Book-Binding

Saturday, I went to a bookbinding class with Marge and Kelli. It was SO FUN! We bound 2 books, had a delicious lunch, and chatted. Amy, the teacher, had an awesome craft room, and was so talented and nice. I always thought I was super crafty until I met her. She blows me out of the water. But, even though I am a novice, I am so happy with how they turned out! I will definitely have to invest in some supplies and see if I can do it again.

Lard Pie:

So, while in NM, Jenny had the assignment to make pies to fatten my Dad up. I don't think she knew what she was getting in to! The poor woman ended up making 3 really big (and delicious) Cherry pies. Not to mention the salmon, various green salads, fruit salads, tacos, Chicken and broccoli casseroles, burritos, spaghetti... well, you get the idea. (I just don't know why nobody will ever go to NM with me... hmmmm). Anyway, we were shopping at Wal-mart for pie ingredients, and I told Jenny that Crisco is really bad for people (It is true, the human body can't digest or process hydroginized oils). So, we decided to buy lard... you know rendered animal fat. YUMMY! No really, it was absolutely delicious. Nicole and Megan made cinnamon sugar cookies with the left-over crust, and they were super yummy too. I just licked the packaging clean after she was done with it. (That part was a joke people). Seriously, if I ever make a pastry, I will be sure to do it with lard. Nothing tastes quite like LARD!

Top 3 reasons to sign out of your Google Account before leaving the computer:

#3- Someone might get nosey and read all of your private e-mails. (Enjoy all the spam, suckers!)
#2- If somebody searches porn, they might be able to trace it back to you!

And the #1 reason:
Jenny might be staying at the same house and comment on other people's blogs with your user name.

(Well, at least the comment was funny.)

Defrosted.

For Christmas, I asked for a freezer. I totally love it. When I bake bread, I bake 12-16 loaves in a day and freeze a bunch. I always make meals in bulk and freeze those too. Like to buy extra and feel prepared. Anyway, I got dinner out of the freezer around 4:00 yesterday, and I always make sure I shut the door. I guess there was something blocking it that made it pop open because when I went downstairs this morning I could smell food. I looked in the trash to see if something was yucky in there, but it was clean. So, I glanced in the storage room where the freezer is, and I could see a light coming from the freezer. Sure enough, everything was defrosted. All of my soups, burritos, and casseroles. I threw all of the questionable stuff away. It makes me so mad because there was over 70 ounces of breast milk in there! Do you know how much pumping that is? Oh well. I guess we will eat like kings today!

Room Tag:

I was so excited when Carson tagged me because I have never been tagged before!
The rules of the tag are to take pictures of rooms in my house- but they have to be as-is, I can't clean up before I take the pictures. We all know that I am not thebest housekeeper in the world, so let me just say something in my defense.... I have been really busy with the ants and the glass cuts--- not to mention all of the dog hair. Plus, I have been cooking dinner for a lot of people in the neighborhood, so my kitchen looks a little cluttered. If you want me to bring you some food, let me know.
Enjoy the pictures of my house!

Here is my kitchen. I have been trying to use a lot of disposable items so that I don't have to do dishes. I must say, it has been cutting down on my workload a lot!

Here is our bedroom. I need to do some laundry, the sheets have been dirty for a while so we just started sleeping on the bare mattress. Jason brought me breakfast in bed a few weeks ago... isn't that sweet!

Here is our entry way. Don't you hate when the little table gets a bit cluttered?

Brunch:

I feel like I have accomplished so much today. I woke up, got ready, fed the kids and made brunch for about 1,000. They all really enjoyed it.
Damn ants! Every year they sneak into my house and remind me how bad I need to sweep the floor. Jerks. Christian loves to fill clarks food bowl, and he heaps it up so high that it normally takes Clark about a week to finish all of it. Well, Jason bought the dog food with all of the different little shapes, and Clarkie likes certain ones more that others, so he digs through this huge bowl of food and spills it EVERYWHERE. I went to start a load of laundry this morning and noticed that I had a few hundred little visitors swarmed all around the dog food. I had quite a fun time vacuuming the little bastards up. It reminds me of when I was a little girl and we would get swarms of flying ants in the back yard. They would be so thick that it looked like black carpet all over the patio. It was like a jail sentence for two weeks because they would bite and we didn't want to get near them.
So, if anyone wants to come over and have the leftovers there are plenty.

Feeling better... Yet worse.

I went to the Doctor.. she gave me a couple different steroids and an antibiotic. Within 24 hours I was a new woman. I hate to take stuff, but breathing is so worth it!
SO, I was going to go visit my Dad this weekend, but my parents didn't want me to come up alone. Geez, I'm not 12. Do you know how many times I have made that trip? Maybe if they would move into the house they purchased here it wouldn't be such a problem. But hey... why would they want to do that. I mean, it is only their only living child and grandkids that they can freely see and want to be around them who live here.
So when I was planning on coming up, I called around trying to find someone who would want to go with me, that way I wouldn't have to drug the kids before we left. Nobody could go. Of course. Who the hell wants to go to Farmington?? It is like torture with extra dirt and weeds. But anyway, everyone made their excuses, fine... I didn't expect anyone to want to go anyway. The strange thing... a couple of my aunts drove up there today and guess what... I WASN"T INVITED. I swear. Give me some prozac because I am going to loose it. If you don't want to go with me fine, but don't say you can't go and then go anyway. I HATE dishonest people. I get in trouble quite a bit for telling people the truth, but at least I am reliable. So, I spent an hour unpacking my bags today. Joy. It was like 2 extra loads of laundry.
So, if anyone else is planning on going to visit my Dad, could you kindly either let me know and let me tag along, or let me know and tell me you don't want me to come. Because, I guarantee I miss him more than you will ever know. Oh, and say hello to the dirt.

Still Awake...

Only 5 more days until I go to the doctor. The second Doctor since I have been sick, hopefully this one does more than just listen to my lungs and tell me to take some vitamin C. I swear to you, I am going crazy form lack of sleep. I almost went to the ER a couple nights ago because I was panicking 'cause I couldn't breathe. And, if Christian gets up one more time in the middle of the night and wakes me up I am going to lock him in his room. Once I am up, it takes me a couple of hours to stop coughing. Thankfully, Owen has slept through the night since he was a month old and doesn't wake up when I cough or tell Christian he needs to go back to his room.
So, when I called the doctor (#2) the receptionist told me that it would be 11 days until I could get in. I told her that I was up all night because I can't breathe and asked if she could get me in any sooner. Her response: "That is how everyone feels, that is why we are so booked." So I asked her what year she graduated from bitch school. That is how EVERYONE feels? really? Is that how YOU feel little miss "I work for a doctor, so I rule the world;" because it sounds like you can breathe to me. Oh, I get it! You have stock in Kleenex! Now I know why you want me to be miserable for almost 2 more weeks. Geez lady, just squeeze me in for crying out loud!
Okay, actually I just said. "Oh, okay... I'll take the 11:20 appointment. See you in 11 days."
I am so spineless.
Someone just knock me over the head so that I can get some sleep.

Moooo!

So, I have been pumping almost every morning. You know... the taboo topic... breast milk. Why is it that women can show major cleavage, rock hard nipples through a silk shirt, and wear string bikinis and nobody cares; but the minute a woman starts to breast feed it is like some abomination? It is so odd to me. Whenever the topic is brought up in a group of women there is always at least one person who thinks breastfeeding is "gross" or "weird." How the hell do these people think that little babies survived before bottles? Do you know what is weird.... having a company produce some artificial milk that you add water to and then give to a newborn who doesn't know how to process the foreign material. That is weird. Oh, and do you know what is gross... Asthma, allergies, and bronchitis. All things that can be reduced by breastfeeding. I wasn't able to be breastfed because I was adopted and in those days there wasn't a little pill that my Mom could have taken to start producing milk. (But, if there were, I am sure she would have done it). Anyway, I have all of these wonderful upper respiratory problems that some people are actually choosing to give to their children because they think breast feeding is gross. Hacking up yellow mucus is a lot nastier.
Wow, that was a long tangent... sorry about that This post was actually supposed to about me feeling like a cow. I have over 100 ounces of milk in my freezer already. When Christian was about 18 months and I stopped nursing him, I threw away gallons and gallons of milk that was going bad. I was considering selling the stuff, but looked on the internet and found out that it is mostly perverted men that buy it and drink it themselves. Yuck. I guess they like to have a picture of the... uh, donor to look at while they drink it. Sorry, but I am not going to take something that is for sweet little babies and give it to some perv to get off on. Although while I was researching it, I found out that lot of cancer patients drink it. I let my Dad know that I would be willing to give him as much as he needs. I just don't think he is THAT desperate! So instead, I have signed up to donate my breast milk. I wish I could get paid for it considering that 75% of it goes to a company that makes a ton of money off of it, but oh well. The other 25% will go to orphanages in Africa for babies who have AIDS- and that makes it worth it. I had to fill out a pretty extensive questionnaire, and I will have to get a blood and DNA test too. I hope they hurry up... my freezer is getting pretty full.

Proof that there are still nice people in the world:

About 5 days ago, we received something on our doorstep. I have wanted to blog about it, but do not really know how. I have just been so blown away at the kindness that people can show towards others. For example: I was putting all of the cards Owen has received since he was born in his scrapbook the other day and couldn't believe how many people already love him. I always thought that the first child was the only one who received gifts and cards, but our family and friends have definitely proven me wrong. And do I even need to mention all of the wonderful cards, letters, and kind gestures that my family has received since my Dad found out he was sick. I just can't believe the generosity of people. From home-made pies and bread to entire meals. My parents came home to a completely weeded and planted garden. Many meals have been delivered, miles drive, and time selflessly given to our family in the last few months. Dozens of letters were written to my Dad and put in a beautiful scrapbook that must have taken countless hours to compile. My neighbors who have had a similar experience with cancer mad my dad the most beautiful quilt- it is SO detailed. It must have taken many many days to cut and set and bind and quilt. Geez, I can't even name everything!
So anyway, we have been so touched by all of the big and small things that people have done for us. I don't think I could ever repay even a tenth of the kindness even if I live to be 100.
As for the person who left the anonymous gift on our doorstep, you have not only blown us away with your kindness, but you have both Jason and I treating everyone nicer! We see the goodness in everyone and want to make sure the person who gave it to us knows that we appreciate it.
I must say, it is nice to know that we have no fair-weathered friends.

Early Father's Day:

When I was in NM, I was watching infomercials (my Dad and I have done this since I was a kid. He gets me something from an infomercial every year for Christmas!) I was watching the one for the Jack Lalanne Juicer. WHen Jason and I were dating, I got him a juiceman for valentines, and he has used it a ton. When I saw this one was whisper quiet, had a nice big slot to out the food in, and had a no-drip spout, I was sold. Unfortunately, the dang thing was $150.00, plus S&H; which in the space of an hour they never mention the actual cost. So, I went to the website and still couldn't find out how much shipping was, but I knew there was no way I was going to spend almost $200. Thank goodness for e-bay! I got a brand new one, deluxe model for $120 with the shipping and everything- bye bye troll money!
When it was delivered to our house, I didn't want to put in the effort of hiding the big box, so I just wrote on it: (see picture). Of course this caused Jason to constantly guess what was inside the box. His first guess was a juicer, and I just said "Yep, that's what it is," no matter what he guessed, so he wasn't 100% sure.
Then today, we were cleaning and he picked up the box and said: "Where do you want me to put this juicer?" I was caught a little off guard and said "You looked in the box!?!?" He just started laughing while I stood there aghast and said, "I tricked you! Ha ha ha! I totally tricked you!" It took me a second to register that I was duped. Anyway, since the cat was out of the bag, I told him to just go ahead and open the damn thing. He has been juicing for both of us every morning, so I figured I benefit from this too. (Whisper-quiet motor= sleeping in).
Next time, I will hide the present when I get it.
(P.S. it is 3:00am, and I am up having an asthma attack or whatever the hell is wrong with me. Hopefully that whisper-quiet motor doesn't wake the kids up too early!)

So Tired...

So I am awake at almost 2:00. Unfortunately, I am not reading or enjoying myself in any way. A couple of months ago, I got sick, and I thought maybe I got a bad case of bronchitis, but now I am thinking it is asthma. I can't breathe, I cough all of the time, and feel like i am suffocating. I have been to the doctor, but she just told me to take some homeopathic stuff, robitussin if I needed it and sent me back home to die. HELP! If you have asthma, tell me what you do. I am kinda freaked out to have to take steroids, but anything is better than not being able to breathe. Anyway, if you have any suggestions let me know.

The Host

I just finished Stephanie Meyer's new novel "The Host." I kinda ignored my kids, and messy house, and laundry all day yesterday to finish it up. I really hate when I do that, but it is like some horrible addiction to plot.... I just can't stop in the middle of the story. I finished her other 3 books in 3 days. I feel like reading is my naughty pleasure. I will sneak my book all around the house and read it whenever I get a chance. I don't think it is normal. Oh well, a Stay-at-Home Mom needs something to entertain her during the day.
Oh, and the book was great! I really like her style of writing, and it was a bit sci-fi, so I liked it.
Does anyone have any good suggestions for books I should read next??

Psycho Troll Collectors:

Okay, I know this is going to be a long post, but if you need a good laugh, I recommend that you read it.
These are all e-mails that I received from one of the people who bought a bunch of trolls from me. Just so you know, I copied and pasted these right from the e-mails- I did not change a word or doctor them up or anything. I am not THAT creative. Anyway, she was a really nice lady, and I looked forward to her correspondence. I wish everyone on e-bay was this nice. Well, Enjoy!

Hi. I'm just curious...are these trolls yours from childhood? I'm just wondering why/how you have so many and why you are selling them. I'm 43 and love trolls! I have since I first saw one when I was about 8, and my cousin gave me an old little one from the 60's. Anyway...I have a bunch of big ones...and a handful of medium and small ones...but still love getting some here and there. They still make me happy. I did give a bunch away to a niece about 10 years ago...and now I feel like collecting some more small ones again. I am bidding on a couple of your big Troll Kidz cause I need girlfriends for some of my boy Troll Kidz! :) HAVE A GREAT DAY.

Yep....I will love them. I don't collect things for their collector's value or so I can resell things later. I actually adore trolls and put jewelry on them and sometimes blankets or put them on the couch or by the fish tank or whatever. I give them names...at least the big Troll Kidz ones get first and middle names. I tend to cut tags off of stuffed animals and dolls...their value is in my HEART, not in their money value or what others would pay. I always say that I would not take a million dollars for my favorite trolls...and that is TRUE! If I get one of your big ones (never know if I'll win the auctions or not), I will give one of the girls your name for their middle name. Thanks for sharing. As far as being an obsessive collector goes...I have bought mostly mallard duck stuff on ebay...I'm obsessive about them lately, since real ones have been landing in my yard! Some of my trolls have mallard duck blankets and pins on them! :)

OK.....all the little trollies that I bid on are mine!...once I pay for them. I will get a post office money order ASAP. Just let me know what the total is. I have a blue one that is just like your pink Tootsie night time troll...he will be so happy to see her! :)

I think you may have discounted me too much. I'll just send you $30. You are practically giving your trolls away anyway since I was the only bidder. I think you discounted me $2 for every item...not just the additional ones.
I won't get insurance since they aren't made of glass...that's all I really insure. Thanks so much. I am looking around my house for new places to put the little babies. I want them to be comfy!

Thanks. I think that the Red haired one has the cutest little outfit...and I am going to pair her up with a yellow haired boy troll who is wearing a blue and white stiped suit...I've had him for probably 12 years or so...and his name is Kenny David. I will name her Maria Brittany. I give all my big trolls first and middle names. And I have been buying trolls on ebay a lot the past couple weeks (usually I buy mallard duck decorations). Anyway....when I buy a Troll Kidz from someone, I like to give the child that person's name for a middle name.
THANKS A LOT. I will let you know when the babies arrive safely.

Hi Brittany. I just wanted to let you know that all the troll babies made it safely to Indy. I already paired Tootsie Trina and Maria Brittany up with their men. Khloe Jeanette is waiting for her Man to arrive...he is a blue haird Colorado Rockies troll who I think she will really like. I knew the babies would be beautiful but they are even better in person!
The little Indian trolls are by my fishtank....my boyfriend and I have actually noticed that the one fish seems to like to look at decorations around the tank...the other one is so active I don't know if he notices anything but the bubbles in the water! I may end up purchasing a little flower girl for the ringbearer boy, cause I've seen some on ebay. Thanks for the extra trolls...they are so cute! My big trolls like to play with the little trolls you know! :) I will take good care of your babies and we even will celebrate their birthdays...when we figure out what they should be. I have a b-day troll! Thanks!!!

Brittany, you were so sweet to give me the 2 free trolls. I wanted to let you know what I did with them. I made dresses for them!! I took the skeleton costume off the orange one and made her a tan dress and put beads around her neck....she looks like an Indian girl now. And I made a red dress for the red sign carrying troll. You can make dresses really easy for little trolls by cutting the top part of a stretchy type thick sock that goes up to your calves. Hard to explain but you can cut that part so it is like an apron dress that covers them from the chest down and you can tie it in the back. Thanks again for sending them to me....they look really adorable! By the way...I put a silver fancy cross necklace with an amethyst on the purple troll you sent me, Khloe Jeanette...and a gold necklace with several red ruby-like stones on the red-headed troll, Maria Brittany. Little Tootsie Trina is ready for bed so I didn't put anything on her, but I gave her a teddy bear. Thanks

Thomas the Train: The real Story:

I haven't yet blogged on the Boy's blog about our day out with Thomas the Tank, but I think I may have to sugar coat how it really was. So, here is the real story:

Fact: The tickets to this so-called "event" cost $18.00 plus a convenience fee of 3.50. That is $21.50 each for 2 year-olds and up. So, for us it was $61.50. Thank goodness we didn't pay full price! I think I would have to cry! As I looked around there, all I could think about is that this place was making more money than the porn industry- and we all know how successful that is. It was SO CROWDED!

Fact:This picture is Christian "enjoying" himself on the train. We are about 10 cars back from the actual Thomas Engine in an ancient boxcar with the tiniest seats in history. I had to ask a man to move so that we didn't have to sit outside in the cold. Um yeah, I forgot to bring a jacket for myself and I was freezing, plus we had Owen who would have died of hypothermia if we were to go outside. All of the kids didn't realize we were even on a train. I kept having to say: "Christian, we are on choo choo tracks- wow!" Afterward, I heard some kids say to their Mom that they wanted to go on the train. The Mom responded by saying "We just got off the train!"

Fact: My normally perfect child (Owen, not Christian) decided that it was cold and windy and boring- so he cried... a lot. The train ride was actually 10 minutes of Thomas backing up, and 10 minutes of him going forward to where we started from. He made it through the backing up part, but must have got sick f the views of people's back yards and cried the whole last part. I couldn't take him out of the car seat because the 4 of us were crammed in a place for 2 people and there just wasn't room! Choo Choo!

