The Shores of Sanity

As the new year draws near...I sense the closeness, the within reach, the opportunity to have sanity back in our lives!
Sanity, order, lists. organization, and yes our routine. They are all within my reach and I can not wait for the calm and serenity of the boredom sanity brings.

I don't know about you, but I could use a bit of boredom in my life about now. Let Spring bring with it the chaos of new. Until then, I will be cleaning, organizing, and relaxing with the boredom!

Happy New Year to everyone, may yours be safe and joyful!

Insanity, Chaos, And Fatigue- Are they making me crazy?

Insanity, chaos, and fatigue oh my!

Albert Einstein was quoted saying, "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results".

Buddha was quoted saying, "chaos is inherent in all compounded things. Strive on with diligence".

Benjamin Franklin was quoted saying, "fatigue is the best pillow".

In my day to day routine of doing the same things over and over and hoping for a better outcome combined with the chaos of the unplanned, unwanted, and the daily good surprises, brings forward change in all results, which of course causes sever fatigue.

I can't say I would have it any other way. Am I crazy? Maybe a little bit. My kids are loud, they make mess after mess after mess, which I walk around picking up and pointing out to them as I clean it up. That's a little crazy. It would make more sense to point it out and have them clean it up, I know. I am in a constant state of "shhhhh" to my children. "Shhhh, the baby is sleeping, your father is working, your father is sleeping, I can't hear my own thoughts, please be quiet". Yet when the house is quiet I can't sleep or concentrate. That's a little crazy.

The chaos from our last 2 weeks was definitely crazy. We topped it off today with a trip to the Dr's office after my husband had his appointment and came out of it with a Strep Throat diagnosis. So I took them all in. We all have sore throats, so lets just get this over with. I think it made our doctor a little crazy, too.

So with a sanitized, tea tree oil and peppermint oil treated house, antibiotics for everyone, and a lack of sleep I go into this next weekend with my head held high. I will complete everything to do on my list. I will get my house back into an organized manner. How and why will I do all this? Easy, our life is awesome.

Our life is awesome. Just saying it makes me feel better. You should say it a few times. Why is our life awesome? We have security, love, comfort, and health. We are always cutting things close on money (duh, we have 5 kids and I am a stay at home mom-that's normal unless you are rich), but my husband has a good job, we have a nice house, our children are wonderful (even though they are brats because they are going through that teen stage), our marriage is happy and strong, and even though we have health issues, we are healthy. How can you not have all of this and see it as anything but awesome?

We all have our daily challenges and issues, but through them all we have what is truly important. I wish for you and your families a wonderful, safe, and happy new year! Be awesome thru the insanity, chaos, and fatigue, a maybe a little bit crazy. Its fun!

Chaos Anyone?

It seems that no matter how much planning and preparing I do for times such as these Chaos will find me and challenge me to a dual. Well you fought well Chaos, you lead a surprise attack on the eve of Christmas Eve,, you held your ground, and for a while there I did think you were going to pull off the win. However, I am strong, I am organized, I am fearless (until I am done anyway), I have the gift of power, and I have an incredible husband on my side! Not today Chaos, not today!

I decided to double the batch of fudge. I had all the ingredients ready, lined up, measured out and my stand mixer ready to go. I could do this. After all since the humidity here is so high I had decided to use a Tablespoon of corn syrup and not risk the "sugaring" of my fudge. I was ready. I began the process. I chatted with my husband as he kept our two year old son away from the hot mixture on the stove. And just as the boiling began a frantic child ran into the kitchen wearing her bath towel in total hysterics.

I love my children. And let me tell you before we get into all this, I am a clean freak! I hate going to bed with dirty dishes in the sink, I steam our kitchen floors often (because my son insists on eating whatever he drops on them), there is no food or drink aloud outside of the kitchen (and I am huge on this one, I go crazy when the border is breached), my children are not aloud to wear the same clothes two days in a row (no matter how hard they try), I even get irritated when they don't wear pj's to bed (it isn't good for your clothes), I change my children's sheets often, and I bully my children to bath if they have gone more than 2 days without a shower (I don't care if it's vacation and all you've done is sleep). So the residents of my house have no choice but to be clean. The problem is that for the majority of children who have the issue we had last night, it isn't about being clean. It is about contact with the wrong person.

So back to the hysterics. My daughter says I have to talk to mom...so I ask my husband to stir the sugar cooking that will be fudge. I casually walk over to my beautiful daughter and say yes? The tears start to stream, she is a mess and can barely get the words out. But she manages and the 7 words every mother in the world fears come out of her mouth, "Mom, I have bugs in my hair"!

