Life List

Thanks for the idea, April.

Many years ago, I had a life list. A fairly long list of things I wanted to experience/accomplish before I died. Actually, I remember breaking mine down into age categories...things I want to do before I turn 20-30-40 and so on. Looking back, I remember only a few things that were important enough to make the list...but kids came along and the list fell to the wayside and now, most of the things on my list arent important to me anymore. I'm a different person now than I was when I wrote the original. So, at age 33, married with 3 kids, I will make a new list...without limiting my to-do's to age.

Things I'd like to do before die.

• Plan and build a house, my dream house.
• Own a camper, one big enough for the 5 of us and more...in case we bring friends.
• See my husband change careers.
• Visit Ireland
• Bungee jump
• Learn to play a musical instrument. Possibly guitar since I have a teacher right here in the house. I dont need to be good, just a song or two to say I can do it.
• Own farm animals! Ok, if/when the time actually comes, I may hate the idea, but I always wanted a few farm animals...goat, ducks, horse and maybe a pig.
• Make a piece of furniture, start to finish, all by myself.
• Go on a cruise.

To be continued: Kids need feedin' and chores need doin'.

Time...

I have none. Why is it that when we have some free time, we automatically look for ways to fill it? I have 2 days off so I am making lists of things to get done during that time so that my days off end up busier and more rushed than my workdays. Why cant we just do nothing and relax on days off? I'm trying to adjust my work schedule so that I dont work on the nights that the kids have scouts, pathfinders and kungfu as we only have one vehicle and it makes getting everyone to their destination and back on time quite impossible. I have errands to run on these days too, and any social events must fall on the off days as well. I'm off today...I've done oodles of laundry, have a toddler and a sick 8 yr old at home, I'm heading off to get groceries in a bit so I can come home and cook supper before I head out to a friends fundraiser. Why are they called days off?
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Speaking of time. Abby has started saying 'in 5 minutes'. It doesnt matter what I ask or say, her response, 'in 5 minutes mom'. She heard it on a minute rice commercial. =o)

I'm cool, I'm really cool!

Yesterday, my teenager told me that I am awesome, hilarious and way cool for a mom. I was floored! We were joking around and she said that we should never ever fight. Huh? Where is this coming from? She is a teenager and she is acting this way? What gives?

Does this make me weird?

I went to visit my table yesterday. lol. I love this thing! I made a payment too and will have it soon...but still need to wait for hubby to finish the kitchen so I can move the kitchen table from the dining room and bring in this new baby. New stuff makes me freakishly happy. A blog entry about a table...no, thats not weird. Is it?

Disorganized!

One of my many New Years Resolutions was to declutter my house and finally get rid of some of the junk I've been holding on to. Wow! How on earth did I accumulate this much crap??? I have enough in my house to fully furnish 2 more houses! I know I gave away several garbage bags of the kids clothes in Sept. so why do I have so much more? Did they really grow that much? I'm doing it room by room but just thinking about some of the other rooms that I need to tackle...the worst ones...is making me feel totally overwhelmed. Will I ever be clutter free?
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I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair...

http://www.sandithom.com/site/video.php

My new favorite song! Thanks for bringing it to my attention Karen. I love this and havent been able to get it out of my head since I first heard it. Love the beat and the sexy black guy in the background. =o)

Another death

On New Years eve, a 14 year old boy who lived just down the street from us, was killed. Everyone in Emma's school was upset...there were grief councellors, an early closing for the funeral and a memorial service for those who couldnt attend. Last night, another 14 year old boy in her school died. He choked to death on his food. It breaks my heart when someone so young dies. Hugging my kids a little closer now.

My New New Years Resolution

In the year 2007 I resolve to: Dedicate my life to making someone else's horribly miserable. Get your resolution here.

A scientific study

You need to have your sound on for this. Very interesting stuff.

Count your blessings

Today is one of those days that really make you stop and thank God for what you have. I spoke to a young woman who lost her husband on Friday and found out today that she is pregnant: A mom whose hiv+ child now has full blown aids. A local boy died last night, his young body fished out of a pond this morning. He was only 15 years old. Another boy, 17 years old, has been missing for over a month and it kills me to think what his family must be going through right now.
My kids are happy, healthy and warm. I know where all three are right now and I cant wait for this shift to be over so I can go home and hug them, a little tighter maybe, but I need that today.

