Five Positive things today!

1. I exercised enough that my abs hurt.
2. I did all the dishes.
3. I did the cat litter.
4. I took a shower.
5. I blogged.

And I did all this with just enough time before I have to go pick the Bear up from school.

Of course after much confusion on my part, I was finally able to realize that I would be free to babysit Star's children Thursday and Friday. Meaning, I get to handle a full household of not 2, not 5 but 7 children. All by myself. For two days. Yeah, I expect to be totally crazy and stressed by the time Friday is done. Still it'll be worth it.

Do I look the type?

Your Slanguage Profile

Prison Slang: 100% Canadian Slang: 75% Aussie Slang: 25% British Slang: 25% New England Slang: 0% Southern Slang: 0%

What Slanguage Do You Speak?

Um I was a little surprised. Yeah!

Taming those Rats

"I am sorry Smiles I am trying to stop the rats from biting you. Maybe we can tell them to go away okay."

"Okay"

"So say, Rats go away. You are hurting Smiles and interfering with Mommy's task"

"Rats GO AWAY! You are hurting Smiles, ouch, and inter ffer in with Mummy's tsk"

"Oh my, there's another nest over here. All of the ones from the first nest must have run over to this one. I guess they didn't like getting evicted!"

"Are you almost done, Mommy?"

"Almost sweetheart. This Rat's Nest is almost tangle free. Look there goes the last Rat scampering away!"

"Really? Where is it going?"

"To another Rat's Nest. Probably another little girl who did not comb her hair everyday."

"Really? Well Kalie brushes her hair twice! everyday. Once in the morning and once at night!"

"Wow. We should start doing that with you hair too!"

"Okay."

1. I brushed all of the Rat's Nests of tangles from my daughter's hair. See above conversation.
2. I excerised for a full half an hour. Then watched Smiles try and imitate me.
3. I got supper ready for the kids in less than 20 mins. Of course having leftovers helped.
4. I played with Smiles alot today.
5. I made sure that the teachers convention on Thursday and Friday also affected my child. This was so I could be crazy and babysit for Star and her brood. Those two days should be interesting (7 kids - yikes)

Better Now

1. I have changed the kids bed times so they are staggered and this way get to cuddle both children before bed. Instead of them fighting over my lap.
2. I did all of the dishes.
3. I got groceries with Smiles.
4. I had Bear do one of his Quizzaroo's from school. He does very well on math tests.
5. I blogged again so my frustrated one before wasn't the last one.

I also had fun beating things up on WoW but that really isn't an accomplishment. I would say that's just destressing. Oh and miracles do come my way. I have two of them. My kids!

Oh and I came up with this silly ditty yesterday talking to my brother who had the same thing happen to him.

Sucky Cat!
Sucky Cat!
On my lap,
Tail whap!
pet me.
Pet Me!
PET ME!!!! NOW!!!!

Money, It's always fucking money!

I am angry at my Hubby about money right now. It is the worst hot topic button for us in regards to our marriage. It doesn't help that I have also been incredibly bitchy and grumpy lately. Suffice it to say that instead of using the money for a bill he is using that amount to spend on dinner with his friends tonight. The worst thing I let him. Because otherwise I am the bad guy and he'll get angry because his fucking social life is more important to him than anything else in the world. Savings? The only reason why we have savings is because I put them in my name that he can't touch. As it is our savings since the move have gone down by three quarters, due to so-called emergencies. Like paying rent. That one I will accept. But Christmas gifts and food? We should be able to budget the money we have incoming for that month and not be pulling from savings.

I swear that man was never taught how to manage his money. His attitude is we got it, we spend it. Even when we don't got it, we spend it! I blame it on his father who is exactly like this as well. Every winter he goes through a period where the incoming money is not the same as the outgoing and he doesn't change his spending habits! Work is seasonal, so maybe we should realize this and change with the seasons? This year due to the fact that I was able to save some money we weren't hosed come January and February as in previous years. We should have had a house by now. Instead of renting dumpy little shitholes that suck the money out of our wallets. I get so tired of this and yet it happens again and again.

