He's Baaaack

Months ago, I posted about a pain in the ass customer hitting on me and using his backward ass slang. Dunno if anyone remembers or not.

Well, Mr. PITA is back. He JUST walked in the office. When I told him that the boss was delivering a car to another shop and would be back in about half an hour, he walked over to my desk and asked "Well, how bout I jus stan heah an watch ya?"

Translation: Well, how about I just stand here and watch you?

I said, "Um, no. But you can have a seat right over there if you want to wait."

Ugh. Then he asked what I meant by no. Hello stupid! You are old and creepy. You think you are hot shit with your old ass hanging out of your sagging pants, just like the gang bangers. If I had to guess at his age, I would say late 60s. He used to work with my dad and his grand kids are my age.

If he was paying cash instead of going through an insurance claim, I would totally have asked him to leave. Why does it make a difference? Because if the customer complains to their insurance company, we can be dropped from their referral program. And we jump through too many hoops to get into their referral programs for me to screw it all up by going psycho on some asshole.

Good News Finally

Hubbs has found out that he can hold a railroad job again. Hooray! He still can't work out of the local yard yet but can work out of a yard an hour and a half away.

Anywhere is better than nowhere. LoL. So that means we can start adding $$ to our sad little savings account and start paying off our debt again. Plus we will have our health insurance back. Yay for no more State Funded help!

He took off to the lake with a few friends this weekend so I am at home alone with the boys until Sunday. I needed something fun to do so I am going to practice my cake making skills.

Monk Man is turning 5 in May (OMG) and wants a Sponge Bob birthday. And he REALLY wants a Sponge Bob birthday cake. That is what I am going to attempt to make this weekend. I think I am going to try a sponge cake (boxed if I can find such an animal) and cover it with home made fondant.

This is the recipe I am going to try:
To make your own fondant, melt 16 oz. of marshmallows, with 2 tbsp. of water in the top of a double boiler. Stir until the marshmallows melt. Sift 4 cups of confectioners' sugar into a large bowl and pour the melted mixture in, stirring the mixture until it forms a ball. Turn the mixture onto a clean flat surface, covered with additional confectioner's sugar and knead until the fondant forms a soft, but firm, ball. Add additional sugar until it is no longer sticky, up to 3 more cups. Wrap it in plastic wrap and let it rest for at least 24 hours before using.

Super tough thing to try. Never worked with anything other than tub frosting and even that comes out looking like shit. LoL I will post pictures (good or bad) if I can find the camera.

Oh, and one other thing...........The bathroom has 2 coats of paint on it finally. Now all that is left is painting the ceiling and the trim white and finishing the tile/grout work. Almost done!!!!

Momma on High Alert

So the last few days I have been noticing an older (like 1980s) blue Chevy van driving around the neighborhood. I normally don't pay attention to the junk driving down our street. But this van was driving around and around and around. Plus it looked like the stereotypical child molester van. Cardboarded up windows and all. So yeah, I noticed it. I had just guessed that they were new in the neighborhood and were lost or something.

My next door neighbor, Kari (also my current BFF) came by today while I was feeding the boys lunch to tell me to be careful because she and Mark had an "encounter" with this van and the dude driving it.

She is a big bad biker chick and doesn't spook easily so I am totally taking her advice.

She said that while she was in the gas station yesterday, she saw this creepy guy standing at the door, watching her walk around the store. When she got in line to pay, he came and stood behind her. Her cashier was slower than the other one so the creepy dude was checked out before her. She watched him walk over to the van. She watches him watch her walk across the parking lot and get in her Blazer. When she gets out on the street, he pulls away from the gas pump and follows her all the way home.

Why she went home instead of the police station when she figured out he was really following her is beyond me. At this point in her story I interrupted her and asked WTF she was thinking because now he knows where she lives. She said that she wasn't scared for herself, she was scared for me and the boys.

When she got home and all locked up inside, she called Mark and told him what was going on. Somehow he saw the van parked across the street from one of his friend's house. Mark pulled up behind the van and looked inside. He says that the whole van was full of kids toys. The creepy dude comes out of the back yard of the house he is parked at. When Mark starts to walk up to him to find out why he was following Kari, the creepy dude takes off running.

So instead of chasing him, Mark gets back in his truck, calls the police and tells them what has happened so far. The police run the license plates. The information from the plates comes back clean (not stolen, no warrants, etc) but the police have already heard about the creepy dude.

As it turns out, there have already been 12 individual women that have called the police about this creepy dude. They also said that he is probably targeting not only women but little kids as well. That makes sense because of all the toys in his van.

BUT, then they said that there wasn't really anything they could do until he actually does something.

Wait, hold on a minute. Since when does following a woman home (numerous women) not count as DOING SOMETHING????? Is he going to have to break into a house or snatch up one of our kids before something is done to him?

Heaven help the man if he shows up at my door or sneaks in my back yard. I have a 9mm handgun and I sure as shit know how to use it. It is a Star something and it looks just like THIS one.

So other than having a gun and knowing how to use it, keeping the doors and gates locked, not letting the kids play in the front yard, not letting them play in the back yard alone, and being aware of MY surroundings, what else can I do to protect myself and the kids?

FWIW, I don't think I am getting overly worried about this. We are a small, tight knit town where everybody knows everybody else. We try to look out for each other. Non-locals stick out and word travels fast when something isn't 100% normal, like this creepy dude. Plus there is that mommy intuition that I try to listen to whenever it rears its head.

Bored

I am bored as hell today. I have already blogstalked, read all my forums, checked my emails and cleaned out my purse. It is only, what, 2:30? I am stuck here until 5.

Ugh.

Under Control

I have got to get my home under control. I figured this out while I was tearing the living room apart looking for a Wii controller that had working batteries.

Ugh. We have junk everywhere. I have brand new dishes in the bedroom. I have boxes of clothes to be put in the yard sale (as soon as it gets warm enough to have one) sitting in the living room. I have half of our camping stuff in my pantry and the other half in my gardening shed. The bathroom Mulligan has come to a complete stop for the time being. The door is back up, btw.

Hubbs has decided that we don't have a "stuff" issue, we have a space issue. He wants to buy a house and use the trailer as a rental.

What? You want to move out of the trailer that we own free and clear and buy a house? Get a mortgage?

I told him that he was going bat-shit crazy. Especially since he hasn't worked in 16 MONTHS!

His response was, "Don't you want new furniture?" Duh? No new furniture. Especially if it comes with a mortgage. Dummy.

I would LOVE to have a house. And we could totally get a house for cheap cheap cheap right now. But I don't want to have a mortgage. Ever. Did I mention he has been furloughed for 16 months?

It is very realistic to pay cash for a house here. A decent 3-4 bedroom 2 bath house runs around $50-75k. If we ever get out of credit card debt, the car paid off and his ass back to work, we could easily save up $75k in about 2 years. My goal is to save up enough cash to have BIL come from Colorado and build us our house. He owns his own construction company and builds AMAZING houses for the rich people in ski towns.

So my answer to the stuff/space issue is to tackle 1 room every weekend. That would include:
1) Pulling every single thing out of the room
2) Deep cleaning-walls, floors, vents, lights, closets
3) Addressing any issues (like socket covers, burned out bulbs, holes, paint) immediately
4) Organizing junk into 4 piles: keep, throw out, yard sale and donate
5) Find everything in the keep pile a home in the room
6) Take the throw out pile to the dump, box up the yard sale pile and take the donate pile to the local donation places

And then move on to the next room. It doesn't sound like much fun but I think if I stick to it, I can get it all done in 2 months. And then all I have to do is maintain it.

That makes a lot more sense than buying a whole new house. It would be psuedo-moving. If I make Hubbs help he might realize just how much work moving really is.

T-Ball

T-Ball sign ups are tomorrow. I already put a notification in my phone to remind me. Plus, Monk Man overheard Hubbs talking to someone about it. There is no way in hell he is going to let me forget to get him signed up.

The only problem is that he doesn't have the required Birth Certificate. When he was born, the hospital gave me a Certificate of Live Birth thing instead of a Birth Certificate for some reason. I have never been given any problems about using it and I am keeping my fingers crossed that I can continue having no problems about it until I can find the time to take a day off to get the real thing.

To Add Fuel To The Fire

On top of all that nonsense I posted about earlier.....

I get home and Bobblehead is still in the same damn diaper I put him in this morning. How do I know? They use Pampers and we use Parent's choice (because I am a cheap ass).

This is such bullshit. There are 5 able bodied adults there. There is no reason that he should have to sit in a wet diaper all day. Someone could have changed a diaper. It isn't even the first time this shit has happened either.

Ugh. Time to look into daycare (that we can't afford) for him now too I guess.

Toxic Family

Like I don't have enough issues to deal with anyway, now here is all this mess!

Monk Man is sick. We had been giving him breathing treatments all weekend and the cough seemed better this morning. He didn't have a fever or anything, just a cough, so he went to daycare.

The daycare lady texted me, saying that he had been coughing non stop since I dropped him off and she was afraid it was going to make him barf. I sent my mom over to pick him up since I am swamped at work and she lives right next door.

He wasn't at my mom's house an hour when she called and said that I needed to come pick him up. I told her I was the only one at the shop at the moment so there wasn't anything I could do. I made the mistake of asking what the hell was going on because, after all, he had only been there for less than an hour. How much trouble could he really be causing?

As it turns out, he wasn't the one being a shit head. It was my dad. My father was picking on his 4 year old grandson. Again. This time, every time Monk Man coughed, my dad would start screaming at him to cover his mouth or run to the toilet. Then he would go on and on about how he "doesn't want fing god damn barf all over the floor because the kid is being a baby". THAT is the exact wording that I heard come from his own mouth while I was on the phone.

Umm, excuse me? What did you just say to/about my son?

Being fed up, I bluntly told my mom that she just needed to take the boys to my house because I wasn't putting up with that bull shit directed towards my kids.

Seriously, if you want to be an asshole to your own kids, fine, that is your choice. But don't EVER be like that to mine and let me find out about it.

