Monday mornings...

Sometimes no matter how much you plan, things just won't work out well on Monday mornings.

My boys HAVE a little check list to make sure they've got their "i's" dotted and their "t's" crossed before bed. And, they have another one to go through to make sure they're ready for the day in the mornings... and it never seems like on Mondays they've looked at either one.

Drew is missing a belt.... it's no where to be found. Luckily he has a backup but seriously... how hard IS IT to walk in your room after school, take off your shoes and put them in the closet as you reach for a change of clothes only to put your dirty ones right there IN THE HAMPER (gasp--what a concept!) as you're changing. When you remove your belt, you simply insert it into the next day's space that is already filled with socks and a shirt. Imagine the simplicity.

Better yet, imagine if you'd gone through your "Before Bed" routine where it says "Lay out your clothes for tomorrow." At THAT POINT you'd see that you needed your belt that was MIA.

Josh was jammin on The Rolling Stones and now I have "I know, it's only rock 'n roll, but I like it" stuck in my head! I walked in there to give him a time (five minutes to go) count so he knew how long he had to primp.

When we were at Wal-Mart the other day he said he needed deodorant. He wanted the spray kind. I bought said spray kind. That shit is a toxic fume. I don't know how much he put on but that stuff.... OH.MY.GOSH is the most awful smelling stANKy stuff known to man. And it toxified the ENTIRE UPSTAIRS! GROSS. Until the bottle is gone, he is only allowed to use it in his bathroom with the door shut AND the vent fan on. It's that pungent.

And speaking of deodorant, I don't get all the weird smells. I've been wearing Secret Solid in powder fresh scent since I was in junior high... JUNIOR HIGH PEOPLE. I've tried a new one here and there but it seems odd to me to have something that is highly perfume-y emanating from my pits. They're pits, not a cologne counter. The smell of your pits shouldn't over power any perfume you may put on. What a mess of competing odoriferous orifices (say that ten times real fast) you would have. YUCK!

Today, the sprinkler system repair people are supposed to come. Yippie. I'm also supposed to go to lunch with a good friend. Not looking forward to that. Not because I don't enjoy her company but where we're going... let's just say I would gain back all 6 pounds that I've lost. Ugh! Sigh. What to do ... what to do...

Day 1, Week 2

Just a little weight loss journey blog. Today is Day 1, Week 2. Doing great so far. I've endured the wrath of Babe's chicken. Apparently, it's legendary but I resisted the temptation at Blue & Gold. I ate like... NOTHING... and finished up at home with some veggies. Yes, I still lost.

However, I was just about done in last night when I made some yeast rolls for the boys. Those.... that... mmmmm..... my complete weakness.

Yup, I just about lost it to my love for all things CARB! Ha!

I'm about to hop on the scale to see how far I've come...ok. I lost 4.2 pounds in the first week. It's on the way down and that is ALL that matters to me right now! WOO HOO

Tuesday.

Today I was awoke and was pleasantly surprised to find it was 58 degrees in my bedroom. Pleasantly surprised? Yes, you see, the air conditioner in my bedroom doesn't work so I like it when it's chilly so I can crack the windows and hide under the covers! But, when it's not so frigid, I have the ceiling fan. Problem is, when it's 74-75 in your room and you LIKE the weight of a blanket atop you...it's hard to have that blanket AND not sweat to death underneath. So, on nights like last night... it's SOOOO nice. Besides, it's FEBRUARY.... we're not supposed to be having 80 degree days yet!

I got up and since it was chilly, made some oatmeal and cinnamon toast for the boys. I had my Jenny Craig sunshine sandwich.

The boys were off and I grabbed a shower. Ben's long over-due 9-month check up was today. He's at the 5 percentile mark for his weight, a little more for his height... and 95th for his head. Makes you think the kid's got a great big huge melon, but he really doesn't. He's just got the "DHS" -- a.k.a. "Driggers' Head Syndrome." Apparently, they're known to have large melons!

I went and got my (also) long over-due oil change. They filled the tires with air so the stupid car would quit blinking at me like they were about to blow.

I also stopped by and picked up dinner from Dinner Is Served. 3 entrees for $12 each and they each serve four. I think that an entree for $3 per serving is a pretty good deal. I'll couple it with the rice and veggies I have in the freezer and the boys all have their meals for the rest of the week. You can't beat that. I got Parmesan crusted chicken, King Ranch chicken... and something else along with two dozen yeast dinner rolls (six of which are thawing and rising in the oven right now).