Oh, CRAP! Maybe she is wrong, let me see honey, turn around. Deep breath. Nope, she is right. A full blown case of Head Lice, on the eve of Christmas Eve!

The orders are being directed now, they may be polite orders, but they are orders! I sent her back to the shower, continue washing your hair in as hot of water as you can stand. Husband, "Honey please go to CVS and get at least 3 Lice kits and a heavy duty lice comb. I know the kits come with one, but since our girls all have very long hair, we need the heavy duty metal kind. And please make sure that there is the disinfecting spray in the kits, otherwise get 2 or 3 of them as well. Done...husband grabs keys and is out the door.

Now I have 2 more minutes of stirring and the sugar mixture is ready for mixing into fudge. I am not going to waste a double batch just because utter chaos has hit my home. So I finish the fudge, it only took me 5-6 minutes. Fudge in pan, counters a mess, I grab the olive oil and I am off to the bathroom.

So I learned over 13 years ago that olive oil when used properly can help get rid of lice. That's the last time I had to deal with this, 13 years ago!!!So I coat my daughters long hair in olive oil as she is standing naked in the warm shower. She is really freaking out now because you can see the adults that are going down the drain. After her hair is coated, an entire bottle, I covered her head with saran wrap and she stood there while my husband continued his trip to the pharmacy. Meanwhile, as she is standing helpless in the shower, I make every other child in the house come to me and check their hair. I was just sure that there was no way one of them could have a full blown case without another having it too. Nothing so far, and my head starts to itch like crazy! I couldn't tell if I had the heebie jeebies or if I had it too. Nope, no freaking out. Deep breathes!

The husband comes in with exactly what I asked for (he really is a wonderful man, definitely a keeper). So with comb in hand I thoroughly check every child in the house and Christmas miracle...no one else has it! Although the supplies not including the olive oil was over 75$! Then I check myself with the comb. Oh thank you lord! I don't have it either. I still don't get how she is the only one with it, but I have more important things to do.

So we wash out the olive oil with hot water and shampoo. Did I mention that my daughter was freaking out? Well now it was worse, because olive oil does work wonders (although I wouldn't trust in it to do the whole trick, but it does condition the hair and scalp well for the poison to come). I would say that after the olive oil and regular shampoo 99% of the adults were gone. So then she sat on the toilet while I blew dried her hair. The medicated shampoo is to be applied to dry hair, and I am in no way going to stray from the exact directions. Shampoo applied. She sits there helplessly.

Meanwhile, the beds in the house are being stripped into black bags. Everything! Spray is being applied to furniture and beds. I start the sanitation process in the laundry (I am so glad we got that washer and dryer set with the sanitize setting). And then I decided to treat the daughter in my house with more hair than three of us put together with olive oil. Just to be on the safe side. Her hair is almost to her butt. So I get that on her hair, manage to clip it up, and put it under a shower cap.

Back to the poor girl sitting on the toilet with her hair covered in medicated shampoo, we wash it out. There is much less chaos as she has calmed down. She at one point was worried her sisters would embarrass her by telling friends she had lice. I told her I would keep that from happening, if they told anyone we would spread the rumor that they all had it. And finally, I got my first smile of the night from her.

We finished the showering (I checked my hair probably 5-7 times throughout this) and she got to put on jammies. We went downstairs, sat in the comfy chair, and applied the gel to kill and strip nits and began the painful scraping combing of the hair. All of it. Strand by strand, section by section. Then she had to go upstairs and rinse her hair again. She decided to lean over the bathtub instead of getting in. Can't say that I blame her after about an hour and a half in the shower earlier.

Then I did my freaking out...checking bedding, stripping my clothes, respraying everything, sending the vacuum from room to room. Checking my hair again, checking the other children's hair again, oh and letting the olive oil soaked one finally shower.

Somewhere in the middle of all that my husband cooked dinner. Fed the ones who were not as affected by all this chaos (other than my constant checking of their hair). I love him and can't imagine life without him. Later we retired to our room and began wrapping presents, watched the football game (that was recorded thankfully), and actually relaxed. We even got all the wrapping done! HA!

So Chaos, if was a good fight, but you lost. Until another day my old foe, until another day!

So if you have had a stressful holiday season so far, maybe just maybe this lovely story will help you put things into perspective and feel a bit less stressed. Happy holidays to everyone! (I am now up to about 15-17 times of checking my own hair and really have the heebie jeebies)!

Thankful VS Pissy...