I resolve to...

**in no particular order**

Lose weight! My goal is 40 lbs but I'll really be happy with half of that. I plan to keep a food journal and get in some exercise every day.

Take better care of myself. This one is actually a combination of a bunch of little goals/resolutions. I have put off my yearly pap for 3 years now so that has to get done. I'm going to stop cutting my own hair and actually pay to get myself 'prettified' on a regular basis. Every now and then I'm going to go shopping and buy things for ME! This will work out much better if the whole weightloss thing goes well.

Have a permanent layaway at a local furniture store. I'm sick of thrift store and hand me down furniture buy dont want to finance any large purchases soooo...I'll just layaway stuff and pay on it like a bill.

Speaking of bills. I resolve to take over all bill payments! Hubby, God love him, is not great in this department. The money is always there but he just forgets. He also has no concept of time so when a cut of notice comes in the mail because a bill hasnt been paid for 3 months, he really believes that he just paid that 'last month'.

Get my kids on some sort of schedule. The past few months have been hectic because of my work hours. I wont be change those but can get hubby to help me out with things. They are getting more chores, scheduled homework times and less computer/playstation and tv time. I dont think they'll notice the latter too much...they'll be too busy doing chores! ha. Just kidding.

Spend more time with hubby. We rarely see each other right now. He works days, I work evenings. He usually gets home just as I'm walking out the door. On my days off, we are usually too busy doing other things to take time for each other. The kids have lessons and homework, plus we want to spend time with them while we arent rushed, then there is housework and a seemingly endless pile of 'to do's' to do. So, I'm making a date night. One night a month isnt too much to ask for and shouldnt be hard to do. Dinner out, or a movie and dinner in, hell, even just sitting for more than 10 minutes to talk about something other than children would be fantasic.

I think thats about it. There are a million other things that need to be done but they'll get done anyway. The above are goals that I am going to make a conscious effort to achieve. We'll see how it all goes.

Happy New Year!!!

I'm done!

I am finally done Christmas shopping. About time huh? The house is mostly clean...decorated the tree and the rest of the house today...picked up the last few things I needed on my way to work and now I have no need to go into a store until well after the holidays. I dont however, have anything wrapped, nothing, not one freaking thing. I may have to barricade myself in a room tomorrow to get it done. I also have a little Christmas baking to do but thats not considered work as I actually enjoy baking and its ok to do that on Christmas eve....the house will smell good for company.

To anyone who reads this blog, Merry Christmas! I hope you have a wonderful, family filled, safe, chock full of food holiday!

My neighbors gift

Really, what do you think? I havent printed any yet...except the test page, because the labels are friggin' pricey! If you look closely, you can see Abby near the front door. I was going to put wine types on the labels but he makes so many different kinds and I'd like him to be able to use them all...do the 2 lines look dumb? It's 3.5x5 and one line doesnt seem like enough room to write those long names or to add any notes. Any suggestions or anything that should be added, taken off???

Spending Money

Wow! It is so easy to overspend when you arent paying attention. I went out this morning and got some great deals on gifts for Emma. This evening, Jerry and I hit Canadian Tire to buy a new vaccuum (badly needed and NOT a Christmas gift). Lights were on sale. This means, to my husband, the Clark Griswold wannabe, that he has to buy some. Lots. He declared last week that he wasnt doing lights this year....the sale however, was a sign from God and who is he to ignore God? lol.
After that, we hit walmart, where I spent more than I should have on clothes for the kids, movies, toys and the one thing that I hated to buy...the ipod video. $300 f***ing dollars! It's so small! She wanted one that was half the price but I couldnt find it anywhere so lest she have neither one, I caved.
Jerry grumbled all the way home about how much we spent. Odd, he never said a word about what we spent at Canadian tire. Men. Apparently its ok to spend his hard earned money on flashy lights but not on clothes that keep his children warm? When it gets cold, they can huddle around his multicoloured glowing orbs for warmth.

