So this blogging thing...
I've been thinking about quitting. I've been thinking about this for months. I have been blogging for 5 years, 2 months, and 27 days. (But who's counting?) And I know this really sucks for those of you who just found me and then also for those who keep up with me this way. But I just kinda don't want to do it anymore.
There are lots of little reasons, half I can talk about, half I don't want to talk about. The big one may be the lack of good blogging material from the kids, the main point of this site. The kids aren't in that cute "OMG my two year old just said the funniest thing!" stage anymore. It's more like pre-teen whining and "Mom, we're out of granola bars!" Plus there's the whole privacy thing as they get older. No teenager wants their mom bragging or complaining about them on the internet.
I also don't feel like writing about sewing or exercise or knitting or cooking or housekeeping or running errands or the other random stuff that takes up the majority of my non-kid hours.
While I have lots of opinions on the meaning of life, love, and happiness (and politics and philosophy and religion), I don't want to share them in this public format. One I'm a wuss and don't want to deal with the trolls that those type of subjects attract. And two I'm a bit wishy washy (Libra!) and change my mind sometimes. And contradicting myself on the internet is a lot crappier than just doing it in my mind.
So...
I'm not sure where this leaves me. It's not like I want to leave the internet behind forever, I just don't feel like continuing here. What's the latest and greatest the web has to offer? Twitter? Facebook? Flickr? (Although I kinda suck at photography.) What am I missing? Or if you've gone through blogging malaise, what's the cure? Subject format change? New template? Or is this just The End?
Happy Hanukkah!
And um right, 3 days until Christmas, where did the time go?
I'm not looking at a horrible To Do list at the moment, it's just a matter of keeping on task and it'll all get done. Or I'm in complete denial. Actually there's a good chance of that.
The one item I thought of this morning that threw me for loop was that since we're hosting Christmas Day dinner, I may need to go to the grocery store to buy ingredients for said meal. *pencils in "grocery shopping"* My mother-in-law is cringing right now.
It'll all work out, it always does.
Do you think I could hit "snooze" until about Jan 5th?
Happy Friday y'all.
Oh oh, wait, come back!
One of my dear new neighbors just had jaw surgery. And while I'm planning to snitch her boys (ages 3 and 2) next week so she can get some rest, is there anything I can bring her food wise? Milkshakes from Chick-fil-A? Any help is appreciated. And also lots of caffeine.
Chicken.Head.Cut.Off.
Today's Schedule:
12:30 Dentist appointment
1:45 Kids' play at school
3:30 Girl Scout Daisy meeting (at my house)
Errands: dry cleaning (done), Michaels craft store, office store, Post Office
I have to sew 6 items tonight (may go up depending on today's orders), bake 30 gingerbread cookie people (for tomorrow morning), clean the house before the 3:30 Daisy meeting, and address 35 more Christmas cards.
On tomorrow's To Do list: Zach's school holiday party (gingerbread cookies), plan Christmas Day meal, wrap in-laws family gift exchange presents (Saturday afternoon in Ohio), buy one more gift for said gift exchange, return overdue library books, post office (to mail items I'm sewing tonight), fold laundry, and pack for overnight trip to Ohio.
It'll all get done, it's no big deal, I just need to get the craziness of it all out of my head. Seriously I hate the running commentary in my head: "I need to do this and then that and go there and buy stuff and clean everything and make item and mail package and call them and what was I doing again?"
This is exactly why I did 99% of my Christmas shopping by December 1st.
Ice ice, go away, come again another day.
The kids have a 2 hour delay which they are hoping becomes a full day off. I don't mind so much because I was suppose to volunteer at the school this morning and now I don't have to. hehe And I'm making the kids color Christmas cards (we're late this year, sorry) so it's actually kind of a win-win situation. Go figure...
Ta da!
They were super awesome and brave and the actual piercing didn't bother either of them (Em tried a half hearted "ow"). They picked blue topaz, December's birth stone. And then I let them buy like 30 pairs of earrings (that they can't wear until February but whatever) and an earring stand. Happy birthday!
It's very strange to me how much they've grown up in the last few years. There are glimmers of the teen years in their behavior, the way they talk, the way they want to dress. I would say I'm not ready for it but if we continue on this baby step route into adolescence, I might not lose my mind. Although it's questionable if I still have it at the moment.
