My Darling Joella..

Every day I look at you.. and I am amazed. I am amazed and frustrated, and envious and terrified. I fear my heart may burst with all of the emotions you evoke. Everything in your world is beautiful and funny and exciting. You run at life head on, with no fear, pushing your limits and eager for your next adventure or challenge. I hope and pray that no one ever scares you enough to shatter that courage. But if that does happen, I pray that you may find your voice and speak out against the wrongs done to you.. that you may pick yourself up, put yourself back together, and bravely move forward.
When you climb on furniture or run down the driveway to the street, I want to pull you back, to hold you tight, and protect you. I want to hold you back, to keep you to myself, just as you are. I might go so far as to point out that no one else is doing such things, and wonder what put the idea in your little head? But I know it doesn't matter to you. What those around you are doing is of little consequence, you truly march to your own beat. The world is your playground and everything in it is a new experience waiting to be devoured. And I smile knowing you have a mind of your own and you will go your own way, forge a new path. I admire your ingenuity and creativity.
Many parents have plans or hopes for their children, ideas about who they'd like them to be or how they'd like them to turn out. But I'm not out to mold you or shape you into who I want you to be. I want you to be you! And I delight in learning more about you each day. Your growing vocabulary and your new found ways of communicating surprise me everyday, and my heart aches as I watch you grow up right before my eyes. I can't wait to see the young woman you become! Watching you discover yourself and who you are is a privilege I wouldn't trade for anything in the world. I realize you won't always want me along for that ride, and that's okay. You are your own person, don't ever let anyone tell you differently. But please know that I will always be here to catch you when you fall and help you get back on your feet.
As you lavish your innocent love and affection on those close to you, I am in awe of how freely you dispense it. I yearn with every ounce of my being to protect you from ever having someone break your trust, betray you, or take advantage of your love.. perverting and twisting it and turning it to pain. But I know that I can't always be there to watch over you and I just hope that, over the years, you can trust me enough to be open and understand that I love you, no matter what. I will be here with an open heart, a welcoming shoulder, and a willing ear. If you ever need to fall apart, I promise to help put you back together.
Your laughter is like music. I step out on the porch in the morning, greeted by the sound of hundreds of birds chirping and chattering, and I can't help but think of you and your darling giggle. Like a lilting melody, sweet and precious. It warms my heart and makes me dizzy and euphoric, I can't help but stop and smile and laugh right along with you. The way you spin and dance and sing songs in your own tongue may not draw an audience but it is enough to make me wish I could dance and sing with you. But grown-ups have little knowledge or understanding of your world. To be so tiny again and free from the weight of adult responsibility upon you seems unfathomable at times. It is so beautiful to watch. The magic and mystery of childhood still fresh and new. You make me want to be a child again and I do my best not to intrude on your world, preserving it and protecting it from mine. Adulthood and maturity come soon enough and I want you to enjoy your carefree innocence for as long as you desire.
And then come the rare delicious moments when our worlds collide and mingle. Catching fireflies together as the sun sinks low in the sky, sitting in a tent in the backyard just because, tea parties and baby dolls and painting our nails on the back porch. They remind me that our bond is growing, they show me we are connected, and I will treasure those moments always.
Watching you play and interact with your siblings is breathtaking. The adoration and curiosity is palpable when you are with them. The way you watch them and communicate with them reminds me that this is the very definition of family. Our bonds are still new and seemingly unbreakable, I pray that they stay that way. This kind of love is what all families should be made of.
The more I get to know you, the more I adore and admire who you are. Your bold and courageous spirit astounds me and I love the way you delight in every new thing in your world! Ever eager to learn new things and explore new ideas, I thrill at the thought of knowing who you are when you are grown. It makes me want to be more like you.

Can we be honest for a minute here?

This is not a happy post, by any means. And normally I would reserve such ramblings for my other blog.. but I just felt compelled to throw this out at the risk of vulnerability. So... yeah.

Sometimes, probably once a month, or maybe more like once a week.. well actually more like several times a day, I get overwhelmed.

The money, the kids, the marriage, the house, the thoughts, my brain.. I just want it to stop. I want it to STOP. Stopitstopitstopitstopitstopit.. What I wouldn't give to have a break, a day or two to not think about any of it, some time to just *breathe*. Relax and breathe, worry free.

