Yesterday was officially "freeze your face off" cold. I didn't want to leave the house but I did. The Princess has story time at the library & I needed a few things so I could make Chili for dinner. Once again I knew what I was having but didn't have all the stuff to make it. Happens to me a lot. I should of stayed home & made something else for dinner. It was REALLY cold out. Even the Princess was complaining. AND I ended up going out again when Pookie got home. The garage called & said the Tank was done. I really missed driving my truck. While it was spending a few days at the Spa I had to drive our little pickup. It has a bench seat. When you put the car seat in, there is not a lot of room for the 3rd person that has to go. We were very close whenever we went anywhere. I guess it all depends on what you are used to driving. I am used to driving with the seat up as far as it will go & NOT having my passenger sit in my lap.
I had no idea just how close I sat when I drove until I rode with Queenie. She drives with the seat in the same spot I do. As a passenger you have NO leg room & the window is really close to your face. Smitty won't ride with me in the front any more. At 6 feet tall he just can't fold himself that small. He rides in the back. Makes me feel like a taxi driver.
But as a Mom that is my job. I am Chef, Laundry Goddess, Cleaning Queen, Referee, Accountant, Time Keeper & Taxi Driver. It's a job I love & hate. Most of the time I love it more then I hate it, but there are THOSE DAYS when it just doesn't pay to get out of bed.

Wait a minute. I can't remember EVER getting a check for this job. I should be making some really big bucks for doing EVERYTHING around here. In my next life I am going to get paid for this job. Scratch that. In my next life I am marrying a rich guy. Problem solved.

Errands are never quick

Today I had errands to run. We are totally out of milk & juice. I'm not sure how that happened. Pookie & I even went to Aldi over the weekend. Of course I had no idea that we were totally out of juice until I got home. Then because we didn't have any that's all the Princess wanted to drink. Like a broken record she kept asking for juice. We kept telling her we were out but she wasn't buying it at all. I think she thought if she asked enough I would eventually produce some. Didn't happen.

Because I had plans this morning Spike woke up puking. Happens every time I make plans. You would think I would learn. At least he is old enough where I can leave him home alone for a little while. I left the house well before 9:00 hoping to get everything done quickly so I could get back to him. While driving to the store I noticed the "check gages" light pop on.
Hmmmm. That's not supposed to be there.
I look at the gages & the 2nd one is almost all the way over to the right.
Uh-oh that's not supposed to be over there. It's supposed to be on the left.
I call Pookie & he tells me to stop the truck right away. So what do I do? I drive the rest of the way to the store. After all I can't just stop the car on the side of the road. (Just for the record Pookie expects this. I have also been known to drive home on a flat tire) Just as I stop the truck smoke starts to pour out of the hood. That can't be a good thing.
Pookie calls a friend to pick us up and the poor Tank is left sitting all alone in the parking lot. I just know that I will have to get to go along tonight to bring it home or take it someplace to be fixed. I can't wait.

I guess it's a good thing we are the "Sanford's" of the neighborhood & have extra vehicles around. At least I will have something to drive while the Tank is in the shop.

My Mission

My mission (if I chose to accept it) was to go shopping with my best friend & help her find a rolling tote to hold all of her scrapbooking stuff. It was gonna be tough spending her money but I thought I was up to the challenge. She said since I sucked her in got her interested in scrapbooking it was my duty to help her. First she looked at my rolling totes to see if they would work for her, then we were off. It was really cold out but her car has heated seats so I thought I would make it. Her car also tells you the temp outside. Last night it said -2° when we left. I didn't need to know that. Even though it was "freeze your face off" cold I went shopping with her. Why? Because I got out of the house without my kids. We had a great time shopping. It's amazing how much stuff I thought she needed. I spent $4.00 & she spend $3000.00. Well maybe not quite that much. She didn't even get a tote. After hitting Michael's, JoAnn Fabrics & Archiver's we finally found the tote in Archiver's. After finding out that they have coupon's every once in a while she opted to wait. But I was VERY successful in getting her to spend her money. I'm sure once her husband finds out how well I did he will want to thank me personally. I think a gift card in a large amount would be an acceptable gift don't you? Or cash. Cash is always good.

We had a blast shopping together. We even had dinner. It's been a long time since we've done that. Plus I discovered another talent I have. I am VERY GOOD at spending other peoples money. Who knew? I'm also very tough. After all her car told us it was -8° when we were on the way home. How many people do you know who will shop in weather that cold?

If you need YOUR money spent & it's cold out I'm your girl.

