Keeping It Real

Ahhh....Sping Break. I've been waiting for you too long and now you're finally here! We tentively had some plans as a family, but Madeline got a better offer from a friend and she abandoned us. Bella decided she would head over to Tifton since Madeline was gone, because Tifton is always more fun that Albany! I thought we had at least another year or so before we became obsolete, but the time is here, I guess. *sad face*

I decided to take advantage of having two less people in the house and do some deep-ish cleaning. James cleaned the carpet and I attacked the kitchen. However, in the interest of KEEPING IT REAL, I took pictures of things I haven't done (and to be perfectly honest, probabaly won't any time soon).

I hate dusting. It's a waste of time. It just comes back and this time of year it brings pollen with it(especially if you like to keep your windows open, which I do). DOWN WITH DUSTING!!!




The food side of the laundry room is pretty organized, but the laundry/storage side? Not so much.


I despair of the craft closet. In spite of my best efforts, it's always messy. Darn kids, it's their fault!


Preschool books in the playroom I need to put away. These are the books I've ordered and/or used since December. I'll probably clean it up in June. There are probably two hundread books in those stacks. I have plans of cataloging them all, but probably won't complete that task until sometime in 2015.




It took me ten minutes to find a pair of matching flip-flops the other day. Pitiful.


I seriously have no idea why all this STUFF is piled up on this shelf. It has no business being there. But Have I done anything about it? No.


Other things I haven't done but should? Windexing the front windows where the cats and dog press their noses, mopping the kitchen floor (the red clay blends in with the tile quite nicely) and cleaning the shelves in the top of my closet.

Just keepin' it real.

Today

Today, I woke up to the sound of James hacking up a lung. He's caught the hellacious cold I had last week, evidently. Given that I was woken up two hours before I actually needed to be awake, I wasn't exactly a happy camper. But then I remembered that today was Friday, and once today was over, I would be on Thanksgiving break.

Today, I went to preschool and helped transform my class into nine pilgrim boys and girls. We then trooped happily to the church fellowship hall and had a Thanksgiving Feast with the three year old turkeys and two year old Indians. A good time was had by all.

Today, I came home from school to find James feeling moderately better. He was feeling well enough to start on the approximately 87 loads of laundry that had piled up over the course of the week. As I as printing off a coupon for some Christmas shopping, I heard a high pitched whine coming from the washing nmachine, followed by a loud *THUNK*. It then sounded like we were attempting to wash 1000 nuts, bolts and screws rather than some towels. As the washer was still running, I asked James to take a look at things when the load was done.

Today, I left the house confident that my man would fix whatever was wrong while I went Christmas shopping for the girlies. Armed with a 30% off my entire purchase coupon and knowing exactly what was on sale, I proceeded to save almost $100. With the exception of stocking stuffers, my shopping for the girls is now DONE. GO me.

Today, I decided that after working so hard, I deserved a treat. So I made my way over to the nail salon where I let the nice ladies take care of my cracked heels, ragged cuticles and overgrown eyebrows. I even let the lady talk me out of my normal french manicure in favor of a very pretty dark red.

Today, I came home to fond out that the washer is caput. Bummer. Given that we bought it used for $75 almost six years ago (and it had been used by it's previous owner for over 5 years) we figured we'd got our money out of it. I remembered that we'd received a $25 coupon in the mail from Lowe's a few days earlier. I hopped online and found a decent washer that was on sale and in stock. We decided that we really didn't want to wait to find a decent used washer in the paper (remember those 87 loads of laundry? We had clean towels, but the underwear supply was running dangerously low.) Presto change-o, the old washer is out and the new washer is in. It's a bit loud, but I figure I'll be able to hear when it's all done.

Today, I was busy and spent a lot of money. But we'll have clean clothes again, presents under the Christmas tree and my eyebrows aren't a source of shame for the family anymore.

I call today a success.

Hello? Is it me you're looking for?

