The Explosion

One day last week, after the two littlest girls having spent HOURS in their room "cleaning" the night before, <=====This was what greeted me the next morning when I arrived in their room.

There were monkeys...

...and tigers...

...and bears (oh, my!)....

as well as dogs of various shapes and sizes,

a "Stitch" (wearing a diaper?)...

and a seal...as well as blankets and clothing for the animals. 

I think it is time to wean down the stuffed animal population again. 

Long Overdue Update

FINALLY, 7 weeks later, everyone in the house is *mostly* well. Still watching the littlest one, because she she was running a fever last night, and complaining of a headache.
So, today we're doing some deep cleaning.
Moving furniture.
Beating rugs.
And, UGH, sweeping out from under all of the various pieces of furniture that were moved. NASTY.

I like the new arrangement a little better...it seems more spacious. Hopefully it works well for the movie night that the husband's Brew Group is doing here in Thursday...

Last week, our almost-7-year-old had a project for school...she had to create an animal with habitat...so we had to document it in pictures...

...the raw materials...

...the model...

...the finished product....


But, see, the pictures are still on my camera, which, when I put the card into the card reader, shows up as being corrupted...UGH...So hopefully I'll be able to get those pictures some day...in the mean time, you just get me....

I FINALLY did it!!

Many, MANY months ago, I made a public promise to clean my desk...I don't know why. Perhaps it was the thought that publicly humiliating myself would actually prompt me to break with my nature, and actually STOP procrastinating. I don't know. I DO know that I FINALLY have done it...only somethingn like 8 months LATE. Ahem. At least it is done. My husband is happy.

So, before pictures (and let me add that it was actually MUCH worse than this...I just didn't get pictures today before I started):

****UGH****I can NOT find the picture I was looking for...believe me...it was AWEFUL. Think one HUGE pile of papers completely covering my whole work surface, periodically falling on me or off the sides of the desk.

And after pictures:
And THIS is what I took OFF of there...the SAVE box:


And the shred pile....AFTER we'd already shredded almost 2 bags full:


I'm feeling productive today!!

Good Monday Morning!

So, apparently I have nothing to say over the weekend. Or not. You see, I am TRYING to NOT work on Sundays, and that means that Saturday is spent finishing up my work, so I can NOT be on the computer all. day. long. on Sunday. Well, we all know better...when else would I go blog hopping?!?

And, because I work from home, I have no other adults to talk to. I can't be on the phone during the day, because I have my headphones on all. day. long. Which reminds me...I think I need to get some new ear buds....THESE look nice...but who has $40 just laying around to spend on ear buds?!? The ones I have are the rounded ones that pop out of my ears at the WORST times.

Where was I? Oh, yeah...having something to say.

Really, I DO have things to say. Things that involve depression, counselling, and dealing with fears. Things about our pastor's sermon on Sunday. Things about how my husband thinks. And how I don't deal well with how he thinks. And more upbeat things about vacations.

But first, we went to a baseball game on Saturday...our pastor's son was playing in the tournament. And it was fun to get to see him play, and see his family outside of the church setting. But it was hot, HOT, HOT!! When we left to come home afterwards, it was 104-degrees...at almost 6:00 pm. ICK. No wonder my kids were tired and grumpy. At least his team won...18-2, or something like that.

So, because we weren't home all day Saturday, the house is a DISASTER. Well, sort of. It's still better than it was during the school year. But it's still messy. Not picked-up. Dishes on the table from supper last night. And "they" are supposed to be coming sometime this week to replace our back doors. Our lovely, leaky back doors. We will be going from having French doors to having sliding glass doors. Not sure how I like that change, but at least they won't be leaking any more.

And that list of things I am supposed to be getting to cleaning? Not makin' any progress. Whatsoever. If anything, my desk is getting worse. Which is just depressing. Because this is where I sit all day long. And look at the growing pile. And get more depressed.

And I have packing to do at some point, which means laundry. And getting my work done. And doctor's appointments.

Which reminds me...the oldest had a doctor's appointment on Saturday. And had her first blood drawn. Because she's reacting to nuts...well, so far, just to ALMONDS, but the Nurse Practitioner said just to avoid nuts across the board. Which really isn't an issue for this child...she's never really liked nuts. So, she had blood drawn, to verify the allergy. And she is being referred to a real allergist. For more tests. Yippee.

