Sunday, May 28, 2006

Redefining pathetic

Last night I was IMing Jordan. She said she misses my cookies. I told her I haven't baked since I left CA. I don't have anyone to bake for. That thought alone made me cry. I'm utterly pathetic.

Saturday, May 27, 2006

I am watching Sister Act

It brings back memories of living in Italy. When we first moved there, we were waiting for our household goods to arrive. Our express shipment had dishes, sheets, and we had our TV, VCR, and one tape...Sister Act. We watched it every day, for months. My mom, brother and I knew the script. We sang the songs. There was nothing else to do there, and nothing else on TV. We called AFRTS "a-farts" for a reason. There wasn't squat on TV. (Armed Forces Radio & Television Services, for you civilians.)

I think it is bad here with nothing to do, well Italy was a whole 'nother story.

Today the weather was nice and Katie, Jonathan and I went to the birthday party. About 25 kids, surprisingly enough, no fights or unhappy kids. Burgers, dogs, sodas, juiceboxes, cake, ice cream, and a huge bouncy house thing that was a maze and ended in a slide. It also got to be about 200 degrees in the sun, so they turned on the sprinkler to cool it down. The kids had a blast, soaking wet, and covered in mud! Moms watched kids in cycles as other moms took their turns to run home & grab swimsuits and towels.

I helped out with serving cake and cleaning up, and opening random kids' juices. It didn't matter that no one knew me and I didn't know them. I just started passing out plates of cake. And once some kids saw me punch a hole in the foil top of the "Little Hug" juice for my kids with my car keys, they lined up for me to "pop a top" for them too.

The mom and dad both thanked me for my help. I could see they wanted the party to be a fun one, and it was--I didn't see any unhappy kids. I just figured I could help them out because I know how hard I work to make my kids' parties fun, and then I am friggin' exhausted afterward.

The kids did a decorate-a-big-paper-horse craft, and spent loads of time on the bouncy house maze slide thing. Jonathan actually came home and took a nap! Katie was pretty low-key afterward, but no nap. We had a late dinner and went to the store for some cross stitch thread. We were out late, and ate late, and I let them stay up late, and they are currently out like lights. Gee maybe they will sleep late in the morning.

The other day Katie woke up at 4 AM and crawled into bed with me. Not before she pushed me over and grabbed one of the two pillows I sleep with, either. "Share, Mommy." I didn't notice her leave the bed, but I noticed her come back, with the dog! He knows that he is supposed to stay downstairs. Katie let him out of his crate, called him, and up the stairs he came! I woke up again to her patting the bed in an effort to get him to jump on it. He did, and when he saw me glaring through one half-open eye, his ears drooped because he knows he was being a bad boy. Katie scooped him next to her and I just went back to sleep. Sigh.

Well it is midnight now, and I can't sleep as usual. I am going to do some more cross stitch. I have a lot to finish in just a few months before FIL's birthday. For those of you following the captivating drama that is my life, I still cannot find the crochet hook. So I bought another one. And the new neighbor does have a wife. I saw her. That is all.

Friday, May 26, 2006

More rain, a neighbor and questions to ask yourself about living in this house

It started raining again today. Katie has been invited to a birthday party tomorrow so I hope the showers stop soon. We came home from school and there was a man coming out of the house 2 doors down. He said hello, and I asked if he was moving in. (There have been a lot of workmen spiffying up the three empty houses lately so I thought he might be another one of them.)

He says yes, and introduces himself as Dave. I told him my name and that Steve would be home in about two weeks. He asked what branch of service Steve was in, and I told him Navy, and he said he is Army but he works with all branches up at MEPS. He asks Katie how old she is, and when she answered, he said he has a 3 year old little girl in the house. I am assuming that he has a wife too, but he never mentioned her. I thought that she was in the house with the little girl. I hope he just wasn't leaving her alone in the house. I also hope that he has a wife because Steve isn't home and I am man-shy.

We shall see what sort of neighbors these people turn out to be. We have 2 other families near us, and they don't say a single word to us. Sigh.

Lasagna is in the oven for today's dinner, and will soon be out. Earlier today I started sorting Katie's room and have chucked 2 huge boxes of broken toys and crap. I am back-burnering the kids' rooms over the weekend. If I do it while they are in school, they cannot protest my throwing out all of their stuff. So I will continue the mundane effort to organize the downstairs part of the house over the weekend.

Instead of nagging the kids to put their things away, I have composed a list of questions they need to ask themselves about living in this house. I will post them, and since they can both read now, I don't even have to ask the questions, just point to where they are posted.