Ugh. I am so pissed off right now I could go over there and just punch him in the face. What kind of person treats a CHILD like that? It isn't like Monk Man can control it. He has a cough!

My dad didn't used to be like that. I don't know what the hell his problem is but it had better stop right now if he wants to see his grandsons.

Monk Man LOVES my dad. And my bitchy sister. He worships the ground they walk on and they both treat him like shit. It has gotten worse and worse in the last few months.

He begs to be able to go to my mom's house instead of daycare. This morning was bad. He kept crying "I wanna see Papa!" I asked him why he would want to go somewhere he was treated so badly and hugged him.

Anybody have any advice before I start punching people?

Of course there is the obvious answer, don't let Monk Man over there. But when neither of us can leave work, what else can I do?

The easiest (really, it is) option would be to pack up the family and move to where Hubbs could hold his stupid railroad job and I would be able to stay home with the kids but that isn't really possible right now either.

I need a drink.

Bathroom Remodel

Oh shit, what have I gotten myself into?

As if I didn't already have enough half-finished projects, I started remodeling the bathroom. Well, it isn't exactly a whole remodel, more like a do over. When we started fixing up our home, we had just found out I was pregnant with Monk Man.

We ended up half assing the kitchen, hallway and bathroom. We are totally paying for it now. We have sinks leaking and ruining everything in the cabinets (plus the actual cabinet in the bathroom), the tub/shower is rusting and the PVC surround thing is starting to come loose. That is just a few of the problems I have found lately.

It is a mess. So since we have a little extra $$, we are taking a Mulligan on the bathroom and starting over.

Wish us luck! It is going to be quite the adventure. Again.

Hubbs just texted me to tell me that he is taking the bathroom door off to fix the side that the dogs tried to dig through. What am I going to do without a bathroom door? Seriously, I cant even THINK about going into the bathroom without the boys wanting to know what I am doing. I wonder if it is too late to decide to call a do-over on the kitchen first instead?

If I can find a memory card and the camera before we start working on it tonight, I will try to snap some pictures so you all can see what I am living with.

Work LoL

There was an ice cream truck parked outside the shop when I got back from lunch. It was here for exhaust work. That in itself was pretty funny. But it gets better.

The boss lady kept looking at it and saying "It is so small! It's so short!". Jack was on his way out the door and said "Well, you know, what it lacks in length, it really makes up for in power."

Snort. I couldn't hold back. I am not so good at stifling giggles let alone full blown gut busting laughter.

So he gives me a funny look for a second and then it clicks. He turns red, tells me to shut up and goes out the door laughing. The boss lady keeps asking me what he had said. It takes me a while to pull myself together enough to repeat what he said.

Before I could get all the words out of my mouth, SHE starts laughing uncontrollably. We laugh and laugh. The big boss comes out of the bathroom just shaking his head at us because he had overheard everything.

When Jack comes back inside the office a little later he is all embarrassed. The big boss comes out of his office and says "Dude, you had these girls ROLLING!" We both cracked up laughing again. When we finally calmed down, Jack told me that I suck and have a dirty mind. Duh?

Now my sides hurt. But that is part of what I like about this job. I don't have to be professional 100% of the time.

Charlie Sheen

Oh.My.Hell. When did Charlie Sheen turn into such a douchebag?

Apparently on Christmas he got arrested for criminal assault? On his wife? Here is the article I read this morning.

Ugh. Guys that hit women are dirtbags and SHOULD have their asses handed to them in prison.

The most baffling thing about it? His wife wants to stay married to him. Seriously, what is her problem? I can't understand why anyone would want to live with that constant fear of being murdered in your sleep by your significant other.

I have been there. I have had boyfriends knock me around when I was a teenager. I just don't understand why someone would stay and keep putting themselves through that shit. Mind boggling.

If Hubbs ever, ever, ever hit me out of anger or frustration or just because, he would be thrown out of my home so fast that his head would spin. Now, we do wrestle and donkey punch each other but that is all in play. That is totally different. He has never put a hand on me in anger and he knows better than to even consider it.

If my boys only learn one thing from me it will be that you don't hit girls. Ever.

It Is A Conspiracy

So do you remember my post from Friday about enjoying being "one of the guys"?

I think someone is trying to send me a hint that I need to be a little more *gag* girly.

Why do I think this?

A wife of one of Hubb's friends invited (and went) to a jewelry party 2 Fridays ago. I actually bought a necklace. Very tasteful. No pink, no hearts, no sparkles. It was a plain silver circle on a silver chain. When I got home, Hubbs started calling me Flava Flav so the necklace went into retirement. Fast forward to last Friday. My step-MIL brought me an invitation to the shop right before we closed. For another freaking jewelry party.

Ugh. These kind of chicks (no offence to any of the girly girls out there) usually don't like to be around me when they HAVE to, let alone willingly INVITE me to hang out with them. It is uncomfortable for them. It is uncomfortable for me. I have accepted that.

But you know me. I am going to go. And probably buy something.

Maybe it IS time for a little change. But I don't even know where to start. Or even what to change.

I don't wear nail polish. The only jewelry I wear is my wedding/engagement ring. Maybe a pair of earrings if I am feeling feisty. I only wear makeup on my eyes. No lipstick, foundation, blush, etc. I have never had a manicure, pedicure or my eyebrows waxed. I don't wear dresses and only wear skirts when I have to. I am a jeans kind of girl. I am low maintenance. So low maintenance that I don't even own a scale.

Butter Thief

This morning, as I was toweling off from my shower, I heard the stomp stomp stomp of a little boy trying to "sneak" past the bathroom door undetected.

My boys "sneak" like this: crouched over, stomping as hard as they can then raising up on their tip toes. It is very cute and I love it because they totally think they are being sneaky.

So I wrapped my towel around myself and flung open the door just in time to see Bobblehead disappear into his room. He only "sneaks" when he is doing something he knows he shouldn't be doing. I was dieing to find out so I tiptoed down the hall and peeked into his room.

He was hiding under his bed, eating a stick of butter.

Barf.

Artsy Fartsy Time

I am going to dust off my woodworking skills that my grandpa taught me when I was a pre-teen and build the boys a play kitchen.

We are too cheap to buy a plastic kitchen. Even if we weren't, Hubbs is totally against the idea of the boys playing with a pink stove.

So we are drawing up plans for the kitchen now. I will post pictures someday!

One Of The Guys

I really like being one of the guys sometimes.

This afternoon, the shop is slow and all the bosses are gone. So it is just me and Jack sitting around listening to the satellite radio. He picked the Canadian Uncensored comedy station.

Oh.My.Hell! I have never heard comedy this good. Cock jokes, fart jokes, sex jokes. I have laughed and laughed all afternoon!

My sides hurt so bad.

Teeth

The family has dentist appointments this month. I had to find a new dentist because my old one won't take state sponsored insurance. Monk Man was supposed to go tomorrow but of course he came down with a sore throat and swollen tonsils yesterday. Bobblehead is sick too but he seems to be getting the croup again.

So I am taking Monk Mans appointment tomorrow and he is going to take my appointment next Thursday.

The boys were blessed with my shitty, messed up, soft teeth.

I was in braces for 6 years so my teeth are straight. Right now I need another root canal (that will make 3) and some cavities taken care of. I also have a cracked-in-half tooth from a root canal filling that didn't hold that needs something done to it. I am a hot mess.

I plugged our W-2 numbers into an online calculator and found out that we are getting back waaayyyyy more than I expected. Hubbs and I were discussing what we wanted to do with the money. He wants a new computer and I want my teeth veneered and capped. But instead, we have to do the adult thing and put all the money in the checking account to live on because we still don't know how long Railroad Unemployment is going to last or if he is ever going to get to go back to work. Plus we might need that money for our business venture that is in the works.

But I really want my teeth to be pretty. I will ask this new dentist for a price on veneers and caps tomorrow while I am there. Maybe he can give me a better price than my old dentist did. Which was around $1500 (if I remember right) to cap and veneer every tooth, in case anyone was wondering.

Like I Needed Another Excuse

to eat at Burger King.

Beer at Burger King

The existing BKs won't be having the "Whopper Bars" installed. Instead, BK will be building new restaurants, starting in South Beach. Cities like Vegas and Los Angeles with a high tourist population will be next.

Personally, I wouldn't mind having one of these in my town. But I can see why people would be upset about it.

So Lazy Today

I have no motivation today.

It started pouring rain last night around 10:30 and it still hasn't stopped. Right now, I think I see a few snow flakes mixed in with the rain but that could be my eyes messing with my brain.

I found out at lunch that our county is under a "State of Emergency". There is a big command center set up somewhere and have this evacuation plan ready.

I can see it as both a good thing and a bad thing. Good thing: It is possible that the Little Colorado River will get too full after it stops raining and the snow melts next week. It is possible that it will flood some of the houses outside the city limits (including Lonnie and Sharon's house).

Bad thing: People are already freaking out. I drove by Safeway and Walmart on my way back to work and the parking lots were packed!

I had to feel kinda bad for the people that waited until Today to get semi-prepared for this storm. But then again, it is their own fault. We have known about this storm since Monday and it isn't even as bad as the weather people predicted it to be.

I, on the other hand, am more than prepared. LoL Of course I am. We have even offered to take in our friends (and their pets) that might get flooded until everything dries out a little.

Ok, that is definitely snow that I see.

I Can't Believe It

While Hubbs was busy (probably doing something stupid) this morning, Monk Man and Bobblehead found my Oreo stash.

Really, what I think happened is that Hubbs tried to sneak a cookie or 2 this morning after I had left for work. The boys must have watched him not hide it well enough. I hide them very well behind all the booze in our liquor cabinets. Hubbs isn't a good hider. He isn't very observant either apparently.

The boys had just enough time to devour the ENTIRE package.

Just the thought of it makes me sick. My poor Oreos. They weren't the normal, average Oreos either. They were the White Fudge covered Oreos. You know, the "better than sex" ones.