So, I have a question. Because this allergy stuff is something I've been dealing with for a long, LONG time.

The question.....
If your child says they dislike something that is known to be an allergen for a lot of people, do you force them to eat it?

For example, oldest daughter and the nuts. She has never been a fan of nuts. I also have several children who refuse to eat eggs. And tuna. I KNOW that each of these foods can be a problematic. But there is some disagreement in the house over how to handle the "dislikes".

So, how would YOU handle this?

It was SUPPOSED to be a productive day...

...and then I got up. Honestly, I am looking around my house right now, and can't for the life of me figure out what I've done over the last few days. My house is a WRECK.

I KNOW I have washed dishes everyday, but they're all piled up on the counter again.

I know we've done multiple loads of laundry, and put away mountains of folded laundry, but the hampers are all overflowing and the sofa is covered in clean laundry again.

We've picked up and cleaned up, and put away, and washed, and dried, and folded, and swept, and taken out garbage, and done homework, and made it to baseball practices, and gone to the grocery store, and gotten everyone on their respective busses on time, and worked, and cooked meals, and eaten meals, and gone to various meetings....

....but somehow, if someone walked into my house right now, you'd never know that I cared about how it looks. No one could tell that we picked up several trees' worth of paper off the dining room floor, or that the whole alphabet has been put back onto the refrigerator 15 different times. Or that the pantry and refrigerator have been systematically emptied by the voracious beasts in my house.

Is it any wonder that mothers feel unappreciated? That we don't ever have the satisfaction of a job well done...especially since the job never is done, or once done, it is UNdone again in about 10 seconds flat....

So, for the record, I want you moms out there to know...I appreciate what you do. I appreciate all the long hard hours you put in. The lack of proper acknowledgement.

So, go, reward yourself. Go find those chocolates you hid away, make yourself a cup of hot tea or coffee, sit back, put your feet up, and remeber that you've earned your 10 minutes of rest and relaxation. But hurry, before the hooligans get off the bus, and you have to start all over again!!

We're home....

...and recovering from driving forever and ever yesterday. I am glad to report that we made the whole trip safely and uneventfully, and that things went mostly as planned...minor issues like forgotten toothbrushes and too-cold children are not major issues! The kids and I had a great visit with hubby's parents, and we left the two oldest with them for a couple of days, and I took the other four and drove to my parents' house...another 2 hours away, and picked up my sister, so she could spend a few days with us. We then turned around and drove back to Virginia, arriving home at about 2:15 am. Everyone was safely in bed and sound asleep by 2:30 a.m.

And, while we were gone, hubby was busy! I came home to a wonderfully clean house....my kitchen was spotless, and the whole upstairs was picked up and vaccuumed! Thank you, honey!

Now, back to work!

Getting Better

You know these kind of days....the ones where you have LOTS to do, and you don't feel like doing any of it, and you realize that it doesn't really matter, because there is no way you will finish it all any way.

The sick child is back to school.

The elementary kids have picture day today...at $9.00 per class picture, we just dished out $36.00 this morning. Is it really worth it? Just for the class picture?

I have a TON of work this morning...must get back to typing...

I have a WIC appointment at 1:00 pm....

Child #2 has baseball practice this evening, at 5:30.

We have Brew Group at the house tonight...which means...

I MUST clean house. (Clean) Laundry is piled on the sofa, and there are (dirty) dishes all over the counters and table.

Hubby is home, and keeps interupting....going to try to put him to work!

Going back to work, now!

It's payday!!

Hubby and I just got home from the Commissary...it's payday...I HATE shopping in the Commissary on payday.

But, we had no food left in the house, and we're having a Super Bowl party on Sunday. My husband is the entertainer in the family, though we all enjoy having people over.

We're going out tonight, trying out a new-to-us restaurant, Smokey Bones.

Afterward, we're bowling. Last week, Jason was picked up as a permanent substitute for someone who broke an arm, so he'll be able to finish out the season, and we'll start the new season in March.

Tomorrow is cleaning day, and we've got to get the rent in to the housing office.

What do you do on your payday?