MamaChef's Random Writings

Survey Says!

2005-09-26T10:17:00.000-07:00

10 years ago - Was back at Milligan after a summer intership that changed me. Was miserable and grades were horrible, because I knew I was in the wrong place.

5 years ago - Had just found out that we were pregnant with C-man! Was feeling rather lousy, w/ morning sickness and all!

1 year ago - Enjoying our newest addition to the family, A-baby, settling into the routine of having 2 chid'rens.

Yesterday - I went to church, came home and napped, and then had a couple of friends kidnap me and wisk me off to Dixie Stampede for an evening of friends, food and fun!!!!! Just what I needed!!!!!

5 snacks I enjoy the most:

* Doritos- Cool Ranch
* cheddar pretzels
* Ice cream
* cookie dough
* crackers

5 songs I know all the words to:

* Rainy Day - Big Dismal
* All of the Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat soundtrack
* Gilmore Girls theme song
* More Than Words - Exteme
* In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel

5 things I would do with a billion dollars:

* Pay off all bills
* Donate to Power Ministries, BIG TIME
* Help out my family and friends with debts
* Fund Kids college tuition
* Travel with the fam...1st location....DISNEY!!!!!

5 places ideal for running away to:

* Scrapbook store
* K's house
* the beach
* J's family's farm
* the mall

5 items you'll never see me wear:

* crop tops/tube tops
* bikini
* plunging necklines down to the naval!
* mini skirt
* stilletos (I would fall on my face!!!!!)

5 best TV shows:

* Lost
* Grey's Anatomy
* Gilmore Girls
* CSI
* Cold Case

5 biggest joys in life:

* My husband
* C-man
* A-baby
* Handi-camp
* my parents

5 favorite toys:

* books
* anything that could be found in the woods behind my parents house (those were the days!!!)
* blocks
* crayons
* dolls

Where I Wanna Be

2005-08-15T08:47:00.000-07:00

Just in case anyone is checking in...Life is crazy, haven't had much extra time on my hands...so here's food for thought...

You Belong in Rome

You're a big city girl with a small town heart
Which is why you're attracted to the romance of Rome
Strolling down picture perfect streets, cappuccino in hand
And gorgeous Italian men - could life get any better?

Ebay Nut Jobs!

2005-08-02T11:12:00.000-07:00

****WARNING**** This is a rant! It is not a life threatening one, but for those delicate sensabilities, I thought I would forewarn that the content was written while the writer was under much duress. Thank you for your time...

Roughly a month ago I decided that I was going to go through our "JUNK" and pull out some of the nicer items to put on ebay, thinking it would make a little more money than it would at a yard sale. So, I get it all together, write up the auctions, and let the bidding begin. A long process, but not a terribly taxing one.

About a week goes by, the stuff sells, and the payments start coming in. One particular item that I had put up I was a little frustrated by the low price it went for. It was a Pfaltzgraff chip and dip platter, and a very nice one! I'd say with the brand name, that it originally retailed for around $30-40! Mine sold for $5!!!! Whoopie.

Another week goes by, and I haven't heard word one from the purchaser in response to the 2 emails I had sent. I decide that everyone seems to give buyers about 2 weeks to make contact before they give negative feedback. So, I decide that I would do the same. I sent 3 more emails, and still never heard a thing. This past Friday I decide that I had given a fair enough time to receive money or reply to my attempts and left negative feedback. Later that day I get an email filled with dismay...She had been away becuase her MOTHER DIED!!!!! What a tool I felt like! It was late, so I decided I would respond to her the next day. Saturday however got chaotic...I had a Pampered Chef show to do in the morning, came home picked up J and the kids, we did some running, then went to the church so he could set up for praise band the next day, and I cleaned toys in the nursery. We went home, I bathed the kids, put them to bed and then crashed! The next day we were up early to be at church early for Praise Band, then left from the church to go spend the day with my Aunt 2 hours away. We got home late, and did dinner and then went to bed!

Yesterday (Monday) morning I go to check some of the auctions on Ebay and see that my feedback rating had dropped. This chick had left me a negative comment saying: "NO COMMUNICATION!!!! DID NOT RESPOND TO EMAILS!!!!" 'Scuse me???? Wha'huh????? It had MAYBE been 48 hours since she had sent me the email about her mom, I gave her 2 weeks!!!! Not to mention her comment was bogus, and that will reflect on my business ethic! No communication my a$$!!!!!! So I wrote back, attempting some dignified answer that she had not given me ample time to reply to her, that I was sorry about the passing of her mother, and my intent was to attempt a retraction of the feedback or at least reply so that people looking at her feedback could see what the hang up was.

THEN, today I get a reply back that said: "If you leave negative feedback (regardless of the circumstances -right or wrong) you should expect the same. That is how feedback works. (right or wrong)" Riiiiiiiiiiiight! I was of the school of thought that if there was such a miscommunication, that you wait for a response, and if it didn't go well, THEN you leave feedback like that....and if you are going to leave feedback, at least leave TRUTHFUL feedback and make it neutral...or just don't leave feedback at all!!! That's what I would have done! There was no need for what she did, really!!!! I've never lost a parent before, so I don't know if there's a level of grief where lashing out and being bitchy is acceptable. And the whole rating thing wouldn't bother me so much if it wasn't a refection on a) your business ethich and b) there are sellers that will not accept your bids if you have any negative feedback!

OK...got that off my chest! Thank you for those of you that continued this ranting journey with me. I'll jump off my soap box now and return you to your regularly scheduled programming!

God bless us everyone!

I have returned...a slightly frumpled POL....

2005-07-26T06:50:00.000-07:00

That's Prisoner of Life...for those who may not know all of MamaChef's isms :) Actually, I don't feel like a prisoner...that was just for dramatic effect. We've actually had some really great times this summer. However I'm still a lady awaiting her family vaca to Disney World!!!!! I could be waiting another 5 years for that one though!!!! ARG!!!!

Let's see, since my last post, I've been to IN (Got to dine with LOLA!!!!), I've been to WV...WV's been here, IN's been here. My son hates me because I've been forcing him to sit on the potty, my daugther's finally cutting more teeth, and last week I was at church everyday for about 6 hours a day for Fine Arts Camp...where we taught 40 1-6th graders a 1 hour musical in 5 days. That's roughly 2-3 months of work jam packed into 5 days! They did AWESOME!!!! On top of all that, there's my 2 jobs...love them, and yet I'm quite tired!

Anyway...that's just a brief update of my life from Bon Jovi until now. I've been following my other pals in Blog-land. Thank you for your unbridled patience while my life came in for a touch and go landing.

Bon Jovi RULES!!!!!

2005-06-06T09:17:00.000-07:00

Haven't updated much in the past few days...got a much needed Girl's day this weekend and had a FABULOUS time!!!! Otherwise, this weekend was pretty standard, not too much monumental. Sooooooo, I found this on number3TX's blog, and thought I would do it....a list, whatelse??? Doesn't everyone love "the list"???? :D

Choose a band/artist and answer only in song TITLES by that band: Bon Jovi (I'm so playing my CD's for the rest of the day!!!!)

Describe yourself: Livin' On a Prayer

Are you male or female: "I (HE'S) Got the Girl (dat's me!)"

How do some people feel about you: She's a Mystery

How do you feel about yourself: Just Older :)

Describe your ex lover: You (he) Give Love A Bad Name (some wack jobs in my history)

Describe your current lover: Thank You for Loving Me & I'd Die For You

Describe where you want to be: (I want to) Save the World

Describe what you want to be: Rockin In the Free World

Describe how you live: It's My Life

Describe how you love: Undivided and All About Lovin' You (him)

Share a few words of wisdom: Sometimes you might feel 'Misunderstood', but don't 'Runaway', you just have to "Keep the Faith". Find your "Something to Believe In" and live life with a 'Blaze of Glory'!

Negative, Nada, Nil, Negatorae

2005-06-02T18:46:00.000-07:00

So, my cousin and one of my BFF's spent most of yesterday convincing me that it would probably bode well for me to purchase a pregnancy test. Why, you may be asking...because I was over a week late and I'm not on any BCP's currently...ergo, my lateness COULD be due to a big WHOOPS! This caused me great distress, and I almost boycotted Wal-Mart yesterday for this very reason, but my daughter is not quite a year old yet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! However, my family DID in fact need dinner last night, so I trapesed to Wally World, and with great trepidation, I tiptoed down the pregnancy test and contraceptive asile. Now, the amusing part of the story was, my budget didn't really cover one of the high end PT's, so I was hoping for just the Equate version...only I didn't see ANY! And of course you can't possible conceal yourself in this asile in an attempt to look for a PT...they are on the bottom shelf, in plain view of God and everybody! And where I live, if you make a trip to Wal Mart, you inevitably run into at least 11 people you know per trip! So, here I am squatting down to peer way back in the back of the bottom shelf to see if the might still have the $3 PT...and they did. I stick my arm back there, always on board for saving $4, up to my shoulder to get the LAST Equate Pregnancy Test. I drop it in the buggy, and quickly cover it up with my bags of salad in hopes that I can high tail it out of there fast enough that I don't see anyone that I know. But, HARK, as I'm casually strolling down the asile, I see one of my other BFF's...she didn't catch my eye right away, but her toddler daughter recognized me and made a noise. I couldn't hide now! I walk up to her and we are wandering around together for a few minutes, and I see her look into my buggy....I'm praying that she didn't see what I was concealing in there, but a few minutes later I get up to check out and notice that the box had come uncovered! OY!!!! I know I blushed big fat red in my panic. I checked out and head home, only to have to rush around and get the kids dressed to head out for our FPU class. I was way too nervous to take the test in my blinding rush, so I waited until I got home take it. I get in the door, find the box and head for the bathroom. I always hate taking these tests, not only because of the control that is held on those blessed sticks, but because they are just ackward to maneuver!!! Anyway, I'm sitting there waiting the results, hyperventilating in the process. And finally the test is complete with a big fat NEGATIVE!!!!!! NO PREGGO FOR ME!!!! Don't get me wrong, I'm not against having another chillin, I just don't feel I could handle the pressure just yet. I am wishing all my baby dust on some other dear friends and family that deserve some blessings before I get myself knocked up again!

