In case you were wondering...

No, I am not this guy. And thanks to Larry for letting me know that the link to my store was missing a letter. I should also mention that KellyRnot2, to my knowledge, has no affiliation with Natural Family Boutique. I, however, am affiliated. And let me also mention, that there is still time to get orders in for the holidays, though I'd recommend you letting me check our current inventory and ETA's before you order, as some things are on backorder.
On a somewhat related note, I do sometimes wonder if its really smart to have a link on my blog to my business, since my business does have my phone number on it, but so far, I haven't been harassed, mainly because I think most of the people reading my blog already have my number anyway.

Lots of randomness

I had a dream last night that i ate something, not something i'd never had before, just some random food, and it made my throat swell so that I couldn't breathe. That was NOT fun.

So yes, Michael is home. Took a little bit for Mikayla to warm up to him, but she's fine now. (little bit being, like, 20minutes).

We're on a tight budget and we went grocery shopping for the next 10 days and only spent $70. I'm not convinced that this even makes sense mathematically.

My court date is quickly approaching and Michael has to work that day, we have no sitter. This sounds like a ton of fun.

Mikayla poured diet coke into an empty jose cuervo margarita bottle and told me that she was drinking "beer coke" though actually she said "bee-ah coke." that kid has the weirdest accent.

and now she won't leave my caps lock alone so i have to keep backspacing. AND michael brought me a new keyboard and its really super dee duper annoying and i can't reach the shift or the backspace well on it - hence, the lackof capitalization, and any typosthat I overlooked. like those spacing errors there that i now refuse to go back and fix.

There are few things in life that I'm willing to get up before 6 am for. Or 8 am for that matter. I usually schedule afternoon doctor appointments. By the time we get up and eat and dressed, we rarely even make it to 10 am functions on time. Somehow, I do manage to make it to church at 9:45 most Sundays. Maybe its the lack of sleep talking here, but I really am drawing a blank on things that would warrant me being up while it is still dark out.
However, today, I have good reason.
I'll be leaving in around an hour. When I pull out of that driveway, I'll have two passengers. When I pull back in sometime later today, which hopefully won't be too many hours, I'll have 3 passengers. Yeah, I think thats worth getting up early for.

Kuwait

Got an email. He's in Kuwait. Must go finish cleaning the house.

Oh yeah, and my package finally arrived at like 8:30pm. thats just insane!
BTW, don't expect thrillingly witty entries anytime soon. My brain has just turned to slush. Anything I wrote might be humorous, because you'd say "Holy crap she's an idiot!!" but certainly not witty.

Oh, wait. I do have an Aaric quote for today.
"Mom, I found this rock under the chair, and it is filthy and hard."
Well kid, rocks aren't exactly known for being cuddly.
Also, he'd like to know what the F--- word in "A Christmas Story" is. I told him I'll tell him in around 15 years. He's 5 now. If he doesn't figure it out by the time he's 20, I'll tell the poor guy. He says if I tell him, he won't say it. Yeah right! This from the kid who told Mikayla that she "scared the crap" out of him the other day. I mean, not that I cringe at the word "crap", its just unsettling to hear my 5 yr old using it on a regular basis. And just my luck, if I was dumb enough to tell him what the word is, he'd utter it front of my dad. Who once lectured my then 18 yr old brother on his recent usage of the word "butt."

Missing Finger Update

You guessed it - its still missing.
Seriously though...
They went to the specialist today and he thinks its actually healing quite nicely. The doctor came in, sat down and said, "Well young man, what have you done?" He replied, "I cut off my finger!" There ya have it! He is a very petite little 3 yr old, I think the doctor wasn't expecting such a clear answer.
he says its healing well and he doesn't think they need to remove the joint. So no surgery. My mother-in-law/his Nana will be putting some enzyme stuff on it to get it cleaned out real good - she hadn't done it before only because she wanted to wait and see what all the doctor said about it first.
So, I guess the finger tale is over. Unless they wind up later deciding to get a toe attached. That would be fun, and the other doctor DID suggest it. Sister in Law seemed pretty freaked out by that idea though.

In other news...
I won't say anything official until I know for sure.
But I haven't heard from Michael today. I'm assuming its because the phone lines this morning/his evening in Kuwait were too long. Otherwise, he's just being a meanie and not calling me while he sits around in Iraq waiting on their flight. Which would be just plain rude, and totally uncalled for.

I may as well also add my little vent... WHY DOES UPS HATE ME???? WHY AM I THE LAST STOP OF THE DAY EVERY SINGLE TIME??? And why do I refresh the tracking screen every time, AFTER it has already said "out for delivery" - as if its going to say "approximately 8 miles from your house, with 13274 stops to go" on the status page?? Though, once, I refreshed and was shocked to see that it said "Delivered." I never saw the truck, but sure enough, there was a box on the porch. Creepy. I think that was Fed Ex. They're sneaky. {just a pissed off update. its now 8:23. still "out for delivery." it does not take 12 hours to make the drive from the UPS warehouse to here. I promise.}

Also, one last thing. Notice that the coding is fixed right so that my sidebar is back where it belongs? Yeah, I'm a genius. No, really its that blogger is stupid. I swear. I took the google ad out because i wasn't making anything off of it anyway, and its what screwed the coding up. But still, i couldn't get the sidebar fixed. SO I saved my whole template in word, then redid the whole thing. started from scratch, redid the template, read through them both side by side to find the differences. The only differences were the stuff i had in the sidebar and the counter, both of which areas are now coded *exactly* the way they were before. But stupid blogger needed me to clear it all out and enter it all in again, to recognize that. So now it works.

Legal Notice Lady

The time has come to tell The Internet about Legal Notice Lady, who will henceforth be referred to as simply, LNL.
I live in a duplex. If you were facing it from the street, I'm the one on the left. In the next duplex down (to your right), in the left unit, lives LNL. All I knew about her in the past, was that she smoked a lot, and walked her dog in the back yard a lot, usually while smoking. And she has super long hair, like down to her butt and wears it in a ponytail. Her husband came home from a deployment (I assume this, because of the flags and "Welcome Home" signs that were in the yard)a couple months ago.
A few weeks ago, I'd seen a truck full of stuff. Didn't think a lot about it. This was around the same time that Aaric kept going on leisurely bike rides around the neighborhood, all on his own, without telling me, frequently. Now, on this particular day, it was dark already. Around 5:30 or so, maybe. Since it had already happened once earlier that day and twice over the weekend (it was a monday), I was more pissed off than worried. I mean, its a relatively safe neighborhood, and I doubted he was in any danger... but he kept on doing it over and over!! So. I noticed a cop (MP) car drive by and was just about to flag him down to ask him to watch for a small kid on wheels as he cruised the neighborhood, when he stopped in front of LNL's house. Right about then, I could hear the sound of Aaric's training wheel scratching the pavement. We went in, and I kept peeking back out the door to see if they were coming out, because I was hoping to get a nice stern lecture from them. I saw LNL a few times, when I looked, and I'm sure she thought I was being nosey, but I swear, i just wanted to get a lecture for my kid. That time.
They finally left, and I didn't see them as they drove off, so I missed my chance there. But after a couple days, I noticed a piece of paper, just a regular sized one, taped to her shutters in Priority Mail tape. I kinda wondered at first if maybe the mail carrier did it. It didn't look like a package though, just a piece of paper! taped to the shutters! with priority mail tape!
So, the next day, I noticed door decor. Only it wasn't of the holiday variety. It was more pieces of paper. Under the peephole, there was a piece of paper with "WARNING" printed out (from the computer) in a little arch. she took some actual effort with this. The paper was cut to follow the curvature of the warning too. Man do I need to find a way to sneak over there with a camera! Well, underneath that display, were 2 pieces of paper, with a paper cut out cross between them.
Well, I just had to know. I was walking to get my mail and noticed that her car wasn't there and I didn't see her anywhere. So on my way back, I mosied up the (very very short) driveway to look at the door. Now, right in front of her house, a road intersects our road. There's a new road right there. Well, as I stood there for half a second, I saw the word "domestic" and can't recall what else because I hear someone yell from down that road, maybe 2 buildings down, "HELLO!" I tried to play it off like I just got bored and walked away, that their yelling didn't frighten me, but yeah, I'm thinking "crap, she was just down at a neighbor's house and now she's pissed that I, the nosey neighbor, is sneaking up to read her door display." Did I mention that we have super short driveways?? Just enough room for a car. So the front door is right there. Its not like I had to go out of my way. And if there's a big "WARNING" sign on my neighbor's door, I'd like to know what its about, wouldn't you??
Okay, so anyway, a few days after that, the papers have been fruitful and multiplied. There are now 6 papers. Oh, I forgot to mention, they were typed up all official like, so they looked like legal notices, hence the LNL name. She had to move the cross up above the peephole, and the warning off to the side. THen with the 2 rows of 3 notices on the door. And there is of course, still the priority mail one on the shutters.
So this has absolutely been driving me crazy. What on EARTH are they about! Why the warning? Why display it (but not want it to be read)? Did the husband come home from the deployment and freak out on them?
Well, today, I learned a tiny bit more...
My dear son was up to some old tricks today. Not running away, calling 911. I taught him about it last year when Michael left, so that if anything happened to me, he'd be able to call and get help. He subsequently called a few times. Well, he hasn't done it since probably February. Until today.
So, I get a knock at the door and its an MP and he says they had a 911 hangup. I rolled my eyes and explained that it must have been my son. He started the paperwork when another car pulled up. The MP got out and was laughing and called out to us that when he heard the name of the road, he figured it was probably "that lady" and looked down at LNL's house. They both laughed. I said, "so, um, is it confidential information, or can you tell me what the deal IS with that lady?" Turns out, they have no clue. She calls a few times a week, and apparently last night, took a box full of stuff to the MP station. And a lot of times when they show up the husband looks totally baffled by it all and nothing is going on. I mentioned wondering what was up with the papers, and they had no idea. They conclude that she's just crazy. And while we were talking, she walked out, so we had to move on to more business like discussions, such as my level of education (what THAT has to do with my kid calling 911, I'm not sure - though, I think I had more than him, because when I replied "some college" he looked really confused. what? thats the box I always have to mark on the forms!) SO anyway, she come out, gets in her car, and drives around the block, then parks in the road, facing my house. Just sat there with the car running. I didn't see when she drove off, I forgot to watch out the peephole to see when she left or where she went. But I know she was there the whole time the MPs were there. Apparently watching. Not that I can blame her, I mean, I read her door, she can watch me talk to the MPs - but why get in the car to do it? Whats wrong with her windows? Why can't she watch out the window like normal people? Oh, I know, because she's crazy LNL!!
Now, everyone comment with good ideas to find out what is on the papers on the door. Aaric can't read. They're taped to the inside of the storm door, so i can't send him to just snatch them down either.