They tried to keep it a secret! I walked into the boys bedroom at lunchtime and saw the crumbs on their bed and the box peeking out from under the bed.

So of course now that I am here at work, the Oreos are the only things I can think about. Hubbs had better be at the store right now getting me a new box of Oreos.

With Kids. And Dogs. In A Tent. 1-10

This wintery weather is giving me a bad attitude. I am tired of the ice and cold. And the thought of it ONLY being January pisses me off even more.

I need to blog about something that lifts my spirits and that I can look forward to when winter is finally over.

Camping! With kids. And dogs. In a tent.

Right now, the idea of being able to get away from people makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. I would pack everybody up and head out to the woods right now except for the little freezing to death issue. I am going to try and post 10 camping tips at least once a week until spring. Or until I run out of useful things to say. Or until I forget.

For the readers that might have missed all my Camping Is Fun posts this summer, here is a little history. For those of you who have already read about it, you can skip the next 3 paragraphs.

Up until last summer (2009) we really hadn't done much as a family. My boys are little hellions so I avoided public things as much as possible. Plus I don't really like to be around a bunch of people. So that means the Circus, the Fair, Water parks, the zoo, the Carnival, Disney Land, for the love of pete even the mall, all those things are BAD ideas for us.

Anyway, some time last summer, Hubbs had the brilliant idea of trying camping. We went on our very first "As A Family" camping trip in August (I think) and we were hooked. We spent almost every weekend of August and September out in the woods.

It solved our problems with not spending time together and not doing much with the boys.

So here are 1-10 of my tips for camping with kids. And dogs. In a tent.
1) Bring twice as many diapers. It is inevitable that Bobblehead gets the squirts for at least half of a day when we are camping.
2) Bring 3 times the wipes. I have baby wipes everywhere. In the car, in the tent, in the diaper bag, in all 3 of the trucks, at work, in every room of our home. Baby wipes are great for those "good enough" cleanings, especially when you are camping. Marshmallowy fingers? Get the wipes. Dirty face? Get the wipes. Need to blow your nose? Get the wipes. They also take makeup off.
3) Dress in layers. Even for bed. Out here, the temperature changes quickly. It can go from hot and sunny to cold and rainy in no time.
4) Don't forget the sunscreen. I got a horrible sunburn on one of the trips. I was sitting under the trees, in the shade and still got burned.
5) Remember the First Aid Kit! Someone always gets hurt.
6) If foods need to be cut up, do it at home and not at camp if at all possible. You know all those Ziploc containers we can get for cheap/free? The ones with the blue lids? Those are PERFECT to use to store food in a cooler. They seal up well enough to keep the melted ice out and they stack!
7) If you can find one, buy a plastic egg holder. You will know it when you see it. Look in the camping section at Walmart or Big 5. It is bright yellow and folds up. Now it will NOT keep water off of your eggs but it WILL keep your eggs from breaking better than the egg cartons which disintegrate in a cooler. Ok, I found a green one at amazon.com
8) Bring Glow Sticks! The bracelet size is perfect. As soon as it starts to get dark, break out the glow sticks and cover your kids in them. Arms, legs, belt loops, anywhere you can. They help me keep track of the boys in the dark and they help the boys get to sleep in the tent. They also help me keep track of the dogs in the dark. 1 bracelet sized stick around the little dogs neck, 2 around the big dogs neck. If you are camping with a group, the glow sticks will make you the coolest mom in camp for the night.
9) Bring REAL shoes. Like sneakers with laces. If you are anything like me and live in sandals in the summer, you will want to fight this tip. BUT good shoes are a must! I wear my sandals when I am driving up to our camping spot but change into real shoes as soon as we start unloading our stuff. I put my sandals inside the tent until after the kids are asleep and I don't have to chase anyone or even walk farther than the pee bush.
And 10) Make sure all the food is put away before you start getting drunk. This includes the dog food and even the garbage. We had a furry friend run off with all the dog food on our first camping trip because we forgot to put our stuff away. I learned my lesson and everything gets put away before the kids even get put to bed.

Check back next week for tips 11-20. Maybe. If I don't forget. :)

Thanks!

Thank you all for the encouragement today!

This afternoon has been harder to deal with than this morning was but I am still going strong.



P. S. What is up with all the spam lately? I have had to delete more spam comments today than I ever have had to.

I am enabling the word verification thing again until the spamming dies down.

Big Day Today

I am quitting smoking today.

I have smoked since I was 16 so 11 years. I have tried to quit 3 times and failed miserably all 3 times. Hopefully the 4th time is the charm.

Hubbs is quitting too. But he gets to quit his Skoal habit as well as his smoking.

Yay for no more spitter cans laying around the house just waiting to be knocked over.

I think once I have kicked my habit, I will become a better mom. Lately, I have been kind of slacking on doing things with the boys. I won't have any excuses not to.

Keep your fingers crossed that I can get through the next couple of day without killing anyone!

Where Has The Time Gone

Seriously, it is already the 8th and not one post from me yet.

Ok, so I will start with our horrible drive up to MIL last weekend. We got out of town early, like 7:30. We are driving along the highway, doing good. All of a sudden, not even an hour out of town there is snow, icy roads and fog. Great.

We get through all that, through Gallup and on a different highway. Right between Gallup and Shiprock, in the middle of nowhere, the car in front of us slams on their brakes. Hubbs taps his breaks and we just happen to be on an ice patch.

I, of course, am not wearing my seat belt because I was turned around yelling at Monk Man to get his ass in his seat. This is where I get a little fuzzy. I hear Hubbs say, "Oh Shit" so I turn forwards and we are spinning into the other lane of traffic. We hadn't spun far enough to get out of the ice so we kept sliding. And sliding. I see this giant pile of dirt on the side of the road and we are sliding sideways into it. Since I am a dumbass, I braced myself. I planted my feet in the floor, covered my face with one arm, stuck my other arm against the door, took a deep breath and stiffened up. When we hit the dirt, it was about a foot away from my window.

Then we started to tip. I remember thinking, "How the hell am I going to get the kids out if we roll?" Luckily, there wasn't enough momentum to make us roll. But we did hit hard enough to separate the 2 right side tires from the wheel bead. By the time Hubbs got us turned around the right direction and on the right side of the road the front tire had already gone flat but the rear tire was losing air much slower.

We sat on the side of the road for 2 damn hours. I called my shop first to see if they could track down a tow truck. Nothing. I called 911 to see if they could get somebody out to us. Nothing from them either. I called FILs insurance. They called a tow truck from a company nowhere even remotely close to where we were. Unacceptable.

Hubbs and I argued about should we wait, should we try to drive, should we have my dad bring us my car and have the Tahoe towed later. I finally decided that we were going to put the spare on the front and drive as far as we could while the other tire had air in it still.

We made it to a tire shop and got the tired put back on the wheels correctly. The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. The boys slept from the time we left the tire shop until we pulled up to MILs house. I was so tired that I didn't think I would be able to stay awake until midnight but I drank a Red Bull and chased that with a bottle of wine.

We played cards until midnight and then I finally got to go to bed.

What started out as being an 8 to 10 hour drive turned into a 14 hour nightmare. But I should be thankful that it wasn't worse than it was because it could have turned out way different.

Holiday Insanity

We are leaving in the morning for our 10+ hour drive to Colorado.

Oh goody. I might as well start knocking back shots right now.

As always, everything has been left up to me to take care of. And there is sooo much to do.

And traveling with a 2 year old and a 4 year old is not easy. Nor is it fun.

We had originally planned to leave this afternoon when I got off work early but I am having to work all day so we will leave in the morning.

I am so not even going to get the boys dressed. They can stay in their pajamas.

Things done:
I have their car bag packed. Hopefully, I packed enough stuff in there to keep them occupied for at least half the drive. If I remember correctly, this is what is in their travel bag:

• 2 boxes of crayons and 2 coloring books (we all know that they won't share)
• Monk Man's Leapster 2
• Bobblehead's "Laptop"
• a couple of Baby Einstein books I got in the mail Saturday
• a few action figures (X-Men, G I Joes, Little Peoples)
• the new V-Motion (because Monk Man won't let it go in their suitcase)
• some picture books
• and some of their cds

I also have a "secret" bag packed with juice boxes, suckers, Teddy Grahams and 2 candy bars.

Oh, and I found their beanies, mittens AND hoodies already.

And stuff I have to do still:

• pack clothes
• pack Bendaroos
• pack some books and magazines for me
• buy MIL some nacho cheese (her Walmart wont carry the good stuff)
• find the phone chargers
• find my sunglasses
• pack bathroom stuff (makeup, shampoo, conditioner, toothbrushes, toothpaste, tweezers, nail clippers, hair brushes)
• find a blanket big enough yet small enough for the car
• pack up the gifts

Plus, I guess we are doing some kind of cooking competition thing. MIL said that they got the idea from Top Chef. Ummm, we don't watch Top Chef so I have no idea. All I know is that I have to come up with something to cook. Riiiight. I think she forgot that I can't cook. Hubbs, BIL and step FIL are cooking the main dishes. MIL and I are cooking sides.

After days of stressing about this (because I can't even make Crescent Dogs without someone getting food poisoning) I have decided on either my Baked Mac & Cheese or Fancy Mashed Potatoes.

I am still keeping my fingers crossed that I get to leave work early (due to no business, that is another blog post) so I can make a dent in all the shit I still have to do. Even if I do get out of here early, I am sure I will still be awake at midnight trying to get everything done.

It is going to be a giant Red Bull kind of day.

But What If Santa Is A Dirtbag?

Monk Man gets a little worried about the craziest stuff sometimes.

We had just finished the first part of our 2 part Christmas eve tradition, the boys opening 1 pre-determined gift each.

Pajamas! Sometimes matching, sometimes not, sometimes festive, sometimes not. How fun, I know. But they are adorable!

So the boys are getting their pajamas on and their coats because we are off to complete our 2nd part of our Christmas eve tradition: Driving through town to look at all the houses that are decorated with lights.

