Friday!!

Well last night we had an ice storm with thunder and lightening to boot!!! Exciting! :D We missed out on the heavy snow but we did get an extra layer and the ice on top will make sledding heaps of fun today! : D

We probably won't leave the house today, much to Mum's consternation! She NEEDS to shop! :D I don't tend to drive on ice and snow just for the hell of it! We'll wait until tomorrow when Rex said he would watch the children and Mum and I can go out and shop ALONE! That will be nice! The kids are fine, but we tend to do only one or two shops at a time and Garry.... well.... she's a shopper! 'D She's doing her part to restimulate the US economy and we should all be grateful to her for that! :D

The kids are starting to drive me bananas to be honest! Christmas is on it's way ( oh really!? I hear you gasp!!) and that's got them giddy. A week or so ago Alicia and gang were here which is exciting, then right after that Megan visited, then Garry arrived which just sent them over the top! All this attention! All this excitement!!! They are getting wound up, rude, unhelpful, naughty and just plain difficult. It's exhausting!!!! I try to see it from their point of view, but what makes me crazy is I'm trying to make this a really fun month for them and give them treats and make them happy... and the more I do that, the crazier they get! ;D They'd be better off if I made them sit down and do school every morning I think. I might have to do that... a little more structure, a little less sugar!!! :D

Well, it's time for me to get started ... bathroom's free!! :D

Have a wonderful Friday! :D Stay warm! :D

One Week To Go ! :D

Yaaaaiiieeeeee!!! Only one week until Christmas.... deep breaths..... deeeeeep breaths..... remember your Lamaze breathing??? Heee heee heee heee hoo hoo hoo hoo hee heee hheee heee....etc! :D Actually I never did it, but I've seen it on plenty of lame movies to make ME a fake birth EXPERT! :D

Sooo.... today looks BEAUTIFUL outside! We had some snow the other day and now we have blue skies to make it just glisten and glimmer out there! The temp is holding around 10F at the moment but will probably go up as the day goes on! We're anticipating a freezing rain storm tonight ! ( Oh goody!) so I'm going to go out and fill the bird feeders, bring in fire wood and that's ALL today! :D Our advent To Do was make paper snowflakes today, so we'll do that, and we're also planning on making a gingerbread house with Garry too! Fun! :D

We flew too close to the sun yesterday... we took the kids shopping... to Kohls, to Panera, to Barnes and Noble, we waited in the car at Michaels whilst Garry ran in, then we all went to Super Target and met Daddy there... then onto Applebees for dinner. Yeah. Jack LOST it in Super Target... it was NOT a good AP occasion. Threats were exchanged... tears were shed.... I wasn't sure going to Applebees was even a good idea, but after Jack being so hard all day long, I wanted to not have to make dinner !!! Rex met us again latere at the restaurant and Jack .. well.. Jack was good as GOLD!! Lovely manners, singing to the Christmas music.... what a star. Tsk. Typical! :D I'm glad really. I don't want him to be miserable, but darn it, I wish he could be chipper when we drag him around the kitchen supplies, ladies shoes, towels, mens clothing, fabric and bedding departments....!! ;D Yes... I know.....!

Another cold one, a New Couch and an Ear Infection....

Oh Man..... Chilly is one word to describe it around here!! It's just bitter!! The high yesterday was 8 degrees F. I know some folks get less than that, but for me and mine, 8 is just TOO COLD!!! ;D My Mum had wished for "Just a Light Covering of Snow....." we got 4 inches!!; D Ah well, thought we, we won't have to go OUT in it! We'll just sit happily by the fire, sipping Hot Buttered Rum and chatting! :D We were also expecting the arrival of our new couch "Anytime between 2 and 4" so we figured we'd be waiting around anyway!! Weeeelllll this is just FINE, but what happens when your usually affable daughter beings to walk the house, crying and being grumpy and mean?? What happens when she tells you her ear "hurts AGAIN" and you suddenly remember that she never complains of being sick, she never whines about being ill and the last time you took her in, almost a year ago to the day, she had the Worst Ear Infection Ever and a 25% hearing loss!!! Sooo... at 2:10 I made an appointment for 4:20 ( knowing the couch had to come...!) and did my best for Jessie with warm olive oil and suggestions that she rest. I said to myself "Well, the couch should really get here by 2:30 .... 5 minutes later, it was here and we were sitting on it!! :D Whoot!! ;D It's a fancy electric reclining sofa... hmmm... yeah.... the kids don't play with it AT ALL.... they don't drive me bonkers with the zzzzzzzz.......zzzzzzzz....zzz.........zzzzzzzzzzzzz...... sound of the recliner drifting forward and back.... uuuup and down..... baaaaack.... baack.....back....fooooooorward...... AAAAGGGGHHH!! I've already threatened to yank the plug!!! ;D Anyhoo......so the sofa arrived and we lit the fire in it's honor! We all took turns trying it out and we began to realise that this would be the end of late night television for all of us! MAN that thing is comfy!