You girls know who you are, and I wish you all the babies you can handle!!! ******XOXOXOXO******

An Answer to the Madness

2005-05-30T16:49:00.000-07:00

I've been in a rather dark place off and on for the
past few months. It's usually only temporary, for a
few days, and then I'd be fine again. I'd be pretty
jumpy, easily agitated...to the point of emotionally
snapping a few times, tired, and my outlook on life,
mostly friendships, is very bleak...sometimes I'd just
want to pack up my things and leave for a few days.
I've suffered some abandonment issues, felt like I
didn't have a friend in the world! On that note, after
talking to J about that emotion, he's agreed that some
of our friends have really separated themselves into
cliques, so maybe I wasn't completely off there!

Anyway...Yesterday, Sunday, was probably the worst day
for me, emotionally, in a LONG time, probably since
high school. A lot of what I coped with in high school
was due to an emotionally abusive boyfriend, and once
I got rid of him, life was a lot brighter! Yesterday I
seemed to have an out-of-body experience. Things
started out OK, I ended up staying home from church
because A-baby had been sick, J went on, and when he
got home, I asked if he could help me out with a few
things. He begrudging agreed, but the attitude I thought I saw
in him really set me reeling! Now usually, this would
not bother me as much as it did...I'd express my
frustration at his attitude, we'd come to an
understanding, and the rest of the day would be
better. Yesterday I was angry, and things just went
downhill from there. C-man seemed to not listen all
day, and I screamed at him a few times, not the norm
for me, at least not at the level that I verbally
attacked him. A-baby cried for what seemed to be half
the day, she's been sick after all, and I think
teething and having some growing pains. Usually I'd
just comfort her, and we'd be fine with life. I was
unraveling at the crying very quickly, and it seemed
like nothing I did helped. In the evening, I escaped
to the grocery for about an hour, but when I came home
I found A-baby had knocked over the gate and was in the
kitchen eating dog food again, and J was back the
hall on Xbox. I HAD HAD IT!!!! I yelled at him, made
the baby cry, threw groceries around the kitchen and
came very close to kicking the dog. Now, for anyone
that knows me, a downward spiral like this is very 
abnormal behavior!

I cooled off long enough to eat dinner and start the
kids on their baths. Once I got C-man in the tub and
scrubbed, I went to rinse his hair, he started fussing
as he hates having his hair rinsed. BUT, the attitude
threw me over the edge. I yelled at him, finished
rinsing his hair, threw the towel at him and left the
room, and him crying. J came in and took care of the
rest and I went and locked myself in our bedroom,
crying, for quite awhile. By then I had come
completely unglued...I didn't know what was wrong,
couldn't control my emotions anymore, and wanted to
just shut everything and everyone out!

I've never felt so out of control, and it was very
scary! I felt like I was on the road to crazy and
fearing a trip to the loony bin.  Later on, J and I
had another frustrating moment over folding laundry
and a back rub and we spent the rest of the evening
not talking...SO not what I needed! After he went to
bed, I got on the internet and started some research.
I spent about 2 hours reading websites and message
boards found out about PMDD: Premenstrual Dysphoric
Disorder. Basically, it's PMS times 100! One of the
sites that made me cry again because it explained me
to a 'T', that I'm not a complete wack job, and the
remedy could be very easy...the symptoms I found are
stated as follows:

"Women with PMDD complain of irritability, anger,
tension, marked depressed mood, and mood lability
(crying spells for no reason, verbal outbursts, or
tantrums ) to such a severity that quality of life is
seriously compromised. In addition to these symptoms,
some women complain of lethargy, sleep disturbance,
limited concentration and a host of physical symptoms
such as breast tenderness, headaches, joint and muscle
pain, bloating and weight gain.

The primary symptoms that distinguish premenstrual
dysphoric disorder from other mood disorders (i.e.,
major depression) or menstrual conditions is the onset
and duration of PMDD symptoms -- with symptoms
appearing during the week or so before and
disappearing within a few days after the onset of
menses -- and the level by which these symptoms
disrupt daily living tasks. (This diminished level of
functioning is generally in great contrast with the
same woman's interactions and abilities at other times
during the month.)"

It all really matched up to what I had been
experienceing. As I began to track back at some of the
breakdowns I'd been having, they were all lined up
perfectly with my monthly cycle. All the backsliding
would start about a week before my period started, and
end after my first day. I plan on tracking myself the
next couple of months to be sure, but so far, it all
adds up!  From some of the message boards I've been
reading on, most women are able to control a bulk of
the problem with diet and exercise.  I haven't been
exercising regularly, and I really need to pick that
up again.  The month that I did pilates regularly, I
felt like a different person...maybe I need to pick
that back up *hint, hint*!

I printed out a couple of things and showed them to J
this morning, and he was kind of stunned, didn't
really know what to say. There was some of the info
that talked about suicidal tendencies along with the
depression, believe me!  things in my life have not
led me to swoop that far into a funk! He was really
worried that I had gone there, but I assured him that
I hadn't. He asked what he needed to do, and I told
him that I just needed his love and support, and most
of all his patience when I'm getting close to "that
time", and that if I went so far as to seek therapy,
that he would be there to support my decision and go
with me if I ever wanted him too. I also told him that
I really need some more "ME" time. He's been working
so much overtime lately because of the campus
retreats, and other things, that I've not had a moment
to myself, without the kids, except to go to Kroger or 
Wal-Mart, in months. I don't think that's helped things so much,
and I think it would help keep me from unraveling
quite as much.  I think most of his "avoidance" of the
situation at hand yesterday and at other times, was
his trying to stay out of the line of fire!  AND I
think the definition of "free ME time" is that he is
totally fine taking some time to play Xbox or watch a
movie at home...for me, my def. of free time is going
out by MYSELF to shop, or have coffee with a friend,
getting a spa treatment, etc.  All of the above take
money or coordination with another person, as well as
coordination with Jeff's schedule.  He's not against
me doing things by myself, the stars just never seem
to align at the right time.

Anyway, I've also read about some over the counter
suppliments that I can try (St. John's Wort, B Vitas,
5-htl or something like that), and I'd like to try
them before I seek professional help. My insurance
doesn't cover a ton of the costs for therapy, even
with a referral, and we just can't afford much more
debt in our life. I want to try some of the things
I've been reading about today, and see how things go. 

But anyway...that has been the monumental discovery of
my weekend.  How's your head?  That's a lot to digest! 
I'm better today...I think it's just brought a peace
of mind to me that I may know the answer to a lot of
situations now, and there are things I can do about
it.  I've got good people all around me that will
provide support and encouragement.  That's a real
comfort.

Rage against the Hormones!

2005-05-25T11:09:00.000-07:00

ARG!!!!!!! I swear I feel like I'm going to snap at any second now!!!! I've been snapping at everybody this week and I feel awful about it! My husband, my kids, my mom...and it always seems like everyone is that much more annoying, even if they aren't really. I really just want to go away by myself for a few hours, or lock myself in the bathroom with a nice hot shower or bubble bath for awhile. But in order for the aforementioned treats unto myself, I have to have the cooperation of my husband, and currently he feels that he deserves some free time to himself when he is home. Now, I understand that he is working late and all that because it's Sr. Saints retreat season, but I'm working just as hard as he is...I'm home all day with the kids, I've had an unusual number of PChef shows lately...none of which I'm complaining about, I just want him to see things from my perspective as well. Especially when he's home, he's not supposed to just shut life down when he comes through the door, I need his help. And when he's just sittin' there watching tv or playing Xbox and NOT doing diddly, it pisses me off WAY big!!!! Not to mention when he comes home for lunch and leaves his mess for me to clean up...I love my dishes, and there aren't going to be many of them left if I keep slamming them around in frustration. And when mama ain't happy, everybody better LOOK OUT!!! I'm a woman with PMS, hear me roar!!!!!!

OK, end of rant...I just needed a second to get that off my chest. Now I've got to go work on our budget, now THAT is some quality fun time people!

It's Just One of Those Days....

2005-05-24T09:35:00.000-07:00

I know I'm supposed to have that "monthly visitor" in a day or so, and I'm pretty sure that's why I've been having the moodiness and the blahs, but I really hate feeling like this!!! I've been craby with my family, and have been having some of that "woe is me" garbage as well...it really just sucks!!!! I got on the scale this morning and wanted to cry, last night I was feeling like I wanted to string my kids up by their toes and kept snapping at them, and I was having one of those "no one wants to talk to me or do anything with me...I have no friends!" moments...which is all bogus. But that's how I get every month! I need to know how to control this better!!! I think a nice hot bubble bath would help my mood immensely!

My Week...

2005-05-23T22:55:00.000-07:00

Last week was pretty much filled to the brim. I didn't slow down at all! I was drained enough by this weekend, that I had too much caffine, and didn't get enough sleep, so I'm still tired! Maybe if I drink a couple of gallons of water today, then I'll neutralize the caffine enough that I might sleep good tonight? It's worth a shot!

OK...so last week was filled with basically 3 main headings: Intern Training, Star Wars and Pampered Chef...not necessarily in that order, but kind of! Anyway...Last Sunday afternoon the Power Ministries college intern team converged upon my home and the JBC campus for training. We had a good time, took them to the mountains one day, we had a sled hockey coach come by one night and everybody got to try on the gear, seems like everyone had a really good time...nobody griped and complained, so I'm seeing that as an improvement over last year! Yeah, last year's team fussed because they didn't think that we had enough things planned for them, and I could have just pimp slapped the scowel right off of them...I was 8 months pregnant for training last year, cleaned my friggin house for them, and had a hot breakfast every morning for them. Do you think I cared that I didn't bus them all over knoxville for entertainment? HA!!! They were lucky I didn't sit on them! So, yes, I see last weeks retreat as a raving success!!! And the fact that everybody talked to each other, asked questions and brought up ideas to help everyone else was great, and when we had guest speakers come, they appeared interested, and asked lots of valid questions, etc. I think we have a really great team! I'm excited to hear from them after the first camp session this weekend.