All of a sudden, Monk Man freezes. He has gotten his pajamas all the way on except for an arm and gets this terrified look on his face.

Mom: Dude, finish getting dressed. It is time to go see lights.
Monk Man: Mom! What if Santa is a bad guy! What if he is a (gasp).....dirtbag?

Hubbs and I look at each other and bust out laughing. By the time we finally get our shit together enough to be able to breath again, Monk Man has forgotten about Dirtbag Santa.

Where he got that idea, I have no idea. So far, he hasn't brought it up again. I need to figure out what to say the next time he asks something similar. Because you know he is going to.

Work Music

The bosses are gone this afternoon and the shop manager has had MY kind of music on.

We are currently rocking out to Head Like A Hole by Nine Inch Nails. Right before that, we were listening to Tool.

At work.

I am in Heaven!

New Tires

Sooo not a bargain.

My driver side rear tire has been going flat every couple of mornings for about 2 weeks now. I go out to start the car so it is warm for the boys and there is a flat tire. So I drag out the air compressor, let it charge up, air up the tire and put it all away again. All at the butt crack of dawn in the freezing cold. My neighbors are starting to really hate me.

It was getting to be a HUGE pain in the ass so I took it to the tire shop Friday. They said it was a valve stem. They fix it and I bring it home.

By Saturday morning the damn tire is flat again. So I make Hubbs air up the tire so we can run our errands. By 7 that night, the tire was flat. Again.

Yesterday, I took my car back to the tire shop. Obviously it wasn't the valve stem because it is worse than before. I tell them to fix my stupid flucking tire right and call me when it was done.

Yesterday afternoon I got a call. Apparently Friday when I said the driver side rear tire was flat they thought I meant the passenger side front tire was the one with the issue.

That sounds totally the same, right? Stupid shits replaced the valve stem on the passenger side front tire. And the valve stem wasn't even the problem. Uhhh, duh?

My tire keeps going flat because it is separating on the inside. Ok, so I need a new tire. They also casually asked if I knew that my front tires were a different size than the rear ones.

YES? I have been telling them for a year that my tires are rubbing on my struts. I can hear it every time I turn. Plus if I look in the wheel well, I can see where the rubber is being worn away on the inside.

I get that I am a chick and am inferior because I don't have a penis *snort* but I am NOT stupid. I was temped to ask him if he had forgotten that I work in a body shop. Dummy.

So really, I need 4 new tires but can get away with only getting 2 right now.

I had to sit down when they told me how much each tire cost. $250 each tire. I told them very nicely where they could shove those $250 tires. I can get them cheaper somewhere else and would never be using that tire shop again.

In order not to lose business the tire guy said he would give me 2 tires for $211. That was a little more reasonable but not even close to what I really wanted to spend which was nothing since it was their screw up in the first (and second) place.

Ugh, it killed me to write out that check. And I should have just picked up my car and not let that shop touch another thing on it. I know better than that! But it had to be done right then.

I only spent the money I had and didn't have to put it on a credit card. So a teeny yay for me.

BUT, if everything goes as planned........in a couple of weeks Hubbs and I will own half of a business. BIG yay for me! Keep your fingers crossed for me please.

Check back to read more about our big business venture. I have a post started already but it is all jumbled because I am still trying to process it all.

Our Dogs

Our crazy dogs are as bad as the kids!

I just got out of the shower (yes, I am aware it is already 10 a.m.) to find the kitchen trash can knocked over. Even better....there is a garbage trail from the trash can across the kitchen, down the hall and out the doggie door.

I don't even want to look outside and see the mess they created in the back yard.

Duke is hiding under my computer desk and Molly has buried herself under the stuffed animals in the boys closet. They KNOW they are busted.

Wet coffee grounds, egg shells, a rotten bag of salad mix and cardboard is going to be SO much fun to clean up.

PS3

So our PS3 is broken. It suddenly stopped reading discs the other day.

Wonderful. The family gift from Santa is Guitar Hero for the damn PS3.

I know what the problem is. It is a faulty laser and I am one of about a hundred thousand people that have had this problem. Playstation wants (you might want to sit down for this) $160 to fix it. Plus they will probably keep it for 6 months too.

The lasers are selling for that much on Amazon and ebay so no luck doing it myself for cheaper.

Sonofabitch.

Very Excited

A few months ago I found out the my BFF (Bugs) had gotten engaged and she had mentioned that she would like me to help her plan it.

Well, she sent me a note on Facebook officially asking me to be her Wedding Planner.

I am soooo excited and kinda scared all at the same time. I got married in Vegas so I have no experience at all.

But who better to practice on than my BFF?!? Plus I am doing it for free, as my gift to her.

Time to start getting my ass in gear. For real this time.

I will (hopefully) keep our progress updated on the blog.

Holiday Ramble

After going a little overboard on Christmas presents this year and a VERY expensive hunting trip, I have accepted that money is back to being tight again.

So I have another year of making decorations instead of buying them. Last year, all I made was construction paper garland for the tree. The tree is prelit but I have no ornaments. Well, I DO have ornaments but they are glass and are in storage until the boys are a little older.

The boys begged me to put the tree up on the Sunday after Thanksgiving and I caved. The tree went up and was plugged in. It looked sooooo bare. We found the 2 teeny trees that I had forgotten I had. Those got fluffed out and now flank the big tree. It was cute but still looked incomplete.

Last Sunday, the boys and I sat on the floor and made construction paper garland again. Cut, loop, staple. Repeat for hours. The garland got draped around the tree. The presents not from Santa got wrapped and put under the tree too. That still didn't look festive enough.

So last night, I decided I was going to make Salt Dough Ornaments. It turns out that I make ornaments as badly as I cook. Instead of rolling the dough to 1/4 inch thick, I rolled it out to more like 1/16 inch thick and they burned. BUT I have some super thick white paint that should cover up the ugly so we can paint them to look decent. Tonight, I plan on painting the ornaments white so they will be dry enough to decorate tomorrow night.

Salt Dough Ornament Recipe:
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 cup water

Mix flour and salt. Add water and mix. Take dough out of bowl and knead until smooth, like sugar cookie dough. Add more flour if the dough is too sticky. Heat oven to 300. After the dough is mixed, roll out to 1/4 inch (very important) on a well floured surface. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters and poke a hole in the tops to thread ribbon through after baked and decorated. Place on foil lined cookie sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes or until firm and dry. Let cool and decorate with paint, glitter, beads, ribbon, whatever. Let dry and hang on tree or use as gift labels.

Snow?

What a night it was!

The wind started blowing hard around 11:30 and blew ALL night. The power went off when it started to snow. Since no power means no heater, it got COLD!

Luckily, the kids have more blankets on their bed than they know what to do with and have decided to share the bottom bunk. I got up and piled all the blankets on them and tossed Molly (the little dog) in with them so they would stay warm.

I am SO happy I made them put on their warmer pajamas when they started to fight with me before bed instead of giving in and letting them sleep in their undies.

By the time I got back to bed, I was frozen. I made Hubbs move over to my side of the bed since his was already warm and cuddled up with Duke (the big dog).

The sun was up around 7ish and still no damn power. By 7:30 the power was back on. The heaters kicked back on so I decided I had better get up and get ready for work.

I was pissed when I remembered that my coffee machine is a Bunn. I got to the kitchen, stopped in front of the coffee machine and did the whole "Forehead slap-Doh!" thing. I have a love/hate relationship with it. It has to stay plugged in so that the water inside stays hot. If it gets unplugged or the power goes off, the water inside cools down very fast. As long as it stays hot, the coffee is made like it should be. If it isn't hot, all that comes out is cold yuck.

But there is coffee at work!

So that is where I am now. Sitting at work watching the snow melt.

It is going to be a sloooow day. School is cancelled because they don't think the power is going to stay on consistently. No mail because the wind blew the truck over on the highway last night. No parts delivery because the roads around us are closed.

I have been here an hour and 43 minutes. Not a damn thing has happened. Wait, the phone rang twice.

At least the internet is working and I have coffee. I will survive. Off to blog stalk!

I Feel Like Crap

Uuuuggghhhh.

My stomach is SO angry. I really hope I don't barf.

Plus I am a little dizzy, am having hot/cold flashes and I can hardly concentrate.

Bobblehead was sick on Saturday but was fine on Sunday. I am not sure if it was a bug or if I gave him food poisoning.

Why yes, I am the worlds worst cook! Thanks for noticing!

Hubbs is out in the woods chasing Elk for another 2 days so I have no other choice than to cook.

The boys had better be happy with a bowl of cold cereal for dinner tonight.

Dinner, a bath and then bed. I am sooo not messing around tonight.

Poor Blog

My poor blog has been neglected for almost a month.

I have been a wreck. Between stress at work, home and everywhere in between, the blog has been put at the bottom of my "To Do" lists.

I will try to get on tonight and update what has been going on. Don't worry, it isn't bad news really. I am just sweating the small stuff as usual.

Glade Candle Tins

If you are having a hard time finding the Glade candle tins at Target, try Wal-mart or Safeway.

Apparently no one in my area knows about how cheap this Glade is.

I don't have a Target near me so I don't know all the details about it but I know there is a gift card involved. Target seems to have the best deal.

There were blinky machines up that had coupons in them for "Buy any Glade Scented Oil Candles holder and get a refill pack FREE". I happened to snag my fair share of these at my Safeway.

I was at Safeway last night buying beer and walked down the candle/dog food aisle. The blinky machine was still up so I let Monk Man snag a few since he loves playing with the machine. I just happened to notice that the tins were in stock. Score! They were priced at $2.49 when you buy 3 or more. Bigger score! I grabbed 3 tins and 3 refills to do the deal. All the tins I grabbed had the $1.50 off coupon inside. Yay!