They are as follows:

Where do your shoes go? Your bookbag goes there too.

Where does your coat belong?

Where do dirty clothes go?

Where do dirty dishes go?

What happens to toys that come downstairs?

What do you need to do to the bathroom light and door?

Should we run in the house or up and down the stairs? Why?

What do you need to do to your bedroom light and door?

Is your room clean each night before you get in bed?

Are you being gentle with the dog?

Are you keeping your hands and feet to yourself?

and last but not least...

Does whining ever change my mind and get you what you want? Ever?

That's about it. Tonight is popcorn & a movie night. The kids have chosen a Spongebob movie. I think I'll read.

Thursday, May 25, 2006

I want to be a drop-off mom

Every day when I bring my kids to school, I park in the side lot and walk them to the door. We are usually a few minutes early and they get to play on the playground with a couple hundred screaming kids. Fun, right?

But each morning, when the alarm goes off, I wish I could just be a drop-off mom. These moms don't park, they pull alongside the fence, where there are two little gates and paths leading to the school. Their kids do a tuck and roll, and the moms pull a U-ie and drive off. And in the wee hours of the morning, when I don't feel like even getting out of bed (much less getting dressed and taking the kids to school) I want to be a drop off- mom, too.

Tonight for dinner we tried something new. Moroccan chicken with vegetables, in foil packets, baked in the oven. Picture chicken breasts, seasoned with a mix of cumin, cinnamon, salt and pepper. Petite diced tomatoes and sliced zucchini accompany this, and they are also seasoned the same as the chicken. Bake and put on a bed of rice or couscous, then eat.

Katie did a few fake gag and puke noises to show her appreciation. Jonathan picked at his, but in the end, they were both hungry so they ate almost all of it. I am a mean mommy and I don't cook separate meals for the kids. Eat what I cook or be hungry.

Me, I had to choke down the tomatoes as a good example, because I don't like them much. The seasoning was good but every now and then the cinnamon would come through and kind of throw me off. Cinnamon on chicken, you know?

I am working to make better eating choices. Tonight's dinner was the embodiment of this effort. More fresh fruits and vegetables. More fiber and less junk. Not that some junk isn't allowed. Making it forbidden just makes it more desired.

So that's about it. I lost my crochet hook, much to my distress. I have three, but the other two are still packed in my boxes of craft stuff. I just had the thing yesterday. Sigh. I guess it doesn't really matter since I haven't yet unpacked the yarn I will be using to make my friend a baby blanket. But I do have yarn available to make yet another friend a baby blanket. But the one friend was first in line. So I want to get started on hers. Where's my crochet hook?

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Men falling from the sky

After school today I took the kids to the park. There is a big park adjacent to the school and I was knitting a scarf for my friend Jessica while the kids played. I heard shouting and turned around. Behind us, a ways back, was a big helicopter with two propellers dropping men out of the sky with little black parachutes!

That was the excitement of my day. Not much goes on here, so that was probably the event of my week.

I can't believe that it has been yet another month since I last posted. It's not like I am so busy here. So what has happened since the lasy time I posted? Steve left for recruiting school. He returns in about 2 weeks.

I changed my home phone number. If you need my new number, email me. Vonage phone service is abysmal and their customer service sucks donkey balls too. So I went with a reliable service, who is worth the $20 more a month. I tried to save money by going with Vonage but they are crap. And for Curtis, the smart-mouth customer service rep, you can just sit on a pointy pineapple, buddy. End of rant.

I am watching the season finale of American Idol so I can call my friend Julie and tell her who wins, in another time zone. These are the scintillating things that happen in my life. I'm so exciting!

We have actually started getting mail regularly.

I got the car inspected.

It rained for 2 weeks solid if I recall correctly. We didn't flood. But the car has developed a leak, and I don't know where. I just know that if it rains for more than a day, I have a huge puddle waiting in my front passenger side floorboard. Not in the driver's side and not in the backseat, on the in the front floorboard and there is no obvious leak, no watermark or stain on the car's interior that would indicate a leak, so I have no clue where it is coming from. Sigh.

I finished my friend Jordan's baby blanket and also made a cape for the dog out of heavy yarn.

I washed the dishes and the kids helped me sort laundry. I am currently washing whites. The kids are upstairs but not asleep yet.

I have instituted a "no TV between dinner and bed" policy and you can guess how popular I am with the kids about that. I turn the TV to classical music instead. Once I clean off the kitchen table dinner will once again be a family event and not a reason to sit at stare at the TV.

Well that's about it for me. Nothing going on.