Child's Play

Aaric and Mikayla had been playing and fighting all morning. Then I heard him ask her if she wanted to play Hide and Seek. She said "sure!" I wasn't paying attention after that. Too busy paying bills online. (I thought I'd switched insurance companies, and that my new one took it out of my account automatically. Turns out I did not switch insurance companies, so I almost got cancelled on the one I DO still have. oops.)
So, then Mikayla is sitting on the sofa and turned to me and said, slightly confused, "Mom, Aaric keeps sneaking and then comes to me."
"Yes, you're playing Hide and Seek with him, remember?"
"yeah, but he keeps sneaking to me!"
"Yes honey, thats how you play Hide and Seek. You hide, he looks for you."
"yeah, but mom, he was sneaking."
"okay."
A few minutes later, I realize we haven't seen Aaric in a while. Duh, its her turn to seek. SO I encourage her to go look for him.
"I can't. I dont' know where he is."
"I know, you have to go find him. thats how the game works."
"I can't find him. He's hiding."
"okay then."
A few minutes later, as she's gone on with life and is exclaiming that she's going to eat the last piece of bread, I hear a muted yell from upstairs, "Mikayla, I'm in your closet!! Come find me!!"
She didn't hear. So I told her all secretive-like, "Mikayla, I think he's hiding in your closet! Go find him!"
She excitedly ran up the stairs.
Aaric requested that they pick a new game. And now he's eating that bread. And the new game apparently involves tossing the bread all over the living room. That certainly looks like a lot of fun.

Movie Review Monday

I thought of this a while back but forgot all about it. Yes, I'm aware its Tueday. Tough. I'll call it what I want to call it, and I'll do it on whatever day I want to do it on!
I'm also aware of established weekly activities, like Photo Friday and Illustration Friday, and I'm considering joining those cults as well. But I'd also like to start my own tradition. And we watch lots of movies. So, there ya go.
This week, "The Polar Express" because I think I'll focus mainly on holiday movies for the next few weeks, other than when we go to see Harry Potter and Narnia, then I'll do those too.

The movie is about a little boy with no name, who isn't sure that he believes in Santa. He is pretty darn skeptical. On Christmas Eve, a train shows up in his front yard and Tom Hanks, the conductor, greets him and tells him they're going to the North Pole. I'd like to take a moment to urge the parents reading (how many non parent readers do I have? any?) to discuss with your children that if a train or any other vehicle shows up in the yard in the middle of the night, they should NOT go with the conductor/driver/whatever no matter where they say they are going. So, he goes and he has lots of adventures on the train. And hot chocolate. And you should also remind the children that it is NOT safe to walk on top of a moving train. Oh, and I also recommend actually having some hot chocolate handy before popping the movie in.
They do get to the North Pole where Boy and his friends have more adventures and then they see Santa. And then they go home. I'm leaving out the details so as not to ruin it for you. Its a lot of fun though, and this is the first movie that Mikayla every sat through and watched, start to finish, in the theater. Sure, she'd watched "Ralphie" (Thats "A Christmas Story" to most of us) a few million times, but not in the theater.
The movie doesn't necessarily encourage or discourage believing in Santa. Santa and the creepy man on top of the train both say things that lean on the "there is no real santa" side of things, the conductor (by the way, Tom Hanks plays all of these) says things on the more "pro Santa" side. The conductor says, "Sometimes the things that you can't see are the most real." Or something like that. This is Aaric's main argument that Santa IS real. (we aren't a santa believing family, but Aaric chooses to believe anyway.) But Santa points out, "The spirit of Christmas is in your heart." And you can even buy a stuffed Santa that says this over and over and over. We have 2. So, no matter what you're teaching your kids about Santa, this movie won't corrupt their little brains. Some movies I've seen make me wonder how the Santa-believing kids feel watching them. Like "The Santa Clause" - there's just so much in it about how Santa ISN'T real - doesn't it make them wonder, "why do all of these people not believe? maybe there's something to it..."
But anyway, we love this movie. Its faced paced and keeps your attention. Its full of magic that could possibly be explained away as a dream. and its got a train ride and hot chocolate and elves. And an insane amount of Tom Hanks, which is kinda weird.
AND, for those of us who are big fans of a certain actor, you may notice a couple lines from the movie that sound exactly like lines from "Pirates of the Caribbean." And one of those lines happens to be one that this actor uses in many of his movies. And I think I'd just seen Pirates not long before I saw PE, so its not like I have the whole movie memorized, it just stuck out to me. Really!

Kid Wisdom

I don't remember who said what, but here are the things I heard tonight:
We must turn off the lights, because the chickens are here.
They're going to get us and we'll have the chicken pox. (part of this wisdom is thanks to Rugrats, and I don't know when she last saw that show. we haven't had cable in months)
They habs red eyes and they give you the chicken pox. And they're gonna get us. And I can see them.
And monsters and ghostes, but I'm not scared of them.
Chicken's eyes go all swirly, and thats when they put the poison in you.

From Aaric: Mmmm, Popeye's Spinach! This can of spinach is my true love, and I'm going to marry it. Mom, do you think a can of spinach will make a good wife?

Oh yeah, and they both want a BB gun for Christmas and I said no, and Aaric says girls can't have them anyway, and I asked why not, and he said "well men are strong and women are weak!"

Oh Christmas Tree

The tree is set up. As in put together, not decorated yet. Decorations are waiting until Michael gets home, but the kids were going crazy for the tree. So I took it out of the box and set it up. I tell you, these nifty new trees with hinged branches are way cool. I always loved putting the tree together, but not having to get the branches stuck through the holes is just much nicer. You just untie the strings around the branches and they fall into place! You still have to go back and seperate all the little branches and shape it. And this one, it kicks butt. 7.5 foot tree, and all of the others I looked at that were around that height had a 1000-1100 tips (needles) and this one has over 1600. I've still got some work left to do, the layers are still obvious, but it looks very nice. There are just a TON of branches on this sucker! Its very realistic. Pictures will be posted when I'm done shaping it.

I'm carseat shopping again. Mikayla is very very very close to being too tall for her seat. I'm debating what to get. The short story is - I'm debating between getting her a Husky (what Aaric has in the pic) or getting her either a Marathon or Boulevard. If the Boulevard has the modified foam available, to make more shoulder room, then I'd get it over the Marathon. Or if its crotch strap is shorter. So I have to check on those to decide on the M vs the B. Then I have to decide on the Husky vs M/B. If I get the M or the B, then New Baby (whenever it comes along) would inherit that seat, and I'd move Mikayla into a H then. And either get her a new one, or move her into the one we have now and move Aaric into a booster. Decisions, decisions. And I plan to but whatever I buy within the next month. and trust me, that's the short version.

My kitchen and dining room are clean. Next up - living room. and deciding for sure where the tree will go, because the dining room has the most space, but in front of the big plain wall or the window, its kinda in the way. I've got a spare corner in the living room. The final determination for that will probably wait until Michael gets home too.
Now I must go sweep the kitchen floor, again. Aaric just broke some styrofoam into itty bitty pieces all over my clean floor.

Movie Friends

It was my dear niece, Promise who first introduced my children to the concept of "movie friends." They're much like imaginary friends, except they are movie characters, usually from animated movies, which is what they usually watch. But Mikayla has taken it a step further. She keeps opening the cabinet under the kitchen sink, so that she can feed Randy cheese and marshmallows. And she wants to know if her kids, Randy and Ralphy, can go with us to the Thanksgiving party and watch movies with her. They want to watch "Pah-lar Express" too. And themselves. I think I'll probably have to buckle Randy and Ralphy into the car this afternoon - I just hope she'll believe me, that Ralpy is big enough to sit in the seat by himself. Luckily, I do have a spare booster in there for Randy. I draw the line at Ralphy letting Aaric borrow his gun, though.

Life in Slow Motion

Lots of the last year have flown by. Especially looking back at it. Sometimes I feel guilty for how well we've made it through. I know that some families had it so much worse - didn't get to talk often, had a horribly rough time adapting, etc. We did relatively well, I think. I think I mentioned a while back how now that we're getting close, I was feeling down again. It felt kinda like how it felt just after he left.
Now we're too the part where I'm not feeling super stressed about it all, but more excited. I can't go into details here on the big bad internet, but its coming up soon. The homecoming. We don't even know definite dates, but we know its really soon. And I'm really antsy now. And time just can't fly by fast enough.
Speaking of flying, last time he flew from Iraq to Kuwait, the plane he was in got hit. It wasn't bad enough that it affected them, they were able to fly on in just fine. But it was hit. So, I can't help but be a bit worried about the upcoming flight. And its also so easy to say "its almost over, and we made it through!" and forget the part about... "its not over yet." Its not over until the plane lands here. That just can't come soon enough.
We've got the travel plans all laid out for his vacation time. The day after Christmas, we'll be heading to GA, staying with the in-laws for a few days. His uncle, Marty, also in the Army, will be in town too. They saw each other in the early spring in Iraq, and before that, Christmas 03. He was basically our recruiter. So this will be the first full family gathering in two years. That will be nice. Of course, tne nicest part will just be having him home, "for good." (as "for good" as it gets, at least)

Missing finger update

Its still missing. Well, thats what his dad said when I asked how he was doing. "well, he's missing half a finger."
The Dr in the ER had said he needed surgery. The doctor they went to see said it was fine, just let nature take its course and it may need surgery in a few months and they'd just wait it out. Like they want to let it heal up and then start the ordeal all over again a few months from now if it can just be operated on now? And he said to just come back in a week to have the bandage changed. Yuck. Michael's mom used to specialize in wound care - she wasn't happy at all about them wanting to leave the bandage unchanged for a week. So, they found a pediatric orthopedic specialist at Scottish Rite who can fit them in on Monday, but they needed a referral. But then, they got word from the insurance company that they should go see whichever doctor they need to go see, and they'll pay for it.
He's off the codeine, it was making him way too crazy. He's just on motrin now, and wants to know when his booboo is going to go away. :(

And Michael says to just get a real tree and we'll take it down Christmas evening. That sounds like not a lot of fun.