(Click to make bigger, Ally on left above and below)
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Today is the twin's 10th birthday!
(Ack!)
Greg's family spoiled them with gifts and cupcakes and ice cream over the weekend so I'm going to have a hard act to follow in the minutes between school, religion class, and the pack scout meeting tonight.
Their gift from us? Getting their ears pierced! I know, isn't it exciting? My girly girls are growing up so fast. Pictures later!
In other news, Kyle and Kelly are home sick from school, some fever/headache/tired thing going around. If it weren't for the fever, I'd just say they were hungover from too much partying over the weekend. Not that I personally know anything about hangovers and partying too much (*cough* til 3am on both Friday and Saturday *cough*). Hey it's technically "college" for Greg, what else is one suppose to do?
Even with all of today's craziness, it's good to be home.
I'm here!
(Although I'm leaving in an hour.)
The airports were fine even though of course my connection in Cincinnati was in the opposite side of the airport. I sat down at the gate and a minute later they were boarding.
The party was great Friday night, Greg's classmates are a riot. Saturday I slept all day. Not kidding, that's all I did. And it was awesome.
Last night we watched UNC beat Oral Roberts (although they did very well considering) and then walked through campus for dinner and drinks. And Xavier beat UC, woot!
So I fly back home this morning and as expected now that I've been through the airport ring-a-ma-roll, I'm not so concerned. I'm looking forward to seeing the kids, the 3rd day of any trip without them is the day I start missing them. It was great to get away though. Especially for the sleep, hehe.
Not freaking out, not freaking out.
Who knew I used so many liquid beauty products that need to be in 3 ounce containers in a quart size zip top bag? My favorite hair smoothie-out/no-frizz cream is in a 3.4 ounce container. Oh the humanity...
Not freaking out, not freaking out.
Greg swears I'll be able to carry on his garment bag. If you find me crying in the Raleigh airport, it's because I put my dress in the garment bag, then they made me check it and it got lost in the insane 30 minute layover in Cincinnati when I change plans.
Not freaking out, not freaking out.
I need to go shave my legs (sorry if TMI) because I just realized that if I can't take 3.4 ounces of miracle hair cream on the plane, they probably won't let me have a razor so I can shave later at the hotel.
Not freaking out, not freaking out.
I don't know why I'm freaking out. I'm a mom of 5 who can get the kids all ready, fed, and out the door in 20 minutes. I've survived kidney stones while pregnant with the twins and then an abscessed root canal with the stomach flu (with 5 kids under 6 years old and Greg out of town). I can handle a freaking security line, 30 minute layover with plane change, and a couple hours flight.
Although I have to say this might be easier if I was bringing along the 5 kids. They being a great distraction and all to keep me from freaking out.
Dude, totally freaking out...
Today is one of those annoying "tie up loose ends" days. Plus I need to clean the house from top to bottom. And spend 2 hours this evening at Girl Scout cookie training. (Yes, I am Cookie mom again.) And sew. I probably don't have time to breath now that I think about it.
Actually being so busy today is a good thing because it gives me less time to freak out about flying tomorrow. I'm not quite paranoid to the point that I can't fly, I've flown before and will be on a plane tomorrow at noon even though I'll be freaking out on the inside. I just really, really, really don't like it. I think it's a control thing. I also don't like flying alone because airports and security and gates and so on confuse me. Greg, on the other hand, is an expert flier and has the frequent flier miles to prove it. However he is in Salt Lake City at the moment and will be arriving in North Carolina before me. And leaving after me, we're not even on the same flight home. Blah.
So tomorrow I have to figure out Indy's new airport, deal with carry-ons and clear quart size bag of 3 ounce liquids (cause I'm not checking anything at $25 a pop for a weekend trip), change planes in Cincinnati in a 30 minute layover time frame, and some how get myself from the Raleigh airport to the hotel.
The Amazing Race would definitely not be my reality show of choice as a contestant...
Fail
(Or Why Christmas Traditions aren't Always so Charming)
So the annual gingerbread house didn't go so well this year.
There was a lack of understanding concerning the "icing set up" time between the builder and decorators.
The builder did her job satisfactorily but when stepped away during "icing set up" time (probably do something important like retrieve a cat from the top of the Christmas tree), the decorators were impatient and swooped in with 500 pounds of additional icing and candy.
