NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART

Y'all know I work in a consignment shop, right? If I haven't mentioned that before, well, there it is.

Now that we have that out of the way...

A couple of days ago, a man came in with a bunch of antique stuff he'd found while going through his late mother-in-law's storage shed. Among the items he brought in was an antique doll stroller, complete with an old, dusty, dirty plastic doll with frizzy hair. The stroller generated a lot of interest from customers in the store, but since it was a new arrival and had not yet been coded and priced, we couldn't sell it right away.

Tuesday morning I had a few minutes on my hands and decided to clean the stroller up a bit so that I could take some pictures. My thinking was, with that much customer interest, it might do well on eBay.

I pulled the old doll out of the stroller and tossed it into the trash. When I turned back toward the stroller, I nearly had a heart attack. There was another doll in the stroller - one that had apparently been laying beneath the other one for a good 30 or 40 years. Now, I've never seen a real human baby decomposing before, but I imagine it would look something like this:















Note how its right eye opens sideways to stare at you and haunt your soul.


"Hey you, over here! Hi! I'll be the one to haunt your dreams forevermore."




















"You cannot hide from me. My extra eye sees everything."

















Decomposing fingers of death...


















Sweet dreams, y'all.

OF SOCCER AND YOUNG LOVE

Sunday afternoon we took K and his crush, A, to the Houston Dynamo vs. FC Dallas soccer game at Robertson Stadium (the official football stadium of the University of Houston). It was K's first "date," but I think his dad and I were more nervous than he was.

The four of us went to the game alone - we left Ry & Pey at the grandparents' house. The drive to the stadium was long, but not as uncomfortable as you might think. DH had coached our very shy son with questions he could ask A, and I think K asked every single one! To her credit, A was very sweet and gracious and answered every question, although she didn't elaborate much. We later remarked that she was almost as quiet and reserved as K, to which he replied, "that's the first time ever." Apparently she's a very outgoing girl. That makes sense, actually, as she's already made the freshman cheerleading squad at their high school.

The day was very hot and sunny, and K has a smarting sunburn right now. But both kids had a good time, and the Dynamo won (yay!) so hubby and I had a good time, too.

I wish there was more to tell about my oldest child's first date, but it was blissfully uneventful. I also wish to heck I'd taken my camera! Dang it.

MIZZOU

So the family took that long drive to Missouri and back last week. All in all, we drove over 1750 miles and were in the car 31 hours. It was actually a pretty good trip, and although there were a few minor annoyances, it was perfectly splendid considering we spent four solid days in the ever-present company of family and in-laws.

I drank a lot of wine. So...yeah.

The first two nights were spent in Lowry City, Missouri, in dh's grandmother's parent's home. It was built around the turn of the century, I think, and looks it. Grandma's father actually died in.the.house. His funeral was held in.the.house.

Shivers.

Truth be told, I completely love it - the creaky floors, the funky windows, the old-house smell. We opened all the windows and awoke to the sounds of birds every morning. Perfection.

The family reunion was held Saturday at the Boy Scout meeting hall. There was lots of good food, tons of people I didn't recognize, and a foosball table. What could be better? Oh yeah, beer. My brother-in-law brought a cooler of beer and we all took one...then we were informed that we actually weren't allowed alcoholic beverages in the Boy Scout hall. Oops. I poured mine into a plastic cup and tossed the bottle. Problem solved! Who says Girl Scouts can't be innovative?

The next day we drove all over central Missouri and visited a bunch of cemeteries, where we saw all the old family graves. DH's dad can tell a story about almost all of them, and we should have been videotaping. I am so annoyed with myself for not doing that.

Monday afternoon all the grandkids (that is, DH, his sister, and their three cousins) met up at Grandma's other house in Kansas City to go through her things. (She passed away last October, just days shy of her 96th birthday.) We were all encouraged to take whatever we wanted, as there was well over 100 years worth of things there. I ended up with some punch bowl cups, a couple of old pieces of china that date back to the turn of the century, and some hand-crocheted doilies, among other things. Pey was gifted with a bedroom set from the 1940s. My favorite new possession, though, is a bound set of the old musical monthly called "The Etude Magazine" from 1929. In the back of the notebook, Grandma stuck some extra magazine covers that still bear her address label. The labels read thusly:

Miss A Grandmasmaidenname
Lowry City, Missouri

And that's it. How cool would it be to send a letter to someone and only have to put their name and city on it? My how times have changed.

While going through the house, we also came across some old postcards sent from family members, to family members. They carried one-cent stamps and were postmarked 1907. Oh how I wish we'd been able to keep those! I think hubby's aunt took them, though, so at least they'll stay in the family.

It was a sentimental trip, and it carried extra sadness for us because in all likelihood, we won't ever be able to go back to that house again. As soon as it's cleared out, it's going on the market. I guess I'm not used to being a player at the end of an era, but the sale of Grandma's house is definitely closing a chapter.

Grandma, we thank you for your legacy and for all you represented. I hope that when I grow up, I can be just like you. You are very much missed.

Love,
T

DISHING

Under my Bookmarks, I have flagged my blog as "Musings." I should just go ahead and rename it that because I honestly can't remember why I named it Her Vichyness in the first place.

Oh wait, yes I can. I did that so that my family wouldn't be able to find the blog should they choose to do a search. After the fiasco that followed Tnk's accident last year, I wanted their blog-reading privileges suspended. As far as they know, I no longer do any online journaling, so theoretically I could gritch about all of them all day long and they'd never know. The thing is, now that I'm gainfully employed, I hardly ever see the fams anymore and thus have little information to share about them anyway. Maybe one day I'll repost the stuff about Tnk's accident, as she now - and you won't believe this - WANTS ME TO GO TO THE MEDIA. She's been dealing with a bunch of crap since she went back to work and is frustrated with the politics in her precinct. But that's a long story for another day.

Actually, there is this one thing I've been itching to dish about: EMTsis, her hubby, and spoiled daughter, are selling their quarter-million dollar house, complete with the pool and social status they always wanted, and moving into an almost-quarter-million dollar townhouse. Where they will share not one but TWO walls with neighbors. Where they're giving up not only their own personal pool, but also a community pool, which for some strange reason does not exist in this place. Oh, they're getting to choose everything from scratch - countertops, carpet, etc. - which is ... woo freakin' hoo. Shared walls, people. For that kind of money, I want my own four walls (or hell, even five). And a pool. And a maid.

Now, I've lived in my share of apartments, and even two townhomes, and was perfectly content in almost all of them. But I was single and childless most of that time, and when I wasn't, it was strictly finances that led me to live in a place with shared walls. Let me share a little background on sis and her hubby that may shed some light on why I can't believe they're doing this...

They only drive a car until the tires get low, then trade it in for a new model (slight exaggeration, but not much). They have every new gadget the second it hits the market. Remember the original car phones? The ones that weighed seven pounds and cost $400? They had two. They bought a new car last year - their third vehicle - because their daughter "will be driving before we know it" and they wanted to have a car ready for her.

She's ten.

They also forked over almost $3500 for said daughter to go to Sylvan for math tutoring, when the school offered tutoring for free. Plus, I'm pretty good at 4th-grade math (!) and could certainly have helped her out, should sis and bro-in-law not be able to. But no, that wouldn't have been good enough. Aye yi yi, the money that's flowed through that family over the years...

It's not that I'm jealous, because I most assuredly am not. And here's why I'm not - they're in debt up to about fifty grand, at last count. That's all credit cards, with a few 401(k) borrowings thrown in for good measure.

Wow.

Anyway, all this rambling to say that I just don't think they'll be happy in the townhouse. My predictions are: (1) they'll never actually move in because they'll come to their senses before the unit is completed in September, or (2) they'll move in but put it up for sale within the year, going even further into debt.

BUT.

And you knew this was coming, didn't you?

EMTsis is a good person; she really is. If I ever have to call for an ambulance, I would definitely want her on it. She's a fantastic EMT, and would have made a great doctor or nurse. Her husband is an okay guy, too, but I admit that I liked him better before their daughter came along. And I'll leave that one alone right there, mmm-hmm. The daughter can be really good sometimes, but when her mom's around, she drives me nuts. I hate hate hate spoiled-brat syndrome, and baby, she has it in spades.

That's the dish. My next entry will be about our trip to Mizzou. Go Tigers.

STUFF

I have so much to do, you guys. The laundry is pretty much caught up, but we still have to pack. A lot. And I have to get the oil changed, clean up the house, remember to shut off the a/c, stop the paper, and about a kajillion other things, all while working every day.

Oh man, I need a wife.

Yesterday we took the DumbShit Dog to my dad's so that she (DSD) could get used to the place a little bit before we leave her there for a week. Dad has graciously offered to keep her for us while we're away so that we can save a kennel fee. Of course, as soon as we get there DSD breaks out of her leash and takes off across a major street. K gave chase, and fortunately (?) he was able to catch her. I am still pissed off that she not only almost killed herself, but she put my kid in danger, too. It was all I could do not to beat the crap out of her.

Okay, I never would really do that. But I'll admit that I was angry enough... And today, every time I look at her, all I see is red. I don't want to hear about it being "in her nature" or some other BS. She is not stupid. She knew exactly what she was doing - that she was ignoring us calling her. Inside the house, if I say "want a treat?" she runs immediately to my side. Outdoors in the backyard, she does the same thing. But when she's in the front yard, all bets are off. The little bitch runs faster the more you call her.

Okay, I'd better stop now before I say something else I'll regret. If anyone wants to preach animal cruelty at me, please save it. This is my blog and I just needed to vent. Thanks.

FISHIE MADE ME DO IT

Post, that is. Her comment on my last entry guilted me into sitting down and putting something out there this morning. How's this for a start:

So I'm sitting here sipping coffee and desperately wishing I did not have to go to work today, as I am hung over. Yes, folks, I had a bit too much wine last night. But it was fun and irresponsible and totally worth it. Hubby will attest to that. ;>

We went to dh's sister's house last night to help her and her husband celebrate their birthdays. It was fun. Before that, we'd gone to the Astros vs. Rangers game, which was not so much fun. Fourteen to one. Really, Astros. What the hell?

The best part of the game was surprisingly our seats, which were so high your nosebleed could catch a nosebleed of its own. But we had an amazing view, and the seats were completely worth the five bucks each we paid for them. The $40 we spent on crappy food is another story.

This is the last week of school for my kidlets, and they're all excited about the next four days. Even K, who has a final tomorrow, is in a good mood. Me, I'm getting concerned about summer plans since I have a job now. But I'm sure it will all work out.

Big news - I'm teaching the kids to do their own laundry, starting this week. They each have their own laundry baskets now and have been putting their dirty clothes into them since Saturday. I foresee a happy Pley in the near future.

And with that, I've got to get to work. Y'all have a good one!

IT'S GOING TO BE A LONG DAY

So our store's manager gave her two weeks' notice, and yesterday was her last day. I am now second in command, apparently, as the owner has pretty much put me in charge of things until the end of the school year. At which time, his grand plan is to hire several more high school students to run things while he ... well, runs things.

The thing is, he's hardly ever there, so that's a lot of responsibility for a teenager. They eat it up, though, "working" while the boss is out. In this case, the boss is actually a fun guy, but there's still that "I know he could fire me" mentality when he's around. I know; I have it myself. And I probably should relax, as he is always telling me how much money I'm making for the store and how invaluable my Internet experience is and so on and so forth.

I am totally rambling. Sorry.

Bossman is going to be in today, which should help things run more smoothly on our official First Day Without A Manager. I hope so, anyway. The manager did a LOT for the place, and I'm a little freaked out at the thought of having to do my job AND hers.

eep!

Y'all wish me luck. And have a good one.

WHEN IT RAINS, IT POURS

Right through the bathroom ceiling, that is. Actually, both bathroom ceilings.

When this house was built, the builders decided it needed two air conditioning units - one for the upstairs; one for the down. I've never been so appreciative of this fact until yesterday, when the upstairs unit decided that this would be a good day to die. But it did not go quietly; oh no it did not. Instead, it decided to leak through not only the upstairs bathroom ceiling, but also the downstairs bathroom ceiling, the latter of which included a bulging drywall bubble of water (Poke poke poke! Splash!).

So now instead of just replacing the a/c unit, we have ceiling and drywall repair to do. Great! I needed another project!

Hubby is in mid-freakout over the potential cost we're about to incur. We both know it's going to be expensive, but we also know it's something that just has to be done - we live in Texas; 'nuff said. So that Bahamas trip we were semi-planning? Buh-bye.

[sigh]

I'm about to leave for work and try to put in as many hours as I can. We're going to need every spare penny in order to cool this house down again. Wish me luck.

Ciao!

IN A RUSH, BUT NO ONE CARES
(Warning: This ends in a major gripefest. But these are just my feelings at the moment, and I will get over it. )

At work yesterday, I spent the morning in a very hot storage unit taking pictures and documenting the items therein. We have a bunch of good stuff in there: another antique treadle sewing machine, a full desk and matching filing cabinets, a craft table complete with outlet, salon-grade manicure and pedicure stations, two refrigerators, two large fans, a power generator, a professional floor buffer, and an industrial welding set. And that doesn't even cover half of it.

The rest of the day was spent packing up eBay items, going to the UPS store, dealing with customers, and figuring out our business system, which is done through Microsoft Access. I finally got the latter done near the end of the day.

Today I need need need to get to the store and get busy listing items online. Then I need to work on the website. But my family is just not cooperating - Ry griped when I told him he'd be going to school early with Pey, who has choir practice at 7:15. K griped even more when I told him he'd be catching the bus on his own this morning. Even hubby asked me, as I was rushing out the door, to make his coffee for him. Granted, that doesn't take very long, but still, geez.

No one in this family seems to respect what I do, or that I have a job. I am near tears right now because I just can't seem to make anyone understand that this is important to me, and that all I crave is a little bit of "how's it going?" and "how can we help?" Right now, I'm not holding my breath.

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER DOLLAR

Didn't get much listed for sale yesterday - I think four items made it onto Craigslist, and one onto eBay. We still had a pretty good sale day, though, which is good. I was able to sell an antique treadle sewing machine that we've had in the store for weeks. That was pretty exciting.

For the second day in a row, I worked through lunch. I stay so busy that the time just flies by, and when I look up, it's already 2:00 p.m. Of course, that means that I'm famished when I get home, so I eat something and ruin my appetite for dinner. Unfortunately, the kids and spouse still want to eat actual food every night. Go figure. So I'm still stuck figuring out what to feed them, which is quite difficult when you're not hungry yourself.

Since I've started working again, the house has gone to hell. I mean, if you just step back and look at it, it's not overly messy or anything. But it is d.u.s.t.y. We live in the freaking dust bowl of Texas, I swear. The whole place needs to be dusted, swept, and vacuumed, and the bathrooms are all in dire need of deep cleaning. I wish I could hire someone to just come in here and catch up on that kind of stuff for me; coming home to it every day exhausts me.

And I won't even begin to talk about Mt. Laundry. Actually, that's MTS. Laundry now.

One thing I've noticed is that when you're a mom working part-time, you really don't work just part-time. I go to work at 7:30 or 8:00 every day, I get home around 3:00, then I meet the school buses, supervise homework, take kids to appointments and practices, make dinner, clean up after dinner, run errands for everyone (two days ago the kids HAD to have new GameBoy DS games, which they'd saved up for all by themselves, so that required a trip to GameStop) and try to be pleasant throughout it all. Not surprisingly, the latter is sometimes the hardest part of my day.

I also do the grocery shopping, which I honestly don't mind, but if someone wants something that's not on my Grocery Game list, I need it written down. I can promise you I won't remember that you need hot cheetos or vitamins or salad if you don't write it down for me.

And telling me that you need socks when you have to leave for school in thirty minutes is likely going to leave you disappointed.

This summer I'm going to teach everyone else how to do laundry. It's an important skill to learn, and I've been washing, drying, folding, and even ironing clothes since I was seven years old. I'm not going to get into ironing with the kids right now, but everything else, they can certainly do.

And so, there you go. I guess I had a lot on my mind. heh. I've got to get out of here now and get to work. Today's task: Going through the shop's off-site storage unit and seeing what we can put on eBay or Craigslist. I haven't been there yet, but I've heard that we have everything from refrigerators to a disco archway to an entire beauty salon in there. I have a feeling I'm going to sleep well tonight.

WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON

So the job is going well. I've been very busy there. When I was hired, I was told that it would be hard for me to reach 20 hours a week, as the position is part-time. Well, my first week's timecard showed 25 hours, and this week's is going to be much more than that. Last week's, too.

I guess I've been doing a good job, because my boss really seems to like my work. He calls me at home almost every day to talk about things he wants to do with the store; in particular, the online sales and the website. Last Friday he called to tell me that the manager has given her two weeks' notice.

Man oh man.

I have been working at this place for two weeks, and he offered me the managerial position. If I took it (which I'm not), I'd be leapfrogging six other employees. Granted, I'm older and have more experience than they do, but still...

Back to my own job: Our eBay sales are doing very well, but our Craigslist items are going like gangbusters! I've made the store well over a thousand bucks in just two weeks simply by listing items on Craigslist. Love it love it love it. If it were up to me, I'd drop eBay altogether and just put everything on Craigslist - it brings customers to the store, it makes almost instant money for us, and best of all - no shipping. I hate shipping.

By the way, if you want to check out my eBay listings, go here: EBAY.

--

Hubby has been involved in a weight-loss contest at work for the past couple of months. The way it works is that the group who collectively loses more weight than the company's officers (who are their own group) will get a free paid holiday. Yesterday was the final weigh-in, and hubby lost 21 pounds. We won't know until Friday if his team won, but 21 pounds is quite a personal accomplishment. I'm very proud of him.

--

Ry's assistant principal called me last week because Ry had gotten in trouble at school that day. (He's the first of my kids to have to go to the principal's office; guess I've been lucky.) Anyway, what had happened was that at lunch that day, two boys who were sitting across the table from him (Grayson and Tristan) apparently had some goodies in their lunches. Ry and the kid sitting beside him (Jason) were asking them to share their cookies. The boys gave Ry one, but not Jason. Ry teased Jason as the other boys had been doing to him earlier - "Ooooh, look what IIIII've got! Don't you wish YOU had some?" and the like.

Jason eventually got irritated and pinched Ry hard on the back. Ry retaliated by taking Jason's glasses off and putting them into Grayson's salad.

He then took them out of the salad and cleaned them off, but by that time Jason had told the lunchroom monitor on Ry. Ry said, "But he pinched me!" The monitor took both boys to the assistant principal's office. The assistant principal said that both of them were crying all the way there, so she was lenient. She made them both sit out recess and write apology letters to each other.

I must say, when she called me with this story, I was biting my lip to keep from laughing out loud at the salad part. He put Jason's glasses into the salad. lol

Mommy's little troublemaker. heh

--

Better get K to school and myself to work. On the home front - does anyone want to come get this laundry done for me? It's really stacking up since I'm hardly here anymore. :(

STILL AIN'T DEAD

You know, if I ever am dead, which I hear will actually happen someday, I hope someone will let you guys know.

Anyway.

Yesterday at work I listed two items on eBay. I think they look pretty good, although I'd like to have been more descriptive in the Item Description area. However, as my quota for listings for the store is escalating exponentially over the next few weeks, I've got to keep things short and sweet. (Like me. heh.) This week my quota was to list just one thing, so I'm ahead of the game already.

Today I'll be listing things on Craigslist. I've never dealt with that website before, so if anyone has any suggestions, please toss 'em my way. Everything I list will be for sale, not for free, if that helps.

Things are going swimmingly here on the homefront. K came home in a very good mood yesterday because Ash talked to him! It's amazing the power girls have over boys. I just hope she continues to be as sweet to him as she is to everyone else. (Ash is a very popular girl.) So far, so good. Kimmer, I totally hear you on the "not ready" part - even though K is almost 14, and I'm admittedly getting a little more used to hearing him talk about girls, I'm still not ready ready. And Pey is going to be 10 this year, but she thinks she's 25. Oy. Ry...well, he's 11 but he still thinks girls have cooties, and I'm fine with that.

Not much else going on around here, so I guess I'll sign off and finish up my coffee. Mmmm, caffeine...

I AIN'T DEAD YET

Hubby has been pushing me to post "at least a short little note" on my blog, so here it is. You know, he's right - I've been remiss in keeping up with things, but so much has been going on that I've gotten overwhelmed and just couldn't merge all the happenings into one cohesive format. Therefore, in true Pley fashion, here's a new post in the form of - you guessed it - a LIST.

• I did do the temp job at hubby's company. It lasted three days and went pretty well. I was asked to come back into a different position starting last week, and I agreed to do so. But the new job was an 8-5:00, long-term (read: no end in sight) position, and the more I thought about it, the more anxiety I felt. How was I supposed to keep up with the housework, laundry, meals, and kids if I was never here? I'd be gone every day from 7:00 a.m. to 6:15 p.m., and would be relying on my still-ill MIL to take care of the kids. (She volunteered.) I know that people do this all the time, but I guess I'm not really cut out to be one of those people.
  
• So I went out and found myself a part-time job close to home. It doesn't pay as well as the temp job, but I can't tell you how much happier I am. I get to set my days and hours, and it only takes me four minutes to get to work - five if I hit a red light. I'm maintaining the website and doing eBay listings for a consignment shop. Well, I will be doing those things very soon, as this week I'm in training. Keep an eye out on this eBay shop - I'm going to be listing some nice stuff on there this week. Hopefully today, actually.
• In other news, K has finally taken the big step of calling the girl he likes. Unfortunately, she was sick last week and couldn't go to the Dynamo game with us. Hopefully she'll feel better soon.
• Everyone else seems to be doing okay. I've got to get off here and get ready for work, so that's it for now. Have a great week!
  

ELEVEN DAYS?

That's how long it's been since my last post. Wow.

Speaking of eleven, Ry's 11th birthday was last week. We had a family party here at the house, and Ry had a great time. His favorite gifts were the new Bionicles he'd been jonesing for for weeks.

We actually had Ry's party a couple of days early, as hubby had to leave for another business trip on Ry's actual birthday. It worked out okay, though, because dh came home from work early enough that day for us all to have dinner together before he left.

Rest of the week went by in kind of a blur. Just for grins, I slept in the guest room while dh was gone. The mattress on that bed is not nearly as nice as the one on our king-size bed - it's much firmer than I remember. I kept waking up with my arm asleep. Actually, I was sleeping with my arm under the pillow - as I always do - but this mattress is hard and cut off the circulation.

I guess that's one good way of keeping company from staying too long.

Tomorrow I start back to work for a few days. Same company (hubby's); different department. Last time I was in Legal-New Development. This time I'll be in Property Management. I used to be in PM at a former job, so hopefully I'll be able to draw on my experience. I had zero experience with Legal, so that job was tough. I am optimistic that I'll be more comfortable this time.

Better get to bed now, seeing as how I'm a working girl and all.

QUICKIE

The weather today was very rainy and thundery and lightningy. Thunder freaks the dog smooth out, making her whimper and slink around and try to stick close to the nearest human. The kids and I eat it up because it's the only time she allows us to cuddle with her.

Kids are spending the night at the grandparents' tonight because I'm going with hubby on a business trip to Lake Charles tomorrow. It's just a day trip, but at least we'll get to talk uninterrupted in the car for a few hours. We're looking forward to it. Tonight the two of us went out to dinner at Chili's. I love their lettuce wraps, but one suggestion I'd have for the waiters is to always bring extra napkins whenever someone orders lettuce wraps. Messy.

Ry's birthday is next Tuesday. I have not yet bought him any gifts, but maybe that's something hubby and I can do tomorrow while we're out.

And with that, I'm off to bed. G'nite!

FAILURE

Don't you hate feeling like a failure? That's how I've been feeling the past couple of days. Although I can point to several reasons why I feel that way, I really can't put my finger on the main issue. Maybe if I list things here, the picture will paint itself.

1. Small, I know, but I've failed to update my blog every day this month. That was such a small goal, yet I didn't accomplish it. I have no excuse, as I have been home every day and had computer time every day.

2. Yesterday I was ready to take the kids back to the rock I found them under. They bickered all.day.long. Okay, not all day - there were a couple of hours of peace - but when they fight, they royally piss me off. And that "having to get the last word in" thing? OMG, I can't even explain the rage that brings out in me.

3. My 9-year-old daughter seemingly cannot entertain herself this week (which is spring break and I normally look forward to but NOT this year...anymore). She constantly hangs around me, not talking but just being there. Yesterday at 5:30 I finally told her to go to her room and stay there. She couldn't understand why she was being punished...and really, I couldn't either, but she was getting under my skin and I needed a break.

4. DH and I went to sleep facing opposite directions last night. We rarely do that, and there was really no reason. The longer I lay there, the madder I got. Thank God for sleep, because if I'd stayed awake I might have packed a bag.

5. Where the hell is all this rage coming from? I can't even blame it on PMS, as certain regions of my body are NOT sore (and they always are at that time of the month).

Thus the feeling of failure kicks in. And that pisses me off, too. Why am I calling myself a failure?

Maybe I'm just mad. I sure would like a reason, though, so I could work on it. I hate feeling this way.

RY

My funny, funny middle son - the one we sometimes call our little Isaac because the name means "laughter" - has recently acquired the, um, skill, of scrunching up his face to make us laugh. I usually tell him to stop stretching his skin, but the truth is that he looks pretty darn funny and I can't help giggling.

Cute and nonscrunchy:















Scrunchy:













BTW, that's hubby on our computer in the background of the top pic. Now y'all kind of know where I'm sitting as I write this. Oooh, creepy.

HE'S BA-AACK

Hubby made it home safely from Portland today. His flight was delayed for two hours due to mechanical problems, but he still got to town in time for me to pick him up and get home before the kids' buses were due.

I'm so glad he's back. Admittedly, it's nice to have a short break from preparing separate breakfasts every morning and dinners* every night, but forever? No. I definitely would not be happy without him in my life.

*Not separate dinners, mind you. But this week we had more than one episode of "hey guys, sandwiches again tonight!" Don't get to do that very often.

Next week is spring break, and boy did I ever luck out on activities. On a whim, I emailed a friend this morning who lives near Kemah and asked if she knew of any discounts or coupons for the Kemah Boardwalk. She just happens to be friends with the manager of the Boardwalk, and was able to score us five FREE passes! I am so excited. We've never been there, but it looks like a fantastic place to take the kids - especially since they're older now and can ride more rides.

We may also go to Moody Gardens one day next week. The kids brought home coupons for discounted tickets. Not as good as free, but it still sounds like fun.
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Picture of the day: Hubby and me as Ma & Pa Kettle. We're just purt dang cute, mm-hmm.

HERE LIES A LACK OF ORIGINAL TITLE

Last night when I went to bed, I checked on the kids as usual. Pey was lying on top of her covers and breathing heavily. I leaned down to kiss her and discovered that she was hot. Worrywart that I am, I put her in my bed with me so that I could keep an eye on her.

This morning she was still feverish and had that "I'm sick" look around her eyes. You guys know what I mean. So I kept her home from school today; first day she's missed all year. During the day, she miraculously got better - I checked, a lot - so tomorrow she'll be back in class. She wants to go back, actually, because being the only kid at home is boring, especially when you're sick and mom won't let you do anything fun.

Tomorrow is the last day of school before spring break. The kids can't wait. We have no plans for next week, but at least we should be able to sleep in. Well, I'll still get up with hubby and help him get his breakfast, but overall we should be more rested.

Speaking of hubby, he comes home tomorrow around noon. I'm looking forward to seeing him.
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Here are a couple of pictures for you. They're of my sisters and me thirty some-odd years ago, then the three of us last November. Wonder whatever happened to those old Go-Go boots...

L-R: Me, Tnk, EMTsis

L-R (superhero identities hidden): Constable Tnk, EMTsis, and Just Me (sigh)

HUMPDAY

Last night I did something I've been meaning to do for months: I downloaded Mozilla with Firefox. It's, um, okay, but I don't think I am completely comprehending its legendary awesomeness. If any of my dear readers use it, please enlighten me to its any features which will make me think I'm a rock star. Or at least that I didn't royally screw up.

Basically, here's what I don't want to hear from my husband when he gets back to town on Friday, [click] "Wha--??? [click clicker click] What the ... HEY! What have you DONE to our computer?!?"

Help?

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Today I hosted a Creative Memories beginner's crop at my friend Laura's house. She is like the coolest consultant you've ever met. What I love most is that she is a no-pressure salesperson. She hosts evening crops at her house at least once a month, but she does not give a rat's patootie whether you use CM products or "contraband," as I've dubbed my non-CM stuff (and I have a LOT of non-CM stuff).

Today's crop included my bff Jen, both of my sisters, my oldest friend Gena, and her friend Cyndi. Gena and I bought nothing, but the rest of the newbies managed to spend nearly $200 - which blessed yours truly with a $21 credit for my choice of CM products. I bought adhesive refills, page protectors, and frosted adhesive squares (good for vellum, mmm-hmmm). All FREE. Yay! Although...I've been wondering since I got home whether I spent my credit wisely. Should I have put the $21 toward a cool PowerSort Organizer? The large square punch I've been jonesing for since last year? A bunch of alphabet stickers?

Gah! Maybe I should just count my blessings. Yes, I'll do that.

My hostess gift for today was, well, it's hard to describe. It includes a small CM calendar, two magnets to hold said calendar on the fridge, and a small double punch - a swirl and a starburst. It all sounds cool, but I am so not a fan of the little punches. They're hard to adhere and honestly, I'll never use them. Now, I suppose, the choice is "garage sale" or "eBay."

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K is skipping soccer practice tonight. I think the coach is having practice, but since there's no game this weekend (spring break) I didn't feel it would really matter. K didn't want to go anyway, and since he's such a great kid and always so good about going to practice, I figure he deserves a break. This is it, though - from now on, any weekend there's a game, he'll be at practice. Well, except for next week - on soccer practice night, I think we're planning to go to the Dynamo vs. Puntarenas MLS game. Heh. I have good intentions, anyway.

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The weather is warming up here in H-town. Tonight's low will be in the 50s, and tomorrow's high will be in the 70s. Spring is in the air!

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My aunt (my mom's sister) gave me this picture when I was at her house a couple of weeks ago. I'd never seen the picture before, but it brought me to tears when I did. That's Mom on the left, and a very small me on the right, circa 1969. Mom looks absolutely radiant in this picture, and it makes me long for her to be with me again, just for one more day.