And these are the moments when thoughts of suicide seep in. Like cold winter air leaking in under a doorway. You can stuff as many towels as you want against that little crack, but it still finds a way in. Yeah.. I said it. Suicide. But, I'm not that kind of girl. Suicide is selfish. And I care too much about my husband, my children, and my family and friends to do such a thing to them. No matter how many times that voice in my head whispers screams sneaks up on me, trying to convince me that I"m not good enough, that they'd all be better off without me, I won't believe it. Shut up. You're not real, and I'm not going to listen to you. And I fall apart a little more wishing I could make that part of me disappear, make it die. I want to die. But I'm not that kind of girl.

I want to make things right, I want to fix the broken things. But there's so many pieces scattered about that I don't know where to begin. I get overwhelmed. The more I look, the more I hunt for a solution, the more I pray and cry out to God, the more lost I feel. I grasp and cling to any shred of hope that comes along, but as soon as I do it dissolves in my hands, slipping through my fingers like water and tears. And I give up because it's too much. I want it to end. I can't do this anymore, you win. But I'm not that kind of girl.

I could spend my time wanting and wishing for better days, praying for things to change and throwing myself into any effort to work towards that goal. But for what? The more I push, the more I try, the farther and farther away that goal gets, the more it eludes me. And I'm tired. Further soon becomes forever and that distance quickly becomes more than a lifetime. A lifetime of frustration and missed moments and memories that should have been mine, that should have been happy. Is it worth it in the end? Is that what I want? No. I fight it. You can't take my happiness, dammit.. I will win. The fight is hard.. and I want to give up. But, I'm not that kind of girl.

I want joy in the simple things. Contentment in spite of the circumstances. We don't ask for much really.. Just time with the children to watch them grow, to teach them, to give them happy memories and positive examples. Not a childhood full of wishes. Wishes for parents who'd play more, who'd smile more, who weren't so crushed by the responsibility and obligation upon them that they're essentially unavailable. Parents who are shackled to mistakes they've made and can't find freedom from. And I fall apart a little more realizing I can't give my children these things and that voice is back, taunting me, You're no good, they'd be better off without you. But I won't listen. Go away. And as badly as I want to be free from all this, I'm not that kind of girl.

Life is out of control. It has been out of control for a long time, and I don't know how to fix it. The more we try to fix it, the more out of control it gets. And while some of the problems along the way were certainly due to our own irresponsibility, that amount pales in comparison to those that are just from 'bad luck'. I don't think that my life is horrible or miserable. It's not. Not at all. And compared to many, we are very rich.. we are privileged. But this isn't a game of comparison or who's better off than who.. It's simply a matter of feeling that my life is passing me by and so much of that feeling is born from something so much deeper than financial problems or having so many children to look after.. because it started so long ago. Can you hear me? Are you even listening? And I'm tired. I'm tired of being on the outside looking in. I'm tired of watching my life pass me by. I don't like sitting on the bank of the river, watching it flow past me.. I want to jump in and swim. I want to swim without feeling like I might drown. I don't like where I'm sitting, it hurts, and I don't want to do it anymore. But I'm not that kind of girl.

Why yes, I am depressed. Thanks for noticing.

Sometimes people seem to have it all together, but in reality they don't. So be careful little mouths, what you say. You don't know what is going on inside another person's mind, another person's heart. There may be a struggle going on so big and so deep that it is beyond your comprehension. And you may say something so small, but it might just be enough. I've had enough.. have you had enough yet? Some of us are very good at hiding our pain and keeping it secret. Why pollute other people's lives with unnecessary sorrow and heartache? It's bad enough we have to carry it, why should anyone else? I want to break free. But, I'm not that kind of girl.

Could I give it to God? Could I just let go and let Him carry my burdens? Yes, I can. Why do you think I'm still alive? How do you think I've made it this far? But it's hard. It's hard to trust Him when things don't ever seem to get better. Please, God. Don't give up on me. And some days? I just want to go outside and scream at the sky Where are You!? But I don't. Because this is life, and I'm living it. And I know where He is.. He's right here with me, carrying me when I'm too weak to stand.

