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Friday, June 29, 2007

My favorite junk




Time for Stuff Portrait Fridays, brought to us by the woman who is redoing her bedrooom while recovering from the stomach flu....

Show me your favoritest ugly creation that was made just for you.

I couldn't pick just one, so here goes nothing:





Yes, my kids went to the same preschool and I thought the matching faded paper flowers with beaded stems made a nice set. Note that Superman's class got to add strange goopy stuff and glass thingys to their pot.
I'm still musing why it was so all-fired important for me to send in the tomato sauce can so a kid could put beads on pipe cleaners and put them into it and I am in awe of the absolute insanity of *painting a shoe" and planting it with flowers.... Although I have to admit I've gotten a few compliments on the last one, it is UGLY. The photo doesn't do it justice. It is bright blue and has a dead plant of some sort in there - how are you supposed to water a shoe for goodness sake?

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Useless Ramblings

I am so ready for this week to be over. For some reason June is always the roughest month of summer around here. After a week of cub scout camp, then a week of VBS, I hosted Sunshine's birthday party sleepover. Now I have a week to clean up and plan and get ready for Superman's birthday party. (Note to readers: it is NOT a good idea to have your childrens' birthdays four days apart.) And at every step something falls apart.

The lady who was going to do his Silver Surfer cake emailed yesterday that she can't do it after all, so I'm left holding the bag. Spent yesterday figuring that out and trying to find a place to get a Flash! action figure. Something the resident adult male around here said he could easily pick up for me, oh, a few weeks ago. Finally ordered online and broke the news to Superman that the present he'd been begging for for months would be arriving late. Bleh.

So, the cake plan: I'm getting a cake frosted with gray icing, lined with blue at Walmart, then adding a silver surfer action figure on top. It will cost about the same amount as if my cake lady had made it, but won't taste 1/2 as good. Not like the kids care as long as sugar is involved. But, I was really looking forward to a GOOD cake. I know, I should make it mayself, but BTDT and let's just say cake making isn't my gift and leave it at that.

Also today I need to get the dog's shots b/c even though we made reservations for his stay at PetSmart a month ago they choose yesterday to inform me that he needs his bordetello shot in order to stay there and it has to be done 48 hours in advance. (For those not in the know, the boys are heading to Gigi's after Superman's party and the hubby and I are going to Vegas for a few day R&R). I also need to order balloons for the party and make a rain plan since the party supposed to be at the neighborhood pool. Sadly I didn't really think it would rain so I put on the invite that it'd be moved to the house if it rains. Now I am kicking myself for not saying Chuck E Cheese because now rain is predicted so I have to clean my house and plan actual party games.

Oh, and I need to figure out a way to get some laundry done since my washer is broken. I just love how the repairman cheerfully says "It'll just take a couple of weeks for that part to come in. We'll give you a call when it does." TWO WEEKS. Do you have any idea how many loads of laundry I do in two weeks? I should own stock in Tide. Seriously. I do 3-4 loads a DAY. I have a post on here somewhere complaining about that very thing and sadly it has gotten worse and not better. And during the summer the boys' clothes tend to be a bit on the stinky side. So not only do we not have clean clothes, but the upstairs hallway (where their laundry hamper is) AND the laundry room smell like a Jr. High locker room. Two weeks indeed.

Yes, I did just come to whine. I'll try something more positive and interesting after I've spent a few days in Vegas. Monday, if it stops raining I may take some pics of my jungle/garden, to post. For now, if you want enlightening, witty or politically informed I'd suggest you go elsewhere. Have a nice day.

Saturday, June 23, 2007

My personality.

Your Personality is Very Rare (INFP)

Your personality type is dreamy, romantic, elegant, and expressive.

Only about 5% of all people have your personality, including 6% of all women and 4% of all men
You are Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Perceiving.

The joys of 8-year-old boys

Who knew that farting was so much fun? Certainly not me, but at 1 a.m. even I couldn't help but snicker at some of the loud, fake farts coming from the sleeping bags on the floor. I giggled more than once as I sprawled on the futon trying to keep the noise down to a dull roar.

"Sshhhh" I'd intone.

Absolute silence. Then 30 seconds later: "Phhhbhhhhthhhthhht" followed by shrieks of laughter. Then "That was Chris. Phew. That was a juicy one." "Was not. It was you." "No! It was William. I know it was him. It was a fake one." "It was real. I smeeeellll it and it stiiinks in here." "Hey guys, it was *me*. I farted LOUD. Did you hear it?"

Me: (suppressing a giggle): "Sshhhh.. It's after 1 a.m. Please. You can whisper, just please stop yelling."

Absolute silence.. Then "Phhbhhhbthththththt" and so on...

This morning the boys ran down for breakfast laughing and saying: "That was soooo coool last night."

I wait to hear them praising how cool it was I let them go to the baseball game even though it was drizzling, the 'Nilla wafer and pudding cake, staying for the aftergame fireworks, or the "build your own ice cream sundae" I let them eat after we got home.

