Happy New Year's Eve

This is about it for my new year's celebrations, woohoo. With four kids and no babysitter it's impossible to spend it doing any grown up thing. Well, even if we had a babysitter we probably wouldn't go out anywhere. Hubby and I just don't really do that sort of thing. We'll sit around the house watch tv/movie or play games, and probably be in bed between 10 and 11. New Year's Eve has been turned into just another day for us. When I was younger I would get excited about being up till midnight, watching the ball drop in Times Square on t.v. Since marriage and kids I've lost interest in it all. Why stay up till midnight or later when you know the kids will be up around 6 in the morning.
I do more on New Year's Day. I make a nice dinner, tomorrows will be hoppin' john, cabbage and turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy. I'll make something for dessert, just don't know what yet. We'll watch the Rose parade, but not the Rose bowl (I just don't really care for college football).
I hope everyone has a great New Year's Eve and day tomorrow.

Well it's not gonna happen...

at least not this week. We were going to close tomorrow at 5pm but today got a call. The owner has to put a new roof on the place. The lender said the price will probably go back to what it was originally, which is fine with us. So know we get to sit and twiddle our thumbs for what another week or two if the weather holds out. Also it will be dependent on how fast whoever the owner hires to do the job and how big of crew and all sorts of other variables. At least we shouldn't have to worry about it being too hot. Well I shouldn't of said that cause now we'll have 90 degree weather in January and everyone will come down with pneumonia. Because, that's just how our luck goes.

Done for a year..

Christmas is over. We didn't have a real exciting one or anything. It wasn't bad, it was nice, the kids didn't fight with each other. Hubby and I tried our best not to get on to them for not doing their chores. My daughter actually opened all her presents without complaining or whining that she didn't get what she wanted. This was the best part for Hubby and I. Over the last few years we have gotten where we dread giving her any gifts for Christmas or her birthday. Every time she would throw a fit that it wasn't exactly what she wanted. A big screaming, I-hate-you, I-hate-this type of fit. This year though she graciously opened her gifts, thanked her brothers and seemed excited to get what she got. She didn't get everything she wanted but she was actually nice about it. Now that was probably the best Christmas gift she could of gave her daddy and me.

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone has a good one. Ours is in a little lighter mood now. We found out the closing date will be the 28th and all the paperwork and everything is at the underwriters right now. I think that's a good thing. I hope it is. We still aren't real sure how much we are paying for the place, lol. It's probably going to be less then what it was originally. We should either find out today or Monday. It'll be great way to spend the New Year, in our new home.
Well I'm gonna go and help the kids wrap their gifts. We had them draw each others names and buy for that person. I went and bought some stocking stuffers this morning and could you believe that Wal-mart is already taking down their christmas stuff to put up valentines day items. It's still 3 days till Christmas for goodness sakes.

Thank You...

For the nice comments. I'm thinking if we were going to hear bad news about the house surely we would of heard it by now. We should know something today hopefully. Everyone will know which 'cause I'll either be doing a happy dance around the house and yard or I'll be sitting here sullenly pouring over the real estate ads looking for another place.
Hubby and I saw something cool we're going to get to use when we move. It's called a forearm forklift . It would come in handy when we go to move the heavy stuff as it's gonna be just the two of us (well and yea the kiddies but I don't expect them to be much help). We saw it on diy network on a show called Cool Tools. It's only 20 dollars at a hardware store. I think it would be easier to use then a dolly and probably stores a lot easier.
Well that's it for today. Have a great weekend.

Taking a step forward only to find out your walking backwards

Okay that title does not really make any sense. But, it really describes what I feel. Here we thought the house deal was going OK. Then we get hit with a big whammy. It seems that the mortgage lender didn't trust the previous appraisal since it was done by the same guy who did it before and he came up with the same number. So they sent their own guy to do one and he came up with a lower number. So now the whole deal is on hold while we wait for the seller to decide if he wants to redo it all and go with the lower number. We don't know what the new number is, actually we're not suppose to know about any of this it seems. We wouldn't of known if Hubby hadn't called the lender to find out whats up because we hadn't heard from him in a couple of days. I think if the seller was going to out right and say no we would of heard something by now. Our lender says we should know by the end of the week. I just hate this, I'm tired of the whole home buying thing. It's depressing, I really didn't get my hopes up till last week when we were being told that we could close this week. So then I start getting excited and packing and making future plans in my head. Now this. Goes to show I really should not ever get hopeful about anything 'cause something always happens to knock it down. The Fates must have a hay day with my emotions. My whole freakin' life is this way.
When my youngest son was born and we were getting ready to go home. I had just got dressed, was getting his clothes out to wear home. Getting excited to introduce him to his siblings and they take him to the nursery for one last time. Then we get hit with a major whammy, they hear a murmur. Turned out he had two holes in his heart. We did go home later that day, but the excitement level was way subdued. He's fine now, the holes healed on their own though he still has a slight murmur.
My own wedding was a bit of a mess, but I won't go into that too much because weddings are not suppose right. At least that's what I tell myself I guess, lol. Either that or they foretell how the rest of your life is going to be. Now that's a possibility, while I have a great marriage and a wonderful husband. Our life since we've been together has been one struggle after another. But, we pull each other up along the way and laugh about whatever problem it was later.
Well I guess I'm done posting for today. Unless of course we hear good news about the house...but I'm afraid that is over. I'm afraid the seller won't want to lower his price and so will cancel everything. He was wanting a certain amount for the place so he could buy another piece of property. I don't know, Hubby wants me to try to be optimistic about it, but my optimism flew out the window two houses ago. It seems we get right to the closing part and everything falls through.

none

Can't really think of a title so ignore that lack of creativity, my excuse is that it's Monday. We had a very uneventful weekend. We got some boxes to start packing with. With the rain we've had the past few days and it was raining Saturday, I decided to go out and buy boxes. I don't think I'll do that anymore. 25.00 dollars for 10 boxes is crazy, especially since all we'll do with them is give them away. We need the boxes but it makes me feel like a sucker to buy them.


My lovely, smart daughter last night decided to try to wash dishes with one of my candle samples. Hubby said that she told him that she thought it was soap. I have soap samples and candle samples. Either way you don't wash dishes with that type of soap. So now all the dishes need to be redone because they are covered in candle wax...I bet they smell good though. Hubby told me that our dd is smart but has no common sense whatsoever. I said that was everyone used to tell me. I was always told that I had plenty of book smarts, but when it came to street smarts or common sense I came up lacking. So my daughter comes by it honestly I suppose.


Still not sure what day is going to be closing, the insurance agent told Hubby on Saturday that our lender told her Tuesday. I guess we'll know when we get a call to meet at the title lawyer(I think that's what it's called) office to sign the papers. I hope it's tomorrow, I would love to be moving in over Christmas. I wouldn't mind one bit. It would also give us plenty of time to get this house looking like it did when we moved in a lil over a year ago. Needs some painting (the cheap paint they used on the cabinets around the sinks came off when the kids let the sink overflow) and the carpet needs cleaning (four kids and a husband will do that). I think at the new place I'm going to get bench, set it right next to the door on one of those rubber mats they put under desk chairs and have everyone remove they're shoes before walking through the house. That house has brand new carpet throughout and it is a lighter color then what we have here. I'll even get some houseshoes in various sizes so that when company comes over they don't have to worry about their feet.


I have to laugh that last sentence stems from my thing I have about feet. Basically, I think they are gross. At work I wear gloves to clean the residents feet. I don't touch even my own childrents feet. Even when they were babies and babies shouldn't have dirty feet. If they have socks on I'm fine with it, but barefoot ewww. Hubby has learned not to ask to have his foot rubbed, lol.

Well got some good news..

Well I think it's good news, we may be closing on the house this week. We got a call yesterday and some papers to print out and sign and have the seller sign, then we get the joy of faxing it all back in to the lender. Hopefully by the end of the week we'll be homeowners.
Still no real diagnoses on my nephew, they're waiting on some lab results on tests that were run yesterday. It feels frustrating to me and I'm sure its triple to my sister and her husband.
Well, that's it for now. Short and sweet, lol.

