anything away?

"Hello, my name is Lara, and it's been twenty three years since I've thrown away a birthday card..."

Class Was Good.

Had my class this morning. No incidents, Thing Four was fine in the nursery, and I actually LEARNED something. It was great!

Now I get to go clean toilets and wash 12 loads of laundry. Back to reality.

Hmmph.