Room for Improvement

Monday was a nightmare. Tuesday and Wednesday have not been much better. At least they haven't been worse.

Let's see.... Tuesday. Morning student had to reschedule, no biggie. Jerry was his usual make me crazy 3 year old self. Michael has an ear infection. My children were hooligans while I was trying to teach. I never made it to the gym. Jerry flooded the upstairs bathroom.

I was on the phone with insurance, a headache in itself, when I heard hysterical laughter and the toilet lid slamming. This could not be good, I knew it. Before I was finished on the phone I could hear Michael screaming from the top of the stairs. By the time I got off the phone and upstairs there was a sight to behold. Michael was soaking wet from head to toe, Jerry had no clothes on, and there was standing water in my bathroom. *Run for the towels* and step on soaking wet carpet. Irritation is a mild word for how I felt at the moment. The rascal had taken a tub toy and scooped water out of the toilet and dumped it on Michael, the bathroom floor, the bedroom floor, and the hallway. As I was trying to contain the mess, Michael walked into the bathroom. Well, he tried to. Grippy feet on pajamas don't help much when an inch of water is covering the floor. Down he went, and none too happy about it either. Eventually everybody got dry clothes on and the disaster got cleaned up. Hey, it could have been worse.

I also went "fishing," but you will have to wait until the next post to hear about that one.

Wednesday brought the pleasure of two more nasty ear infections, Jerry this time. We also had red juice on the floor, banana smashed on the kitchen floor while I was teaching, sneaking food, temper tantrums, very busy bodies, no nape and minimal nap, a motorcycle thrown at Michael by Jerry, and ruined dinner.

Ah, dinner. I had great plans for dinner. We had leftover makings for chicken cream cheese enchiladas that I put together. The oven was pre-heated and ready to go. All I had to do was put the dish in the oven. Then, of course, disaster strikes, in the form of a 3 year old. Jerry decided it was a good idea to flip the lock over to "lock" for the self-clean cycle on the oven. With my oven, I don't know about yours, this is a problem. I tried to turn the oven off for a few minutes and then back on. Nope, the cleaning light kept blinking. Maybe if I just set the temperature it will cook anyway. Wishful thinking. Finally I went up to find the instruction manual. While searching the hooligans went nuts doing who knows what. Poor Tyler was trying to finish his homework, so their antics were less than appreciated. Children were quickly banished to their room to play until dinner was ready. Finally I found the information I was looking for. Not good. In order for the oven to reset after turning off the self clean cycle, it has to cool completely. No time for that, Tyler has class in 45 minutes. I kept trying to turn the oven back on, hoping it would think the temperature was low enough to reset. No such luck. While banished in their room, Jerry threw his motorcycle, a ride on toy, and hit Michael. I give up. Tyler ended up with leftovers and made it out the door for class in time. I even got his lecture notes printed for him. Maybe he will want dinner when he gets home. Yeah, probably not. Another wasted effort and lost attempt at getting something right.

Go ahead, laugh at our misadventures. Smile and say "I am so glad it is her and not me!" Share some story that is worse than this one. Let me laugh at your misfortunes, please. Post on your blog and tell me to go read it.

Eventually we will laugh, but for now I just want to quit. Tomorrow is going to be better. It has to be. I can't take many more of these days. One more and I just might run away and not come back.

99 Things

We found this on a friend's blog (hey Kory) and Tyler wanted me to post his list, so here goes. Who knows, you might find out something new about him, I did.

Here are the rules:
Bold the things you’ve done and post on your blog.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band(only if bebopping on live radio when I was 15 counts)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis( he may have been lunch for me)
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon (not organized, USMC)
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise(Does a Naval Aircraft Carrier count?)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke(badly)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant(turns out she was already engaged)
44. Visited Africa(not much in the way of a vacation)
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance-twice
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been a passenger on a motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Redwoods
82. Bought a brand new car-no plan to, ever!!!
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year’s Eve
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury-maybe next month
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Got a tattoo
94. Had a baby-not able, thank heavens
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Who wants to play?

