I'M MOVING!!!

The Big Move is happening in 2 weeks, and although I won't be packing up my computer until next week, I still will be running around like a head with my chicken cut off. So, this blog is going on hiatus until July 25th. I know that's a long time. I'm sure all five of my readers are GREATLY disappointed, but sometimes Life happens. (And sometimes I procrastinate until the 2 weeks before something happens and have to runrunrun and not have time to even breathe. ;-) It's my own fault. I may still do Twitter updates occasionally, so if you want to follow them, you can find me on Twitter. (@Larawriter.)

So, stay tuned, and I'll see you all on the 25th of July!! Stay safe, have fun, be good!

Lara

Happy Birthday, America!!!

Wow! 235 years old today! Young, but AWESOME. I am so glad I live here, and enjoy the freedoms I do. I thank God every day for a free nation, and for the men and women who fight to keep it that way.

HOORAY U.S.A.!!!!!

It's a Waffle Morning.

Hubby has today and Monday off, so we're going to make the most of it. Since we close in two weeks on the house, we are going to have FUN, interloped with "house stuff," which is only "sorta" fun. Although Thing Three put a crimp in our pool plans by applying ZERO sunscreen during his six-hour stint at the pool yesterday, and he's a crispy kid. So, taking the family to the pool or Carowinds is out. No sun until at least Monday for us! :-(

I just got back from a run, and I'm making waffles. Seems a little oxymoronish, doesn't it?

Happy Friday everyone!

Wow. I Mean WOW.

Six bags. SIX huge hefty-thick construction grade black bags, full of clothes to go to Goodwill. I am amazed. Because I gave about 10 bags of clothes to Goodwill last year before our move, and that was from four years of living in the same house.

It has only been one year since then. I will admit, a lot of the clothing is winter clothing and heavy sweaters that we won't ever wear again, and if we ever have the chance they'll be so old we will want new ones--so all is good.
I guess I'm just amazed (and all you people with growing boys out there will empathize) at how quickly my boys go through clothes! They grow right out of them! Thing Two is growing like a weed. He grew three inches in the last year alone. Thing Three, well, he gets most of Thing Two's hand-me-downs because Thing Two is one of those boys who Doesn't Get His Clothes Dirty. The only problem we run into, is Things Two and Three have drastically different taste in clothing. Thing Two is all about polo shirts and khaki shorts, and Thing Three is all about SPORTS CLOTHES. Everything he has is t-shirts and sport shorts. Let's put it this way: Thing Two is POLO. Thing Three is ADIDAS.

UGH.

It's starting to look bare in the house. It's weird. But it's necessary. We close in exactly two weeks! STRESS!

Boxes Boxes Boxes. And Patience.

My life is...boxes. While everyone leaves for their 4th-of-July vacations, I get to...pack boxes. My kids are packing boxes. If we had a dog, IT would be packing boxes. Alas, we have no dog. More boxes for me.

Thing Four (who just turned 4) is entering the "I Want To Do Everything Myself" phase. Getting dressed. Going to the bathroom (although I still draw the line at letting him wipe himself--um, not ready for that yet). Getting into the car himself. Getting his own drink of water. It's fine and all, but I am a highly impatient person, and waiting three and a half minutes for him to try and get his shorts zipped and snapped is BEYOND ANNOYING. Here is where, in my opinion, the Challenge of Motherhood comes in. Because you have to practice patience. Patience when it takes them ten minutes to get their own shoes on, and they end up getting frustrated anyway and whine and ask you to do it. Patience, when you need to getinthecarandzoomzoomzoom and they want to take the time to c-l-i-m-b up themselves and put themselves in the carseat and b-u-c-k-l-e it themselves and move turtle slow and yadda yadda yadda tear tear tear my hair out.

I'm so glad for moments like this. Because I have no patience, and Someone up there knows I certainly need to have my patience tried, in order to gain some. Because He's smart. Smarter than me.

Back to the boxes.Thing Four wants to pack a box "all by himself."

Give me patience please, because I want some right now now now!!!

I Own Five Pairs of Scissors. Why Can't I Find Even ONE???

I am going to start calling my house the Bermuda Triangle. No, seriously. Because things go missing. Socks are the number one thing. Followed closely by--in fact, it's a tie--between Chip Clips and writing pens. Next comes ponytail elastics. And I know who the culprit is, because I only have one daughter. I think she eats them after she uses them, because I'll buy her a brand new package of 30 or so, and two weeks later she tells me she doesn't have any ponytail elastics.

Then the SCISSORS. Don't get me started on those. I have several pairs. I have Kitchen scissors. (Which, apparently, have been borrowed for everything EXCEPT kitchen stuff!) I have scissors in my desk drawer in my office. I have scissors in my drawer in the bathroom. I have scissors in the master bedroom, to cut all those pesky new clothes tags off.

But I also have the Holy Scissors. As in, they have "MOM'S SCISSORS DO NOT TAKE!" written all over them in black sharpie, and they are only for fabric projects, and they are the holiest of scissors--as in, it's very very VERY bad to swipe them. Swiping them incurs the Wrath Of Mom.

And they're all missing. Every single stinking pair.