What I hear is: "Yeah. We were *farting* all night. Everyone just kept farting and farting. That was soooo cooool!"

Well, at least now I know the secret to a cool party. Next year I'll save the nearly $100 we spent on food and entertainment and just buy a a dozen or so whoopie cushions.

And some ear plugs.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

The Procrastination Game..

Tomorrow night is Sunshine's birthday party. We will have 4 boys (in addition to our 2) spend the night. The plan is to go to the baseball game first. I need to clean the bathrooms, clean the playroom where they will be sleeping, make this, which is what Sunshine requested for his "birthday cake", pick up the downstairs, do a couple of loads of laundry and sweep before I go to bed. Since there is a 40 percent chance of thunderstorms I also need to come up with a backup plan that is both indoors and cheap.

Instead, I am working on my third blog update of the day. Yes, I have gone more than a week without updating, but now that I'm overwhelmed I have time for three posts. I have also spent at least an hour checking out my paperbackswap.com account and searching for books I may want. Why is it when I have a ton of stuff to do I suddenly start goofing off and then end up staying up all night. I don't know. But I need to break the cycle.

Wish me luck. And if you see another post from me tonight you will know I failed in my resolve and will once again be working into the wee hours of the morning to get all my stuff done. Bleh!

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Summertime

Yes, I'm still here. Yes, I'm still busy.

That about sums it up.

We (yes, actually *we* all three - Sunshine, Superman and me) did cub scout camp last week. As usual it was too hot and too long, but still worth the effort. My group was a bit easier than last year's group. Meaning no one wandered off in the middle of a station. We did have some trouble staying together and a couple of spats, including a hat thrown into the bathroom trashcan. But, no serious injuries and I didn't lose a single child.

This week is Vacation Bible School at church. I somehow managed to get the cushy gig of *helping* (wooo hooo I was NOT in charge) in the craft area for 3 days. All I had to do was show up and do what I was told. Took the other two mornings off to run errands and clean my house without kids bugging me.

Our next big event is Sunshine's birthday party Friday. I"m praying the rain stops because we have four boys coming over to go to the baseball game, then spend the night. And I have no idea how I'm supposed to entertain them from 5 p.m. until the wee hours of Saturday morning if I can't take them to the baseball game for 5 hours or so. So, please join me in praying for a clear evening!

Superman is having his bday party next weekend. It's a "super surfer" party. Yes, my kid prefers the bad guy. It's at the pool, so once again we'll be praying for sunny weather next weekend. Either that or I'll just go ahead and have my nervous breakdown now.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Hmmmm

Why are there so many SUV's parked outside of Whole Foods? Are they guzzling organic gas?

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Melting cheese

Today we learned how to melt cheese without using any type of heating device. Other than our over-heated house, that is. If you leave cheesesticks sitting out in an 85-degree kitchen for 30 minutes, they will melt. Luckily not to the runny stage, but definitely melted and squishy. Though they are not sitting in the top of the trash I'm sure we will have a later update on how long it takes them to fully melt.

Friday, June 01, 2007

Not again

Once again, our air conditioner is out. We just had it repaired 3 weeks ago. I am tired of being hot and cranky in my house. I don't mind being hot when I'm outside playing with the kids or working in the yard, but when I come inside I like it to be nice and cool.

We pay for a homeowner's warrenty, thank goodness. Though the $55 service fee we have to pay each time they come out is starting to make me wonder if it's worth it. Perhaps it would have been fixed correctly the first time if we were choosing the repair company and paying for it ourselves. I think they are encouraged to do the bare minimum each time. At any rate, the guy came out today and said it was some kind of coil and it may be Thursday or Friday before they can get the right part. The warranty will cover most of the cost, but we will still be responsible for about $500 worth of "extras" (that they can't do the repair without - UGH). If we want to get a whole new unit it will "only" cost us another $4200 (assuming the original estimate is correct and doesn't change before he comes back), but we won't have to pay for the "extras" that won't be needed if we aren't replacing the coil. That would be minus the $1000 portion the warrenty company will pay (what they would have paid for the coil). The new unit will be more efficient and supposedly save us about $400 a year and it would be under warranty so we could drop paying for the other warranty (about $600/year). I know this all sounds dull but it's what's on my mind today and I'm trying to think it out. If anyone reading this has thoughts on what we should do I'd greatly appreciate it. I really don't know much about air conditioning except that I like it.

It was 78 degrees in here when I got up this morning so I will have to leave soon for the pool or the mall. Yesterday afternoon it was 88 in here.

Meanwhile, the neighbor kid has apparently moved in. I have sent them all outside at least 4 times this morning. The kid's mother came over and told them to come play at her house for a change but w/in 10 minutes they'd gone back outside then showed up in here. I guess I should be flattered that he likes it here,but I'm really just annoyed b/c currently someone is playing a flute while I'm blogging. Oh, wait, that is the four year old blowing on a straw.

D