Ch-ch-changes

Ch-ch-changes…
Well, you might have noticed some changes around the ole blog. Change is good. I’ve moved a few things around and have added a few things as well. Hope you like them.

I must thank the folks over at blogcatalog for their awesome tutorial on how to add a third column to my blogger template. They rock. So, thank you blogcatalog. They have lots of other great tutorials as well, so go check them out. I didn’t end up with a sprained brain or ANYTHING. In fact, some of my rusty computer skilz came back and I was able to figure out a little glitch I was having all by myself! That’s saying something after all this time, let me tell you.

And now, it’s late (I didn’t say it didn’t take me a long time to get it done, I just said I didn’t HURT anything) and I still have a workout to do before bed. Oy.

Hey! Check This Out!

My Mum started a blog! Go check her out. Right now. Go! What are you waiting for!?

Sixty Seriously?

It's 6:45 pm

Do I know where my kids are?

Yup, I sure do. They’re in BED.

It’s been a long day. The girls were completely obnoxious at dinner, that overtired-can’t-control-myself kind of obnoxious that involved endless giggling and annoying potty talk. I ended up taking away their dinner (they’d eaten ½ and had eaten lots of snacks today, and lest you think me completely heartless, they each got a generous cup of milk before bed) because food was starting to fly.

And then we did a quick book and right to bed. They are both out cold.

And heaven forbid, with Hubster golfing with a pal tonight that I could actually plunk my butt down and do nothing. Nope. I’ve got dishes, a work out and a disaster of a craft closet I’ve been avoiding waiting for me. I’m not going to procrastinate on it any more. It’s going to get done. Like the kitchen I did yesterday, and the front hall closet. Yay me. (bleh).

I’m getting there.

A Post of Randomness, Rather Like My Random Life

So, despite my efforts, however random or meager, I’m still drowning in piles of crap all over the house. I feel like I’ve been TRYING to get it freaking together already for weeks and am failing miserably. I think I need to ship the kids out of the house to actually MAKE any real progress, but since that’s not an option, I continue to just dink around.

So here is a pile of random “stuff”, somewhat bullet pointed for your viewing pleasure (and in no particular order because, hey! Random!):

· I’m sitting outside even though it’s kind of hot and humid out. I’ve just spent the last 30 minutes digging up thistle weeds that slice your feet open from the “lawn” (term used loosely as it’s mostly crab-grass and clover and other miscellaneous non-grass plants). Nasty. The girls helped me “find” the weeds by screeching at the top of their lungs, “MOM! A WEED! HURRY! QUICK!”. I’m sure the neighbours thought that we were growing child-eating Venus fly traps.

· Birdseed seemed like a good idea until it attracted mice, which took the seeds directly into our garage and made a mess in there. And then we grew some corn in the grass when the birds (and children filling the birdfeeder) dropped the corn kernels from the birdseed mix.

· While nose-to-grass, I noticed that we have about 70 billion tiny little grasshoppers all over the lawn. It’s kind of creeping me out.

· In the last 5 minutes, my girls have proven that they really do have the attention span of a gnat. They started out blowing bubbles, then played “kitty” in the grass, then got out the butterfly nets, and now Mouse is pushing Baboo on the “wocket” swing. (aka Rocket Swing). And that also has only lasted 3.5 seconds as now Mouse wants me to get her started on the swing.

· As I’m sitting here on the deck, barely able to see the screen from the glare of the clouded over sun, I realize how dirty my monitor is. Nasty.

· There is a lot of work going on at my neighbours’ houses today. Someone is getting some trim replaced which reminds me that we need to figure out when/how to get ours done. Another is getting a new furnace.

· I really HATE where the clothesline (which I love) is. It needs to be moved.

· I wonder if I can find a composter and a water barrel here?

· The girls are now playing with a plastic golf ball and a badminton racket.

· I’m wearing a pedometer today, for the first time. So far, though it’s only 9:55 am, it says I have done 7019 steps. I did walk this morning, but I think that’s inaccurate.

· I’m attempting to wash my king sized comforter in my washing machine. I have no idea if it’s going to kill my washer or not.

· Mouse and Baboo are already fighting with the racket and golf ball.

· We went and got a family photo taken this weekend. Despite the fact that I think my hair looked a bit weird (which also reminds me I need to decide if I want to get it cut or not. Hmmm), I love how the photo turned out.

· We also went to our local state fair this weekend with our friends/neighbours. Despite it being 95 F and Baboo throwing up in the car on the way home, we had a really fun time. This was our first trip to any state fair. The baby pygmie goats were the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. It makes me want to have goats. And chickens. And make jam.

· My 2 little tomato plants, after giving me a delicious bounty of tomatoes, is laden with MORE tomatoes. My mouth is watering just waiting for them to ripen.

· I think I see a bit of cilantro growing from the seeds of the old cilantro that bolted already. Now I’m thinking about how good homemade salsa would taste.

· I really hope it rains today, mostly because I really don’t feel like going to the pool. I know I should be grateful to have a pool that’s a 5 minute walk away and can basically be seen from my house, and I am very grateful for that. However, we’ve been every day for the last 3 weeks. I’m kind of pooled out. The girls are not.

· Golf ball badminton is done and now the girls want to water paint and do more bubbles. It’s been 10 minutes since they started playing on their own.

· Becprints sent me this site and I have found now found my organizational mecca… www.organize-more-stress-less.com/index.html. I have high hopes for this site.