Today was a very long day. So I have a good news and bad news sorta list to vent in my own thankful vs pissy style. Are you ready? Are you sure you are ready? Ok, here we go. Hang on to your diapes babies!

I am so thankful that I got to sleep in this morning! Thank you honey for getting the 3 of 4 kids off to school! That was lovely. I was pissy because my oldest went to school. Hmmm, that doesn't sound right, wait for it.... she had an Endocrinologist appointment today and her high school is 30 minutes away. Although I completely love the fact that she wants to go to school even for just a couple hours, she added 1 more hour of driving to our total driving time of just over 5 hours today (it would have been 4 hours).


I am thankful we have such an incredible endocrinologist for my daughter Macy (she is a Type 1 Diabetic). He has a PA whom my daughter loves (because he has an incredible bedside manner) and the Dr whom we refer to as Dr. Blunt because he doesn't sugar coat anything! (My daughter doesn't like him at all, but I really do and he is incredible). I am pissy because we have to drive just under 2 hours each way to get to their office. Before we moved to our new home they were only 45 minutes away which was nothing, but now the drive is a bit crazy!


I am thankful that my daughter Haley got to meet and spend time with her mom and her brand new baby sister, Lilly. We let her skip school (since its a 2 day week and really all she missed was a class party) since her sister was born on the 16th and we had to drive that way for the Dr's appointment. (We would have gone sooner, but we got our first snow the day she was born and the roads were a mess, some still are). I am pissy because poor Lilly was born 6 weeks early and although she weighed 5lbs 11oz and is doing well, she isn't doing well enough. She had a tacha something issue this morning (heart rate spiked really high and then she corrected it). She may not be my daughter and she may be my husbands ex-wifes baby but she is also my wonderful step-daughters baby sister. Please send positive thoughts, prayers, or whatever your personal belief system uses to help her get healthy and home for Christmas!!!

I am thankful that Haley's little brother Lucas was relatively good while he went with us to Macy's doctor appointment so that Haley and her mom could go spend time at the hospital with Lilly. And Ethan was an absolute angel, waitting and quietly playing with a Mr. Potato Head the entire time. I am pissy because I was stuck in a small room with a 15 year old girl who knew the appointment was going to end with lab work (ie getting her blood drawn), a 4 year old boy who can't stop talking and asking questions, and my 2 year olds son Ethan for over an hour past our appointment time.

I am thankful Macy was so vigilant in her blood sugar testings and remembering to bolus insulin for everything she ate that her A1C level dropped .4 in just 40 days. She had a few ups, but mostly target range sugars with more lows than we are used to to keep us hopping(which bounces the A1C levels around, going low-eat bounce up high). She didn't gain any weight (which is difficult to do when you are bringing your blood sugars down. Your body naturally breaks down your body fat for the stores of insulin in the fat when your blood sugar runs high. So when you are running at the target zone and doing well most people will gain a few pounds. So that means she kept active enough to keep any weight from accumulating) so great job baby! I am proud of you. I am pissy because my baby will be a Type 1 Diabetic for the rest of her life and there is not one damn thing I can do to make it all better.

I am thankful we have such great roadside assistance through USAA. I am pissy because since we were running late for our appointment (after driving 2 hours I was not about to have them tell me they would have to reschedule our appointment) and we got stuck in between not 1, not 2, but 3 big rig trucks controlling the speed in both lanes at 15 mph under the speed limit I pushed things too far. I know I can go quite a ways once the fuel light comes on, I worked for Honda for over 5 years. But I pushed it too far. So after waiting an hour past our appointment time to see the Doctor, having blood drawn, and the backtracking search for Mr. Potato Heads mouth we had to wait another hour in a cold car for fuel to be delivered.

I am thankful we got home safely and well. I exchanged Lucas for Haley (which poor Lucas was very upset about, he wanted his Haley to stay) We ate crappy food on our drive home, which I am neither thankful or pissy for. Ethan fell asleep 2 minutes before we pulled into the restaurant we were going to eat at. And since I believe its a sin to wake a sleeping baby, we managed with drive thru. Well most of us did. We went to KFC, which is Macy's favorite fast crap food. She only gets a bowl. As I explained to Haley that a bowl had mashed potatoes, gravy. chicken, corn, and some shredded cheese she got excited and said oh yum, I want what Macy wants, from now on for everything. This was a bit  of a shotgun reaction that she very quickly took back with full on whiny drama. Which brings me to, I am pissy because I told her what was in those bowls and she wanted one. After 5 minutes of cranky and angry noises from the backseat I finally asked her what was wrong. "I don't like this. Its all together." Yes Haley, its in a bowl. "well you didn't tell me the corn would be mixed in. I don't like it". This was followed by a back and forth routine between Macy and Haley all about the food all going to one place. Its too bad she didn't like it, because it will be awhile until our next fast crap food purchase. I am not a big fan of it.

