Not to complain, but...

I want my house back! I am blessed with a husband who not only CAN do major home improvements, but actually LIKES to do major home improvements. He amazes me.

However...(this is the totally whining part) I always get all jazzed up and excited and then about the 4th day into it, when there is dust on every surface in my house and we have eaten outside or on the floor for days and as I go room to room all I see is STUFF piled up in stacks that seem to grow by the hour...I start to forget that this was my bright idea. To have him install, and sand, and finish hardwood floors. The week before we have family and friends coming. For our daughter's graduation.

What was I thinking??

Seriously...

I was in the dentist's chair with headphones on, cranking Chorusline and Les Miz to keep my mind off of the fact that the dentist was stabbing me with a needle repeatedly and drilling into my teeth down to the gum line.

[See what I did there? I could have just said that he numbed me up and filled a cavity in one tooth and fit a permanent crown on another, but where's the fun in that?]

So, trying to keep my mind off of the moment, I got to thinking about how I get stuck on using certain words. Lately, my big "go to" word is seriously. I say it at least several dozen times a day. It's a good word, kind of all purpose. It can be exclamatory: "Seriously! That was the best book I've read in years!" or given as a warning: "Seriously?? If you don't stop bouncing that ball right by my head, bad things are going to happen." or just inserted into an average sentence: "I am seriously going to make dinner. Seriously. I am making it right now."

Apparently, I am serious about many things.

It's funny how I go through stages using expressions, and then they will just drop out of my vocabulary. I went through a long phase after my 5th child was born where everything made me say "and now my head is going to explode." One of my sisters commented that it seemed a fairly understandable reponse from a woman learning to be the mother of five. For a month or so, every one I found ignorant and/or obnoxious was a tool. And of course everything cool in the 80's to me was "sweet". That one still slips out from time to time, but you gotta love a classic.

One of the expressions I have used for years that seems like it is going to stick around is "The other day..." to begin a story. Since I was a teenager, I have used this opener regardless of when the story I am about to share actually happened. It could have been the other day, or it could have been several days ago...or months...or years. Nevertheless, I find myself involuntarily saying, "Oh, yeah, the other day..."

Who knows if this latest word will stay around or leave just as quickly as it came. In the meantime I'll just tell you that, seriously? I have to go and get some sleep or I will be really tired in the morning.

Seriously.

Quote of the week...

"Violence is not strength, and compassion is not weakness." --King Arthur

Quote of the week...

"The only thing better than singing is more singing."

--Ella Fitzgerald

Why is it...

...that when pretty much any song that was even relatively popular in the 80's comes on the radio, I can sing the lyrics with immediate clarity and startling accuracy, and yet it takes me 10 minutes to remember where I left my keys?

Memories...

A few years ago, when we started telling people that we were expecting our 7th child, somebody at the state patrol office anonymously left a condom in hubby's mailbox. Nice.

A few days later, my brother-in-law came through town. He is a doctor and gets all kinds of random promotional items from drug companies, and he brought a bunch to give out to the family.

So the next day, hubby left a little gift in all his buddies' mailboxes at the patrol office...big bright blue pens that said "VIAGRA".

irresponsible breeders: 1
anonymous dillholes: 0

Quote of the week...

"No misfortune is so bad that whining about it won’t make it worse."
--Jeffrey R. Holland

Quote of the week...

"The sad fact is that some people cannot be pleased. You can give some people a million dollars, and they’ll complain that the bills are wrinkled."

--Kathryn H. Kidd

Quote of the Week...

"I think marriage is the most mysterious covenant in the universe. I'm convinced that no two are alike. More than that, I'm convinced that no marriage is like it was just the day before."

--Anita Shreve, The Weight of Water

Rest in Peace...

I am so grateful to have known you and to have been your granddaughter-in-love. Thank you for your place in my husband and children's lives. You will be greatly missed.

Give Grandpa hugs and kisses for us.

Quote of the Week...

"Life is not so much about beginnings and endings as it is about going on and on and on. It is about muddling through the middle."

--Anna Quindlen

Quote of the Week...

"When I get a little money, I buy books...and then if there is any left over, I buy food and clothes."

--Desiderius Erasmus

Quote of the Week...

"It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer."

--Albert Einstein

I didn't need to know that...