I Feel so Helpless

My sister needs me. She needs everyone she can to gather around her and give her strength. Her son isn't doing to well. She called me at about midnight and again at 2:20 this morning. His temperature broke, which is good. But now it's going too low, which is bad. He went from 104 to 94 in the matter of a few hours then when she called me the second time he's body temp went down to 92 in spite of 3 blankets, an electric blank and my sister and her m.i.l. snuggling up to him to give him their body heat. Needless to say she's a mess right now. She's tired, she's not really slept since Sunday afternoon 'cept for a cat nap here or there. Her husband won't be able to get there till around noon today. The doctors and nurses are not listening to her (she told them about 3 hours before they took his temp that he was cold and something wasn't right).
She told me she needs a hug and oh do I wish I could be there to give her one. Even if I had the money to make the 12 hour trip there, I would have to bring all my kiddies and so I still wouldn't be able to help much.
Well she just called me and his temp has came back up. It's 99 now. The pediatrician has seen him already this morning and is upset that the other doctors were diagnosing him with an ear infection with out even looking in his ears. There was a lot of wax and they couldn't see to be sure but prescribed antibiotics anyway. Well I guess she scraped out the wax so she could see and said his ears looked perfectly normal. So now they are waiting for a gastroentologist to come in and check him out. They said the reason for the temp changes is because of all the antibiotics he's been on at once. So she's taking him off all of them so she can see the symptoms and have something to go on. He's still having cold sweats and my sister says he feels like ice. She says she just wants to wake up. This is a nightmare for her. Currently they still don't know what is going on with the little guy (he's only two btw, I don't think I said that before).
Times like this I hate that I have very little medical knowledge(I'm only a nurse's assistant and have an associates of science degree majored in medical assisting, so very very limited knowledge) and wish I could be more help. I wish I could fix this for her and him. It kills me that I can't fix it, that I can't tell her what it most likely is. It makes me want to finish college even more so I can tell my family and friends and reassure them or explain things to them when they or their loved ones get sick.

Happy Monday

Or at least I hope it is for you. I'm kinda waiting by the phone today. One of my nephews has been pretty sick for the past few weeks and my sister took him in to the e.r. last night because in spite of antibiotics and Tylenol and Motrin, his fever will not go away. Well they ran tests and took samples but could not tell what was causing him to be so sick. They gave him another antibiotic by i.v. along with a bag to rehydrate him and a steroid to help his fever. This was finally enough to break the fever and he ate and drank and they sent them home because there was nothing else to do right then. They were waiting on more test results to come in. This morning poor lil guys fever is back so my sister took him back to the hospital. So I'm waiting on a phone call update. My poor sister probably hasn't slept more then a few hours the past 24 hours or so, she works 3rd shift and had to work Saturday, and slept some on Sunday then had to take lil guy to the emergency room so has been up all night with that and before she can even attempt to get rest today is back at the emergency room. If this wasn't bad enough, her husband is out in the field(he's a marine) right now so if not for her mil she would be by herself. I wish I could help but being 1200 miles away there's not much I can except send positive energy and my best thoughts to her and my nephew. Sucks to have a family member in need and you cannot physically be there to help. Seems to be happening a lot in our family lately.


The other tests ran were inconclusive, so the doctor was thinking it may be a really bad inner ear infection. I guess his ears are so gunked up(yea that's a technical term for it, lol ;) that he couldn't seen the eardrum. So they are waiting for the blood work to show them something.
This is all kinda scary 'cause it's almost a deja vue for us. My brother and his wife went through something similar with their youngest son. They kept taking him in to the doctor/hospital and they kept sending them home saying it's just the flu or it's just an ear infection here take this antibiotic. Well it got bad enough she took him in and the nurse noticed he was pulling his hair behind his ear, he got transported to another hospital for emergency brain surgery. They didn't think he was going to make it, and he barely did. He had to have i.v. antibiotics for a long time it was a scary time for my sil and brother. He's a fighter, though, even to this day. My youngest son and him have so many similarities you would think they were brothers instead of cousins.



Well nothing else new to blog about I guess. We are in a waiting period, again, on this house. Buying a house should be easier, I dislike all this hurry up get stuff together then sit on it for a few days waiting on who knows what or who.

T.G.I.F.

I hope it's a good one for my readers out there. I'm going to have a busy one, well a busy weekend. My mom, sister and nephew will be here sometime late this afternoon. Hubby and I are going to a christmas party for the company he works for tonight and tomorrow will be spent running my mom and sister all over town shopping. Then I have to work Sunday. I'm suppose to work tomorrow but I'm going to call in sick. Bad girl, I know. I asked for the day off but little did I know if you wanted a day off one month you had to ask for it by the 10th of the month before. I know they make the schedule a month at a time, what I didn't know is that it seems they make it nearly a month a head of time. Who knows when they are going to need a day off a nearly two months early? I didn't know I was going to until right before Thanksgiving.
I like it better when companies make the schedules two weeks at a time. Gives you enough flexibility for last minute things that come up and you need a day off. Also gives enough time to tell your babysitter when you'll need her(so does a month I know, but I've also worked at places that did scheduling a week at a time and that makes it hard to plan things). Oh well I'm only going to have to worry about it a few more weeks. Whether we get this house or not we're moving at the end of the month, most likely. The kids will go back to p.s. and we like for one of us, usually me, to be within a few minutes of the kids at all time. Especially when they are at school, because I never feel safe when my kids are at school. My daughter has a tendency to get hurt at school and when kids go to p.s. they get sick all the time. Basically you never know when the school is going to call for one reason or another and I don't want my kids to wait more then a few minutes for me to get there when they need me. If I continue to work where I'm at and we get this place all right their school and my job will be 45 minutes to an hour apart depending on traffic. That's just too far for me. There's a nursing home that is only about 5-10 minutes from the house and so only maybe 15-20 minutes from their school. That's not too bad, its about the average time it's taken me with every school they've been to, to get to them.
Well I need to get off of here and get things done and baby-proofed or toddler-proofed actually, the whole two years old and ten foot reach thing.

It's cold today, but...

I'm so grateful that we don't live further up north. In Oregon and Washington state they're having loads of rain and in the Midwest through the New England states winter has struck with vengeance. Down here we are at 35 with a high of 47, and that's pretty cool for us. Actually it's probably pretty seasonal temps here. But I get spoiled with 60 and 70 degree temps in December, lol. I also like that we get very little snow here, more then say Florida but a lot less then Illinois. Just enough of the white stuff to let you know there is four seasons. Not so much that your freezing your behinds off from October to April. By the time you get the sleds out its melted, so it may not be as much fun for the kiddies, but they don't have to drive in it. I don't drive in it either though, I let hubby take me everywhere when the roads are slick.
If we get this house I'm pretty sure there will be days where even Hubby won't venture out. As this property has a real steep driveway and you may get out but your not going to get back in. Both of our vehicles are front wheel drive so we may be able to do it, or I should say he may be able to. I won't even attempt it.
We drove out to the house last night because there was a couple of things we wanted to look at a bit closer. We are going to get it, hopefully, but we just wanted to know how much work we are looking at. We saw some water marks on the ceiling we didn't notice before. Not necessary a bad thing, could of been from an old leak that had been fixed, could be a water pipe burst or some of the roof shingles failed at one time. Though I didn't notice anywhere on the roof that looked to of been repaired, doesn't been that the roof hasn't been. We have some strong storms hit this area every year so you kinda expect less then perfect roofs. I have yet to see a roof that doesn't have a few shingles look like they are curling up a bit. I don't know if this is because of a storm or the 100+ degree temps coupled with high humidity in the summer. The property is about 12 miles from the Mississippi River, probably less as the crow flies. So I'm sure that has something to do with humidity and everything. I'm still not real sure about the house, but I am optimistic. It has potential, like I told Hubby it may not be the house of our dreams but there is no reason we cannot turn it into the house of our dreams. I want to take the windows out of the dining room install french doors and put a porch/deck on the back. Hubby is talking about putting a 2-story addition on the house, giving us one or two more bedrooms and just extra room. I would like to make the kitchen larger, but I'm not sure how to do that. I like the separate kitchen and dining room so really don't want to join the two, but the kitchen is narrow and just taking out the back wall and adding on will probably give me a long narrow kitchen which will be awkward. All this is in the future really, we won't have the money to do all at once unless we win the lottery or something. I want to do the landscaping and build retaining walls/ terraces first. I worry about erosion with the steep slope in the front yard. There's a lot of trees but still. I really shouldn't get to hopeful and start thinking too much just yet on what I want to do with this house and property. We haven't closed yet and until then I'm trying not to get my hopes up.

Look Into Our Eyes....

Now I know how they are training us so well. I've read that dachshunds have real compelling eyes. The camera tells no lies, lol. I know it's just the reflection of the flash, but it looks kinda freaky with those weird, blue, glowing eyes looking up at you. Next I'm going to start seeing orbs floating around them. I wonder if I can request that the pups train the kids to clean up after themselves.

Your Daddy is on his way home!

That's the magic phrase in my household. I don't know why this popped in my head but it did so I'm going to write about it. It seems every family has a magic phrase. "Just wait till your Daddy gets home" "Wait till Daddy finds out" etc. Ours is "Your Daddy is on his way home!" Which of course is then followed by a chorus of "When will he be here. How many more minutes till he gets home." This is very powerful and I only use it sparingly(once a day). I have been tempted to do it several times a day. Like when I've been trying to get dd to do her math work for the past 3 hours and she's whining and complaining it's too hard (it's not she had no problem with the same work a week before). Or when the house is a total wreck and I've been trying for the past 8 hours to get it under some sort of control only to have everything undone the mysterious 8-handed, 8-footed Notme monster. Or it's cousin Idaknow.
It's like magic...the phone rings with Hubby's ringtone and everyone pauses. Then I hang up and say the magic words "Your Daddy is on his way home." and all of sudden all four of them begin this mad dash. Papers are being picked up, dishes are getting done. Is that the vacuum I hear? The living room, entryway and kitchen become clean in less then 15 minutes and the kids are heading to their bedrooms to start there when Hubby walks through the door.
This makes me wonder why can't they see I'm as serious as their daddy when I want things done. Why must I turn into some screaming harpie in order to get 3 minutes of work and all their daddy has to do is come home? I'll get my revenge though...well through my daughter anyway...one of these days she'll be a mom and will be calling me complaining that her kid(s) will not listen to her as well as their daddy. While I'll try to be sympathetic and helpful on the inside you know I'll be whooping it up and saying "See that's whatcha get" My boys probably not so much as they'll grow up to be the Daddies and while hopefully they won't understand why their children won't listen to their mom...they won't have to go through it directly. But I'm sure their future children have something else in line for them.

