Bustle, bustle....

Leave it to me to use "feeding frenzy" in a post title the day a killer whale eats his trainer. Really? Geez.

So, hi! How are you today? Feeling good? It is Friday, after all. Whee! Yay, Friday. I'm still a little sick, but it's a sick I can deal with, so I'm not too bummed. Only worried about the weekend. Don't want to be all runny nosey in my fancy clothes. Or sneezy. I'm drinking my cider. It has vitamin C. I'm sending any of my spare healthy vibes out to Julie. Wishing you a speedy recovery, Julie!!

Today, I shall be packing and stuff. My things are mostly packed, but the kids have nothing ready. I'm doing some laundry for them right now. They are going to stay in Rolla with Josh and my dad, while me, Mom and Mackenzie run off to scenic Tulsa. And maybe pick up Nanny if plans change at the last minute. (We're going to leave a little early, just in case.)

We're going to have frozen pizza for lunch. Mmm! Kinda sad that I am all excited about frozen pizza, but it just sounds good.

It's Friday, and it's pay day, and the sun is shining, and the kids are snuggled on the couch "reading" a book together. AH! Life is good.

I've been reading Jean Sheperd's In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash. Short stories. And yes, the Red Ryder B.B. Gun story is in there, as well as several others included in A Christmas Story. It's sort of oozing with superiority and cynicism, but at the same time is a celebration of the reality of his youth. I read that he claims it is a work of fiction, but his old friends and neighbors say otherwise. I might take it on the trip. My mother would probably dig having a peek at it. The book I ordered hasn't come yet.

Tonight, after Josh comes home, we're off to Mom and Dad's. So nice of Dad to babysit my husband this weekend. Hee. Actually, Josh is aproaching sane. Gets closer every day. Probably, he just needs a barbeque.

Hope the day is treating you well. I am sending out big hugs!!!

My Life with the Feeding Frenzy

Where to begin...?

Well, I was only able to enjoy my disproportional and unrealistic joy of tax return money until confronted with Josh's. He's a real killjoy sometimes. The last week has been a constant struggle to force him, kicking and screaming, back into the paradigm of true possibility. I gave up on attempting to stuff him into logic, efficiency and security right off.

At first, his uncontained elation was fun to watch. But the plans we had made for this money were quickly overridden by Joshdom, and that had to stop before serious consequences occurred. Why do I always have to be the bad guy? I have to be the Mommy all day, an automatic bad guy role, and then I have to fuss at my own husband, who is supposed to be a grown up.

All last week, we had serious arguments EVERY TIME WE WERE IN THE SAME ROOM about whether it was a good idea to increase our monthly expenses. Finally, I convinced him about Saturday evening that it was something he should save as a celebration of the new job he is hoping to get. (You know, when he actually has the money.) Sunday morning started the new argument. It's called, "How can Josh re-arrange the furniture?" Sadly, the room he is attacking is the living room, and there aren't many possibilities because of odd ventilation placement and very limited wall space. Somehow, since I am the one to point this out, I am the bad guy again. Not to mention the fact that I spent a great deal of time when we first moved in placing the furniture, and Josh came along and added an ottoman, recliner from his dad's house and a computer desk and now complains that there is no room. And this has been the conversation every time I've seen Josh, since Sunday. Incidentally, he walked me through 3 furniture stores on Sunday, even though I was sick and tired, so I could talk him out of buying leather sofas and dining room sets.

I think the furniture conversation reached a climax last night. I came home exhausted from taiko, but in a cheerful mood. Then came the furniture discussion. Then came the tax money fight. Then came the What's Wrong With Our Life fight. Then came the part where Rosemary gave up and went to bed, but couldn't breathe, so sleep took a long, long time. My sinuses are a mess today.

You know what I think? I think he's just got cabin fever like the rest of us. A little sunshine and outdoors will help him lots.

I'm going to make fajitas tonight. I could use a few things from Wal-mart, but I have been ordered to stay home until the UPS guy delivers Josh's fancy surround sound speakers. That's okay, maybe my book will come today, too. I've already got my socks and arm warmers.