I am thankful my wonderful husband had a nice relaxing day at home by himself for the first half and then play time together with the twin teens. I am glad there was no fighting and attitude issues. I am pissy because after my day in the car with the 4 children and all its stress, I came home to a house that was a mess. I don't think going into this one is necessary, you get the point.


I am thankful all of my children are respectful, polite (for the most part), and don't bully others. Aside from fighting with each other, our kids are well behaved and good kids. They are loud, opinionated, and quite mouthy at times. But overall they are good kids.I am pissy because for the third time our children have had a problem on their bus. First Jessie was written up by the bus driver for inapporpriate behavior and once everything was worked out, he just assumed it was her that had yelled and thrown whatever it was. So after a long talk between my husband and the vice principal this was taken care of. Then about a month ago Jessie and her friend switched shoes. She was wearing her friends boots, and her friend had Jessies DC skater shoes in her bag (since her last class was PE and she kept her running shoes on) along with binders and notebooks. There was a fight on the bus and during the comotion, her friends bag was stollen. The bus driver was told by the girls, he did nothing. My husband called the school and again with the vice principal was led around in circles and nothing, nothing came of it. Well today a group of very obnoious kids (6-7-8th graders) were squirting lotion all over and thought it was hilarious. Our daughter Toria has very long thick hair and they squirted a large amount of lotion in her hair, against her will of course. The girls have a lot of friends and when one of them saw what happened they told Toria. She was furious, as I am and would have been myself. (although my husband is more angry than we are so he is going to handle it) According to our girls this group of kids is always causing problems and their circle of friends avoid them in a huge way. What is frustrating is that this bus driver is the same driver for our middle school twins and for Haley in elelmentary school. Since day one I listened to him yell (in a bellowing manor) at the kids when they board the bus (from at least 300 yards away). My husband is done with the vice principal, he will be dealing with the principal tomorrow. He called and spoke to the vice principal and made it clear that he considers this a form of assault (not battery but assault, much like spitting on someone is legally assault). The vice principal agreed with him which is a step in the right direction. Tomorrow will be fun. Yay.

And finally I am thankful that I was able to run outside for a moment and catch a glimpse of the lunar eclipse tonight. I didn't think I would be able to because my son is sleeping on me. So I am also thankful for a friend Tony who posted pictures of the eclipse in its stages. I am pissy simply because I would have really enjoyed seeing all of the total lunar eclipse on this full moon winter solstice. But I will get over it...

No matter how many things make me pissy it just doesn't matter because I have:  wonderful friends and family, a caring, sexy, loving husband, incredible children, a warm and comfortable home, and a sense of security that has nothing to do with money but everything to do with the family support and love we have.

Cheers to venting! Enjoy this wonderful Holiday Season!

Santa Baby

I love Santa. Yep, I said it. I believe! Which is one of the reasons I love the movie The Polar Express and the first Santa Claus movie with Tim Allen. In my house Santa is real. Wait, just read on, you'll understand in a minute.

Now I know many people not only don't believe in Santa, but they also frown upon me encouraging my children to believe. Well I have a question for you...

Is the act of giving without expecting or getting anything in return (such as a gift in return or even the "thank you's" and "your so wonderful" personal fulfillment's) a bad thing? Of course not.

My older children (who range from my step-daughter who will be 22 Christmas day, daughters at home ages 15, 13, and 13) love Santa. When they reached the age of question and "hey...!!!" I taught them how much fun it is to be Santa. To give in secret without anything in return. Not only do they love being Santa to their younger siblings (ages 7 and 2), but also to others they don't even know. We have many times bought gifts for less fortunate and they got to be Santa (using their own money and mine as well). And of course there are those not so random acts of kindness to others.

We have the book "The Elf On The Shelf" that we read and "Smidge" our Elf is moved daily by my husband (because he gets up at 4:30 AM). Of course the behavior reinforcement is helpful, but its more of a tradition of fun and giving to believe in Santa.

I have read and researched the history of Santa. I read the information about "lying to your children". Is it a lie? Really? Giving gifts is fun. Giving gifts anonymously is even more fun. If giving gifts isn't fun for you then you should really stop doing it.