You may now pick yourselves up off the floor from the shock of 2 posts in one day and the fact that Tyler is voluntarily posting information about himself. Carry on with you day, just beware of the astonished look on your face that may remain for several hours.

Mondays, UGH

Mondays are no fun. Neither are mornings. Combine the two and you are asking for disaster in my world.

Yesterday started with no hot water. I had to take Jerry to Duke University for a study he was taking part in, so I kind of needed a shower before leaving for carpool. I am not one to enjoy a cold shower or find it invigorating. In the end, I shoved my head under the faucet and had a chilly hair washing session. As a result of the water incident, we ended up a bit behind schedule, only a minute or two, so not too bad. The kids had a pop tart morning for the sake of my sanity. Unfortunately, as we were walking out the door, little Michael dropped his in the garage. I didn't realize the "breakfast" had hit the floor, I stepped on it, and almost fell. Pick up the pieces, send Thomas back inside to grab another and we are out the door and on our way.

Wait, hold that thought, we are out the door, but far from on out way. As I was putting Michael in his seat, I noticed the seat belt was slack. Strange. I pulled on it to tighten it and the entire belt came through the seat. JERRY!!!! The little stinker had unbuckled Michael's seat at some point. Do you know how hard it is to re-buckle a seat with a child buckled in it already? Not easy, at all. Poor Michael got a bit squished in the ordeal.

By now, we are really running late. I told Thomas to hold Michael's pop tart until we got to pick up carpool, then to give it to Michael. As we pulled in the driveway I asked Thomas where the pop tart was. He held up 1/3 of a tart. The pill totally ignored what I said and ate his brother's breakfast. On the way to school Thomas and one of the girls got into it... again. That is another issue that I need to deal with. Those two seem to love to irritate each other. Of course, we can't forget the big sign on the mom mobile that says "please cut me off, drive slow, or do other irritating things, but especially drive slow... the slower the better."

The traffic report says there is a nasty backup on the freeway. Great. Wait, some good news?!?! My fabulous husband called and told me how to get around the mess. It worked and we had no trouble, other than the u-turn due to a missed turn. We also had computer issues, blog issues, and kids not eating dinner issues. Oh yeah, and I totally forgot that I had to take Tyler to class because I had to go to the store while he was gone and needed the mom mobile.

By the end of the day I was about to lose it. So, what do children do when mom is barely hanging on?!?! They push her over the edge, of course.

We had milkshakes earlier in the afternoon and Jerry didn't finish his. I put it in the freezer and he just got it whenever he wanted. Slight problem, when Jerry opens the fridge or freezer, Michael pulls out anything he sees. So, next thing I know there is a glass bottle of Soy Sauce hitting my floor. No breakage, thank goodness. Put everything back in and repeat several more times. Now we have 3 poopy boys (possible stomach bug coming on, great) to add to the mix. I just love poopy underwear, don't you? All kids clean, time to go to the store. Oh, wait, nevermind. Time to clean ice cream out of little boy HAIR. While I was helping Thomas clean up, the other two played with milkshakes and thought it would be fun to drip onto the floor or in each other's hair. Run over with wipes and we are out the door. Shopping at BJ's with 3 boys, so much fun (no sarcasm here, ever)!!! Potty stop for Jerry at BJ's. Problem, what do I do with the other two hooligans? "Thomas, stand here with Michael while I go help Jerry." Piddle, piddle in the potty, wash hands, out the door.... YES, they are both still standing there waiting for me.

I treated myself to Chick-fil-a and a gigantic Dr Pepper. The we put on a DVD in the mom mobile and headed to pick up daddy from school. I never do this around town, the DVD is for travel only, but desperate times and mommy's sanity called for breaking the rule this time. More disasters once we got home, including sick tummys and lots of laundry. Can't forget cleaning the kitchen, cleaning the bathroom, staying away from the broken bathroom, laundry, and not having a meltdown.