I took my daughter to her first enrichment night (activity night at church for the adult women) last night. We were playing a game called "Love Your Neighbor".

It's where you all sit in a circle on chairs and one person is in the middle of the circle as "it" and she approaches people in their chairs and asks, "Do you love your neighbor?" The person asked the question may then answer "Yes, I love my neighbor" and then the people to her immediate right and left must rush to trade seats, while the person who is "it" tries to take one.

OR...the person asked the question may answer, "No, I don't love my neighbor, but I do love people who _____." (it could be, "have green eyes", or "have been to Hawaii") Then, the people who apply to the statement all have to get up and find a new chair. Whoever can't find a seat is then "it" and has to ask someone else if they love their neighbor.

So, one of the more adventurous ladies offered, "No, I don't love my neighbor, but I do love people who have gone skinnydipping."

Imagine my surprise when my lovely 18 year old daughter jumped up and rushed to find a new seat.

Good times.

To the gentleman I encountered on I-25 today...

I'm just going to pretend that you were rushing to the hospital, where your wife is in labor with your child--a child that you two have tried for years to conceive, and now the joyous moment of this child's birth has arrived.

Yup, that's what I am going to pretend.

Because, otherwise...you're just a gigantic tool.

Quote of the Week...

"It's not our job to raise responsible kids. Our job is to consistently do the things that give kids an opportunity to become responsible."

---Foster W. Cline, M.D.

If you own stock in Lysol or Clorox...

I just made your day.

We have been sick to some degree or another for FOUR WEEKS. Every one of us. Sniffling, coughing, sore throats, head and body aches, and then throw in some random vomiting just for fun and you've pretty much got a picture of what life has been like at my house.

Now normally I don't use anything with lots of chemicals. Simple Green, a mild glass cleaner, and a vinegar solution is usually the extent of what I am comfortable using. But today I was on a mission. I wanted every germ within a 6 mile radius of me either dead, or out of their mind with fear.

So I opened every window in my house, and then went to the local Stuff Mart. I then beelined it to the cleaning supply aisle and proceeded to throw anything that said 'disinfectant' or 'anti' anything on its label into my cart. I don't even want to tell you how much I spent but let's just say that a presidential candidate probably could have campaigned for at least a week or two on it. Luckily, I think all the major candidates are dipwads, so no big loss there.

As of tonight, pretty much every surface in my house has been sprayed, soaked, wiped, scrubbed, and otherwise pummeled into what I hope is a germ-free surrender.

And if you do have stock in Lysol or Clorox...you're welcome.

Finally, a campaign I can really support...

I love feed the pig. Go watch the video spot of the guy trying to buy a tv.

Love, love, love.

Quote of the Week...

"It is well, when judging someone, to remember that he is judging you with the same godlike and superior impartiality."

--Arnold Bennett

Some stuff to help you spend too much time on the computer...

Because, you know, we all need that.

Here are a few sites that I am really liking:
Abi Jones has this fun little blog where she reviews frozen foods. Few things are more annoying to me than when I take some of my precious grocery money to buy some frozen dinners and then find I'd rather just have eaten the box they came in. What's really great is that all the nutritional facts (including weight watchers points, if that's your thing) are included in the review. And most importantly, she is really funny. Anyone who can slide in a reference to sesame seeds falling into their bra during a review is my kind of gal.
Becky Higgins has long been a huge name in the world of scrapbooking. I have loved her for years. Her blog is filled with layouts and videos and recipes and lots of yummy goodness. What I love about Becky is her "anyone can do it" mentality. Despite the fact that she is enormously talented, she is so about everyone just enjoying the process. When you watch her videos, you feel like one of your girlfriends just sat down to chat for a few. If you don't like scrapbooking (or, in fact, feel it's the Devil) you'd at least probably enjoy her recipe section. Pictures for every recipe, and so far everything I have tried from it has been really good.
Google Earth may already be a favorite at your house. My kids came home from school talking about it one day, so I went and downloaded it (the basic version is free) and now we are hooked. The kids love to "fly" to our house and then "fly" to Grandma's house. It is amazing and a little bit creepy that photos from space show our cars parked in the driveway and the dead patches of grass in my lawn. But, it is still really cool. You could also use it to look up people you know to see what kind of neighborhood they live in, to see if they live better than you do. No...that would be wrong, and who would even be twisted enough to think of that?? Geesh.