Can I change this bad habit? I have been trying for 10 years now and tonight has shown me that no I have not broken this habit. I look back over the years and see the pattern and yet I can not stop it from happening again. So we will ever get a house? In this market probably not. Will we ever save up enough money to buy a house? I honestly believe somedays it will take a miracle. And those aren't handed out to people like me.

I was going to do my five positive accomplishments today but I can't right now. I can barely see the letters on the keyboard through my tears.

Positive Reinforcement

1. I did the cat litter.
2. I let the kids play at the playpark after school despite my feet hurting.
3. I took long naps to get rid of whatever cold I just caught.
4. I got Bear to school on time this morning (believe me it was looking dicey there for awhile)
5. I just blogged.

I also stayed up way to late but have a nice hubby who says he will get up with the kids in the morning. :)

Blogging Comments

So I am getting annoyed at not being able to comment on my friends blogs. I have tried even as anonymous and it still won't let me! GRRRRRR!

Ok rant aside. Someone posted about guests and friends at the Anniversary Con inviting themselves to supper. I know that it is rude to not include people you have invited over when your supper plans fall through. Though my understanding was(and yes I may be opining about something I most certainly do not have all the information for) that a supper break was supposed to happen around 5pm with people finding their own supper. It was after all supposed to be an informal gathering, dinner not included. When the original dinner plans fell through I understand that people would want to join Raven and Blankshield for supper. After all I know that they are cool people and really good friends to hang with. That is why people joined them on their Anniversary at their invite.

Im not saying that my opinion is correct and I was feeling miffed myself over the dinner plans. I had been looking forward to the Harvest Room and wanting to have a nice quiet dinner with a small circle of friends. That being said I am glad that all the people showed up and I really enjoyed everybody's company. I just happen to very opinionated about some things and obviously put my foot in my mouth. So if I have offended anybody my apologies. I have thought about the problem of guests and what to do with them. Should I ever decide to do something like Anniversary Con I will make sure my plans are clear to everyone. That way if something should change, meh we'll see what happens!

Anyways I wasn't meaning to rant on that subject either. Boy! I must be excitable today. I was going to mention that I had a very disappointed boy today who was angry with his father. Bear usually gets 35 minutes on the computer everyday if he gets his homework done. He also is allowed 1 hour of TV. Today Daddy brought him home (because I was feeling unwell and napping) and let him and Smiles play outside in the backyard when he got home. It being good weather this was acceptable. Except that the time for homework then got pushed back an hour.

The biggest culprit here was that Daddy was not feeling well today and so he was wanting to play on the computer. I said okay as long as he got off at 7pm so Bear could have his computer time. Guess what 7pm came and went and guess who was still on the computer. Yup got it in one. Daddy! We had talked about this last week already and I was very annoyed with Hubby for doing this again! He keeps promising tomorrow you can have your computer time and tomorrow comes and he's on the computer so Bear can't be. You see Hubby usually gets off work around the same time Bear is finishing up his homework and playing on the computer is his way of destressing. I understand this. Unfortunately Bear only has a limited amount of time to play each day and I would really like for him to have the chance to play should he choose to. If Hubby really wants the computer he can all evening if he wishes. I have to make him understand that if he continues to disappoint his child, Bear will decide that he is unreliable and not trust him, especially later on in the teenage years. So, I need to try and make him see what it is he doing to Bear.

I am not going to suggest I am perfect on that score either. I know there have been times when I have promised something and the time comes and the kids are disappointed. It unfortunately happens. The thing I see Hubby doing is that he wants to give the kids a treat and so says "Guess who we are going to see today?" or "Do you know what we are going to do today?" and gets them all excited. He does this on purpose and I know he means well. He wants to see them happy. Unfortunately, he does not think ahead and see the disappointment that happens when his plans fall through.

Sigh, I meant to just do my 5 positive things today as a post and instead ranted on THREE different topics.