Guess what movie Netflix sent me! The Thin Man. Never saw it before. I loved it. It reminded me of me and Josh, only we aren't constantly wearing outrageously expensive clothes and holding alcoholic beverages. ...Or solving grizzly murders. Okay, so it's a stretch. Anyway, I enjoyed it. I do have a concern, though. The movie is called The Thin Man after the murder suspect, not the hero. So, all those Thin Man sequels......are they all about thin men, or are they trying to refocus the thin-ness on the detective? We may never know..... Okay, I'm just being mysterious. I'll look it up.

The kids have been mostly reasonable today. We've had a few trips to our rooms for not heeding the Mommy Warning, but they've also been sweet. Abbie didn't eat her lunch, and I'm not too excited about that, but I did try to warn her. She'll be plenty mad when she doesn't get snacks. They're getting so tall. Both skinny, though. I'm glad the stores started to make children's pants with adjustable waistbands. Grant's tooth problems continue. Good grief.

Okay. Scratch the reasonable part. We're going through a rough patch.

Pardon me. I am at work, you know.

Hope your Wednesday treats you well.

Happy!

See? All it takes is a little financial security.

I am now wealthy beyond reason. HA! Guess what I did this morning, after some recreational fighting with my husband! Can you guess? You didn't guess. Okay, I'll just tell you. I BOUGHT STUFF! I bought a book. And socks. I know. You were never expecting that, were you? I'm so unpredictable. It's not like I've been talking about it for a month or anything.... Hope I didn't startle you with my sudden moves.

And I'm also off the hook for entertaining tonight. We are now meeting at the very lent friendly (and therefore ridiculously crowded, no doubt) Red Lobster. Oh, the sheer decadence of it all might be my downfall.

I just spelled all of that correctly with no computerized assistance. I would like a gold star, please.

But I can still complain about the snow, right? Just checking.

We are all fine. Unless you count the fact that the kids have horrible coughs, and that I'm starting to get it. But you don't count that, do you?

Abbie still loves her haircut, and Grant is being a pretty nice guy. If it weren't for some blatant disobedience and a little crankiness on the part of Her Imperial Majesty, they would be doing well today. We watched Thundercats.

See how we have not let our sudden change in economic status interfere with our former ideals and traditions?

Hee.

Can you imagine what I'd be like if I really won the lottery? I think you would all stop speaking to me, just to get away from my horrible jokes.

You are all speaking to me.....right?

Happy Best Friday Ever!

WOOT! I'm RICH!

p.s. The tailpipe fell off the truck. Isn't that the way of things? *sigh*

Remember when I was an incurable optimist? Me either.

It is Wednesday. Ash Wednesday, actually. Did you have a spectacular Mardi Gras? Not I. I stayed home with Abbie, who had a fever, and Grant, who had a pressing need to annoy her. Next year, maybe I should make a King Cake and take it to taiko. ^_^ I was pretty sad about not going. I was gonna wear my LSU t-shirt and everything. Plus, I just wanted to play.

Last week was kinda fun. There was the expectation that any second, we could be rich as millionaires! Well, as close as we're going to get, anyway. We had lists of the things we had to use the money for: back bills, current bills, computer upgrades that for some reason Josh could not survive another day without, new athletic shoes for Josh and for me. Later in the week, repairs for my truck and a new pair of sweatpants for me made the list. And I still had my eye on two books and some warm socks for my "Rosemary's 100 dollars to spend recklessly" money. But the window we were told to expect has come and gone. No money in sight. In the meantime, Josh has bought 4 new tires for my car and had the bushings replaced. It cost an entire paycheck. One that we'd already partially used for bills. And, somehow, even though I asked, pleaded and threatened him not to, he has bought plenty of computer parts. So I emptied out my emergency fund and all my personal monies and handed them over to Josh on Monday to cover the check for the tires. (Except the money I still am saving to pay for the bacci I already am in possession of.)

So, the cold water of reality has been emptied over me yet again. By the time the money gets to us, there will only be enough to cover the bills that are still escalating. And Josh's fun, which never seems to be categorized as excessive, untimely or unnecessary. So I have a blu ray player, but am not going to be able to replace my sweat pants.