What a week so far

Monday we made an offer on yet another house. I hope to Goddess that we get this one. It's not perfect. It's a little smaller then other houses we've looked at and has no landscaping. But it is a 3bd/2 bath with a living room and a den(that we may convert into bedroom #4) it has a very small kitchen but has a lot of counter space for it's size and has a separate dining room. It has 1.2 acres and is in a very good location and a very good school district, so I can safely let the kids go back to p.s. and I can go to work full-time (so we can afford all this, lol). That's the good thing going on this week.



Now for everything else...well Tuesday night I was on the phone with my mom and getting ready to start dinner, Hubby and the two oldest boys were wrestling in the living room. The oldest son was in a box and Hubby was spinning him around while the middle son sat on the couch laughing. Well Hubby let go and told him to "go that way" and then Oldest son fell against middle son's head and started crying. Took Hubby a sec to realize he was crying not laughing and I had just told them all to settle down (it's bad when you have to include your husband in that). Well Hubby pulled oldest son out of the box and took him straight to the bathroom. I'm thinking oh crap at this point. Brings him out with a washcloth on his nose and I grab the cold pack(I keep rice in a baggie in the freezer for this). When Hubby removed the washcloth I took one look at oldest son's nose and say "It's broken". Hubby didn't think it was and I showed him were it curved and was bruising already. So I told mom I had to go (yea I had her on the phone all this time) and I would call her back later. So we tell the others to get ready that we're going to take oldest son to the hospital. I know some people don't go for a broken nose but this is one of my babies and I wanted to make sure air passageways were fine and all that. So we go to the emergency room and ask for directions to an urgent care clinic, because this isn't really an emergency and we don't want to set for hours in an e.r. and pay a huge e.r. bill later. So we go to one children's urgent care and they can't do xrays of the face/head so they send us to another (which I wish I would of remembered 'cause it would of saved us about 20 min of driving) and so we were there for about an hour or so. Hubby went back with oldest son 'cause oldest son wanted him to. Poor boy was nervous too. Actually both of them were. The other kids had fun with the castle they had in the waiting room. So we got told yes it was broken and to come back for a follow up when the swelling went down. Everything look ok except, of course, for the broken part. This is not the kid I would of figured for having our first broken part. I thought it would of been one of the two younger boys, because they are so wild. Or my daughter, because she's a ditz, lol. I love her and she's very smart, but she's a ditz. But no it has to be the one who rarely gets in on the rough-housing/ wrestling matches like the others. The one who would rather play with legos, video games or run, then play any contact type sport/game.



Now for our cute lil puppies. Well Monday I realized they had fleas. WTF they are only 6 weeks old, they shouldn't have fleas. The mom should of been treated for fleas and all the other dogs that were allowed outside. Well then comes Tuesday and here comes my daughter with this little white squirmy thing on her shirt and she's kinda freaking out saying it fell off the girl puppy's butt. Well crap, now not only do they have fleas but they have worms. So later this week we have to take them to a vet to be dewormed. We haven't seen any in the poop and they don't look wormy so hopefully the infection isn't too advanced. It sucks though, they are so young and she was the runt of the bunch so she's extra small.


Well it's only Thursday morning so today and tomorrow to go through yet. Hopefully nothing else too major happens. Unless the lender calls and says we can close on the house extra early, now that I definitely could handle.

Well I changed the look again

I like this better then the pink one, but I really like having a background picture or color. I'll have to play around and learn how to do this thingy. The blues and green are kinda calming and I like the winter scene, which to me is the best way to enjoy snow...in a picture.

So...How did your turkey day go?

Ours was pretty good really. I got up, put the turkey in a brine solution and went and had the kids turn on the Macy's christmas parade. The I proceeded to make biscuits for breakfast, clean house, help dd with cookies she wanted to make and do a million dishes it seemed. At about 1pm I put the turkey in the turkey roaster. At 3 pm I realized the turkey was never going to get done in the roaster because it was too big for the roaster. So I put it in the oven and got the green bean casserole and sweet potato casserole ready to be baked later and boiled the potatoes for mashed potatoes. At about 4pm I began the giblet gravy, mashed the potatoes and checked on the turkey. At about 5 pm I stuck a thermometer in the turkeys leg. It read the proper temp so I called Hubby in to pull the turkey out of the oven so it could rest (I guess it's hard work being baked/roasted). Then I put the casseroles in the oven. About 20-30 min later the casseroles were done and I called Hubby back in to carve the turkey. Well guess what, the turkey wasn't done. So we put the slices back on the stupid bird and shoved it back in the oven. Finally we got to eat somewhere between 6:30 and 7pm. We got tired of waiting and carved off slices of the bird that were done and then put the rest of the bird back in the oven on a lower temp. No one has a tummy ache or anything so I guess it was all right. It was a 20lb bird and I'm not used to cooking one that big, obviously, lol.


Other then that the rest of the day went well. I didn't have to yell at the kids(I bit my tongue a few times but I was really trying to have a good day with out a bunch of yelling). The kids didn't fight, much. Hubby was a little bored though, but he got over it. It's really nice to have holidays just hubby, me and the kiddies. I like seeing our other family members, but only on non-holiday days. It's too stressful to try and visit, keep track of kids, cook and clean and make sure everyone else is staying occupied so they can't say they had a bad time. When we go up there to visit we end up having to go to half a dozen houses because everyone wants us to visit them and then the kiddies get tired and cranky(not so bad now since they are older but when they were younger I dreaded it majorly). Then someone gets mad because we either didn't make it out to see them or they feel like we didn't spend enough time with them. Its just not worth the headache.


Staying home just the six of us is relaxing. I don't have to get up, get everyone else up, get dressed up. We can just lay around playing games, watching t.v. till the food is done. Okay so they can lay around playing games and watching t.v. I'll be in and out of the kitchen cooking the food but still it's nice.

It's a double hitter

Okay I was reading over at Notes from the Trenches and the author, Chris, has a post up on Holiday cooking fiascoes. Well it wasn't a Holiday cooking fiasco, but I can remember a cooking fiasco I did once. We had just moved into our first house, I was 6 months prego with my dd and my hubby and his brother were doing all the moving in stuff. Well, we had some deer meat that I figured I would fix up for a quick meal for the three of us (oldest son was around as well, but not quite a year old and only had four teeth so no deer for him, lucky guy, lol). Well I put a ton of meat tenderizer on the deer (if you've ever had deer you know it can be kinda tough). On top of that I put salt, pepper and probably garlic salt(I like garlic salt, lol). Well I never read the ingredients on the meat tenderizer so I did not realize that it was pretty much flavored salt. So I cooked the meat. **Another tidbit here, for the first couple years I was married I had a bad tendency to overcook meat, sometimes I managed to have it nearly burnt on the outside and pink on the inside. I've since learned that I cooked it too hot and know fix it, most of the time, so tender you can cut it with a spoon. **
So the meat finally gets done and we all grab a piece. It was so salty and tough it was not edible. But bless both my hubby and brother-in-law, the rinsed off their meat and smothered it in ketchup and/or steak sauce and tried to eat it anyway. I just bawled, lol...I was tired, pregos and stressed out from buying and moving into a house and then I ruined dinner. I'm also a bit of a perfectionist and so if I do something and it turns out wrong I get really, really upset.
Well if you want to tell about your cooking fiasco you can go over to Notes From the Trenches or go over to Blogher and share.

First something yummy...

