Princess in the land of not-so-great ideas...

Hannah: Mom! Look at these bells I found! Aren't they so pretty??

Me: Wow! Yes dear, those are beautiful bells.

Hannah: I have the best idea with them!

Me: Really? Please, share it.

Hannah: I think it would be so great if instead of asking for stuff, I can just ring my bells and you can get it for me!! I can ring it anytime I want milk or anything! Isn't that a great idea?!? It's like a princess!

Me: Hmmm...I'm thinking that is not such a great idea. But feel free to give it a rip.

Simple Pleasures

I have lists of things in my life that bring me pleasure. Most of the things are very random and simple. Things like; the very first sip of coffee with just the right amount of cream, the smell of coconut, any of my kid's laughter, Ry's first sweet kiss of the morning, etc. It's little things. Today I got a little sick pleasure at my husband's distress. Poor Matt. If he only knew the pleasure a wife can get when the kids act normal for him in the morning instead of her. You see Matt took the day of work today. It's a mental health day for both of us. I get to take care of errands without dragging kids and he gets to not have 17 people asking him to run reports that they needed yesterday for projects that were due last week. Mental health indeed. Anyway...part of my own mental health request was that he deal with taking the kids to the bus stop. Okie dokie- no problem, sweetie. Hee hee- evil laughter inserted here. You see Matt leaves about 5 minutes after the kids roll out of bed so he rarely is witness to the morning chaos here. Chaos being really not strong enough to describe most of our mornings. Today it was Ry that chose to be Mr. Chaos in charge of destroying the morning. He's good at it, so most days Justin and Hannah defer to his excellence in destruction. He is the only 2 year old boy I have ever seen who has a problem with clothes. The Terrible, horrible shirt post below is pretty average for him. He just flat out refuses to wear odd shirts at odd times. Sometimes it's the picture on the shirt that sets him off, sometimes it's the color. A shirt that he was perfectly happy wearing last week, is completely unacceptable this week. You can't just know that a shirt won't work because it is all random. To keep us on our toes, I believe. The only shirt we could always be sure of is the golfing bear shirt. He hates that one and has since he first laid eyes on it. I've tried it 10 different times on 10 different days and the reaction to golfing bear is always the same. Ain't no way, no how he's going to wear it.
Today it was just a random plain ol' orange shirt. Matt waited until too late to dress him and then Ryan stepped into his Mr. Chaos mode. Screaming and howling because the orange shirt was out of the question. Matt didn't have time to find another one which made it a smidge more funny to me. I know I'm horrible. I got to sit upstairs quietly applying my makeup and just listen to how Matt talked Ryan into the shirt. Have you ever heard a grown man try to bargain with a 2 year old? It is terribly humorous. Especially when it is usually me who is doing the bargaining and today I was slowly sipping coffee with just the right amount of cream :) It was a 2 for one deal for me. Double the pleasure if you will!
Hope everyone has a simple pleasure kind of Friday :)

The REAL desperate housewife...

As I was swiffering this morning, I started pondering how brilliant the person was who invented the Swiffer. She was definitely a woman. And she definitely had pets and messy children and one day tossed her broom in the yard because...well....because brooms just don't work for their intended purpose. Not if you have pets and messy kids anyways. If you know the inventor of the Swiffer and this person is not a desperate housewife please don't tell me. Let me imagine her in sweatpants just like me.
This brilliant woman didn't stop at the Swiffer. She went onto bigger and better things- like the Swiffer Sweep-n-vac. This product, my friends, is the answer to many of my prayers. If you own pets and messy kids you must- yes I mean it MUST- have one. I was thinking this morning (after I finished thinking about my version of the brilliant sweatpants wearing inventor) that if I had owned a Sweep-n-vac when our house was for sale I would've been sane on more occasions. In fact, if the sweeper babysat children, mixed cocktails, and drove to preschool I might have been totally sane. It does NOT do those things. Sit back down in your chair. No need to rush off to Walmart and get one this instant. It can wait until later. It DOES, however, do a bang up job on sucking up dog hair and poptart crumbs and things like that, that tend to make my daily job tedious. I am semi-in love with this new Swiffer. Two thumbs up to my sweatpants wearing, inventor friend. I consider her my friend now because she made my job so much easier :)

Eating bon bons....