So here is the math
$2.49 Tin ($4.29 regular price)
$2.49 Tin
$2.49 Tin
$2.49 Refill ($3.99 regular price)
$2.49 Refill
$2.49 Refill
$1.36 Tax
=$16.30
-1.50 coupon
-1.50 coupon
-1.50 coupon
-2.49 free coupon
-2.49 free coupon
-2.49 free coupon
=4.33 out of pocket

It would be an even better deal if you can find a cashier that will give the full $3.99 off for the FREE coupon. That would give you an overage of $0.17 for every set of 3 refills (I think).

The blinkys don't expire until January and the tin coupons don't expire until March so I will be going back for more cheap candles as long as the price stays the same.

I am not sure what I am going to do with them all though. These are the only brand of candles we use so I am sure we will go through a lot of them. But I think that if I ever get my ass in gear and do this yard sale I keep thinking about, I will unload some there.

Halloween Pics

The boys went weeks without deciding on what they wanted to dress up as so I made the decision for them.

I decided that they were going to be Lego's. And I made the costumes all by myself.

Here are pictures from Trick or Treating last night

Here is Bobblehead. He wasn't thrilled to be stuck in a box.


Here is Monk Man. He was being shy. I wonder what happened to his sock?








Please ignore my incredibly messy house. I have been slacking on housework but today is reserved for cleaning.

Spooky

I finally got around to reading the post secret secrets for this week. I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw this one:



It gave me the chills.

See, MY birth mother was 15 or 16 when I was born. She was LDS (mormon) and was strongly encouraged to put me up for adoption since she was too young to get married or take care of a child on her own.

That is according to the stories that I have heard. Long story short, my birth mom and I just happened to have the same Seminary teacher in high school. His name is Gary. Gary and his wife were in the process of adopting and since this is such a small town word gets around pretty quickly. My adoptive mom (Nonnie) became very close friends with them and helped them out the best she could. Nonnie knew Gary had taught Seminary at one of the high schools in the city I was born in around the time I was born. She casually asked Gary if he had known my birth mom (obviously she used her name) either while he was teaching or involved with the LDS church. He knew her and remembered that she had been pregnant. Putting 2 and 2 together he figured it out.

Shortly after that, Gary and his wife got the baby they were waiting for and had to move. Their baby's birth mom apparently was mentally unstable and they were afraid that if she found them she would try to take him back or something.

I didn't know that the conversations about my birth mother even happened until after I had turned 18 and by then Gary and his family had been long gone to somewhere in Utah.

I would give just about anything to be able to talk to Gary about my birth mom. It would be one step closer to finding her. I really don't know if I want a relationship with her, that is something I go back and forth on because it scares the shit out of me. I just want her to know that she did make the right decision and that I have never been angry about it. I want to know what she and my birth father look like. I want to know if I have any siblings out there.

Most of all, I want my medical history. I hate having to explain to doctors and dentists and psychologists and insurance companies why I leave all the answers blank when the forms ask for the parents medical history. The look of pity most of them give me pisses me the hell off.

Back before Hubbs and I got married, he took me to the city my birth parents went to school in. He found the public library where the high school year books were stored and made arrangements for us to go in and be able to spend all day searching through the year books looking for either of my birth parent's pictures. We did find one picture that matched my birth father's name but the picture was of a black guy and I am so white I am clear. While it is technically possible, I don't think it was really him, but it would totally be okay if it was.

I have to go pick up Hubbs from FIL's house in a minute. Maybe I will post more about the whole adoption thing tomorrow, maybe some other day, or maybe not. I don't really get in the mood to post about it very often and I usually change my mind and delete it instead of publishing it.

Snow?

All the weather forecasts point towards snow tonight.

In October?

In Arizona?

Unreal.

I already feel like I am freezing to death. Weatherbug says that it is 63 degrees but it feels a hell of a lot colder than that. It is pretty nasty outside.

President Obama and Swine Flu

President Barack Obama has signed a proclamation declaring swine flu a national emergency

Seriously???

I can't even imagine the pandemonium this will cause. What the hell is he thinking! And to compare it to a hurricane? Stupid. Talk about fear mongering.

National emergency or not, we will not be getting the vaccine. There are still wayyyy too many things that aren't know about the vaccine for me to feel comfortable with.

Tuesday Dinner: Breakfast Rice & Rasin Toast

This is a very easy and quick dinner or breakfast.

1 serving = ½ cup instant rice and ½ cup water
I can never remember that ratio for some reason.

Bring water to a boil. Add instant rice to boiling water. Cover pan and let sit 8 minutes or until water is absorbed. Serve with sugar and milk.

Monday Dinner: Monster Mash Hash

(I doubled this recipe. There was enough for dinner and lunch the next day)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 lb ground turkey
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 can (8oz) stewed tomatoes, cut up
1/4 cup Ketchup
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1 can (7oz) whole kernel corn
8oz. pasta (I used egg noodles)
Mozzarella Cheese, shredded

In large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Add turkey, onion & garlic. Cook, stirring until turkey is browned.
To skillet add tomatoes, Ketchup, oregano, salt & pepper. Heat to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer 15 minutes.
To mixture in skillet, add corn & its liquid. Heat through.
Serve on pasta.

Sunday Dinner: Perfect Pizza

Ingredients
1 1/4 c warm water
1 pkg active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 tbls olive oil
1 tsp salt
3 1/2 c all-purpose flour
2 tsp cornmeal
1 c pizza sauce
Assorted toppings
2 c shredded mozzarella cheese

Place 1/4 c warm water in a large bowl. Sprinkle yeast over water and stir in sugar. Let stand 5-10 minutes or until bubbly. Add remaining water, oil and salt. Stir in flour until dough pulls away from side of bowl.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth, 8-10 minutes. Coat large bowl with cooking spray; place dough in bowl, turning to grease top. Cover loosely. Let rise in warm place until almost double in size, about 45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 450 F. Punch down dough. Coat two 12 inch pizza pans with cooking spray; sprinkle pans with cornmeal. Divide dough in half. Roll dough to fit prepared pans; press dough against edge to form rim. Bake crust for 10 minutes.

Remove crust from oven and top with pizza sauce. Add the toppings and sprinkle with cheese. Bake until cheese is melted, 15-20 minutes longer.

**Hint: The secret to rolling pizza dough is to let it rest for 10 minutes after it is about half the size needed. Then it will easily stretch the rest of the way

Friday Dinner~~Hillbilly Cheese Dip with Thursday and Saturday thrown in for good measure

1 lb hamburger
1 lg pkg of Velveeta (cubed)
2 c milk
2 small cans of green chilies (drained)
1/4 diced onion
1/2 pkg taco seasoning
1 can Rotell (or any canned) tomatoes (drained)
1 can refried beans
1 Bag Tortilla chips

In deep saucepan, cook hamburger and onion, drain, and set aside. In same saucepan, add milk and cubed Velveeta. Stir constantly (or else it will burn) until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and add taco seasoning. Mix well. Add remaining ingredients except chips. Put saucepan back on heat and stir constantly until well mixed and semi-smooth.

Serve with Tortilla chips.

Thursday Dinner: It was Nonnie's birthday so we had Mexican Food at her house. Hubbs brought Mexican Rice. Nothing special, just the Rice-a-Roni kind.

Saturday Dinner: Sandwiches
We had fried PB&Js and Doritos. It was deliciously nasty.

Tuesday and Wednesday Dinner~~Breakfast

Tuesday Dinner~~Eggs, toast, bacon and hash browns. Yummy!

Wednesday Dinner~~Blue Berry Pancakes
2 boxes Jiffy Blueberry muffin mix
Just follow the directions on the box for the pancakes.

Special Syrup
1 can evaporated milk
1 evaporated milk can full of sugar
Add both ingredients to a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Serve over pancakes.

Monday Dinner:Chicken Alfredo and Parmesean Bread

1 jar Alfredo Sauce
1 pkg Linguine Noodles
4 boneless skinless chicken breast
1 loaf french bread
margarine
Parmesan cheese

Dice chicken breasts and pan fry.
Cook noodles according to Al-Dente directions on package.
Heat Alfredo Sauce and add chicken. Stir until mixed well. Add noodles and serve.

Slice french bread in half longways. Slather on margarine and sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top. Bake in oven at 400 until margarine is melted.

Saturday and Sunday Dinner~~Baked Potato Soup

Peel and dice 5 or 6 potatoes. Boil until soft. While the potatoes are cooking, chop an onion and put in crockpot. Drain potatoes, mash and put in crockpot. Add 2 cans evaporated milk (not condensed), 3 cups milk, salt, pepper, 1 tsp crushed garlic, and enough water to cover potatoes. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, stirring occasionally. Add a pouch of potato topping (found in produce section at grocery store) and cook on low for another 10-20 minutes.

You can substitute potato flakes for fresh potatoes. I can’t imagine it would taste any different. But it would eliminate all the peeling, cutting, boiling and mashing. I might try it next time.

Sunday Dinner: We had leftovers.

Friday Dinner~~Cheese Crisps

Ingredients:
2 flour tortillas for each person
margarine
shredded cheese
Directions:
Heat oven to 400. Lightly spray a cookie sheet with Pam. Spread margarine over one side of tortilla and place on cookie sheet. Add a handful of cheese to one side. Fold tortilla over cheese. Repeat for 2nd tortilla.

Bake for 3 minutes or until cheese begins to melt. Flip tortilla over. Bake until tortilla starts to turn golden brown and cheese finishes melting. This takes another 4-7 minutes depending on the type of cheese used.

Use pizza cutter to cut cheese crisp and serve with dishes of refried beans, sour cream and salsa for dipping.

Thursday Dinner~~Pizza and Calzones

I resisted the urge to order Dominos and made pizzas and calzones instead. It was just cheese and pepperoni but really good. Pretty cheap too. I didn't have to go to the store for anything since everything was already in my pantry and freezer.
2 cans Pillsbury thin crust pizza dough
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1 pkg of pepperoni
16 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
8 oz shredded Cheddar cheese
cornmeal
cooking spray
Preheat oven according to pizza dough directions on can. Lightly spray a rectangle cookie sheet with Pam and sprinkle a bit of cornmeal on it. Roll out pizza dough. For Calzones, cut dough down the middle, for pizzas leave intact. Spread 2+ Tbls spaghetti sauce over dough, leaving 1/2 inch unsauced all the way around for crust. Layer pepperoni, mozzarella cheese and then cheddar cheese on half of dough for Calzones, and over all the dough for pizza. For Calzones, fold bare half of dough over toppings, pinch and tuck under to seal on all 3 open sides. Cook for 11 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbling.