I just wish I could stand on my own more often. I wish I didn't fall so much. Fall down. Fall apart. Fall into darkness.. You're so weak, you're no good. I want to silence the voices. You are so wrong, I won't listen. And I long for the light. But, I'm not that kind of girl. And thank God, for that.

BlogHer09 - Wieners and boobs and burgers, oh my!

Saturday morning we got up. We brushed our teeth with a Muskrat.

Good dental hygiene is important at such events!

We didn't have the snazzy free breakfast since we sold our tickets.. so we had to fend for ourselves. Dunkin Donuts it is!

The coffee was way hot.. the food was burnt.. AWESOME.

We made our way to the registration station so that Aman could transfer his Lobbycon ticket to my name. We went to the table outside the Chi-Bar, where Lobbycon was taking place, and they told us we needed to go to the main registration table upstairs. So we did. And they sent us back. It was rad.

So, he got his ticket transferred, kissed me goodbye, and trotted off into the Windy City while I got cozy with a leather love seat.

Lobbycon was awesome. Okay. Not really. I actually took the time to pull out my phone and send a message to Twitter stating that Lobbycon was so exciting I was having a really easy time staying awake and wasn't tempted at all to take a nap.

That's not the leather love seat.. that's me staring at the schedule. Which I did so awesomely that babyjidesign.com wanted to take my picture!

So after my snooze, I got up and wandered around, went pee (in the bathroom! sheesh..), rode up and down the escalators, texted Aman, stared at the schedule... It was all very exciting. Then I decided to to walk through the vendor's room or whatever they call the room with the big shiny things and people giving you free shit. I did my best to walk fast and not make eye-contact, only getting distracted by the laundry fairies at the ALL booth.. what? they had chocolate!

It was nearly lunch time by then, so I went up to wait for Aman in the lobby.

Everyone seemed to be busy with... stuff. So we went back to the hotel room for a bit and then wandered down to the Navy Pier for lunch.

We were tourists.. and stuff.

We have a place here in Des Moines where we like to get 'Chicago Dogs'. They are tasty. So we thought, why not get a real Chicago dog? Well, the Navy Pier probably wasn't the best place to get one.. being a big tourist attraction and all.. but we gave it a shot. And they weren't bad at all. I, of course, did not get a Chicago dog, I got a New York dog. But, whatever.

We did not get our hot dogs here.
I have my own Wiener Man, thankyouverymuch..
Lunch! They had curly fries. Yum.
Boobs and wieners. A match made in heaven.. or Chicago anyway.
and, yes, my boobs weren't the only nice thing to look at.

After lunch, we headed back to the hotel again and Aman showed me what he had been up to. Despite what BJHenry had told me, he was not out 'wife shopping' but rather 'shopping for his wife'. Not that it caused any confusion or anything.. *ahem*. My wonderful husband had spent his morning finding me a dress and shoes and tops and such.. just because. Well.. mostly because he couldn't find himself some shoes, but I suppose I'll forgive him. Leaving behind anything we didn't need, we headed back over to the Sheraton to see if we could fine our dear friend TwentyFourAtHeart who we'd been missing thus far and hoping to meet soon. No dice. Instead, we sat on a love seat in the rather crowded lobby and I tried to make myself disappear into my husband's chest. I was socially overwhelmed by this point and ready to go back to our room and crawl under the covers (or into the little fridge full of liquor.. but whatever.). But, Neil from Citizen of the Month would be having his session soon and Aman promised to help me sneak in.

I didn't have to sneak in. Along came Mary Anne, the Stiletto Mom and she let me borrow her badge so I could attend.. and as soon as she handed it to me? NakedJen stripped. It was awesome.. and akward. But that's okay.

I enjoyed Neil's session very much.. especially since I finally found TwentyFour there. I also had the pleasure of running into this nice fellow again and getting a picture together!

Have you met my new friend Karl? Because he is awesome!

Then it was time for the closing keynote.. We went back to the hotel to change for dinner and decided to just go back and chill in the lobby until it was time to head off to eat. This plan actually worked quite well. We even went to the cocktail party for a little bit.. but mostly to collect Neil for dinner.

Not that we ate Neil for dinner.. But rather he joined us, and TwentyFour, for dinner. Yeah.