So, I'm just sitting around today. Not doing anything much. Got my feet up, having a massage, watching soaps, eating bon bons. My personal assistant just brought me a fresh cup of coffee. A hint of toffee flavor & extra cream. Just like I like it. This is why I pay him the big bucks to be my assistant. Well...that and his washboard abs and mildly annoying (yeah right) habit of walking around with no shirt. The nanny got the kids off to school today and then took Ryan to his mommy/nanny & me class and then brought him home for his nap. I've been ridiculously busy planning the social club luncheon & the children's violin lessons. I'm off in few hours to meet Matt for dinner at the country club. I have to stop off and have my hair & nails done first so this will have to be a short post. Sorry to all of my hoards of fans for that. A girl must have priorities, mustn't she?? You wouldn't have me walking around with bad roots and *gasp* chipped nailpolish would you??
OK...wake up from dream land :) Really not even my dream land. That would likely be a miserable existence for me. Just watched an old episode of Wife Swap. One of the wives was Buffy McRichbitch or something similar to that & I was in awe of her ability to call herself a mommy. Not that I wouldn't enjoy the occasional spa day which involved a bon bon or two (what the hell IS a bon bon anyway?? I'm assuming it involves chocolate which makes it a good thing in my book) but everyday of that crap?? It would SO get old. After a day or maybe a week LOL :) Sorry to offend if any of you know Buffy- it's really nothing personal. Just not my cup of afternoon tea :)

Ryan and the terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad shirt

The following events took place in our home this evening

approximately 1 hour before bedtime...

"I know you think this shirt is cute mom, but I HATE it. Just because you bought Justin & I matching shirts does not make them cute, nor does it mean I'll wear it. Don't care what you say. Not gonna wear it."

"Don't take my PICTURE mom!!! What if one of my friends sees me in this totally dorky shirt?" Mooooooommmmmmmmmmmm put the camera down!"

"puuuuuhhhhhhhhlllllllllleeeeeaaaaaaaaaaassssssssseeeee.... don't do this to me! Not...going...to...wear...it...."

" *^%*$#* I don't know who you think you are. I'll just take this ugliness off and go find another shirt. Don't you forget who you're dealing with here."

"I am a 2 year old and I am NOT afraid to use my 2-ness powers against you when you are least mentally prepared to deal with them. Don't be puttin' me in no stupid golfing bear shirt. I'm way cuter in my spidey shirt"

Calgon...take me away...and mix me a martini too please.

My children are conspiring to drive me over the edge. When I'm gone off the edge they know they can have as many Cheetos as they want and no one will say a word. Why do I feel this way? I think they were whispering to each other in the mini van last night and plotting my demise. In fact, I'm sure of it.
And really, why is it that no one mentioned to me that the 3rd child tends to be a little bit more "into stuff"? As in: into the trash, into the freezer ( what 2 yr old doesn't like to suck on ice cubes all day?), into the toilet, into my makeup, into my mousse, into...well...pretty much anything that may in some way be messy or otherwise annoying to clean up. I was starting to think he just needed the attention, but I really don't think that's it. He's quietly destroying my sobriety. Several of you are chuckling now. 'Cause like, I really never HAD any sobriety for him to destroy :) Seriously though. Last night I was exhausted. Mom's out of town again, so I am on doggy duty. F-U-N. I was really wiped out yesterday from being supermom/daughter and Ry picks this moment to do his thing. Last night it was emptying 1/2 a box of Kleenex into the toilet and flushing. What, didn't they all go down the first time sweetie, well by all means...flush again!! Still not down and now there is water all over the hardwood floor? Well my little angel, you should FLUSH AGAIN! It took me 20 minutes to plunger that loveliness down and then I got to mop the floor. Am I the luckiest mom ever, or what?? Yes, that's right- or what. You may say to yourself, "self...what was Amy doing while he was emptying the Kleenex into the toilet and flushing thrice?" I was packing Justin's lunch, cleaning out his backpack, and quizzing him on spelling words. I was muti-tasking. Only I forgot to turn on my x-ray Ryan eyes to watch him. Silly mistake. What did I do after this debacle was cleaned up and the chiclets were in bed? Oh yes I did! I mixed up a chocolate martini. And promptly forgave Ryan for being 2 1/2.