Meanwhile poor Jessie is in bits. I gather up my courage and strike out through the snow to get the van which I had moved to our lower driveway to allow the couch movers in. It's a trick to get our our drive as it's North facing and with the snow.... well it all drifts at the bottom. I know I shouldn't complain about the snowplough, but seriously, it sweeps by and piles snow upon snow at the top of the drive, so I have to fight one drift at the bottom, floor the van to get up the hill and bust through the snow at the top, being careful to not go so fast that I shoot across the road and into the opposite ditch!!! Always fun. Isn't this what I pay my husband for?!!? Anyway, I managed it!!! Whoooot!! :D I realised I was going to have to go into Super Target ( weeeeeeee! *waves tiny flag*) to get the prescription, but with it being so cold I didn't want Jessie to have to come in. I ALSO didn't want to leave her in the car without the engine running as she'd FREEZE and I didn't want to leave her in the car WITH the engine running for all sorts of fairly obvious reasons! Sooooo I had to pack Jack and Garry in the van too and we headed off to the Docs! I love our Pediatrician as they are so friendly and prompt! Jessie and I walked in, went right in, the doc looked in one ear, said "fine!" looked in the other and said, and I quote "Owie KazOwie!" Note to self, it's NEVER good when the Doc says "Owie Kazowie"!! He wrote a prescription immediately, wished us a Merry Christmas..... and we were off. Super Target is my Mecca and I love the place! I left everyone in the nice, warm van and headed in. It must be a busy time of year as they told me it would be "about 20 minutes!" .. now they could usually tell me it would be "about 8 hours" and I would say "OK!" and happily toddle off to shop, but of course today I wanted them to be as fast as possible because Jessie and everyone were waiting. I picked up a couple of essentials...... medicine, toothpaste, cheese, butter and spray whipping cream ( ! ) and then dotted off to Starbucks and picked up Egg Nog, Hot Chocolate and Peppermint White Chocolate Mocha!! ;D ( Sluuuurp!!) I slithered and slid back out the van and loaded them up with warm beverages and gave Jessie a dose of Tylenol. I still had to go back for the prescription so headed back into Target again! The poor Pharmacist was running around like a madman as they were concerned I was waiting too long and had family in the car! So sweet!! I told them there was no rush, everyone had warm coffee and would survive!! ;D He handed me the prescription and again, off I went! By the time I made it back to the van a second time, Jessie was like a new kid! She had been in such pain that the simple relief of the Tylenol had felt like a complete cure! Bless her! ... Sooooo we drove back home, this time in the dark and snow and cold. We resurrected the fire, switched on the tree lights, started dinner ( Cauliflower Cheese... Delicious! ) and settled in for the rest of the night!! aaahhhhh...... Later I did try and watch The Mentalist ( one of my fave shows! ) whilst reclining on the sofa, under a blanket, next to the fire. Yeah. Who was I kidding!!! I probably managed to keep my eyes open for all of 10 minutes !!! Lovely couch though!!! Can anyone tell me what happened on my show!?!?!? :D

Oh and by the way, here's a pic of one of our Christmas Trees... pretty eh?!

Have a great day! Stay cozy! : D

*Garry's Here!! :D

Well after a bit of a delay with the connecting flight Garry made it to very chilly Nebraska! :D

We're currently about to sample some Maple Cake and a cuppa tea and then head to bed! Jackster was such a sweetie! He'd fallen asleep on Daddy's lap before it was time to collect Garry, so he stayed home with Dad and Jessie and I braved the cold for the trip to the airport. When we arrived home the puppy woke Jack up by barking her head off! Jack was so happy to see Garry! he took her by the hand and led her around the house pointing out the trees and decorations and so on! He never said a word.... just pointed!! Finally he pointed up the stairs, put his hands on the side of his head to indicate "sleep" and basically asked Garry to take him to bed!!! He was quite clear that he did NOT want me there, just Garry!! :D Bless him!! He does love his Garry! :D


*Garry is how Jessie first used to say Grannie... and like all odd names, it stuck! :D

Damn. Universe 1 Me 1....

Looks like it's a tie...!! Mum missed her flight! She will be here about 10pm, which isn't too bad, but is a bit of a pain as we were all excited! Still, all the more time for finishing touches! I'm presently in the middle of making a Maple Cake ... it's delicious and she'll really like it I hope! Well I suppose I should finish off and start getting ready for the airport.... The place looks even more lovely, there's pretty music playing from behind one of our trees, the kids are watching Horton Hears A Hoo ( who? ) in the other room and hubby claims he's going to go and lie down on the bed for a while! Pah! :D

More soon! Really! :D

The Universe and I part II

Well the Universe and I came to an agreement! ;D The Universe would stop trying to bugger up everything I do and I, in turn, would stop trying to do anything!!! LOL!! Worked for me!! :D

The house is, erm, almost ready! ;D The bedspread is still mint green ( bugger bugger bugger ) but there isn't cat poop all over the floor anymore. ( thank heavens for small mercies! )

Mum just texted from the airport in Chicago and she has landed so it won't be long now until she is here!!! :D 3 hours!!! I've literally only got a few teensy things left to do, maybe I'll do them... maybe I won't!! I'll be soooo glad when tomorrow is here, then I won't have to "Get Ready" anymore!! It will all be too late!!! LOL!!!