Dinner Saturday was one of the best parts of our weekend. Despite the fact that we headed off in search of pizza and ended up with pasta, it was nice to get out with just these two good friends and not have the hustle and bustle of the crowds and shmoozing around us. It was so enjoyable, in fact, that we were quite late for BowlHer and decided to fore go it in favor of CheeseburgHer. Are you confused yet? Yeah. Well, we were just a little bummed that Aman and a few other of our tweeps didn't get to have PokeHer this year. For real.

And CheeseburgHer? Was like this..

Like... literally.

I did manage to meet Amy from TasteLikeCrazy before hand, another person we'd managed to miss most of the weekend, so that was awesome. But we stayed at the party just long enough to grab some wine and then made our way down and out to the patio along the river.

A very nice night to walk along the river.
Especially since I got to do so with TwentyFour.

We spent some more time in the Chi-Bar that night, since that's just what you do there apparently. Lots of laughs with awesome people and plenty of drinks to go around. Again, we headed back to our hotel around 2am.. without Mr. Muskrat..

TO BE CONTINUED...

BlogHer09 - a day late and a dollar short..

Why, yes.. I did go to BlogHer09!

Aman and I bought our tickets to BlogHer09 in Chicago back in February. He had some extra work lined up between then and July that was supposed to be wrapped up and paid up before our departure, so we had no worries.

Not exactly how things unfolded...

Once we realized we would indeed not be getting any checks for the work he's done over the past several months before going (or at least not any checks that were good.. *ahem*), we went ahead and sold his ticket. Luckily, my friend Father Muskrat had recently decided to attend as well and was looking for a ticket to trade up from his Lobbycon pass... and was also looking for a room. We made arrangements with him and he joined our room and exchanged his Lobbycon pass for Aman's weekend pass.

We were scheduled to pick up a rental vehicle to drive the kids down to my parents' in Keokuk and then go along our way to Chicago, because.. you know, we don't have a car. Which we're quite accustomed to now, and don't really mind much at all. We knew that we didn't have the full amount in the bank for the car, but normally rental places don't charge you for it until you return the vehicle.. Not the case this time.

We were unable to secure a vehicle.. and thus, our plans began to unravel. As we grasped desperately at the string and tried to keep things from dissolving completely, we announced on Twitter that I was now selling my ticket.. and perhaps also the Lobbycon pass. We figured, since we could get a van on Friday we'd at least drive over for the parties and the second half of the conference. Better late than never, right?

I sold my ticket to Danielle, the creator of the Celebrity Baby Blog and, in the end, decided to keep my Lobbycon pass so that I could at least catch a little of the conference and take advantage of the vendor access. Not that I did. But whatever.

We picked up the van as early as we could on Friday morning, with the help of Mr. Kelly (thanks, Mr Kelly!), and were on our way to Keokuk. Surprisingly, our trip to Keokuk was uneventful.. aside from having to convince the boys to pee on the side of the road because, HELLO, we're driving in Iowa and there's not that many truck stops or gas stations to be found. There are, however, a LOT of cornfields.. and bean fields.. and gravel for little boys to pee in.

I'm totally going to have to get some Go-Girls when my daughters are out of diapers.

And no, I did not get a Go-Girl at BlogHer. Apparently, I'm just. not. that. cool.

We dumped our kids at my parents' house around lunchtime, snuck out the back door, and grabbed some McDonald's on our way out of town. We were on our way to Chicago! Woohoo!!

I totally made the comment as we crossed the river into Illinois that "At least we'll be driving in Illinois now.. so we'll have more to see than endless cornfields!"

Right.

"Oh, look hon... another cornfield." Only Illinois is much flatter, so you don't get to see all the cool farmhouses and barns like you do in Iowa. Bummer.

We stopped in La Salle, which is about halfway between Iowa City and Chicago (and the majority of you are now saying.. 'um... okay. so?') at the Flying J truck stop (and if you're not from the Midwest, you probably have no idea what that is..), where my Vibram 5 Finger shoes were a huge hit. I mean, lady in the bathroom who stopped her husband in the hall and pointed at me and also everyone else in the checkout line hit. I don't even know if they noticed my hair, they were busy looking at my shoes. Heh.

We finally approached Chicago around 7pm. From a distance, it looked a little like Des Moines.. only bigger, taller, and a lot grayer.