· My purple petunias in planter boxes around the deck, despite my Dad replanting them a few weeks ago are still struggling. The look awful. I think I may try to do marigolds in the boxes next year. They seemed to do well in the garden so maybe they’ll do better in the boxes than the petunias did.

· The girls are now dipping their paintbrushes in the bubbles and painting the deck and playhouse.

· I think I need more coffee.

· I’m already worrying about what to wear at my brother’s wedding NEXT AUGUST. Almost exactly a year from now. I’m trying to lose some weight, (http://www.operationmoderation.blogspot.com/) but I’m not having a lot of success right now. Not that I’m huge, but I would like to feel better about myself.

· I have nothing planned for today at all. Nothing, other than praying the girls will be entertained by making a gigantic mess in another room so I can get some cleaning done somewhere else. I hope this day doesn’t end up tanked.

· It sounds like my washer and the comforter contained within survived. This is good news.

· Walking out my backdoor and seeing this: makes me happy.

· Maybe it’s time to resurrect Trouble Spot Tuesdays.


· Now the girls are asking for lunch sized snacks and dressup play. I’m baking here in the sun and it really is time for more coffee. So I guess that’s my cue to get my butt inside and get that pantry/fridge cleaned out and whatever else I can manage to get my hands on.

Fonky

Yesterday morning I had this conversation with Baboo in my bathroom as I was getting dressed:

Her: Momma? Where you get your panties?
Me: What?
Her: WHERE YOU GET YOUR PANTIES? (same question, just louder)
Me: (putting on pants over underwear) Oh. Um, the store.
Her: WHAT stwore?
Me: I don’t remember. Just a store.
Her: Hahaha. Momma, you fonky!
Me: What? Funny?
Her: No. Fonky!
Me: Funky?
Her: Oh momma, you so fonky. (laughing and shaking head).

I still have no idea what fonky is, but apparently, I’m “it”. Jealous? Bet you were as fonky as me. Maybe it’s combination of wonky and funky? That would kind of describe me right now.

My Life. Now In Stereo

Baboo is very much in a “mimic” phase right now. She wants to do EVERYTHING her big sister does, EXACTLY the same. Exactly.

I feel like my days are in complete repeat mode at every step. Here are some examples:

The other day, Mouse wanted to wear a tank top and shorts so she could “exercise” by running up and down the sidewalk. I was *NOT* allowed to join her, and though she did want to walk around the block by herself, to which I said an emphatic NO, I did allow her to go 3 doors up alone, while I stood in the driveway to supervise.

When Baboo got dressed, she refused to wear the outfit I had picked out. She dug through her drawers until she found a tank top dress that vaguely resembled the one Mouse was wearing. After she had it on, she said “Now I like Mouse! I’m big”. Then she got her shoes on by herself and went outside to run up and down the sidewalk, like Mouse.

Then we were at an electronics store, picking up a new cable modem as ours got pooched in a big thunderstorm we had earlier this week. It was supposed to be a quick “in and out” errand, but it ended up taking 25 minutes, all but 4 of those minutes were spent repeating times 2, the same “commands”. Mouse would stop and look at the candy on the ridiculously long checkout aisles. She’d ask if we could buy some. I’d say “not today, please come on”. We’d take 2 steps, then Baboo would stop at the exact same spot and ask the exact same thing, to which I’d reply in the exact same manner. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. 20 more times, to the check out past a candy wonderland and then again on the way out past the 150 vending, gumball, and toy grabber vending machines. Baboo even stopped at the exact same spot, to peer through a wall with little holes on it, by putting her hands up to her eyes, exactly the same way Mouse had. Good grief. We made it out with everyone in one piece, but just barely.

When I brush Mouse’s hair in the morning, she’s very sensitive. She always cringes and yelps out “OW! OW! OW!” with just about every stroke, despite me spraying ½ a bottle of detangler, and combing gently. When I brush Baboo’s hair, she starts yelping out “OW! OW! OW!” before I even pick up the brush. In fact, she usually starts as soon as I spray on the detangler. One day I asked her, “Are you saying that because Mouse does?” And she said, in a tone of voice as if to imply I was an idiot “Ye-ess, Mommy. I like Mouse”. Oy. She looked at me as though I had two heads when I said “You don’t HAVE to say that. Mouse says it because it hurts, but if it doesn’t hurt you, you don’t have to say “ow”.”

It’s had no effect. Oh well.

Most of the time, it’s kind of cute when Baboo tries to mimic Mouse’s hand movements, body language and tone of voice. However, it’s not so cute when she pulls the same attitude that Mouse does. It makes me bonkers when it’s coming from one 5 year old, never mind a 2 year old trying to be a 5 year old who thinks she’s a 13 year old. Save me. The future looks grim.

So far, Mouse takes the mimicry good naturedly. She understands that Baboo just wants to be like her and is learning from the biggest girl she knows best. We’re trying to use that to our advantage by telling Mouse that if “SHE” behaves well, then it’s like that Baboo will and then we’re all winners. She’s not really buying that 100%, but we’re not giving up hope. However, it’s pretty much a guarantee that if Mouse is acting up, then Baboo will as well, in exactly the same way.

Maybe WE’LL learn the lessons better with all this repetition?

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I've started a new blog to chronicle what I hope will be my lifestyle change journey. I know, just what the 'net needs, another blog about weight loss... but well, I hope it's more than that.

Visit me over at
http://operationmoderation.blogspot.com/