Monday's rant

Much as I hate to admit it, summer seems to be officially winding down. Today will be our last nice-ish day for a while and it isn't even as nice as the ignorant weatherman said it would be. While I welcome the jeans and sweatshirt weather that fall brings, I know that horrifying snow will be soon to follow. I hate snow, really I do. The first snow is great and all, but then it turns to nasty old slush and my backyard just gets disgusting- a huge thank you goes out to my dogs for that loveliness. Chiseling frozen dog turds and trekking through yellow snow. Love my dogs, yes I do! This weather shift also means I really NEED to get out fall clothes for the kids. We have the in-between season wardrobe going right now. Hannah has sprouted some inches this summer so her pants are comical. Need to get on buying her some new pants :) Add that to my list.
As a side note, while discussing things I am not thrilled about, please add my dishwasher. I hate to sound spoiled. I told Matt he sounded spoiled when he first mentioned a dislike of the dishwasher. I must now eat my words. If it is humanly possible to hate an appliance then please let me hate my dishwasher. Let me loathe it's existence. It doesn't clean. What it does do is leave big white water spots in it's wake. Also, it sounds like a freight train is running through our home when it is running. It also does that fun thing where it tips all of your cups upright, so that when you open it up water spills out of everything and nothing is dry. Total piece of shit, yes indeed. I guess it's possible that our goldfish killing water *could* be part of the problem, but NAH...I'm blaming the stupid dishwasher. I know, I know, I should be happy to HAVE said dishwasher. I went through a dishwasher-less existence during both of my older children's bottle bearing years. I know what it is to live without one in this century. Don't start lecturing me. I'm sure there are starving people in Africa who have never seen a dishwasher...as soon as I have a new one to replace this steaming pile, I'll send mine off to a third world country so it can ruin all of their glassware.
So, in conclusion,I am down on impending winter doom and my dishwasher today, any questions?? Happy Monday

P.S. I just did a count on the number of times I used the word hate in that message. Note to self: get a thesaurus and don't be so hateful

What a difference a pair of scissors can make...

Ryan has these sweet, corkscrew curls. He just got them over the past summer. Since about May it seems like he wakes up with tighter, crazier curls everyday. He was in desperate need of a haircut- so was Justin- so off Matt went to whatever place he found to get them sheared. He went with EXPLICIT instructions not to let them go too short on Ry. I just wanted him to lose the Kramer-effect, not the curls. Instead, he came home with SHORT hair. Just waves, no curls. I know it'll grow back but it is bizarre how grown up he looks now. Those curls had a baby-ish effect on him. He is 2 1/2. I should let him look more like a boy now, but this is a tough pill to swallow. I loved me those curls and the baby-ish effect they brought to him. I look at him now and see a mini form of Justin. Which means before I know it, Ryan will be a boy, not my baby. Even Hannah said yesterday that she thinks Ry is going to stop being a baby soon and then our house won't have any babies. **SOB** No more babies?? No seriously, I am not longing for more babies. I promise you that. It just is like pouring cement on that chapter of our life to hear if from someone else's mouth. Especially since it was one of my children who spoke it outloud :)

Meet Jack & Alex...

These are the new fish, Jack & Alex. Wish them well. They survived the first night. We were a little concerned about Alex. He bumped into the driftwood chunk when I scared the bejeebers out of him by turning the light on. I think he hurt his eye, but he appears to be on the mend today.
Odd names for goldfish? Yes they are. They are named with love in honor of Justin's best friends from Michigan. They were his first 'real' friends. Having been forced together because their mommies were all best friends. They have been hanging together since they were all about 15 months old. This made our move back to Ohio especially hard for all of them. They have kept in touch over the summer through letters. Justin watches the mailbox pretty close :) I still wonder every day how I am going to survive the upcoming winter without my Michigan friends. I'm hoping I stay so busy that I can survive. They made survivng my years in Michigan possible and I still miss our girl's night out events very much. Not just because I want to escape- but because I miss the time we spent gabbing and realizing how very much we are floating around in the same boat.
Here (in case you are curious) is Justin sandwiched between the real Jack & Alex.