My kids were off of school yesterday for Martin Luther King Day. It was really cold too. I didn't leave the house at all. Too cold for me. I spent the day hanging out in front of the fire place. It was a good place to be. Although Sunday was colder & did I go out? Yes I did. On the coldest day of the year I went out. I went to a crop. I have my priorities. I got to go with my best friend to another friends house WITHOUT the Princess. I had to go. It would of been wrong of me to stay home. I always take Spike with me to carry stuff in. His friend also lives at the house I crop at. Works for both of us. I traveled light this time. I only took 2 large totes, 1 small one & my box of stamps. That is traveling light for me. I hate leaving anything at home. What if I need it? I can't go back home for it. I might never make it out again. I can't risk it. So I just bring everything.

Pookie had the day off yesterday too. He made plans with a friend. Then he looked at the weather. He watched it all week grumbling that it was gonna snow on his day off & he would have to work. The weather man was right & it did snow & he did have to go to work. He was home in plenty of time to enjoy hanging with his buddy. Then around 8:00 he got called back in. I have no idea what time he came home. I have learned to sleep though him coming in at all hours. (He used to work nights.) Then I woke up at 2:00 am. He was just getting ready to go to work again. He is gonna take his "before bed nap" early tonight.

My favorite show is starting again soon. "LOST" premieres on Jan 31st. Click the link for a rundown of what has happened so far. http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/index?pn=index
I never miss an episode. I think that's the only show that I don't miss. Most of the time I don't care what is on as long as Pookie isn't watching something dumb. He does watch a lot of stupid tv shows. Must be a guy thing. The other thing he does is change channels with lightning speed. He says he does it because he doesn't like watching commercials. I think he does it to piss me off. It works.

I'm going alone!

Today I am going to the Dr. I'm very excited. Not about the Dr. visit itself but because I get to go ALONE. That wasn't the original plan either. I was going to have to take the Princess with me because I couldn't get a sitter. My appt is at 2:45. Right in the middle of nap time. Missing a nap is never a good thing. AND I have to have a pap. I know,too much information, but I wasn't looking forward to the questions I was going to get from the Princess about what the Dr. was doing down there. 'Nuf said. Both Spike & Queenie woke up sick today. I'm not happy that they are sick but at least this way I don't have to take the Princess on a memorable trip to the Dr. I don't want any of that stuff coming out at Pre School. Apparently my child speaks her mind at school. One of them can lay on the couch & sleep while I go to the Dr.

I'm so excited about going alone. I'm not sure what to bring with me. Do I bring a book? Should I bring Queenie's DS? I've become addicted to playing her Horsez game. Or should I just bring my IPod. Wait, the IPod has been MIA for a while. I'll have to bring a book. I know I'm putting a lot of thought into bringing something, but if I don't Murphy's law will pop up. There will be no magazines, screaming kids( I can tune those out, it's a Mom thing) & I will have to wait forever because the Dr. will be behind. If I bring something then I won't have time to use it & I will get in early. See how that works?

Here's hoping I have a fun filled afternoon.

My prediction of how the morning would go was pretty correct. No one got up on time. I got up at 7:05 & Queenie was still in bed & so was Spike. It was pitch black out still. I got everyone moving & no one was late & no one forgot anything. At least nothing they are calling home about. The Princess & I watched TV for a little while & then got moving.

We cleaned her room first. Her idea of cleaning her room is not the same as mine. In her eyes as long as everything is off the floor then it's clean. Her bed was full, but underneath was clean. Her baby's pack-n-play was full of toys(yes her baby's have their own play pen, they are just starting to crawl & get into everything) but the floor was clean. Then she got out her vacuum. It was very cute watching her vacuum her room. Too bad it wasn't really doing anything. After I really vacuumed then I had to go through all the stuff she piled everywhere.

It is 64° out according to the computer. Is it really January 7th? I have my windows open in the kitchen. If the sun would come out it would really be a nice day. I thought Spring was coming early until I looked at the 10 day forecast. We have snow coming on Friday. For a while there I thought my dream of just having Winter in the month of December was coming true. I really need to move somewhere warm but where it is warm there are bugs. BIG bugs. I don't do bugs. I don't run screaming & stand on chairs when I see one but I just don't like them. I am getting better at picking up dead ones though. I don't have to use a whole box of Kleenex anymore. I am down to only using 2 or 3. But I still flush them or burn them in the fire place. I'm not taking any chances! And yes I look to make sure they went down. I'm not having the little suckers try to make an escape while I'm using the potty!

Anyone live somewhere warm where there aren't any bugs? Cause that's where I'm moving as soon as I find it.