OK...then there was Star Wars. As I mentioned in an earlier blog entry, we attended the midnight showing of Star Wars Episode III...my first midnight showing of any movie, so big new experience for me! J ended up going with our friends at 8pm that night so they could get in line in hopes of landing some great seats. Since the interns weren't leaving until the next day, I wanted to stick around until a little later so that I could spend some more time with them. I ended up leaving my house at about 10 that night, after we sent the interns to the dorms and I got my kids in bed. I called the group that left early a couple of times, and I kept hearing things like "OMG!!! There are some crazy people out here tonight!" Hubs said he figured that a few of the "mega fans" spent close to $1000 on costumes!!! By the time I got there, a lot of them had taken off costumes because they were getting so hot. There were several fully robed and masked clone troopers, snow troopers and Chewbacca's. The costumes I got to see were basic Jedi's, Padmae's and such...costumes that breathed a lot easier! And of course there was a local radio and TV station in attendance, giving away door prizes and getting the crowds excited. The movie was great, and this coming from a woman!!! I enjoyed it, and managed to escape without getting weepy, which is nearly unheard of from me! I have to mention that I've not heard so much audience cheering and jeering since Passion of the Christ came out last year. People reacted at EVERYTHING...that was amusing! Bottom line: a good time was had by all. Hint to those of you having not seen it yet: The ending is not happy, however, you pretty much know that going into it if you have any knowledge of the old and new movies. This bothered me for awhile, even though I was prepared going into it. Just thought I would pass that along...brace yourselves!

And finally, for the Pampered Chef. My director is pregnant, and has been passing along some shows to me recently. This has been great as I've not been working PCHef a whole lot lately in the attempt to get alot of PM work done. So, Tuesday night I had a show...way out in the friggin STICKS!!! I was driving down dirt and gravel roads to get there! I get there, meet the woman and start setting up. As I was about to pull one of my stones out to start the prep work on one of the recipes, the stones tip over and fall on top of each other, shattering 2 of my favorite stones....before the show even starts!!!!! I nearly CRIED!!!! It was awful! I managed to still be able to prepare the recipes and gather my wits enough to complete the show, but I was still a little beside myself, and I can't say as it was my best show performance wise. I pulled in about $80 for myself though. Once everyone was done eating, there were still about 4 guests left, it was getting dark, and as I mentioned, I'm way the freak out there in the middle of nowhere...they start talking about local politics and road construction. Now these are ladies of the elderly persuasion, and they tend to really gripe when it comes to politics. I had to find a polite way to interject my departure so I could get out of the sticks before it became completely dark. I have a feeling I could have been there all night had I stayed! Friday night I had another show. Because of all the chaos from the week I had neglected to remember that Hubs had to work this weekend for the Women's Retreat on campus. Thursday night my hostess called and said that she already had $938 in outside orders...now, at this point I'm thinking, there is NO WAY IN HADES that I am canceling on her because I don't have anyone to watch the kids!!! I start calling people and finally find a friend who owed me some babysitting...as luck had it, she was free!!! This show was amusing since there was a good bit of alcohol flying around, and a room full of women talking childbirth stories! Seriously, it can get crazy!!! The final tally for that night was $1287. As I figure it...I'll have a check for about $500 for this month for only 8 hours of work....that's $62.50 an hour! How awesome is that?????

So, that's my week...that's where I've been hiding! Now I'm just counting the days til I get that paycheck in my hands. Granted it's going right into building our emergency fund, but it WILL be nice to look at! And I may just deserve a little bit of it for some fun money...I think that would be OK!

Waxing the Nostalgic

2005-05-20T05:21:00.000-07:00

I was watching some stuff we recorded on TiVo tonight, and I saw where TBS is showing "Pretty Woman" sometime within the next week or so. How much do I love that movie??? Kind of alot!!!!!! So, I'm workin on a list today....my top favorite movies, 10 years or older...not in any particular order:

1. Pretty Woman
2. Dirty Dancing
3. Benny and Joon
4. Breakfast Club
5. Sixteen Candles
7. Princess Bride
8. Breakfast at Tiffany's
9. Gone With the Wind
10. The Cutting Edge

What places tops on your list????

Star Wars is my Life

2005-05-17T18:06:00.000-07:00

Sweet Jesus, resuce me! I've been sucked in!!!!

Some of y'all know how much of a Star Wars addict my husband is, as are 95.7% of his friends. Each time one of the newer movies has come out, he has been in line for the midnight showing. The night before we got married, he and his groomsmen went to see Episode 1, and then back to the hotel to play Star Wars Trival Persuit. Granted, there could be worse things for a guy to do on the eve of his wedding...strippers, bar hopping, I'm forever greatful that it was Star Wars! When the 2nd Episode came out, I was out of town, and he went with our best friends. I spoke with them via cell phone at about 9:30pm while they were in line...oh the weirdness of those more addicted than they are that I heard on my end of the conversation! So, now here we are hours away from the opening of Episode 3, and I have to say I'm getting rather excited myself. I KNOW!!!! STOP ME PLEASE!!! We have alread Fandango'd tickets for the midnight showing, we are going with a whole group from church, I even landed a sitter (ironically, my parents are in town, it couldn't have worked out better!)!!!

Only problem now...I'm TIRED!!!! I was way out in the boonies doing a PChef show last night, and ever since then I've had massive sinus issues. So I took drugs, and I was so loopy earlier, I couldn't even talk straight! And I've got to go meet some ladies at the church in an hour to pick up our supper (they've been cooking for our intern group...hey, at least I haven't had to do all the cooking for 10 people!!!). So, I'm off to try to pretend like I'm going to nap for an hour, because later tonight before I leave, I've got to get creative and think of something fun for the interns to do! I love my week!!!!!!!!

Living Vicariously

2005-05-13T15:25:00.000-07:00

Wanna know my guilty pleasure? People Magazine! I am a sucker for cover stories. When Laci Peterson made cover, I had to buy it...Julia Roberts gives birth...heck yeah!!! I will sit there and read it from cover to cover, and then have conversations with J and my best friend about the articles I have just read, like I know these Hollywood celebs personally! When Jen and Brad split, my heart ached, when Gweneth announced the name of her baby, I blanched and had the "why in the heck?" conversation with K. Why you might ask? I really don't know! It's just one of those things for me...when the new edition comes out, and I'm walking down the asile at Wal Mart or Kroger, I cannot refrain from grabbing it. So, I got one last week, I don't remember who was on the cover for that one, but what really caught my eye was that Tom Cruise is currently dating KATIE HOLMES?!?!?!?! How are y'all feelin' about that one???? She's like yonger than me, and he's a few years older than me! Not that that matters and all, but it's just such a strange match in my head! The other article, and it may have been the main headline, was the Runaway Bride...she is finally checked into the nuthouse, and who can blame her poor family. The movie was pretty cute, but this chick...oh my lord! If I were her fiancee, I'm just not sure I could stick around after that. There would have to be some MAJOR hiney kissin' there before I could feel it within myself to forgive and forget! But that's just me! But anyway, these are just my opinions...I am not an expert, nor do I play one on TV!

Well, I have a house full of guests this week. It is intern training time for Power Ministries. Always lotsa fun, but I'm always glad to have my house back by the end of the week. We are going to be running around like mad today, and then I have a show tonight. I'm gonna be chugging Rockstar drinks like crazy today, because I found them at my local KROGER!!! WU HOO!!!!! Thank you to the rest of the numbers for turning me on to these, especially our own personal Rockstar herownself...they are going to be a lifesaver, and a quick drain to my budget...but hey, it pays to stay awake!!!

Onward and upward off of this chair I need to go. I will post more stories of my crazy week later.

Somebody Turn My Head Off...

2005-05-09T15:47:00.000-07:00

Good lord!!!!! I have been run through the ringer this week!!!! So, Sunday was Mother's Day, which was fine...I had a really good day! J and the kids got me a Mother's Ring with my birthstone and the kid's birthstones, and it's really really pretty! Now we've just got to get it off layaway. And J came home from church with lunch and flowers for me!!! I was pitiful sick, but much happy with the surprises!

But anyway....for Mother's Day, I got sick, and not just a little sick! It was just whatever the head congestion that's been going around, but it hit me like a ton of bricks. I sneezed so much and so hard that my ribcage hurt! And on top of that, J works, so I had to be at home, by myself with the kids all day for a couple of days, so I was tired and fairly wasted on deongestant too! Not to mention, the kids were sick on top of it all...so the kids were pretty miserable as well. Not a week to repeat for quite awhile, that's for sure! Yesterday I was starting to finally dry out, but I woke up with a decent sinus headache, and had it ALL DAY LONG!!! And when I get this type of headache, it just sucks my will to live. My eye sockets hurt, my teeth hurt and I was nausiated...I seriously wanted to yank out my eyeballs!!! I know, gross, but by 10:00 last night, that seemed like the only thing that was going to work. I kept taking medicine every 4 hours, different things every time. Finally, like at midnight last night, I found one that worked! PRAISE GOD!!! Today I'm a much happier woman! I still have some recovering to do, but I feel SO much better!

And since I was felling much more bright and chipper today, I went out to Wal Mart, after depositing the husband's pay check, and bought not 1 but TWO pairs of way cute flip flops, nail polish and sunglasses!!! OOPS!!! I think I blew my budget for the month! Oh well, it made me feel real happy like...and I've just been inspired by the fashion queens Lola and Allie!

I HAVE to put in a plug for the Darth Mix M & M's!!! LOVE THEM!!!!! They are my alltime favorite, dark chocolate!!! And great colors to boot! Go out, partake, enjoy!

The Joys of Motherhood/Adulthood

2005-05-05T17:28:00.000-07:00

So, you've all heard the stories regarding my children aging by another year. Well, today we, or rather I, got the privilege of taking them to the pediatrician, by myself! Normally, this isn't a big deal, however today had me especially anxious. RAH! First off, A-baby was having a follow up from her last visit so that she could be weighed and measured again. Sounds rather standard right? Well, it would have been except that at her last visit they basically told me she was too small...riiiiiiight! Now, if you have any inkling of how they measure children, you will understand my frustration at this revelation from the doctors. The charts that they use only COMPARE children to other children their age...there's not much scientific to the height and weight charts! If she had not grown to their liking by today, then they were going to test her thyroid...YEA coming from the parents there! Fortunately, my daughter rocks, and she put on some pounds and inches! GO BABY! For those of you that know me, this whole debacle didn't really upset me, it just pissed me off in that my family, nor my husbands, are much on the tall side of things. The women on both sides are petite, which is OK...it's just making the doctors understand this is a whole 'nother story! But I digress! She's walking, she's eating like a horse, she's doing just fine!