When I was 4 years old my Mother told me that Santa's Elves hid the presents for each house in that house to make Christmas easier on Santa. So of course I searched high and low for those presents. My Mother warned me that if the Elves caught me searching for the presents they would be very angry. So I was careful. As I opened the sliding closet door in our hallway, a yard stick fell and scraped the door all the way down which made a horrible sound, I ran screaming to my room! I thought the Elves had caught me. It took me 2 more days, but I found the presents. In hind-sight, I think it took me longer because I avoided the closets, and they were in the top of the guest room closet. True story, by the way.

Did my Mother lie to me? Technically. Am I angry with her for lying? Do I trust her less because of this? NO. I love Christmas, everything about it. Do I understand the original meaning of Christmas (Christianity wise)? Yes. Does it make me a bad Christian for believing in Santa and encouraging my children to believe or be Santa? NO.  (and anyone who has a Christmas tree in their house better not give me any Pagan believing crap over Santa. Because the Christmas Tree has Pagan roots too!)

Anyway, I love Christmas. I love shopping, buying, wrapping, and giving gifts to my friends and family. I love giving more than I love receiving...seriously. I love Christmas baking, decorating, smells, music, and lights. I miss my family and friends so far away in California and wish we could all be together. But most of all, I love the way everyone seems to change during the Christmas season, a little more polite, a little nicer, more generous, and many more smiles than the rest of the year. And I am not talking about the children who are worrying about Santa knowing whether they are being Naughty or Nice!

So if you love Christmas and Santa but your children are starting to doubt you, a kid at school spoiled it with their negativism, or someone else ruined the Santa fun with their bah humbug mentality...teach your children to be Santa. Buy some gifts for a charity, take some donations to a shelter, give your time at a food bank or soup kitchen, or just do something in the giving spirit anonymously together with your children,(have one sneak over to your older neighbors and shovel their snow without them knowing...that's a fun one!)

Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!!!

Families are like fudge, mostly sweet with a few nuts. -Author Unknown

I would like to add:

If you don't think your family has any nuts, then your the nut!



Laughter, There Is Nothing Quite Like It!

I think it was about 3 months ago that my Crackberry's software fried (again) and I was talked into an Iphone (with what the sales rep called a "rollcage for your phone", an OtterBox, best case ever!). I didn't think I would like it and really assumed I would be using my 30 day return/exchange rights. (The newer Crackberry was the exact same price as the brand new Iphone, so I took a chance.)

Well turns out I love my new phone! The touch screen is different than what I was used to, but even with my big fingers I can handle texting no problem.

Now what does this all have to do with laughter you ask? Well, the Iphone has a very unique spellcheck program system called Auto Correct. Luckily the problems I have had seem to only happen while I am texting my children. A friend sent me the link to this website, Damn You Auto Correct . My son was asleep on my lap, so I clicked over and started reading. I ended up laughing so hard I was actually crying! Now I will warn you that this is not a child friendly site, but not on purpose! These are actual messages that the Iphone has changed with its spell checker/Auto Correct into hilarious very inappropriate (at times) messages.

If you have an Iphone or a friend who texts you from one, then you may find this site as funny as I did! They update regularly so I will be bookmarking and reading daily just to get my laughter (crack like, its addicting) fix!

So if you have a few minutes and could use a good laugh, click on over and read a few...http://damnyouautocorrect.com/ ENJOY, and Happy Holidays!!!

Now for some blog hopping.....

...Sanity Optional

I survived the invasion of teens into my home! I am a teen sleepover survivor mom! There were a few close calls and a couple of times I thought my husband may take out a loud mouthed, over bearing, opinionated teen...but we survived and without any injuries!

You know this is going to make me sound old and possibly uncool, but when did cell phones become a vital teen organ? (I will admit our teens have phones and even though I had really good reasons for equipping them with said phones, there are times when I want to smack the phones right off their faces!) There was one girl, ONE, who was without cellular attire. Out of the 15 or so (I lost count) teens in our house last night and this morning only one didn't have a cell phone.

We have the data blocked and MMS (picture and video sending) blocked on our girls phones. We have unlimited texting (thankfully) but I just don't want to get into any situation where someone sends a picture and it becomes 'bad' and the data (Internet basically) just costs too much to have on their phones. Why do they need that when they have computers?

We have very strict rules in our home for cell phones (even for the adults), like no phones at the dinner table. That means no phones on the table, in your pocket, or within earshot really. I tried to enforce these rules last night and got all gasps and oh my gawwds! I even threatened to have them all put their phones in a big jar at one point. (one of the girls gasped, giggled, and then said, "it would sound like a jar full of bees buzzing"! That was hilarious and true!)

