Embrace the Camera

Here's Booger Head and I on the Carousel at Six Flags, sucky hair and all. He's such a stud. Thanks to Dad for taking a picture of me to prove that I was there...

 Love the pacifier blur :)

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (just not in that order)

Bad: On Friday night, just as I pulled in with the sitter, the oil light on the crap wagon flickered. Now I don't know a lot about cars but I do know that that is bad. Dad checked the oil and the dipstick was dry...no oil in the garage, no smoke plume trailing behind us...we put a quart in it and went on our date anyways. I have a sitter. No way am I wasting that.

Good: Got the oil changed, they couldn't find any reason for it to be without oil either, and had the state inspection done...and it PASSED! The first time!

Ugly: The check after our hibachi and sushi (Dad, not me. Eww.) dinner was $40, AFTER a $25 restaurant.com gift card I got for free with my Swagbucks, which is a TERRIBLE search engine but hey, $25 off of dinner after only one month of using them is pretty cool. And it was nice to go somewhere fancier than our usual fare.

Bad: The burning electronics smell coming from the compy on Saturday afternoon. The power supply was toast, literally. Stoooopid compy. So now I am coming to you from the laptop, which is perched on the edge of the desk in front of the compy-which is serving as a monument to broken computers. The new power supply should be here in just a couple of days. It's surprising how fast we got used to being a two computer family...Dad and I are sort of addicted.

Good: Our afternoon at Six Flags. I was really worried about the rain, and the nursing in the rain and how Booger Head would handle it but he did great. It was humid but it didn't pour on us, and never got to be too hot really. And Six Flags has a cute little train car devoted to "lost parents" and baby care, complete with rocking chair for baby nursing and staffed by a cute little old lady and her bible. The kids had a ball with Sam and her crew, who have season passes and got us in for free. Thanks again for letting us tag along!

The crew, minus Booger Head.

Ugly: My stupid hair after being out in the 100% humidity all afternoon. I hate it's indecisiveness. Be curly or be straight but enough with this stupid frizz.

Bad: Booger Head is growing up way too fast. We fed him cereal last night...

Good: Booger Head is big enough for solid foods which means it is going to get to be a lot easier to leave the house with him.

Ugly: The diapers I know are now coming. Ugh.

Bad: I had to call and yell at a lot of people last week. The city, who claim that my bill was late even though it wasn't. And I know that it wasn't because I made Dad drop it off at 2am (after I remembered that we STILL hadn't dropped it off and it was due tomorrow) before we went to bed so that I wouldn't have to drag all the monsters over there and out of the car to go in the office to pay it. The insurance company, see below. Who called me the next day to tell me that it had been canceled even though it had already been billed and was now on it's way out. Way to go on the interoffice communication guys! And Dish Network. I just wanted to get a receiver that would record more than one thing at a time and wouldn't require me to sell a child or an appendage. Apparently that can't be done. I refuse to pay $200 for something and then pay a monthly "equipment fee" just for the privilege of owning it. And Scooter coped an attitude with me when I said. "I have a remote too. I'm not paying a fee for that yet." Watch it buddy, I don't need your crap.

Good: We arranged a babysitting swap with some friends who NEVER get to go out (sadness) and are going to trade kids once a month. It'll be nice to save some $$$ on babysitting. Dad and I have a bad habit of going out whether or not we can afford it. I can't help it, sometimes I have to get out of here. And sometimes I like to take Dad with me.

Ugly: My electric bill was dang near $300. Stupid weather. It's supposed to be beautiful this week. I opened windows and turned the air off this morning. Love it.

Bad: If I don't do the laundry today I'll be forced to go volunteer at the school tomorrow "without apparel." And I'm willing to bet they frown on that. And there are towels I had forgotten were in the washer...and they have been there for days and now need to be washed again. Which caused me to lose all my laundry doing momentum.

Good: The Amazing Race is back! Dad and I LOVE that show. He likes to think he would dominate and I like to imagine what a pain I would be and how much all of America would hate me by the time we were done. Which wouldn't take very long because I am whiny and he's not as young as he thinks he is, even if he is a genius. But seriously, that chick took a watermelon to the face last night! How are her eyes unblackened and her nose not broken?

Ugly: My house after two weeks of what feels like nightly baseball, tee-ball and cub scout meetings. It's bad. I am so looking forward to the season being over so I don't have to nurse on the sidelines in a camp chair EVER again and so that I have time to at least pretend I cleaned something up.

And just so we can end on a high note, one last Good: I don't have to go anywhere today. Which really doesn't happen to me very often anymore. Bring on the jammies, cuddling with Ralph during a movie and letting my eyelids win the battle. All while neglecting the laundry. It's gonna be a good day.

I Tried to Make It!

I kind of wish I had saved this project for today, I am in dire need of some craft therapy right now...but I am thinking about scraping it and starting over so maybe it's okay...

It is really hard to get a good photo of this thing...I like it. I am not in love with it...I'll 'splain why in a sec. Inspiration came from HERE. Here are some closer shots...