Seriously, from that distance, you can see the Des Moines skyline clearly.

We drove around for a while.. you know because we got lost just for fun. And after circling our hotel like 3 times, Aman called them (because I was too chicken. I made him drive in a strange place AND get directions over the phone.. am awesome.) to figure out how the heck we were supposed to get to their front door. And, when we got to the front door? We turned around and drove off to find a parking garage to stow our vehicle in so that we could pay $30/24hrs instead of $52/24hrs. Yeah.

We lugged our luggage (cause that's what you're supposed to do with it.. duh.) up to our hotel room, and I may have peed my pants a little when I looked out the window.

"Okay, we saw Chicago. We can go home now, right?"

Aman sat down and pulled out the laptop, hoping to get online and figure out the who, what, where, and when for the evening.. Only the promised 'free wi-fi' didn't actually exist. It was even more mythical than unicorns.. but not as mythical as The Bloggess.

I love hotel beds.. so squishy and comfy. Forget parties! Let's nap..

So, we decided to hoof it over to the Sheraton across the street and see who we could find and what we could find out.. We ended up having dinner with these fine folks.. and then some.

I stole this from BJ Henry, and yes, Undomestic Diva is groping herself. Brittany and I just turned away and let her have at it..
More less than mythical creatures (Avitable, Backpackingdad, and Redneckmommy).. I totally forgot to have Redneckmommy sign my boob, but she did agree to. I'm totally going to take her up on it next time. Oh, and that's not so much a 'Hey there's a cool chick over there.' point as it is a 'Hey there's another camera pointed at us.' point. So there.

After dinner was the MamaPopRocks! party and it was promised to be magical. It was totally magical. Almost as magical as Joset from Halushki recognizing me at the door and giving me the go ahead without checking her list.. but not as magical as my shoes breaking on the way back to the Sheraton.

First stop? The liquid courage table.

Hello, Templeton Rye guy! Will you be my new best friend??

The party was big, sparkly, loud, and full of people that were made of awesome. I met so many rad bloggers that I've gotten to know over the past year or so that I was quite overwhelmed by the end of the night! Aman and I were quite humbled and honored to have several people come up to US and be excited to meet us! Trust me the feeling was mutual. People like BusyDad, and Palinode, and Schmutzie, and MsBanshee, and Miss Grace, and Angry Julie, and Neil, and.. I could go on and on.

And there was silliness.

Yes, they are on the phone with each other. What? it was loud!
I got licked. AND she let me touch that piece of awesomeness on her back. YES.
I told you.. this table? The place to be.

Also? we were too excited to get our camera under control. Yeah. Parties are not so great for taking awesome pictures.We did manage to get a few decent shots though..

Massacred unicorn rump..
She was kind enough to kiss me before licking me.
The elusive Muskrat dancing with Miss Britt.. seriously, you'd think we'd have seen more of each other since we were rooming together!
Becky, Childsplayx2, and BJHenry.. I promise, this isn't how the rumors started..
Awesome people boogie down.

But, everyone knows, that when the party is 'over' it's really just beginning. Several of us went over to the Chi-Bar in the hotel and shmoozed and boozed some more. It was awesome to hang out with Angry Julie, Lex, EmmieJ, and BJ some more. Totally cool people!

Californians seem to think we're pretty cool.

We made our way back to our room around 2am and crawled into bed, making note of the fact that apparently Muskrats are nocturnal or something.. Thus ending the first day of BlogHer.

TO BE CONTINUED...

How I'm Surviving Being a Mom of 5 Without Murdering Someone

Lots of sex.

What?

How do you think all these kids got here??

Yep, we're talking sex today, folks. I recently read an article that caught my eye in the SexIs online magazine produced by EdenFantasys regarding the much sought after 'female orgasm'.. more on that later (hopefully in a less run-on fashion)..

Seriously though, I find it sad that so many people don't make their sex lives as much of a priority once they become parents. Believe me when I say that I know how difficult it can be to make time/energy/effort to get each other in the mood, get yourself in the mood, and be capable of doing the deed.. but is it not worth it?

As they say, sex is like pizza.. even when it's bad, it's still good!

But there's more to sex than just good or bad, fun or chore, work or play.. it has benefits. As in, health benefits! Sex is good for you, both mentally and physically.