Abbie's haircut was not the Mommy and Abbie trip I was anticipated. Abbie was sick with a fever. I debated staying home, but Josh was meeting us there to watch Grant, and I ended up dosing her with Tylenol and going anyway, in spite of crushing guilt on my part and uncooperativity on the part of the kids. We got there right on time, and I was nervous that Josh wasn't there yet. As usual, I was worrying about the wrong thing. My hair girl was running very late. Now, the whole point of us both having an appointment was so that Abbie could have her pick of watching me first, or having hers done at the same time. This way, nothing would come as a surprise. She's never even been present during one of my haircuts. I had to explain this to the manager, though, when he told me that the other girl could do Abbie's first while we waited. He was sweet, and ran off to deliver the message to the other girl, but she was having none of it. She came out and told Abbie it was her turn. I told her what Abbie wanted, but I stuck around. (I know Abbie well enough to know that being alone wasn't going to work.) Abbie was uncharacteristically quiet, and I was ashamed, knowing that it was probably because she wasn't feeling well again. I told the impatient lady that I wanted to keep Abbie's hair, as this was her first haircut. She started to comb, and complained about the tangles. I told her that I had brushed it before we left the house, but Abbie's hair always did that. It was still wet from the partially unsuccessful trip to the sink. She pushed the tangles down, grabbed scissors and chopped. Then she handed the wet tangles to me. I suppressed my Mommy sentiment and somehow survived the whole process. So did Abbie. At the end, the lady was blowing hair into Abbie's face without explaining why or how long it would last, and for the first time, Abbie scrunched up her brows and wiped her hand across her face. So the lady just quit. "Oh, she's done, I can tell." She said. Within minutes she had her coat on and was yelling her good-byes to Dawn, the girl who does my hair. At least the cut looks good.

She looks.....like a different girl. An older one. She's taller than I realized.

Then Abbie kept me company while I got my hair cut, too. (At least Dawn was just as awesome as she is during the afternoon.) I don't like mine much, but I didn't expect to. I was just taking off the bottom layers in preparation of growing it long for the summer. I used my own money to pay for the cuts and tips (this was before Josh got it). Abbie wanted to ride home with Josh and Grant in the other car. I left feeling very hollow and deflated.

And then we had another night of fever.

You already know that yesterday I just stayed home. I also did some laundry. I'm doing some today, too. Originally, we had dinner plans for tonight with Johnny. Abbie woke up healthy, and has even been playing with Grant again. But I didn't know until an hour ago that we are now NOT doing dinner tonight. Josh called to say that he has taken the second half of the day off on Friday, so we'll just have Johnny's family over for dinner. That would mean that "we" will spend Friday cooking and cleaning. Or playing computer games, depending on which part of "we" you are referring to. I didn't thaw out anything for dinner. I think we're just going to poke around and get leftover-type stuff.

I'm glad that Abbie is all better. She's singing the Dinosaur Train song right now.

Wishing you....good things.

Like Pulling Teeth.

Yesterday Josh got a flat tire as he was leaving for work in the explorer, so he ended up taking the car. I ended up staying at home with two cranky kids. I spent the entire day fighting with them and eating junk food in an unsuccessful attempt to make myself feel better. Yesterday did not make my list of top 10 days for 2010.

There is one shining beacon of happiness in our near future. Our tax return is going to be big enough that I am allowed to buy some stuff that I just want. (100 dollars really is a ridiculously huge amount for just one girl.) I picked out two books and three pairs of socks. They were online purchases, sort of. I mean, they were going to be, when the money got here. But last night Windows updated and killed everything I had open. I will have to hunt them all down again. I guess I should see that as fun, but I'm not one of those girls who really likes shopping. I just like new stuff. Especially if it comes in the mail. When I win the lottery, I'm going to buy stuff off the Internet all the time, just for the fun of getting boxes in the mail.

Oh, congratulations to Chris on his new job!! (Lucky bastard...)

Today, Josh got up and changed the tire in the freezing cold. Poor Josh. I made him hot chocolate, but it seemed insignificant. It's a full sized spare, which is GREAT, but we're really going to need 4 new tires (and a windshield, and bushings, and...). He did all this so that Grant could still make it to his dentist appointment today. At 10am, I was shivering wet-haired in my street, trying to buckle in two kids into the newly tire-ed explorer in time to make a 10:30 appointment. Turned out it wouldn't have mattered if I had stayed to dry my hair. We didn't get out of the waiting room until 10 after 11. And I forgot to bring a book for the kids.