I went to a crop at a friends house today. I took enough pictures so that I could get at least 6 pages done. With all the working chatting I did I got 5 pages done. Pookie always laughs at me when I go to a crop. I always take everything I own. I look like I am moving out. I have 3 large totes & various other crap stuff. I have another friend who doesn't like going to crops because she never knows what she should take. I bring everything I own. Problem solved. I have everything I need. Which is important to me because once I leave the house I AM NOT going back. That would just be flirting with danger. I might never make it out again. I'm not going to risk it. I just bring everything I own that way there is no problem. The best part was being away from home without any kids talking to big people. I took Spike with me so he could carry all my stuff in the house for me because his friend lives at the house where I cropped at. He played computer games all day.

We borrowed a friends Wii for the weekend. The kids & Pookie have been having a great time with it. I played 2 games of bowling & my arm is sore. I am really out of shape! The kids & Pookie are complaining that they are sore too. What does that tell you about my families exercise plan? I think we need to get out more.

Spike had a friend over last night & the Princess had to got to play too. They gave her a pair of socks to use as her controller & she bowled too. It was great. She was having a wonderful time thinking she was playing. I wasn't letting her near the Wii controllers. We are only borrowing. I am not buying them a new one cause my kid broke it! That wasn't the plan at all.

School starts up again tomorrow morning. I know exactly how it is going to go. I will have to peel my kids out of bed because they won't get up when their alarm goes off. It's the same after every break. I'm sure one of them will not be able to find that "something special" they wanted to wear to school & the other one will forget homework & I will have to bring it to school. It's not even Monday & I already am not looking forward to it. But on the plus side I do know what I am having for dinner. AND I have all the stuff I need to make it.

That's a little miracle right there.

Home Remedies

I received this list in an e-mail from a friend. I think they bear repeating. So many of us are forgetting about all the good ole Home Remedies that are out there. Read them & enjoy. Can you come up with any on your own? Right now I can't but then again I haven't had a shower yet. All my good ideas happen while I am in the shower. Maybe because it's the only time I am alone all day. It's hard to think when you have a whining toddler attached to your thigh.

AMAZINGLY SIMPLE HOME REMEDIES

1. If you're choking on an ice cube simply pour a cup of boiling water down your throat. Presto! The blockage will instantly remove itself.

2. Avoid cutting yourself when slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold while you chop.

3. Avoid arguments with the Mrs. about lifting the toilet seat by using the sink.

4. For high blood pressure sufferers: simply cut yourself and bleed for a few minutes, thus reducing the pressure in your veins. Remember to use a timer.

5. A mouse trap, placed on top of your alarm clock, will prevent you from rolling over and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze button.

6. If you have a bad cough, take a large dose of laxatives, then you'll be afraid to cough.

7. You only need two tools in life - WD-40 and Duct Tape. If it doesn't move and should, use the WD-40. If it shouldn't move and does, use the duct tape.

8. Remember: Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.

Daily Thought: SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKIES. NOT REALLY GOOD FOR ANYTHING BUT THEY BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN PUSHED DOWN THE STAIRS

If you can't fix it with a hammer, you've got an electrical problem.

Enjoy!

Things I want to improve on

It's day 3 of the new year & I haven't posted my "Things I want to improve on" list. I'm not going to make New Years Resolutions because I never keep them. So instead I am making a list of all the stuff I would like to improve on. I'm sure we all have a list like that. Here is mine:

1. Keep up with the laundry better.(easer said then done. 6 people make a lot of laundry!)
2. Know what is for dinner well before dinner time. (I am really bad with this one)
3. Get all the stuff out of my room that doesn't belong there.
4. Keep my cabinets stocked better.(Actually I just need better hiding spots for the good stuff)
5. Have a better attitude towards my bitchy(did I say that?) teenagers.
6. Exercise more. (anything would be more then I am doing now.)
7. Have more patience with my MIL. (some days are worse then others!)
8. Keep my house a little cleaner.
9. Organize my desk. It always looks like a bomb went off on it.
10. Plan more family picnics.

These are a good start. Don't want to hurt myself right away. They are all easy things I just need to find time to do them. Sometimes taking a nap is a much better idea then laundry. The dinner thing should be a given, but sadly it's not. Although I do know what we are having today & it's not even 10:00 am yet. Pretty good start. But I do have to go to the store to get the supplies. Just cause I know what we are having doesn't mean that I have everything I need to make it.

I just looked at the weather. It's -5° (with wind chill factor) I really don't want to go out & shop. But I put it off yesterday because it was cold. I can't use that excuse every day in the winter. I really wish I didn't have to downsize & let the maid go. She could do all this shopping for me. In a perfect world I would really have a maid or 2 or 3. A cook too. Oh & as long as I am planning my perfect house lets get someone to do laundry too.

There. I feel better.
Now I can lay around all day in my robe & eat BonBons.

Anyone wanna join me?