1. As much as I tried to avoid it, schools starts on Friday for the girls. It starts on Monday for me. Jaws, not being affliated with school in any way, has had no break and has been going to work on a regular basis for awhile now.

2. Last Saturday we (meaning me and the girls) drove Mom down to Tallahassee for an almost all day seminary training meeting. We decided to do some final back-to-school shopping. Our first shopping trip was when we were down in Jacksonville last month. It's exciting to go shopping in the big city, doncha know? I'm thinking about making this kind of trip a tradition. Something to look foward to to shake off the End-of-Summer blues.

3. I am so sick of mowing our lawn. Jaws is too. This school year I use my school money to buy a Dyson vaccuum and a riding lawn mower, come hell or high water.

4. Last week Madeline got Stage Two braces put on. Poor thing. More hardware this time, for a longer period of time (two years). If I don't buy a Dyson it's because of these braces.

5. Bella will most likely go into Stage Two braces in November-ish. If I don't buy a riding mower it's because of these braces.

6. I've discovered a new Pet Peeve. I hate it when people complain about where they live. Let me repeat that. I HATE IT. Maybe it's because I grew up in a military family, but I was always taught that home should be wherever you are and to make it as joyful an experience as possible, because it does no good to complain about it.

If you don't like where you live, MOVE. If you can't move, find the good in the situation and learn to be happy about it. If you can't find the good and be happy, then SHUT UP, because no one -NO ONE- wants to hear you complain about how terrible Podunk City is, especially the people who choose to be happy living there.

I'm sure this opinion offends many people, but frankly I don't care. I am sick and tired of the complaining. It's fine if you think somewhere else is better than wherever you are. I think there are LOTS of places better than where I am! But it's not fine (with me, anyway) to constantly whine and moan about it. For Pete's sake, GROW UP.

7. Wow. Maybe that PMS medicine isn't working as well as I thought. On the other hand, maybe it is, as I haven't actually voiced this opinion to anyone in particular, to their face. And I probably won't. Probably.

8. My mom made me laugh - out loud - TWICE last week. It's not that she's not a funny person, because she is. But her humor is more of the subtle type. It's ninja humor. So the fact that I LOLed is noteworthy.

9. My birthday is on Sunday. Email me for gift ideas, although cash is always welcomed.

10. What do you think of my new art project?? Feedback to make it better always welcome!





The piece in the middle is a print from Urban Outfitters that says "Home Is Where You Are", and I've surrounded it with favorites pics of the fam. I plan on adding to it.

Q and Eh?

Hey man! What's up?

Hey yourself. Not much. Just livin' life, ya know?

No, that's not what I mean. What's up with you? Why aren't you blogging this summer? Did I do something to offend you?

Of course not! It's not you, it's me.

That's what they all say.
No, really. It *is* me. You know how it is in the summertime. The days are lazy and soothingly repetitive. How many time do you really want to read about my taking the girls to the pool and how dark my tan is getting?

Well...

And think about it- if you have to get up for a job/small child/weak bladder, do you really want to hear about how I regularly sleep in past 10:00 9:00 am while my children happily entertain themselves??

I guess you have a point.

Sure I do. My not blogging has been for *your* benefit, see?

That's really thoughtful of you.

I know. I'm a giver.

But honestly, I've missed you and your witty insight into the minutiae of everyday life!

Sorry about that. I've tried to make a conscientious effort not to be in front of the computer so much this summer. It's been hard, seeing as how most of my closest friends live in my computer, but it's been good for my mental health.

What? Your mental health? What do you mean??

Never mind.

The least you can do is throw me a bone here. Haven't you done ANYTHING blog-worthy in the past two months? What about the chickens and the playhouse? What's going on with Jaws and the girls?

Okay, okay. Jaws went to Scout Camp at the end of June. We missed him a lot. He took my camera and came back with pictures like this:











A few days after James got home from camp, the girlies and I took of to Florida for a few days. We visited some old high school friends of mine, went to the beach, did some back to school shopping in the "big city" and generally had a great time.