Ok,
1. I cuddled with Bear and distracted him from his disappointment by reading his cool Dinosaur Encyclopedia.
2. I did the dishes instead of yelling at Hubby.
3. I had a good talk with Smiles after dropping Bear off at school.
4. I had a talk with Hubby and what he did to the Bear.
5. I called my Bank.

There's tons more of things I did today that were good accomplishments but I think These ones were the best for me today.

Five things I did today!

Okay actually this is for yesterday since it was late when I got home and did not want to go on the computer.

1. I cleaned both the toaster oven and the microwave.
2. I did the dishes.
3. I played with both Smiles and Bear.
4. I went swimming with Raven.
5. I unpacked some lovely figurines from my mother-in-law and placed them high on a bookshelf. (Hopefully neither cats nor kids will be able to knock them over there)

I used to try and do this everyday as a way to help me realize that I actually do alot of things and that since they are always positive this helps me with my self esteem.

So far today I have done these five things

1. I dropped Bear off at school. (On time - this usually is not a problem)
2. I went to the doctor's office and discussed my problem of water retention with her.
3. I made cookies with Smiles.
4. I boiled a carton of the 6 dozen eggs that my mother gave me.
5. I just fixed a toy that Smiles could not do herself.

And that is before I have even done any cleaning yet today! Hah! So yeah I think my life is okay for now.

Anniversary Con

SO we ended up going to Sorrentino's downtown for supper last night because Raven and Blankshield had forgotten to reserve a space in the Harvest Room at the Hotel MacDonald. That and apparently when they talked about it, the few people who had joined them already at their suite at the Mac then asked "Oh where are we going for supper?" Raven was a little non-plussed because she still wanted to go out to a fine restuarant that is more expensive and had really good food. So after calling around Sorretino's(I believe this is correct spelling of it but am probably totally off the mark) was the only restuarant that could handle 20 plus people on short notice. This being the Saturday after Valentine's Day and all.

Still the meal was excellent and afterward we all headed up to the Governor General's suite where we talked, laughed and played games. Yes! I got to play Speed Scrabble and man is it so much fun. I ended up having to leave my Scrabble game there because Hubby had a mood coming on and felt guilty about having his parents watch the kids. I am sure of it because he kept refering to how we needed to go home to put the kids to bed. I was laughing when I reminded him they would already be in bed! His parents having put them there. So I think he was just you know feeling guilty or something. He ended up playing on the computer late last night after coming home.

I had been thinking I should have insisted I stay at the Con(hehe) and play more Speed Scrabble but I could see Hubby was needing the moral support so I went with him. (Something I know he has trouble doing even when I am really really sick). Sorry had to get that dig in there.

Anyways this morning he invited some friends over for breakfast and he needs to start working on the pancakes. Somehow I just know he will ask me to do the batter, because of whatever reason. (Laziness or just wanting to get me off the computer so he can use it). Still he did buy turkey bacon for the kids and I. So he and his friends can chow down on the pork stuff. Somedays it is really annoying having a major intolerance to pork, but you know what the smell of frying bacon really doesn't appeal to me anymore. Its been over ten years now that I have discovered this intolerance. That isn't to say that I don't try pork every now and then(mostly when I forgot to make sure the thing I order comes without bacon). Still I am sad the kids have inherited my intolerance. I don't mind having to be excluded from some meal plans or having to make my own for family events. But it has been interesting to see how other people keep it in mind. Still my future sister-in-law is intolerant to beef so the two of us should make a fine pair!

Speed Scrabble

So Raven and Blankshield's Anniversary Con is tonight and we will be able to go to the Hotel MAcDonald for supper with them tonight. This morning though while I was reading the newspaper I came across an article detailing the rules and fun of Speed Scrabble. I think that Blankshield might actually enjoy this game since he likes games that involve mental acuteness and good reflexes. So I am going to bring my traditional Scrabble board game and the rules for Speed Scrabble with me tonight. I don't know if I will have any takers but I figured that if nothing else people might have fun with it.