Fish tank drama...

So for anyone following the ridiculous nature of our fish tank drama, the latest chapter is about to unfold.
For those out of the loop, let me quickly get you up to speed...
Justin had a fish tank 3 yrs ago. All went well until the blackout of '03. It was horrifying on several levels, one of which was the loss of our fish because the pump stopped running for so long (3 loooong days without power. Ugly for humans and fish alike) Apparently they didn't get the oxygen they were used to. Anywho, when we got new fish, one of them had the dread disease known as ICK. We didn't know this or we'd have left his fishy arse at the pet store. This started an ugly cycle of dead fish that we couldn't fix no matter how hard we tried. Fish were hiding from us behind the aquarium plants when we came into the store. So I gave up. Cleaned out the tank and put it away. When we moved into our beautiful new house, Justin requested that his tank go back up in his new room. OK. No problem. I cleaned it all up. Filled it, put new gravel in, new filters....all ready to go. We get new fish and within days they are dead. Seriously. These are not hard-to-keep-alive fish. They are GOLDFISH and we killed them within days. I have spent the last 4 weeks having water tested, adding new things, trying to get the water to an acceptable level. Finally I found the manager at the fish store and he asked me where we lived. When I told him, he said, "I live there too. It's your water. You need to go and buy reverse osmosis water at the grocery and then try again." That's right people, the water MY FAMILY IS DRINKING IS UNACCEPTABLE FOR GOLDFISH TO LIVE IN. Anyone else see a problem here?? Needless to say we are also getting estimates from water treatment companies for ourselves. The tap water is not the tastiest variety, but now we know it also kills fish. Not OK in my book. So, last night after putting it off for about a week, we went to the store and purchased water for the tank, cleaned the tank all out (again) and bought a whole new filter because our nasty water had turned the whole inside of the old one white and slimy. Now the tank is up and running. Tonight we buy new fish and see if the cycle of hell begins again. I feel bad for our test fish, I really do. If this once again fails and they die quickly, I am throwing the damn tank in the yard and getting a guinea pig or something. I do so much better with furry creatures.
Wish us (and our fish) good luck. We definitely need it.

Just one of those things...

There are certain things in my life that make me insane one moment and crack me up the next. Ryan offers me moments like that daily. He is frustrating and funny all rolled into one smiling child. You really gotta love him.
Most recently it is the bed collection that is doing it to us. He has to have a specific collection in his bed every night and it makes the night time drama a smidge more dramatic. Currently the collection consists of 3 sheriff Woody dolls (2 regular size and 1 small), a Buzz Lightyear, 2 stuffed dogs, 2 stuffed Nemos, a plastic dragon, an alien, 4-6 cars and the Spiderman bag they go in, and of course his Nemo pillow and his blankie. I don't know how he he comfortably sleeps in this chaos, but he does it every night. I remember Justin going through this at one point, but I don't think it was this extreme. While we are getting all the stuff in the bed every night everyone is maxed out and ready to throttle him as he goes round and round the house collecting his stash. Then you walk in after he is sound asleep and find this...how do you not smile at that?

It's fall at our house...

I started getting out the fall decorations yesterday. Matt came home and accused me of falling victim to the retail world. See, a few of my fall-ish things are Halloween related. Apparently mid-Sept. is too early for my dear husband to ponder a trick-or-treat themed home. Tough. I like Halloween. It's one of my favorite holidays to decorate for and he's just going to have to deal until Oct 31st is dead and gone and I can start putting out my turkeys :)
I'm excited to have the space to decorate for the first time. We had a bigger house when we lived in Arizona but it was no fun to decorate when we didn't have kids. Since we've had children, we've lived in our shoebox house in Michigan and there just wasn't really the room to put holiday stuff out. It was a bummer for me. So now that I have some room, Matt's just going to have to look at jack-o-lanterns a little early. It is mid-Sept. why can't I have my fall stuff out??? I already have a little bit of mouth watering going on about pumpkin show food that I get to inhale with Kelley again this year for the first time in AGES. I figure if I am pondering pumpkin show then certainly I can have pumpkins in my house. Right? Just agree with me for the sake of arguement. What do men know anyways?