Now for the fun story...my C-man's experience at the doctor. The appointment for him was his 4 year check-up. Normally no big deal...EXCEPT that every 2-3 months for the past 10 months he has been with me at the dr. when his sister is getting shots, so he has had it ingrained in his head that doctor's office=shots! The WHOLE 30 minute car ride today he told me, "A's going to the dr. I not going to the doctor, I not get a shot mommy!!!!" He was very adament! We get in there, and I'm explaining to him that they are going to listen to his heart, look in his ears, everything's going to be OK, and Mommy's here! And then the nurse wants him to take his shoes off so he can be weighed, well, to any 4 year old, if you have to take your shoes off, basically that means they have you forever! And that was the first melt-down! The second came when the nurse had to prick his finger to draw some blood...that one I understood. We looked for anything to talk about to distract him for 5 minutes...what did you get for your birthday? What color is the floor? What's your favorite TV show? Are there boogers in your nose? ARe they in your ears? I kid you not! Whatever we could do to make him not cry and wiggle. That survived, next came the stripping down to the underware! This was a little trickier, as he had already put his shoes back on, and Abbie wanted to be nowhere but down toddling around the room! So, I'm wrestling with a 10 month old and a 4 year old, and you'd have thought I was stringing both of them by their toenails! I finally got C-man down to his undies, but he refused to put on the "cool" paper gown (can't say as I blame him!)! The dr. came in looked both of them over, gave them both glowing reports (and who wouldn't???). And then came talk of the dreaded "vaccinations". We finally decided that either we'd need a whole fleet of nurses, or we could wait for A-baby's 12 month appointment in 2 months and hope that J can come with me. There was no way that I could have controlled both of them for that, nor do I think my body would have held out! I decided that I needed a treat tonight and broke out the CoffeeGoddess coffee as a pat on my own back for surviving the crusade to the pediatricians office!

I have to say though, aside from situations such as the above forementioned story, I couldn't be more proud of my kids. They are beautiful, sweet as honey, and completely hilarious! Yesterday we decided to do lunch at Quizno's, J and I are sitting there talking about the morning, C-man and A-baby are chowing down, and Caleb opens his mouth to say something to us, but much to everyone's surprise, out comes this man sized belching that echoed through the whole restaurant! It was by far the loudest sound I've ever heard come out of him! I tried to be all serious and scold him, but I could hardly supress the giggles. J was trying to be all authoratative with deep voice and all, and failed miserably. I KNOW everyone had to have heard it, and I didn't know if I should be horrified or just go with it! All I could do was laugh though! It was pretty stinking hilarious though!

A-baby on the other hand though, has a really bad dog food habit. We're looking for a 12 step program for such an addiction, but have not found one yet. (if you know of a place, could you please drop me a line? :D) Now that she is so mobile, she thinks she has full reign of the place...who wouldn't I ask? Anyway, the way that our house is made, the living room and kitchen just kind of merge into one extended room, so there's no great way to gate the two off from each other so that she can't obtain the mouthfuls of dog food. Reason that we usually leave the dog food out, is because our pooch kind of grazes off and on throughout the day...I guess we could control that problem, it's just there's enough other things going on in the day that I just don't think to pick up the dish. We have finagled a few gate type contraptions that we've suspended between the wall and the recliner, but she has found a way to break out of all of them so far. She's a quick one I tell you! And what in the name of all that is holy is so great about the taste of dog food? I just don't know!

As for the joys of adulthood...I had to stop myself the other day. Yes friends, I was excited about debt! Not being in it, but getting out of it! Yeah, I realize that this is a good thing, and once you get out of it, it should be rightly celebrated! We are getting ready to begin a class at our church called "Financial Peace University", and I am totally excited about this! I'm like "new outfit" excited about starting this class! It's scary, and it just kind of stopped me in my tracks the other day. What is life coming to? I'm gettin' all growed up and stuff! Please don't let me go for the mumu's, or the white socks with brown loafers!!!! I just couldn't live with myself!

1 Down, 1 To Go!

2005-05-02T17:02:00.000-07:00

Well, I survived! This weekend was NUTS!!! C-man's birthday was last Thursday, and that's the day that my parents came in town. I, of course, saved all of my cleaning for the day that they got here. So, I got up super early, cleaned like a maniac until they got here, but I still wasn't done! We were having C's party that Saturday, so I felt that it was necessary to clean EVERYTHING!!! Oh yeah, and Aunt Flo decided to pick that day to come and visit for 5 days too! That just added to the level of emotion! Friday we did some running around K-town, mostly Wal-Mart to pick up the last minutes to get ready for the party. And THEN, J and I ACTUALLY got to go out on a date!!! My lovely parents baby-sat so we could DATE!!! That happens like once in a blue moon anymore.

Saturday finally got here. We were up early, of course...the kids can't stand to sleep much past 8am anymore. I started cleaning as soon as I got the kids fed. Then mom and dad got here and we went out for lunch and to do the last, last minute running. J and I had picked out a new Hutch for the Kitchen a couple of months ago, and had to get it off layaway this weekend. As soon as we got home, which was at about 3:30 (party was at 6:30!!!), he determined that it was essential that he put it together RIGHT THEN! Okaaaaaay!!!! So, mom and I are finishing up the cleaning and shifting things around the kitchen to make a space for the hutch. C-man was supposed to be taking a nap, but was way to excited about his party and never slept a wink. At 6:20pm, J and B finish the hutch....just as the first guests appear at our doorstep! I rush them in the house real quick so as not to get run over by the newly finished hutch..."Come in and don't ask!" I said, my friend Heather replies with a "Oh but I think I might have to!".

Within about 10 minutes our house filled up with about 12 3,4 and 5 year olds. Oh, yeah, we were supposed to have the party outside as it was supposed to have cleared up by then...but no, it was about 55 degrees and raining outside. Along with the dozen or so kids, were 1-2 parents each. I think we were way far beyond fire codes in our house. Now, since the weather was so crappy, at the last minute my mom and i had to figure out an activity to keep the kids occupied. While at Wal-Mart, we found these sheets of foam and sticky foam shapes, animals, etc. We tossed the aforementioned materials in the living room floor and said "go to town!" For about 20 minutes the kids were quiet and busy. One set of guest arrived during this time and were shocked at how quiet it was in there! It's not often that you can keep a group of kids that age that quiet!

After about 20 minutes they got tired of sticky foam, and converged upon C-mans room and toys. Once the level reached too many decibels, I decided it was time for cake. That seemed to appease the masses. Now, C picked his list of guests, and he also picked his party theme. It was a Spider Man, Thomas the Train and Star Wars theme! Yup, we did all 3!!!! He loved it! And there was something for everyone! So, we passed out cake and ice cream, which lasted about 10 minutes, and they were back in action! And then it was time for presents. OK, I swear, everyone suddenly thinks it's their birthday when it comes time for presents. I was trying to sit with C and help him with the presents, and kids were crawling up my side! I had kids grabbing his presents trying to open them themselves! C-man was just in a zone...open, view, toss!

When it was about the time that everyone started going home, C-man started to panic...he didn't want his friends to come home. He begrudgingly said thank you and good bye to everyone, but not without a pout. That was acutally kind of cute! Thankfully, we all survived the chaos of the weekend. We turned 4, and we seem to be doing OK with that....now for the continuing saga of Potty Training...another story for another day...

One more birthday to go. A-baby turns 1 in just under 2 months now! I think we're going to stick with a simple family party for that! I don't know if I can do another one of these for another solid year!!!

Aaaaand I'm Spent!

2005-04-28T08:28:00.000-07:00

So, today's the big day...it's my lil man's birthday...TO-day!!! He came wandering into our bedroom before the alarm this morning, J and I wished him Happy Birthday, and he promptly responds with "Where's my presents?" It was a timid, tired lil request, but I cracked up none the less! Somebody has that boy trained!!! He's already had more phone calls that I have this morning with various friends and family members singing him Happy Birthday, and each time he grins real big and says "Who's this?", To which everyone just cracks up! Thankfully they aren't offended! Ah, to be four again! It's going to be a fun day, I can tell...and fortunately, the sun is out, it's a beautiful day!

Right now, though, I'm supposed to be in the shower getting ready for the Chinese buffet, it's C-man's place of choice for his lunch. I've never seen a kid his age request Chinese over cheeseburgers!

I'll write more later!

3 Days and Counting...

2005-04-25T08:58:00.000-07:00

Until our house is invaded with family!!! Yes, it's for a good cause, our boy is turning FOUR!!!!! I can't believe it, don't want to accept that he's growing up! Next year we're going to be buying school supplies and school clothes as he'll be "of age" to start kindergarden....wait!!!! No no...we're not going to go any further with that thought...can't handle all that yet.

The frustrating part is that while he's turning 4, HE'S STILL NOT POTTY TRAINED!!!!! And be-lieve me, it's not from lack of trying!!! We've had done everything less chain him outside with the dog to do his business. He is just that stubborn!!! I've contempated sticking our 10 month old daughter on the training potty and him on the big one, and see who catches on first! I'm bettin my money on her! That'll learn 'im!!!!

So, as for the birthday party, we went and got the big present this weekend. He's getting his first real bike! I'm so excited I can barely stand it. I want to give it to him now...but then we are the family that usually celebrates Christmas 7-10 days early (we celebrate early because we are always on the road for Christmas and we want to have our own thing too...really!!!!! NO, that's the real reason I promise!!!). Now, he's been infoming me for about a month now that we are having a birthday party for him, and he tells me who's on his list just about every day! And the list of themes he wants....Star Wars, Spiderman and Thomas the Train. Sounds crazy, but that's what he wants! One's the cake, one's the plates, and one's the cups and napkins!

Well, my brain is shutting down rather rapidly (yeah, and seeing as how I nearly left 'shutting' with another 'i' in there, we know it's real bad!), I'm going to go take a nap with the kids. I'll update some more later.

Peace out!

Basket Case or Just Sleep Deprived

2005-04-22T05:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was just one of those days, and I'm not sure if I'm that totally nuts, overwhelmed or just in need of an entire day to sleep. It's possible that all three of those options are true.

For probably the last week my father, who is also my employer, had me thinking that I needed to have a particular project completed for a camp that was supposedly supposed to take place beginning today. So, I have been kicking myself in the butt to get it done...however, the elements just kept adding up against me in order to prevent me from getting it done. First, one of the CD's in which I needed to copy some things off of, went AWOL. In my head I was convinced that there were only three places that it could possibly be, and I had been tearing those places completely apart trying to find it. FINALLY yesterday I found the CD, and it was on the otherside of the room, in the chair that my husband tosses his clothes at the end of the day before bed...and of course, it was under all of the clothes. No, this was not one of the three places that were on my list. Obviously the CD did not get done. At 4:15pm yesterday, 15 minutes before the post office was to close where I would have been taking this project to overnight it to the home office, I call the home office because I looked at one of the camp booklets and did not see a camp scheduled. "D, do we have a camp sessions starting tomorrow?" "No, no we don't!" "Okaaaaay, so then why would dad have told me that there was one?" "I don't know..." "Did he tell me that there was one?" So D proceeds to start laughing at me...(next time I'm up there he gets jacked in the head...he knows this!) I was all sorts of frustrated and confused by this point, however, I can see my dad telling me that there was a camp booked for this weekend, knowing my knack for waiting until the last minute to complete things.