I don't know about you, but Mondays are just not my friend. It has to get better from here. I certainly don't want to know how it can get worse, that's for sure! I hope your Mondays are better than mine was. Off to deal with a nearly as rough Tuesday. LUCKY ME!!!

Photo Tag

Here you go Kory. You tagged me and I am actually doing it. The rules are:
1. Go to your pictures
2. Go to the 6th file folder
3. Select the 6th picture
4. Blog about it
5. Tag 6 peopleHere's the story behind the picture.
Tyler went to the beach with my family for our annual trip. While there he proposed and we were engaged. I am wrapped up in a blanket because I was cold, as usual. I have no idea who took this picture, but it is a fun one to have. We have many happy and fun memories of the Slingshot, our beach house (ok, not ours, but we like to claim it), and look forward to many more.

Tag: Erin, Stephanie, Kristen Holmes, Cousin Beth, Aunt Jean, Kristen (any other Kristen will do), and anybody else who wants to play along. I like this one, and it is easy.

Krispy Kreme Challenge

So I am a little slow on getting this up here, oh well. The details don't change, just the reference to "yesterday." This took place on Feb 7, 2009. I originally sent out an email, but didn't send it to everybody, so here is my story for all the world to read.

Yesterday I did my first race of the year. So, it ended up not being so much a race and more of an event. I woke up sick with a nasty head and chest cold, but went to run anyway (I am not about to pay the entry fee then not show up). By the time I got there I was breathing somewhat normal again. As I was waiting at the start line, I ran into some friends and we laughed about all the costumes and crazy people at the race, about 5200 people running in all. There was Superman, The Flash, Santa Claus with a gigantic cowboy hat, lots of donuts with sprinkles, KK coffee cup pair, Duncan Donut and KK coffee cup pair, Richard Simmons, Elvis, Waldo and his buddy Waldo, and a giant gorilla. We can’t forget the crew that was shirtless (or tank topped) and painted “Do It For the Kids” and the other crew painted with the name of some ESPN sportscaster. Yes, the event was so big it was covered by ESPN. There was also a National Guardsman in fatigues, boots, and a 60lb pack. One guy had a broken leg, so he wore a life jacket and rode in a shopping cart; he was the designated eater he said.

Anyway, back to my race. We headed the 2 miles to Krispy Kreme. Right from the start we headed downhill, and as I reached the start I could see the massive swath of people on their way up the other side of the hill. This was not going to be easy, especially on the way back I couldn’t help but think. Once I got to KK, I had to wait almost 10 minutes to get my donuts. Again, that many people can really slow things down. I ate 3 donuts, that was enough. A guy near me told me to cram them all together like a donut sandwich and I could eat more and faster. Um, no thanks, I’m good slowly eating my little 3. There were several people that didn’t do so hot at holding their donuts, but we will just move on from them. Let’s just say I hope the fire department comes by to hose down the parking lot. (Later on the news we saw a reporter at the scene, very obviously after all the racers had cleared. Gross, but it was much worse earlier.) The trip back was more of a jog here and there than it was a run or race. Most people walked the way back. Let me just tell you about the trip back. There were a few hills. OK, there were a lot of hills. Long and slow hills at that. Even my more serious racer friends said the hills on the way back were rough, and add to that the donut weight and the hills were even worse. Today, my legs are definitely feeling those hills. And we just won’t talk about my time. Donuts in the middle of a race really kill your time. On the bright side, I was in the middle of a pack the entire time. I passed some and plenty passed me. My overall time, including food and the delay of getting to the start, was 1:22:28. My run time, based on my watch (my rockin’ new ironman watch that tracks laps and overall runs) was 58:45. Yeah, crappy time, oh well. I had the cards way stacked against me this time.