The basis of Speed Scrabble (to my limited understanding) is tiles are placed face down on a table and each player takes the traditional seven tiles. They then start making their own individual boards in front of them as fast and acurrately as possible. When someone has used all their tiles they yell "Go" and every player takes another tile or two from the middle stock. When all the tiles are gone,the player who has placed all his tiles on his/her board yells "Stop" and thats when the counting begins. It sounds fun. and there are variations such as you can take your board apart and reorder the words, but be careful because you can get caught with a disassembled board. Still, I am thinking I really want to try and if I like it I might start carrying a bag of Scrabble tiles around with me!

I have a new Stalker

I have been wanting to blog most of today and now that I have the time I don't know what to say. My daughter has been incredibly cute and been telling me how Pegasus wants to be with me. She even said that Pegasus had to come to school with me when I went to go pick her brother up (Daddy was home and she didn't want to get out of her dress). And the one time I ran to get the phone Pegasus was upset because I had not taken her with me! Sigh! I guess this is my daughter's current version of clinginess. The cool thing was that she asked me where Pegasus live and I told her that they live in the clouds. She was so impressed I had to laugh. Apparently she had not thought of that. I also told her that they like mountaintops and being cuddled. She told me that Kalie has a Pegasus, because Kalie can go flying high enough to see them. (See previous post about imaginary friend)

I also caught her running up and down the hallway playing rescue or something. Sansa to the Rescue! Rainbow to the Rescue! Olena is in trouble! Leesa to the Rescue! Remember you are not the boss! Bebe to the Rescue! She was having alot of fun and I was very happy to see it. They were banned from TV today because this morning neither one of them were willing to turn off the TV when I asked them too. I usually let them have half an hour of TV before they have to turn it off and get breakfast and stuff. I do this so I have a chance to wake up and figure out what needs to be done before school. Like this morning I needed to make Bear's lunch. So when this happened I was not impressed!

"Smiles turned on the TV she should turn it off!"

"I turned on the TV Bear should turn it off!"

"Fine, if neither one of you is going to turn the TV off, I will! And no more TV for the rest of today!"

"Tomorrow?"

AAArrrrggh!

They are currently in bed but far from sleep! I just had to storm in there and find out why Smiles was yelling at her brother. She has been acting very, oh I don't know, princess like and it is really starting to piss me off. If she doesn't like something she starts yelling and screaming and crying. And it is over stupid things, like her brother's arm is hanging down from the bunk bed and she does not want it too. Or the worst is when he walks in front of us when going to school. I tell her walk faster but she, being younger, is hence slower than her brother. And is generally outpaced and cut off by him.

AAAAAAAAArrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhh!

Deep breath!

I suppose this can be partly my fault, when I get angry I tend to yell and I know Smiles picks up on the things I say. Hence the "You're not the boss!" comment when she was playing with her stuffies earlier. So I guess I will have to wait and see how long it takes before she starts saying Suck it up Princess! She is not happy with me right now and I do feel bad but I also have to be firm when I am discplining her. Parenting can be so frustrating and so rewarding. Unfortunately most of the time it is at the same time!

The worst thing is I really have to curb myself calling things stupid. Smiles has been name calling everyone and everything lately. It is either Mustard, Loser or Garlic! I am not sure why or how she came up with those names. All I know is that I have to nip this in the bud before she gets to kindergarten, otherwise it will be a serious problem. No one likes to have their child labeled a bully and here I was concerned about the Bear because he doesn't always understand how strong he is in comparison to other kids his age. I guess in his case I dread the day he realizes it and decides to use it anyways. Now Smiles seems to be doing it to try and get a reaction. She also thinks it is funny. I am really wondering where this is coming from because it is not like we do that around here.

Wow, that was a longer babble than I expected. Okay time to go, my breathing has steadied and I hope the kids have finally gone to sleep. I doubt it but I can hope!

So I am hot and sweaty!

I shall be going swimming with Raven tonight which makes me extremely happy and I will so need the hot tub. The weather is finally turning warm which prompted Smiles to ask if Summer was coming. I had to smile and say no, but hopefully spring will be on its way. She then started telling me all about her friend Kalie. How she is older than Smiles and goes to Bear's school. Yet lives with K at Raven's house (who lives a good 20 to 30 minutes from us. In a suburb) Kalie can fly and on a regular basis grows up and then back down again. Kalie has pink and purple hair that can change whenever she wants it to. AND....Kalie's mom and dad have died and come back to life. I can't remember if this was before or after Kalie's house burnt down.

If you haven't guessed my daughter has an imaginary friend that Smiles experiments with by having Kalie do all these impossible things that have somehow impacted Smiles life. Kalie even used to live with us, but she would only come out at night when Bear was quiet. I would say my day today has been better than yesterday's. After all, with the game cancelled on Saturday it means we can go to the Anniversary Con. The reason why we are supposed to have dinner with Raven and Blankshield at the Hotel MacDonald in the first place. Since that is where they are holding their anniversary party and inviting all their gamer friends.

So I am no longer hot and sweaty having cooled down after shoveling the sidewalk. I just told my husband that if he's smart he should shovel the front walk up to the house now while the weather is still warm. Of course he doesn't want to shovel anything and will ignore me before going on the computer once I get off to phone Raven. Oh well, its his life and if he ignores exercising its our family who will pay the price. Its been three almost four years since I have been in the workplace and I do not think I could find a job to replace the amount of income my husband makes. Which means we would have to move in with my parents and I know that he would not enjoy that in the least. Neither would I but I think I could cope a little easier.

Grumpiness is the current Attitude

1. The game on Saturday has been cancelled.
2. We don't have enough money to go to the Hotel MacDonald with Blankshield and Raven.(Unless we dip into savings. Which unfortunately is awfully tempting)
3. I have a blister on my heel. And I have to pick Bear up from school everyday so it is not healing right now.
4. Smiles has been alternating between great and cuddly child to the ultimate fiendish brat.
5. My husband kicked me off the computer earlier while I was picking up the Bear. I was not impressed when I got home. I still had things to do. Like blog!
6. I had to do the dishes.
7. I have acid reflux and can only drink water.
8. My daughter decided that the chocolate shampoo we have for the kids would make an excellent perfume after having been put to bed. I ended up having to take her into the shower with me just so her pillow wouldn't be stained. And of course her hair needed to be washed. Grr.

There's more but that will suffice for now.

That doesn't mean that some good things haven't happened today. Smiles found the leftover hearts I had made for the Bear's class and decided to make valentine's day cards for all of her stuffies and for Mommy and Daddy. My daughter learned a new word to describe herself - chocaholic. Hubby got me some chocolates that I like and I am now able to play on the computer all night if I want to. I was able to take a shower and get clean. And of course I have a cat on my lap, who while being annoyed at my typing over her is dealing with it and will soon be flaked out asleep. And hitting random buttons on my computer every now and then when she stretches.

My Daughter the Donut Fiend

So once again on this wonderfully cold Tuesday morning I had another doctor's appointment. Smiles accompanied me as usual and even though we were tight for time we still managed to squeeze in going to the donut store. The reason we were tight for time is that Hubby also has a doctor's appointment today 3 hours after mine. At the same doctor's office. Which now takes half an hour to 45 minutes to get to. So guess what my daughter wants to do? Yup, that's right she wants to acompany Daddy to the doctor's to see if she can get him to stop at the donut store again!

Sigh, I really can't blame her.

On other news I have fulfilled my promise of Lasagna to Raven. That was dropped off last night. The casserole dish works beautifully. Now if only our oven door would stay on the hinges properly everything would be fine. ..... I have to laugh that was Raven on the phone just now asking for directions on how to cook the lasagna. 375 degrees for 45 minutes with the cheese already on.

The only other thing I can say is blah! Maybe now I can take a nap before having to pick the Bear up from school.

Frustration Relief with Catan

So I essentially let myself and the kids be dragged over to Raven's house just so she could get some gaming in. Except that the other person who was supposed to come had her husband frostbite his fingers so bad that he really should have gone to Emergency. So it was just the two of us. I even brought my swimming things in case we could go do that, but alas the kids wouldn't settle.

"But I want to sleep with K.......(whine). I hate sleeping with Bear. He makes too much noise!"

"Well your options are you sleep in this room with Bear or we go home!"

"But I don't want to go home...."

When Smiles finally realized that I meant what I said (she was at two- three is when the consequences are dealt out!) she then crawled into bed and said she would try to sleep. Half an hour later still playing but no longer whining she was a little more tolerable. Alas other people arrived because Blankshield (Raven's husband) had invited them over because Monday night gaming had been cancelled. SO tea was made for Raven and myself while she ignored me for awhile doing fiscal therapy on her computer and I talked with the newcomers.

We ended up playing a really good game of Seafarers of Catan and Raven won. I was so close! The kids were not bad getting them bundled up and taken home and Raven and I discussed more gaming options. The problem is that most peoples schedules are not conducive to the game that I want Raven to run. She has been talking about doing a Ladies of Hack game and I so want to play. Unfortunately the ones we would like to play with cannot find a time that would fit in their busy schedules. The game Raven has as an alternative I am not so interested in because it tends to be more of a player versus player game. I tend to enjoy the cooperative games and really do not like feeling like I am getting short shifted by the player group. Maybe thats why I like Catan so much. It is a really good cooperative game. Admittedly it can lead to some backstabbing moments, but on the whole it is about the players playing together.

Still a good night was had by all. Okay maybe not my husband who is doing snow removal right now, but I had fun. I also know that Raven was in a much better mood than when she picked me up so that makes it worth it to me!

Frustration is Rampant today!

So the plan has been revised many times today due to so many frustrating factors. I will admit I was happy to at least get a nap in this morning when I really needed one. Raven has been frustrated for different reasons, most of them relating to GenCon and hotel rooms, but it looks like we are not going to go swimming tonight. Gaming is also out of the question due to Hubby doing snow removal tonight. My lack of a vehicle has also contributed to the frustration levels since if I was to go anywhere tonight I would also have to drag the kids along and Hubby just drove off with the carseats in the truck. Sigh, this is not a day for happiness.

Still Smiles has been fairly good today, clingy but thats to be expected of her right now. Bear has been alright and almost on the verge of being punished alot but never quite pushing himself over the limit. The biggest problem with him right now is that he still sucks his fingers. I mean he just turned seven and still sucks his fingers. Which drives me nuts because he is destroying his palate and I can not figure out a way to make him stop! The best I can do is tell him to cuddle one of his stuffies if he feels like needing to suck his fingers which he then promptly ignores. AAAArrrrrgggghhhh!

I would appreciate any suggestions anyone might have on what to do for this problem. I can't punish him really, though I admit to putting tabasco sauce on his fingers to try to get him to stop. Alas bribing him won't help he'll just get the reward and then still suck his fingers afterwards.(This apparently worked on my husband when he was a child). And positive redirection has not been working either. So any ideas, any at all I would love to hear some. Please!

Pinata Bash

Kids were picked up and delivered home safe and sound, in time for the kiddies to come over and bash open the poor Batman Pinata. Aunty Ski and Uncle D had been commenting at the family birthday party that Batman looked grumpy because he knew he would be smacked around by a bunch of kids soon. I am so glad I decided that my two were not going to be the ones to open that Pinata by themselves. As it was neither of the Harmonicas stayed in the house. Hehehe. And almost all of the candy was absorbed by the visiting children. My two did get their fair share in though. The rest of the TMNT cake was devoured and all that remains is the toys that the Bear received as presents. Yeah. So maybe we can go back to a normal routine after this. Yeah and maybe I can hope Smiles will stop being such a demanding little brat. She must be going through her terribles twos late or something. Actually I can't blame her too much. After all she is trying to figure out her independence and her limitations so I suppose I should cut her some slack. Unfortunately she tends to try to show her independence at very inconvient times.

