Home at Last!

My own bed and my own shower!!

Stuck in Florida

Not actually stuck, but my in-laws truck has been struggling ever since we left. Sitting in the hotel right now trying to figure out what to do with it. Probably hit the beach today then maybe...just maybe...if it takes a few days to fix, Disney World. We aren't sure and haven't said anything to our kids, but it's a possibility. The trip has been mostly uneventful, just a lot of driving. The kids have been mostly good so far. They are definitely ready to do something other than sit in a car though. Me too for that matter. Of course, they are having record heat here. That's how all my vacations go. 95 degrees and 60% humidity. Miserable.

I won't do details until I get pictures, but one little heart breaker - I turned around to Bo, who moved his foot and kicked the laptop, and said "Be careful Baby Boy." (I always call him that). Without even looking up from the screen, he says "I'm not a baby boy. You know I'm 4, you know I'm big." It's over. No more baby boy for me. So sad. Ah well, all things must come to an end I guess. Off to the beach!

Anxiety

That's what I'm feeling tonight. I don't know why I do this to myself. Is any of it life or death? Nope. If I leave 2 hours late, anything gonna change? Not really. So why am I freaking myself out? Today has been nothing but go, go, go.

Started out with a trip to Wal Mart, then Best Buy, then Costco, then Home Depot, (took Bo and Dalin home), then back to Home Depot, then Radio Shack, then back to Wal Mart, then the rental, then picking up Brooklyn at her cousins house. At home, I had the kids working on laundry which was a disaster. They normally do Ok, but I had to do 2 sanitize cycles to fix the wet laundry that got left in a basket (no one knows how) and Jeans that got taken out half wet and put in a basket in the corner. The entire day has been about LAUNDRY!! Trying to find every one's matching clothes and shoes and underwear...sheesh. It's almost 9 and I still have two loads to do. The kids are mostly packed and all the food is bought. Tonight I decided to give it a rest and just make a list of things I need to do tomorrow. Such as: Bank, Walgreens, Oil Changed and packing Glade and I. All by noon!! The kids were actually very helpful, but couldn't stay on task for what I really needed them to do. Bo is doing this thing lately where he screams everything he says. Makes me crazy! The noise was really getting to me. I was pretty sure I was about to have an anxiety attack.

About 3:52, I remembered that the missionaries had asked that I bring Brooklyn and go teach a girl her age with them. We were supposed to go at 4, YIKES! That was actually the best part of my day. Totally outside of myself and none of my stress involved. I was very fortunate that Pack Meeting was postponed, so that took all those errands out of my day. There are so many little things that happened to day that I can't even go back to or I might start hyperventilating! It doesn't help that I didn't get a nap. Laugh if you want, but it makes me a different person. So tonight, I'm just going to go to bed early and do what I can tomorrow. We'll leave whenever I'm

ready!!

Name that star - ???

Oh and Dad, I just got your card out yesterday. I forgot to actually put it in the mailbox. Not to mention, I forgot to put the good stuff in the card so it's coming seperately. Total Dingbat, but I love you anyway! It was fun seeing you again - I mean when we saw The Land of the Lost the other night. At one point, both Glade and I gasped and made a comment at the exact same time. The pictures don't exactly do it justice, but whoa!!

Glade - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! He totally hates his birthday so I'm mostly ignoring it. I don't usually, but this trip thing is more than enough on my plate, so I'm giving him his wish - no birthday fuss.

It's not sinking in

The last few days have been very uneventful. Just day to day stuff, nothing too exciting. Yesterday we met with our renters and went over some details. Looks as if that is going to go through, which is exciting, but a little bit of work. Got home just in time for FHE which Brooklyn had planned. After, I watched the Bachelorette snug and comfy in my bed.