Meals

Whoah. Looks like I hit enter once too many times there.

I am working on getting our meals since last Wednesday all typed out. Each recipe is (hopefully) going to have its own post for easier reference.

Hooray

The internet here at work was down almost all day yesterday. I was SO bored. But I think I have finally gotten completely caught up.

Now to catch up on the blogging stuff.

Getting Caught Up

Who knew that taking a week off for vacation would leave me with so much stuff to catch up on when I got back?

I have been working all week to get caught up on last week. I finally got through all the stacks of last weeks junk on my desk yesterday.

Now I have this weeks junk to catch up on. Hopefully I can get it all done today.

If so, then I can catch up on my blog and everybody else's blogs.

Thread Memory is BACK!

Holy shitballs. Babycenter has thread memory again.

This is awesome news.

Dinners

I have really been slacking on the blogging since vacation started.

Whoops.

Catching up on dinners since Friday today. Lots of prices missing. I may come back to this post and add prices.

Friday Dinner
Fettuccine Alfredo
1 box of Fettuccine noodles (free when I bought sauce)
1 jar of Alfredo Sauce (2/$5 minus 2 $.50 coupons doubled)
1 loaf of garlic bread (2/$5 minus 2 $.50 coupons doubled)
Cook everything according to package/jar directions.
Everything was from the pantry and freezer. The sales were from a few months ago so I am completely going off memory on the prices.

Saturday Dinner
Green Chili & Tortillas
I have posted that recipe here before I think.

Sunday Dinner
Ham and Beans
1 lb sliced Honey Baked Ham (gift from FIL, $75-80 for huge ham)
2 cups dry beans (Hubbs family has something to do with a bean farm so free)
2 boxes of Jiffy Cornbread mix (2/$1)

Soak beans in water over-night to soften. In the morning, drain beans, rinse and throw in crock pot. Add ham and enough water to cover. Cook on low all day. Bake cornbread according to package directions.

Monday Dinner
Hubbs and Monk Man had reheated ham and beans. Bobblehead and I had reheated green chili.

Tuesday Dinner
Mashed Potato Tacos
1 pkg corn tortillas
1 large potato each person plus 1 extra
shredded Cheddar cheese
Salsa or El Pato sauce
Boil a pan of water. Peel potatoes and dice. Add potatoes to water and return to a boil. Reduce to medium heat and cover. Cook potatoes until they slide off a fork when poked. Warm corn tortillas in hot vegetable oil. Set aside to cool. Drain potatoes and mash. Add 1 cup milk and cheese. Cover half of the corn tortilla with potato mixture. Fold tortilla over and fry in hot oil until crunchy. Serve with salsa or El Pato sauce.
The kids were full on 2 tacos each. Hubbs and I had 4 each.

Tonight's Dinner (Wednesday)
Huevos Rancheros
Left over green chili
left over beans (ham removed)
3 potatoes
1 pkg corn tortillas
eggs
vegetable oil
shredded cheddar cheese

Peel potatoes and dice. Fry until crunchy. Warm corn tortillas in hot oil and set aside. Reheat green chili. Re fry beans by putting in a skillet, heating and mashing with fork. Fry egg.
Huevos Rancheros layers: Tortilla, fried potatoes, refried beans, green chili, egg. Top with shredded cheddar cheese.

Career Stuff

Remember how I said I decided I wanted to be an Event Planner? I am actually following through with this idea.

Last week (before Hubbs went into Extreme Saving Mode) I was cruising eBay and came across the Knot's Ultimate Wedding Planner for $4.

Score!

That came in the mail yesterday. I leafed through it while I was waiting on the potatoes to turn into hashbrowns. But since I was trying to do 2 things at once, I didn't get too deep into it. I did notice some awesome checklists which is very appealing to my analness.

I am really excited to be able to sit down and really read it, hopefully tonight while sitting in the bathtub, sipping a Cosmopolitan.

Another sign that I just might actually pull it off? I have started talking about it face to face with some of my friends and famdamily. Now I have to at least try.

Low Cost Dinner

An Extreme Saving Mode post today.

In order to stay accountable in the whole "cooking from the pantry and stockpile" thing I talked about yesterday, I am going to have to blog about what I made for dinner and maybe how much it cost.

You all will keep me in check right? Spank me when I cave and get fast food or delivery, ok?

Last night I dug through the fridge to find dinner. Hubbs has already caved and offered to order a Dominos Pizza (one of my weaknesses). But I stood my ground and told him he was being a lazy ass.

We have so much in our fridge right now that it is almost impossible to find anything. Cleaning out the fridge is the first thing on my vacation to-do list.

So back to what I cooked for dinner. Bacon, eggs and browns. Breakfast for dinner doesn't happen very often at our house anymore so it was a nice treat.

I got the bacon on sale last week for 2/$6 and used 2 $1 coupons so was $2/lb. I used 1/2 lb last night. I got the eggs for free since they didn't get rang up at the register. I noticed it when I was looking over my receipt later that day and I did call Safeway but they told me not to worry about it. They should have been $.99 for 18 and used 6. And the potatoes were 5 lbs/$.99. I used 4 large potatoes so maybe 2 lbs. The bacon was pretty fatty so no other grease was needed.

1/2 lb bacon: $1.00
6 eggs: $.30
2 lbs potatoes: $.38
Total cost of dinner: $1.68 for 4 people.
The cost of the pizza Hubbs wanted to order: $14.00

Not too bad. I found a bunch of recipes yesterday that have ingredients I think I already have. Well, most of the ingredients. I think after I clean out the fridge tomorrow I am going to sit down with the Safeway ad and figure out what I need to add to the grocery list for Sunday.

Damn, I just realized that if it wasn't for Hubbs beer, I would have a teeny grocery bill. Maybe I will have to do a separate transaction for the beer and see how low I can get my bill.

Pantry Cooking

Hubbs has decided that we are going into "Extreme Saving" mode. He always freaks out a few days before payday. But usually he just rants about it for a few hours and forgets about it by the next day.

Not this time though.

This time he is actually following through with it. I was chosen to be in charge of the meal planning. Oh goody. I will probably have to cook it all too.

But instead of starting a fight about it, I actually started looking for recipes. I will post our meal plan in a few days, after I get it all worked out.

We will just have to take it like everything else, one day at a time.

We are going to have to focus our meals on what is already in the pantry and freezer. Luckily I have a pretty nice sized pantry of food stuff to work with.

Fun Fall Craft

I am soooo doing this craft with the boys next week. I think that the grandmas would appreciate it. Hooray for vacation and cheap Christmas presents.

From Martha Stewart: Leaf Print Tablecloth
Using leaves for craft projects is one way to capture the beauty of autumn. Fallen leaves can be used as stamps to decorate a tablecloth.

Collect leaves of various shapes and sizes, and use only the best specimens. You'll need fabric paints in fall colors, such as brown, dark green, and deep red. You can customize your own colors through blending the paints.

To make your tablecloth design, experiment by moving the leaves around on the fabric. You can create a border, but covering the entire tablecloth with leaf prints is also lovely.

Tools and Materials
Sponge brushes
Leaves of various sizes and shapes (make sure they are not brittle)
Fabric paint
Light-colored cotton or linen tablecloth, prewashed
Paper towel, parchment paper, or kraft paper
Brayer or rolling pin
Iron
Muslin or scrap fabric (optional)

Leaf Print Tablecloth How-To
1. Use a sponge brush to lightly coat the veined underside of your leaf with fabric paint.

2. Place the leaf, paint side down, onto the tablecloth. Cover the leaf with kraft paper, parchment paper, or a paper towel to prevent the paint from getting on the brayer or rolling pin.

3. Roll the brayer over the paper a few times, firmly pressing the painted leaf onto the fabric. Keep the paper as still as possible; if it shifts, the paint beneath the leaf will smudge. Lift up the paper and the leaf.

4. Repeat the process, using a different leaf and different piece of paper for each new print.

5. Before heat-setting the paint, wait 24 hours. With the pattern side down, press the cloth with an iron set at medium high. Protect your ironing board by covering it with a piece of muslin or scrap fabric first.

1 And 2 Years Ago Today

For the first time in who knows how long, I can remember exactly what I was doing not 1 but 2 years ago today.

2 years ago today, I was eating Blueberry Betty and Geocashing in the middle of nowhere (not at the same time) to try and start contractions. Bobblehead wasn't quite as ready as I was though. MIL was running out of vacation time and was going to have to go home in 3 days if something didn't happen.

1 year ago today, we were in Iowa visiting Hubbs. We took the kids and MIL to the Steamboat Museum in the early afternoon and I think that was the same night Hubbs and Lonnie took me to my first titty bar.

And today? I am sitting at work watching the wind blow and drinking a humongous Red Bull. Strangely, MIL is with the family this year too.

My first paid vacation ever starts on Friday at 5:00 p.m. I am so excited to have a week that I can do whatever I want. Not have to worry about getting to work or getting the kids off to daycare. I can just do whatever, whenever. And still get paid for it.

I have a list of things I am going to do.

I am going to screen my calls and not answer the door. I am going to stay up late, get up like normal because of the boys but be able to take a nap if I want. I am going to get all my crap organized for a yard sale and get the State the rest of the information they need to hopefully get us on State health insurance. I am going to get my hair cut. I am going to take the boys around town and finally show them what makes our little town special to me.

Or I might not do any of it. But that is the best part of vacation. If nothing gets done, so be it! It doesn't matter.

Beef and Pasta Bake-Yum

We had this for dinner last night and everybody loved it!

Thanks go to Melissa on the Coupon Board for the recipe.