Bermuda Triangle strikes again. Or rather, my CHILDREN. Who are very much in trouble. I think sometimes I truly get why my parents had a locked cupboard in the kitchen. At the time, I didn't understand it (or more like I was angry because I couldn't pick the lock!) but now, I get it. I am one step away...I will have a locked cupboard in my kitchen, and inside it I will have scissors, ponytail elastics, BOXES of writing pens, chip clips, iPod wall chargers, mechanical pencils, packs of gum and extra SOCKS. With a big ole' padlock on it. Bwahahahahahahahaaa!!!

In Which Lara Becomes Jane.

We're moving in three weeks. (OHMYGOSHOHMYGOSHI'MFREAKINGOUTPLEASEHELPMETOGETEVERYTHINGDONEOHMYGOSH!!!)
And I'm finding myself surprisingly calm. Maybe because we're only moving ten minutes away this time. So, I'm calmer about it. Okay, maybe not so much, but only because I have so much CRAP.

Anyway, I decided I was sick of our dining table. It used to be this rich color, and over the years, it has faded in the sun to a not-so-lovely shade of ORANGE. See below:

See? ORANGE. Even the orange chairs. So, I looked at a few do-it-yourself-blogs (my fave was Being Brook but she needs to update! What has happened since the move???) And I decided to paint it. So, I dismantled the table legs and put the table in the garage on a couple of sawhorses. Then I went to the local Benjamin Moore and other assorted stores and bought these lovelies:

I am happy to announce I did ZERO sanding. Because it is messy and gritty and you can't lift your arms the next day and it is SO NOT FUN. So, I tinted the Zinsser primer, and painted a coat on the table and chairs. Can I say it was MAJORLY UNFUN to paint all the individual spindles? I think I will spray next time. Moving on....

Next I used the Benjamin Moore paint in the blue can. I love this stuff. I rolled it on with cheap foam rollers I bought at WalMart--because that's where I heard they were the cheapest, ha ha. I did two coats, and I have to say it looked really good. Although again, painting those #%&*!*!! spindles...

After waiting 24 hours for the coats to dry, I did two coats of the Minwax clear satin Polyurethane. And NOW look at my table and chairs:
 (!!!)

A definite improvement, I'd say!

And it holds up really well because of the Polyurethane. Hey, I have three rambunctious boys and a teen-aged daughter--it needs to!

Go me. Just saved myself $2000 for a new table and chairs set. The whole refinish cost me about $250. Not too shabby! I think next time I might SPRAY the chairs, though. Infinitely easier. Live and learn, right? (Yes, Karen, I know you suggested spraying in the first place! You can do the "I-told-you-so" gloating thing!)

I'm on Facebook. Yes, I Know, I Know. You Can All Collectively Roll Your Eyes!!

In the words of my friend Aimee, Hell has Frozen Over. Pigs now Fly.

I am now a member of Facebook! I only did it because, well, I guess you could say I bowed to the pressure. I guess it all boils down to the old adage "Never Say Never." (Yes, I stole that from Justin Bieber.)

Times change. Luddites get High Speed Internet. Lara Joins Facebook. It's a logical conclusion.

Oh, and just for funs, here is a conversation I had with Thing Three as I was driving him to scout camp this morning. (He was reading the labels on the Campbell's soup cans I let him take for the Camp Food Drive):

Thing Three: "Soup sounds kinda good right now, Mom."

Me: "DID YOU NOT EAT BREAKFAST????"

Thing Three: "No, I did, I just like soup. But I especially love Clam Chowder. I like those chewy bits in the chowder. What are those?

Me: "Those would be the clams. Clams are chewy."

Thing Three: (Long pause) Those are...clams? I'm eating clams??? (shudders)

Me: "Why do you think they call it 'clam chowder?'"

Thing Three: "I don't know! But now I can't eat it knowing there are CLAMS in it! GROSS!"


Yeah. Kids make zero sense sometimes.

Christmas in June!

That's what it is. Freaking CHRISTMAS. Because I am opening up boxes I never opened up the LAST move (last year), and discovering all sorts of new and wondrous things I never knew I had. And what's sad? 90% of it is stuff I didn't miss and don't need. Off to Goodwill it goes!

My daughter (bless her) is having a rough time. She's just like her mommy. Pack rat-ish, and nostalgic to the core. She wants to save her school papers from the First grade. She wants to keep the banged-up jewelry box she had at age five that she hasn't looked at in three years, but recently dug up.

**Lara throws up hands in frustration**

That's what I get. She is, after all, a mini me.

My Junk is Having Babies. I Am So Not Kidding.

Those of you who have moved have certainly experienced this--you look at a room and think "Okay, I'm ready to pack this up! Shouldn't take long!" 30 boxes and 2 days later, it's still looks the same, and you are wondering why you have so much junk and why you ever had to save all those cards and school projects and clothes from college.

Seriously. I am experiencing this right now. What I don't understand, is I have been THROWING STUFF AWAY. Lots of it. Yet it either keeps coming back, or what I have is being fruitful and multiplying, because I still have a FERSHLUGGING MOUNTANEOUS TON OF CRAP.

And yes, it felt better to say that! Whew!

Deep breaths, Lara. Deep breaths...