"Smiles we have to go pick up the Bear now. Go get your socks on! Why are you still wearing a dress?"

"STOP YELLING!"

"I'll stop yelling if you get dressed or we will be late getting your brother from school!"

"STOP YELLING!!! I don't want to go!"

"You can't stay home Smiles! For the last time if I have to I will dress you myself!"

"I DON'T WaaaaanT TO!"

Etc... etc....

This has been pretty typical for the last couple of months. Not usually this bad, but man I am so glad I have factored her tantrums into the time it takes to get ready to leave. I hope it won't be this bad when she starts Kindergarten next fall. I am still sad she cannot go to playschool this year. Hmmm maybe that's why she rebelling against having to drop her brother off at school. He gets to go but she can't. I think I might have to have a talk with her.

Anyways, the kids had fun and Star's child has expressly told me that she wants Smiles and THAT (pointing at the Bear) to come over and play at her house. So I will have to call Star sometime and set up an appointment. This way hopefully Little S will get her fix and Star can get some sanity back. I might even help her with some laundry or her basement since I hear it was left in an awful mess from the previous live-ins. I won't go into detail, she has said enough on her blog and I really believe if you can't say something nice don't say anything at all. Of course that comment in and of itself these days could be construed as saying something not nice. Oh well.

Kid Free Weekend

SO bear's birthday party was yesterday and it turned out pretty good. We had the family over for supper and the kids got to play with Grandparents they hadn't seen in awhile. Bear was happy about his gifts he really liked the monsters lego from Aunty Ski and the Shark Park Hot Wheels box that Smiles and I picked out for him. Hubby was a little disappointed that the Dinosaur Encyclopedia he picked out wasn't as exciting as the Shark Park. Though Bear did give an excited squeal "Cool, this is just like the one K.... has!" K being Raven's daughter. I can't come up with a good psuedonym for her so I will have to confer with Raven on that. Bear even liked the clothes that he recieved. But the best part was after the cake (which Smiles was very demanding about - both cakes as a matter of fact) the Grandparents then bundled them both up and took them away to the farm. Now that's a present I think we all can live with! After all the kids are probably running around right now playing with Grandma or chasing the chickens or mucking in the greenhouse. And I got to sleep in this morning. What a luxury that was.

Even better for me was that I came up with another story idea which seems pretty cool to me. So I am going to be writing out some ideas and drafts after this. Of course the one downside to all of this is that I still have a mountain of dishes piled up in the kitchen. Meh, they are not pressing right now so you know what? They can wait!

Birthday Cleaning

So the Bear's birthday is tomorrow and I have only done half the cleaning I need to do. Smiles has been very cute and helpful. She washed the walls! and the doors! I hope I haven't overdone it again. Alas I have to get the rest done by 5pm tomorrow or all the relatives will show up to my messy house for supper. Laundry has been haphazard at best and I really don't want to fold. So I now have five baskets of laundry sitting in the living room and at least another five needing to be washed. Sigh. At least the presents were obtained and wrapped (after finding that the cats have decided that my store of tissue paper makes a great scratching paper. Grrr!) At least its not my toilet paper this time. The black one loves to shred paper and boxes. Which has me wondering why am I leaving so many boxes lying around right now? Of course she seems to prefer to be sleeping on them as opposed to ripping them so I suppose that's a small mercy.

Star I have heard the plea of your child and will try and contact you as to when a good day may be for Smiles to come over and play. Alas this weekend they are heading out to the farm to be with the grandparents for a day and 2 nights. Yeah!! Of course this is still a surprise to them since it will be after the birthday party tomorrow. Still small things like that will hopefully make my weekend. Hmm sleeping in. That sounds like a nice prospect.