OK I've set the timer for 5 minutes... I'm going to tackle the dining table! ( Well, not literally, that would hurt and the table would win, hands down. I AM going to try and get all the papers and junk of it! How's that?!!? :D )

So you're gonna play hardball eh?!

The Universe and I are playing a dangerous game! I'm thinking I'm going to get aaaaalll the stuff done I had planned to do before Mum gets in tonight and the Universe keeps trying to throw things in my way and cause me to freak out. I'm refusing so far! ;D

A simple 5 minute task of cleaning out a small fish bowl turned into a 30 minute epic when babies were discovered and my tiny and very handy fishing net "disappeared". The Universe has hidden it. It will show up tomorrow most likely. Exactly where I looked for it. As usual. I washed the bedspread off my Mum's bed as it looked like it could use refreshing... I tossed in a blanket that needed washing too. A green blanket. A hunter green blanket. Now I have a mint green bedspread. Gah. I'm washing it again in hopes that the dye will wash out. Hah. I went down into the nicely cleaned basement and followed a trail of cat poop out of the litter box and through the entire lower floor. God DAMN it. Now I have to vacuum the whole place again. Jackster has found an entire plate of Gingerbread cookies. And. Eaten. Them. All. That will make life easier in about 30 minutes when he goes HAYWIRE from all the sugar!!! :D The Universe is out to get me, but it won't win!! I have realised that my house is pretty nice as it is. It doesn't have to be spotless, it just has to be comfortable! The soup is cooking away in the crockpot, the trees look beautiful. There is hot tea, hot buttered Rum, Gin, Chocolate and warm soup. What more can anyone want!? Mum hasn't been here for over 2 years, I don't think she's going to be doing a white glove inspection!!! And guess what? If she did, the house would fail! I'll just tell her that and spare her the trouble!! I know that everyone in my house, including myself, would rather the house were a disaster but we were all relaxed when she arrives... and the house is not a disaster, even if I do nothing more! So there ya go... ** blows raspberries at the Universe** go bug someone else!!! ;P I'm NOT going to lose it! ;D

Happy sigh! ;D The good news is, the article I'm writing for the paper is coming along nicely. I just checked my word count...... 578. Required word count? 500 !! SwwwEEEEt !! ;D
Off to make another cup of tea, and maybe I'll pick up some stuff.... or not !! ;P

Brrrr and an update! :D

Oh boy....!! -3 F (-16 C) AND with a windchill which takes us to at least 20 below is enough for me to almost prefer the dog to crap on the carpet than to take her outside at 6:30 am clad only in flannel nightie, slippers, dressing gown, coat, hat, gloves and scarf!!! The wind whipping around my naked legs was just cruel and I found myself yelling at her "COME ON!!!! HURRY UP!!!!" Poor wee pet!! ;D I decided after she had peed I just didn't have the patience to wait for poop and we'd have to try again later when I was dressed!!! :D Hubby went out with her instead! ;D What a guy!!!

So I promised an update on our lovely weekend!! :D LOL!! Everywhere we stopped, gas station, furniture store, restaurant, hotel.... we told everyone that we were on a weekend away without the children. Someone asked me when the last time we had done that was and I replied "Hmmm... I think it was the 12th of NEVER actually!!" :D Since we had children we have never had a night away ! Oh it was lovely. Just to be able to go into every shop without waiting in the car with the kids! To be able to actually BROWSE a furniture shop ( we are looking for a reclining love seat ) without having to physically restrain one of the children from running off.... To be able to eat at a grown up restaurant without having to cut up anyone else's food and actually using cloth napkins!!!! At the hotel I told them, when we checked in, that it was our first weekend without the children and so on.... they upgraded us to an executive suite on the top floor! It's a private floor so we would not be disturbed!!!! Oh bliss!!! I just wanted to be able to sleep until I was ready to wake up rather than a child or a dog waking me!!

We did lots of shopping, we toured fancy malls ( oh so fabulous...! ), we drove through the city to check out the lights, we ate at fancy restaurants, we watched questionable movies, we soaked in the whirlpool tub..... oh boy.... it was just the best weekend.

Believe it or not, we really did miss the children! ;D Not so much that we wouldn't leave them again, but enough that we talked about them once in a while, we considered calling them ( but decided against it... best not to poke a sleeping bear, if you know what I mean! ) I figured they'd call us if there was a problem! :D When we got home they were very pleased to see us, and us them! They had made a thousand cookies and decorated them with various colored frosting, they had made origami this and thats and seemed to have had a good time! If nothing else, they were smiling, the house was still standing and they had eaten! All good as far as we were concerned!! The most telling part of the whole weekend for me was when Hubby asked Megan if she would be willing to do it again, maybe in February, as he said our relationship would really benefit from it! I guess he must have had a good time too then, eh?!! :D