Tonight, Josh has basketball practice for his Upwards team.

I've fallen off the wagon on my Project Life (insofar as taking a photo every day) but I have been sure to log my memory so that at least I can find SOMETHING (even if it is a photo I didn't take or some sort of memento to insert in the pages) so that it's still a complete record of our year.

I'm pretty sure Ben is about to sprout two (if not four) top teeth... he even appears to be getting fangs before the front two. If he does, the child will be sporting a black cape and I'm taking vampire pictures! Hey, they're only this small once...gotta get my kicks where I can.

I'm doing great on Jenny Craig. Today is the end of my week. So far I've lost about 4 pounds. Not too bad for the first week. :)

I'm getting better with logging my life into Google with the conversion of the Outlook to Google calendar... I still am kind of bugged that I have to go between TWO programs (Cozi and Google) to get the same results I got with the ONE Microsoft Outlook. However, Outlook has proved unstable in the past and has crashed on me before. I'm slowly trying to find a) a time each day to dedicate to cleaning out the email portion and transferring subscriptions over to g-mail and b) continually go through and delete stuff! :)

I've found, recently, that my life is a matter of little bombs everywhere. It's just that season in life...but for a perfectionist, organizer like myself... it makes ya a little nutty. For instance, I start a project while he's napping. He wakes. I try to finish. He gets in the middle of it. I pick him up and go somewhere else.... bomb left there for me to try to finish later. Start on another one somewhere else... and so you see now how I have a series of "Ben bombs" just about everywhere.

But that's okay. I love the little stinker whole-heartedly... and if someone comes over to my house expecting it to be museum-quality-clean... they're in the wrong place because that ain't me! My house is lived in, warm, snuggly with toys scattered about... dust bunnies in the corners... empty dishes places they probably shouldn't be and for now... that's okay because it'll get done when I'm through doing what really matters (spending time with my boys!)

Monday

Today is my dad's 64th birthday. Happy Birthday, Dad!

You know, I got to thinking, there sure are a lot of characteristics in the mix of what makes the "perfect" dad...

They need to be

• Christlike
• handy with tools
• smart
• huggable
• happy
• dependable
• loyal
• smart
• funny
• handsome
• kind
• charitable

And, I lucked out, you know because my dad is all that -- AND MORE!

He's Christlike. He loves the Lord.
He's handy with tools. He knows enough to get the job done. However, he is smart enough to know when to call in the pro's!
He's very huggable and is generally always happy and in a good mood with a cheery disposition. He's loyal to those he loves and smart. Yep, he's one sharp tack! He holds his own in the funny department and always has us giggling with some witty comeback or remark. He's also very handsome. I remember growing up my teachers (the single ones) were ALWAYS asking me if HE was single. My dad is OH so very kind to others, even strangers (which is another way he's Christ-like). And charitable is he... with both his money and his time.

I can say that I hope my boys grow up to be a lot like their PawPaw!

So, I hope you enjoyed the BEAUTIFUL day on the golf course and that you had a great dinner with your main squeeze! I invited him to dinner but his main squeeze beat us to it! And, you know, that's a-ok. We're going to take him to dinner on Thursday.

So, happy birthday to a FANTASTIC, WONDERFUL, HUGGABLE, SMART, AMAZING man, Larry Wesson!

Bringing Sexy Back

Ben woke up for another day... pretty much screaming from the get-go. He was awake at 5:30 am. Fun fun fun. Drew's still under the weather. Yesterday, he said his ear hurt so we put some drops in it and hopefully he'll jsut let his little body fight the good fight and get hi mbetter. Where the 102 fever was coming from, I have no idea. He shows no other symptoms.

So, Josh was the lone rider this morning in the carpool and he was also, my saving grace! With Drew being sick, Josh was the one having to carry out taking all my party supplies to the K class. Hopefully a parent stepped up to help out with serving and what-not since I wasn't able to be there.