Coffee does that to me....

Does anyone else get reflective over a cup-o-joe? I do. Maybe it's because I try to carve out 10 minutes in the morning for a peaceful cup and it is the only sane time of the day. I don't always get my 10 minutes, but I really try hard for it. It gives my brain time to wake up and think about the day and everything else in my world. This morning I was a little reflective. Probably because I was blubbering mess most of the day yesterday. I spent most of the day praying for a blanket of tolerance throughout the world. Very much "Miss Merry Sunshine" with that, eh? I know that our world is a long way from tolerance but a small dose of prayer for it can't hurt, right? I see so much in my everyday world that needs to tolerate. Family members in ugly divorces, friends who can't stand each other, people in grocery lines behind someone with 13 items in the 12 or less lane. You know the ones who are huffing and eye-rolling because they have to let someone scan ONE MORE ITEM. Deep breath people....it isn't the end of the world! No wonder our society is so maxed out. We get bent out of shape when we count 13 items for crying out loud! I am guilty of it too. Mostly I am working on my own tolerance and trying to remind myself and those around me to take a deep breathe and look at the big picture. There is a big picture people, there always is. It's that light at the end of the tunnel, or pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that everyone talks about.
Maybe it's just the caffeine talking this morning. Who knows? But would it hurt? Think about it the next time you want to whip a 9 gauge shotgun out of your purse to move someone along :) Deeeeeep breeeeath......

We will never forget...

As the anniversary of 9/11 approaches every year, I am struck by how it is the one thing in my life I can remember every moment of. I remember exactly what I was doing when the first plane hit and the confusion of what had happened. Then the second plane hit and it was like having the wind knocked out of me. I couldn't believe what was happening, how it could be happening, and of course WHY. As the morning went on and the Pentagon was hit, and then the 4th plane went down in PA, the shock I felt was enormous. It still is. I think to me it was as if, for that day, the whole world stopped and then had to start back over again. Only now every little thing is different. I can't get over the way it still affects me. I watched the news accounts of it this morning on NBC and I immediately am covered in goosebumps and crying all over again. Even as I put our flag up last night, I was immediately pulled back into the memory of that day. So many people lost their lives that day. So many families lost loved ones. So many children lost parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, and they'll never understand why. We as adults can't understand it, how can we expect our children to? My oldest son was just 1 1/2 at the time. He was too young to even wonder why mommy was glued to the TV and crying at the big smoking building on the screen. I will never forget. Never. In honor of the heroes that lost their lives that day, many people all over the world are using their blogs to honor the memories of each person individually. To view entire collection click here... http://www.dcroe.com/2996/?page_id=2

I post here in memorial of a man I never knew. Just reading what I could find about him online makes me sure if I could have known him, I would have loved him. All the pictures I can find are of a man who is brimming with life and has a huge, contagious smile. He was a husband and father which breaks my heart. His children lost him. His wife lost him. I can't do justice to his memory, but I hope that he is in heaven smiling down on his family and friends and knowing that I am thinking of him today and that he will forever now be a part of my memory of 9/11. I found this memorial piece on him online and I felt like it really said a lot about the kind of person he was. His friends and family were blessed to have him in their lives, even if it was only for 38 short years.



Donald Robertson Jr., 38, of Rumson, N.J., was the type of guy who would suddenly grab his dad and plant a kiss when it was least expected. He was quick with a joke, always reached first for the restaurant bill and loved spending time with his four children.
Robertson, a vice-president of sales for Cantor Fitzgerald, was on Floor 105 of the North Tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. Soon after word of the terrorist attack reached his family, a group of Robertson's son's friends got together and went to the city in search of the much-loved man.
"His family and friends were the most important thing to him in the world," his father, Donald Robertson Sr. told the Star-Ledger of Newark. A family friend told the paper that Robertson "was always there to provide moral, financial or whatever support you needed."
Robertson loved playing hockey and rooting for the New York Giants football team. He also served on his church's golf committee.
In addition to his father, Robertson is survived by his wife, Karen; three sons, Michael, Matthew and Kevin; a daughter, Madison; his mother, Marcee, of South Orange; a brother, John of Roseland; two sisters, Kathy Cunningham of Spring Lake and Beth Robertson Wisely of Atlantic Highlands; his grandmother, Margaret Robertson of North Arlington and in-laws Stanley and Patricia Paradowski of Brick.