I was reading over at Baking Bites and she has this recipe for Maple Cornbread that sounds so delicious. I love cornbread, and I like it more on the sweet side. Hubby likes more savory and I usually fix it to his liking more then mine so I can get him to eat it. It strikes me funny that he's this way about cornbread when the man practically lives off little debbie cakes and pop tarts (that's usually his breakfast and lunch, he gets real food for dinner). I may just have to grab some syrup when I go get oldest sons birthday present tonight.
Well I know I said I've given up house shopping...only thing is I can't seem to stop looking at listings, lol. Doesn't help that when I tell hubby I'm done, he starts well we just need to keep looking. I'm the same way with him as well, when he's about to give up I'm saying how about just a couple more times.
So not a lot to talk about today. I didn't have much to say yesterday either. I started to post something and my mind drew a big blank and just wouldn't work. So I quit and went off to clean house. I'm wanting it clean before Thursday. I've also got my mom, two of my sisters, my 2 year old nephew and most likely my doggie nephew (okay I treat my sisters' pets as if they were family, why not they treat them as if they were one of their kids) coming down in about 2 weeks. So I've got to go around and baby proof the place. This isn't real fun, I've not had to baby proof anything for nearly 6 years except for when we get the rare visitor that has little ones. Which seems to be happening more this past year then ever, lol. Funny how when you move four hours away from everyone then all of a sudden people want to see you. When you lived just 15-20 minutes away no one ever came over.
It's always been that way for us. When we live down here people call, write, email etc... to keep in touch. When we live close to them we never hear from them. Our family is funny that way, either that or it's true absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Well I need to hurry up and get down with reading all my favorite blogs, checking emails, reading headlines and all the crap I do while drinking my first cup of coffee. I need to finish cleaning house today because trash pickup is tomorrow instead of Friday due to the holiday. BB everyone.

Happy Birthday to me..now please let it be over

I don't like birthdays...well I like birthdays, I like making other people feel special on their birthday, but I don't like my birthday. I don't like getting older, yea I get told I look several years younger then I am, and I hope that continues. But every year I get older just reminds me of goals I haven't met yet. I wanted to be a Rn by the time I'm thirty, welp that's not gonna happen, unless I can magically get the money and the time to fit 2-4 more years of college in the next year. I wanted us to have our own house by now, welp that don't look like it's gonna happen, unless someone just drops a deed in our lap and says its yours enjoy.


I just want to go on like it's another day today. I appreciate that everyone I know seems to remember this year (which is kinda shocking me, lol). When asked how old I am I'm throwing them all for a loop when I say it's the 1st anniversary of my 28th birthday. Yea no one likes to think of simple math over the phone. I really want everyone to forget it's my birthday, just go on like it's another day. I think from the years of 25 till your in your 90s(when your just grateful you made it another year) birthdays should be avoided. Who wants reminded they are getting old. Those of us with kids are plenty reminded everyday (especially when your almost 11 year old son hits 5 feet tall). Of course it won't stop me from telling everyone I know and care for happy birthday on their birthdays. But my birthday is so close to my Hubby's and my oldest sons (Hubby's is the 19th and oldest sons is the 22nd) that I want everyone to concentrate on them and not me. Plus Thanksgiving is next week, who has time or energy to remember my bday when they should be getting ready for that holiday. But yea as of 10:10 central standard time this morning I'll be 29 years old. Ugh that sucks.



Oh and I've given up on looking for a house. That one we looked at yesterday. Well, I'll just say it must of been beautiful back in it's day(which is kinda sad to say it's only 20 years old). The poor thing has been treated badly and while the size and setup of it would of been perfect, it need more work then we have the time and money for.



So I've told hubby I'm done. I'm done with the whole house hunting business. After 4 months or so and 7 houses that we have physically went and looked at, 2 that we have tried for(1 we tried for twice), and the several hundred we searched for online. I'm done. We are destined, I think, to be renters. Our parents never owned a house that they kept for very long, so I guess it's to be our fate as well. He actually wants to keep looking and to really try again in March when our tax return comes in. But I don't have the heart for it anymore. I told him to go ahead and look and let me know if he buys one. As long as he's happy with it, I'll be happy. Actually, I know we should probably keep looking till we've reached number 13. Since that has a tendency to be our lucky number. But I don't think I could handle looking and either turning down or getting turned down 5 more times.

7th times the charm?

I sure hope so...if not then we are going to take a break from looking at houses. They're all beginning to look the same. Hubby says he can't tell one from the other anymore, lol. The only problem I see with this one is that the listing says it needs some TLC. We drove by it and it needs painting and I thought I saw some loose steps on the front steps. I'm hoping all it needs is some tightening/straightening up and painting. Loose steps, shouldn't be too hard to fix right? Just some mortar/cement and replace/reuse the bricks. Painting...well probably repaint the bricks (the home is 20 years old and I was reading that usually it's better to just repaint the bricks then it is to strip them to their natural color) and replace the wood siding with vinyl.


I'm not sure how I'm feeling on this house, I need to go and walk around it and get a feel for it. It looks OK to me on the outside. But I'm also the glass is half-full kind of optimist most of the time and everything looks OK and doable to me. It's a 20 year old ranch-style house. Ranch-styles, I admit, aren't usually my favorite type of house. I love old 2-3 story Victorians (especially the painted lady types). But Hubby doesn't really like old houses 'cause of all the work that has to go into them. Ranch styles, to me, have always seemed so bland. But then I was reading about them and that is what the makers of them intended. This home though has some character, there is something about it that appeals to me. And not just the real good price and acre and a half lot.


I get this newsletter called Grannymoons Morning feast. If you haven't you outta check it out, it's great. Here's the subscription link : GrannyMoonsMorningF east-subscribe@ yahoogroups.com . Anyway, I was reading this mornings "feast" and my tarot prediction horoscope thing said "WATER ELEMENT: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces You have a handle on your life and it shows. You are balancing work, family and your personal needs - in a way that is immensely satisfying. Think 'gold' today - enjoy the rich, warm and spiritual connotations of the colour, as well as its symbolism of beauty and wealth." Well I thought this was interested because the house we are going to look at is a pale yellow color. Well gold does come in a pale yellow color at times. I own some "gold" pieces that are a kind of pale yellow or could be considered that.


Well everyone wish me luck, send me some positive thoughts because if this house isn't "the one" then I'm going to give up and resign myself to the life of a renter for awhile. Hubby is thinking 6 more months, but if I give up now it will take me a lot longer then that to want to get my hopes up that we could be homeowners. I don't take rejection well, I guess, and I'm so tired of looking for a house finding one that seems to fit all right and then it not working out and saying "Well I guess it wasn't meant to be." I'm tired of it, I just want to be a two year old and stomp my feet and scream and yell 'cause I didn't get my way. Oh that sounds like such a good thing to do I may just have to do it. Well I hope everyone reading this has a great day. Bb.

Just a thought on something I read...

I love reading other peoples blogs, especially people who write like I'm sure they are in real life. A bit snarky, lots of attitude, really upfront no nonsense people. These are also people I have tendency to like in real life.


Well I was reading a post a lady a done about how much she values her online friendships a maybe a bit more then real life friendships. Saying how these people are more real to her then anyone she's known in real life basically. While reading this I thought of my sil/stepsister. ..this could of came directly out of her mouth. She even moved to Tx to be close to an online friend(well partly that and partly 'cause she's always wanted to live in Tx). She's always said how much her online friends are better then anyone on in real life to her.


Well I'm thinking that maybe just maybe it's the people themselves and not the fact you met them online. Maybe if you would of met them in real life first you still would of been as close as you are online. Some people just click. Personally I don't have any online friends really...there's people I've met and talked to online, but not enough to develop a friendship. I've shared moments with them...only one of them I would like to talk to again (a lady I talked to a few years ago who lived in tx she has two girls and is in her thirties and for the life of me I cannot remember her yahoo id, umm she was telling me how her boyfriend/fiance was trying break up with her once by using the lyrics from the song Cowboy in Me by Tim Mcgraw...she worked as a dispatcher...if you read this and it sounds familiar leave me a message so we can catch up, I don't even remember my yahoo id from back then I've been losingmymarbles96 for a long time now but it was different then, back in 2001/02 I believe) but anywho she is about the only one I talked to on my own, I talked to a couple of people who were introduced to me by someone else. Actually it's funny she started talking to me and my hubby is the one who was on the computer so he acted like he was me and that's how we started talking, lol.


Anyway back to the subject. I can see how you can maybe have real relationships with someone online. The convenience of it all makes it nice too. how many times have you either had to cancel on real life friends or have them cancel on you. Online friends are usually there about the same time everyday and you don't have to get dressed and go somewhere to meet them. But then real life friends have met you, sometimes grew up with you. Most likely have met your family, your other friends and now nearly every little detail about you. It's easier to lie online just the same as it can be easier to tell the truth. It's harder to lie when making a friend in real life, most people can spot a liar. I have very practically no friends online and very few friends in real life. I'm pretty much a loner, lol. I have a large family/extended family and just don't have a great need for friendly relationships I guess.


I make tons of acquaintances. Coworkers, hubby's coworkers, parents in the homeschool group, parents of the kids' friends, people I've talked to online. But I never seem to let these relationships go past the acquaintance stage, I never let them close. Maybe it's the Scorpio in me, lol. Maybe that's why I sometimes have trouble with people who love their friends more then their family members. Yea family can be a pain in the ass and family will break your heart more times then you can count on. But my family is always there when I need them and they're there when I would rather not have anything to do with 'em, lol. The few friends I have, I've had since middle or elementary school. We live miles apart but still keep in touch somewhat. We are nowhere as close as we used to be, but I can count on them. My best friend is Hubby (like you couldn't figure that out from every other post I've mentioned him, lol).


