Note to self: Check blog posts left in draft form more often.
I accidentally clicked a few buttons on my Blogger dashboard (what a silly name) and found two unofficial guides hanging around in draft form. One on pets and one on sleep. Mmmm, I love sleeping children. Even more than I love Mountain Dew and 72 degree weather.
I also have an index card around here somewhere with ideas for "sick" and "crafts".
New goal: Publish one "unofficial guide" on each Friday in February. (I can't believe today is the last day of January.) A quick polish on the two drafts mentioned above and I'm already halfway done!
Quote of the Day: (on writing) "I try to leave out the parts that people skip." -Elmore Leonard
Are you one of the 2000?
(Why do I feel like I'm pitching a Sci-Fi channel show?)
I've been slacking on my site stats lately (as in I haven't checked them in months) and I was rather surprised to see a bunch of links to me due to this 2000 Bloggers project. Manic Mommy had also mentioned 2000 Bloggers in my recent comments (and she called me attractive, hehe) so two blips on my "huh?" radar made me dig deeper.
I'm one of the 2000, who knew!?!?
On this page, you'll find me on the 17th row down, 12th from the left. Seems this guy named Tino Buntic created this project to showcase a few of the 55 million bloggers out there. As far as I can tell, he's still taking sign-ups to reach 2000. All that is required to join is a blog created before 2007 and a picture of yourself on your site.
Funny thing is that I don't remember signing up for this. And you know what, after reading this interview, I probably didn't. He found the first 300 or so on his own (I'm #315). Wow, that's kind of cool.
Are you one of the 2000? Which one is your picture? I haven't clicked around much yet so see if anyone from my blogroll is already on there. If you are visiting here through the 2000 Blogger project page, please leave a comment!
I'm not sure where the project goes from here or what it means to me other than a few more links. Although if I'm going to get an increase in readers, I think I might need to step up the writing from complaining about head colds and stuck bathroom doors. You know, to something like complaining about snow and the fact that 6 out of 7 people in the household don't know where the laundry basket is.
Hi!
I am sick (head cold).
The master bath door won't open (it doesn't even have a lock so I don't have a freaking clue why).
It's cold (Dave says 27 F, -2 C).
I'm tired (head cold).
I am so pissed over this (Melissa from Suburban Bliss on the Today show) that I can't coherently form sentences about how pissed I am. Seriously? Did Meredith Viera just compare being a stay at home mom to babysitting? (video) I want to see Meredith tell Nancy Pelosi (current US Speaker of the House) that all those years Nancy spent raising her 5 children as a stay at home mom that she was just "babysitting."
And now I need to go make lunch for the kids I'm "babysitting." Hey, if I'm just the "babysitter", doesn't that mean I get sick days?
Who the heck is Dave and why am I getting my weather forecast from his backyard?
From Weather Underground
The part where I toss twenties in the fireplace and play with matches...
So yesterday the twins had their yearly check-ups. A month and 10 days late. I had earlier appointments but they kept being canceled because the doctor and nurse practitioner we usually see were out sick with upper respiratory infections. I wasn't all that excited to be going to the office in the first place with my healthy children to be exposed to all the sick ones. They have separate waiting rooms but one girl in the "well child room" cheerfully announced that she has strep. Joy... Can I move girls' birthdays to July?
A few weeks ago, we also did the fun circuit of all the kids through the dentist office. Which begins the money burning.
Ally sucks her thumb. But only while she's sleeping so it's really hard for her to remember not to do it. We've tried band aids (she takes them off), the icky nail stuff (she's persistent and will suffer through the taste), and socks (again taking it off). So it's easy to see why she has a big overbite. She also has a narrow palate so a spacer is recommended as her adult teeth come in. I suppose it was just a matter of time before I heard "you should take her to an orthodontist."
And then the dentist came back from checking Emily's teeth. And Em has the same narrow palate and overbite. The dentist seemed confused that she would have the same exact issues as Ally even though Em doesn't suck her thumb.
Well duh, they are identical twins.
Yesterday's pediatrician appointments went well other than Strep girl playing with my kids. At the end the nurses did a quick hearing and vision screening. Ally's eyesight is 20/70 and Emily is 20/60. Both their right eyes are a little nearsighted and need further testing with an ophthalmologist.
Well duh, they are identical twins.
Think anyone will give me a Two for One discount?