So a few movies, a lot of food, some video games, lots of plates and cups, more food, a few presents, and most of my sanity later - WE SURVIVED! (by the way the coolest thing all night was watching 4 girls at a time do the Wii Just Dance 2 game, one of the guests brought it from home to share. It looked like a choreographed small flash mob in my living room! We are going to have to go buy that game for Christmas!)

We had 2 jackets and a pair of pants left behind (not all from the same girl), only one Christmas ornament broken, and my daughter Toria lost her cell phone somewhere in the house. Not a bad total, all things considered.

Later this afternoon as I lay down on the couch (worn out) to watch football with my husband, the cushion under my head vibrated...found the lost phone! When I brought it to Toria, she lifted her head off her pillow (coming out of her sleep-over coma momentarily) and said "thanks Mom, your the best" and fell back to sleep immediately.

So, I gotta say (even though my husband will cringe) It was all worth it and I would do it all again! I should have my sanity back before the next one...right?!

Why? Note to self...

How about some random whys and notes to self...? Oh, why not?! Whys are fun...right? (whether they are or not I am still gonna do them)

Why is it 17 degrees outside without snow? I love it when it snows. I am not a big fan of driving in it, shoveling it, getting cold and wet, or having it tracked through my house by my kids but it is so pretty and just doesn't seem like Christmas without a blanket of white outside.

Note to self, leaving the baby wipes in the car isn't a good idea. When we got in the car yesterday I needed a wipe to clean off my son's sticky hand. So when I picked up the bag of frozen wipes and smacked myself with them (due to the momentum because they were heavier than I estimated) I realized that they were an entire block or brick of wipes!

Why is laundry so dang hard to complete? No matter how much time I spend sorting, washing, drying, folding, and putting away I still have an enormous pile in my bedroom of everyone elses clothes! Maybe I should limit the kids to 2 outfits a week...you know, hey don't get that dirty you are wearing it all week! LOL, ok maybe not but it would help the piles in my room.

Why did I drink wine while I was doing my Christmas cards? Ok, I know why I did so maybe this is more of a note to self...I'm just not so sure I thought it all the way through. I hope I didn't send some people 2 cards and hopefully I didn't say anything inappropriate!

Why wasn't I more careful ordering cell phone cases for my twin daughters twin phones? Now I will have to send back the first order. Why? Because I ordered cases for the Samsung Solstice and not the Samsung Solstice II's. And why don't they have cute stuff for newer phones? Why do they have to be old to get the different colors and prints in the accessories?

And while I am at it for the covers...why would Otterbox not have the Ipod Touch 4 cases out yet? So I am supposed to be okay with the new thing getting trashed and then get a protective cover? Yeah, sure protecting one that is already scratched or has been dropped multiple times makes perfect sense to me!

Why is my kitchen floor always such a mess! Having a dog to run around after my messy kids sounds pretty great about now, but we have asthma issues! So my sisters floor will always be cleaner than mine! I think a drain in the kitchen floor like in restaurants is a great idea! I can't exactly add one to my kitchen, but I can dream about just hosing the damn floor down!

Why can't the twins be too old for a sleep-over birthday party? How am I going to survive 20 13 year old girls all in one place (my house)? They talked about having separate parties for awhile, but they have some friends that they share and we already moved their birthday since the actual day was the day before Thanksgiving. I will not be entertaining them! Toria asked me what we were going to do at her party this morning. I said you get to eat, have cake, open presents, watch movies, and then hopefully sleep! Thats it. And I mean it! Notice that there is no line about time for fighting and girls being mean to each other? I have allotted no time for such things so I expect everyone to be nice and sweet! Yeah, I know I am out of my freakin mind!

Why isn't my tree decorated yet? Its been up for over a week. Oh..oh... I know, I can have the teen girls decorate it! Ha Ha...of course I will have to drop that "I must control everything and it must be perfect" crap if I am going to have them do it. Hmmm...I guess we will have to see how I am feeling. (Is it inappropriate to drink wine while other peoples teen girls are in my home? My husband will be here and although he will probably be hiding, he will be sober. I need feedback on that one!)

Why does my nose get so cold? Everything else on me is warm and normal, but my nose is freezing! Why? The thermostat says its 70 degrees in here. Is there a different climate around my nose?

Why do home builders design homes with the heating/cooling vents underneath the windows? Not only are we losing heat thru the windows (even though they are insulated and all that) but my curtains poof up when the heater comes on and then they don't lay flat. Its kinda annoying. (And don't even get me started on the vents themselves...I have a 2 year old boy! Enough said on that.)

Why does Jessie like to use my computer so much when she has one of her own in her room? And why did I let her use mine when I was mid-post with this? And why would she close all the windows so I forgot I was in the middle of posting?