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked pasta
1 lb. ground beef
1 medium onion
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 can tomato sauce
1 pkg. cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
2 green onion, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Brown beef, garlic and onion. Drain. Add tomato sauce and seasoning. Simmer 15 minutes. Mix sour cream, cream cheese and green onion. Layer cooked pasta, tomato sauce. Spread cheese mixture over top. Sprinkle with cheddar. Bake uncovered about 35 minutes or until top starts to brown.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a great recipe since it uses stuff that I normally have on hand. Next time I make it, I am going to change it a little. After the pasta is cooked, I am going to mix it with 4 beaten eggs before I layer the rest of the ingredients and bake. Personally, I prefer noodles that stick together (like my spaghetti pie recipe) as opposed to them swimming around on my plate.

Bad Mom?

Monk Man has been begging for 2 weeks to go to pre-school. I told him no because I had heard it was really expensive. Now in my mind, really expensive means thousands of $$. We just can't swing that.

Well, last night I found out that it is $75 a month. Now that is doable. Especially when our daycare cost would drop from $360/month to $180/month. Half the time=half the bill. We would be saving money.

This morning, I walked over to the school (which just happens to be across the street from my moms house and daycare) to see what I could find out.

I didn't get any good news. The pre-school runs on the same schedule as a normal school year. Period. The only way they could make an exception was if Monk Man was special needs, which he isn't.

The guy I talked to suggested trying Headstart. My sister's baby's daddy's girlfriend (no lie, this is Springer shit) works for Headstart. She is NOT a good person anymore and I refuse to expose Monk Man to her. See, she used to be a good person. She was actually my next door neighbor and I have known her for years. But then she cheated on her husband (who is still my neighbor) and they got divorced. That is when she turned into what she is now. Psycho bitch.

Anyway, now I feel like a bad mom for not getting Monk Man into pre-school earlier. Does it really make me a bad mom or is it just standard mommy guilt?

I really want to make things right so I need your help. I want to start doing pre-school things at home in the evenings.

1) Tell me, what the hell do kids do in pre-school?
2) Send me any links related to home schooling or preschool. Blogs, printable stuff, pictures, web sites, anything.
3) You can email me: mommycrisp at yahoo dot com, PMAN on babycenter or leave a link in your comment.

Twitter

Well, I drank the Kool-Aid and joined Twitter.

You can follow me if you want. But no pressure.

Before I give the link I feel like I have to give some kind of disclaimer or something. I try to avoid using F-bombs on here. I might not be so careful on Twitter. Just sayin. I will most likely be tweeting from my phone so I probably wont spell correctly or use capital letters either.

Ok, here is the link. http://twitter.com/mommycrisp

I promise I wont be pissed if you don't follow me if you promise not to be pissed if you follow me, I decide I don't like it and quit. Was that confusing enough for you?

Cleaning Fool

I have been a cleaning fool for the past 2 weeks.

It is like that crazy nesting phase I got while I was pregnant.

I let the housework go completely in between camping trips and the disaster I fondly think of as my home was finally starting to get to me. Plus with the MIL planning on visiting next week, I was starting to go a little psycho.

Oh yes, I said next week. What happened to her being here while I am on vacation in 2 weeks? She just decided to change her plans last night. Ummmm, that is too bad MIL. I can NOT change my vacation time with this little of notice. So Hubbs can entertain her while I relax at work.

Anyway, back to cleaning talk.

I started with the office/playroom. I had gone through the boys toys a long time ago. The boys got to keep some, a lot went into the trash, some went to my mom for my nephew, but the majority went into the living room to be given to Step MIL for her CPS kids.

FIL came by to see our "new to us" truck yesterday so I put all the toys that were still sitting in my living room into the back of his Tahoe while he was playing with the boys.

Yay, I have my living room back again!

After FIL left, MIL called to tell us that she was changing her plans.

Huh? Dude! What the hell?

So I took my frustrations out on the bathroom.

You all already know that I am a stockpiler, right? Well, if you didn't, surprise! Please don't think I am like those hoarders you see on Intervention or some other TLC show. I (try to) only keep things we are going to use. Unless it is free, then I give it away to someone who can use it or it gets shelved until I have a yard sale.

What can I say, I love all things coupon! Especially if it smells good because with all these boys in my household, things can start to smell like ass, quickly.

My problem is, I can't keep things organized between stockpile shopping trips, which used to be every weekend. So my bathroom was stuffed full of stuff. I pulled everything out of the cabinets, out of the drawers and off the shelves. That all went in the hall. I grabbed a box and started filling it with the crap like body spray, body glitter, mousse, gel, hairspray, volumizer, gloss oil, sculpting wax, teeny tiny hair clippies, expensive shampoos and conditioners. All the junk that I was never going to use went into that box and set in the bedroom for the yard sale.

I just realized that I could have supplied a strip club for a year with all that stuff. Aaahhhh, the pre-children days.

After all the junk was gone, I organized all the stuff I was keeping.

It looks like a store in my bathroom. All the shampoos, conditioners, bubble bath, buddy bars, band-aids, body wash, and everything else body related are put away in their own rows. The kitchen cleaners, the bathroom cleaners, the Pine-Sol, carpet shampoo, mildew remover, oven cleaner, CLR, Magic Erasers and everything else cleaning related are put away in rows too!

I even got all of my smell good stuff under control. The Glade candles, the refills, the Air-wicks, their refills, the Plug-Ins, their refills, the Renew-zits, Febreeze and all that stuff are all organized in drawers.

My biggest accomplishment was getting space for bath towels. Bath towels are my Achilles Heel! I am really picky about towels. I can't dry off my body with something that might have touched somebody else's ass. I just can't do it.

So everybody gets a new towel, every time they bathe. And I only do laundry once a week. 4 people x 7 days x 1 or 2 bath/showers a day=a TON of bath towels. And washcloths, and hand towels.

Usually, after I do a load of laundry it all goes into the laundry pile until someone needs something to wear/dry off with. Whatever was needed gets removed from the laundry pile. Nothing ever gets put away. If I am feeling super motivated, the clean stuff might end up in their designated laundry basket. Kids clothes are supposed to go in one basket, Hubbs socks get their own basket, grown up pajamas, thongs, boxers and my socks go in another basket, and towels get the biggest basket.

Tonight I am going to not only sort all the towels, I am going to fold them and put them away in their new home, under the sink. For the first time in almost 7 years, I finally have the room to put the towels IN THE BATHROOM, where they belong.

That, in itself, will be one of my greatest accomplishments.

If I end up finished with the towels with enough time before the season premiere of House, I might start on the pantry.

The hall is pretty clean.

The kitchen is good, except for the floor needing to be mopped and the walls around the stove wiped down or repainted. I try to stay out of the kitchen as much as possible. It makes my head hurt. Hubbs will have to deal with that room.

The living room is passable, except for the carpet smells like dirty feet. But the steam cleaner can be ran on Saturday or Sunday before nap time.

You would think with my anal retentiveness and my OCD issues, my house would be cleaner than it is.

Bunkbeds

My mom is getting the boys a bunk bed for their birthdays.

The first thing that popped into my head after hearing this news was the bunk bed scene from the banned-from-our-home-forever movie Step-Brothers. I had to laugh. I couldn't help myself.

If you haven't seen the movie, let explain it a little.

Imagine 2 adult, single men, around 40 years old or so, still living with their parents. These guys are about on the same mentality level as a kindergartner. Action figures, nose picking, a tree house fight, and cockandballs jokes pretty much make up the whole movie.

Ok so these guys have twin beds that they decide would make great bunk beds. A few nails, a bottle of Elmer's Glue and a roll of Scotch Tape later, they have this amazing (to them) bunk bed. Long story short, the bunk bed collapses. Lots of crying, screaming and "Oh my god I am going to die"ing later, their parents decide on no more power tool use is allowed after bedtime.

Don't worry, I don't think that the bunk bed for they boys is going to collapse. I actually think it is a good idea. I mean, it isn't a wow, how fun gift, but whatever. They are still little enough to think cardboard boxes and tissue paper ARE their presents.

The first few nights are going to be interesting. Right now, they both sleep in our room. Monk Man is on a day bed and Bobblehead is still in his pack-n-play. Yeah, almost 2 and still in the PNP. Shame on me. I can so imagine them both sliding across the kitchen floor in their socks and diaper/undies in the middle of the night playing air guitar (like that old Tom Cruise movie) while Hubbs and I are passed out.

Wait, I just realized that I will have a kid free bedroom. For the first time in almost 5 years. How awesome is that? Now if I could only convince Hubbs that sleeping on the couch is good for his hangover, I would be all set.

Another Great Customer

I just got off the phone with Crazy Old Man Ed. Ed claims that we put his headrests on backwards.

Yes, his headrests.

But wait! There is more!

He says his back seat is at a downward angle. To clarify, he slides off of it when he sits on it.

Umm, ok?

I asked him if he locks his car up when he gets out of it.

He doesn't. And he has been somewhere in California since my boss delivered his car to him, 2 weeks ago.

There are too many things wrong with the story for me to believe that our shop is responsible for any of it.

#1. I don't think it is possible to put the head rests on backwards. There are these grooves in the metal that hold them into the seat and make them adjustable. They are like a key, sort of. They only go in one way. I could be totally wrong, but I am pretty sure that they are idiot proof.

#2. The boss, the owner, the one who does the final inspection before the car is released to the customer, drove the car to this guy. I think he, of all people, would notice something like that.

#3. On this particular car, the part you put your ass on is attached to the car. With bolts. The part your back rests against is the part that moves. It folds down and you can see the trunk. Now, this is how I am seeing it in our estimating database. We all know how I can see one thing and my brain reads it some other way, so I am not going to say that I am 100% positive on this one.

#4. I can say, without a doubt, none of our guys would pull a stunt like that. They all value their jobs too much to do something that shitty. I don't think that it would even occur to them to do it at all.

#5. The car was parked on the street, unlocked. For two weeks! Hypothetically, say you CAN put in headrests the wrong way. There are tons of asshole teenagers running around town, unsupervised, in the middle of the night. My money is on some little punk or group of punks doing all that crap to his car. Again, hypothetically speaking.