(And now I have to make phone calls. I hate making phone calls...)
I am such a dork.
Besides the fact that my upper left calf hurts when I walk (imagine me going "ow, ow, ow" with every step. Too much elliptical, methinks), I have the day totally wrong. It's the 25th.
Why does this matter? Because I just wrote up an entire post on what was suppose to be today's date in the history of my blog. (Is 3 years long enough to be considered a "history"?) But I screwed up and pulled posts from Jan 24th of those years instead of the 25th.
Anyway... Here are blog posts from yesterday's date:
2006 Oh the guinea pig was dying, that's cheerful news. And the dryer wasn't working. Which is rather amusing because now here in 2007 the washing machine doesn't work well (it won't do a high spin and therefore the clothes are sopping wet. Dad, help?). And at the end, a picture of Ally with a cute little snowman.I suppose it kinda defeats the whole purpose by using yesterday's date. Oh well...
2005 Sickness and snow. Sounds like a typical January day.
2004 Oh the "If you give a Mom a muffin" story. I never did figure out who wrote that.
(I think I've been hit by the January blahs. Anyone want to go in on a Bahama hotel room and cabana boys?)
Quote of the Day: "High heels were invented by a woman who had been kissed on the forehead." -Christopher Morley
(Oh you want more than just a quote? Fine, I'm sewing. Because all of a sudden those all-in-one knitting needle organizers are becoming popular. Not that I'm complaining but occasionally the "sweat shop, chained to the machine" feeling takes over and I wonder why I ever liked sewing in the first place. Second Greg's in Salt Lake City which is just a hop skip and a jump away from this (has sound). He and some co-workers went last night and I haven't heard back how it was. So maybe I'm just a wee bit jealous at the moment.)
Yesterday was a good day.
I'll own up to having my share of bad mommy days. But somehow yesterday worked. The kids were off school (not for the itsy bitsy inch of snow, some planned teacher in service day) and Greg's out of town so it very easily could have been a bad day.
It was a good day because the kids played in the snow dust for a few hours, they played some computer and Nintendo games (PS2 is still broken, I finally replaced the N64 cable off eBay), colored pictures, ate pancakes for lunch, had hot chocolate and cookies for snack, and then we watched some cartoons together. I wussed out on the planned homemade pizzas for dinner, I was really tired.
I let the mess of wet gloves, coats, and boots in the entry way slide. I didn't say no when they asked for pancakes and hot chocolate and cookies. It seemed that my calmness towards the day rubbed off on them and there were less fighting overall. Or maybe I was just lucky.
I wish more days were like that. There wasn't any pressing need to be somewhere or do something. It was like floating on a gentle sea enjoying the moment and wondering where you might drift to next. Pancakes for lunch? Sure! On Demand episodes of Lilo and Stitch? Okay!
If yesterday was the most miserable day of the year, I'll take it.
It's funny how traditions start.
One year I wanted the kids to help me make our Christmas cards. Except Zach and the twins were only 5 and 4 at the time and could basically color and make a big mess. Since I didn't want the Christmas cards to be a big mess, I went with their other talent. I printed Christmas themed clip art and resized coloring book pages onto plain white cards with their names on the back. After they colored a card, they circled their name as the artist. Besides being kinda "aw cute!", it kept them entertained and I didn't have to try to get 5 kids to look good for a photo.
And a tradition was born.
Now every one looks forward to the cards and it's entertaining to me that they personally keep track of whose card they've received each year. (I just put the colored cards in a stack and basically it's luck of the draw as I stuff and address the envelopes.) Kyle and Kelly are now in on the fun and Christmas 2007 will be our 5th year.
I'm getting to the point, I promise.
I meant to sell the preprinted Christmas/holiday cards (minus my kids' names) on Etsy.com but December last year was insane for me. So instead I'm offering a Valentine's Day version:
DIY Valentine's Day Cards! You'll receive 2 of 4 cute designs (or mix and match) for a total of 8 along with envelopes all for the lovely low price of $5 shipped (US).Sorry, child coloring labor not included.
Five Random Things you didn't know about me:
1. I'm really good at polishing shoes. Greg and his dress shoes appreciate this fact. It's one of the odd side effects of having been in ROTC for 2 years in college (that and I can say the military alphabet: Alpha,
2. I can't stand to eat peanut butter. The only peanut butter flavored item I like is bite sized Butterfingers. I also won't eat most items with peanuts in them (Snickers, trail mix, etc). So PB&J sandwiches? BLECH!