While I'm on the topic of trees...

I'm always so lost on which is REALLY better for the environment. Fake or real? The pros and cons:
Fake - If you buy a decent one, it will last a long time and so in the long run, it costs you less. Assuming you do make it last a long time, your impact on the enviroment from its production and disposal will be fairly minimal. (for JUST that tree. However, looking at the entire country, its probably darn huge) There is little risk for fire - its all plastic and metal. But on the other hand, plastics do emit chemicals forever. So thats chemicals, and actually, my guess is that the heat increases their release, are being released into the home for that month or so that you have the tree up. And as mentioned above, while one fake tree may not make much of an environmental impact, there are a LOT of fake trees in production. Enough that some people have got to be replacing them before they've actually worn out, so there are tons being tossed out. And both the production and the disposal are big bads.
Real - No toxic chemicals (if you get them from a forest or a tree farm that doesn't spray them). Their production and disposal are actually good for the environment. Some people think they smell pretty. BUT, on the other hand - if you're getting them from the forest, you're depleting our natural resources. I hope you're also planting a tree on arbor day or earth day or both. If you're getting them from most typical tree farms, they are treated with chemicals that are then brought into your home. They're a huge fire hazard - here on post the info being given out is that a tree should not remain in your home for more than 10 days. Where's the fun in that? Plus that they often actually have bugs on them, and some people are allergic. Oh yeah, and the cleanup. And the watering.

SO that leaves me in yet another quandry. Much like the "which is worse, the microwave or the oven?" and of course with that one, I concluded that the toaster oven is the ideal appliance. But in this case, what is the ideal tree?
Well, the closest I can figure is this: A real tree cut from a farm that uses all natural pesticide methods is the best enviromentally, though probably not financially. Plus there's still the fire hazard issue to consider. The reason one cut from a farm is better than one from a forest is because at a tree farm, they are constantly replanting. sure, that tree is cut down, but a new one will be planted in its place. The tree farms actually do a lot of good for the environment.

Still, I waffle. Partly because I just can't see spending a bunch of money every year on a tree that is a fire hazard. Especially years like this one - when we're leaving to go out of town for a week on the 26th. So for now at least, I shall stubbornly stick to my "I love fake trees" mindset, until I can find an economical, fire-resistant, environmentally friendly alternative.

On a totally unrelated note - we could use prayers for my nephew. He's 3 and stuck his finger in a juicer and lost about 1/4 of the finger. Last I heard, he was supposed to have surgery today, but I'm not sure if he did or not. I think the surgery is to get the finger straightened, and I assume to make a clean cut and pull the skin around it to close it. But last time I talked to my sister in law, they hadn't been to the pre-op appointment so they really weren't sure what all was going to happen. I know they're stressed out about it though. He's bouncing off the walls on codeine, which is always fun, especially when the kid is already a very high energy child to begin with. If he wasn't taz-like before, he sure is now! But hey, if its that or horrible pain, I think the baby-speed is the way to go. I'll update about him when I hear something. I'll be calling tomorrow to see whats up.

How important is getting a good deal?

There's a really nice fake tree I want. Its $179. If I'd seen it last week, I could have gotten it for 20% off last Saturday. But I didn't go to the PX until Sunday.
So here are my options:
Go to the PX between 6-8 am on Friday and get a 10% off any one item coupon. Buy the tree at 10% off. Problem: thats very early, and I could handle fighting the crowds kid-free, but I hear its not recommended to leave your preschoolers home alone.
But wait... I can get it at 20% off instead, if, when I go at 6am on Friday, I then purchase an item, because THEN they'll give me a 20% off coupon at the register, that is good on Saturday from 6-12. So, to get 20% off, I have to actually go there twice.
Or I could go Saturday from 6-8 and save 10% just like Friday.
Or I could go anytime on Saturday and just save $10.

And yes, I'll probably suck it up and go in there just to pick up something... anything... so that I can checkout and get my freakin 20% off coupon. Well, I'm going to call tomorrow to find out if I can't just come up there anytime on Friday and GET a 20% off coupon. Is it really necessary for me to make a purchase before sunrise in order to get it? That hardly seems fair. Discriminatory even. Against those opposed to waking up at such hours - especially when it involves fighting crowds at stores. But if it is necessary, yeah, I'll suck it up and go jump through their hoops so that I can get my freakin tree for $143.

I Feel Old.

Yes, OLD. I pulled an all-nighter. I used to be able to to do that and still function on a semi-normal level the next day, even without consuming ginormous amounts of caffeine. I had a ton of laundry that needed to get done. I got tired of always digging through a huge pile of clean laundry to find clothes to wear, and then after wearing them, tossing them into another huge pile of dirty clothes. I've got the vast majority of it done. SO I spent most of the night sorting dirty clothes, cycling them through the washer and dryer, folding, and putting them away. And moving all of my stuff out of the big dresser that was Michael's before he left, but I commandeered it this year. I used to use two small dressers and he used the big one. One small one has moved a few too many times though, so I've been using the big one and my other smaller one, and honestly, STILL didn't have enough room. I now have resorted to something I used to make fun of... my jeans are on hangers. And I've now stolen more of the kids' "furniture" that they weren't using anymore. First, they had this toy shelf. We weren't using it anymore, and I realized it would make a great shoe rack. So it went in my closet. Aaric used to have a 4 stack of Yaffa's for his clothes, now he's got one of the things that hangs in the closet for his clothes. So the Yaffa's are now in my closet too. With my loads of t-shirts, gym clothes, and PJ's. "Unmentionables" and socks in the small dresser, and everything else on hangers.
I've decided closets are better than dressers though - as long as the house actually has closet space. Why spend money on more furniture? Why take up floor space? And most of off, especially for those of us who move more often than we file our taxes (and yes, we file every year), why carry extra stuff up and down stairs? Dressers are a total pain to move. So closets all the way for us from now on.
So yeah, I spent the night with all the clothes and stayed awake by watching the last discs of Buffy 4 and Angel 1.
And then went to one of the most boring events of my life, a close second to my 8 am college algebra class in the fall of 98 when I was too stupid to realize what a bad idea 8am classes are. The doors for this driver safety course which will allow me to continue driving on post opened at 7:30. I dropped the kids off at 7:05, swung by Bk for an ultra-greasy breakfast, then made it to the building where this thrilling event was held, and worked my way through the labrinth that you must pass through to get from the front door of this place, down the stairs, and to the big room where it was. I found out that if I'd been going just ONE MPH faster, I'd be a reckless driver, and thus, would have had to sign in with a "RD" beside my name, and also would have probably had to walk to the class as my license would have been immediately revoked. I got there RIGHT at 7:30 and the class was already half full! And they didn't even start until 8:15!
While we waited, they showed some of the typical army videos which probably have subliminal messages that complement the testosterone that I'm convinced they put in the water (you know, I doubt my brita filters that crap out) of soldiers jumping out of airplanes. And then big army trucks being dropped out of airplanes - many of which resulted in disasters which probably totalled the vehicles. A few shots of guys chutes not opening until the last minute and getting tangled in trees. These were all mildly amusing. And they had that song about Superman by that band that I can't remember, but the video has that cute little old guy/retired superhero as the soundtrack to these videos. For a while, I thought maybe it was a meant to be a metaphor - "you are not superman, drive safely." but I think they just liked the song. Then some funny videos of incidents on the road - many of which probably landed people in the ER. Then after all these slightly humorous ones, a little short one of an in-car camera looking at the driver, and he's not wearing a seatbelt and the car gets hit (looked like it got hit multiple times) and he flipped over into the backseat and wound up wedged between the backseat top and the rear window. Way to ruin the lighthearted mood! And then one that started out like a teen flick with these 2 kids almost kissing a few times, and then they get into a car with some friends and they're all wearing seatbelts other than the stupid boyfriend and then a voice says "...today he's going to hit his girlfriend so hard, she'll suffer permanent brain damage." And sure enough, then comes the footage of the wreck (though it was clearly staged) and this unbelted kid is bouncing around the car and his head slams into her head. And then when the EMTs show up, one of them says that 3 of the kids are dead, and most of the injuries were caused by the unbelted kid.
Then we had to go around and EVERYONE (and we're talking, a room of about 120) had to say what their offense was. I never realized how many idiots don't use seatbelts!!! Probably 75% of them were seat belt offenders. Then a bunch of us evil speeders, and an alarming number of DUIs. a few boring non-stoppers. He asked all the DUI people if they had friends and if so, why their friends didn't care about them and encouraged them to find better friends. He commented on the mass seat-belt-refusers, said nothing about the evil speeders. Yet at the end of the class, who got stuck with being next to last to get to leave? The speeders. No videos about speeders, no harassment, just made us stick around with the driving drinkers.
It was SUCH a boring class. I barely stayed awake. But I survived, and now have a little certificate saying so, and I scored 100 on the test that was so easy.
And this is probably my most boring entry ever. It could be because my brain is slowly turning to mush, and it hurts a little. I need sleep.

New Carseat!