Well, my whole day went kinda like that. I'm in Wal-Mart, and of course I didn't have my list written down, it was all in my head and I was just sure that I could remember everything on it. I even went over it verbally with J before I went in. But alas, eventually I was wondering in circles convinced that I was forgetting something! I STILL don't remember what I forgot! Same thing with phone conversations...was talking to my best friend, was going to tell her about something, and I totally blanked. Just par for the course! And when I was fixing dinner to take to my hubs at rehersal, he told me 2 times that he wanted ranch dressing on his wraps, and I even repeated it back to him. But when I went to fix the wraps, I blanked again...when I finally got his dinner up to him, I confessed, he giggled at me (what's with everyone laughing at me today???) and said it was OK. Thanks for that!

Last night K came over, and by then I was just wipped out (J has had to work til about 11:30pm every night this week...I'm so much more appreciative of single parents, but I don't want to be one!!!). I had made a pot of coffee for me and K, and she was telling me how much she liked the large mug I was using, so I was searching for one for her. She's standing behind me and says "I like big mugs" in just the same rythmic tone of "I like big butts". I hit the floor, and she's left standing wondering why in the name of all that is holy am I laughing so hard. So, I tell her why, she starts laughing, and my son is wondering why the heck we are such lunatics! Well, K starts singing the song, and then C pipes in in all is 4 year old wisdom singing "I like big bugs!" Thank heavens we weren't DRINKING the coffee yet, because it would have been spewed all over the walls!!!

Yes friends, I'm praying for a less flaky day today, but things could have been a lot worse!!!

OY!

2005-04-21T02:14:00.000-07:00

OK, it's official! I neeeeeeeeed a vacation!!!! Yup yup! I do!!! This year (and it's only April) has been C-R-A-Z-Y!!!! J has been working tons of overtime (which is great for the bank account), which leaves me in single mom mode, on top of the work that I have to do! For instance, this week J is working every night til at the very least 10pm! There is a play on campus this week, and he is expected to be in the sound booth every night for rehersals. I'm trying to be patient, especially with the kids, but I've been close to snapping a coupla times so far...it's all good! Next week when pay day hits, it'll all be worth it!!!

And speaking of next week, C-man turns 4!!! Can we say, WHAT HAPPENED to the last four years!!!??? This boy is growing up way too fast! Today he tells me "Mommy, you make me crazy!" as I was scolding him for trying to strangle his sister. NUUUUUUUU-UUUUUUHHHH, you didn't just!!!! Most of the internal me just hit the floor laughing because of the way he said it...the outter me wanted to smack him upside the head! "C, honey, you have no idea how crazy I can really make you!" He keeps me chuckling on a regular basis too. His new thing is to find sneaky ways to lick me...I don't know why! He thinks it's perfectly hilarious though. And Every day he gives me a list of who is coming to his birthday party. He is SO excited! I have been instructed that Spider Man needs to be on his cake...so, we are apparently going to have that with Thomas the Train plates that Grandma purchased...should be interesting!

A is just a glowing example of ambition. She turns 10 months this weekend, and is SO full of herself! She is at a very oral stage, in that everything she picks up she puts in her mouth...including dog food! UGH!!! I know!!! But our dog can't seem to keep her food in the kitchen, so we always have crumbs on the living room floor, as that's where she feels she needs to eat it. A has a great nack for finding every last crumb. Well, as of lately, she has broken through every barricade we have created between the living room and kitchen and makes a bee-line striaght for the dog's dish! And she's a fast lil booger too! She's tiny but mighty!

And then there's the sibling rivalry...C has created his own WWF scenarios right in our very living room. He thinks it's great fun to tackle sister dear and pin her every chance he gets. Granted, there are usually peels of laughter out of both of them, but A only tolerates so much. Then both turn tail on the dog, and she's not nearly as tolerant of the pinning and tackling. She (the dog) lives for the kids' naptime and bedtime...it means a) total spoiling from mom and dad, and b) peace and tranquility!

Now it is time for sleeping to commence!!! Another day of the above activities is to begin sooner than necessary (kids have a weird internal clock, beginning just as the sun is rising, blech!). Til tomorrow...

*Many Blessings*

Another Day, Another List

2005-04-19T08:43:00.000-07:00

I'm not a number :( but sometimes I follow suit on these number lists, cuz I like the numbers, and I like the list!

1. First Name: Ann
2. Were you named after anyone? It's my Momma's middle name
3. Do you wish on stars? on occasion
4. When did you last cry? I remember crying on Valentine's day, but it seems like there's been an occasion or 2 since then...I'm sure I have!
5. Do you like your handwriting? sure
6. What is your favorite lunch meat? ham
7. What is your birth date? Ju-ly 15th...it's comin' up pretty quick so stock up on the gifting~!!!
8. What is your most embarrassing CD? I think I still own some OLD Amy Grant...I swear I never listen to it!!!
9. If you were another person, would YOU be friends with you? Heck yeah I would!!!
10. Are you a daredevil? not really. but i enjoy taking risks more than i used to.
11. Have you ever told a secret you swore not to tell? unfortunately, yes.
12. Do looks matter? No
14. Where is your second home? K's house (even my son says so!), and my parent's home in IN
15. Do you trust others easily? yes.
16. What was your favorite toy as a child? books. still is.
17. What class in high school do you think was totally useless? geometry & algebra
18. Do you have a journal? yes...you're reading it
19. Do you use sarcasm a lot? are you serious?
20. What are your nicknames? Hon, Mommy, Annabanana, Auntie Ann (too bad it's not me with the prezzles!)
21. Would you bungee jump? yeah, um, no
22. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? the majority of my shoes do not have ties. but when they do i untie them.
23. Do you think that you are strong? yes
24. What's your favorite ice cream flavor? mint chocolate chip
25. Shoe Size? 8
26. Red/pink? honestly, either
27. What is your least favorite thing about yourself? My impatience, and my tendency towards insecurity....STILL!!!
28. Who do you miss most? My friends that aren't here
29. Do you want everyone you sent this to send this back? I think I'm the last to do this
30. What color pants and shoes are you wearing right now? black workout pants and no shoes
31. What are you listening to right now? My son singing wiggles songs
32. Last thing you ate? Sausage egg and cheese omlet (go South Beach Diet!)
33. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? any shade of blue
34. What is the weather like right now? 70's and beautiful!
35. Last person you talked to on the phone? My mom
36. The first thing you notice about the opposite sex? smile or eyes
37. Do you like the person who sent this to you? I copied this from L'ola's blog, and I love her like the sister I never had!!!
38. What is your Favorite Drink? sweet tea.
39. Favorite Sport? TN Titans Football, and most all Olympic sports

Another one of those list things

2005-03-24T11:23:00.000-08:00

I'm such a copy cat...but I really loved this list! So, I had to! Thank you Tasty and #3TX:

I Live: in Knoxville, TN
I Work: at home for a disability ministry and selling Pampered Chef
I Think: my kids are the cutest EVER!!!
I Smell: clean!!!
I Listen: a little bit of everything.
I Hide: my feelings, way too much!
I Walk: not as much as I need too…but it’s getting warm again
I Write: a lot, it’s my job!
I See: “dead people!”…seriously…I see the potential in everyone
I Sing: all the time…for church, but at home with the kids too…and in the car…and…
I Can: cook, talk on the phone, deter my children from killing each other, all at the same time!
I Watch: CSI, Lost, NCIS, Gilmore Girls…TiVo ROCKS!
I Daydream: yeah
I Fall: a lot! My husband calls me my own worst enemy!
I Want: more time.
I Cry: Yes, occasionally...especially at sappy movies
I Read: anything and everything…I have about 3 books going at a time sometimes
I Love: my family, my friends, and good Italian food!
I Rode: in the passenger seat for the first time in a week!
I Sometimes: forget to take my own advice.
I Fear: that we will never get out of debt, and about what will happen to my kids
I Hope: that my kids will have an easier childhood that I did
I Eat: pasta lots! OH…and ice cream!
I Quit: hanging on to a friendship that needed to be let go…mostly! I still ponder it from time to time…
I Drink: Water, as much as I can!
I Play: with my kids everyday!
I Miss: being skinny
I Forgive: but DANG sometimes it’s hard!
I Drive: a mini-van…I’m SO a soccer mom now! But I WON’T grow up!!!!!
I Dream: of taking a vacation with my family and our best friends…it WILL happen!!!
I Have: a fabulous family
I Remember: my very 1st beach vacation when I was 4
I Don't: like being manipulated
I Believe: that I am a butterfly, my wings just need a little repair work from time to time.
I Owe: lots of money
I Know: that I/we will get “there”
I Hate: wasps, warm lettuce, fighting, debt, and getting shots
I Feel: tired

Things That Make You Go Hmmmm...

2005-03-23T16:19:00.000-08:00

OK...so this whole Terri Schiavo case is pissing me off. I just cannot fathom how a court of any kind would approve starving anyone to death for no good reason!!! From what I understand of the case, the husband is a complete wack job, especially since he's bore 2 kids with another woman while denying his wife any kind of physical therapy for 10 years! Now, I've seen some photos of this woman who is said to be in a "vegetative state", however what I want to know is, since when to veggies (other than Veggie Tales!) SMILE??? If she can smile at her family, she's got some brain activity, thereby voiding out a diagnosis of vegetable in my experience...my experience being, a degree in disability ministry, thankyouverymuch! From what I know, she's quadraplegic. If her "husband" was so exhausted and drained by the care of his wife, why not just sign over custody to her parents who would love nothing more than to take care of their daughter??? I think there's a whole lot more there than we know...just my own opinion. Starving her until she dies is just cruel!!!! This whole case is just pissing me off beyond belief!!!! OK, so I'm off that soap box!