TGIF...

I have never longed for a weekend the way I am today. OK. Probably not completely true. I'm sure when I was in school I longed for the weekend as passionately as I am today, but for different reasons. I am flat out exhausted. Mom & Dad took Manda back to Boston this week for her Junior year and we have been on dog duty. This is exhausting work. Trying to keep up with the dogs, the house, the boys, on top of my own dogs, house, & kids...well let's just say I'm really happy they are on their way home and I have a weekend of just my own family. Unfortunately they are gone a lot this month so Sept. is going to suck a big weenie around here. Oh well :)
On a bright note Hannah starts preschool today. I thought she might be nervous because it's a new school, teachers, friends, etc. But she has been asking for the last 2 hrs if it's time to go yet. I'm happy with the whole arrangement because she was initially signed up to go everyday but at the last minute they had a spot in the MWF program and we snatched it. She'll be going to school every day soon enough. No need to toss her to the wolves just yet. I like the teachers in this new class a lot & I am very happy with how it all worked out. Hopefully she will be as happy when she gets home as she is right now. It is a staggering thought to me that in a month she will be 5. Seems like she was just a peanut baby and now she is almost 5. I feel like in about 5 minutes I'll be whining about how I can't believe she is 16. Everyone says they grow up fast and to enjoy them while they're little. This is not always an easy task for the mother of 3 little ones. You get lost in the day to day chaos of it all and forget to take time to enjoy them. I'm trying to remind myself of this. They make me laugh at least once a day and I love all 3 of them immensely for that reason and countless others. I wouldn't trade my job for anything and I'm hoping someone will remind me of this the next time Ryan dumps a trashcan full of tissue into the toilet and flushes. Please, someone remind me.

Random...

Got these questions in an e-mail today... thought they'd make a good entry...

1. Do you say “Hi,” to people you don’t know? Occasioanlly. If I am in a good mood I will.
2. What is the name of the first person you kissed? Joe Coogan
3. Do you still talk to this person? Ummm...no.
4. Recite a line from a movie? His middle name is Ralph. As in puke.
5. What movie was that from? The Breakfast Club
6. Do you play by the rules? If I know what they are.
7. Name another word for penis. Tom Cruise :)
8. Do you complain a lot? No. Not all. Just ask my husband.
9. Have you ever been to Canada? Twice to visit Allie on her parent's lake
10. Do you have an addictive personality? Not really
11. What size would you say your nose is? Medium/large
12. What is someones name that begins with the letter, A? Why, Amy of course
13. Name someone whose plastic surgery turned out poorly? Kenny Rogers
14. Have you ever performed CPR on anyone? No
15. Name something that falls from the sky? Raindrops
16. Are you polite? Most of the time.
17. Name a TV show or movie, that impacted society? American Idol??? I just don't know.
18. Name a song that has the word “baby” in it? Baby I love your way
19. Name your favorite Disney movie? Toy Story
20. Have you ever been scuba diving? No. I'd hate it if a fish touched me.
21. Name a profession you would NOT like to have? Babysitter
22. Name someone you know who has red hair. My Justin :)
23. Name a popular DJ. Jazzy Jeff
24. Name something white. Mine arse.
25. Are you better at explaining things, or at performing them? Performing them.
26. Have you ever been to a boxing match? Nope. Boxing doesn’t interest me.
27. Did you ever stutter, or have a hard time pronouncing words? No
28. Do you eat out, or buy groceries, more often? Buy groceries unfortunately
29. What month are many of your friends born in? Half my family is born in December.
30. If you could have been born a different ethnicity, which one? Italian
31. Name something you think is disgusting? People who pick their nose & eat it.
32. What is your favorite type of soup? Tomato soup
33. Name a fattening food. Cheryl's Cookies
34. Name something that you are just NOT good at. Sticking to a diet
35. How many glasses of water, a day, do you drink on average? 8- 8oz glasses a day
36. Does your license plate say anything? Nothing interesting
37. Name a type of dance. Macarena
38. Name a type of Martini. Chocolate Martini
39. Would you rather do the dishes or fold laundry? Dishes- I hate laundry
40. Did you have braces? If so, how long did you have to wear them? Why yes, I'm wearing them right now.
41. Name someone you were really good friends with, who you no longer speak to. Billie. She’s too good for the likes of me.
42. Name something blue. The sky.
43. What is something good, about getting older? You become less willing to put up with bullshit.
44. And something negative? gravity.
45. Name a song you really enjoy. Anything Rascal Flatts sing.
46. Name someone with the same middle name as you. My mama
47. Name a bar or a restaurant that really impressed you. The blue martini in Greenville SC. On Fri nights it's 1/2 price drinks 'til 9. What more can I say?