This bad boy retails at $240, but I paid a total of $182 by getting it (new) off of ebay with a 10% off coupon! YAY!! I've been wanting this seat for over a year and finally got it. Aaric is going in this one and Mikayla will be getting one ASAP, probably around the first of the year.

I love chocolate. I love mint.

Therefore, I love Christmas. You know what the best drink is, to wash down a York Mint Chocolate Truffle Patty? A Mint Mocha Frappuccino. Thats just pure happiness in a bottle.
I'm impatiently awaiting a new carseat. Apparently the UPS people take great joy in making sure I'm their last stop of the day. I'll add pics once it gets here and I get it installed. I'll be quite proud. Of course, that may be tomorrow since it will probably be dark when it gets here.
There's just really nothing thrilling going on here. I tried reading some of The ADD Book by Dr Sears, since I'm pretty sure Aaric has it too (its about kids and add) and I also figure some of it will help me too. But the problem is, I don't have the attention span to read it. I was skimming through it, just reading the parts that looked interesting, when I came across the passage on how people with ADD tend to skim over things instead of actually reading them. How we can read a whole passage and have no clue what we just read. I read that part. I also read a nice reassuring part about how we tend to lack the ability to force ourselves to do things we don't want to, or find boring. That other, normal, people can do that even though they don't like to, but we literally can't do it. Man. I better be able to force myself to get out of bed at the crack of dawn on Saturday to get my rear end over to the Driver Safety Course so that I can continue to drive on post - which is kind of important since I'm the only driver in the family, and we live on post. I figure I should keep my driving privileges intact.
We're down to 2-3 weeks until Michael gets home. And a month from today is when his leave is scheduled to start.
Freako plan-ahead-er that I am, I'm already looking at apartments in Tx. Why Tx? Well, because Michael is putting in his OCS (officer school) packet (application) soon, and assuming he gets in, he'll be going to that in a few months. That is in GA. That school is 4 months and after it, he'd go to the advanced training. Now, the army puts you where they want you. You make a list of your top 10 choices for your "branch" (basic job field), and a combat one MUST be in the top 3. His top choice is medical services, and that training is in Texas. Notice all the things in that, which are big "if's" yet still, I can't help but to look at apartments. I've found one that I really like. I found one that I liked until I realized that they called it a 3 bedroom - but come on, when you walk in the front door, that large room there, right beside the kitchen and dining room? Yeah, that's called a living room. Especially when no other room in the house is called a living room. But no, this apartment has 3 bedrooms, one of which the front door goes into, and no living room. I should email them to let them know that this floor plan is generally called a "2 br." and they also call it 1500 sq ft, but a large portion of that is the patio. Sorry, that doesn't fall under the apartment's sq footage. idiots. The one I love though, its perfect. and new. I've also already found my 1st choice for midwife in TX, should I need one. See. More ifs. I think I'll blame my obsessive pre-pre-planning for possible future events on ADD too. No clue if its really a symptom... Hey, I think it is! Because I do it when I'm procrastinating, which is part of the ADD. *whew* Glad to figure out its not a totally seperate issue.
By the way - you should hear Michael and I on the phone. Two people with ADD trying to carry on a conversation, especially when there are delays on the line, would probably be pretty entertaining to outsiders.
My kids are on a Tolkien kick this week. They watched the animated versions yesterday and are watching the Peter Jackson ones today. Aaric's been watching all of the special features on them. I'm actually amazed at how well he comprehends the storyline - other than that he insists that when Gandalf comes back as "the white" he's really Saruman. Mikayla insists that the orcs are NOT scary.
Okay, I need to cook dinner. I'm hungry.

Tis the Season...

TO BE 95% DONE SHOPPING!!!
I just placed an order with myself (see link to NFB on the side there) that completes all Christmas shopping other than the adult males in the family. All done. All the kids, all the women. YAY!!

Coffee is bad

Turtle Found in Folgers

Tea is good

So, when I went for my BIG grocery shopping yesterday, I did not have the same problem with overloading on the sugar. I've eaten half the bag of mint chocolate truffle patties, but only had one bowl of ice cream so far. After I actually ate supper that night, i didn't feel quite the need for sugar that I'd felt earlier.
Yesterday, we'd just eaten and it made my stomach hurt to even LOOK at more food. I managed though. But I didn't even WANT to go on the candy aisle.
The aisle I did go down, was the tea aisle. Not only did I go down the tea aisle, I passed two different seasonal Celestial Seasonings displays. One was for their apple cider mixes. There were three options, I got two. See - self control! Just like I only got 5 of the 10 possible Ben and Jerry's that I'd wanted. I got the Apple Caramel Kiss and the Harvest Apple Spice. Which aren't actually teas, but whatever. Then I passed the new holiday tea display - Sugar Plum Spice, Nutcracker Sweet, and Gingerbread House. I didn't get the Gingerbread one.
Plus, I got another box of the Echinacea Complete Care and a new cannister of Folgers Cappuchino mix. But mainly, I love my Celestial Seasonings. Pretty soon though, I'll run out of cabinet space. The teas/drink mixes did share a shelf with the medicines (no where good to keep them in the bathroom, the kids would be able to reach). But I had to move the medicines to a new home, on the same shelf with some assorted plastic disposable container thingies. To make room for more drink mixes/teas. I think I might have an addiction.

Oh, vent of the day - how come the PX had tights in every size and color, OTHER than anything in the 4-6 size?? The child needs tights but they were out, other than one pair of black ones. But I'm not going through the checkout just for ONE pair of tights, I'll just have to look other places to see if its a county-wide conspiracy against girls in size 4, or if other places are kind enough to keep a decent supply up. Also - why must all kids socks have like, 1 inch thick soles? We're in the south - it doesn't get so cold that our toes freeze without thick socks, unless we're wearing light weight shoes. Even as far north as NC, its just not that cold. So keep the more lightweight socks in stock all year, please! Especially when its freakin 80 degrees in November!

Sugar High, Chapter 2

This chapter is titled, Why Kelly Should Never Be Permitted to Shop Alone.


I showed great self restraint on the candy aisle. But by the time I got to the ice cream, I was all out of willpower. And they're way cheaper at the commissary than at regular grocery stores.
See, it was a long day. It involved petty spats with Michael, (which is so dumb considering he's in Iraq), Aaric locking all of the bathroom doors, Mikayla taking a late nap, and hours of the music that plays when the menu is up on the Sleeping Beauty Special Features DVD.
But, my Sunday School class is starting a cool new deal. One couple takes all the kids so that all the other couples (or those with deployed spouses) can go out. So, free child care! I was going to do my major grocery shopping, but I knew I was too hungry to be taking that task on. I'd walk out of there with two carts full. So I went in just to get milk and bananas for breakfast, and something quick and easy for myself for dinner. Then I saw the candy aisle, and being kidless, I could walk down it freely. First I saw some mint KitKats, but decided that really doesn't sound very good. Then I saw the Chocolate Truffle Mint Patties. I think these things prove God's existence, because there is no way mere mortals could have come up with this tasty treat all on their own.
Then I grabbed milk and bananas, but kept noticing cookies, and fudge, and cheesecakes, all throughout the store. I decided on ice cream. And just as I turned the corner onto the ice cream aisle, I saw these beauties. First I grabbed one (not sure which, its all a blur). Then I saw another and couldn't decide, so I tossed it in. Then another and though, why not? And so forth. I'm going to have to hide them in the outdoor freezer so the kids don't steal them - or even know that they exist. Let them keep sneaking into the freezer for handfuls of the month old carton of Vanilla Bean... I have 5 little pints of frozen heaven.
Okay, I have to go now. I spend half the time with the kids here and awake on the computer - I should do something that I *can't* do with them around while they're gone. I've still got nearly 3 hours of kid-less time. I need to clean. i may have to take a shower too though. Last time I took a shower with them awake, they painted a mural on the floor.

Where's Daddy?

Clearly they miss him today. Its on a subconsious level, but its there. So far, they've pulled out a Bob Marley CD and danced around the living room for a while. Then they tried to watch "Dark Crystal" which was far too scratched to bother with, so in went "The Hobbit."
And did you know that Aaric is smarter than anyone in this family? I was just informed. Everyone but God. So, does he have the intelligence level of a 28 yr old, or do Michael and I have the intelligence level of a 5 yr old?

(Turns out "The Hobbit" is scratched too. I'm trying to talk them into more Marley.)

HTML Sucks, Chapter 2

I added AdSense to make some money off this sucker, and at first it was fine. But the ad was up at the top and silly me, I wanted it in the sidebar. So then it was a bad influence on all the other sidebar objects and made them align in the center of the sidebar. I tried taking it back out and they still remained centered and way down at the bottom. WHY can't I just make it all work?
So now, not only do I have stubborn dots, I have a lower, center aligned profile. Even though there is no code telling ANY of these things to happen!!!
...........................
Deletion of dots: check. And why is there no check mark on a keyboard? Surely I'm not the first to want to type one out.

Sugar High

Mikayla: Mom, can I have the rest of my gum drops now? [Dots]

Me: Uh... I ate them. Sorry.

Mikayla: You ATE them!?!?! That wasn't very nice Mom.

I just hope they don't find the stash of the "good stuff" that I put in the desk drawer. Reece's cups, KitKats, Milky Ways, Laffy Taffy... yum. Tootie rolls, smarties, and those weird caramel things with the white circle in the middle... yuck.
The following is what happens when you are holding a bag of candy and a 3 yr old child wants it, and already has copious amounts of sugar rushing through her little body:

You can't see it in the pic, but I'm clutching the bag (with the arm not holding the camera) and she's yanking on it, and screaming "Give me my candy!! I NEED it!"