Grant has another "gum bubble", and antibiotics have been prescribed. The tooth with the missing filling was patched up, but will have to be un-patched in March so Grant can have another pulpotomy and prevent more of these abscesses.

I have a headache. And my hair is outlandishly horrid.

Lent approacheth. What should I deny myself, guys? Any suggestions? So many excesses to choose from, you know.

I'm gonna change back into comfy sweats, I think. And I believe some cider is calling me. Maybe I can dig up something to read. Now that I'm in for the night, I could get into some book time.

Ah...the fighting again. But at least the snow stopped.

Have a happy day. I am sending out thoughts of warmth! Catch them, quick, before they freeze out there!

The Saints, Really? Wow.

The New Orleans Saints won the Superbowl. I'm still reeling in shock. They've been perfectly dismal since I was born. I'm not sure I can take the transition. And there go half of my best Cajun jokes! But I'm pretty sure you could run over my dad with a bulldozer right now and not affect his joyous mood.

Josh had his birthday at his mother's house. Nobody showed up. (In fact, his youngest sister left.) She made peanut butter cup brownies. I think Josh liked them. I didn't like them, but there was no way to sneak mine onto his plate without being seen.

It's snowing again.

Michelle came with us to Chris' house, and Lisa showed up a while later. There was a lot, lot, lot of food, and not many people to eat it. I wish Heather could have made it, it would have been just about right. The kids all played nicely, and the grown-ups hung out and watched the game (and ate). And the Saints won. Can you believe it? I'm glad. I was afraid I would have to avoid the entire town of Rolla for the next 6 months or so. Anyway, we had fun. There was only about a bowl's worth of Jambalaya to take back home, and Chris' mom gave us some of her chili. And I totally forgot about the meatballs. We brought them, then forgot to heat them up, and forgot to take them home.

This Wednesday Grant has a dentist appointment, and a week from tonight Abbie will be getting her first haircut. As far as I know, that is the only upcoming excitement. I wonder when the tax return will get here....

Wishing you all nice things, like sunshine and comfort food and naps and movie nights and flower gardens and...bookstores.

Weather.

The snow plow just passed my house again. I haven't been counting, but maybe I should have been. It's snowing and snowing and snowing. It's the first wet snow of the year, and there is finally enough of it for the kids to get the first wish of their pre-school hearts: sledding tomorrow. But as for me, I wish for..... flowersflowersflowersflowersFLOWERS!!!! I want crocuses and violets and surprise lilies and peonies and hyacinth and Japanese iris. I want cherry blossoms and crab apples and plums and almond trees blooming!

Tylar, for your sake, I am glad of the snow. It makes me happy to know that you are happy.

Josh passed his latest police test. Background checks next. We are Superbowling at Chris's house, so I'd better make sure I have all my jambalaya ingredients on hand. When should I make it? Tomorrow? Tomorrow is looking busy. Sledding, shopping, dinner with Josh's family...

I want flowers. I wish I had reason to expect some at my own house. Last year all my bulbs in the front came up, but didn't bloom. I decided that the location wasn't sunny enough, so I moved them to the back. It's pretty dry there, so maybe they won't come up at all. You may not know this, but my yard is full of clay. Some orange, some grey, but no actual, real dirt. Just getting the grass to grow has been a hard battle, and very uphill.

*snort* Uphill. HEE HEEE!

Anyway.....my latest landscape dreams involve planters or barrels or old canoes...whatever will hold soil..positioned at the bottom of the hill on either side of the back gate. I would plant something that likes shade at the back, then some lovely peonies (white and pink ones) and bulbs in the front. I want a tiny vegetable garden for the kids, too. Maybe in the rarely used area by the basement windows. They could grow tomato plants and watermelon and maybe some herbs.

I have some serious cabin fever. Or maybe it's just winter fever. Something like that. I've been window shopping online for stuff I will probably never end up with. But you'll be glad to know that if I won the lottery tomorrow, I already have a selection of books, songs, and knit footwear just waiting for that magic moment.

Maybe I'll go shop flowers next.

My mother and aunt saw Jesus Christ Superstar in Rolla last night. Mom says it was much better than she ever had reason to expect. They were both impressed. My aunt made it home safe and sound this morning, so that is a good thing.