Here are some examples:

• relieves stress. who doesn't need less stress?
  
• boosts your immune system. even just once or twice a week can help your body produce more immunoglobulin A!
  
• burns calories. I know I have extra calories to burn..
  
• improves cardiovascular health. yep, all that huffin' and puffin' does a body good..
  
• boosts self-esteem. who doesn't want to feel better about themselves?
  
• improves intimacy. lets get that oxytocin flowing!
  
• reduces pain. hooray for endorphins!
  
• reduces prostate cancer risk. and cancer sucks.
  
• strengthens pelvic floor muscles. better than kegels!
  
• helps you sleep better. come on.. as parents, we all need better sleep, right?

Now, on occasion, I do hear women answer the question "Isn't it worth it?" with a "No." or "Not really, I'd rather just go to sleep."

It makes me wonder. Are they just not satisfied with their sex lives? If they're not, they should find a way to improve it. Because, sex is important! It's part of who we are.. it's how God made us.

Now, it's becoming more widely known that not all women are 'orgasmic'. Meaning, not all women have orgasms. When asked if they do, women give a variety of responses ranging from 'I can't.' or 'Hardly ever.' to 'I'm not sure.' and 'Yes, definitely!'.

I think it's wonderful that, despite the over abundant mingling of sex and culture, people are opening up more and realizing that a healthy sex life is indeed important. Even in more religious circles, I have noticed that women are more willing to open up to each other and discuss more intimate details to help better their lives in the bedroom. However, I have noticed that a lot of the discussion among women tends to be how to better please her man. And, while I am all for being all you can be in the bedroom, what about you, ladies?? Are you satisfied? Because that should be a priority too, just ask your man. I'm sure he'd agree.

There are a lot of things that are not covered in sex education these days. And while I don't think that everything needs to be covered when teaching our teens about sex, I do think that 1) they need more practical information than they are getting and 2) there needs to be resources for people who do want to find out more about the nuts and bolts of getting it on.

I personally have found the SexIs site interesting, informative, and even funny. Because when you really stop to think about it.. sex is very funny. Another good resource I have enjoyed is TheMarriageBed - for those who might still be feeling shy and would like a Christian perspective on sex and intimacy. So go, read, learn, and then get busy! It's good for you.

Random Tuesday Thoughts - catheters and boils and fevers, oh my!

I like starting the week on a Tuesday. It gives me a chance to clear my mind right out of the gate. Thank you, Keely (go check her out, she's responsible for this nonsense).. but maybe it should be Random Monday Meanderings?? Hmm. Doesn't have the same ring though, does it..

Forgive me if I'm behind, I've hardly been online since Friday. What'd I miss?

So Friday night, all the kids were in bed, and Aman and I snuggled up on the couch to watch a movie. It was around 10 that Baby Jo woke up the first time. She was hot (no, not that kind of hot.. you pervs.), but I didn't think much of it since she was wearing a blanket sleeper and the house was fairly warm. I changed her pajamas and Aman rocked her back to sleep. She woke up again when he tried to put her down and she didn't seem to be cooling off at all. We gave her some Tylenol and rocked her to sleep again. This time she woke about an hour later, as our movie was ending. So I went upstairs and took her to bed with me. We barely got any sleep. Aside from the fact that it was like sleeping up against a space heater, she also did little more than roll back and forth, kick, and cry all night long. We got up the next morning and she was obviously rather ill. So I took her temperature and found it was 102.9 (which was actually 103.9 since it was taken under her arm). I gave her some more medicine and we called the doctor.

Aman was rather unhappy and informed me that he'd made plans with Lisa for just us girls to go out for lunch. Very sweet of him, but I wasn't about to leave my baby until I knew what was wrong. Instead, Lisa and I had a date at the local children's ER. Awesome.

Joella was fine. The doctor checked her over and couldn't find anything wrong with her, so they decided to rule out a urinary tract infection by getting a urine sample. With a catheter. How fun.

No urinary tract infection. (Unless they call me today and tell me otherwise.)

Since there was nothing more to be done.. I mooched a bit more off Lisa and had her drive me to Walgreens for ice pops and the gas station to get gas for the mower, joking that if Aman didn't get the lawn done this weekend, we'd surely have the county after us to do it. It was turning into a jungle.