I'm an odd duck, I love being around people, I'm a people person actually. People I barely know will tell me their life story, but they may never know much more then my name and that I have a husband and four kids. I like it this way for the most part. At times it would be nice to have a friend I could be real close to. At times I'm a bit jealous of people I know who talk about how close they are to their friends, how they are closer then some siblings. But then again,to be honest, I don't have the time or energy to devote to that type of relationship. I kinda like to keep things superficial for the most part, it's too scary to let someone into your inner circle. Too let them know all your secrets and such. That gives this person too much ammo to use against you one day, to hurt you. I'm a big 'ol chicken, lol. Besides if I keep everything superficial then I can slip into oblivion an no one misses me. Or at least that is one of my trains of thought. I think, though, that I don't really realize or think about the effect I may have on a near-strangers life. Because really, everyone you meet in a days time you've had some effect on good or bad. I guess that's why I tend to look everyone in the eye and smile or grin at them; whether it be the grocery store, bank, gas station or at work.


Don't get me wrong, I want to make friends. Eventually my kiddies will grow up and move out and all I'll have is hubby to argue with, lol. ONline friends can be ok I guess, but really I prefer real life friends. I would love to meet another couple similar to Hubby and I. To have someone to go out with, party with(yea like we party<> ). I would like to have a friend who comes over to hang out and bitch about husbands, kids, work and life and then we go shopping, lol. I want one of those t.v. friendships. You can't get that online, your online buddy may be great but can she come over last minute to watch the kids while you run out for some emergency (okay so this would be possible if you met an online buddy that happens to live close by but that's not usually the case). Can she (he?) come by for coffee/tea and gossip or to help you paint a room or decorate or celebrate your birthday (or kids' birthdays whatever the occasion might be). I want the t.v. friend who drops by first thing in the morning on a Saturday just to bug the hell outta ya. I want the t.v. friend who you adore but your husband rolls his eyes when he hears her name. I probably want too much , lol. Okay this is long-winded enough hope everyone has a great day. Every friend is a blessing whether it be online or not. But don't make your real life friends and family feel like they are lesser beings compared to them. Well you shouldn't compare your family to your friends anyway. You choose your friends not your family, you just have to love (and deal with) your family, faults and all.

It was a short run...

Lol I suck at trying to do ANYTHING. I honestly was going to attempt to do Nablopomo, but yea after missing one day then two more days, now I can say I've blown that idea out of the water. This is the way it seems to go for anything I try to do, I'll do good for the first few days and then something comes up and I can't continue. Either someone else interrupts my plans or basically life just gets in the way (sucks how it has a tendency to do that).
I just got an email saying my bil is on his way home to his wife and kiddos. That is really nice to hear, he's been in Iraq for the past year and a half or so(it seems like forever to me and I know it's gotta seem like forever times two to my sil and their kids). I'm so glad my hubby never joined the military. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for those that do join and I stand beside them and their families. But I'm glad mine didn't. He had thought about joining the National Guard once back in high school. I would of tried to stand by him if he made that decision, but I was only 14 or 15 when he was trying to decide what to do with his life (he is 3 years older then me). I was terrified that if he joined and had to go away to boot camp or whatever then we wouldn't be together any longer(I had this idea that long distance relationships never work out, still do to a point). But he never joined, never even talked to a recruiter as far as I know. I don't know how our lives would of changed if he would of, I like it like it is so I'm glad he didn't. Not that he has a nice safe job and is home every night now. No, not my hubby, lol. He gets up at the crack of dawn goes to whatever job site they are on for the day, climbs up anywhere from just 20ft to over 100ft in the air on beams that are only about 4-5 inches or so wide and stays up there welding, connecting beams and so on all day. My hubby's main job where he works is connector (he's an ironworker in case you didn't know). So he's the one getting the beams set and putting in the bolts, then , I believe, someone else comes along and welds the joints (sometimes that someone else is him as well) and then they lay the decking and so on. I've seen him at work, but I don't make it a habit to watch him work. Because mainly, I don't want to be there and see him get hurt. With the crane swinging building materials up to them, him walking on those beams like he's on a sidewalk and him just being so darn high, I'm afraid if I watch him then I may end up watching him fall, or get knocked off. As for the being home every night, well for most of the time he's been in Ironwork he has been away more then he was home, and still a couple times a year they go and do a job far enough away that he'll be away for 2 or 3 days. When our third child was born, Hubby went to do an out of time when he was a week old, it ended up being two out of town jobs. So I was home alone with two toddlers and a newborn and no one nearby to help out. I was a very long week for me to say the least. By the time number four came along I was an old pro at juggling the kids by myself, so when hubby went out-of-town I handled it fairly well. I'm grateful now, though, that they don't do the amount of out-of-town jobs they used to. They were doing 1 or 2 a week for the longest time, now its a few a year. Hubby and I are waiting for the company to start doing them again though, 'cause we have a feeling they will ask Hubby to do them. We like the overtime and the resulting money that comes from that, but the time away from each other is awful. He truly is my other half and we are away for an extended period of time I feel as if I'm just going through the movements. No real thoughts or emotions, but when we are together. Oh joy, how quickly the world goes from black and white to full color.

If you have more then two kids...

be prepared to hear "You have your handsful.", "Bet there's never a dull moment at your house." "You know what causes that don't ya." "How do you do it?" and much more enlightening comments and actions from other people. I also like the looking closely at each of the kids' faces like your trying to see if they all have the same daddy, then proclaiming they all look like me. Especially when the person doing the scrutinizing has never seen my husband and he's not standing there with me for them to compare. Oh wait I forgot one I hear a lot too" Are they all yours?". I only have four kids, and really if you look around or watch t.v. or read the paper you realize that's not really a lot of kids. Sometimes it may feel like double or triple that amount and I've found that I can have one of my nieces or nephews tagging along and never notice the difference, just one more head to count, lol. Speaking of counting, I get that too, not me counting heads, but other people like the lady at the post office today (she was also one of the ones looking at each of the kids to see who they look like) she counted each of the kids. 1(pause)2(pause)3(pause)4(pause). Counting to four is hard work so make sure you pause between each number to catch your breathe. I suppose I should be grateful to her though, this way I know another kid hasn't shown up and one hasn't disappeared.

Thought filled Thursday

What would your life be like without kids?
Hubby has asked me this a few times in the past few years. Really I couldn't imagine it with out the little brats, lol. I think my life without kids would be summed up in one word...quiet. There would be no one running around the house screaming at the top of their lungs. There would be no one screaming bloody murder while someone else is yelling "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Mommy I didn't mean to..." There would be no one yelling for ya( MOMMMY MOOOOMMMMYYY). There would be no getting up for the 5th time since going to bed an hour before to go potty or get a drink or both.
Worst of all there would be no "Mommy look at this", "Mommy I love", Mommy your the greatest Mommy" (they do tell me that on occasion, lol lil suck ups ya gotta love 'em). "Mommy can I have my goodnight hug".
I've been a mommy since the week after I turned 18, I turn 29 a week from this coming Saturday. So yea, really I do not know what life is like without kids. Why would I want to know it though. I never was one to party, I grew up with tons of responsibilities (I was responsible for my younger sisters), I met the man of my life when I was 14 and we have been together since. As for college/career, who says you cannot have that and kids too. I've obtained one degree and will, eventually, obtain another. It's not impossible, just takes a bit longer to get it.
I read an article the other day where some studies had said that older moms make better parents. Says who? I don't think the age of the mom matters on whether or not she's gonna be a bad parent. If she was gonna be a bad mom when she's in her twenties she's still going to be a bad mom in her 30s or 40s. People don't change. People are really good illusionists and may appear to change, but if you look a tad bit deeper you see that they are still the same as they always were. Being a good or bad parent is more of a personality thing, I think. Also it's subjective, what I may think is good parenting someone else may think otherwise. I'm not going to win any mom-of-the-year awards. I don't want to. I just want my kids to grow up healthy and smart and to look back on their childhood years with fond memories. Most of all I want them to always love me. I'm getting ready to hit the dreaded teenage years in 2 years for my oldest and 3 for my daughter (who acts like she's there already). I know my patience has yet to be tested, lol. I'm just going to try to get through the next 12 years or so with a sense of humor, hugs and kisses, and nerves of rubber (I'd say nerves of steel but I think I'm gonna need a little give in mine).

sorry everything on here is a lil screwy

I'm trying to play around with templates but now I'm done with it for a bit so be patient with me and I'll straighten it all out later sometime.

AH I missed a day

In my defense though, I had to work yesterday. Well I have nothing really to post, but wanted to put something on here. I'll try and post more later. We are hoping to hear something on the house. Last we heard is that the sellers accepted everything but the termite inspection. Which surprised us 'cause our realtor told us the sellors are required to do that, but maybe that's only in Tn the house is in Ms. But I think, even if they don't do the termite inspection, we are going to go ahead and go for it. It'll just add what an extra couple hundred to our end. We just don't want to pay for it and end up not getting the house. Especially since we have the home inspection to pay for anyway which is nearly 300 dollars as it is.