Bear's Birthday Coming Up

I am slightly depressed at the moment but mostly just avoiding the household tasks that really need to be done. The Bear's birthday is on Friday and we are going to have a small(laugh) dinner for family that night. We had also talked about having some of his friends come over after school but the invitations never got made or decided upon. So I am thinking I just might make a few and give them to Bear to hand out today after school. Only three kids mind you and for only half an hour on Friday. Thats all I'll be able to stand that day I can tell you that.

Anyways off to the eternal neverending tasks of housekeeping. One day I hope to be able to afford a maid. That will probably be the same day I win the lottery, which means I should probably pay the stupid tax and actually buy a ticket. Someday.

Energy and the lack thereof

So I must be getting better. The households tasks are actually starting to irritate me because they are not done. I actually swept the floor today because I just could not stand the crunchies anymore. Alas I then discovered that the crunchies were hiding the stickiy spots from me and now I really have to mop the floor. It's funny, when I was sick I could walk around the house (okay stumble is more like it) and the messy bathroom or the fuzz in the corners were easily overlooked and ignored. Now that I am starting to feel better, I am getting this 'ugh! my house is a mess!' feeling and may start doing something about it. I was at least able to keep up on the dishes and cat litter during that horrible last week.

The biggest problem I have is that once I start feeling better and the urge to clean builds I have to try and moderate it. Otherwise I will use all the new found energy that my body has and totally wipe myself out. Then I will slide back into one or two maybe even three more days of being really sick again. I should know I have done it enough times.

Pause.....

Tinkle...Crash!.... "Um kids what was that?"

"A glass!"

"Broken?"

"Yeah, we were building a fort and...."

"OUT! Out!"

"But I need my toys!"

"Out!!!!"

Sigh, sorry for the interuption. It seems once again my lack housekeeping skills over that last week has reared its ugly head again. Though this time I could blame it on my husband since it was his glass left in the living room. He had some friends over last night and the rule is to collect all the garbage and dishes and put them in the kitchen at the end of the night. This obviously has not been happening lately or we would not have heard the lovely Crash! moments ago.

Oh well, I do hope that I can go swimming with Raven tonight even though the game has been cancelled. Of course if this keeps up I may just want to nap instead. Energy - something the kids have too much of and I have not enough of.

Promises of Lasagna

Raven came over tonight and in effect kidnapped me kicking and screaming (sounds like - hack, hack, cough, wheeze) as we traversed a mall in order to do some shopping. Normally we would have gone swimming but with me still feeling exhausted we decided to try a coffee shop. Alas she needed some things first. Oh alright it wasn't that bad and besides she bought me a corning ware dish with the promise that I make a lasagna for her for Monday. Which would also fulfil the promise that I had made to Mr. Giant. He had come over last Sunday and I was supposed to have made lasagna for him then. Hubby made Chili instead which has lasted all week.

Anyways Raven wouldn't have been able to drag me out if I had not wanted to go. Which meant that I was going stir crazy having to deal with the kids. Especially a normally wonderful little girl who is usually all smiles and delight. Alas Miss Jeckyll has taken over Smiles and she has been screaming her demands and crying loudly. Very very loudly. I really hope the neighbours can't hear any of it. The worst is when I have to drag her kicking and screaming out the door (yes outside in the cool clear crisp air) so we can go pick up her brother from school. Now I realize that this was aggravated today by the fact that she had just fallen asleep on her bed. I loathed having to wake her up but alas what could I do? I was not about to leave her home by herself. What if she woke up and I wasn't there? What if someone broke in and I wasn't there? What if the house started on fire and I wasn't there? You know and all the other paranoid questions that parents get in regards to leaving young children home by themselves. Teenagers are a different story and alas mine are not on that cusp yet. Besides the teenage years are going to bring an entirely different set of problems.

Hubby reported that they went to bed easily enough for him and that they really enjoyed their bath. It had been awhile since they had had one. But hey I can't smell anything right now, meh. Still a bath is important even if all you do is slough off the feeling of whatever dirt and grime you imagine is on you. I'm sure my shower did more than that today but man it felt good to be clean again.