We dropped off the goods, and headed out to lunch at Joe's Crab Shack.

We had a lovely time, lunch, shopping at Best Buy.. then it came time to head home. We were within a mile from Lisa's house and her car (which we knew was on it's last legs.. wheels?) started making a HORRIBLE noise.

Awesome.

Then? She got pulled over. Why? Her recently expired tags.

Awesome.

We waited patiently for the nice man in the blue uniform to give her a lovely ticket and then prayed that we could get the car the rest of the way home.. we may or may not have attempted a faith healing and an exorcism along the way.. I'm not sure. Just saying.

A distant rumble of thunder greeted us when we made it to her house, just barely, and I hopped on her computer to check out the bus schedule and find my ride home while she shared the good news with her husband.

I prepared to make my exit and jokingly said "Wonder if I'll get rained on.. knowing my luck, I bet I will."

I did.

I arrived home, a little soggy, and grabbed the mail on my way in. Jo was in pretty much the same condition I had left her in and I walked over to kiss my husband and handed him the cd and dvds I had purchased for him.. along with the letter from the county saying our yard needed a trim.

Awesome.

Sunday was much better.

Joella's fever was gone, and she was back to her usual trouble making self. I set up the water toys after Aman mowed one side of the lawn and kicked the kids outside to play while I cleaned up my ridiculously dirty house and did eleventybillion loads of laundry and dishes.. Only I didn't get the laundry done and only managed one load of dishes.

But the floors are clean(er).

Monday wasn't bad. The lawn was mowed, the house was clean(er), the baby was back to normal.. and the buses weren't running.. and we hadn't had a chance to go to the store yet.

We got everyone's socks and shoes on and walked up to the store to do the grocery shopping. We managed to beat the rain, which was nice, but Aman was supposed to be working on a project that needed to be done Monday night.. and he'd had little time to work on it all weekend. Nice.

But we got food.

Monday afternoon, I noticed my inner thigh was hurting. At first I though perhaps that I just had some chafing from walking to the store on a warm day in jeans.. but no. I checked it out and thought to myself What the hell is that?? Not so sure.. So I went to show Aman, who never argues about me pulling my pants down in front of him.. and we concluded that it might be a boil. One thing left to do! Look up pictures of skin boils on the internet.

Awesome.

It was a boil. I took care of it. It's pretty much gone now (I say that knowing full well that rather than thinking 'Oh dear, are you okay?' you're actually thinking 'Oh jeez.. why did you tell me that?? Ew!' you're welcome and thank you for your concern.).

What a perfect ending to an awesome three day weekend!

How was yours?

Random Tuesday Thoughts: Procrastination Station

All week long, whenever funny little things happen, I think to myself "I should put that in my Random Tuesday post.." But you know what? Come Tuesday, I forget everything. Yeah.

So Aman shaved his head the other day. He likes to keep it shaved.. says something about it making him more aerodynamic.. I think he's just trying to hide the fact that he's going bald from me. I don't really know though, he hasn't let his hair get long enough for me to see.

When he was done, he put a longer attachment on the trimmer and, bringing it to his face, announced "Are you ready? Now is the moment you've been waiting for.."

I held my breath, watching as the buzzer neared the top of one of his sideburns.. and went right past it.

He shaved his eyebrows.

They're much less bushy.

We went to my parents over the weekend. They were in a play at their local theater - My Fair Lady. I'll blog more about that another day.. too many awesome pictures and videos for it to be in this post.

Notice I did not do my Operation: Hot Chick post yesterday? No? Good.

Really though, I still haven't lost weight. I'm obviously looking better and have burned some fat and gained some muscle.. but the scale is broken. It seems to be stuck. Whatever. I'll post that next week.

I've been getting a lot of headaches lately.. I'm starting to wonder if it's a tumor. But it's more likely just due to my lack of water and irregular caffeine consumtion.. and sleep deprivation.

You know those cats we had that were causing all the trouble? The ones that cleverly designed Mont Chat Merde? and were creating inbred kittens?? Yeah.. they're gone. We finally dropped them off at the ARL. Kelly is the queen kitty once again and is living it up.