Today, was movie day. It was Spiderwick, too scary for Katy. She did ok in the beginning, but she didn't last a whole long time. Kept saying "too scawy". I eventually took her out and walked around the mall while we waited for the others to get out. After, I was standing, talking to my mom while the kids ran around the little area we were in. Katy disappeared, so I walked in a little circle to find her and this is what she was doing:

She looks homeless and starving. She found someone's bag of leftover popcorn so she hid around the corner of the pillar and had herself a treat. After the movies, we came home and just hung out for the afternoon. Brooklyn had a swim activity all afternoon so she wasn't around. Chelsey was planning a little party for one of her friends so she spent the day cleaning, organizing and baking. I kept trying to find time to get to the gym, but every time I decided on a time, something else came up that interfered. Finally, I decided to just go get my nails done instead. Not exactly the same thing, but very rewarding! Fresh set of nails and pretty toes. Sometimes the psyche needs exercising! I haven't had a pedicure in a few months so I was really happy to have good feet again. I bought a color of pink that I LOVE. I used to use theirs, but then if I chipped it or something, I couldn't fix it. Now I can. Came home to Chelsey's little soiree. She has really nice friends. They didn't stay for long. I spent the next hour or so reading while Katy took a bath and the kids played outside.

The not sinking in part - I'm leaving on a week long road trip in 3 days and I haven't don't anything. I should be panicking, but I'm not yet. I have a ton of things to do regarding scouts, the rental, and just plain laundry and packing. I'm going to guess that Thursday night to Friday will be a little frantic. Ah well, such is life...

Princess Breakfast

Today we woke early so we could go to the princess breakfast at Chick Fil A. I have professed my love for them in the past, but today it went to a whole nother level. We expected to go in, get our free breakfast and that would be it. We were very excited to be welcomed by a big balloon arch and all the employees dressed as princesses. They had an activity table where they made necklaces, had a face painter and a background prop for taking pictures. They let you put your name in a box for a drawing (a collection box for emails) and then they drew each girls name out and announced that "Princess Katy" had won a prize. Each girl got one, a goody bag full of hair stuff and jewelry. After we did all the activities, we got their free breakfast and enjoyed! Brooklyn's friend Rebecca and her mom, Jenny, came with us as well as Grandma Green. It was much more involved than I had thought and I love that they did it! We had a great time.

Breakfast Beauties!

Rebecca, Katy and Brooklyn

Katy screamed at the thought of sitting on the stool with a stranger and getting her face painted. It was about the last thing we did. I had to let the lady paint my hand first and then Katy allowed her to put a cute little Elmo head on her hand.

Princess Brooklyn

Sister Princesses, Katy and Brooklyn

Brooklyn making her necklace

Brooklyn had a duck painted on her face.

So cute, this was our welcome. We were the very first ones there so we had no wait or line or crowd. So great!!

Katy wouldn't do anything unless she was on one of our laps. I don't know what happens to her sometimes. She finally eased up and enjoyed herself.

Successful Day

These are two of the favorite suits we found today. We have been searching and searching for modest swim wear. We have found several, but not for a decent price. I have a hard time paying $60 - $70 for a suit. We found these at JCPenney. Chelsey ended up getting the top one only in a different print, kind of light blue/turquoise, tiny polka dot. VERY cute!! The whole thing was only $30. The second one was runner up and that total would have been $37. They had tons to choose from and lots of cute stuff. I highly recommend going there if you are still searching for something for this summer.

After the mall, Mom, Chelsey and I went to lunch and then home. It's always nice to hang out with people who can have a conversation once in a while. Not that I don't love hanging out with my younger ones, but it's just different. Glade comes home tomorrow. It's been a strange week without the boys. To say I "missed" them would be strong, probably sad to say, but the fighting around here has gone way down. The others still fight, but Stephen and Nick are instigators strictly out of boredom. There hasn't been any of that. I am anxious to here how there week went though. I know when they walk through the door, that "missed" you feeling will be there. So, no date night for me tonight. Maybe I will hit the gym. I certainly need to do that!

Too good to be true..

That is how my day has gone. I keep waiting for someone to pull something out from under me. I started the morning by leaving early, taking Rhett and Whitley with me for some out-of-the-house time, and going to the Humanitarian Center to pick up some projects to do over the summer and to present in my Enrichment lesson. There was so much! I highly recommend a trip there. Then we went to the dollar store, then to walmart and then to the rental to show it to a family. While there, another woman showed up to look at it as well. That's always nice when they actually SEE someone else interested. The first family has lots going on and their situation is a little unusual, but they seem to love it and want to rent it until they can buy it. The only struggle is that they have to stay in their current home until August and that leaves us making the payment for another month. They also want it painted entirely throughout the inside. After some bartering, we came up with us paying for the paint and them actually doing it. I can live with that. We are meeting Monday to sign paperwork and iron out all the other details. They are actually asking for a lot, but not terribly unreasonable, especially if they end up buying it.