It's Me!

This is probably the only picture of me (not counting warped whore pics from Halloween) that has been taken in the last 5 years at least. We spent the day in Bowring Park last month and I got in a pic! Some day we'll get a nice, colour coordinated family picture done but until then, this is it.

Time

It's December already!?! Remember when you were a kid and Christmas took FOREVER to get here? Now that I'm a grown up, it seems like we just freakin' had Christmas and now its almost here again. These next few weeks will just fly and I'll be rushing around at the last minute trying to get everything done...and this is the first year that I started shopping early. I'm so glad I did.
The kids are getting so excited that its hard to grumble about it all. I love how happy they get at the littlest things. I let Eric take a cd player and some xmas cds to his room the other day and he sat quietly and listened to music for hours. Abby has been playing with all of my little snowman ornaments and Emma has been writing down every fudge recipe she can find for our fudge making day.
Hubby is off playing poker right now. I think first prize is $1000. Keeping my fingers crossed. A few extra bucks right now would be sweet.

Title-Less

It's been ages since I posted anything and honestly, I still have nothing of interest to say. I'm counting down the days until I can decorate for Christmas...around here, decorating before Dec. 15 means you are a total whackjob. I can put up the outdoor lights but they cant be turned on...big no no.
This is the first year that Abby will be really interested in whats going on. Last year she only cared for bead garland, this year she is going to flip out when she sees all of the presents and decorations. I cant wait!
Eric still believes in Santa, a little. I know that this will be the last year for believing and after that, I only have to convince him to go along with the farce for Abby's sake. It's sad when they stop believing. He emailed Santa the other day and was giddy when he got his reply. Too cute.
Emma is still being a teenager and that has me very, very concerned. She is still grounded, indefinetly. I wonder if I can keep her in for 5 more years? There is no way that I was like that. =o)

Falling in love, all over again.

It can happen! These past few weeks have been awesome in my house. Ok, forget about the Alberta talk, that part was not so awesome and I'm trying not to think about it until it actually happens. Hubby and I have been getting along wonderfully. Late night talks, cuddling on the couch, even going for drives, alone! I even had butterflies today...remember when you first fall in love, you always have that butterfly feeling?...I got it today while watching hubby outside playing with Eric. I think he's getting handsomer too <----handsomer is a word if I say it is.
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I have got to start the potty thing with Abby and I am not looking forward to it. She isnt showing any signs of readiness but she was 2 in June so its time for me to get her ready. Should be fun...not.
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I'm working on a cheesy family webpage. Just a place to post pics as I dont give everyone my blog addy, and for family members to keep up with my kids. I added a link but it isnt showing for some reason. Anyway, its www.butlerfamily5.piczo.com and it is nowhere near completed. I'm just playing around. I have several rolls of film in to be developed and am hoping there is at least one family shot for the homepage.

Long distance marriage. Part 2

The talk of heading out west to work is back on again. Hubby wants to go to work on the oil rigs in Alberta because apparently, thats where the money is. He has been to two related job fairs in the past week and met some people/made some contacts and really wants to do this. It's killing me! Sure, it would be nice to pay off some debt and not live check to check. A family holiday every now and then would be pretty good too....but having a husband/father at home every night makes me happier than any amount of money ever could. I could deal with him being gone a week or two every now and then but for months?! Dont wanna do it!
I work most nights and he works all days so we really havent had much of a chance to sit down and discuss the pros and cons together....but I have a feeling that there will be many more pros than cons, at least in his mind, and this is one of those things that I really shouldnt keep him from doing because he'll regret it, and probably resent me, if he doesnt at least try. <----nothing like a good 'ol run on sentence to get my point across. =o)

Do you think I'm hot?

Denise called me last night and asked if I wanted to go to her work Halloween party....with only 30 min. to get ready and get to her house. I was wearing scrubs at the time so I figured I'd just go like that....Nah! Couldnt do that. I raided my closet and Emma's and came up with this delightful ensemble. These pics do not do the mullet justice.
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A few more....

More random pics

Eric, the middle child

My handsome man. These pics are priceless because in most, he has a frozen fake smile...this is actual laughter. Icky bathroom humor instead of saying cheese...it works.