Only changes since I started this post three days ago, my tree is decorated. I will be starting my Christmas baking as soon as this Birthday party is done. After my hang over is gone of course. So my next question...do I let my husband wrap my new stand mixer or do I use it right away for Christmas baking?

To recap the questions I would like input on...drinking (on the down low) with a house full of teens if my husband stays sober and the mixer...wrap or use?

Best Christmas Movie Ever!!!

If you haven't watched it...your missing out! Laugh outloud funny even the 99th time watching!!!!

Merry Chritsmas!

A lot has happened since Black Friday, a lot of nothingness

So since Black Friday I haven't written anything. I have been on the computer, searching and stressing that each and every item we are spending our money on is in fact the best price and deal. Its exhausting to be so concerned! I am almost out of my Lorazapam!

I stood in line for 2.5 hours inside Walmart for one of my daughters gifts. Yes 2.5 hours! The line didn't move for the first 1.5 at all. We had no idea if we would even get the item we were waiting for (I don't want to say on the off chance she decides today is the day to start reading mommy's blog). The big deal was the $50 gift card that came with the purchase. The woman in front of me kept going on and on how none of us were going to get one, they would run out before we ever got close, we were just wasting our time in line. Well me, being me, I'd had enough at hour 1.8 and I said to her. "look we are all hoping for the same thing and we have all been in this line for the same amount of time, would it kill you to try to think positively about getting one? How about you think positive and in the event you don't get one you can bitch up a storm about it? (I am thinking at least then I won't have to listen to it). She sighed, apologized. and agreed. Ten minutes  later I snagged the department manager walking by and gave him a lovely and kind earful about some kind of count for us, so the ones who couldn't get one could go shopping for other things. You know I was really surprised. Not only did he do a count, close off the line, and stay at the back of the line for the remainder of the event, he also checked in with the front counter frequently on his radio (and told them multiple times to quit the chit chat and move the line along. Loved this guy!) Turns out two people behind me were the last to get this item. So the woman in front of me got one too. I have to give her props though. She did turn to me with a huge smile and said "you were right! I am so sorry for being so negative. It just seems like nothing is working out for me this year. Thanks for snapping me out of the negative." Ahhh, positive thinking again prevails. It was a good 20 minutes before she started going on and on about how he could have counted wrong. But it all turned out well. Got what I wanted for my daughter and used the 50$ gift card for another gift for another child.

I found the coolest Christmas present to ship to my nephew in California online at Amazon at a ridiculous price, but first I had to ask my sister about his weight and such things. So I left her a message and since she too has a life, by the time she was able to get back to me (same day) and I went to finalize the order BAM price had gone up $29! Holy dirty diapers batman!
After 3 days of searching high and low I finally found the same item for only 10$ more and free shipping. I refuse to pay shipping! Yes I want my cake and to eat it too! Which brings me to the next item..

Why? Why would you advertise free shipping and then charge it on some items? I will give you the minimum purchase of whatever set dollars, that's fine. But to have random items that just don't qualify pisses me off. (I am not talking about something that weights 100-200lbs, we are talking toys!)
The two retailers that pissed me off the most this week were : Target online and Toys r us online.
Target gets the #1 crappy service award though.

How about when you order something and the site gives you a shipping date range with  arrival date range, you actually stick to that? What is it with Target sending you emails 5-7 days after your order telling you the dates have changed?  Usually on part of the order not all of it. I recently earned a $15 gift card from Target Online for enduring some idiot in customer service who told me that I was stupid for not being able to read the shipping/arrival date information. This is a long story- so the highlights are; my husbands new office chair ordered 2 weeks before we needed it (for his birthday), arrival date from Target was 11-22 (cool perfect). Then I started getting those emails saying it would be later. So on 11-22 I called, I was told it had not shipped yet. It was still in processing and was to be shipped 11-24. Then the stupid stuff happened and I was a very angry Target guest. After all that: the chair arrived on 11-23 (and I am the stupid one, since it hadn't left the warehouse yet) so I let it all go. I got the chair and a $15 gift card. Whatever. Now I am feeling it all over again. Why did I order anything with them after that? I have no rational answer to that.

We got our Christmas tree up. It isn't decorated yet, but its up. The stockings are hung by the chimney with care. And of course my adorable son pulled one down on him (bringing the stocking holder with it down on his cute little face). Poor guy. He is ok, but I don't think he will do that again.