And the poor house, not "set up", collapsed under the weight. The damage was deemed irreparable by the claims adjuster.
The decorators were fired and the builder quit. The clean up crew is still in the process of removing the debris.
I guess there's always next year.
The tree is up!
Well at least until the two rotten kitties figure out how to knock it down.
Speaking of rotten kitties, Oscar (the gray and white one) spent the night outside. We're not sure how he got out but the kids and I spent most of the evening looking for him. At bedtime we gave up, leaving the garage door cracked 4 inches and hoping for the best. He was in the garage this morning, very vocal that he hadn't eaten and was wet (it rained last night). Rotten cat.
I need to chain myself to the sewing machine for the rest of the week. After being "caught up" on Saturday, I sold 19 more items. I usually sell like 19 items in a month, not 2 days...
And I need to go grocery shopping. The funny thing is we have cereal and milk, the items I usually run out of first. The reason? The kids have decided they no longer like cereal and milk for breakfast and are therefore whiny there's nothing to eat. Rotten kids.
It was one of those weekends where I'd like to have another weekend to recover from it.
Friday, we took the kids to Skyline because we haven't gone out together as a family in forever. And we didn't put up the Christmas tree.
Saturday, I sewed some orders (and was caught up for 5 seconds), went shopping with Sarah for most of the afternoon, and then Greg went out with Sarah's husband and his friend that evening. I also taught her how to knit! But not purl yet. And we didn't put up the Christmas tree.
Sunday, I sewed gifts for a homemade gift exchange, then went to said homemade gift exchange (I take procrastination to a new level daily), folded like 8 loads of laundry, and managed to get 3 kids to 2 sets of scout meetings. And we didn't put up the Christmas tree.
The crazy thing is all I wanted to accomplish over the weekend was putting up the Christmas tree...
I'm trying not to jinx myself (I am related to the Murphy's after all) but I'm 99% finished with Christmas shopping.
Kids, check (although need one gift for Kelly and Sorry Sliders)
Stocking stuffers, check
St. Nick (is that Friday or Saturday night?), check
School teachers & random other teacher-type people, check
Family gift exchange (both sides), check
Except...
The issue is the list of gifts that I'm making. None of which are even started, doh. I can't go into too many details because the majority of the giftees read here but for example last year I sewed 2 jean quilts, 3 pencil/crayon holders, 6 place mats, and 3 Christmas dresses in one week. Because I am a dork and didn't start sooner. And also my whole business that is based on sewing? Took up my sewing machine most of the month last year.
It is only the 4th...
Greg and I are meeting with an accountant in an hour and a half and I'm sitting in a pile of hundreds of business receipts and a blank Excel spreadsheet. Oy vey...
The good news is the income side of the equation is up to date. Cause everyone, especially me, likes to see the money coming in. So I'm really not looking forward to the shock of seeing the number for "I spent how much?!?!?"
I love Indiana.
It snowed on Sunday. I didn't mention it because I was a bit bummed by the snow (me, not a fan of the cold and unnecessary freezing of water). But since I have great faith in Indiana and the no nonsense attitude of Hoosiers, I knew there would be school on Monday. And there was.
It snowed again last night. The snow plow on our street woke me up in the middle of the night too. (An actual snow plow! Not a piece of yellow construction equipment!)
This morning we had received barely another inch of snow (on top of Sunday's three inches). So without a second thought, I woke the kids up for school. And they were having nothing with it. It snowed on a school night! Therefore no school!
Sorry Zach, Emily, Ally, Kyle, Kelly, you're not in Maryland anymore.
I love Indiana.
Okay so on to the dresses...
The party is a holiday thing for the UNC MBA students. It's in the evening and Greg says it's definitely not black tie but the guys will be in suits or sport jackets. The women are wearing... I don't know. Greg's a guy, he's only so much help. So I'm guessing "cocktail" instead of "evening" although I'm kinda bummed not to wear a long dress.
Here's the one I bought: Cherry Shantung Silk Dress My worry is it's too "bridesmaid." There's a similar one in black but the neck ties and the bubble skirt seems more "bubbly".
This one is kinda cool: Black Beaded Strap
Blue! Although that flat tummy part might not work... Blue Ruched Knit/Taffeta
I like the look of this one but not sure how it would look on: Black Beaded Halter
Help! (Feel free to add more dress links in the comments if you want, I'd appreciate it!)
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