I'm about to make a pork tenderloin. It's pre-seasoned, so I hope it's good. There won't be much I can do about it, if it should prove to not be. And not to hurt the tenderloin's delicate feelings, but I am really wishing there were either a Japanese place down the road from here or a bowl of St. Louis Bread Company's baked potato soup waiting for me in my kitchen. Well, pork loin, corn, sliced potatoes and Sister Shubert rolls will just have to do.

Hope you are all safe, and roasty-toasty warm, despite this blizzardy weather.

New week, new month.

Rob is back in Guam, now, or at least very nearly, and Josh has finished his Best Birthday Ever! We saw lots of friends, and I went out two weeks in a row. Unheard of! So, according to the schedule, I should finally have some post-Christmas down time now, right? Um...no. I have to schedule Grant for another dentist appointment because another filling fell out, and next weekend we're having a Superbowl party at Chris' house, and I'm going to a wedding this month. Then, taiko season starts, apparently. I'm trying to talk Josh into letting me sign up for one more...but two weekends in a row...he's not loving the idea.

So! Friday we had dinner at Texas Roadhouse Grill. We were supposed to meet at 6:30. Heather called ahead for us, but they couldn't seat us until 7:15....which actually became 8pm. Really not so easy to keep pre-schoolers in a waiting room that long. Heather and Chris left their kids, so it was just Grant and Abbie and Brianna. Our waitress was actually really awesome. Josh's food was great, and mine was okay. The guests were: Me, Josh, Grant, Abbie, Rob, Lisa, Chris, Heather, Jason, Kirk, Becky and Bree (our neighbors!), and Sarah D., who we didn't know would be able to come, so we were super excited to see. Josh's sister, Sarah, came and got the kids during dinner, which was so nice of her! After dinner we switched cars at Lisa's house and headed to Charlie's on First Capitol. We'd never actually heard of it before. Our neighbors had to go home after dinner, but when we got to Charlies, we discovered that we had been joined by Tiffany, one of Josh's old friends, and also Natalie from taiko! And then Julie and Joel got there, and fun times were had by all, with the possible exception of Jason, who had a headache and wasn't digging the karaoke. I am sad that my camera battery died, though. I don't have a single picture of Natalie! Josh says he took some, but it might have been with Lisa's camera. (Or he was pointing the dead camera at people not realizing that no photo was being taken...)

After karaoke, some of us went back to Lisa's house and talked and played cards and laughed. I tried to go to bed, but I was back downstairs pretty soon. Just wasn't going to work. We got the kids in the morning, and then dropped Rob off with lots of goodbye hugs, just in case we didn't see him later. And we didn't.

The boys got haircuts in the afternoon, and we did some grocery shopping and ate Chinese take out for dinner. Then, I finally went to sleep. It was nice.

Yesterday was taiko practice. I had fun learning the oodaiko part to Isami Goma. I learned the "Julie way" because, frankly, it's the best. I also played a little bit of Ashura. It was a pretty good practice, I think. :) I took Michelle all the way to her house. Then, I got lost, had to turn around at a closed road, found my way out of the subdivision and ended up on 40 instead of 70, but that was no biggie. Don't tell Michelle. I was a little late getting home, but it didn't effect the birthday cooking. I made the cake first, and it was cooling while I made the dinner. We had pork chops with sweet potato and apples. It sounds weird, but it is a fantastic dish. Super yummy, and a tad rich, very savory and not healthy AT ALL. Unless you count that it includes veggies. We also had salad with tomatoes, cucumber and mushrooms. It was served on the pewter plates that my brother gave us for Christmas a few years ago. Josh calls it the "man china". He poured a beer into a giant pewter mug, too. Very "Lord Of The Castle".

Josh has been saying it was the best birthday ever. That makes me feel very happy.

Next Saturday, we are going to Josh's mom's house for another birthday dinner, and Sunday we go to the Superbowl party. I'm making a jambalaya for that, and bringing meatballs, cocktail shrimp and maybe bacon smokies.

No plans for today. That's the plan. I am planning to plan for no plans. If a nap happened all by itself, however, I would not object.

Off I go to make some yummy lunch. Probably leftover Chinese. I hope that whatever you are doing today, that it is making you smile. Happy February! It is chilly, but sunny.