We welcomed someone new to our home. Smidge as the children named him, has taken up residency for the Holiday season.  He is our 'Elf on the Shelf'. If you haven't gotten one, I encourage you to do so with small children. He is a little creepy looking (you know that hummel doll look) but it has been great fun reading the book every day and searching for Smidge. And of course he is watching for Santa and to be quite honest in this stressfull (although wonderful) season I can use all the help I can get!You can even go online and register him at the North Pole. It is quite cute.
My Christmas cards are mostly done. Aside from those people who I guess really don't want one because they wont send me their new mailing address!

My husbands birthday was last week. His mother called him, I am assuming to wish him a happy birthday, but somehow managed to stir it up big time with him. Apparently due to the fact we do not believe the same way she does and do not regularly attend Sunday church services not only are we Godless and raising our children horribly, but we also do not appreciate the season for what it is (being Godless and all) so she will not be sending the children Christmas presents this year. Wait...let it sink in for a minute. Then say with me, "WTF"?
Not only is she completely wrong (about the Godless and season stuff) but she seems to have some spare time on her hands which she is filling with the Big Guys job...Judgement. I am in now way interested in this becoming a religious debate, trust me. I am just floored she would say and do such a thing. Wow, bet your mother-in-law isn't sounding so annoying now huh?

Do you know how hard it is to buy presents for 4 girls? Not just buy them presents, but make it even as well? They aren't exactly easy to buy for in the first place. I have piles in my closet of each ones Christmas spoils. And not just from Mom and Dad. My grandmother and my mother send us money to buy gifts for them (which I can understand because its hard). The boy is easy! Toys! Noisy, happy, new toys! But the girls, even the 7 year old, have begun the ascension from toys to real world stuff. Its hard! It drives me absolutely crazy! I start to worry, will she like this, what if she likes her sisters gift more? Did I buy the right thing for the right one? Are they gonna have to swap presents Christmas morning?
I got lists from them. They all sat down and wrote a letter to Santa with their little sister Haley. But how come one week they want this item and then a week later it is something completely different? So I have anxiety over the gifts we have purchased our children.

My husband...well his was going to be difficult...and then he saw it. Brand new Pool table at a ridiculous price. He convinced me of the family play time (which 3 of the 5 kids will love) and suddenly shopping for him was done. Oh and in the plus side that means he has to clean up the basement! HA HA...No more boxes and random crap. Make it a space we will want to be in. Bonus for me.

Now the biggest anxiety I have had is over the gift from my husband to me. When you are dating someone its easy to want a nice huge expensive gift, its not your money. But married, no matter how badly you want something the money part stares you in the face. My mother made me promise not to spend the money she sent on bills. Ok. So with a high anxiety level my husband is on the way home with my gift for Christmas/and some others in the house too...and elliptical exercise machine.
I don't have time to go to a gym (especially when they are over 20 minutes away) but in my room, while the TV is on, and my son is taking his nap..that's when I will get my tush on it and get some exercise. It is exciting but holy dirty diapers batman a big investment. (I have really bad migraines and recently suffered a mini stroke and spent 3 days in the hospital for it. I am fine but need to start exercising more.) (Can I tax deduct that?)

So we are done shopping. I have some shipping to do, some Christmas Cards to finish (ecch-umm), and a tree to decorate. And then let the Holiday baking commence!

Now, as for next weekend....CHAOS!!! The twins turned 13 week or so ago. Their birthday is so close to Thanksgiving we always move the party date so they can have friends over. I was really hopping that they were past the whole sleepover thing...but sadly no. They did however agree to have one party (phewww). 4 boys were invited with specially written invites for a 10pm mandatory parent pick up and the other 16 girls are invited to sleepover. As much as I would love the girls to have an awesome party with all their friends, I can't help but hope 1/3 to 1/2 won't be able to come.
Tacos have been requested as food (which is a nice change from Pizza, but is just a bit more work) and Vampires Suck and Eclipse will be the evenings entertainment. Cake for dessert (Thank you Costco), and I am wondering if I will get any sleep at all? Do I really need to plan any activities for 13 year old girls? I am thinking they will just want us to leave them alone. Which is fine with me (after the boys go home of course).

And one last vent...I am very disappointed in the weather. Yesterday we had a 80% chance of snow showers. I got excited! I love it when it snows. I do enjoy Virginia for the seasons. We get all 4 so even with a heavy snowy winter it only lasts for a short time and then on to spring. Well there were some random flakes here and there but no...no snow showers! I would like to put my order in now for a White Christmas, thank you!

I hope everyone else has had as much fun in the last week or so but with less stress! Since I am done shopping I forsee more time to actually blog about thoughtful and entertainging subjects. So don't give up on me yet!