Fact: Christian has the same rotten face in almost all of the pictures. He would not look up or smile. So, this was one of the best pictures we got with Thomas after standing in line for about 40 minutes. As we were leaving, I told him that if he didn't smile I wouldn't give him lunch, and got a couple fake-smiles by the posters. Man, it is sad when you have to threaten starvation to get your kid to smile.

Fact: Jason almost called in sick to work. Thank goodness he didn't waste a sick day on this! But I must say, I was really grateful to have Kelli there. No matter what the situation, I always have fun with her. Plus, I couldn't find my small camera, so she carried the big one around for me (she also carried Owen and Christian at various times).
We made the best of a really horrible situation, and had fun being together! But this is the LAST TIME I will ever go and see Thomas the Jip Engine.

Graduating Inmates:

I read in the paper today about inmates at our local jail graduating from college. I truly think it is awesome that they can do that. I would rather have an ex-con get out of jail and have some sort of education rather than going back to whatever crime landed them in the clinker in the first place. What my point is at mentioning this is that I think Jason should rob a bank. If he doesn't get caught, we have all of that money. If he does we might be in an even better position:
-A free place to live.
-Free food.
-He wouldn't be able to leave so we would save thousands on gas.
-Free inmate gym membership.
-FREE COLLEGE!
What happened to the days when people committed a crime were punished?

American Idol:

Can you believe David Archuleta lost?? I was in shock, but I must say, I think that people are a little insane. I saw a picture in the newspaper with a 60-something year old lady freaking out at the sight of David. Not to mention all of the adults who went to the ESA and cried their eyes out when he lost. Really people. Who would have shed a tear over this kid 6 months ago? He was just a shy person who liked to sing. I hung out with kids like him in High School (I was a drama nerd, okay) and I will tell you right now that nobody ever gave any of us the time of day. Do you know who I am a big fan of? The average kid who trudges to school every day and has very few friends, but still manages to get along in life. Now that is a hard task! So, even though the more talented person lost.... I think I will survive. That is, until season 8.

Movie Mania!

Saturday night Jason's parents came over to watch the boys, and we decided to go to a movie. Big shock, there is nothing good in the theaters. But, being desperate to get out of the house, we decided to go see Iron Man. It was so strange, I kept falling asleep. It was like... "Oh, gee, I wonder if Iron Man, the star of the movie, will get killed this time.... Oh my goodness, he just dropped 4,000 feet to the ground and is still not dead. What an absolute shock!" It was just a little too cheesy and predictable. The worst part was not the actual movie.
A man and his teenage son sat by us, and the kid kept saying all of the one-liners right before the actors on screen said them! Do you know how annoying that is. I sit and think "should I say something, or is this kids burly Father going to beat my husband up?" I have said things before in this type of situation, but the kid was only about 8 years old, and she had a wimpy-looking Dad.
Well, I kept my mouth shut. (hard to believe... I know). I just can't imagine me sitting there with my kid and not telling them that that sort of behavior is rude and annoying. Come on people!
Please, share with me your horrible movie experiences- and vote on my poll.

New Blog:

Well, here it is. I have decided to start another blog. Why?? I mean, geez, my other blog is so witty and informative. Yes, I know, but sometimes... okay, most of the time I am holding back because I know that it is mainly about my kids, and I don't want them to think their mommy is a bitter and ill-disposed person. Not that this entire blog is going to be filled with sarcasm and negative thoughts, but don't we all feel that way sometimes?
Anyway, I sat here forever trying to think of a good blog address. I must be really unoriginal because all of my favorites were already taken. Which wouldn't be that bad except that people take the good names and don't even blog. I guess that is why I have had the same e-mail address for over 12 years, I just can't think of something new and original. I ended up choosing Mermaid in these Jeans. It if from a Tori Amos song. I am not a huge fan, but love the song it is from. Anyway, you can make your own meaning from it.
Well, enjoy... or don't. I really don't care what you think.
Okay, okay... I care what you think. So leave comments please.
(But only nice ones).