Day 3 of Nablopomo

Hey I've made it to day 3, Woohoo, lol. I have to admit, this may be difficult for me. Writing something everyday is definitely a challenge. I'm not big on writing, hate research papers (I like the research part it's the getting it all on paper to where it makes sense that I dont like). I'm sure if I wrote more I wouldn't have so many grammar errors in my posts, lol. I do try my best, though, to make sure the spelling is correct. Punctuation, sentence structure and all that may be all blown out the window, though.

Ugg

How come when I try to make a paragraph blogger takes out the indention?

Day 2 of NaBloPoMo

How hard is it to accept an offer on a house? Just read over the offer...accepting full price; check, requesting one year warranty; hmm maybe, other then warranty only request is closing and title costs; check because it's already stated that the sellers will pay as much of closing as possible. I think the only thing we may have trouble with is the one year warranty...be great if they accept that, but it's OK if they don't . I'm just tired of house shopping and want to move before it gets much colder. We are having fall temps now here and winter is just around the corner. We have been in this house a little over a year (OK like one year and 2 weeks now). We are getting ready to pay another months rent. I want to move out of this little house.
I'm really surprised we haven't been hearing gun shots and fireworks from the local hispanic/mexican population celebrating Dia de Muertos. It seems like last year they did. Maybe all those ones moved or got moved away. Nothing against any one race, but when you live in a city and your neighbors house is a few feet from yours you need to be a little bit respectful. You don't see me going out whooping it up on holidays in my front yard. Its really hard to sleep here on the holidays like 4th of July and New Years Eve because you don't know if your hearing gunshots or fireworks. And most likely it's a bit of both around here. I'm hoping where we are looking to move to not see anyone hanging around their front porch drinking and listening to loud mariachi(sp) music. Hoping to not see little kids playing in the street or on the sidewalk with no adult in site.
That really gets me, I'll drive around and there will be kids under the age of 5 playing on the sidewalk next to a busy street and no adults in sight. My kids are 10 almost 11, 9,8 and 6 and I won't let them play in a fenced backyard by themselves, they are not allowed to play in the front yard at all. Yet, these people care little enough about their kids to let them play next to the street. Maybe I'm a little overprotective but the way I see it is that it's my job to make sure these little people grow up into adulthood. It only takes a quick second for a kid to get hurt, kidnapped or worse. How many times to do you hear about some little kid getting hurt and the parent is saying "I just turned my back for a second." Yet these kids are outside by themselves with no one watching. Yea I know the parent could of just went in to answer the phone or something. I say let the phone ring or get a cordless or just grab the kid(s) and bring them in with you. I still feel a little panic if I don't see one of my kids next to me in a store. Or if we all come in from playing outside and I'm one off on the head count(I count heads to make sure everyone is in before I lock the backdoor). More so when I'm hollering out the name of the one who I didn't see and he/she doesn't answer. I love my babies and you only have your kids for 18 years and they are so precious. To me it almost seems to good to be true to have such beautiful, healthy kids. I'm of the mind if it's too good to be true then it probably is, lol. So I've been watching out for the past 11 years for the other shoe to drop. I hear stories of kids being taken away too soon and don't know what I would do if something like that ever happened. My hubby says he would have to leave because he couldn't handle it. Because no matter the cause he would be blaming himself. So my kiddies have to grow up with overprotective parents, no we don't make them live in a bubble or anything. They get out, get bumps and bruises. Climb trees, walls, us, lol. They wrestle, they fight, they sometimes get hurt. But we try our very best to ensure that we are there to kiss the boo boos. Put the band aids on the cuts and scrapes and hopefully there to soften the falls. They are rarely out of our site, more so since I've been homeschooling them this past year. When they do go to public school I worry 'cause my daughter has gotten hurt at school (got pushed off the top of a 10ft jungle gym at one school and fell/jumped off a picnic table and got a huge egg on her head at another). I know it's normal to worry, sometimes I wonder if we're abnormal 'cause we watch them, closely. But then this also means it won't be our kids causing trouble at school, it won't be our kids toilet papering or egging houses on Halloween, it won't be our kids putting graffiti on walls and fences, it won't be our kids going to wild parties and so on. What they do as adults we cannot control but until they graduate high school and move out and on their own we can control at least 90% of what they do. I hope they realize how much we love them, at times I think they do. I know they won't like all this much in the next few years as they get older. But they'll appreciate it later when they are grown and they have reference on what they should do with their own children. Hopefully, lol.

Day 1 of NaBloPoMo

We survived Halloween, lol. Kids did well with the candy, not as much as some people we know but more then enough for a good sugar high. We got a late start due to hubby having to work late and not getting home till a little after 6pm. By the time we found a place to go trick-or-treating it was nearly 7 (no we don't go in our neighborhood, we don't trust the people living around here that much). I truly hope we get this house, it looks like the kind of neighborhood you could almost just let your kids go around the block by themselves (yea like I ever could really do that, even if it was Mr. Rodgers neighborhood). We most likely will hear something today or tomorrow, so fingers are crossed around here (you should try typing with your fingers crossed sometime,lol).
Nothing else really to put on here that comes to mind. I just wanted to make sure to put something in support of National Blog Posting Month. Now to go and try and think of something for tomorrow.

Trick or Treat

Just thought I would post a quick pic of my trick or treaters.

Okay Once More With Spirit...

Yea, if you read my myspace you know I posted the exact same thing over there, I'm just trying to make sure to meet my quotas for each company at the same time passing on some great products.



I'm going to try having an online party again...tonight. I'm thinking at about 6pm c.s.t. just hop on over to Jackie's Gifts and More and click on the chatroom (coffee cup on the left hand side of the page) enter there and I'll be including all 3 companies this time. Pink Ladybug Spa Essentials, Critter Snackz, and M & K Gifts Galore. I'll be doing a secret hostess for this event. What I'll do for everyone/anyone who shows up I'll put your name in a hat and have one of my kiddies draw it out and that person will be the hostess of this party.

Tonight is the last night to order from Pink Ladybug Spa Essentials in order to be sure have your products in time for Christmas. Everything but the home decor items are made by hand when ordered. The Secret Hostess winner will be eligible for all hostess rewards:


Pink Ladybug Spa Essentials:Click here to see products
15% in free merchandise; based on party sales
NO mininum sales amount
FREE 8 oz bottle of soy lotion
FREE 8 oz bottle of lotion and shower gel for each booking received & held
10% discount on all personal orders for 1 year from date of party/show.
1/2 price items starting at party sales of $125.00



Critter Snackz (click here to see products)
Critter Snackz does not really have a hostess program I know of just yet, but if chosen as a Secret Hostess I'll give you 10% off any Critter Snackz order you want to make for 30 days.



M & K Gifts Galore (click here to see products)
Again I couldn't find any hostess program info for this company. So if chosen as a Secret Hostess I'll give you 10% off any M & K Gifts Galore order you want to make for 30 days.

So just browse on over to http://jackiesgiftsandmore.googlepages.com and click on the chatroom on the left hand side of the screen. Hope to see you there.

Well it goes like this...

...a priest, a monk, and a rabbi walk into a bar...oh, you've heard that one already. Lol, sorry. It's early and I'm not quite through my first cup of coffee yet. I just wanted to put something on here since it's been just over a week since my last post and I'm really, really trying to keep this blog active. I've not had a lot going on this past week really. Well, we've had something going on but I don't want to blog about it yet in fear of jinxing us and it not working out, again. So other then that one thing the only thing happening here is the usual stuff, teaching kids, housework and that's about it. Or at least I'm attempting housework, I'm a really bad housekeeper. It's not that I'm lazy or anything, and I really dislike messes. I think it's more of a feeling of being overwhelmed. When I do start cleaning I want to get it all done in one day and I want my house to look like a magazine (okay so the house we're in will never look like that, it's not that nice of a place but you get my drift). Well I'll do real good for an hour or so then look back and see that the kids, being kids, have gone through and decided the nice clean area that I just made was just perfect for them to drag all their matchbox cars into. Or in the case of my daughter her whatever she drags out (she's an odd duck she is, I'll have to do a post on her one of these days, lol). Well after looking back and seeing what they have all done I look a head and see how much more I have to do and yeah, makes me want to just sit down and give up for a bit till I get feeling like cleaning again. This just gets worse closer to moving we get, because then I have more and more to do.
My hubby helps when he can, most of the time when he's home he just wants to relax. Totally understandable, who wants to work 8 or more hours hard labor like he does and come home to work on the house. He does do his share of cleaning on the weekends though. The kids don't help much. They have chores they are suppose to do. Sometimes they do them, most likely bass-ackwards or partly but they are done, somewhat.
Well this has turned into a long and rambling post, I'm sorry. I know it most likely does not make any sense at all. Have a great day and blessed be.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