Friends...

Every once in awhile when I am having an especially crappy day, a ray of sun shines down on me and makes me feel like I can keep on going. More and more these days that ray of sun has been my good friend Carol. She is someone I met just by chance and I believe God sent her to me as a blessing. That's what she is to me- a blessing. When I am insane, she brings me back to reality every time. She is one of those people who can make you laugh no matter how upset you are and make you see that nothing is THAT BAD.
How lucky am I to have someone like that?? Pretty damn lucky!
Today wasn't really a bad day, just a day that has been non-stop running for other people and feeling generally under-appreciated. I came home to find a big box full of goodies from her. I knew it was coming but not what was in it. It was sort of like Christmas in Sept around here :) THEN I got into my mailbox and what was waiting on me there??? Cheryl's cookies!!! HELLO! What more can I ask for? Presents AND cookies??? What a good day indeed. Better than anything it makes me realize that someone out there loves me and appreciates my friendship even when I feel like no one else knows I am alive.
I have days like that- when I think no one knows I am alive. Nor would they notice my absence until they needed something from me. Sounds very "woe is me", right?? I know, I know. I am loved, needed, appreciated, all that. I'd just like to HEAR it sometimes.
Anyways...if nothing else, Carol made my day today. Perhaps my whole week. I hope a ray of sun is shining on her in her part of the world today :)

Rainy days...

I love fall, but hate rainy fall days. The kids are stuck inside, the dogs leave their paw prints all over the floor, and then there are those rainy soccer games/practices. Looking so forward to that tomorrow. Not only do we have a game but we also have pictures tomorrow morning and it is supposed to be horrible weather. Should make for excellent pictures- NOT.
I was pretty good on my diet wagon yesterday- until the evening. We were late running around and ended up getting fast food. Then I was craving ice cream and Matt is easily persuaded to go on an ice cream run. Still- a better day than it could have been.
This weekend we somehow have to find time to get new pants for the kids because it is suddenly very chilly and they all grew a ton this summer. No way are last Spring's pants going to fit. *sigh* oh my how they grow.
That's about it for now. We're gearing up for the first big Buckeye weekend. It'll be sort of weird to not be in Michigan for football season this year.

Back on the wagon again...

I have busted mine arse since last Dec to get 30-35 lbs off. Unfortunately I have been a slug recently and wallowing in my hatred of myself usually allows some poundage to creep back on. Go figure. Time to get moving again. Why does my brain not scream to my lower half YOU FEEL BETTER WHEN YOU EXERCISE MORON! For some reason it does not so I have to make myself do it.
Justin is enjoying school. His teacher seems a little tired to me (or at least she did at the open house) but he really likes her and loves riding the bus and eating lunch at school. AHHH the joys of first grade :) He and Hannah are both playing soccer this year so I think I can officially call myself a soccer mom. Lovely. They both like it. Hannah is a little dramatic(shocker) and is constantly tripping over the ball and doing some drama fall so people will notice her falling. She is SO 4. Hard to believe she is almost 5 and will be riding the bus herself next year!
Ryan is just Ryan. He's 2 and that should be all I need to say. He is sweet and totally lovable one minute and the spawn of satan the next. He is birth control. My sweet, smiling, curly headed form of birth control. Whatever works!

Another day in paradise...

OK...so I'm feeling a little more normal today. Less like an escapee from an asylum.
Just thought I'd let everyone know.