Crazy daze

Man, things have been crazy here at home. Mr Clean is working alot which leaves me and the boys at home. By the time he gets home they are running for the door. He thinks that it is just that they miss him so much... well, it is in part, but I think they are just running away from me. Two cranky kids and a cranky moma doesn't equal happy days. The Banimal has started to cry when he dad leaves in the morning so that gets the day of to a wonderful start. It doesn't take him too long to calm down, but by then the baby is tired so he kicks in.

I am ready for summer. We need to get outside and air out. The kids and I are always in better moods when we go outside everyday. We had some great weather a couple of weeks ago, but yesterday it was snowing and today its just yucky and cold. Well, hopefully we won't have too much more winter to endure.

Next Wednesday we are loading up and going to see Carebears live. Won't that be so exciting. If I don't post for a few days you will know that all the small kids got together and started a rebellion and the mom's didn't make it out alive.

What is up with the Carebears making a comeback. They were popular when I was a kid. The cartoon came on Saturday mornings.... I think. I never was a big Carebear kind of girl. But now kids are crazy about them again. They don't even watch the show. I think you can by videos, but to the best of my knowledge, they don't come on tv. The Banimal has never seen them before. The tickets were cheap and a bunch of his little buddies were going so I figured "what the heck." I may live to regret that decision.

Well, that about sums up my very exciting life. Hopefully next time I post I will be in a better blogging frame of mind.
Oh, btw, check out the blinkies. I am so totally addicted to them. They are like cheesy bumper stickers for your blog. Cool, huh?

I have started drawing again. Its something that I used to do and really enjoy. Now that the boys are getting a little bigger I have a little more free time. So.... here is my first masterpiece... hehheheeehee! 

Supermom!!!!

I try not to compare myself to other people, but on occasion I catch myself, in true female fashion, dragging out a check list to see how I stack up against the competetion (other moms). Most of the time I feel I am about even with most of my friends. We all have strange little quirks and our house aren't immaculate all the time and we have a few extra pounds of baby fat to loose, but not much.

But there is one friend that we completely exclude when we do the checklist. She is SUPERMOM. She has four kids and a week and a half after giving birth to the last one by cesearian section she had the newborn and the toddler at McDonald's. I have only had two kids and after having the second, I didn't leave the house alone for months. And to add insult to injury.... she was wearing her pre-pregnancy jeans. UUUUUGGGGGHHHHHH@!!!!!!!! the nerve.

Her house is always clean. And her husband works alot of hours, so I find this even more amazing. I can never get anything accomplished when Mr Clean isn't here to watch the kids. I have conferred with other moms and we are convinced that she has a tiny migrant worker that lives in a closet and she only brings her out to clean and cook when no one is around (kind of like on Desperate Housewives.)

Mr Clean constantly teases me about her, because he knows how fascinated and perplexed I am by her. He tells me that when she is done with all her daily chores and she has put her 4 kids to bed she slips out of bed and into the bathroom and changes into her superhero costume and flies across the city saving people in distress. Well, all I have to say is come look at my kitchen. I am in distress....Come save me!!!!!

I really think she should write and book and enlighten the rest of us. I know there is some trick or magic to it. At least I hope there is. I am afraid the truth is something I am not going to like..... maybe... the reason she is so thin is because she works so hard all day and burns off what little calories she takes in. And with 4 kids under 6 she probably doesn't have time to eat very much. I like eating. I don't like working very hard...if I can help it..... I'll just hang on to the hope that its magic.

This is my brother, Jason. ( I just realized how funny this looks with the baby pic and then the wedding photo. You might be a redneck if... you marry your sister. Not hardly. We don't live that far back in the mountains. I am proud to say that Mr Clean is of no relation to me. But anywho... I'll save close kin marriages for another post. I just don't have any other photos of him. He is never around. I am really actually surprised that he came to my wedding . I am even more surprised that he wore a tie and had his picture made.) The other picture is of us when he was about 9 mos old.



I really can't believe that as much as I abused him when he was a kid that he has anything to do with me now. I still watch my back when he is around. He says all is forgiven, but I am not so sure. I used to pinch him and then threaten his life if he thought about telling Mom. But I wouldn't let anyone else pick on him. In fact, in the 6 th grade I got thrown off the school bus for 3 days because I come across two seats and punched this idiot in the head for calling him "fat" and making him cry. I was the only one allowed to abuse him.


He is a very funny guy. In fact, he is one of the funniest people I know. He can make a trip to the grocery store side splitting hillarious. Really he doesn't say much that isn't funny. He will even turn some terrible, tragic event into a funny story after the fact.

I worry about him though. He just turned 26 and he is still at home with my parents. I hope my parents live a long, healthy life, because when they die he IS NOT coming to live with us. He is way to messy. I think that the constant exposure to my mother for the last 26 yrs has taken its toll on him. Who knows if he will ever move out and be able to work his way back towards sanity. As long as she does everything for him, I seriously doubt he will even try.

But anyway.....Happy Birthday, Jason!!!!

Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful.
It's the transition that's troublesome.


Isaac Asimov

Wanted: Female single or married between the ages of 50-65 that is interested in adopting a 30 yo daughter. Needs to be patient and kind and understanding and to be a great listener, full of loving motherly advice and willing to dispense it. No financial contributions necessary just emotional. I think that I would be a great daughter.....Plus you get a wonderful son in law and two adorable grandsons to boot.

I have had it with my mother. I think after many, many years of dealing with her that I am ready to let go of my foolish dreams of her being what I would consider a 'good mother.'
I overheard her tell someone this weekend that she didn't care what I asked her to do or not to do. That what I said didn't matter and that she would do as she pleased. All I have asked from her is that she call before coming to our house especially if it is early in the morning or around dinner time. I don't think its too much to ask. But I guess I know down in my heart of hearts that this is just a symptom of the true problem. And that is she just has no respect for me. And I have decided after 30 yrs that I am not putting up with it any longer. She can go walk all over someone else because I give. Sometimes it takes me a while to get it.... but I see it all very clearly now.

Is there anything chocolate can't fix?

Well it finally happened. My little Banimal has been a wild one since he was in the womb. He is a little daredevil. And yesterday he finally got hurt. He has had bruises and bang ups but nothing to make note of. But yesterday he was climbing around on the neighbors picnic table and fell between the table and the seat and caught his mouth on the table. He didn't cry much, but he split his lip. There was blood everywhere. I think he was more upset about the blood being on his clothes than he was the pain of actually getting hurt. He has a nice fat lip today and a tooth that is really sore. I don't think its loose. Hopefully it won't give him any trouble. I am going to give him a week and if its still bugging him I'll call a pediatric dentist and get them to take a look.

I handled it pretty well. Its hard to see your baby hurting, but I stayed calm. I felt like screaming and crying but I kept it all inside. After it was all over I felt like I could use a valium. But I just settled for a Dove chocolate truffle egg. Is there anything a little chocolate can't fix?

If you are there, please pick up!!!

I had went over to the neighbor's house this morning to borrow a cordless drill and had just stepped back thru the door when I heard the phone ring. Mr Clean has been getting lots of calls here lately (he is a landscaper and this is the start of his busy season.) I thought about not going in the office to answer, because its usually just some retiree wanting yard work done, but I decided to go and check. As I got closer to the office door I could hear that it was my brother on the other line. And he didn't sound good. "If you are there.....pleeeeaaaassseee....pick up." I knew something was bad wrong. For one, he never calls and two, he never, ever, ever has asked me to "please" do anything. So I picked up and he told me that he needed me to take him to the hospital.
My brother is the most accident prone person that I have ever met. He makes regular trips to the e.r. He has broken most of his bones at one time or another, has cut the end of off his bird finger (which if you knew him would be real irony), and has had more stitiches than I can count.
So when I picked up I naturally wanted to know how he had gotten hurt. But to my surprise he had just been sitting in the recliner when it all started. He was in alot of pain so I hurried to go pick him up and rushed him to the hospital. Once we got there I realized that I should have probably called ahead and just took my time driving. We live in a small town and the hospital isn't known for speedy service. We sat (well, I sat Jason laid and rolled around in the floor) forever waiting on a nurse to take him back. What I didn't realize was that we were about 15 ft away from the nurse. She was hanging out with some friends that had brought there new baby in to show her. So while she was gooing at the newborn I was trying to explain the basics of Lamaze breathing to help him with the pain. ( There were two small children in the waiting room and Jason has a mouth like a sailor especially when under stress) So I felt like I needed to do something to keep little virgin ears from hearing some very bad language.
But finally the e.r. nurse got it in gear and took him back. They doped him up and ran a bunch of tests on him and found that he had a few kidney stones. The male equivilent to giving birth, I am told. I might have to disagree since a baby is a whole lot bigger. But , it is painful none the less. So I guess I was right on with the lamaze.
But alls well that ends well. He is resting semi-comfortably at home waiting for his little 'babies' to finally move on out.

Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. Helen Keller

Today I went outside as usual with my boys to play for a while before naptime. And we walked over to our big grassy field. The Banimal begs to go to the big field because there are huge piles of mulch to climb on and play in. So we went and played. It was a gorgeous day. Beautiful blue sky. No clouds.
Before we got ready to go back to the house we sat down in the grass to rest and the Banimal wanted me to lay down. It has been years since I have laid down in the grass. So to appease him I pulled up my hood and laid down. It was such a strange feeling. It was like seeing something you used to know. Visiting a place that you haven't seen in years. It was sort of familiar. It felt like it did when I was a kid.
The world is such a beautiful place. We run around in it so wrapped up in getting thru the day that we miss the best parts. I can't tell you the last time I felt as relaxed as I did laying there in the grass staring up at the big blue sky.
I am definately going to schedule in more sky staring time on my 'to do' list.

Peace and war begin at home.
If we truly want peace in the world,
let us begin by loving one another in our own families.
If we want to spread joy,
we need for every family to have joy.

Mother Teresa

the wonder of it all

I found this site and I thought that the pictures and the message were beautiful. So take a break and kick back and relax for a few minutes and take a look. I bet you'll feel a little more centered and much more relaxed.

Enjoy.
wonderofitall.com

Gee, I feel old.

There is nothing like talking to teenager to make you feel old. I keep in touch with one of my cousin's daughters who is 16. And when I talk to her on the phone or email her sometimes I have these horrific realizations. I guess for the most part I don't really think of myself as any age in particular. But a part of me still feels like I did when I was a teenager. But when I talk to her I realize just how 'not a teenager' I am.

Its funny I can remember before my grandmother passed away she told me that she looked into the mirror everyday and thought 'who is this old woman staring back at me.' She said in her mind she still felt like she did in her late teens to early twenties. She said that her outsides didn't match how she felt inside. I guess I am starting to realize some of what she meant.

Normal day

Normal day...
Let me be aware of the treasure you are.
Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart.
Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow.
Let me hold you while I may,
For it may not always be so.
One day I shall want more than all the world your return.

Mary Jean Iron

Sometimes I get caught up in looking ahead too much and not just enjoying where I am. This quote helps me to remember to just savor the moment. I guess the monotony of day to day makes me wish sometimes that I had some excitement. Changing diapers and picking up toys seems kind of boring day after day. But I just remind myself that when the boys are grown and gone that I will miss these uneventful days that we spent playing in the living room floor. These are 'the good ole days.'

To be yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else-- means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting.

EE Cummings

A family pet

Well, it has taken me almost a full year to talk myself into it. But I am ready for a family pet. We are going to take it in baby steps. The Banimal has wanted a fish since I was pregnant with Pteradactyl boy. But I kept putting him off, because I knew how crazy life would be with a new baby in the family. But now Pteradactyl boy is almost a year old and I think we could handle the responsibility of a fish.

I have decided to get a Beta fish. I figure as low maintenance as they are surely we can keep the little sucker alive. And should tragedy befall our new pet, there are a whole bunch more that look just like him at Walmart for a couple of dollars. Maybe if this goes well I might buy one of the bigger tanks. But right now we will just see how it goes with the Beta.

This is so funny because in my former life....pre-Mr Clean and kids. I was a huge animal person. I had an 80 lb dog that lived in the house with me. I always had birds and dogs and cats. I had a horse for several years as well. But for the last five years I have been pet free and I really have enjoyed it. After having two kids so close together the thought of a dog and having to take care of it seems like alot of work. I figure I have a few more years before the dog thing comes up. WHew...

Sunny days... sweeping the clouds away

Man, it has been so nice outside the past few days. Yesterday I actually got a touch of sunburn on my arms. I am so ready for spring to chase Old Man Winter away. Even though I was holding out for a decent snow, I am hoping now that maybe snow could just be postponed until next winter. I want to put on my shorts and take off my shoes and dangle my toes in the water on warm, sunny days.

All this warm weather has me thinking about yardwork. I have a list of things I want to get done and I am anxious to get started on them. I want to do the worst job first...paint the garage. But after that its just little gardening projects which I enjoy. Mr Clean has to get busy on fencing the yard in. I will be crazy if I don't have a fence to keep in the boys.