3. I remember birthdays like no one else I know. Or if I don't remember the exact date, I can always get the month and within a day or two. Like my mom's old co-worker at the library's birthday is August 11th. My childhood best friends' (most who I haven't seen since high school graduation) birthdays are Sept 6th, Jan 28th, May 25th, and Oct 13th.
4. I played the flute in band (and no, I didn't go to band camp). Except I play it wrong. You're suppose to break the notes with your tongue and I do it with my breathing instead. I missed the week (bonus, I was a sickly child) when the band director taught the correct method and somehow my goofy way of doing it wasn't noticed until my senior year of high school.
5. I am horrible at pronouncing names. And some words always catch me up like "chaos". I always want to say "chA-whos". The sickly child thing caused me to miss a lot of phonetics in first grade too.
For other random stuff, there's my 100 list. Which I need to update since since I don't longer enjoy going to the post office (#64). Or maybe I just don't like Maryland post offices.
I didn't quite make it to the gym yesterday (I think Sarah's already claimed the jeans now) because I was tracking down the last ball of Lana Grossa Bingo yarn in 24 black in Maryland. Someone had warned me that knitters are insane people...
The story starts like this. Greg watches me knit every night. And sighs when I say "let me finish this row" (which is lots of fun when I'm knitting in the round, hehe). And deals with pointy sticks and balls of yarn every where. And drove almost the entire way to Ohio at Christmas so I could finish knitting the kids' sweaters. The poor guy puts up with a lot.
So while he's mentioned a sweater (oh lord, do you know how much yarn it would take to knit a 6'4" guy a sweater?), he also said he would like a nice black hat. A hat I can easily do. I'm also kinda between projects (I have a kid's sock and an earth tone scarf on needles right now just to be knitting) so I thought now would be the perfect time. And also he's going to Salt Lake City next week on business and I guess it's cold there or something.
So I went to a local yarn shop (I have two within a few miles) and asked for black yarn for a hat. I pretty much had two options, neither I really liked. Did you know there's not that much out there in the way of plain black? There's heathered grays and black with specks but not plain black. Digging around on my own I found one ball that was solid black, wool not acrylic, soft and sturdy, and would knit up with a needle bigger than a piece of spaghetti. (Backlash from the current sock and scarf projects mentioned above. Why am I such an idiot to knit a scarf on size 3 needles?) The price was good at $8.
Except there was only one ball. And I always seem to overbuy or underbuy, I've never hit the right magic amount of yarn in the first try. For example, I had to wait 2 weeks to finish a sweater because I only ordered 2 skeins instead of 3 because when I knit my sweater (same size) I only used 2. Although I ordered 3 of my color then and therefore still have one left over. And then for the kids' Christmas sweaters, I have like 6 extra balls of red and green. Next year's sweaters I suppose.
I bought the one ball anyway. Lana Grossa Bingo in 24 black. It's a really nice yarn, I'm thinking about buying more (online) to knit up hats for the kids.
Knitting, knitting, Greg has a big head, knitting, knitting. About half way through I realized that yeah, one ball wasn't going to be enough. So yesterday morning, I figured I better find another ball. Online ordering wouldn't arrive by Saturday, Greg leaves Sunday (yarn stores need to offer an overnight delivery option). So local was the way it would have to be. But I hate phone calls. Especially phone calls asking for something. Deep breath, google Maryland yarn stores and... There's over 30 yarn stores in Maryland. Like 4 in Baltimore alone. How nuts is that? About 10 within 20 miles of me. My hopes were high.
And slowly one by one, no one carried Bingo. Or they did but no black. Finally I located one ball 40 miles away. Hmm...
I had to wait until the kids were out of school because by that time, I couldn't make the hour and a half round trip before the bus arrived. At 3:18, I piled them into the van with pretzels and the dvd player. (They are good sports about my craft obsession too.) We were in and out of the yarn store in less than 3 minutes. It would have been quicker but I had to dig out 3 pennies from the bottom of my purse.
Long story long, the hat is finished! Except now he's wondering if he's rather have the brim in double rib instead of single. I think I'm going to strategically place some double pointed needles in his chair...
The Black Hat as modeled by Kelly (also wearing her flower girl dress from July because... I don't know. *shrugs*)
I kinda broke the cardinal rule of jeans buying yesterday.
I wasn't even at the mall to shop for a pair of jeans. Greg wanted earmuff things (the type that go around the back of the head) and I ended up the wrong color (mostly gray, not all black) but that's besides the story.
I was at Eddie Bauer. I don't usually shop at Eddie Bauer but they had out the winter clearance racks. And since I was already buying the earmuffs (wrong color), I figured I'd take a look.
Quick note: I currently have one pair of Gap jeans that I bought in 2004. I have another pair from the Limited with a small hole in the knee. Greg can't figure out how I wear holes in the knees of my jeans like a 5 year old. I say it has something to do with having 5 kids. So I have one good pair of jeans. One! (I do have some khakis and yoga pants.)
Jeans... *sigh* I think every women out there knows the dilemma. For me, I'm sort of short (5'3") but that's not always "short" enough for short jeans but often too "short" for regular length. I have decent sized thighs/butt and hey, I've had 5 kids, I no longer have the form of a 16 year old. The latest trend of "skinny jeans" is like nails on a chalkboard. I also don't want "mom jeans" or anything with a waist higher than my belly button. On the same note, I don't want to show off my underwear. And nothing ripped, faded, stained, etc. I really should start my own fashion line of "Cute but Normal" jeans. I should say "Cute but Normal" jeans in a reasonable price range. I tried zafu.com and I loved every pair of jeans the questionnaire gave me. Except not the $150+ price tag. (Two pairs of jeans would almost equal the price of my wedding dress, *faints*.)
So back to the mall, Eddie Bauer didn't have anything in my size. Except size in women's clothing is so subjective. Shirt wise, I'm a large at Old Navy, a medium most every where else and a small at the Gap. Yeah, it makes no sense. And then I saw them. "Cute but Normal!" They were even petite and the only petite I saw on the rack. Except they were a size smaller than what I normally wear at Eddie Bauer. Which is a size smaller than what I wear at Old Navy. See I told you women's sizing is stupid. (The size of the clearance jeans equals the age of one of my children, I don't want to lose any readers over jean sizes.) They looked big enough in the waist and thighs so I figured I'd give them a try in the dressing room.
Seriously cute jeans. The right color, slightly low rise waist, boot cut, a little bit of tasteful blue embroidery on the back pockets. Cute! The price was even right at $35, originally $70! The length was perfect and I could button them up. Barely.
I bought a pair of jeans that I need to lose weight to wear.
I've honestly never done that before. I've always just sucked it up and bought the size I was at the time regardless of the number. But I hate jean shopping and I could look for days and not find jeans this perfect again. So I've given myself an ultimatum. If the jeans don't fit by the end of February, I'm sending them to my youngest (and slightly smaller) sister. I'm pretty sure she's that size and I don't want these cute jeans to sit unworn in my closet.
So here we go... Ten pounds (I'm back up to 137 by the way) or my sister gets a new pair of jeans. Guess who's going to the gym today?
Today is "Run Random Crap Errands Day."
Girl Scout store (woohoo!)
Oil change (boo...)
Library (woohoo!)
Post office (boo...)
Bank (sort of a woohoo! because I'm depositing money and can go through the drive through teller)
Mall (boo...)
Yarn store (woohoo!)
Along with "Random Kids' Activities Night."
Brownie meeting 3:15-4:30pm
Indoor soccer game 6-7pm
Cub Scout meeting 7-8pm
I guess I should go shower and get started. Although I will take a second to whine that the current temperature is 24 degrees F (-3 C). I suppose I should remember to blow dry my hair before going outside. Or maybe I'll start a new trend: The Frozen Hair Do. Goes well with blue lips and pneumonia.
I'm going to give myself a migraine over this. (In other words, this post is going to be a mess of half thought out ideas.)
I believe that anyone can do anything they want to do in life. However most people aren't willing to make the sacrifices to reach their wildest dreams. They settle for something within their reach and deal with the "what if's".
For example, I'd really like to be a doctor treating patients in some Third World country every summer. And theoretically I could do that. I could go back to school, put the kids in daycare, take out a bunch of loans, study my butt off for years, and then leave my family to help others. But... The sacrifices versus the rewards are too high for me at the moment (or I'm selfish, depends on your outlook I suppose). I don't want to put the kids in daycare, I don't want us to go into more debt, I don't want my family to feel I abandoned them. Even if it was all for a noble cause.
I realize I'm very lucky to even be considering these ideas. I don't think a lot of people realize how lucky they are. Deciding to order Chinese or pizza for dinner can be the biggest decision of the day. To always have clean fresh water available. To spend $50 on a pair of jeans when that's what some people toil to earn in a month in another country. It really starts to put the little daily petty things into perspective.
Stephanie Pearl-McPhee puts it very well:
By any North American standard, I am not a wealthy woman. Still, there has never been a day that I went hungry or wondered where I would put my kids to bed. I choose between my varied and warm clothing in the morning and at least once a week I throw away food that went bad before we could eat it, buying fresh without even feeling a pang of decadence. I have never wanted for anything more than "more" of what I already have. I am... to most of the people in the world, obscenely wealthy...She asked for donations to Doctors Without Borders. $120,000 worth. I know, that sounds crazy impossible, right? And in 3 days, her readers blew past that amount in donations (closer to $155,000 total)*. It's amazing to think about, that the readers of one blog, a knitting blog, could join together to make such a huge difference.
As are you.
I think we all feel that if we aren't doctors or rich or political, what can we do from our heated/air conditioned homes with 2 cars and a fridge full of food? Of course no one wants to give up their hobbies or daily Starbucks. It's a privilege to live in the USA (and Canada). But with privilege comes responsibility.
You know, I only gave $25 to the above cause. I'm not sure what her blog stats are but I'm assuming a lot of people gave something along that line just to give. $25 wasn't even a blip in our bank account, that's a trip to McDonalds. And yet, thousands of people thought "okay I'll give something" and all those somethings added up to $155,000.
$5 in the red Salvation Army bucket doesn't seem like it would do much. Donating a couple of cans of soup to a local food drive, that'll only feed one family for one meal. Knitting one red scarf for one orphan. Donating a quilt made of scrap fabric to Project Linus for a sick child. All those things don't seem like much at all but when enough people do that one little thing, it adds up. As Stephanie has proven, it adds up.
So forget the notion that you have to give until it hurts. You don't have to sell all your worldly possessions or make big six digit donations to make a difference. All you have to do is remember to give. A can of soup. A few dollars to worthy cause. It'll help, I promise.
The funny part is that this post started out because I couldn't decide whether to spend my free time writing in attempt to sell a book/novel/article or to put more effort into my Blue Kitty Designs shop. See? I told you we all have it way too easy in life.
*Update: The new total is $320,093 I'm speechless...
The kids are off school today. So far they've split a giant box of Cheerios, whined it's 60 degrees outside and not snowing (we're having some really freaky weather), Zach's said he's bored 8 times, and the girls have built a "No Boys Allowed" club except they are allowing Kyle in.
Me, I haven't finished my first cup of tea yet.
Quote of the Day: "Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." -Martin Luther King Jr
And we take a break for a quick update from our knitting bureau...
Yarn made from possum hair! How crazy is that? I guess I'm easily amused. (By Cherry Tree Hill yarns)
Anyway I'm knitting a scarf for the Orphan Red Scarf Campaign using Yarn Harlot's One Row Scarf pattern. I'm about a foot into what I hope to be a five foot scarf, thanks mostly to Zach's 7am hockey practice this morning.
And a favor from all you knitters out there, I'm looking for something. I'm looking for a pattern to make a shawl or capelet for the twin's upcoming First Communion (April). At first I was thinking a triangle shawl but maybe a dainty little capelet would work well. Something sort of lacey but not too difficult (I consider myself an adventurous intermediate). The pattern doesn't even have to be free, I'm completely willing to pay for something beautiful. I've been searching for a week now (online, the library, the yarn store) without much luck. Worse comes to worst, I'll buy white yarn, a measuring tape, a stitch guide, and make something up.
What's up with the hotel room suggestions? I think I'm totally missing something here. (As in I have a comfy king sized bed with sheets that aren't harboring Lord knows what.) So I'm not sure what we are doing tonight. There's no night life to speak of around here unless you drive an hour. Boring bedroom community. (And now to quit embarrassing my dad, I'll stop talking about beds.)
Anyway today is off to a bang up start. I've already spent an hour on the phone with the TV/internet people for a freak $600 bill. I really like Verizon, I just hate their billing services. (About a week ago, they tried to bill us for our old phone number that we no longer have. That was another hour long call.) Finally after be transferred 5 times and once to India, George back in "normal English speaking land" (and what is it with me and people named George?) said our account has been properly credited with our payments and we actually have a balance of negative $3.95 and to ignore the freak $600 bill. Okay!
The rest of the day is planned with exciting stuff like washing sheets (Kyle and Kelly both wet their beds, neither has done that in months), going to the post office, cleaning the oven, putting away Christmas gifts (I still working on the "everything has a place" part), and fixing the expense categories in Microsoft Money. The girls' yearly pediatrician check-ups were canceled today due to our nurse practitioner being out sick. Seems the office is full of upper respiratory infections. Yeah maybe I won't be rescheduling for a few weeks...
Oh! I am seriously in love with grocery delivery! Greg's already rolling his eyes at me, I can tell. No stupid carts, no kids running down the aisles, no fight over the free cookies, no waiting in line, no fight over candy, no loading and unloading a gazillion bags in the van, it's awesome! The thing that sucks is I'm out of Mountain Dew and sponges and can't really justify waiting a day and paying $10 to have them delivered. Maybe we can go grocery shopping while the kids are at the babysitting night. hehe
Happy Friday and have a great weekend!
You guys are awesome! The best readers out there! You're all so pretty and witty and light! (Oops, sorry about the singing.)
Anyway I need a quick favor. Assuming Greg doesn't come down with the stomach flu (he was looking a little green when he went to work this morning), we have a date night tomorrow from 6-10pm. (It's an older Girl Scout troop babysitting fundraiser thing.) So... I need ideas on what to do.
We've tried eating out during this babysitting time. After wasting 3 hours at the Cheesecake Factory once (cheesecake good, an hour wait for the table and an hour wait for the food, not so good) and then me getting "pass out in the driveway" sick after eating at the Crab Shanty (bad clams, I think), I'd rather avoid restaurants.
Walking around the mall is kinda out too, Greg has a weird shopping personality. Well in my opinion he does. And while I need a new pair of jeans, he's really not into standing outside dressing rooms and fetching items for me (we tried that once too).
Movies... I don't even know what's out. I'd probably need to buy tickets online because 4 hours is over fast with a 2+ hour movie. Although "going to the movies" seems like a cop out. "Let's stare at a big screen for awhile and make ourselves sick on junior mints and popcorn." So romantic...
All our good friends and family are like 6+ hours away. Anyone want to come to Maryland for the weekend?
Wow, this got to be a long post for asking a simple question. You have 4 hours with your spouse without the kids. What do you do? Go!
4 dentist appointments down, 1 more dentist and 3 pediatrician appointments to go...
Actually the 5th dentist appointment (Zach's) was suppose to be today too but at about 2:30 this morning, he woke me up saying "Mom, I puked in my bed." Flu bug 6, Flecks 1 (Greg's still holding out).
I didn't sleep well after the clean up, I had nightmares about car accidents and a group of panthers attacking the children. Sometimes I wish I didn't dream.
There was something I was going to write about today and I'm struggling to remember what it was...
Oh! Groceries and dinner. Basically after 10 years of doing both, I want to quit. There goes my Super Mom Award, huh? Greg refuses to pick up the slack (something about traveling and working 50+ hours a week at a difficult job). So I finally ordered groceries online this morning. Shopping with Kyle and Kelly has just been too stressful (as in I want to jam an ice pick in my temples every time) and I hate going at night. Safeway is scheduled to deliver tomorrow even though they said if you order before 9:30am, you can get same day. I finished up my order at 9:13am and there weren't any time slots available for today. Oh well, we'll just have mac-n-cheese and leftover chicken for dinner tonight. Or Cheerios, I have like 4 boxes of Cheerios.
Speaking of dinner... My biggest complaint about dinner in this household is that getting everyone to eat one offering is like trying align all the planets with my bare hands. I don't even really have picky eaters, it's more like they just want to be disagreeable. Like Pluto. No one knows what Pluto's deal is anymore. Is it a planet? Or a big rock with an odd orbit? Will they eat chicken on the bone? Or does it have to be boneless skinless chicken breasts?
For example, take something as simple as a pb&j sandwich. Zach doesn't like peanut butter or bread (although sometimes he'll eat a sandwich if I take the crusts off which I hate to do). Emily and Ally like white bread. Kyle and Kelly like wheat bread. Or maybe it's the other way around (I think they change often too just to spite me). Greg likes double the peanut butter and one slice folded over at a time. They are slowly driving me insane...
I know once upon a time I suggested cooking two meals as a way to deal with picky eaters. But it's gotten out of hand here because it seems like I'm cooking 4 meals nightly. The main meal which gets rejected by 5 out of 7 people, a second item rejected by 3 out of 5, a third option (usually the wonky pb&j sandwiches mentioned above) for those last 3, and then a fourth "extra" food for Greg because either dinner wasn't enough or it wasn't what he was really hungry for. Yeah, I'm a pushover wife like that, so sue me.
But it all ends tonight! Well actually tomorrow night since the groceries won't be here today. The stress of grocery shopping and making meal plans has just become too much for me lately and since I can't quit (seriously, could we just hire a chef?), I need to make some changes and compromises. What's that saying about momma being happy?
The New House Rule: If you don't like it, you can make yourself a pb&j sandwich or a bowl of cereal (mostly for Zach). Even Kelly can make pb&j sandwiches. On my end of the deal, I promise to make meals that at least half (4 out of 7) like and try new meals sparingly with a decent back-up plan (chicken nuggets or something). Cause this isn't a restaurant. And while eating at a restaurant every night would be a good solution, neither my bank account or jean size could handle it.
If the new rules don't work, I think we'll just quit eating all together and donate the grocery budget to some nice family in a 3rd world country. I'm sure they won't mind if the chicken was boneless or not.
What happens when Greg cleans out the garage:
He found a fish bowl and said "hey, you should buy a fish for the kids!"
Um, sure...
Meet Eragon, the male betta. I thought he was light blue in color at the store but at home, he's now kinda red. Whatever. All I know is I shouldn't let the kids help pick out supplies (or have taught them to read) because besides the fish, we bought a bottle of betta water, betta cleanser, betta food, betta rocks, and betta plants. I talked them out of a Sponge Bob plastic pineapple house because it wasn't labeled betta.Who wants to start the betting on how long before he goes belly up?
I am so over this sick thing. And working through the sickness. Yes, stay at home parenting is work. Sort of.
This weekend I fought through a general feeling of "yuck" and "I'd rather be sleeping" to take down the bazillion lights off the roof and put away 4 Christmas trees and decorations (okay, so only one tree was over three feet tall).
Today I'm dealing with a massive headache and runny nose while making returns and running random errands. And cursing Target and their crappy "no receipt" return policy. Which basically is "no return" policy. I guess nobody is perfect.
There's nothing fun on my To Do list this week. Unless you consider 5 dentist and 3 pediatrician appointments fun. I think I need a To Do list makeover. Or at least a nap penciled in.
Zach's Cub Scout Klondike Derby (basically hiking and doing activities outside in the winter) was canceled today because it's too warm. Not that I'm complaining or anything. 70 degrees is definitely warm enough to break out the shorts again, right?
It's amazing how one day of sleeping and not eating can make you want to sleep all day the next day too (and I really don't want to eat either).
Our whirlwind tour of Ohio and Indiana over Christmas break means I never share any Christmas pictures when every one else is showing Christmas pictures. Oh well, better late than never:
Christmas PJ's in front of our tree
The kids' Christmas sweaters (and skirts and goofy little rosettes things I made last minute) in front of the in-laws' fire place
Kelly and I ice skating
And now I need to put away Christmas decorations, do several loads of laundry, and vacuum the van. (Note to self: Nerds are not a good candy to put in the kids' stockings before an 8 hour drive.) I wonder if I can work in a nap...
Rule #1 about being pregnant*:
"Don't eat anything you don't want to throw up."
(Okay so maybe rule #1 is "See your OB/midwife as scheduled.")
Last night's dinner was a Chick-fil-A sandwich, waffle fries, a cup of tea, and a dose of Airborne. Lot of good it did. I suppose the citrus flavor coming back up was a nice.
And a corollary to the above rule is to remember to drink a small amount of liquid after puking so the next time you aren't throwing up undiluted bile. Blech.
*I'm not pregnant, the kids' flu bug finally caught up with me. Let's hope I recover as quickly as they did.
Belated New Year's Resolutions
I'm still in "Blah, my schedule's been off for weeks, give me a break" mode.
I suppose first I should click on the archives and see how far off I was on last year's resolutions.
Looking forward to 2006: I want to start scrapbooking again (hope to start by the weekend on this), lose those 15 pounds (will get a post of its own very soon) and on a similar note run a 5K race, get into a "better" routine (again, another post), join a local chapter of Project Linus (which I wanted to do last year and never got around to it), and in general aim to be a good mom, wife, friend, etc.Hmm... I think I scrapbooked a little, I'm up to August 2004. Lost 10 of the 15 pounds but have since gained 5 back (so I guess I need to lose 10 *sigh*), never ran the 5K, still working on the routine, and I did donate 3 quilts to Project Linus. Not touching the last "general aim" with a ten foot pole.
So this year I only have two:
1. Recycle. (You don't even want to know how great we are at not recycling.)
2. Finish the 30 before 30 list. Which is 24 things itself since I've only completed 6. A few like "grow a tomato plant" and "go camping with the Girl Scouts" can't happen right away anyway. But why do I have a feeling that I'll be doing a lot of crazy random stuff in the month of September?
There. No goals of world peace (which would be nice) or an immaculate house (again, would be nice but not happening. Sorry, Greg). Recycling. Random stuff before I celebrate the 1st anniversary of being 29. It should be a good year.
The "Crap, Now I Have a File with the Secret Service" post
or
"See Washington DC for almost $500" trip
With an extra bonus feature: "The Always Enjoyable Episode of Child Puke"
So like I said, Sarah, Steven, and Tommy wanted to see Washington DC. We've made this White House/Washington Monument/WW 2 Memorial/Lincoln Memorial/Reflecting Pool/Vietnam Wall plus Capitol Building/Smithsonian/Jefferson Memorial drive-by about half a dozen times now. We're kinda good at it, we've been joking about slapping a "Fleck Tour Services" sticker on the side of the van.
Saturday evening, Kyle puked. Sunday morning, Kyle puked. And he was just like Emily, Ally, and Kelly (oh she puked in the van while driving through Indiana on Wednesday) and was fine seconds after throwing up. So we figured we'd drive down to DC anyways and pack extra clothes and cleaning supplies.
We parked on H street (our easy to reach the back of the White House parking space) and were walking down the street when Zach said "Kyle's puking". And sure enough, Kyle was carrying his bucket and throwing up as he walked. He was totally fine with doing both at the same time, it was crazy. Just so you know I don't deserve a last minute entry in the "Worst Mom of 2006" award, I stayed in the van with him while the others stared at the world's most highly protected squirrels on the White House lawn.
A few minutes later, everyone piled back into the van and I turned onto 15th to get back on Constitution to go to our other "easy to reach the National Mall" parking space (Virginia Ave between 19th and 18th, it should be noted that these are all legal parking places). We were stopped at a light and a police man rode a bike in front of us. A second later a cop car was flashing his lights and siren behind us.
I think we were victims of vehicle profiling. (black 12 passenger GMC Savana with tinted windows)
I pulled over and the first thing the cop said was that our plates were on wrong. The stickers were on the front and they are suppose to be on the back. Oh... Give me a screw driver, I'll fix it. And then he wanted my license, registration, and proof of insurance. To make a long story shorter, I only had one (my license). Oh and the title to the van which I now know really shouldn't be in the van. I honestly thought the other stuff was in the van, I was so embarrassed that I couldn't find them.
The cop rambled off a bunch of offences he could ticket me for (gah, I don't even remember the individual ones but the total sum would have been $500) and then bugged Greg for awhile since the van is in his name and I was only driving. The cop also mentioned he was Secret Service (since we were right next to the White House) and asked if this was our most memorable visit to DC so far. More like most heart attack inducing.
By this point Sarah and I were about to tears (she was in the passenger seat, Greg, Tommy and Steven on the first bench seat, the kids in their seats on the other two benches). After several more minutes (and running my drivers license through whatever thing they use) he said he was going to be nice and let us go. He did mention how crazy it was to have 5 kids but it was good they were all in car seats (all the kids including Zach are still in boosters). I wrote my list of things to do and we were on our way again.
Ten minutes after we returned home, I had the plates on correctly and the registration and insurance card in the van (and the title out). So next time we're in DC, Secret Service guy named George, we'll be ready!
One picture: My super duper parallel parking job on the left side of the street on 18th.
Hope everyone has a safe and Secret Service-free New Years!
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