After showing the house, I swung by an old friends house to pick up a craft basket a group of girls had put together. It was fabulous! Too long to explain here, but my kids love it and it worked great for my lesson. Thanks Tairi!! Came home and tried to nap, but my mind was way to wound up. My phone rang all afternoon. The renters, people calling about the rental, carpet guys, Glade (who was leaving out of town) and kids friends. I went to the church early to set up my display of activities so I could relax the rest of the afternoon.

When I got back, Chelsey asked if she could take all the kids to the pool. Hmmmmm, interesting. It made me nervous, but I let her. I was all alone in the house for an entire hour! You would think I would have made the most of that time, wouldn't you? Nope, I read. Stupid books. I got myself ready and headed to Enrichment. Other than taking too much time and talking so fast I was out of breath, I think it went ok. There was just too much to share and not enough time to explain it all. It's always great to spend an evening with such quality gals. Now I need to settle down, relax and get to sleep!! Gotta get up and go back into town to meet the carpet guys again. This time I'm going alone so I can go to lunch with my mom!

What a great day...so far!

Today started off not so good because Glade's alarm is still going off at 5:30...grrr. I stayed in bed till 7:30, got around very slowly and finally made it to the gym. I haven't been in a week again. I have no idea why I feel like such a slump lately. I took Bo and Katy with me so they could get out of the house for awhile as well. I didn't get much of a workout, well my body at least. My jaw got a plenty good workout! I ran into my friend Angela there who I haven't seen in forever. We talked more than sweated. It was more fun anyway. After the gym, I decided to take Katy and Bo to Chick Fil A for lunch. We haven't had a day out since the kids got out of school. It was the first time in 2 weeks that I just felt "normal". It was quite nice to just spend time with the two of them. I miss that. On the way home, Katy was eating her ice cream minding her own business when she pipes up and announces "Done!" She held out what was left of her cone for me to take it. I never buy myself one cuz I know one of the two won't finish theirs. As soon as I took it from her, she very stubbornly says "sleep!" Then turns her head to the side, closed her eyes and didn't hear from her again. Lovely!

Today I got a call from someone who wants to rent our house. The great thing about that is that she wanted to buy that exact house when they were first building them, so she knows she loves it already. I'm showing it to her tomorrow. I hope nothing goes wrong. She would also like to stay there until she can qualify to buy it. How great would that be?? All seems too good to be true. We'll have to see how it goes tomorrow.

Tonight is our next weigh in and I'm thinking I should be ok. Just have to not pig out today. I really dread going and sitting through it though. Maybe it will be better this time. I'm only one pound away from the 50 lb mark! I weigh less than I have probably the whole time I've been having kids, but I sure don't feel like my body looks as good as it used to! If I weigh less, why so much flab?? My arms never used to sway in the wind or entertain my 8 yr old at church!

Finishing up

The days have gone by without too much incident lately. Everyone is finally settling in. I was asked to give a presentation at Enrichment about fun Summer Activities to do with your kids. Gee, do you suppose someone read my blog and thought "she needs to do some research!" Anyway, I have and I think I have enough stuff to fill my allotted time. However, if you have anything unusual, or free, or unique...please share! I have had so much in my head and have collected several papers and fliers when I've been places, but I haven't put it all together until today. Some of you have even sent me things I put to good use! I just hope it's not the same ol' same ol' and that someone finds something useful.

Today we had primary activity day which didn't allow us to go to the movies. Most of the kids were Ok with that and really enjoyed the activities. Since Chelsey and Whitley are not in primary and neither is Katy, they went ahead and took her to the movie. I was a little nervous about them having her "out". She did great and they all came back safe and sound.

I decided to go do my groceries today since we were out of dishwasher soap. I stuck to my budget, that's very exciting. I forgot however that I was supposed to open the church for the scouts. Luckily Rhett called and reminded me so I got there right in time. Brooklyn and Dalin had both planned a late night with friends, but Dalin's couldn't come at the last minute. So instead of our typical Fend for Yourself Tuesday, we had Bagel Bites and doughnuts. They have all behaved really well and let me get my enrichment stuff done without much of a hassle. I'm not very good at playdates. I don't mind them, but I'm not good at suggesting them.

Tomorrow I have GOT to go to the gym. It's been a week again, and I hate it. I have no idea why getting there has been such a hard thing. We have our second nutrition class tomorrow and we have to weigh in. If you have gained weight, you have to put in a dollar for every pound. I'm pretty sure if I eat sensibly and go to the gym, I'll be down a pound so I'm not too worried.