In the end, I did the race. I made it the 2 miles there, ate a few, and made it 2 miles back, and I kept it all down. The odds of me doing it again are pretty slim. I ran it once, and I can now say I have done it. The whole thing was fun, especially to see everybody there and having such a good time. On to the next race now. Crystal Coast on Feb 28, I will be doing the 5K. I will be sure to keep everybody posted on my new running habit. Thanks for all the encouragement and support!

If you want, go to www.newsobserver.com and check out the photos from the race. My picture is in there, #64. There was a girl riding on a guy’s shoulders and I happened to be next to them when the picture was taken. That’s me, Runner 2009! No, really, my entry number was 2009 for this one. Cool, huh?

http://blogs.newsobserver.com/multi/first-look-the-krispy-kreme-challenge

I can't post the photo here because the newspaper owns the photo. Sorry, if you want to see it, you have to go find it.

I Prayed to Jesus!

Yesterday Star Wars came on TV after church. The kids go down for naps after lunch, so Thomas was quite upset that he was going to miss Star Wars. I told him that if it was still on once he woke up he could probably watch it. I knew it would be over, but wanted a nap and would deal with the drama later. I was awake in my room when Thomas woke up. From downstairs I heard his little voice "Star Wars is on Daddy! I prayed to Jesus that it would still be on when I woke up and Jesus answered my prayer! Star Wars is still on!" We just laughed about it and were also quite proud that he has the basic concept of Heavenly Father will answer our prayers. I love my kids and all the teach me.

Will you be my Valentine?

Valentine's Day is not a popular holiday around our house. Don't get me wrong, the concept is nice. Who wouldn't appreciate a day to focus on your love and mushy feelings for your special someone? However, what makes it such a ridiculous holiday is what it has become. Since when does the amount of money you spend justify your love. "The more you spend, the more you care" is disgusting. It has become a holiday that only exists for merchants (Christmas is falling into the same category, but that is a different post for a different season). Flowers only sent on Valentine's Day and Mother's Day... don't even bother with the effort. If you need a holiday to do something nice, at least pick our anniversary or something. Don't even waste your time and frustration to elbow your way through all the last minute shoppers to pick out the first card that sounds nice and then slap your name on it. Fine, pick a card, but at least write something meaningful inside. Do you really need Hallmark to tell you what to say? Really, flowers, cards, candies, jewelry, fine dining reservations appear in mass quantities for February 14. May Day is for flowers, cards are for sympathy or thinking of you, and candy is for Halloween.

Now, all these ill feelings for Valentine's Day do not mean the holiday is non-existent in our house. We have both been known to write sweet notes to each other. OK, I have been known to pick out a nice card and write a nice note inside. Once, long ago, I woke up to a huge "Happy Valentine's Day" written on the white board before Tyler left for work. We do nice things for each other, our kids, and other special people. No flowers here. Again, another story for another post (careful what you say when you are dating).

So, what was Valentine's Day like around the nut house today, you might ask? Well, for the past two days I was working on my special Valentine's treat for everybody. Time is worth more than money for things like this. Unfortunately, my super sleuth husband kept finding the pieces of the project. He wasn't out looking for them, just kept finding them. Finally last night I gave him the coolest idea ever. Too bad it didn't turn out right. It may not look right, but it sure tasted good! This morning, the kids woke up to the same super fun treat at their plates. We made french toast and bacon for the family for breakfast and ate together. For dinner we were going to order heart shaped pizzas from Papa John's (our favorite take out pizza that we never order because DiGiorno is so yummy and so much cheaper). Plans changed when I found bigger pizzas for less, so the idea remained, but the appearance changed.

Our Valentine's Day was perfect for us. So in the future, try and put a little more thought and a lot less commercialization into your holiday. We need to show our love every day, not just on Valentine's Day. A day to make an extra special effort is nice, so long as it isn't the only day. And celebrate your dinner out on a random day, trust me. The food is better and the service is better. Take that from a former restaurant employee that hated Valentine's Day from a whole other perspective.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO YOU ALL!!!!