The Obligatory Halloween Pictures

We spent the afternoon hunting down costumes. Remind me to never again put off costume shopping for Halloween afternoon. ToysRUs had them all 50% off, but only creepy stuff was left. They were supposed to be community service type people and those aren't scary - other than the criminal type community service types. And cheerleaders, but she didn't want to be that.
Party City still had them at regular price and also had little selection left. But they did still have a police officer and a fireman and a clown in the boys' section, and some princesses, a couple fairies, and Raggedy Ann in the girls' section. We went to Target where I began to realize that they could just go costume free and be plenty scary. Target triggers something their brain. Or maybe its some supernatural thing going. Michael probably had some freaky spell put on us so that they'd act like insane little monsters every time we go in there so I can't concentrate on shopping and therefore spend less money.
We found no costumes though. Or no good ones. They had a soldier costume - but it was like one of the old school plastic suit things. $20 for a plastic camo jacket and helmet. Who told them that was worth $20? So we went back to Party City and you'll see the results below.
A successful halloween though, is measured by how early they go to sleep.
This is them pre-Fall Festival, around 5:30:


This is them in the driveway at home, around 7:15:



Now I need to go eat all the candy.

Candy and Demons

I have just a few thoughts today.
One, a PSA about candy eating. I believe I've already shared that I'm not fond of the filling up of my children with way too much sugar. If not, I have now. However, the question frequently comes up, as to whether its acceptable for the adults of the house to binge on all the candy - particularly at breakfast.
My answer is a firm, "YES."
Why? Well, for one, you need the sugar in your bloodstream in order to keep up with the sugared-up kids. But also, its health food. Cocoa - vegetable. Often mixed with milk - dairy. If its a peanut butter cup - thats the nut/meat group. You've got 3 food groups covered right there. And if you feel like you need fruit and bread as well, add a jelly donut to the mix. Health food. With a little kick of caffeine and sugar. I fully endorse candy for breakfast.

Thought number two is about demons. Not the halloween kind. It occurred to me today that my children are surely demon spawns. Then I realized something. I'm the demon that spawned them. They are the spawns of me. Yeah, it was a rough day. I've had some cake now (vegetable - not just in the cocoa, but also in the oil I put in it) and feel a bit better. But it was a no fun day. I'm hoping for a better tomorrow.

Also, a few random thoughts:
This time change has me screwed up even though I slept in big time. Its 8:40 and I'm tired (might have a little to do with my headache). But I'm still waiting to see Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy. We have GOT to all get a petition going to move Grey's Anatomy moved to an earlier time. Housewives isn't near as good this year, just switch them. But just about everyone I know wishes GA came on earlier.
And also, I'm such a Halloween scrooge. I just really am not a fan of it. I have to figure out costumes tomorrow. I hope Party City still has some in stock. I suck. Hey, I carved a pumpkin, isn't that enough Halloween fun? So I don't want to deal with costumes and i certainly don't want to get a ton of candy. I swear I'm throwing at least half of whatever the get away. And then eating half of what is left. For breakfast on Tuesday.
They are supposed to dress as community service type workers for the church's fall festival. I think Mikayla should be a vampire slayer - thats service to the community isn't it? But somehow I don't think thats what they have in mind. Aaric wants to be a soldier as if there aren't going to be 10 dozen other little soldiers. I looked up nurses costumes online and for the adult ones, I don't think I saw any that would be acceptable for a church function. I just don't think they'd appreciate me in a little short skirted cleavage (what little I have) bearing nurse uniform with the name tag "Anita Lay, RN."
Just how bad a mother would I be if I just totally skipped out on this whole Halloween deal? I just really, really am not in the spirit.
Oh yeah... one more thing. 5 more weeks. ;)

More Cute Kids on the Phone

This is the conversation between myself and a little girl who my son is betrothed to. She's almost 4. She called me. I didn't recognize the number.
Me: Hello?
Lemon: I ate too much candy this day.
Me: You did? [realizing who it was because I only know so many preschoolers with a Boston accent who would be calling me]
Lemon: Yeah.
Me: Did you go out to eat?
Lemon: yes, and I ate too much food and then too much candy.
Me: Oh, well that's not good. Do you have a belly ache?
Lemon: No, it made my belly hurt. What are you doing?
Me: I'm cleaning out a pumpkin and cooking dinner. [I shall never again clean out a pumpkin, though i did find a recipe for a nice pumpkin facial that I made up. But I shall never do the pumpkin cleaning again. Aaric better be old enough to do it himself next time Michael is gone for Halloween.] What are you doing?
Lemon: I'm riding in the car, going home. And my mommy is asking me questions.
Me: She's asking you questions?
Lemon: Yeah. Like, "whats your favorite color" and stuff.
Me: Well what is your favorite color?
Lemon: Rainbow.
Me: Rainbow? Wow. That's Aaric's favorite color too! [realizing that this truly must be a match made in heaven.]
Lemon: It's your favorite too?
Me: No, its Aarics.
Lemon: Oh, okay.
I think thats when she passed the phone to her Mommy, Lady Lumpsalot. Who informed me that Lemon had ONE whole piece of candy. A peppermint. And she's vowed to not ANY more candy until Halloween.
We decided they are made for each other for sure. She'll be the best daughter in law ever. She'll be more than happy to share all her candy with me - and that's what's really important, isn't it?

Overheard Cell Phone Conversation

Aaric was talking to Michael on the phone. Here's what I heard:
"Oh, hold on, let me go over here so its a secret... okay... well, how about since she likes the computer, we get her a lap top?"
I can't help myself and I laugh, really hard and really loud.
"MOM!! Did you hear that??"
"No honey, I'm laughing at Mikayla, go talk!"

That is one smart kid. We already have 2 laptops though.

HTML sucks

If anyone knows how to make those dots go away, over there on the side in the shopping area, please tell me how. I did not put them there. They came of their own free will. And they won't go away. There is no coding in there telling them to come and be dots, I know because I wrote it. Or, rather, I copied and pasted from other places within the template and subtituted new things in for other things. But you see, there are no dots anywhere else on this page, so WHY on earth have they decided to take up residence on my shopping list?
I'll tell you what all IS there, if it helps.
Some of these: < and > make regular appearances. There are a few places with "li" in between but I won't demonstrate or i'll just end up coding this entry and then i'll just go insane. and some ul's too. I figured out that I needed those to make those little white lines. and some a href's, but I know exactly what they do and that is NOT making the dots. and thats really it. So why the dots?

Also, I'm sleepy, and its because someone *coughlumpycough* was so rudely keeping me up too late. KNOWING that I had to get up early!
(edited 10/29 to add - but even if she does keep me up to late, she's way cool because she web-window-shops with me which is always fun.)

Mmmmmm....

Well, I was going to link you, but Jose won't let me.
I love Jose Cuervo Magarita Minis. Trust me, they are very yummy. They are also very small, which is good for wimpy drinkers like myself. The bottle looks around 6 oz, and I've been sipping it slowly, and I have a full stomach. I like Ritas but I drink very very very little. I do, afterall, live alone with two small children.
Two small children, who like to get up earlier than me and go find snacks and drinks on their own. Which means I told him that if they drank the ritas in the fridge, they would get very very sick.
Earlier today, Aaric was talking about drinking "sodas." The people at church said that they'd have sodas there next Sunday night. How dare they corrupt my child's brain with such talk. Its COKE!! Well, he told me not to worry, that he wouldn't get drunk. I told him not to worry, because COKES don't make you drunk. So tonight, he asked why these cool drinks in the little glass square bottles would make him sick.
"they have alcohol in them."
"well, they should make them without the alcohol."
"well, they do. its called Kool-aid."

A few minutes ago, Mikayla tried to grab the bottle and I told her to leave my margarita alone. She informed me that its not a margarita, its koolaid. Crap.
Aaric also tried to buy some apple flavored tobacco earlier. I think he thought it was Bubble Tape. He kept trying to sneak it up onto the counter with the milk and margaritas. He's a hoodlum, I tell ya.

I'm far too easily amused

Gizoogle is one of the most entertaining sites I've ever come across. Try this - KellyR2 Gets Gizoogled

Its just way too much fun.

The Dark Ages

I hate the dark. Tueday night is one of those nights where "can't miss it" TV shows come on. I'm addicted to Gilmore Girls and Boston Legal. I also can't live without the internet. Its at least as important as water. I'm also not a big fan of fire. And I'm cold natured.
All of these are reasons why I was pretty annoyed when the power went off a little after 8 PM. I was innocently sitting at the computer reading message boards and watching Gilmore Girls when the lights flickered a few times. I thought they'd pull through for a second there, but out they went. and MAN it was dark. And Mikayla was naked and it was cold, so I wrapped her in a blanket to go outside and see what was up. Some ladies were saying that there was a bright flying light that went past our houses right before it went out. Proof that I watch too much TV - an alien invasion briefly crossed my mind. I also have been watching season 2 of Buffy. Thats the season where Angel goes bad again for a while, and those wacky vamps, they're big fans of cutting the power at the school. So, while no, I didn't suspect that a vampire was coming to get me - it did remind me of that.
Since I would go absolutely BONKERS just sitting there in the dark, we took a walk down to the mailbox. The key to passing the time was in there. A new Nick Jr Magazine. It was very very cold and windy out there.
We got back in and I read the articles that I thought they'd enjoy to the kids. There were a few games in there, including one having the kids take turns pretending to be different objects. I learned that Aaric is a lot more creative than Mikayla right now. She's big on the "i can't do that"'s. She can't be an umbrella because her arms can't make a big circle like that. Aaric managed to use his imagination more. And another was a paper version of a new game, "Chicken Limbo." Here, we had to match the faces with the foot prints. This is where I found that despite the fact that Mikayla often seems a lot more intellectually driven and is in some areas on the same level as Aaric is - she lacks some reasoning skills. Which is fine, I mean, she's 3. It was just funny because it was the first time that I ever thought she'd be able to do something, and she couldn't. Usually its the other way around. But she couldn't match them up. She assumed that the correct foot print would be beneath the face. Thats logical, right? Why would they mix them up anyway?
Then we looked through an evil insert that had been stuck in there. It was like a 10 page Walmart ad, complete with "gotta have it!" and "Love it!" stickers for kids to affix to their must-have Christmas gift pictures. Dear Lord. Must consumerism start at 3? This is NICK JUNIOR! Aimed at PRESCHOOLERS! Still, we had nothing better to do, so we looked through it. I worked in a conversation about how Christmas isn't about the getting. First I asked what Christmas is about. Aaric, well trained child that he is, replied that its Jesus' birthday. I've been drilling that into his brain for years, glad to see that *something* I've told him has stuck. He says its also about getting lots of new stuff though. We'll keep working on this. I wish I could ban Christmas presents. They bug me. I hate the "gimme" attitude that it breeds around this time of year.
So anyway, then we started on the little mini-mag that they stick in there especially FOR the kids (most of the other articles are about kids and activities for parents to do with the kids). We got through 2 pages when I saw yellow flashing lights go by. The power truck! We ran upstairs to watch him work from my bedroom window. I figured the kids would enjoy seeing him go up in that little box thingamajig to fix whatever it was that died or to get the alien down or whatever. They did. Suddenly, the lights came on. Hallelujah! I opened the window and they yelled out "Thank you!" to the nice power man who restored my TV and Internet.
Ahh... And I even got to catch most of Boston Legal. Good thing - I never would have fallen asleep with no power. I don't know why, but I just can't sleep with no power. It creeps me out.
But Buffy doesn't, so I'm off to watch more of Season 2. Though I just really don't like Angel as the bad guy, it makes me sad. and in season 2, it seems that high waisted pants were still cool, and it really bugs me to see it so often. And not really related to the high pants - but the constant use of heavy winter coats in Sunnydale really is perplexing. Why did they insist on this?
OKay, enough rambling. I just had to do SOMETHING to make up for my 2 hours of no power.
Does this win any award for most boring entry ever?