Happy Birthday to Whitley!

Whitley is 15 today!! Yikes, my little girl is way too big. What a blessing she is to our family. She is truly a unique and beautiful young lady. Watching her grow and mature is so fun and she never ceases to amaze me. We didn't have a very exciting day planned, she is saving her party to have with a good friend of hers. Unfortunately, she had an ortho appointment...not that fun. After her appointment, I offered to take her out to lunch. She chose Costco...did I mention unique?? We got a slice of pizza and a rotisserie chicken and shared both. Whatever makes her happy! When we got home, she and a friend went to the movies and then shopped a little at the mall. She had several friends stop by to drop off gifts for her. That to me is a true measure, when people make a special trip to let you know they are thinking of you.

She had chosen fajitas for her dinner tonight, but her mouth hurt too much to enjoy it and the dessert I made didn't turn out so well..lol! I have no idea why, edible, but not right. After dinner, we had FHE discussing what we could do to make Sunday's better. Hopefully next will be a little better. Then she and I retired to my room to watch the Bachelorette. Although low key, I think she had a good birthday.

This morning, Glade and the big boys headed to scout camp. Glade only drove them up and will be back late tonight, but they will be gone all week. It's quiet with less kids! I spent the morning reading in bed. Weird. I hate starting a book because then I don't get much else done. I'm not even going to mention which book, embarrassing. But it was nice to have a nothing morning. After quiet time, I read more. Did a few loads of laundry and read in between. So annoying. I finished the book though so now I can relax. Brother Rapier stopped by while I was making dinner and gave all the kids a ride on his quad. They think that is the greatest! My poor deprived kids. Chelsey is working almost 30 hours a week lately, so we don't see her that much. She is raking in the bucks though! Now it's 9 pm and I'm so ready for bed. All this inactivity has made me tired! I really do believe that, if I had expended some energy today I think I wouldn't have wanted to be so sedentary the rest of the day. Tomorrow promises to much more active!

I'm going to be honest...

I know this is a terrible and taboo thing to say, but... I hate Sundays. I LOVE church and I love having family together, but the rest of the day just plain sucks and I'm not sure how to change it. I know how to occupy myself in a good way on Sunday and my big kids have figured it out pretty much, but my middle kids are awful! I have tried projects, giving them books or "assignments", but it's very short lived and then the chaos resumes. My babies hardly get naps because it's so noisy and out of control. Of course, that means I don't get a nap either, but I could deal with that. Babies that don't nap isn't good for anyone! On a normal day, there are things to do...TV, computers, friends, etc. With none of that on Sunday, it's like they are lost. They never behave worse than on Sunday after church. It's very frustrating to enjoy church and feel committed to doing better and making good changes and then to come home and be angry the rest the day. HELP!!! I don't want to give in to TV, but sometimes, I have to admit...it's tempting. Don't be mad if you suggest something and I say I've already tried that, I really have tried a lot of things. I just wonder if this is normal or is there some secret I'm missing out on to a peaceful Sabbath day.

How dare she...

All good things must come to an end. I say "good" sarcastically. Today I got a phone call from the woman who Whitley was babysitting for. She wanted to let me know that she was uncomfortable having Whitley there and would no longer be using her. I was shocked, of course. I asked her what happened and this is what this crazy lady said to me:

First, the second day she went, she didn't call first to let the girl know she was there. The 11 yr old is never allowed to answer the door. The mom had asked us to call the day before, but the circumstances were different. We thought the mom was still there so we didn't think we needed to. This was unacceptable to her.

Second, I guess there was some cleaning issue, which didn't surprise me because Whitley is a bit of a tornado. But...that wasn't the problem. According to the girl, Whitley made her do all the work. Not true.

Lastly, and most ridiculously...when they went swimming, their 4 dogs joined in. Apparently Whitley pushed one of the dogs underwater and made a comment that their dogs were "boring". This statement and abuse of her dogs very much upset the girl and disturbed the mother. Their dogs are their family and for Whitley to make a comment like that was very hurtful and she no longer felt comfortable having Whitley in her home. Seriously??? Whitley said she never even said that and I believe her. She has always been an animal lover and why would anyone call dogs boring? Not to mention...we have Jack! Any dog who moved would be exciting to us!!