If you followed the link you should take note of how flowy and relaxed her curls are. Not mine. Mine are short and tight...I wonder if this says something about the difference in our personalities? Flowy and relaxed versus obsessive and high strung? It sort of makes me chuckle each time I look at it, a physical representation of just how tightly I am wound these days...I got all excited about this and bought a bunch of quilling paper and actual quilling tools...I'm kind of bummed that I don't love it.

Yeah. I am going to have to do it again. Dang it. I also dislike how stark the back ground is...I'll have to see if I can do something with that...I'll keep you posted.

I Have Done Your Job Before And It's Not As Hard As You Make It Out To Be

Dear Aetna Rx Home Delivery,

I'll get right to the point because I am seriously PO'd with you and not in the mood to prance around the issue at hand. It's no secret that I hate you and would rather fill my prescriptions at normal pharmacies like normal people but since when does the insurance company give a crap about what I want...

When a doctor faxes you a prescription for a medication for a patient you FILL THE #$%& PRESCRIPTION AND YOU PUT IT IN THE MAIL. That is your job is it not?! You can't not to your job. It's medicine, not Skittles. Somebody needs it and it's your freaking job to do it. ARRRRGGGG! You don't get to not fill something. Ever. For any reason. You call and pester the patient for their new credit card number, because their stupid bank changed their stupid card number AGAIN, and then you send an email with absolutely no information other than "Your order has been canceled." WTH?! GGRRRRRRRRR!

There just aren't words...

Mom

New Coinage

Dear Oriental Trading Co.,

A while back I ordered a few sets of your plastic coins in an effort to bribe my children to behave. You know, the ones that say things like "I Was Caught Being Good." It worked for a while but the local economy seems to have taken a bit of a downward turn. But wait, don't panic. I have a plan. Job creation! How about you start minting coins that say things like:

• I get to sit in the car at the next store
• I was put to bed without taking a bath
• I got out ALL of my toys
• I screamed loud enough for the neighbors to hear
• I peed on something I shouldn't have

 I am certain that with your help we can change things for the locals and revamp the local economy.

Sincerely,
Mom

A Well Matched Pair...

Remember THIS?

I got a box of happiness in the mail yesterday. Stinky lugged it in when he got home from school, "Hey Mom! Is this for us?!" And it sat next to the door while I fed Booger Head...I hurried him a lot. After he was fed and changed he supervised the box opening from the Jumperoo.
 

After I had my box all gone through I sat on the floor thinking how awesome and hilarious it was that we had so much in common. Seriously, it was so funny. Then I got up and looked at the compy and Mary had messaged me asking if I was her long lost twin. :)

He he...this is so exciting! We SAHMs love mail. It's sort of a high point in the day...this cracked me up.

I love the "Please don't touch me." look on that woman's face. The first goodie I came across was a code for a photo book from Snapfish that was written in the card. Awesomeness! 

Then came this...

 I am totally going to have to make Dad clean the tub so I can have a bath.

 Mmmm...."What about these Mom? Are these for us?" Bunch of vultures...

Mary hates candy corn but loves the pumpkins, so she feeds the candy corn to her kids. Brilliant! I don't mind candy corn but after a handful of pieces I am done for the season...LOVE the little pumpkins. See? Hilariously similar.

Oh. My. Gosh. Mary, you are my new favorite person. I grew up on this stuff! My grandmother sends certificates for Mother's Day and stuff throughout the year and since we don't have See's here in TX (Mom sobs uncontrollably) I hoard them and take them with us when we go to Utah. So I end up with something like $60 in store credit at Sees. Wonderful, is it not? But it gets better, this cute little box had one of each of my top three favorites!

Hmmmm...you wanna know when the last time I read a magazine that did not include an article on potty training was? Bummer, because I can't remember. I learned that Katy Perry is engaged to Russell Brand, speaking of freaks and weirdos, and no matter what she claims I am willing to bet that Kate's secret is extensive airbrushing on her photos.

I know! How cool is that?! That polish is called Outrageous and there is no good way to photograph what an awesome color it is! It's already on my toes :) I gave the eye mask a shot last night too...I was like a very relaxed super hero.

I am also a gum chewer. I usually have two packs in my purse, one minty and one not minty. Cinnamon is also an option but it's its own family. And Classic Bubble gum is my favorite, I love that smell.

This stuff is delicious! I looooove the smell. Body butter is amazing stuff.

 It's practically a requirement for you to carry this stuff around when you're constantly being followed by a horde of germy monsters, and this smells way better than plain Purel. Mmmmmm...

See? I couldn't have been matched up better, and I can't wait to do it again!

Thanks Mary! That was awesome! (and Pickles appreciates box)

Embrace the Camera, Reluctant Child Edition

You would not believe how hard it was to get him to sit still for this. I practically had to sit on him...maybe that could be our next picture. Apparently he's too cool to be in pictures with his Mom.