I wanted to add some pictures to this post, but Eliana was bitching at me the whole time I was transferring them to the main computer. She really wanted to watch Noggin.. so I didn't bother uploading any pictures. Later.

I'm not a procrastinator... really.

Apparently I need to clean out our vents more often. Ellie was messing with the one at the bottom of the stairs yesterday and when I stopped her, I noticed some stuff in it. So I reached in and pulled some out.. and then some more.. and then some more.. I took a picture when I was done.. just for you. You're welcome. (I will add the picture in a bit.. must hi-jack the computer from the Noggin addict again..)

I'm not real sure why.. but Kieran always feels the need to sit around and blabber at me. Right now, I'm in Aman's Lair and KJ has followed me up here, using my cat as a guise for his blabbermania.. he's talking about anything and everything that he can think of - cats, the rental van we had, the weather today.. He should do his own Random Tuesday Thoughts post..

Since I haven't done Favorite Music Friday in a while (my blog says that 'favorite' should be spelled 'favourite'.. seems my own blog has gone all Canadian on me.), here's some Relient K for you. I couldn't post the official video because they have disabled embedding.. but whatever. This acoustic one is cool too.

Go check out my Joe's Crab Shack giveaway!
Then go visit Keely, The Un-Mom. She's awesome.

Operation Hot Chick - Week 3

I'm a failure.

No really.

But I blame my Wii.

It's still broken.

Yeah, the Wii still doesn't work. I'm not real happy about that. I really liked the My Fitness Coach game. As a matter of fact, I didn't realize just how much I liked it until I started trying to find a replacement. I tried the Fitness Magazine build your own video thing.. but it just wasn't doing it for me. I need something that gets my heart rate going, and that one just made my muscles hurt, along with all the other videos on their site. After that, I figured I would have to cave and just get myself a workout DVD. I figured, 'Hey, we have an Amazon UnBox account set up.. and I have this wonderful $5 giftcard awarded to me from the fine people administering the ABNA contest.. I might as well put it to good use, right?' Right.

Sadly, Amazon UnBox (a program that sells digital copies for renting or purchasing and downloading) didn't quite have what I was looking for.. no matter. I found what I needed in their regular store. But I waited.. I figured, 'Hey, I can always get something at the store and then I don't have to wait for it to ship!'

Target has a LAME selection of workout DVDs. Just saying.


That's okay, I can still go back to Scamazon.. I mean Amazon.

I did manage to find this little gem though..

Ballywood Booty, here I come!

I figured, why not? It would give me something to do while my Kung Fu Kickboxing and Kickboxing for Dummies DVDs are shipping.. and it will be fun for J to watch me do! It's a win win really.



************************************************************


Stats
Starting Weight: 160lb
Current Weight: 161lb (I seriously considered lying about this.. what has become of me..)
Weight Loss Goal: 30lb

Operation World Domination

I had planned on posting about our date night last weekend.. But by the time I got all the pictures and what not uploaded, my kids needed my attention more than my blog did. So here is a brief pictorial update from the ChurchPunkHouse instead...

In honor of J's beard turning 1 year old on Tuesday, one of his co-workers presented this picture (for those of you who've been with me a while, you may remember it from Dress Like J Day and my appreciation for senior humor) .

He still hasn't decided exactly what he's going to do now.. The last three days, however, nothing has changed. Same Uniform, same enormous mass of fuzz protruding from his face.. same plans for World Domination...

*Sigh.*



Aidan is thinking this World Domination thing may not be his cup of tea after all.. He's finding it a bit frustrating, to be honest.









This makes Jo giggle.. a lot. She thinks Aidan is a sissy and works very hard at achieving her father's dream. She wants to make J proud.. Such a Daddy's Girl.






World Domination... Exhausting work. Right Torrin?







Kieran is sure thinks he has it all figured out though. I'm not sure what he's got up his sleeve, but he gave me a shopping list the other day that I could barely read and mumbled something about fruit loops, bacon salt, and duct tape.. oh, and marshmallows.. lots and lots of marshmallows.. Hmmm...





As far as Eliana is concerned.. Well, we just try our best to keep her happy. Sometimes, I swear, that girl is just not right. She seems a bit.. off.

But don't worry too much about Aidan.. He still thinks his dad is "AWESOME!!"