ADHD and Me

I keep meaning to write about ADHD and my experiences with it, so far. I've got some free time, so here goes. Actually, I have things I need to do - but I'm a procrastinator.
I was diagnosed in the first grade. Apparently I made my teacher a bit crazy. The school counselor (I found out years later) used to observe me in the classroom, in the lunchroom, and on the playground. She said that I never stopped moving. I also used to get to leave class to go hang out in her office. I thought it was great fun. I figured I was pretty cool, because they let me skip class to go color! One day in AP Psych, we were watching a video on ways that they get info out of kids and it dawned on me that all that time I thought they let me skip class because I was so cool, she was really analyzing me. I was put on Ritalin. I don't remember having any weird side effects. After 2nd grade though, Mom took me off of it and never put me back on it. Knowing my 3rd grade teacher, I'd bet that he told her he was very willing to work with me instead of insisting on meds. He was a great teacher, and I always look back at that being one of my best years. I guess he did a good job of channeling the excess energy. Plus he had several of those desks with 3 walls that seperates you from everyone else, and he rotated the class through them as necessary. I probably spent half the year in one. I liked it though - I could also get away with playing in class with those walls up!
I didn't really think much about ADHD growing up. In fact, I think I first learned that its what I had when I started driving. I noticed that I zoned out sometimes. You readers who have ridden with me - I assure you I learned to pay attention. Not only that, but I am certain that none of my many wrecks in 1996 were caused by my zoning out. One of them wasn't even my fault! And the rest were probably Adam's fault. He was probably distracting me. He was with me for one of my "real" (reported to the cops) wrecks, the red light I ran later that day, and the other student's car that I bumped into that night in the school parking lot that we never told him about. And when I nearly ran off the road once and then not 5 minutes later when FLYING over some railroad tracks, creating a not-so-pleasant smell - all in an effort to get him home by midnight. Its a wonder they let him ride with me, ever. (notice my inability to stay on topic?)
So anyway, one day I'm driving along, and I might have mentioned to my mom that I'd kinda zoned out. She said she wasn't suprised, it was because of my attention disorder. My WHAT??? I have a disorder? I just thought I was "hyper" - that's all I'd ever heard. And thats how I found out I had ADD or ADHD or whatever you want to call it. By the way - do you know that technically, ADD is the old term, they added the H in later. Technically speaking, they are not 2 seperate disorders. But our society has kind of made it into 2 seperate ones - you have ADD if the hyperactivity isn't an issue, ADHD if it is. But really, its just one disorder and like with many disorders, you may not show ALL of the signs. If you do, you're known as "Demon Spawn."
I guess I'd learned to cope on my own, drug free. Looking back, I wish I HAD been on drugs in high school. I have always suffered from a pretty severe lack of motivation, and it is caused by the ADD. How can I get motivated to do anything if I can't even stay focused on it for 5 minutes? Why waste the energy? SO I rarely bothered with homework, or I'd put it off until during one of my other classes. I used to have a great paper-writing-schedule. I had English 3rd period. I'd already read the book, we read it together in class, and discussed it daily. So I'd get my idea for the paper and think it over the day before it was due. Then in first period, I'd write the rough draft. In second period, I'd proofread and then copy it over neatly. Ta da! It was brilliant. Unfortunately, that killed me when I hit college. I did okay my first year - it was my senior year of high school and I went to the community college 30 minutes down the road for half a day and went to the high school for 2 classes. I had to finish up my foreign language requirements, or else I wouldn't have gone to the high school at all that year. But you couldn't just do 1 class, it was all high school, all college, or half and half. And somehow, half equalled 2 classes at the HS. So thats why I added on AP Psych. Well, I did great that year.
The next year, the first semester went okay. I was at a small Baptist college, majoring in Christian Ministries. The school required everyone to take some basic religion classes, so I got those out of the way, I think one upper level religion course, and probably another core or two thrown in there. I think I took sociology that semester. The next semester, I took 3 upper level religion courses. I knew at the start of the classes, that on the last day, I would have a 15-30 page paper due for each of them. I started on them LESS than a week in advance. I had to beg for an incomplete in one and finish it up over the summer. Oh, I was stressed!
I think that was the real start of my ADD problems again. For a long time I hated it - because it just seemed like maybe I was lazy. But i WANTED to get on the right track, I just couldn't. My brain wouldn't let me.
I go through cycles of doing great and losing it. For some reason, its always worse in the fall. It got pretty bad again about 2 years ago. I was just having a rough time in general. I started researching all my symptoms and totally freaked out and thought I wsa bipolar. I was talking to a then-friend, and she told me to quit freaking and go check out the symptom list for adult ADHD. I thought she was crazy. ADHD just means you can't pay attention and/or are hyper. I, however, seemed to have major issues. I read the symptom list. All of mine were there. More I hadn't really thought about were on the list, and they sounded like me too.
I went to the doctor and he agreed that I had issues but he felt that it was stress related because I must hate living here. I love living here. He recommended counseling, I never went. I got better.
The past several months have been kind of like that time 2 years ago. I just can't get my brain to work right. It doesn't matter how hard I try - my brain won't do what I tell it to do. I could list thousands of examples, but this is long enough already. I read another article a while back about adults with ADHD. It was so weird, because the article described me completely, and so accurately. Thats when I decided I had to try some meds. I couldn't just keep going, trudging along trying to make it work and failing. But the side effects just weren't worth it. This is day 3 off of them, and I feel so much better. I'm hoping these supplements will work. I'm also glad I found out about them for another reason. Michael has it too. And the Army isn't real big on having the soldiers take mind altering drugs. They're pretty anti that. SO if he could take these, it would help him out a ton. Of course what sucks, is that I can get prescriptions filled for free, but I pay a fortune for these suckers. I"ll be shopping around for better deals online in coming weeks, before this supply runs out.
So - my tips for Strattera - if you're going to try it, be ready for some side effects. Everyone I've talked to has had them. Stock up on healthy, filling breakfast foods and eat breakfast before taking the meds.
My list of natural stuff I'm trying now - Inositol, GABA, and Omega 3's (from a plant source, not fish oil which sounds disturbing).

Yahoo!

I'm convinced that there is nothing more fun (please no comments about the dullness of my life) than playing with my yahoo! avatar. She's like my own little virtual paper doll. For a long time, I tried to make her look as much like me as possible. I'd get a little annoyed, because when my hair was a bit above my shoulders, one style they offered was similar to mine, but mine didn't flip out that much. But the other one was too messy looking. Then as it got longer, I found one that was similar in length and texture, but I never wore it styled like that. I felt like such a fraud though, picking the hairstyle with what I WISHED my hair looked like. The faces are decent - I can get pretty much my exact eye color and face shape. Then I'd pick outfits that resembled something I owned, or that I'd like to own. Lets just say, it was usually close enough that my kids would look at the computer and talk about the picture of me on there. Michael's was freakishly accurate, which was nice because when he's on YIM, the kids seem to think he's on the webcam or something.
Then one day, I just decided she should look as absurd as possible. I kept the same face, but put on all the least expected things. And then I discovered the Halloween section. Oh boy is that fun. And they just got some new backgrounds too. I just finished re-styling her again. This might just be my best work yet. It still doesn't beat my dear friend Lumpy, who had hers dressed in a bikini with a fur trimmed hat, with her pet wolf and horse, while grilling out on the beach. But its darn good. I think I'm a little obsessed with this. And no, I won't describe her. I couldn't do her justice. You'll just have to YIM me and see for yourself.