Now, my other frustration for today, I took my daughter for her 9 month check up today, and her doctor is worried about her length. She is somewhat advanced in every other development except her length and weight. She's always been petite, as as her brother, but I'm not very tall (a whopping 5'4") and J was very small until one year in high school when he grew like 6 inches in a year...no joke! So, anyway, I've told all of this to the doc, but he still wants her to come back in about 6 weeks to weigh and measure her again. She IS growing, they just don't like how slow she is growing. If she stays on the same curve that she is or drops, she gets to go through a whole passel of tests to make sure something isn't wrong with her thyroid. See, I went through the same thing with my son, my kids just aren't going to be genetically disposed to a great deal of height I'm afraid. Neither of the kids have had any major illnesses, they are right on, and even early at times, with their other cognitive skills. I've questioned these "growth curves" before...I'm not real sure how scientific they are, because when they have been explained to me before, the charts only really compare said child's size to a "portion" of other children their age. I'm not sure how that says that your child is abnormal. But, whatever, I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV.

'Nuff said!

*****DISCLAIMER***** It is TOTALLY possible that I am not fully informed on the first rant of this blog entry. I'm still researching the news articles as of late! As I mentioned, I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV, and I'm not a part of the aforementioned family...just all of the 2nd hand information that I have received reeeeeeeeeeeally has me frustrated.

Furbies

2005-03-23T09:50:00.000-08:00

So, a couple of weeks ago me, J and the kids were driving home, and get stuck behind this Lincoln Town Car going turtle slow...always love that! Well, when we pulled up behind the car we noticed all of these stuffed animals squished in the back window. It was amusing because we could tell the couple was of the elderly persuasion, so we're thinking that they are definately either grandparents, or they just like collecting. OK, so because they are driving so FRIGGING slow, we were able to get right up on them and see what the animals were....FURBIES!!!!! And not just one among several other items, but SIX!!!!!!! We follow them a bit further, and the car turns into a driveway...as we drove by, we realize that the row has another row of six behind it, so that means THERE WERE 12!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you imagine if they were all turned on????? WOW!!!

No longer MIA

2005-03-20T10:54:00.000-08:00

HI!!! Yes I'm still here!!! It's been a little crazyfied around here, but I have not, contrary to popular belief, fall off the planet! I swear, I can't even remember all that we have done, if that is any indication of how our life has been. We did almost get the opportunity to move back to my home turf. J applied for a job up there, but the guy doing the resume reviewing is apparently an idiot, so, no go! And that's fine...we were upset for five minutes, but things have worked out here that we know that our time here is not done. However, since he did let his boss know he was applying for the job, boss decided to appeal to the college for a raise for J, and we found out last we that he got it...so YEA US!!!!! We may get out of debt this century now!

I just got home last night from a visit up North. My family lives up that way, and some of my most favorite people EVER! I got to spend Friday night with my girls, and we had so much fun!!! Hadn't seen a lot of them in months, or worse, a year!!!! I needed that real bad like...the winter rains have kinda had me a lil down. Smiling and laughing and drinking Godiva coffee did a girl good!!!!

Well, this is my check in post...I have several more stories to fill in some blanks for the past 2 months. I've got to go duct tape my kids for a little while though...I do believe that the full moon is comin'!!!!

Thoughts to Ponder

2005-01-15T07:01:00.000-08:00

THE POSITIVE SIDE OF LIFE:

Living on Earth is expensive,
but it does include a free trip
around the sun every year.

How long a minute is
depends on what side of the
bathroom door you're on.

Birthdays are good for you;
the more you have,
the longer you live.

Happiness comes through doors you
didn't even know you left open.

Ever notice that the people who are late
are often much jollier
than the people who have to wait for them?

Most of us go to our grave
with our music still inside of us.

If Wal-Mart is lowering prices every day,
how come nothing is free yet?

You may be only one person in the world,
but you may also be the world to one person.

Some mistakes are too much fun
to only make once.

Don't cry because it's over;
smile because it happened.

We could learn a lot from crayons:
some are sharp, some are pretty,
some are dull, some have weird names,
and all are different colors....but
they all exist very nicely in the same box.

A truly happy person is one who
can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

I'm behind again!

2005-01-14T21:56:00.000-08:00

So, I'm going to fill this out...it's fun...it's entertaining...and I'm doing it because I can....

3 names you go by:
a) Babe
b) Mommy
c) Honey

3 screen names you have:
a) Kiwi
b) MamaChef
c) daisey1528

3 things you like about yourself:
a) my hair, most days
b) eyes
c) I can cook, and I do it pretty well

3 things you dislike about yourself:
a) my weight
b) tendency towards low self esteem
c) i am a procrastinaor BIG time

3 parts of your heritage:
a) english
b) german
c) scottish?

3 things that scare you:
a) wasps
b) tornados (although I like to watch them on TV....fascinating!)
c) germs

3 of your everyday essentials:
a) mascara
b) kisses
c) laughter

3 things you're wearing right now:
a) underware
b) a look of fatigue
c) tank top

3 of your favorite bands/artists:
a) Josh Groban
b) Shane & Shane
c) Jeremy Camp

3 of your favorite songs at present: (Only THREE????)
a) Beautiful One- Jeremy Camp
b) Remember When it Rained; You Raise Me Up- Josh Groban
c) The Answer; Unto You- Shane & Shane

3 new things you want to try in the next 12 months:
a) organization
b) being 50 lbs. lighter
c) being on time

3 things you want in a relationship (love is a given):
a) romance (I'm all about flowers, love notes, and spontinaity)
b) laughter
c) safety

2 truths and a lie (in no particular order):
a) I am a vegetarian
b) I believe in God
c) I love my family

3 physical things about a love interest that appeal:
a) hands
b) smile
c) eyes

3 things you just can't do:
a) juggle
b) wrap my feet behind my head
c) willingly eat brussle sprouts

3 of your favorite hobbies:
a) reading
b) cooking
c) scrapbooking

3 things you want to do really badly right now:
a) snap my fingers and my house be clean
b) lose 50 lbs
c) snap again, and be debt free

3 careers you're considering:
a) PChef Director
b) wedding coordinator
c) interior design

3 places you want to go on vacation:
a) Disney World
b) Ireland
c) Italy

3 kid's names:
a) Caleb
b) Abigail
c) Claire

3 things you want to do before you die:
a) raise my kids to be the best they can be
b) Take the aforementioned vacations w/ my family
c) get out of debt

3 people who now have to take this quiz:
a) TRM
b) KRM
c) JET

The Funny Story about my Dog that I Nearly Forgot...

2004-12-15T13:16:00.000-08:00

So, I went and read my friend Allie's blog and ready her funny story about her dog, and it reminded me of the story about our dog!

OK, so last week we discover what was pissing off our 6 month old, she's teeting!!! Well, fortunately we were already prepared with mucho of that gum numbing stuff. They now make these really cool Q-tip like thingies that you snap off one end and there's medicine in the stick part that runs down into the other end when you pop off the one end (did that make ANY sense?????), then you rub it on their gums and don't even have to worry about them using your fingers as a teething toy! Pretty nifty! Well, our dog likes to eat Q-tips...see where this is going yet? She got hold of one of the ones with the gum numbing stuff, and it totally numbed up her tongue, lips and everything....she's just running around licking and having fits. So, we tease her. Whenever we use one we hold it out to try to offer it to her, and she hunches down, like 'yeah, try me!' and then runns off...then she'll come back, and we go through the lil dance again. It's pretty funny! And she doesn't go after Q-tips anymore!

Christmas is Comin', and other randomness!

2004-12-15T13:01:00.000-08:00

The underside of the tree is filling up with presents, I've spent about every night this week so far wrapping up gifts for the family. I love this time of year! What I'm dreading though, is all of the traveling that we get to do this year. We've done it every year, we leave 2-3 days before Christmas and head to one family's home, and leave the day after Christmas and head to the other family's home, and then come back to K-town on the 30th to spend New Year's with our friends. Well, as of Saturday, J's family decided to FINALLY inform us that his Aunt is getting married on NY day! Mind you, they've know about this for about 2 months now...so, then, why the heck didn't they fill us in???? This means that we are going to be gone for 10-12 days now!!! I'm just exhausted thinking about it all!!!! Next year, things are going to be different, I want to spend Christmas at home! But, I always seem to be a pushover, and will probably be having this same conversation next year too!

C said the funniest thing I've heard the other day! I went out to tell him it was time for bed and to go get his blanket, he begrudgingly walks over to his spider man blanket and says "Oh pickles!!!!!" OK, so when you are trying to be all parent like and serious, and your kid comes off with something like that, it's real hard to be serious!!!! J and I about fell on the floor laughing, but kept our composure quite nicely. Apparently one of the kids in his new favorite cartoon, the Higglytown Heros, says "Oh Pickles" all the time, and he decided that he had to say it too. He's a real ham that kid!!!

Things that make me warm and fuzzy this week:
* The first snow of the winter
* Wrapping presents
* My kids
* My hubby
* My moose from B
* Friends

My Family

2004-12-10T08:13:00.000-08:00

I was sitting around the other day, just marvaling over my family...I have to say, I have two GAW-geous kids!!!! And they are just truly amazing. Yes, I admit, sometimes they drive me to the boarder of loony, but I wouldn't have it any other way! Would not change a thing!!! So, I decided that today I was going to make a list of some of my favorite cute moments from the past couple of weeks...this list also includes a couple of highlights from my husband and my dog, because they just crack me up a lot of days too!

* My 3 yr. old son has been really striving for independence lately, which is just fabulous, but there have been some mishaps on the way. I love it when he wants to be the one to change his pull-ups or underware, and he's totally not paying attention, and stands up with both legs in one hole....or he gets them on right, but pulls them up so high, that he's running around with one butt cheek hanging out.

* DS's new favorite thing is telling his daddy and me when it's time to shave! When daddy goes to kiss him good night, he always does a "scratchy" test. "Daddy, you scratchy, shave it! Wook (look) I scratchy too?" C now wants to shave his "scratchies" every time daddy does.

* Sometime in October, C decided that he didn't need to take baths anymore...don't know why! There were no bad experiences or anything, just a decision he made. So, whenever it was time for him to take one, he protested much!!! It was truly a battle of wills. Well, we were up at my mom and dad's about 3 weeks ago, and mom thought she'd help me out by giving him a bath one Sunday morning before church. C, pitched a good one. She had him in the bathroom, and if no one was awake before, they were now. She spent 2 minutes in there with him howling the whole time, then the bathroom door flies open, my mom stomps out of the bathroom and thew his pull-up in the floor and storms off!!! It was embarassing to me for a moment, and I was not proud that my son could unravel my mom like that. After I made him slightly more compliant, I realized that it was sorta funny in a way...I mean, if you can piss a grandma off. Ever since that weekend he's a lot better about cleanliness...I'll be sitting at the computer and he'll come up to me with this playful grin on his face and say "Me (points to self), you (points to me), take a bath! (points to bathroom)" The way he says it is totally hilarious...makes me chuckle, which makes him keep doing it. And he'll do it with other stuff too, "Me, you, get applesauce!" "Me, you, watch Watch Wiggles". He's a riot!

* My husband and I got a night all to ourselves right after I got back from Indiana a couple of weeks ago. We got to go out for a great dinner, and then just wandered through the mall for awhile. When ever we get to go out like that, we always stop at a Starbucks (sorry coffegoddess!!! If you were closer, it'd be all about you baby!!!) for a treat on the way home. So, we place our order that night, and there was something that was part of one of our beverages that they had run out of, that another shift was supposed to make a batch of and didn't, and my husband replies, "So, they really screwed the pooch on that one!" I had never in my life heard that reference before, and I just totally burst into a fit of giggles that I could not control for like 5 minutes. Every time I calmed down, I would just repeat him "Screwed the POOCH!!!" and start again! Two days I acutally heard the phrase used again on TV!!! That's probably one of the funnier things I have heard this year!

* One day last week J was home for lunch and proceeded to tell me a story about his morning. He had gotten up and needed a clean pair of boxers from the dryer. Well, on his way back into our room, he was about to enter our bathroom and said he farted out loud. The next thing he hears was this HUGE fart come out of our 5 month old daughter! He said it was probably one of the loudest he's heard come out of her, adult sized! He said it just cracked him up, "It was like she was answering my call!"

* Awhile back we had gotten the kids to sleep, and J and I were hanging out, watching some TV, winding down for the night. Our dog was in a very playful mood, wanting us to throw her balls, and taking running fits. Well, she came barreling down the hall and was going to jump on the couch with us, but didn't get enough velocity off the ground and hit the edge of the couch with her chest and bounced off! We just ROLLED!!!! I nearly fell off the couch laughing!!! She just kinda stood there for a second and looked at the couch like "why did you get taller?" And then trotted away!

Well, my kids are summoning me...thus is my list for now! Enjoy!!!

Chuckhead and Marble Comics

2004-12-06T08:34:00.000-08:00

So, last week pretty much sucked. It was the Christmas Festival week on the campus where my husband works, so that means many hours of overtime. We averaged seeing him about 4 hours each day. A lot of times the kids would briefly see him in the morning when he left for work, an hour for lunch, and then wouldn't see him again until the next morning as they were in bed when he came home. I think that the kids were sensing the change in normal routine...they were holy terrors for most of the week. I nearly had a meltdown Saturday night. We are all pretty exhausted today....

On top of everything, the driver side window on our mini-van will not roll up! It's an automatic window, so, we are pretty much screwed. Unless we can find someone that will help us out out of the goodness of their heart, it could cost us in the relm of $300. It's Christmas dang it!!! Oh, yeah...and it's raining!

Well, last night I had had it. I was tired, frazzled, and looking for some adult conversation. J was working all night again getting a whole new set built for the Formal student Christmas banquet that is tomorrow night. The genius that is planning the entertainment for that event decided that they needed to do Gilligan's Island instead of coordinating something with a Christmas theme where they could use the already built stage that was used for the Christmas Fest on Saturday. But I digress...I may not know what I'm talking about!

So, we have a small group fellowship every Sunday night with several of the young adult families from our church. I had considered not going, becuase I felt badly that J would not be able to attend with us. But I could not handle the chaos anymore, so I went. My oldest, C, behaved exceptionally well last night, contrary to the way he had been acting...may have had something to do with he was getting a wee bit more attention...more people, more attention to be had. My baby, A, was less than happy for some reason, but she finally fell asleep. The adults that were there, myself, another girl B, and the couple hosting K & S. We decided to play the youth edition of Trivial Pursuit thinking it would be rather easy. As we were dividing up into teams, B decides she's going to trash talk me and K, saying that she and S could beat us. Don't know where that came from, but OK... the game was on! It went back and forth, we came out of the gate and got two pie pieces pretty easy, then they got 3 or 4...then it was quite awhile before any of us could catch up. There were some really ridiculous questions, some really hard ones, some EASY ones. We were having fun!

K and I got one question about the comic strip about Dagwood...the answer was the name of his boss, but I could not remember it to save my life, and K I don't think had ever read the strip before. At the last possible second, out of nowhere, I blurted out "Mr. Dithers", turns out I was right! Later on B & S get a question about the comic book Archie. They were trying to get the name of the football player character, which neither of them knew, the only other character that B could think of was Jughead, but instead she yells out "Chuckhead"! We hit the floor laughing!!!

Close to the end of the game K & I get another comics question, something to do with both of the companies that do the superhero comic books. I thought of DC, and K looks at me and says "Isn't the other one Marble comics?" Her husband, who was a comic collector at one time, looks at her "are you serious?" B and I are just dying laughing. "Don't you mean MARVAL?" For 10 minutes we all just laughed and laughed, and then Chuckhead came up again. Fun times had by all! Just the comic relief I needed!

Oh yeah....MY TEAM WON!!!! Trash talk me now B!!!! MUAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

3 in a row!!!!!

2004-12-01T11:31:00.000-08:00

Hell must be freezing over! I've not blogged 3 days in a row ever I don't think!

Today is good...it's sunny again, we didn't blow away last night...and my kids are exceptionally cute today!

OK, so, I started this 9 layers thing awhile back and never finished it...so here it is!

Layer One
name: Ann Michele
birth date: July 15th
birthplace: Louisville, KY
current location: Tennessee
eye color: Brown
hair color: Brown
height: 5' 4”
righty or lefty: Righty
zodiac sign: Cancer

Layer Two
your heritage: German and Scottish I think
the shoes you wore today: Haven’t put any on yet
your weakness: ice cream and dark chocolate
your fears: Losing my Parents, husband or children
your perfect pizza: Chicago deep dish, mushrooms, xtra cheese, sausage
goal you'd like to achieve: PChef directorship

Layer Three
your most overused phrase on aim:
your first waking thoughts: NO! NOT YET!!!
your best physical feature: Eyes, hair
your best character trait: I'm passionate

Layer Four
pepsi or coke: Coke
mcdonald's or burger king: either
single or group dates: Both
adidas or nike: New Balance
lipton ice tea or nestea: Lipton
chocolate or vanilla: Both, depending on what we're talking about.
cappuccino or coffee: Both, but i especially enjoy frappuccinos

Layer Five
smoke: no.
cuss: Not much
sing: Yes
take a shower everyday: That’s my goal…I’ve got two kids and I’m a work at home mom, so occasionally it is a stretch!
do you think you've been in love: Yes, actually, i know i have.
want to go to college: Been there, done that
liked high school: Not all bad.
want to get married: Am
believe in yourself: Yes
get motion sickness: Nope.
think you're attractive: I’d rather like to lose the baby weight, and then I might be a lil more confident in that department
think you're a health freak: Eh
get along with your parent(s): Yup.
like thunderstorms: Eh
play an instrument: My vocal chords.

Layer Six
in the past month...
drank alcohol: No
smoked: No
done a drug: No
made out: Ummm...do you really want the details
gone on a date: Yes!!!! We finally got a babysitter!!!!
gone to the mall: Yes
eaten an entire box of oreos?: No
eaten sushi: No
been on stage: Yes, church praise band Sunday
been dumped: No…I’d kick his hiney if I got dumped now!!!!
gone skating: No
made homemade cookies: No
dyed your hair: No
stolen anything: No

Layer Seven
ever...played a game that required removal of clothing: No.
if so, was it mixed company: N/A
been trashed or extremely intoxicated: No
been caught "doing something": Nearly
been called a tease: Yes
gotten beaten up: No
shoplifted: No
changed who you were to fit in: Yes

Layer Eight
age you hope to be married: Got married when I was 23
numbers and names of children: Caleb, 3 1/2; Abbie 5 months
describe your dream wedding: The one I had!
how do you want to die: I don’t know
where you want to go to college: I went to Milligan, IUS and JBC
what do you want to be when you grow up: What I am
what country would you most like to visit: Italy, Ireland and Germany

Layer Nine
number of drugs taken illegally: None.
number of people i could trust with my life: 12
number of cds that i own: 300 or so.
number of piercings:2 in each
number of tattoos: O
number of times my name has appeared in the newspaper?: A whole bunch when I was in HS
number of scars on my body: Several
number of things in my past that i regret: Only the psycho ex boyfriend!

So I have this friend....

2004-11-29T22:30:00.000-08:00

I've known her most of my life....and lately I've noticed that she's just crazy! It's progressivly getting worse! I love her, but she drives me nuts!

A brief rundown...we've known each other since we were kids. Great childhood memories from all that. We grow up, I go off to school, she stays home. She meets a boy, and in less time than I can blink, is engaged. Her first wedding date is set...passes, no wedding...another date is set...it passes, no wedding. BAM...he cheats, they break up. In the meantime, I get married and we have our first baby...note, she was supposed to get married first. Roughly 3 years later, she hooks up with a guy we were in high school with. They start dating, and then his ex has his baby. She moves in, big crazy blow out with his ex over the fact that she moved in with him. Ex says she won't bring his kid for scheduled visits if my friend is there. So, my friend always had to leave when the baby came for visits. Also, while she was living with the guy, she gets super involved with this internet game, that she becomes addicted to. In fact, when I went home one weekend to visit my family, I had to go over to their apartment to see her WHILE she played the game....she "couldn't leave in the middle of it". That's when I knew our friendship had changed very dramatically.

Well, a couple of months down the road, they break up...she moves back home with her parents. Within a months time, she and the guy are dating again. It's been back and forth for about two years, and he constantly making it very clear that he has no intention of settling down on a permanent level anytime soon. So this relationship continues...the break up again, but conveniently stay bed buddies...if ya know what I mean. Then all of a sudden, he gets sole custody of his kid. And then my friend, who is now jobless, moves back in...she's basically now the babysitter. Now THAT goes on for about 2 months, I don't hear from her for about that amout of time...then I happen to catch her online one night and she tells me that she's back at mom and dad's, that "it's over for good". Oh yeah, and she's super pissed because her computer is on the fritz and she can't play her online game. Then she goes into this saga about how she's made "relationships" with all these people on the online game, and that it's tearing her up that she can't talk to them. So, she's still jobless, and sitting at home on her mom and dad's computer, getting on all the chatboards for this game, so she can keep up with all her "friends". Oh, and by the way, there's like 4 guys from this game interested in her! What gets me the most, I nearly died when she told me this....There's a guy, on the other side of the country, who she's talked on the phone with occasionally, who's voice "makes her tingle." The kicker....HE'S 18!!!!!!!!!! She is 27!!!!!!!!! I had to try reeeeeeeeally hard not to LAUGH when she was telling me all about this guy! When I shared this story with my less-than-discreet brother, he started chanting "pedifile, pedifile"...his point was rather good, the kid's proably only really 15!

But I digress...

So what will happen next week on As the Internet Turns? Will she ever grow up? Or will she race across country to have a torrid love affair with the said 18 year old? Will she land herself in jail when she finds out that he is actually a minor? Stay tuned!!!

And the Chef Returns...

2004-11-29T11:28:00.000-08:00

It's been a looney few weeks round my house!!! Christmas is coming so my moonlight job, the "Chef" business, has been booming!!! And I have two kids....hubs job gets chaotic this time of year, so we have to find those precious 5 minutes here and ther.....and did I mention that I have two kids? I was out of town for several days to visit my family up north, right before Thanksgiving no less, and I swear, you'd think that when going to visit parents, who help out with the aforementioned two kids, that ya might get some rest! But noooooooo, I think I was busier there than when I was home! But it was a nice visit, got to see my brother, he got to meet the baby, and fun was had by all. Got to meet and scrutenize the girlfriend for the first time too. She passes, for now! Hey, he got to make judgements of hubs before we got married, I told him that gave me the right to test his girlfriend before he gave her a ring!!! Amazingly, he still listens to me! Darndest thing!

So, we hauled out the Christmas stuff this weekend and decorated! Fun times!!!! I was nearly in one of those "I feel faint" panicky moments. We got the whole tree strung with lights and I thought I was going to have to redo the whole curssed thing!! I went to plug it in and realized that all I had was outlet, no prongs!!!! I thought that I had the whole thing well thought out to where I started with one end of the lights at the top, and by the time I had the rest connected that I would have prongs to plug into the wall! What gives!!!! So I spent the next half an hour trying NOT to have to take all the lights back off and start from scratch! I followed all my trails, and then decided that the best thing to do was to add one more string of lights to the tree, and I made sure that I started and finished so that I had prongs at the end of the whole process. And then we moved on to the ornaments. By that time my 3 year old, C, was up from his nap and bound and determined that he was going to help us with the decorating. Well, I always put strings of beads on the tree, and I was hanging one string, and C was trying to hang a string of his own near the bottom. He'd get his string about half way around, and while holding on to the other end, would take off across the room!!!! We nearly had a treetastrophy! Yes friends, my dog had several near death experiences that day! And then of course, C only wanted to hang the shiny breakable ornaments, that's always good! It was an experience that I am glad is now over. Now if he would just keep his 4-wheeler out of the tree, we might have a semi-uneventful Christmas season! Baby steps, baby steps!

Well, onward HO!!! On to the rest of my day! The fun never ends! I'll be moving on to "creative banking" as my mom calls it. Moving money around so I can pay my bills!!! "Christmas is coming the goose is getting fat! Please put a penny in this mama's hat!!!" Pretty please with chocolate on top????

Ivan the Terrible and The Crud coming out of my head...

2004-09-16T08:50:00.000-07:00

It's hurricane season in Tennessee! No really, I'm serious! Frances hit us with some rain, not a big deal, just turned our yard into a massive jungle. When hubs when to mow the lawn last week he choaked the mower every 5 seconds. So, Ivan is supposed to hit this area late tonight with an apparent vengance. Yesterday it was all sunny and nice and we were already getting flood watches and wind advisories. I'm not real sure how I'm supposed to feel about this!!! I mean, we DO live in Tennessee, we're not even coastal! Am I supposed to board up my windows? Maybe I need to mount a sail on top of my house and attach floaties to the sides. The rain isn't supposed to blow out of here until Sunday! I feel like I should be collecting 2 of every kind of animal...oh wait! I was really supposed to????? CRAP!!!!

Apparently the non-contagious allergy my best friend, whom I toted all over K-town last week, was actually contagious! My husband started in with it Sunday night, my 3 month old daughter got it on Monday, and now I have it! People are so brilliant! I love the justification..."No really! It's just a tickle in my throat because the ragweed just has to be blooming right now. Please oh please can you help me out??? I promise you aren't going to get sick, because I'm not!" And now 3/4 of my family is....oh what is it?.....OH YEAH!!!! SICK!!!!! I love my girl friend to pieces, but I feel like doodie now, and I'm not happy!

I think that I will now retire to a nice hot shower to steam my puffy head out, then drink a gallon of OJ.

Potty Training Hell!

2004-09-15T13:47:00.000-07:00

So, my oldest child is now way past his 3rd birthday, and still refuses to use the potty like all the other kids. On the one hand, his stubborness to "be like the rest of the kids" could be good in that I won't have to give him the "if so-and-so jumped off a bridge would you follow him/her?" speech. But, on the other hand, we now have a 2nd child for whom we are buying mass quantities of Luvs for, on top of pull-ups for said stubborn 3 year old, and the expense could very possibly sink us real soon!

Rewind to Saturday: My son wakes up, his pull-up is dry. Mommy thinks now would be a fabulous time to go sit on the potty and see if we'll make contact today. Get young son settled with is potty book about "Joshua" (1. I always think of the Friends episodes where Rachel Green is trying to woo Joshua, b. This potty book needs a whole blog entry for itself....it's pretty friggin hilarious!). So, we sit and sit and sit, mommy ends up having to take care of business...I finish, young son STILL has not peed the first drop, but insists that he is finished! He wants to put his pull up back on really bad, but in my head I knew that as soon as I put it back on, he'd finally go. So, I refused his request. Melt down occurs!!!!!! He pitches a HUGE tantrum over the fact that I would not put the pull up back on until he used the big boy potty. In this whole process we wake Daddy from the dead, so he decides to get in on the potty training action this fine morning. Young son is still WAILING while daddy takes him back to the bathroom for another round of sitting and waiting. Daddy gets him some cereal to feast upon while sitting in the bathroom, so young son wants some also. I get him cereal and milk, hoping that more fluids would encourage his already backed up bladder. They sit in there for another good 45 minutes. So, since the bathroom also houses the washer and dryer, Daddy decides to do some laundry. Young son decides this is a good time to escape, and comes in to try to get me to put his pull up on again. I told him I would as soon as he peed in the potty. Melt down again!!! He goes back to the bathroom, and since I'm in another room the actual events that followed were not totally witnessed other than through sound: I hear this "Daddy!!! Daddy!!! Help me!!!" and then from Daddy I hear "What the hell???" From what I can gather, in his fit of frustration with me, young son goes back to the bathroom to plead with daddy to put the pull up on, is standing on his potty chair, and can no longer hold his pee, and pees all over the bathroom! GREAAAAAAAAAT!!! And what does every good Mommy do? Makes young son clean up his own pee...which sorta backfired because young son likes to help! LAWD LAWD!!!!

So I'm still waiting for young son to decide to have a "Potty Revelation"....I could be waiting until he starts kindergarden on this one! In the mean time, I'll be declaring bankrruptcy via diaper purchases!

The Chef and the Air Purifier Guy...

2004-09-15T11:52:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's that time of year again. The air is starting to get crisp, the leaves will soon be changing...so that means it's time for the TN Valley Fair again! Good food, good fun...can't be beat!

So, every year for the past three years, my Pampered Chef (that's pampered, far from perfect!) cluster rents a booth to network. This year we were on a corner and surrounded by several more vendors than in years past. Now, usually this is fairly OK...and this years location got us a bit away from the Bugman...who's just a lil bit weird for my taste, but it takes all kinds, right? He didn't have the dog with him this year, but for the past 2 years he had one of those "umbrella" strollers in which he pushed this scruffy little dog all over the fair. Poor dog always looked liked she'd seen better days.

Anyway, I had 2 5-6 hour shifts this year, and got to know all my neighbors pretty well. OK, so straight across the aisle from is the wheelchair lift people...they had cool cars rigged for wheelchairs...a PT Cruiser and a Honda Element...had fun looking at those. One of the guys from that booth kept wheeling over and looking at my cookbooks and eating my Kisses (that'd be HERSHEY, just an FYI!). He was cool! Directly to my left was the Mexican clothing vendors who spoke mostly Spanish...had some really cute dresses, and they also always sell the HUGE necklaces that the ghetto boys like...you know the kind, the BLING! Across the other aisle to my right were Stan and Jody with the storm shelters. They install storm shelters for people that live in trailer parks mostly, and actually had a storm shelter there for viewing. They even put a set of stripped stockings with ruby slippers sticking out from under the shelter! It was hilarious!!!!

Now, for the booth behind me. The Air Purifier Guy. Nice enough, told me ALL about air purifiers, and how they could cure my family of all our allergies. He was probably 65ish, dressed professionally except for the excessive number of pins decoring his shirt, including the blinky American flag pin...does draw some attention, I'll grant him that! Anyway, he'd come talk to me, and then disappear, and then about a half hour later he'd come around the curtain and start chatting again. I was OK with this for the most part. The disturbing moment was when he did one of his appearing acts while I was partaking a sip of my Harvest Peach Iced Tea (YUUUUM!!!!!!). As I was taking the straw out of my mouth, it did one of those drippy things and dripped right down my cleavage. I hate that!!!! If he had only made a "whoops, here's a napkin for you" or some such comment, that would have been all fine and dandy! But NOOOOOOO, he says, *chuckle* "Whoops, why don't you let me wipe that up for you?" with the tone of a sleazy used car salesman!!!! WHAT THE HELL?????? I made a nervous giggle, and so as to be professional and not make a scene, turned around and walked to the other side of my booth. I was rather mortified at that comment, while he probably thought himself quite clever, I wanted to slap the sleazy grin off his face. He did not make any other appearances at my booth that night....thank you Jesus!!!!

Moral of this story is: If you are ever in Knoxville, and a 65ish guy with a blinky American Flag pin tries to tell you that he can purify your air, he probably means he'd like to purify your boobs too!!!

OY!!!!!

And here I write...

2004-08-25T11:06:00.000-07:00

I, too, wanted to post a reply on a blog and had to create my own....I don't know what I will write, I hope it's as funny as the #3's, cuz they are just hilarious beyond belief! We will see what comes out of this lil twisted mind of mine! Wish me luck!