The bottom line, the girl is a liar and Whitley is not the first babysitter she has gotten fired. We know this because she told us the problems she has had with previous ones. Maybe this should have been a red flag to us. The interview was weird anyway. The girl is 11, they have their own pool...when I asked the mom if I could take them to the public pool sometimes, she said as long as I watched her the "whole" time. She said it three times. The "whole" time. I made a decision that day that I would never be taking them. I even told Whitley when we left that very first day that I had a feeling that girl would be a little sneaky and demanding. The mom had also mentioned that she had reservations about Whitley from the very beginning. I'm seriously not just being a mom here, but c'mon...Whitley exudes sweetness. Other than it throwing a wrench in her cell phone plans, I'm glad to have her out of there. It's tempting to call and let her know that her child was making things up, but really, what good would that do? It still hurts to think this family out there thinks these things of my daughter. We know the truth and I feel a little sorry for this mom who is being duped by her 11 yr old. I'm guessing she might be tired of having a babysitter period. Don't most 11 yr olds babysit for other people? Wonder what's going to be wrong with the next "companion"??

On a side and scary note - today we were loading up to go clean our rental and things were a little crazy. Phone calls and organization, finding supplies, etc. Anyway, Glade went out to the garage for something and found Katy asleep in the car. Some how she had gotten in the car and then couldn't get out. You could tell she had been crying and had wet her pants. She eventually fell asleep. Glade woke her up and she immediately started screaming again. It was very scary. Luckily, it was morning and the car was in the garage, so it wasn't really hot. She was barely sweating, but the possibilities..... I'm guessing maybe 20 - 25 minutes out there. She was really upset and I was really sick to my stomach.

New carpet, new phone, new behavior

I hate when I skip blogging for a few day because the days are so long and when I go back and try to remember them, I don't come up with much.

Thursday
Whitley's second day at her new job. I'm not sure 'job' is an accurate word. The first day she swam for 3 hours, watched tv and ate flaming hot cheetos. Anyone want her job? Before I took her to work, we stopped by Home Depot to check on carpet for our rental. I hate doing stuff like that. We decided to try a different route and use a guy who we know. I hit the gym, then home and headed for the pool. I told the kids to be ready when I got home and we would go. We got everything loaded up and everyone sunscreened and headed out only to get there and find that they were at capacity and not letting anyone in. Kids were not happy and neither was I. We decided to go ahead and go to the library before we went home.

Got home, took a very short nap and headed back to the pool, only after I called first! By this time it had cleared out quite a bit, but it was really windy. The kids don't really care about stuff like that. Came home, made dinner, showered and had all intentions of going to roundtable. The girl from our nutrition class called to discuss our goals and that took a long time. By the time we were done, I didn't have time to do my hair and get there. The kids were all begging for computer time by now so I got my floor swept and mopped, both living rooms cleaned and vacuumed and Whitley straightened my hair for me while we watched TV. Not bad!

Friday
Had to go meet the carpet guy at the rental. Whitley was having her birthday lunch with Grandma, so I took her into town with me. I was so mad when I pulled up to the house. We have canceled with GoRenter and told them we already had new renters(which we did at the time) so to NOT do anything else with our house. There was a sign in the yard and a lock box on the door. I called and was not very nice about all of this. They charge us $100 to do that. I have to admit it turned out good for me because I forgot my key and someone changed the garage code so I couldn't get in. They told me the lock box code so I was able to use that key to let in the carpet guy. Turns out he can do it about $1500 cheaper than Home Depot. Yeah!

Took Whitley to the mall to look at getting her a cell phone. With her new job and birthday money, she is able to pay for the phone and a year's worth of payments up front. Chelsey didn't think it was very fair since she isn't 16, but oh well. Adding Whitley is only $10 a month so she is paying that, plus another $5 for texting. Because she isn't paying her full share of the bill, she isn't getting very many minutes allowed to her. She will have her 5 favs and texting. She was way excited. Grandma met us at the mall and then took her for lunch. I headed home, bringing pizza for the kids.

I was sitting and reading when Katy brought a bottle of hair product to me and asked me to open it. I told her no and to put it back. She threw it on the ground and screamed. I then told her to pick it up in a very stern voice. She screamed 'no' at me and turned around. I grabbed her hair and led her to the bottle and again told her to pick it up. She was screaming and refused to pick it up. Still holding her hair, I took her other hand and put it on the bottle and told her again to pick it up. She picked it up and chucked it while screaming 'no!'. At this point, I smacked her thigh, drug her back over to the bottle and not so nicely told her to pick it up. Again, with the screaming and chucking the bottle. This went on for nearly 5 minutes. That's a long time! I think I smacked her 6 times and never let go of her hair. My fingers were hurting from gripping her hair so hard. I was starting to panic because there was no way I was letting this go now, but she was not giving in either. Finally, I forced her hand to pick it up and marched her to the bathroom and put it on the counter. I picked her up and set her on the counter and gave her a talking to about minding. She was sobbing by now and just sat there muttering "ok...ok" as I talked to her. She sat on my lap for a really long time just trying to get her breathing back. I have never had a kid fight with me like that...NEVER!

Glade was in Tuscon so we didn't have a date night. I had to take Whitley to a party and then stop and get a few things for the boys who are leaving for camp in a few days. On the way home, I stopped to pick up Brooklyn who was at her friends house. I left the van running and went to the door to get her. Her mother and I ended up talking in the doorway for almost and hour and a half while my van sat running. Crazy. In the meantime, kids at home cleaned my bathroom, the mudroom and the garage for computer time.

Free Rootbeer Floats

Nice camera phone picture, I know. Even after a crazy day, and having just left a weightloss class, we went to Sonic for the free rootbeer floats. I was really hoping it wouldn't turn out like the BBQ disaster. We only had to wait about 20 minutes total, which I thought was pretty good. They were small and much more rootbeer than ice cream, but it was something different and a trip out of the house. Not to mention...FREE!! The kids all saw someone they knew there, which is always exciting for kids. The bigger kids stayed in the van since it would be way too uncool to be standing outside!

A Day with no Structure

Today is my run around and do groceries and errands etc. I gave the kids zero responsibility, just keep everyone safe. I had to pick the girls up from their last day at school around noon, then took Whitley to her first day of work. I came home and laid down with Katy for a little bit then worked on my blog book. I let the kids go out on the slip and slide. When it started to sound a little too crazy and Katy was bleeding, I decided I better go check things out. Unbelievable. I won't mention which brainless child, but one of them decided to start throwing things at the other children. Plastic forks, spoons, DVDs, crackers, peanuts, PVC pipes....need I say more?? All this laying out in my yard floating in puddles of water. This is what happens when we don't have structure. When I give them the day off. I learned my lesson, won't happen again.

After a short, ok..medium length, ranting, I made dinner and then headed out for our first nutrition/weightloss class. I won't go into a lot of detail, but it was rather boring. The "teacher" (I use that term lightly) was very dorky and not good at all. I'm pretty sure they just want to sell us Herbalife as well. So it was long, not very informative and I was right under the air vent so I was freezing. I'm sure I lost a pound just trying to keep my body temp up. I was very happy to get out of there and am really hoping it gets better.

Today I talked to Nick's principal and he gave me a few other options other than homeschooling. Now my head is really spinning. It's so hard to know what will be the best thing for him. I have till next week to decide which direction I want to go in. Too many decisions!! I still have a little bit of a headache and I'm pretty sure it's because my brain gets no rest these days. I'm used to quiet time, alone time to have my own thoughts, but I'm not getting a whole lot of that these days. Even while I'm out, the phone is ringing every few minutes. Today I got a call tattling that one child tried to resolve a lying issue by threatening to "come up there and punch you in the face". Seriously?? I try to explain that they are acting as if they were me when they are in charge. Do I ever say things like that?? NO! Power is really not a good thing for some people.

Just need music

So I haven't worked out for days. I just cannot make myself do it. There have been some actual reasons, but nothing super good. Tonight I decided to update my running list on my MP3. Since I have been sitting here listening to the songs, I really want to get out there and sweat! Now, it's almost 9 pm and that is just too late for me, but now I know when I'm just not feeling it to put my music on....Voila!! Right now, totally jammin to GNO. Don't laugh, Miley is good. I googled "running songs" and was a little shocked at some of them. They were kinda dirty and usually very noisy. Not my style at all.

Tomorrow we are starting a nutrition program that is also a weight loss contest. I'm excited to have some motivation again. I ate my last bowl of ice cream tonight. It's just down from here!

Sick Day

Yesterday was long! I am so rarely sick, but for some reason yesterday was one of those days. I felt fine in the morning. I took my little ones to my mom's and then went to check out our rental. Our renters had just moved out and we needed to see what the damage was. I was pleasantly surprised. The carpet is horrific, but it really needed to be replaced before. I'm glad we waited. Other than that and some normal wear and tear, it looked ok. They even cleaned pretty well before they left. The yard was a whole nother story! They had turned off the sprinklers in an attempt to save money. That and they didn't do any yard work! Everything was over grown and half dead. Glade and the boys spent the entire day trying to clean it up. I went to the city to try and straighten some stuff out (see Why are people stupid?) Then back home for the day. It was then that I started feeling crappy. I laid down and when I woke up, I had a fever and a headache that almost made me cry. My stomach felt horrible and let me just say, I'm a wuss at being sick!

Glade and the boys were supposed to make this drive to Florida with Glade's dad to pick up some junk cars he bought on Ebay. I'm not thrilled with this whole situation, but whatever. Now that I was sick I was even more unhappy. I took a bunch of Advil and laid back down and watched Little House on the Prairie. That was a treat! By dinner time, I was feeling a lot better so I got up and fixed dinner. To my surprise, the boys came home and said they weren't going for a couple of weeks. Yeah!! This kids cleaned up dinner and I went back to lay down. My darling husband went to the store to buy some milk and chocolate ice cream. I haven't had real, gooey, totally bad for you ice cream in a really long time. I thought Earth had now become Heaven! It was dreamy. The girls came down and watched the Bachelorette with me, then I headed back to dreamland. (No, not more ice cream!) Every time I woke up in the night, I thought I was going to puke. I hate that. Oh yah....

So, I'm sleeping nicely and all of the sudden.....Blood curdling scream outside my bedroom door. I flew out of bed with my stomach in my throat. Running through the door was Katelyn. My first thought is that she must have been stung by a scorpion. Nope. After Glade calmed her down a little, she says "get me!" What's getting you, we ask. "Jack!" Oh brother. Jack is our lazy, mostly a rug.. dog. She must have seen him in the hall or something and it freaked her out. On a normal day, she lays on him, brushes him, orders him around, etc. I have no idea what happened, but I could not relax after that. My heart was racing and my stomach felt worse than before! Luckily Glade is a night owl, so he sat up with her for awhile.

This morning I feel much better as far as the fever and headache. Stomach still not so good. Today is movie day so hopefully that will go OK. Did I mention, that Glade was sick to his stomach last night and that Stephen puked right before he went to bed? Good thing they postponed their trip!

Sleeping on the Tramp

On Monday, the kids wanted to sleep out on the tramp. We have tried this in the past and it never works out that well. Everyone gravitates to the middle and it's uncomfortable and of course no one will admit it, but it's kind of scary! I'm proud to say that for the most part, they stayed out all night. Rhett came in first, but went back out. Then Nick and Rhett came in, but Rhett went back out and stayed this time. Nick doesn't sleep well on a good night, but he really is a chicken liver. He doesn't like taking the garbage out at night. I was surprised Bo stayed out. I guess if everyone else is, it's easier to not think much of anything. They were up at 5:30 and came in slamming doors and talking loudly. That didn't make me so happy, but they did it and now hopefully the "excitement" of it is over and they will stay inside!

why are people stupid?

Do you ever wonder why the whole world just can't be like yourself?? I know, I know, that sounds conceited, but really.. then everything would be exactly like I want it. Today I had to drive a half hour to take in some papers to prove to the city that I'm not living in our old house and that the renters are out. I guess they have a rather big past due bill. They want proof that they are not living there anymore before they will put the water in my name. Fine, whatever. I drive all the way in there and when I walk in, they announce that their system is down and they can't help me. I talk to the girl at the window anyway and tell her what I needed to do. Sorry, can't help you. She did give me the option to wait for an undetermined amount of time to see if they started working again. Since all I needed to do is bring the proof, I asked if she could just make a photocopy of the lease agreement and my driver's licence. Then when her system was up, we could do the rest over the phone. "Oh no!" she says. "I can't access the account". There is no account, I don't have one yet!! She refuses in her very giddy way. She exuded "I don't have to work right now!" I was so mad. So, in my very "fine!" way, they can continue to charge the renters for the water, which is a bill they will never collect on. I hate stupid people!!