Emma, the teenager

My oldest, the dreaded teenager. There are more great ones of her, and some very goofy ones, but I'm trying to get pics uploaded before law and order comes on.

Love this!!!

How cute is this???? Definetly going to get a print and frame it.

Abby, the baby

My baby, Abby. Denise came up today to take pics of my kids. I think she took 200. These are just a few of my favorites. She hates having her pic taken and Denise spent quite a bit of time chasing her, trying to get her to look in the direction of the camera.

Calgon, take me away!

Do you ever feel like running away and hiding from the world? I seem to have too much on my plate lately and not much motivation to get things done. This is why I havent blogged in ages...havent done much of anything in ages really. I had some time off work, which is really not a good thing. You get used to having more time and then when your free time is gone, you wonder how on earth you'll ever get anything done. Being broke doesnt help...most of my stresses would be taken care of if I had more money but since I dont, I stress more. I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. You know how it is...things are bad enough now with the kitchen reno and the kids growing out of every single thing they own...Christmas is just around the corner and there will undoubtedly be that thing, the one thing that happens every year to break the bank. One year it was the car dying, another year our oil tank needed replacing, hot water boiler once, well pump and the best (worst) was my getting laid off on Dec. 14, 40 hours shy of the required hours for pogey.
I think I'm just having a bitch of a day. Ignore me. I'll be back to normal...ha ha..by the end of the month.

A lame entry, because I have no imagination

Working, again. I am so tired. I worked the overnight last night. Got home at 7:30 but had to stay up until I got Eric off to school. Crawled in my bed at 8:30 and slept until my little princess woke up at 10. I managed another 30 min nap before I had to come back to work but I am exhausted. Thank God I'm off for several days.
I have a whole bunch of plans for my time off. I dont think we'll get to do everything but I'll be pissed if we dont get to do any family stuff as my time off will be wasted....yet again. Jerry and I are going to see if we can put a huge dent in the kitchen renovation too. He's been too busy lately to make any progress and we're having a party next weekend so that's our motivation. It doesnt have to be finished because we have another kitchen, and its an outdoor party...but if it rains, I'd rather not have guests tracking plaster dust through the house. I'll be praying for decent weather. Chilly is ok, just not wet.
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I am uber excited about tomorrow night. Hubby gets his birthday gift from me! I'm making a kickass romantic dinner for two..thats right, two, not five! The kids are sleeping over at my mothers. This has NEVER happened. I've gotten rid of one or two but 3??? Wow, a dream come true. lol. I wont say what his gift will be but it'll be damn good.

The kids

First let me say that I am not one of those overprotective psycho moms. Eric came home from school, grabbed a snack and said he was going to V's to play. Fine. Suppertime, I sent Emma across the street to get him...no Eric, they hadnt seen him all day. I called the only other 2 friends in the area, no Eric. He does not go anywhere else, ever. He always lets me know where he'll be, even if its in the next yard. The feeling you get when this happens is indescribable. My heart was in my throat and I'm sure all the color drained from my face. Even Jerry, who is not one to panic, looked scared and jumped in the van. I live on a main road and I'm sure there are nutjobs out there. So many things went through my mind in the 30 minutes it took to find him....alone, at the river in our backyard, fishing. Phew!
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Last fall Emma opted not to go back to Girl Guides...it just wasnt cool. Today, she decided that it is cool again and joined Pathfinders. I love this! All of the girls in Pathfinders were with her in Brownies and Girl Guides for a few years and they are really good kids. It seems like the friends that she's been hanging around with are an awful lot like I was at that age, and that scares me. Hopefully, this new/old crowd will keep her out of trouble.
She is also taking sewing lessons starting next week. My mother is giving classes and Em can go for free provided she helps with the cleanup after each class. Looks like everyone is getting handmade gifts this year for Christmas.
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No blog entry would be complete without mention of my youngest, Abby. Damn she is cute and getting cuter every day. She never shuts up, ever. If she isnt talking, she's babbling or singing...and this kid sings everything. Every theme song of all of her favorite shows...when she doesnt know the words, which is quite often, she throws in a lalalalala in the right tune. Its sweet. She knows twinkle twinkle, all of it, and sings it to me every 4 minutes or so. lol. She also loves Chicka chicka boom boom and I am forced to read it to her many times a day....how can I say no? The child is showing an interest in books and I love that.
Still no sign of readiness re: potty training. I'm not even going to bother trying yet because she just isnt ready. I'm waiting for my sis in law to comment on that...should be fun since her 5 year old just got out of pullups last month. I am in no hurry for her to grow up....I'd keep her little forever if I could.
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I'll post some recent pics of the little darlings tomorrow or the next day. =o)

Men!