He left for school with a backpack full of books on his back. ON his right arm he carried a tote with his Valentine's -- heart shaped lollipops covered with a red, flying-V electric guitar as found HERE and his Valentine's bag along with a chocolate gift for the art teacher (I "adopted" her this year to spoil with a little gift each month to let her know she's awesome). He also had his entry for the Valentine sack competition. They were having a contest for the best boy and the best girl themed bags. So, I said, "Let's cover it with the WORD "boy!" So, we went through 3 magazines and cut out every "B" "O" and "Y" we could find and he went to gluing. The front and back of the bag are covered with the word BOY. If that's not a "boy theme" I don't know what is! And, he thought it was creative, so... as long as he was happy with it, that's all that really mattered. So that was in one bag.

In another bag he had all of the party supplies for Drew's class party. The bingo cards, call pictures, pencils for the winners, conversation hearts for the markers, books to read for Valentine's day, Drew's valentines to distribute to the friends. His were AWESOME! Star Wars themed ones I found online. SO creative!!! THEN, he carried in his hands, a tray of fresh cinnamon rolls with red-tinted icing.

Like I said, the kid, he was a trooper today!

Today is Valentine's Day... it's all roses and love and chocolate and hearts and lace, right?

WRONG!

It's still dirty diapers and dishes and laundry in this house.

I guess I'm one of the few that really... I don't see a point for this holiday. I mean, I like to make it special for my kids but my idea of a great Valentine's day is just being surrounded by those I love. That is special in and of itself.

I have crazy wonderful boys and they're my Valentine's 365!

I don't lke getting over-priced flowers just because someone felt obligated to becauase of a holiday. I don't want a card that I'll feel guilty for having to throw away... LOL... just be here... smile.. and love us all for who we are. That's a Valentine's Day for me.

Tonight we're having heart shaped meatloaves, oven roasted potatoes and a garden salad. For dessert, I found this sinfully delicious looking chocolate chip pie that I'm going to make. I mean, after all, it's my LAST DAY of freedom. I start my diet tomorrow morning! :)

I've got my eyes set on 130 pounds.... dropping this baby weight... Watch out! I'm bringing sexy back!

Kibbles and Bits

As I continually delve into the quest for organization, I find myself time and time again wondering where should I file those tid bits of information that I want, perhaps may need but want to remove from my e-mail and file... somewhere!

For instance, I saw an episode of Ghost Hunters where they went to a plantation in Louisiana. It was the MOST amazing place I've ever seen and I said to myself, that is exactly how I want my dream home to look. Do a Google image search for "Oak Alley Plantation" and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about. It's amazing.

So, I did what any like-minded thinking woman would do. I emailed them asking for a floor plan. And you know what? They responded back with room measurements, et al. So, now I have a blue print with which to work from when designing my dream home. :) A big square with a huge wrap-around porch.

I want to keep this information but I don't know exactly where to keep it. I know I'll need it eventually... some day... but I fear if I delete it I won't remember the name of the plantation and then I'll be so sad.

It's just one little e-mail of many that are scattered about various files in my quest for organization. For now it's in a folder called "Home Matters" since it really does deal with matters of the home. I just know it needs to get out of my e-mail program and put somewhere else. But isn't it better to have it electronically than in a paper somewhere? I guess it's a matter of me not trusting Outlook not to crash.

That AboutOne program sure seems to be making more and more sense for someone like me! :)

Sigh... i need someone to organize my organization.

It's amazing how a week of snow days can just frazzle your entire organized world. Jerry would say, "Look to the cookie, Elaine" but as George proclaims... "Worlds are colliding!"

I miss Seinfeld.

Oh to play catch-up

Since I use my blog as a hand-in-hand aid to help my scrapbooking and my Project Life, it's amazing how far behind you can feel when you miss a day (or five). I have been able to, at night, text myself daily snippets of how my days were spent... including significant snippits and whathaveyou to serve as a crutch for recreating my daily timeline. After all, that's the sole purpose I started this blog!

But, my phone died. Oh yes, my sweet little pink Blackberry Curve bit.the.dust. And I am sad. I'm not sad enough, apparently, to get off my butt to go get a new phone. And, I would have gone to the Verizon store to get a new phone if it weren't for the release of the iPhone on the same day. Could you imagine? It'd be like needing something from the grocery store on Christmas Eve night and heading to Wal-Mart to pick it up. Yeah, that'd be a freakin' nightmare.

Any-who, my Blackberry serves as my calendar and my to-do list as well. I keep memos to myself to remember silly things like... oh.. what LOT I'm parked in when I take Josh to the airport. It's a complete memory crutch (but also a big huge life safer). I mean, it is my alarm clock, too!

I posted to Facebook about my phone kickin' the bucket and the line of conversation that followed was so funny. My BFFE Shannon even said I can't leave because my friend Melissa's children would starve. I completely laughed out loud! Isn't it amazing how you can have a true-blue connection to people.... even if just through electronic media? I've made some amazing friends in the blogosphere! I stalk MANY blogs but am followers and true-blue readers of every post to a handful (I'm behind on those, too!)

My phone is where I'd catch up on my Facebook posts... while sitting in the carpool lane being bored or ... waiting for kids at practice. It's nice to have a time-killer. You feel like you're at least accomplishing something but then I think... maybe Ill be more productive with all this new found "down time." Only to find myself twiddling my thumbs during the pick-up lane yesterday at school. Sigh. We shall see.

This morning I was up at 5:55 a.m. and Josh was in my room at 6:05 a.m. He needed help finishing his math homework. He needed me to review his Wordly Wise. He needed me to review his Daily Language exercise worksheet. I needed to feed Ben, get dressed, get Drew up at 6:45 a.m., leave by 7am to get Josh to band practice by 7:15 am... plus all Josh's homework. Oh, yeah, and Josh needed to eat too. Crazy how we have to feed those things so often!

Well, we sit down and start going through his math. I don't really understand why I'm having to basically hold his hand step by step by step by step on every single thing. If I'm having to teach him how to do this so he'll understand what it's asking for... what's the point of him going to school to learn? I thought homework was just work you didn't have time to do in class or extra work to make sure you're understanding the processes and application of math taught in class. He's coming home and saying he "doesn't get it" to the point that I'm having to sit there for 2+ hours teaching him math.

Don't get me wrong, I love my child and will do whatever I can to help him but this means I'm not getting to spend any time with Drew -- WHATSOEVER. I didn't even have time to cook dinner because I was sitting on my butt helping him until 9pm last night and then up at 6am working with him for another hour and a half. Seriously, something has to give here. I'm just not sure what. I didn't sign up to have homework every day for 2+ hours.

Fridays means cereal at our home. It's typically the only day that we do have cereal because of the fact that I have to leave at 7 to take Josh to band. This morning, however, I had to write a "please excuse Josh from band" note to the director since he wasn't able to make it due to homework.

Pat was supposed to come clean today. It's not her usual cleaning day but Ben is sick... or teething... or sick and teething. He's a screaming, snotty mess. My nerves are shot. I'm tired. I should be sleeping right now but I think these moments are better saved in my memory if I record them. Thursdays are her usual day but there was no way I was going to be ready on Thursday. Now, not today either. I don't know when I will be able to have a clean house enough to have anyone walk in that door.

It's like both kids just walk in and throw their crap down and just pick up containers of stuff and just toss them in the floor. Seriously, that's how I feel my house looks RIGHT NOW. It is almost more than I can stand. Luckily, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Tonight, Josh goes camping with the Boy Scouts. Tomorrow he'll be gone all day, too. This means that I have only ONE child to corral and that can be accomplished by sending him to play with his friends. Then, I have a chance to clean. Once I'm on top of it, I have no problem maintaining it but when it just seems to go from bomb to bomb to bomb to bomb, I simply can't catch up.

The paper monster is taking over... the laundry monster is taking over... the toy bomb monster is taking over... the dust bunnies are reproducing like... well, rabbits!

As much as I'd like to throw in the towel and surrender waiving the white flag of defeat, I won't.

I haven't been able to make any of my Mom's League Playdates because of conflicts or sick/tired/fussy baby. I haven't made MOPS this year at all because of scheduling conflicts and today -- a sick/tired/fussy/teething baby. Sigh.

I'm not having a pity party... don't confuse this vent session... it's just sometimes it's good to keep it real with everyone that I can keep it together enough to get what needs to be done... DONE but anymore than that and I'm just... DONE!

Today, I'm done.

I'm going to dust myself off and start over this afternoon. Start organizing one place at a time. Get laundry done one load at a time. Spend a little time here and there to get this paper beast tamed once and for all and then... maintain! Amazing how a freakin week of snow days can throw your ENTIRE LIFE INTO UPHEAVAL!