Just Say No

Yeah, I think I'm going off the drugs. This whole not eating thing is just not working for me. Its making me lose weight, its giving me migraines, and I just plain believe that you should ENJOY your food.
I have a pretty healthy relationship with food, I think. I'm not the healthiest eater on the planet. I hate veggies. But I try. I've been underweight most of my life and used to eat junk food non stop. I never really thought about what I ate, I just ate - whatever I wanted, and however much I wanted. When I was pregnant with Mikayla I started making an effort to actually eat some fruits and veggies. I've gotten better since then. And I try to avoid eating tons of fattening stuff, just because its really not good for you. I like making stuff from scratch instead of eating tons of prepackaged stuff. We've discussed the food snobbery before. I don't remember if I talked about it before or not, but the newest craze in dieting is to eat like the French. Eat the highest quality foods you can afford. Don't totally avoid sweets - just get really high quality, rich stuff, so that just a little satisfies you. Use real butter, and real sour cream and other stuff like that. Then, your food actually tastes great - and you feel more satisfied. I don't know it if really makes you lose weight - but I'm all about eating good food. I enjoy eating a yummy meal. So I consider it a major "quality of life" issue that I haven't enjoyed a meal since I started these meds.
Not to mention that I'm certain I've lost at least 5 lbs, possibly more. My scale died, so i don't know for sure. And the not eating thing gives me more migraines. Also, Michael will be home in around 6 weeks. I'll probably be pregnant soon after that and would need to stop the drugs. So whats the point in getting used to them, just to come right back off of them.
I'm going back to that evil evil dollar sucking store, The Vitamin Shoppe, this afternoon. A friend told me about some supplements a while back. She has a family member who has ADHD and is in college, who takes these supplements around finals and stuff and has had a lot of success with them. And this friend has her son on them as well. I checked, and all of them are safe during pregnancy. Sounds good to me. I'm going to give them a try.
Another thing - I think I'm even less witty on drugs. We just can't have that. So, I forgot to take them yesterday, and am actively choosing not to take them today.
So, kids, Just Say No to Drugs and Alcohol. Or at least drugs. I need to find those Margarita Mini's that I discovered a few months ago. Apparently, people around here are still mixing them themselves. How quaint. But no one is making them for me and I"m too lazy to get the blender out, so I need to find those handy dandy pre-mixed bottles of lime flavored fun.

Full

I ate today.



I forgot the drugs. Now I've delayed the adjustment time even more. AND I didn't make it to the Y. But I did cook. and I ate a full meal. a couple of them in fact.

Let me tell you what is fun. At probably 4 am (total guess there) hearing the most shrill, blood curdling scream you've ever heard in all your life. I think I've mentioned it before - but I'll never stop being amazed at how I can sleep through anything, but if my children make a noise, i'm instantly fully alert. A full on SCREAM, and i was jumping into action probably before my eyes even opened all the way. Mikayla was laying in bed beside me. I have no clue what she'd dreamt about, but it must have been very very bad. I've heard that scream once before. Michael caught a huge frog, and he took it in to show her in the kitchen, and she wouldn't get close, so he put it on the floor and OH it was very bad screaming. She was absolutely petrified. So maybe she was dreaming about frogs. Poor girl. In any case, I jumped up, scooped her over closer to me and she whimpered and started to fall back asleep. Which is when it got creepy. I'd open my eyes to look down at her, and her eyes would blink a couple times then be partially open, and her eyes were rolled back and her eyelids were fluttering. Then she'd close them. Over and over. It was so freaky. I had to quit looking. She finally truly fell asleep again. If I hadn't been so tired from a 2 am phone call from Iraq, my being freaked out would have kept me up. Since I was exhausted though, i quickly returned to my near comatose state.

Oh, i hear i may be able to plead my ticket down and get out of the court date.

There is really nothing else to say. I'm sleepy. I'll probably get a call from Iraq any minute and the phone's battery is dead.

I'm a bad ass mofo.

My dear readers, don't bother checking to ensure that you've clicked on the right blog... yes, its KellyR2. But I decided that if I'm going to be a federal criminal, I may as well have the proper vocabulary. Or at least include it in the title.
So would you like to hear the tale? Of course you would, or you wouldn't be here in the first place.
I started out the day as a perfectly (arguably) normal person and law-abiding citizen. It was a normal day for me - too much time online, begging the kids to please put on clothes and quit playing in the sink, the usual. In the afternoon, I had some errands to run. First and foremost, I needed food. I'd realized that I was STARVING and decided that I could probably stomach some KFC. Not the healthiest of meals, but I thought I could handle the taste and its got a good bit of calories which is good for someone who is barely eating. There are two different ways to get to the KFC from my house. Both are on base. I usually go one way. Today, for some freakish reason, I chose the other route.
I drove past a housing area, at the end of which a wooded area begins and you go down a hill, then it goes into a little shopping/office area. As I started down this hill, I noticed a white van on the side of the road, and a couple people standing around outside of it. Looked like maybe surveyors or maybe they were recording something. Got a bit closer. Oh. No. That would be a handy dandy "radar speed detection device." Interestingly, they weren't MPs. I've never seen local cops pulling people on base. Weird. Anyway, on with the story.
So, the lady cop waves me down and points over to the road that turned off right there. So, I pulled in there. As I rolled down the window to speak to the officer that was directing me in, I heard the one with the radar yell out "She was going 34!"
Yep. That's my federal offense. Going 34 miles per hour. The speed limit in housing areas is 15 mph. I'm pretty sure it goes up to 30 less than a block down from where I was. A misdemeanor on federal properly (like a military installation) is a federal offense. I'm not sure if its for all speeders on base, or just those of us evil enough to go 19 mph over the limit, but I don't have the option of just paying the stupid ticket. I HAVE to go to court. I'll be getting a card in the mail in a few weeks informing me of my court date. It should be some time in Dec. My luck - probably sometime during Michael's leave, so we won't be able to travel and he won't be able to go see his family, and it'll be all my fault. For driving 34 mph.
In addition to what I'm sure will be a HUGE fine, and my having to go to court, I have to sit through a 4 hour driver's course within the next month or I lose my privilege to drive on post. I know no one who I can get to babysit for 4 hours around here - so my children are going to just LOVE that. And I'm sure the instructors will just LOVE me for bringing them.
Oh, and the officers took their sweet time too. I probably sat there for 15 minutes waiting for them to just write the ticket. While I was starving and on the verge of a migraine if I didn't get food FAST.
I did manage to eat in time to not slip into a full-on migraine. I ate 2 full chicken fingers (though that last bite was hard to swallow), 3/4 of a bowl of mac n cheese, and a smores chewy granola. Yeah, I had a KFC Kids Pak. Aaric thought that was pretty funny. Mommy eating a kids' meal. (Oh yeah - he was also pretty freaked out that I'd be going to jail, and proceeded to be a backseat driver for the rest of the evening, telling me to slow down all the time.)
Then I went and signed us up at the Y, because its way cheaper than the other gyms in town and has the pool and the lessons are just $25/mo. Gotta start exercising to up my appetite and get in shape. And in case they decide that my heinous crime IS worth time in the slammer.

Oh, the meeting

I did NOT zone out during the meeting even though there was not a single piece of information handed out that I didn't already know. I feel for these other spouses who have no clue what is going on. Am I really the only one who already knew what week my husband is expected home? I got some free magnets though, one of which has every phone number for this area that I might ever need - other than my favorite pizza place.
Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention - he's getting promoted! After over a year of waiting, he'll finally go up a rank.
Also worth of mention - if you are in charge of snacks for a 7 PM meeting, and you know there will be lots of kids there, especially knowing that those kids are currently being taken care of by just ONE parent... don't make that snack lots of cookies with extra sugar actually added on top. Please. Are they actually trying to make us need all that counseling that they offered? The Army Community Service that they need to provide is "bed tucker inner's for when some idiot fed the kids sugar at 7 PM." And yes, I could have denied my children the joy of the bright orange sugar cookies, even though every other kid in the building had them. But you sometimes have to choose your battles. Then, they told us there was free childcare available. Hooray!! What they didn't mention, was that the nice young man who they assured us is a fireman so he's trained in CPR and all that good stuff... was armed with more cookies to keep the children content. Lets just say that when the meeting ended and I got my children, they proceeded to run laps. I felt like every other person in the room, especially the man trying to vacuum up the crumbs, was in shock over the horrible behavior of my two darling children. Did I mention that while they ran laps, they were eating more cookies? Dropping more crumbs.

Now, I'm starving. But don't want to eat because all food is gross anyway, so whats the point? I'm told that if I exercise, my appetite will pick up some, and the taste thing fades away eventually. But I'm just so lazy!

Yuck

My mom was in town a few days ago, and I'd thawed a bag of frozen shrimp for a yummy new recipe I'd found. It was some garlic and herb shrimp. This was the first day on drugs. (you'll see why that matters) I cooked it just right. My mouth was watering for delicious shrimp, oh how I love shrimp. Man were they gross. Mom didn't seem to think they were so bad. They just tasted kinda bitter to me. And it wasn't from the other ingredients, they just didn't taste very good - the shrimps themselves. Everyone else thought they were just bland though. Aaric will eat anything, so no suprise that he ate them right up.
So, I'd noticed a decrease in appetite since taking drugs. I've hoped that its connected to the wooziness and that ones that part passes, so will the lack of hunger. Today, I didn't get woozy, except for very briefly many hours after taking the drugs. But I had the lack of appetite. The kids were hungry and wanted Chinese food, and we had some errands to run, so I took them out to a Chinese place. They thought it was yummy. Nothing tasted right to me. I realized that drugs are totally screwing with my taste buds!! I didn't like the shrimp, the sweet and sour chicken, the pepper beef and broc, none of it. I noticed that the sweet tea was particularly nice though, and realized that everything just tastes more bitter than it should. So I ate a couple of those highly nutritious fried apple stick things. They weren't even that good after the first couple bites, and they are pretty darn sweet. I topped my 5 bites of dinner off with a half a bowl of pudding. It wasn't that great either.
So now, not only am I barely hungry at all - but when i do eat, everything tastes nasty. I JUST in the past year moved out of the "underweight" category and now that I'm on drugs, I'm going to just wither away. This crap better stop. I'd take the wooziness over the food-tastes-like-crap-iness!

In other news, Mikayla's had a really bad earache today. SCREAMING in pain, but no fever. Very odd. I got her some new ear drops and a ton of other stuff at The Vitamin Shoppe. I would have gotten more, probably, but luckily, I have that lack of concentration thing that prevents me from focusing on one topic for too terribly long - that comes in handy. So first the spending spree part of the ADD kicks in, and just before it gets really dangerous, I get too distracted to continue shopping and have to pay and leave. Very convenient, I say.