Okay so not really. I like the look of snow but not the cold weather. The reason I decided that as a title for this post is because I had a dream last night that it was about 80 degrees one day and we went to bed and woke up and it was snowing. It cause my tomatoes that are still green to get mushy and the bottoms to turn black. Well I told my mom about this and she said it could happen. I was like not here. Also, in my dream, the snow was sticking. It was about 2 in thick and on the ground the bushes, trees and everything. Well if you know a little wee bit about weather you know there is no way that snow is going to stick on the ground if it was 80 degrees the day before. Its not likely it's gonna snow. Now I have seen it be 80s one week and 30s the next and then snow (that's Missouri Ozark weather for ya, don't see that much down here in Memphis).
But anywho, I decided to see if I could not find out what my dream meant and I found this site dreammoods.com and they have a dream dictionary and this is what I've come up with:
Snow
To see snow in your dream, signifies your inhibitions, repressed/unexpressed emotions and feelings of frigidity. You need to release and express these emotions and inhibitions. You may also be feeling indifferent, alone and neglected. If the snow is melting then it suggests that you are acknowledging and releasing those emotions you have repressed. You are overcoming your fears and obstacles.
To see dirty snow in your dream, refers to a loss in innocence, impurity and uncleanness. Some aspect of yourself or situation has been tainted.
To dream that you are watching the snow fall, represents a clean start and a fresh, new perspective. It is indicative of spiritual peace and tranquility.
To dream that you are playing in the snow, indicates that you need to set some time for fun and relaxation.
To dream that you find something in the snow, suggests that you are exploring and accessing your unused potential, abilities, and talents. You have uncovered some hidden talent and ability within yourself. It may also indicate forgiving yourself or others.

I highlighted what I remember was going on in my dream.

Tomatoes
To see tomatoes in your dream, symbolizes domestic happiness and harmony.
To dream that you are eating tomatoes, foretells of good health.

Rotten
To dream that something is rotten, suggests that you are wasting away your potential. You have failed to make use of the opportunities that have come your way
Spoiled
To dream that food has spoiled, indicates that you are not taking care of your emotional needs.
Picture (I added this one because I was taking pictures of the snow while and after it was falling)
To see a picture in your dream, symbolizes a mental imprint that remains persistent in your mind. There may be permanence in your actions. Also consider the pun on "picture this" or "seeing the big picture" in a situation.
To dream that you are hanging a picture, represents acceptance or acknowledgement of the image that is depicted in the picture. You have come to an understanding or compromise regarding a situation.
To dream that you are taking a picture, suggests that you need to get a good understanding and gain more information on some issue. You need to focus more attention to some situation or relationship. Perhaps you feel that you need to recapture some past moments in a relationship.
To see a black and white picture in your dream, indicates that you need to consider opposing views/values. Alternatively, it may denote you need to add more color and pizazz to you life.
To see a blurry picture in your dream, suggests that your memory of the depicted event, incident, or people, is fading. Perhaps you need to let go of the past and stop holding on to what was and concentrate on what is. On the other hand, you are attempting to disguise a situation and refusing to see it as it really is. You need to learn acceptance.
Husband
To see your husband in your dream, signifies your relationship with your husband and the unconscious feelings you have towards him
Man
To see a man in your dream, denotes the masculine aspect of yourself - the side that is assertive, rational, aggressive, and/or competitive. If the man is known to you, then the dream may reflect you feelings and concerns you have about him.
If you are a woman and dream that you are in the arms of a man, suggests that you are accepting and welcoming your stronger assertive personality . It may also highlight your desires to be in a relationship and your image of the ideal man.
To see an old man in your dream, represents wisdom or forgiveness.

OK so I think that is about all the main parts of my dream that I remember. I remember it snowing as the was the major thing about my dream. So according to this site I'm feeling alone, indifferent and neglected and have some inner emotions/inhibitions that need released. I may have domestic happiness and harmony but then again the tomatoes were bad so I guess there is something in the domestic area of my life that I need to start taking care of. A man, I think my husband, was in my dream. I feel like it was my husband, but am not sure because I remember talking to a man, but can't recall if it was my husband but that seems right. So maybe my dream is telling my that I need to work on the relationship with my husband and that it has to do with a domestic issue.
Well right before going to sleep last night I was upset because of all this house buying crap. I was and still feeling really discouraged and starting to lose interest in the whole damn thing. I was telling my husband that I did not know why we were going to talk to another lender and look at another house this week because we are not going to be able to get it. I told him we might was well face it and that we will never own a house. Basically my feelings are/were if we haven't gotten one by now we are not going to get one. I know this seems kinda extreme but it all sucks. If we do somehow accidentally end up getting a home then it will be great. But if this house doesn't work out then I'm not looking again, I'm not getting my hopes up again just to have them thrown down and stomped upon. Actually I'm not getting my hopes up on this house. I'm agreeing to go and look at it because we've already scheduled but I'm going look at it like you would look at a strangers house not a potential home. Because I know that we are not meant to be homeowners, it's becoming very obvious since we have yet to get one. We've been looking for going on 4 months now, I know some people look longer, but the market is saturated at the moment now, there are homes for sale that are reasonably priced everywhere. We were just stupid when we were younger so now we have bad credit. So because of that we will never be homeowners because I don't think you can ever get over the bad credit issue, no matter what lenders may say. And now I think I'll end there 'cause I'm upsetting myself again but it feels good to get this out and see my feeling wrote down. Sucks but so does life, right.

Okay how about a post thats not an advertisement

Sorry about all the advertisements lately. Really thats the only thing new going on around here lately. Now, I've just drawn a big 'o blank on what I was going to write here. So I guess I'll post all this nonsense just so I can waste anyone's time who decided to come here and read it.

Well that was a bust

No one showed up. I was in the chatroom for about an hour so I don't think I missed anyone. But that's okay I know that people have lives, work and other stuff to do. So I'm doing a little challenge kinda thing over on my myspace blog just head over to www.myspace.com/frejalee and read the blog titled Sorry you missed it and read about it there and play along if you like.

We're Having a Party, Ya'll.

Well it's an online party, but I'm hoping it turns out well. I'm doing an online party for Pink Ladybug Spa Essentials over at my lil 'ol website http://jackiesgiftsandmore.googlepages.com just click where it says chatroom on the left side, sign in and come on in. It's byob by the way (beverages and food just do not travel well through my computer, especially the beverages part). I'll try and supply the entertainment. It's just a short party, I'm only planning for 30 minutes. I figure we'll play one scavenger-type game in which I will be awarding a prize to the winner and I'll also have a couple door prizes to give away. If I'm lucky one of you few sweet people who read my lil blog will show up and maybe even want to buy something.
Well thats all for today, there's nothing exciting going on just yet in my lil corner of the word. I'll let you know when something does. Oh and the party is at 10 am (central time) on Friday October 12. Dress is as casual as ya wanna be (just don't let us know, lol).

Maybe 4th time is the charm

Well the last house we were trying to buy fell through. We needed the bank that owned the house to change the contract a little so our lender would finance it and they wouldn't. So we had to back out of it. Yesterday we went to look at another place...it's nowhere as nice as the other house we were going to get. It's a bit of a fixer upper, but should not be too hard to do. It's a mobile home with two additions built on to it, 3 bedroom/ 2 bathrooms about 1600 sq ft on a lot that's almost an acre. It has two out buildings, a garage and another building that the previous tenants had used a ceramic shopped but may need to be torn down. Definitely nowhere as nice, but not awful either.
The place has a nice big front porch, the lot is set up nice and has lots of flowers. Hubby has already met the neighbor who lives across the street. A nice old man who is a retired pipefitter (leave it to my ironworking hubby to find someone who worked with metal). As we were leaving the neighbor was saying he hoped we got it because he would like us as neighbors, he even offered us his place if we didn't buy that one, lol. The neighbors next door have a bunch of red-headed boys just as wild as our kiddies and about the same ages it looked like so that may be nice. The property is in a good location a good price and in a great school district. So I'm crossing my fingers. I don't know how to take another let down, I swear. The first place we wanted we couldn't get financed because it was a trailer, the second place we wanted someone else got the day before we were going to make an offer and this last one was the third place we wanted. So now we are at number 4. Well Native Americans consider the number 4 as being a good number and we have 4 kids and I don't know now I'm just rambling, sorry.
As for my prior post on paperbackswap, well I've decided to give them the 'ol heave ho. They restored all of our accounts and said sorry but I've decided to go on to another site and closed my account with them. I'm using bookmooch.com now and so far I like it. I've already got like 4 books requested from me and 2 books on their way to me.