It seems like the majority of my blog entries are complaints about my darling husband...I wonder why? The phone rang early this morning...it was Light and Power, wondering why they havent recieved a payment in 2 months. I was tired, said I'd pay today and went back to sleep. It didnt occur to me to get angry until the cable company called to tell me that we were scheduled for disconnection tomorrow. Ummm, cable internet..disconnected..season premieres...missed? I dont f**king think so. Both companies have main offices near where hubby's company office is so he figured its just easier to stop in every month with payment...but he hasnt done it! We are set up to pay everything online but one thing got screwed up months ago so he'd prefer not to. I just checked and we have the money but he didnt pay the bills. I am so taking over the bill paying in this house, starting today. I paid online and everything should be fine now, but what kind of person risks losing his wifes cable??? My god that man has a death wish!

Dammit!

Noooooooooo! Eva is the new Canadian Idol. Ugh! Craig was so much better. He has an awesome voice and should have won. I'm not just saying that because he's a fellow Newfoundlander, he was just better, and he's only 16! Hearing him sing Danny Boy tonight gave me chills. I hope he goes far on his own....being second may be better since he has more freedom than the winner has. Go Craig!

Just stuff...it's late

I am a kitchen goddess! Ok, so we've been eating crap for a while now. I dont have time to cook anymore and when hubby does, its grillin' or kraft dinner. Today I decided to give the kids a decent meal for a change...when kids start asking for gravy and veggies, something is wrong. I made a fantastic pork loin roast with ooodles of veggies and kickass gravy, but the kicker, was an apple salsa that I made for the pork. I need applesauce on my pork but wanted to make something different. Peeled and sliced apples, apple juice, brown sugar, red onion, maple syrup and crushed chilies. Sounds weird but was sooo, sooo good. The little bit of spicy from the chilies was perfect...and I dont do hot. I've got to get back to cooking again. Decent meals at least twice a week. I get all of my veggies for free, no reason not to eat them regularly.
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I was speaking with my grounded teenager today. She thinks it is unfair that her punishment is grounding for 2 whole weeks when her friend was only grounded for 1 day for something much, much worse. My kid came home 2 hours past curfew....the other kid...hit.her.mother! OMG! One day of grounding for hitting your mother. I was floored. What is going on with kids today??? More importantly, what kind of mother grounds her kid for one measly day for something so major??? Makes me ill.
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I'm at work right now. It's 5am. I'm tired, hungry, cold and am feeling a tad nauseous. I am DYING to find out if LadyA had her wee one but forums and the like are strictly forbidden at work so I cant go check. It's KILLING ME! I'll be home in 2.5 hours and can check then.

Wanna buy a teenager?

Seriously! Less than a year in to this teenager thing and I am pulling my hair out. The boys are one thing, the attitude is a whole other area that I am not ready to deal with. I worked Sat. night...before I left I let the teenager know that she had to be in by 11 if she went anywhere. Hubby needed the van so he drove me to work and had to pick me up at 1am. I called home shortly after 11 to say goodnight to teenager, but she wasnt home. I called again at 12, still not home but hubby said he could hear them across the street so he'd just give a shout if she wasnt home in time for him to come pick me up (she has to be here with the other kids...apparently there is a rule about leaving them home alone. lol). I figured he'd deal with that so at 1 I finished work and went outside to wait. No hubby. At 1:15 I decided to call home..hubby answers, says he is just leaving because teenager just walked in the door. She decided, along with a few friends, to walk the other friends home. I was sooooooooo mad! Honestly, if she had called I would have let her stay out til 12:30, as long as she was here in time for hubby to leave. She said she couldnt call because they were at a party, and it was outside. Ugh! It was in a freaking backyard...near a house...with a phone. Anyway, I finally had a chance to sit and discuss this today. I decided on a 1 week grounding and no computer during that time. She was such a little snot! She didnt even understand why. Fast forward to suppertime. I told her that after homework, she has to put away the piles of clean laundry in her room and tidy her other stuff. I go up hours later and it isnt done...know why? She said she didnt want to. She lost her stereo for that one. I told her to have the laundry put away before bed....she didnt do it! She completely ignored me! So, I took the guitar. Next is the tv. Teenagers suck.

I owe you one!

I have got to stop saying that. Anytime someone does me a favor, or even does something nice, I follow up with a 'Thanks, I owe you one'. Ugh! I keep forgetting that at some point, the 'I owe you one' becomes a favor that someone will eventually call me on. I have myself roped into babysitting because my sister gave me a pair of jeans and I said...I owe you one. I am spending several hours over the next few days painting my mother in laws rental house because she babysat for me and I said...you guessed it, I owe you one. No more! From now on, I'll say Thank you and move on...if somehow, I forget and say I owe you one again, I'm giving someone a kid or something instead of doing a favor. Keep that in mind if 'I owe you one' and you decide to take me up on it. =o)

Think Good Thoughts!

My nephew is back in Toronto for yet another surgery. The poor kid has been through hell these past few years....hopefully the surgeons who are working with him now have the know how to fix him so he can live a normal life. He goes in at 9am tomorrow (its after midnight so today really) and the surgery is expected to last 3 hours. The last time it was a 4 hour surgery and it lasted 6 hours. My poor sister was going crazy waiting for someone to talk to her and tell her what was going on...turned out it was going better than planned so they kept going (embolizing veins). He ended up back in the hospital when he got back home and was laid up for a month because of some after effects of the surgery. He was only out of the hosptial a week when he had to go back in for chemo for the thyroid cancer. He is a trooper though and has an amazing sense of humor about it all. Gotta love him. If you pray, say an extra one tomorrow....if you dont pray, think good thoughts.

How to survive the teenage years?

This isnt a 'how to' entry. I have no idea how I'm going to survive the next 5-6 years. My teen isnt half as horrible as some of her friends....at least not that I can see...but how is she when she's not at home? Yesterday, she comes home with 3..count 'em..3 teenage boys and they all want to come in and watch a movie. I'm not ready for boys! I let them all in as it seems smart to at least keep 'em where I can see 'em. She talks to boys on msn all the time and they are constantly phoning too. When I was her age, I had very few 'girl' friends as I got along better being one of the guys....but....one of the guys was also my boyfriend. I am not ready to accept that my little girl has a boyfriend. I hope she is smarter than I was and has a helluva lot more respect for herself than most kids these days. The sad part, this is only the beginning with her, and then I get to turn around and do it all over again, twice. Arrrrggghhh!!!

When Good Husbands Go Bad

It happens. Last week all was sunshine and roses, today, I want to commit murder. I am sick and tired of coming home from work to a mess. I have to walk through demolitionville to get into the house...this I understand...but why does every room in the house need to be a mess too? All I ask is that I dont come home from working all day, and immediatly have to do the dishes and pick up toys so that I dont go insane. I'm not a neat freak or anything, a far cry from it actually, but I dont have to live in squallor either. I worked yesterday, got home close to midnight, threw in a load of laundry, made my lunch for today, packed Eric's bag for tonights sleepover and tidied a little before bed. This morning I went off to work leaving a semi-acceptable house. After work I threw a fit. The dishes were piled in the sink, there were cheerios crushed all over the carpet, toys everywhere, no beds made....I could go on. The one thing that really made me flip was a cabinet. Apparently Abby pulled it over and spilled the contents all over the place....she got a little ouch in the process. When I see the cabinet I assume it was done just before he left to pick me up at work...why else would it still be there? No! It was done hours ago and wasnt picked up because he is busy working on the kitchen. Ummm, ok, but how does that make it right? I'm busy at work, is it fair that I do it? We had an argument over this. He thinks he should do nothing but 'the kitchen' or whatever project he is working on. Yes, it needs to get done and as soon as possible would be great...but while ignoring everything else? I dont f*cking think so. I've done many room renos and makeovers in this house and managed to stop and feed the kids, do the housework, work full time and still find the time to spend on the computer. LOL.
It seems like we have this argument too often. Will he ever learn or is it time to trade him in? The bastard even brought home a box of donuts a little while ago. Diet sabotage obviously. Prick.

Being bad

I feel like a kid again. Not that I'm ancient but I dont often get the chance to be spontaneous and even fewer chances to get a little wild. We went to a luau last night at my father in laws. The whole family went..myself, hubby and 3 kids. The kids were really good and the oldest was watching the youngest so hubby and I took off to the barn, went up in the hayloft and well, we were spontaneous. LOL. It was dark and we got caught coming out of the barn and even though no one said anything, they knew what was going on. Who goes into a pitch black barn for any other reason? hee hee. We are now trying really hard to find some time to run away together without the children. Wish me luck! =o)

8 years later

8 years ago today, my son was born. I remember the look of pure joy on his fathers face upon hearing those three little words...'its a boy'... it made him the happiest man on earth. He loves his girls dearly but every man wants a son.
Eric is a sweetheart. He wants to be a mommas boy but only when dad isnt around...in dads presence he's a tough little boy who wouldnt dream of kissing his mother...ewwwww. Right now, his favorite thing is lizards. He has a lizard bedroom and not a day passes that I dont hear a request for a live one. I 'almost' got him one for his birthday but just couldnt bring myself to do it. I really dont want one of those in my house. Maybe when he's older. We got him an electric scooter instead and that seems to be a huge hit so far. The whole family went to Jungle Jim's for supper at Eric's request. Never again. The food was NASTY! I've eaten there a few times...never by choice...and the food is always less than desirable. I had to send my meal back twice..I bet someone back there spit in it or something. The first time they gave me carribean chicken with fries..I hate fries and would never order them on purpose, I wanted the rice that was on the picture. I got the rice but the whole thing was ice cold so I sent it back again. I'm usually not a bitch about these things but c'mon, is it asking to much to have my meal hot? $100 and a happy boy later, we went home and gorged on a divine DQ ice cream cake...and then I took my bloated self off to bed so I could catch a few Z's before my graveyard shift. Here I sit. Eric let me take an extra piece of cake to work for my snack. Gotta start the diet on Monday.

Pssst...wanna buy a house?

I havent fallen off the face of the earth....I've just been very busy. Between work, kids and this house, I have very little time for anything else. Ok, I still manage to squeeze in my delphi time but even that time shorter than usual. We've decided that the house is going on the market asap. We have to put the kitchen back together (right now its scrapped!) and finish all the little things, like moldings, hanging a few doors, have carpet, that we bought months ago, installed, replace a few light fixtures and do a major de-clutter and clean. I'm having a yard sale in a few weeks....my next weekend off, and already have a house full of stuff to get rid of. What doesnt sell is going off to the Salvation Army..NOT back inside my house. The one thing that kills me, is walking around outside. No matter where we move, I know I'll never get this kind of property again. I love my mature trees, my river, my deck and most of all, my awesome neighbors. Maybe they'll come with me? lol
So, if anyone wants to buy a lovely (ok, not so lovely but it has potential!) house on 2 lovely...really lovely, acres for a super low price...gimme a call.

Aging Parents

I went to visit my dad today. I've never thought of him as being 'old' even though my mother (they've been divorced for years) always says how old he looks. Today was different. He is only 60, give or take a year, but seems to have aged years since the last time I saw him...a few months ago. You know, the whole grunting and knee cracking when you stand up, oodles of prescription meds on the kitchen counter (no point putting them away because they are used several times a day) and the kicker...the thing that made me realize that, hey, my parents are getting old...were the metal safety bars that were recently installed next to the toilet. When you need help to get on and off the toilet, thats scary. Whats scarier is the fact that if 'they' are getting old....I must be too!!! Aaaaggghhhhh!!!!