Drug update

Today, I forgot to take it until 3PM. Stupid me. As usual, I could tell the moment it took effect. It just suddenly feels like my brain is running behind the rest of my body. And I get a little lightheaded. I just kinda go "woah, and there's the drugs entering my brain." The good news though, is that now, 3 hours later, I feel semi-normal. I need to stand up and see if I'm screwy... nope, i'm okay. I had a few minutes of sped up nervous system and faster heartrate too, but it ended quickly. So maybe I'm adapting. Or maybe the bottled frappuccino I washed it down with helped overcome the drowsiness?
I've got a meeting to go to now. One about Michael and the rest of his batallion coming home. Lets see if I zone out in the middle of it or not...

The joys of not having a dish anymore

We currently only have a little wimpy antenna on top of the entertainment center. It doesn't work very well. You can get the basics, but you may have to play with the antenna a bit. While flipping through the channels yesterday, Aaric discovered TBN and watched a bunch of cartoons on there. One was like "Moses the Superhero" or something. Aaric thought it was incredibly cool that the TV was teaching him Bible stories.
Today, he discovered the public broadcasting cooking shows. He was watching some guy named Jauques something make a salad. He got upset with me when I started talking to him. I made him miss the last part of the salad. Then I further angered him when I refused to buy this man's cookbook. Then he watched a couple other ones that were equally thrilling. In one, they used fresh cream. I mean, REALLY fresh. The dude went and milked a cow and used that milk to make the cream. He got bored when some old lady (not Julia Child) came on. I have to agree - she was pretty boring. Now he's watching some McCauley Culkin movie from back in the day when he was that cute but over used little kid. Oh, I think it might be Richie Rich. The dad is Richard Gilmore. Or whatever his real name is.

I was going to write about something else. But you see, I just started taking Strattera for my ADD, and for now, its having the opposite of the intended effect. I'm told that will pass soon - as will the wooziness. My lungs don't seem to want to inflate all the way either, which is a bit bothersome. Which could actually be contributing to the wooziness. Also, I've got chills. Every once in a while, it feels like the hairs on my head, arms, and legs (yeah, I need to shave) stand on end. Its creepy. It better not take too long for my body to adjust to this stuff. The dry mouth doesn't bother me - I need to drink more water anyway.
See there, I wrote about something else afterall. But now, once again, my mind is blank. So, I'll come back later should another complete thought enter my head.

5:30 AM

I'm so not a morning person.

So I had a headache. I took Motrin because I lost my Imitrex (appt to get new rx is tomorrow), even though I knew Motrin would do nada. I way lying there curled up with my head covered (too dead to turn the light off) when Aaric walked in. They know about my headaches. They know the drill. If Mommy has a headache, shut up and go to sleep. They weren't cooperating last night. I think they've figured out that while Mommy looks really mean and sad all at the same time while she yells for you to get in bed NOW because Mommy's head is about to explode - really I'm just powerless to stop them from staying up all night and partying.
So, as I was on my bed near death from Head Explosion, Aaric walked in.
A: Mommy...
M: mmm?
A: Can you tell Uncle Larry that I want a BB gun for christmas?
M: mmhmm.. go to bed

Let it be known, officially, for the record, that if Uncle Larry reads this and then gets Aaric a BB gun for Christmas, I shall give Aaric my permission, and in fact, blessing to shoot Uncle Larry with it repeatedly. He just might shoot your eye out Uncle Larry.

Around 10:15, I decided to watch CSI. I think my TV is haunted though. It'll come in perfectly clear for like 30 seconds. Just long enough for me to step back from the antenna, watch for a second to make sure I have a good signal, and sit back down on the bed. The moment I scoot up and recline on the pillow, out it goes. Total static. So I changed it to the WB and watched the basic late night sitcom reruns. Why I do this when I KNOW I have a migraine, I don't know. I spent half of the time with one eye covered because it hurt. I did turn it off at 11:30.

I woke again at 5:30. I'm amazed by the speed at which I become alert when one of the kids gets out of bed. It really makes no sense. I could sleep through anything - other than my children stumbling out of bed and down the hall. Their foot hits the floor and my eyes pop open. Aaric came into my room excitedly jabbering on and on in true Aaric fashion about some psychotic dream he had. Something about a blue face. It was weird. I didn't pay attention - as soon as my brain got done processing the fact that he wasn't sick or injured or scared, it told me to tell him to please be quiet and get in bed. Then I noticed that my head didn't hurt anymore. Weird. They never just go away.

So then I commenced trying to fall asleep, and I just couldn't. My mom is coming into town today, and my house looks really really messy, so I have to clean it by around 4 this afternoon. Mikayla got up at 6:15 and came to bed with me, and at 6:30, I gave in and got up. Then puttered around online for a while, so here it is 7:30 AM, and I'm actually awake.

The Birds, and other randomness

For some reason, Aaric keeps asking me about "that bad finger." He asked me earlier today which finger it is. I tried explaining to him that the finger itself is not bad. I told him that its just a finger and all of his fingers are good. I cautioned him, however, that ONLY pointing up that one finger is not a very nice thing to do. I didn't want him thinking that the finger is bad, but wanted to make him understand that its the gesture thats not so polite. He wanted to know what it meant. I just told him its not nice. After all, how exactly would one describe that to a five year old?
Fast forward to 8:30ish, when he was trying to stall and stay out of bed. Again, he asked me about it. He asked what it meant, he said he knew it meant something bad, "Just tell me what it is!!" Exasperated, I stupidly replied, "It means that little boys need to go to bed!" Why do I say such idiotic things? So, he said, "well then ... to you!" And during the ... he flipped me off. What have I done??? He did finally go to bed.
By the way, this message is brought to you by the number 3. Why 3? Because Mikayla is obsessed with 3. She must have 3 carrots, 3 pieces of cheese, 3 vitamins (i have to draw the line there), 3 of everything. I guess because she IS 3. Who knows. And the color blue. Rebel that she is, blue is her favorite color. Unfortunately, 75% of her wardrobe is hand-me-downs from her cousin, the cult leader - and the cult's uniform color is PINK. With a splash of purple from time to time. But very little blue. Note to the brother - when certain relatives ask you what she wants, just tell them blue clothes. Then after you open them and fake your oohs and aahs, secretly give them to me. That way, her closet won't be so jam-packed full of way too many clothes, and Mikayla can get some new, blue clothes. Because heaven forbid those family members ever just buy Mikayla her own clothes. Tell them that the blue clothes fit best in a 4T too. Oh wait, I forgot, those certain family members don't look at sizes, hence the size 10 panties that both of these girl children recieved earlier this year.
As a side note, Aaric'd favorite color is NOT red. Please ignore the fact that whenever given the option between a red something and an any other color something, he will always choose red. His favorite colors are gold, silver, and rainbow. And he absolutely chose those favorite colors of his own free will and under no one else's influence, especially not his 8 year old cousin who frequently discusses those three favorite "colors" disregarding the fact that "rainbow" is not a color.
(Right, and he also doesn't know why one spot on his head has hair a good inch and a half shorter than the hairs surrounding it.)
Also, other than the brown curly hair and adorable toddler fat rolls, I think Mikayla is Kelly incarnate. I was thin (read: scrawny, boney, frighteningly skinny) as a child, even as a toddler, and I had straight blonde hair. Mikayla has what I consider a typical toddler shape - slightly rounded, but not fat. So how are we alike? I think if she had her way, she'd eat nothing but cheese and bread. Yep, that's my girl! She ate 2.5 rolls today at the restaurant before the meal came, which means she barely touched her meal. She also won't quit stealing my sweet tea. If you want tea, ORDER TEA!!! Sure, I say no to the tea - but at least request it! Don't say you want lemonade then refuse to touch it! I'm going to have to suck it up and start getting water.

What a boring day

It rained, really hard for a few minutes. That was nice because it washed all of that dirt off of my sidewalk. And I'd left my car window open. Luckily, the wind was going in the other direction.
Oh, one bit of excitement and joy in what has been an otherwise dreary day... My friend, DaMomma had her baby today!

I slept very late, then got up to read funny blogs and check my various message boards and email. And checked on businessy things. Natural Family Boutique, by the way, is an excellent place to shop. Great way to feel good about yourself too. Buy all natural products for yourself and your loved ones, and help me actually make a profit instead of just buying way more than I sell, all at the same time. I think I'll start profiling cool products here too. Why not advertise here on my little piece of the web?

Oh, I know a couple obvious ones. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month! The Hope Breast Cancer Awareness Bracelet is now available! $15 from each purchase goes toward the Breast Cancer Prevention Institute. Got an October birthday? This is our new October birthstone necklace.

I just really can't think of anything thrilling to add. I really just want to add enough new stuff at the top without pictures to see if it will make my profile move back up to the top...

The Garden Project: Phase 1 Complete!

This afternoon I went out and did some gardening. I kept taking breaks, because all I'd ingested was a Peanut Butter Chip Brownie and a bottled Mocha Frappuccino, so I was a bit dizzy. And it was humid.
As with any forest clearing, today, some animals were forced out of their homes. But instead of deer and squirrels, the frantic animals were roaches and ants. Actually the ants stuck around. The roaches went scampering. Some went deeper into the forest, others dashed across the sidewalk into the Garden Annex. There were probably a few million of them. I got down to the last bit of The Ugly Plant, and When I cut the branch off at the ground and pulled it up, OMG, there were so many. It was awful. I'm scarred for life.
So, here is the result of my work today:
The front view again:


And the shot that was the closeup of The Ugly Plant at its worst, this is that same spot:


As I was clearing away debris, I noticed something. I'd seen one a couple weeks ago, but it was dead. This one is dead now too. It was in the very spot, that not 30 minutes earlier, my 3 year old was digging in the dirt. I encouraged her to dig in that spot, because that is the biggest of the roots of The Ugly Plant, and I want to dig fairly deep to get rid of as much of that trunk as possible. And right there on the stump, this is what I saw, took a picture of, and then murdered: