Girlymama

Woke up sick. Stuffy, runny nose, headache, sore throat, chills, achey-ness all over. Yuck. Even after doping myself on a ridiculous amount of DayQuil, combined with three cups of coffee, I was still dragging.  Pre-kids, I would never have gotten out of bed.  Post-kids, I still managed to pick up the house a bit, make some phone calls, help the kids make Christmas ornaments and do the laundry. Then, I actually fell asleep with two kids in my lap while watching Blue’s Clues. I was that tired. 

But did that stop me from going Christmas shopping? You bet your bottom dollar it didn’t!!!! After all, my x-ray appointment was over at 12:30 and my dear mother-in-law had told me, “Just be back before 5:00!” so… I went shopping.  But I am sad to say it was not all that fun. I was totally uninspired, being so out of it, and I probably bought gifts that I already had. Still, it was nice to shop sans children. I only had to worry about me! Big Sister needed a new winter coat, since I noticed yesterday that her winter coat was a size 2T and she wears a 4. And it just so happened that all outerwear is 50% off at Old Navy. (Thanks, God!)  So I bought her this and this.  I was seriously tempted by this, but it would probably be out of style by the time Little Sis would wear it. (not to mention that Husband probably would have made me take it back, claiming that our daughter is not a pimp 😉 Fun stuff.

Now I am all Nyquilled up and off to bed. As much fun as it would be for you all to have me posting drugged up on Nyquil. (“Now, my biggest secret would be the time I…”) Tomorrow morning is a big event for me. And Big Sister. I’ll write about it tomorrow — don’t want to spoil the surprise, but its so big I am pulling her out of schoolfor the day.  Hee hee – I’m so excited.

ABC Meme! From DCRmom

A – Available or single: happily married to my honey
B – Best Friend: My mom.
C – Cake or Pie: Pie. Although I am fond of cake. Not just any cake. Cheesecake. Yum. I wish I had some right now to go with my…
D – Drink of choice: coffeecoffeecoffeecoffee
E – Essential Item you use everyday: coffee pot (duh) and ceremic flat iron.
F – Favorite color:  In clothes, black. Any other time, pink.
G – Gummy Bears or worms: I’ll have to go with Sour Patch Kids. (gross, I know.)
H – Hometown: Solon, OH
I – Indulgence: manis and pedis. And long, hot bubble baths. And running away with my girlfriends to the beach for a long weekend every spring.
J – January or February: February. Not as boring, since its Valentines and Big Sister’s birthday.
K – Kids & Names: Elizabeth (Ellie) Jayna and Grace (Gracie) Sana. Our kids both have Hindi middle names, since Husband was born in India. Jayna means the same as Husband’s name and Sana (“Sun-ah”) means “praise or worship.”
L – Life is Incomplete Without: Jesus.
M – Marriage Date: July 1st
N – Number of Siblings: Three: one brother and two sisters, all younger.
O – Oranges or Apples: Apples. Because they go in pies.
P – Phobias or Fears: Spiders. Yeech. And eye stuff. Going to the eye doctor totally freaks me out. (and, ironically, I wear contacts.)
Q – Fave Quote: Don’t really have one…. Boring, I know.
R – Reason to Smile: My family. My kids, who are continually hilarious without meaning to be.
S – Season: Summer, Summer & Summer. Although… does the Christmas season count?
T – Tag 3 or 4 people: FancyThis, LifeLemons, and my brother.
U – Unknown Fact about Me: I’ve never broken a bone, despite the best efforts of my brother.
V- Vegetable You Don’t Like: Brussels sprouts, artichoke
W – Worst Habit: obsessing over everything.
X – X-rays: Ironic, but I’m getting one this afternoon. A chest x-ray which will hopefully shead some light into why I cannot breathe.
 Y – Your Fave Food: Pizza.
Z – Zodiac Sign: Virgo. I’ve been told I’m a “classic Virgo,” but I’m not sure what that means.

Okay. Now Sesame Street is almost over and I really need to take a shower!

but I am once again uninspired to post anything compelling. I’ve been sick, kids are sick – just a big ol’ fashioned snotfest around these here parts lately. Big Sis has developed a nasty lingering cough (as she likes to do bi-annually) and feels driven to wake up her sleeping parents so that they may share in every cough all night long. Little Sis is sleeping – Praise God! – but is a little Snot Monster who thinks I am her personal tissue. (I relate, DCRmom!!) 

Anywaysssss, we all know how fantastically awesome I am after about 3 days of no sleep.  Today I forgot to put socks on Little Sis,  forgot 2 people’s names, made a total fool of myself when I called customer service to complain about the website as I was trying to place a web order and a very polite Indian man named “Steve” pointed out that it was actually me who was screwing up and perhaps I should read more carefully. And I snapped at the kids approximately 3 jillion times. (In fact I just did! Again! As I’m writing this! “Mommy?” “What?” “I coughed.” “Super. Go back to bed!”)

I’ve actually been pretty snappy for about 3 days now. I need to pull myself together and fix that before my kids start imitating me or my husband signs up for a business trip.  Its so easy to make excuses: I’m tired. I don’t feel well, I’ve had a rough day… but there’s really no excuse for mouthing off and venting on my family.  I’m continually reminded of Matthew 12:36: “But I tell you that men will have to give an account on the day on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.” I like that: Careless words. That’s what they are really. I’m not making an effort to control myself.  I”m annoyed and impatient and I sound annoyed and impatient.  I just need to keep praying that God will help convict my heart on this.  My words have a tremendous impact on my family, and I need to be using them to teach, correct and encourage. 

Hey, look! I did have something to write about after all!  And a big shout out to my little sister who ended up in the hospital last night and scared the hell out of all of us. Thanks for keeping us on our toes, Sis! Feel better soon and enjoy those pain meds!

I took Big Sis to the doctor today for her cough that has been lingering for a few weeks and while we were there poor innocent bystander Little Sis ended up getting a shot. (They had run out of her needed vaccine last time. They are getting tons is preparation for our trip to India next year.) Poor baby.

She naturally burst into tears when they gave it to her. Then the doctor handed Big Sister a sticker for being so good during her check-up and I said to Big Sis, “What do you say?”

Little Sister turned her watery eyes to the nurse who had just given her a shot and tearfully said, “Thank you.”

Now that’s a polite kid.

the crawl space is almost done being cemented. The mudroom is painted (one coat) and I am very pleased to share that I moved the washer and dryer. By. Myself. Yep – I’m Superwoman. My secret identity is blown.

Everything looks great. Except the family room that is in between the crawl space and mudroom is an absolute disaster. Oh well. Progress is progress!

that when you are completely out of something (like eggs or potatoes, like me) all you can think of to cook includes that exact same ingredient?

This afternoon, I have actually thought: “I know! Meatloaf!” No, takes an egg… “Pot roast!” No… “Oooo… Omelets sound great! No, no eggs. I could just make pancakes…”

Methinks leftovers…

This weekend I get to paint! I am so excited – I love painting. (As in walls, nothing that is actually artistic.) I will be painting the mudroom on Saturday after my husband finishes fixing it tonight. Then he and his dad will be doing something involving cement in the crawl space all day on Saturday. (I’m staying out of that one.)

So by the end of this weekend, we should have a finished mudroom, a cemented crawl space that drains properly, a working sump pump and – dare I dream – finally be able to store things in the crawl space.  Now I just have to learn how to tile so I can finish up the family room closet and we’ll be almost done with the ground floor!  Progress! Yay!!!

I have been getting lots done for the house lately. Little Sis has stuff on her walls now. I trash picked a huge mirror which I refinished and put over her dresser & I made these wooden letters that spell out her name, tied up with ribbons. Very cute. Big Sister insisted on some for her room as well. I also refinished two picture frames for hanging in various locations – I found great wall art on clearance with yucky frames. When WordPress stops being retarded and lets me post pictures again, I’ll show you.

Who taught my baby learn to pull her big sister’s hair while smacking her upside the face at the same time?

What makes my baby think she is old enough to try and reason with me? (“A little baby time-out, okay, Mama?”)

Where does my baby learn all the songs she can sing? (From Jesus Loves Me, to Everything Disney to Hey, Jude)

When did my baby begin crossing her arms, thrusting out her chin and telling me “No, I don’t want to [fill in the blank]. You no make me.”?

Why is she growing up so quickly? I’m not ready! 

How did my baby get old enough to be signed up for preschool this morning?

I haven’t posted for a very good reason: I was looking for my Christmas tree stand. And yes, that makes perfect sense. You see, my Christmas tree stand was somewhere in the attic or fourth bedroom/storage room, but I didn’t know where. So I started looking. And found a box filled with old coat hangers. An entire box! Coat hangers! Out in the trash that went. Then I found four boxes filled with my husband’s crap treasured belongings which I was able to consolidate into three boxes. Then, I found 3 boxes labeled “family room” that were in the attic. ?!?! So those had to be dealt with. Then I realized I could probably pack away the baby swing, seeing as my baby is now 2.

Anyways, one thing lead to another, which lead to another…. but the attic is much more organized. And every single trash recepticle we have is full to bursting. And the fourth bedroom almost resembles a bedroom, although it still lacks a few things vital to any bedroom. Like a bed. Or any furniture. It does have a lamp now, so we are making progress. I am definatly winning my war on useless crap.

Then yesterday we went to get our Christmas tree. YAHOO! I love Christmas. We picked out the perfect tree. Just perfect. We wrestled it into the house and into the corner of the living room, next to the fireplace and said, “Hum. It didn’t look quite so big outside.” It was like a cheesy sitcom. We bought the biggest Christmas tree ever. We had to cut several inches off and it is so wide that we had to move our couch. Its Huge – with a capital H. Hilarious. Our kids were laughing their little butts off watching us try to wrestle it into the stand. (“Is it straight now?” “No.” GRUNT. “How about now?””Nope.”) My favorite is when I was holding it up straight and Husband was lying on the floor trying to maneuver it in the stand and he asks, “Can you lift it?” I said, “Are you kidding?”

So I am feeling a strong sense of accomplishment and a strong amount of back pain. I’m going to take a nice, long tub and pop an Advil before crashing into bed tonight.

…I have a couple of things to share. First off, please do not go shopping on Black Friday if you don’t know the rules. Do not complain to the store manager, demanding an item that was advertised “limited quanities” and “first come, first serve” at 11AM! If you want the deals, you needed to show up at 5am when the store opened, you moron. And puhleeze do not  complain that its crowded. You are going shopping on the busiest shopping day of the year. Of course  its going to be crowded. Go home and let the rest of us enjoy bargain hunting in peace.

Secondly, I admit I was upset at the choice for the new Bond. I don’t think he is the typical sexy, dashing image that James Bond has. (I am a huge James Bond fan, despite being a girl.) But, I just saw Casino Royale.  It was terrific. Daniel Craig did a great job. Still don’t think he’s very handsome, but it was a great movie. Go see it.