Book Swapping

Well I've been using Paperbackswap © for a while and this past week have been having a problem with them that has me now looking for another book swapping site. See my sisters and mom are/were also on the site and from time to time my mom would call me up saying she was having problems logging in or with her computer and needed me to go in and check a book as mailed or see if any had been picked. My sister had just set up an account and had problems setting it up and wanted me to go in and set it up for her just in case it was her computer. Well we figured that it wasn't her computer it was her address because another sister had been living with her for a time and had set up an account through paperbackswap using her address...well this sister has since moved to another state but the first sisters address is still shown as having an account so she set one up using her mil's address who lives just down the street from her.
Okay so we figured all was good now and went on our little ways and suddenly mom im's me says that she cannot log in to her account. Well I try to log in to her account and cannot get in, then I try to log in to mine and cannot get in. My sisters all say they cannot get into theirs either. So off I send an email to paperbackswap and they send one back saying I've opened multiple accounts and thats not permitted.
Wow wait a minute, I only have one account. I send them an email back saying this and that my family members are having trouble too, and they all only have one account all of our accounts are at different mailing addresses in 3 different states. Well they come back and say that I'm managing all these accounts from the same computer and that they know the computer usage and which computer is being used and all that. Well I know that every computer leaves its address with every website visited... but I still have a few problems with this, one its not just one computer my mom has a computer my sisters each have a computer and I have a computer, so that's at least 3 different computers being used. Plus my sisters have used a library computer at times when they were having problems with their internet service so that adds more computers in the mix. Now if we assume there are a minimum of 4 computers being used its going to be impossible for the all the accounts to be accessed by only one computer. Another problem I have with what they said is saying that I set up multiple accounts. Now, why in the world would I set up 4 accounts in 3 different states. I'm not going to be driving 200 or 1200 miles to get books from my mom's and sisters houses and why would I have books sent there and then pay postage for them to send them to me when I would be able to get books sent to me for free.
Another thing if they are going by one account per computer (I had thought it was one account per household), what are they doing to those who use library or college computers. In largers cities there could be dozens of accounts being accessed from one computer. Do they close all these accounts down as well? If they are going by on account per computer, then I could possibly have two accounts for my house as long as I had two different computers hooked to the internet and only accessed each account seperately per computer. Actually I could have any number of computers hooked up and then have a seperate account per each computer.
Well this whole thing is silly and I think Paperbackswap© needs to look at how they are doing things because this just isn't right. So now I'm looking for other bookswapping sites. I've narrowed it down to Bookmooch.com and Titletrader.com. I know I have a couple readers out there in internet world. Do you have any opinions on these two sites?

Happy Birthday My Son...a day early

My middle son turns 8 tomorrow. He's pretty much got his whole day planned out. Basically he wants to be in charge tomorrow, he wants everyone to do whatever he wants all day long. Right now I don't know what that will consist of, because he keeps changing his mind. I know what he wants for his birthday, fishing stuff. He's my little fisherman. He can stand on the bank of a river, creek, pond, lake, mud puddle or whatever all day and want to do it again the next day. It doesn't matter if he catches anything or not.
Usually he asks for tools, but he didn't this year. He's also my little mechanic wannabe. He has these old golf carts at his Granny and Papaw's house that he says he's going to turn into trucks. He likes to take things apart, but hasn't gotten around to the putting them back together part yet.
I think I'll get him a baseball mitt and ball and maybe a bat as well. He's been showing an interest in baseball lately and I want all the kids to have an interest or at least some knowledge of at least one sport. They don't have to play on a team if they don't want to. I would like for them to, but it's not necessary. I just want them to know how to play, just in case their friends want to play a game or for when they are all grown up and want to play with their own kids.
8 years old...actually if you ever met him you would think he's older. He's very mature for his age. He takes care of his younger brother without being asked to, just because it's something he's done his whole life. He argues like an older person, he usually has some good points behind his arguments. He thinks he can do anything (and will try to do anything and everything) whether or not his little body has the ability. He's like a runaway train, there is just no stopping him. He's so determined and once he starts down a path he's going to finish no matter what, and he's not going to let anything or anyone get in his way. Most likely he'll plow right through and get it done.
So happy birthday my son, I love you very much. Now that your another year older maybe we can take the next year slower. Your growing up so fast, I don't know how I'll keep up. I'll manage I suppose, just never change. I love you and your loving, ornery, teasing, bull-headed ways.

Just a Shameless Plug

Lol, it's Monday and early so I'm using the same title I used on my myspace blog. Oh well here it goes. I'm an independent consultant/ representative for Pink ladybug Spa Essentials

Today is the Grand Re-Opening of Pink Ladybug Spa Essentials. Visit our website and hop in to our chat room to win prizes, learn about our products and meet our reps. Every customer who orders today has a chance to win a basket of our products (a 50.00 value) and this week from today, October 1st, to October 7th our customers get a 20% discount off their total.Just browse on over to https://www.jackief.thinkpinkladybugspa.com and check it out.

Happy Hump Day

Well it's Wednesday. I was reading through my posts (Ok not all of them just the ones on the front page). I noticed I have not put anything on here lately about our house buying adventure. Basically, it sucks. We've been trying for this house for about 3 weeks now. We've gone through the making the offer, the counter-offer, having it accepted, getting the pre-approval from a lender and all that. Now we are having problems with the loan. It seems that the house we are trying for was set up for a convential loan. We are approved for a FHA loan and due to mistakes in the past we cannot get approved for a convential loan. So the bank that owns the house (it's a foreclosure) is being slow in getting back with our lender on seeing about switching it over. We told our realtor and put it on the contract that we were approved for a FHA loan. We were not told that it was set up for a conventional loan until after the contract had been accepted. It says no where on the paper we had been given with the info on the house about only certain types of loans being accepted. So lately we've been getting phone calls from our realtor saying it looks like it's not going to work. Then we'll get a call from our lender saying it looks OK he's going to try another route. Then we'll get another call saying nope it's not going to work. Hubby and I are about to where we just don't want the house any more. So today I'm wondering what the phone well bring me.
On another note, I've became a consultant/rep for Pink Ladybug Spa Essentials and they/we are having a grand re-opening on October 1st. I'll put something about that up here later.

Hey, Guess What? It's Monday.

What a title, I know. My creative juices are just not flowing yet, but I wanted to put something on here. Don't know why just felt like it, I guess. We haven't had any good new on the house yet. Well, really we have not had any news. Just the same old line we heard all week last week.
I was reading on another blog (doctormama.blogspot.com) about running and thought that was something I would like to get into. I was in cross-country and track way back in middle school. I loved running then. I do not know how I would find the time now, and I don't know where to run around here where I would feel safe. I think I'll wait till after we move and get me a big o' dog to run with (I'm thinking Rottweiler, lol). Well, guess I need to go and find something to motivate me to do something today.

It's a bit sad really...

My oldest son was asking hubby and I if he was going to be the first to move out. Well I told him "I don't know, ask me again in 7 years." Hubby looks over at me and goes, "Don't say that." At first I was like say what, then it hit me. We only have about 7 to 8 years left with our little boy. He'll be 11 in November. Don't you hate it when something makes you realize how little time you have before your kids are grown up and on their own. It sucks 'cause they are in such a hurry to get there too. Pretty soon he'll be driving. He'll be interested in girls. Pretty soon he will no longer want a kiss on the forehead before he goes to sleep at night. Pretty soon I'll turn into "Mom" instead of being "Mommy" (at least to him, I do have 3 other children but their all so close in age that change will probably include them all).
Life sometimes sucks.

Can't Complain 'Cause it was Free

Did anyone else take advantage of Walgreen's free ink refills yesterday. Were you able to get it done yesterday? I went in yesterday and handed them my cartridge, they give me this little ticket and tell me to pick it up after 5:30pm today. I go in about a quarter to 6 today and they tell me it should be done tomorrow. I guess the machine broke down last night. But, I cannot complain because it was/is free so I guess I get to just sit and wait on the stuff I was hoping to print out. Makes me iffy about actually paying for their ink refill service.

Remembering 9/11

Yes I know it was yesterday, but I was thinking of a blog I read yesterday. This lady had wrote about everyday type stuff she deals with like she usually does and someone kinda jumped up and said something to the point like it's 9/11 why are you writing/worrying about everyday stuff when 6 years ago thousands of people's lives changed forever. While this is true, people need to realize life does go on. You can write every year on the anniversary of what happened that day on what you were doing, how the events had changed your life and etc. But, it's ok if you don't. You don't see people writing about the Oklahoma City bombing every year (even though I'm sure there are some who do). There are a lot of tragic events that have happened in the past 15-20 years that people don't blog/write about every year. If you keep bringing up the past how are you suppose to live in the present and move on toward the future. Yes 9/11 was tragic, it was life-altering, those people that lost their lives are missed greatly. Yes 9/11/2001 changed all of our lives, probably more then some people realize. But I am alive, I lost no loved ones in New York, Pennsylvania or D.C. (thank Goddess). If I choose not to dwell on the events of the day 6 years later then that's my prerogative, just like everyone else. Just for the memory I remember exactly what I was doing as the towers went down. I was in the living room with my children and my mom who had come down for a visit. I was turning through the channels to find cartoons for my kids and I happened to catch live footage of the buildings. My first thought was "Omg we have just went to war" my second thought was worry for my bil who was in the army. Fortunately my life my kids lives, and my husbands life went on that day and still does go on.
I know I'm just rambling now and making no sense and if your actually reading this mess your wondering what in the heck my point is. I guess it's this... just because someone doesn't donate every minute of their day on 9/11 to remembering the events of 9/11/2001 that does not make them any less patriotic then those that do. It just makes them human and normal.