The chickens are doing great! We almost double the flock to 15 after getting 7 more chickens from my brother. They are all getting big, and we should start seeing some eggs in the next month or so.

James finished their coop and run before he left for camp.



















Impressive, no? The playhouse still needs a real roof, some insulation and electricity, and James still has to build out the storage area under the playhouse (not to mention the whole structure needs to be painted). But the girls are happy, the chickens are happy, and I'm pretty sure we've become the crazy family in the neighborhood, as at least five different people have stopped and asked what the heck we were doing back there.

Jaws is busy with work. Madeline is excited to start middle school next month. Bella is excited to start 5th grade. I'm excited to start my third year of teaching Pre-K (and my 8th year of teaching preschool altogether). I am not excited that we will have to get up before the crack of dawn again. But that's still three weeks away, and I'm not going to think about it yet.

Good for you.

I know, right? See how much better my mental health is??

Uhh...

Trust me. It is.

I'll take your word for it. So what else??

Nope! You're not going to catch me monologing! That's enough news for now. If you want to know what I'm reading, check my Goodreads box on the side of my blog. For more day to day action, you'll find me on Facebook. If you really, really want me to post something (or something in particular) feel free to leave a blog comment. Now, I think I hear the UPS man delivering my latest order of books from Amazon, so adios amigos!

Jaws is awesome, in so many ways

Have you ever noticed James' signature? It doesn't really say 'James'. It says 'Jaws'. We first noticed this on our Christmas cards a few years back. Since then, the nickname has stuck.

Anyway, James is pretty awesome, but you probably already knew that. He's such a handy guy, and I love that about him. Tonight he put some knobs on the wall in the girls' bathroom so the girls could hang their organizers, mirror and earring/jewelry hangers up. It's not a big thing, I know, but it's great that he can do it, lickety-split, no fuss no muss.

I made him take pictures. He *loved* that.

First he had to use the stud finder.


"Look! Stud found!"


Then he wanted to show off his handy work. In this picture, he looks constipated.


In the next picture, he looked psychotic.


Now he looks like a constipated psychotic.


Thank you, Jaws, for being a great husband and father, and an all-around handy guy.

Once Upon A Time...

...there was a beautiful lady who faithfully wrote a blog because her mother told her to do so because it made her grandparents happy. Since the beautiful lady would do just about anything if it made her grandparents happy, she started the blog, which turned out to bring much joy and happiness to her minions.

So for many months, the beautiful lady shared her life, sparing no detail, as she was assured repeeatedly that even the tiniest happenings were both informative and exciting. But alas! The beautiful lady eventually found herself in a series of circumstances that kept her from updating her blog! Her minions wept copious amounts of tears as the weeks went by with no updates, so sure were they that she would not return.

The beautiful lady was just as troubled. She hadn't shared the last day of her vacation, which included stops at the Uncle Remus Museum



and Old Clinton Bar-B-Que, where Mike Rowe once did a Dirty Job!


How could she not share these adventures with her faithful minions??

Just as it looked like all hope was lost, the beautiful lady updated! She explained that two of her nieces visited for a week, and when they departed her loyal consort decided that the next week would be the perfect time to update Ye Olde Homestead Kitchen by removing the ugly "popcorn" ceiling, painting the walls, removing the less-than-attractive linoleum and installing tile flooring.





The beautiful lady also explained that a terrible tragedy befell her household in the course of renovation: the DVR hard drive went out and her computer crashed!! The thought of losing everything on her computer (the beautiful lady was a slothful servant when it came to backing things up), combined with the state of her abode






was enough to drive the beautiful lady to her bed and hide under the covers until everything was over and done with. Not even access to the computers at the public library could entice her to update, so depressed was she.

But the lady knew she couldn't shirk her duty. So she got out of bed, rolled up her sleeves, and put her children to work!







The tile was laid, grout was...grouted, furniture was put back in place, the cable man brought a new DVR to the household and the beautiful lady's Computer Guy was able to resurrect her computer without losing anything! It was truly a miraculous time.

The excitement wasn't over, though. The beautiful lady told her minions that they also had a very nice Fourth of July, complete with a spectacular firework display that had one teensy moment of terror when a rogue "Wasp" almost took out all of the great-grandkids and caused the beautiful lady to scream and laugh so hard that she might have wet her pants just a teeny, tiny little bit.

The following day, the beautiful lady, her family and a cousin drove her brother to Alabama so he could attend an X-Camp at the Space and Rocket Museum. Yes! It was the same place the beautiful lady and her family had visited just a month before! The beautiful lady's friend Cindy had found a spot at camp for the brother, and it was too good of an opportunity to pass up! It meant driving 800 miles round trip in one day, but it would be worth it, especially since we were able to show the cousin the lovliness that is Poo Point.





The minions thrilled to hear the lady's tale, and they were comforted by her promise never to spend so much time away from them again.

THE END

As far as I'm concerned-

Summer officially begins today! The girls have a half day today and then *they* are done! I look forward to sleeping in tomorrow.

Sneaky Madeline surprised me yesterday at her Honors Day. Turns out she *knew* she was getting the award for being the TOP AR reader in her grade, and she kept it a secret! Her teacher pulled me aside afterward and said how excited she and the rest of the team teachers were when they found out she would be getting the award. Suffice it to say, we are VERY proud of her! Bella didn't get any awards, but we are proud of her too. Her spelling grade kept her from making Honor Roll, and I know she was disappointed. But I told her it just gave her a goal to work on for next year.

I've been busy rearranging the house, and so far I haven't spent any money. :P I'm trying to be more frugal. I'd like to make it through the summer with most of my last paycheck left. We'll see, I guess. At any rate, moving things around always makes me feel like I have new stuff, and I'm pretty happy with the changes. For now. ;)

Our big summer fun is a trip to U.S. Space and Rocket Musuem in Huntsville, AL. We're going to be staying with a family friend and I'm looking forward to seeing her. She works at the center and is going to give us a "Behind the Scenes" tour! I'd be lying if I said I was *very* excited for this. :P

The girlies should be home momentarily. When they get here we'll clean out the backpacks and lunchboxes and then hide them away until AUGUST!!! Woo-Hoo!!

Compostin' with the best of them

This is post is dedicated to my lovely stalkers friends Christy and Amanda. Maybe someday they'll actually make a comment! :P

If I'm really very honest with myself, I'd love to be a true blue living off the grid, growing my own food, dying my own handwoven cloth Earth Mother-type chick. Unforutnately I'm also incredibly lazy, and like McDonald's a little more than I should. At any rate, I do the best I can.

We have a little garden going, with plans for a bigger one (eventually)


Remember Madeline's cabbage from last year? Here's Bella's cabbage:


My next step on the path to Earth Mother-hood involved a bit of the wood James brought home. I've been wanting a Composting Bin for awhile, and a few months I ago I came across this blog post. I loved that this family had used recycled wood to build their bin. When I showed it to James, he said he could build it, no problem.

And he did!

James assembled the sides and laid everything out


while I pulled all of these dandelions out of a square foot spot in the yard. Is it just our yard or is the dandelion population out of control this year?


It was about at this point that we realized just how big this bin was going to acutally be.


And it was. BIG


Since I was taking pictures, I told James to get inside and lay down so we could show the scale. He said it was wrong that I made him lay down in his own coffin. Hee! Notice the dandelion weeds in his cold, dead hands. :P


It was right after I snapped this picture that noticed our next door neighbor had wandered over to see what we were up to. He could only shake his head when he saw James laying in the bin. I told the neighbor it's wht we did to keep our marriage exciting. ;)

And here's the finished product!




CAUTION! Manly man pumped up on testosterone!


So now you're probably asking yourself what our next project is. Well, it's something that James has been promising me since Valentine's Day 2003...