#6. I forgot what my last point was going to be.

In any case, I told Ed to bring his car by and I will have my boss take a look at everything.

He said sure, as soon as OnStar unlocks the car. Because the one time he does lock the car, he leaves the keys in it.

Dumbass.

Nice Try Buddy

Nice Try Buddy

Click on the link. You know you want to. I promise it isn't nasty or anything.

It is a link to peopleofwalmart.com and I have been over there looking around since about 2 this afternoon.

Funniest shit I have seen/read in a long time.

I am a teeny bit afraid that I am going to find myself pictured on the site.

Spaghetti Sauce Recipes

I don't think I have ever posted my spaghetti sauce recipes on here so here you go.

Growing up I never had jarred spaghetti sauce. My grandpa had the greenest thumb ever and always grew enough tomatoes to can for the whole family to last us well over a year. So I am kinda a sauce snob.

Here is the "From Scratch" recipe:

1 quart jar of canned tomatoes
2 small cans of Hunts Tomato sauce
1 pkg of Lowry's or McCormick's dry spaghetti seasoning
2 cans of diced tomatoes

Add all the ingredients in a large sauce pan. Cover and let simmer all day and stir often.

Now that my grandpa isn't around and my tomatoes haven't done crap the last few years I have to deal with fixing Ragu, Prego or Bertolli jarred sauce.

Slightly different from the home made recipe, here is my "Fixing It" recipe:

1 jar of pre-made sauce (whatever is already in stockpile)
1 small can of Hunts tomato sauce
1 can Rotel or diced tomatoes with peppers
1/2 pkg of Lowry's or McCormicks dry spaghetti seasoning
If the kids are eating something else, I add half a can of El Pato sauce.

Add all the ingredients all at once in a large sauce pan. Cover and let simmer all day and stir often.

Any kind of pasta works well with either sauce. My family likes medium shells and linguine the best.

You can also add meat!

Hamburger: Brown a pound of hamburger with a can of diced green chili's. Drain. Add to sauce.

Spam: Dice a can of spam and fry in sauce pan. Don't drain, just add sauce ingredients.

Lil Smokies: Open package. Add to sauce.

Smoked Sausage: Slice and fry in sauce pan. Don't drain, just add sauce ingredients.

I Hope This Works

I found out last week that my MIL is going to drive down from Colorado to spend Bobblehead's birthday with us so I need to take my vacation time the 2nd week of October to keep her company. AND she is staying with us instead of the hotel she promised us she would stay at the last time she mentioned the visit.

Nice to find out on short notice. At least it isn't going to be a surprise visit this time.

Well, since I am going to be out of my mind because I have so much deep cleaning to do since she is staying with us I am not going to have time to plan Bobblehead's birthday party.

So she can plan it. And if my mom wants to pout about it, she can plan a separate party. And if FIL and Step-MIL want to act the same, they can plan a separate party too. Screw it. I am not dealing with the bitching this year.

No one can even seem to fake getting along with each other. They couldn't even be in the hospital together after Bobblehead was born. Their visits had to be almost scheduled so they wouldn't accidentally run into each other.

My plan will probably backfire on me somehow but I refuse to be stuck in the middle of all the bitching and dirty looks and talking behind backs.

I just want to sit back, chase kids around, get drunk and enjoy a party for a change.

I Have A Secret

When I refill the hand soap at work, I secretly use cheap ass Suave shampoo instead of the overpriced Bath & Body Works crap they used to use.

Nobody has noticed.

Just Whining Today

Ok so I didn't listen to the Presidents speech last night. To be honest, I didn't even realize there was a speech last night.

But I did read a transcript of the speech and this is what I have to say about it.

There are a LOT of details to be worked out still. I will not be comfortable making a yes or no decision without more information. I would like to see something written out down to the smallest detail. I don't care if it turns out to be 1000+ pages. I want to know exactly what would happen, step by step, in laymans terms.

BTW, feel free to skip this post, I just have a lot to whine about today it seems.

I think healthcare is WAY too expensive, for everyone involved except the insurance companies.

If your insurance is employer paid, it is very expensive for the employer, even with group rates. When I worked at the dealership I had to write checks for the premiums every month. It is outrageous. To get a semi-affordable group plan we had to go with a crappy insurance company and have even crappier coverage. Plus the more claims turned in and paid out, the higher the monthly premiums went. My job now doesn't offer health insurance because it is so much money.

COBRA is a joke. So you lose your job. After a while you insurance is gone too. The monthly rates for COBRA makes me sick to think about. No job, little or no money. It is that simple. I would rather put groceries on the table and keep the water running than pay for COBRA.

State sponsored insurance is no help either. Well, for some it is but not for us. My family makes too much on just above minimum wage and unemployment to qualify for any kind of state help.

And the suckiest of all, having to go without any kind of insurance. Right now, we have no insurance.

So what do we do? We just don't go to the doctor. I have to rely on hopes and prayers that no one gets hurt or sick. It really sucks and I lay awake at night over it. But what else can we do? I mean, if one of the boys (God forbid) gets sick or falls and breaks an arm, I will take them to the doctor and make payments for the rest of my life. But if Hubbs or I get sick, we just deal. No doctor, no pharmacy, just deal with it. But it is totally unfair to expect my kids to do the same. I would never even consider it. I would sell everything I own and then some to keep my kids okay.

I DO think that it is time for the government to step in and do SOMETHING. No one should have to die because they don't have insurance and can't afford to pay for a doctor. It is complete bullshit that those kind of things are happening in this country.

There Must Be Something Wrong

I am in such a good mood today! Everybody else around me are in shitty moods but I am super awesome.

I haven't been this happy in a LONG time and I don't really know how to handle it.

I have to go to Wal-mart with Monk Man after work and am *gasp* actually looking forward to it. He grew out of his very cool Sponge Bob knock off crocs in the past week somehow (code for: momma washed and dried them) so he needs new shoes. Plus I have a ton of coupons for Pull Up wipes so I might as well get those while I am there. And Bobblehead has decided it is time to potty train so we need Pull Ups that fit his skinny ass, not the 4t-5t I have stockpiled.

I even woke up in a good mood and that NEVER happens. I am so not a morning person. I seem to be at my best if I stay up until around 11, 11:30 and then sleep until noonish but since I get to work a normal job it is more like stay up until 9, 9:30 and sleep until 5:30, 6.

The whole getting everyone ready for their day chaos went smoothly. Nobody fought their morning shower and the boys got dressed without argument. Nobody cried about not getting to kiss Hubbs bye bye first, drop offs were quiet and painless. It was amazing!

I didn't yell, scream or cuss at anyone today. I don't think I even rolled my eyes at anyone either.

I wonder, if I am this happy tomorrow and don't get to yell, scream or cuss at anyone, will I explode? I can't remember the last time I went an entire day without unleashing on someone.

What. The. Hell.

Tomorrow I am going to blog about the figurative bullet I found out I dodged last weekend. Hopefully blog about it because with me, you never really know for sure.

But today, I will leave you with something I promised to reveal sometime last week. Remember my post about deciding what I wanted to be when I grew up? I am ready to put it out there.

I want to be an Event Coordinator. Yeah, a wedding planner, party planner, whatever you want to call it.

I think it would be SOOOOO exciting. You all know how anal I am with all my lists and psycho I can get with my attention to details. Well, I think I would do awesome in this line of work. There are still some things to look into before I make a final decision but so far, it looks like something I would do well at.

Torture

Monday and Tuesday were hell. All 4 of us caught some kind of stomach bug and it was horrible.

Barfing, pooping, achy body, fever, chills, dizziness, and all that other nasty stuff that comes with a stomach bug.

Did I mention that we all share 1 bathroom?

By Monday night I was ready to check into a hotel, just so that I could spew without worrying about whether or not someone else would need it before I was done.

My little brother (the phlebotomist at the local hospital) said he wanted me to get us all tested for Swine Flu because we had the symptoms. He must have forgotten that our insurance went bye bye months ago and we are broke as hell. His job has made him a little paranoid. Thanks for the concern little bro but we will just ride it out (whatever "it" is) with lots of fluids, rest and vitamins.

We were fine Saturday and Sunday. We went to bed early on Friday so we could get an early start out to the picnic and get our camp set up.

Yeah, we ended up camping out there Saturday night. Hubbs never gives me all the information when he wants me to make a decision. And I guess I don't think to ask for more.

Anyway, the kids had fun playing with the 9 other kids that showed up. Sad. There are 200+ Elks Club members in town and out of those 200+, maybe 30 members don't have kids or grandkids. But I really can't blame them for not wanting to show up. There wasn't anything planned for them to do!

Not a damn thing except for a 10 foot high dirt pile with money hidden in it. I am not sure what happened this year. There was supposed to be a HUGE breakfast on Sunday morning, games all weekend and night time activities for the ones who got to stay up late on Saturday night.

The boys were so disappointed! We actually were headed out of the campground by noon on Sunday. We left our tent up and most of our stuff there since the Chili Cookoff starts Friday night. Not to worry, it is all safe. A few people we know were staying all week and would keep an eye on things.

We all laid down for a nap when we got home on Sunday because Hubbs and I stayed up way too late drinking after the kids all went to bed. When we got up, I felt kind of crappy but I just thought it was my hangover so I didn't think too much of it.

Bobblehead went to bed around 8, Monk Man and I went around 10 and Hubbs went around 2. Just like normal. When I woke up Monday morning, I felt okay until Monk Man walked down the hall crying that he had gotten sick in his blankets. I messaged my boss on Facebook (because we live on FarmTown) that I was staying home to take care of the sick Monk Man. As soon as Hubbs and Bobblehead got up I started feeling sick. And that was the end of me.

But we all seem to be doing okay today. My stomach is still a little angry but I felt good enough to get everybody off to daycare and myself off to work. I am keeping my fingers crossed that tomorrow isn't a repeat of Monday.