Going commando

No, you Friends fans, I'm not talking about what I wear under my pants. I'm talking about commando parenting. You know what I'm talking about. Kids aren't listening to a word you are saying. You are fed up. Don't want to resort to spanking. So you have to find another way to make them so miserable they wish they had listened to you. I think Erin will remember what I'm talking about since she was in the cross-fire of another commando parenting episode a couple of years ago. We were taking Erin and her kids to their car, but had to stop and get Jamo from Pre-K before going. Roo was throwing a fit, took off his seatbelt and refused to put it back on. I told him if he wanted to be in the car, he'd better put on his seatbelt or he was getting out of the car. He again refused, so Brad pulled over, I got out with Roo, and we sat in the parking lot as Brad drove off to get Jamo. It worked for a couple of reasons. It was warm enough that it wasn't child abuse to sit in the parking lot for 10 minutes. He has never had a similar episode since either. The problems being 1) a lot of the very kind people in OK stopped to ask why I was sitting by the road with a wailing 3 yr old and 2) it was across the street from the fire station, so we had fire trucks stopping to ask if we were okay. Sigh. At least it worked.

Tonight, the commando parenting involved 1) separating the boys 2) turning off the side lamp 3) turning off the hall light and standing in the hall the whole time to make sure they were obeying. Roo was so upset he weeped, wailed and moaned for 20 minutes. Which is frankly a good thing. It means I found something that has bothered him enough to get some results. Hopefully tomorrow they will actually listen when I tell them it is bed time rather than having to take it to the weeping and wailing stage. I can't wait until Brad is back and I have reinforcements.

Laughing my head off!

Okay, this is sooooo funny! It is totally mocking Twilight, but seriously, it is hilarious.

http://movies.msn.com/movies/galleryfeature/lost-twilight-script/

And you have to read the whole script, so go to more on each picture. There are only 10 pictures, so it is worth your time.

Oh, and if you haven't read Twilight, don't go and read this. It is totally spoiler-y. And even though it is dang funny, you probably won't get some of the humor. And also, why haven't you read it yet!?!?!

If you go check it out, leave me a comment and tell me which was your favorite because I'm that curious. My favorite was #2. "your undead badonkadonk" HAHAHA! I'm dying here, people. And no, I don't get out enough. Thanks for asking.

Sorry!

I don't know how I let this day get away. Oh yeah, Stinker is sick and extremely clingy. The boys won't stay in bed. I'm going crazy.

So, here is my big news! I'm going to be an aunt again times 2 (and maybe 3)!!!

I mentioned this ever so slyly before, but now I'm coming out and saying it! My sister is having a baby girl!!! She is due during the middle of March Madness. But I'll bet the baby comes early because I can't imagine a Jones/Woahn baby missing basketball! :)

And Travis and Resa are adopting a little baby boy! They are beyond thrilled. Our hearts have been aching (I'm crying as I write this) with them since they lost Alexander nearly 2 years ago. This little boy has been eagerly awaited! The birth mom is due in December, right around Travis' birthday. Their foster son, David, is going to be an amazing big brother. He is such a sweet and thoughtful kid. If they are able to adopt David as well, it would make me an aunt times 3! My parents could go from being grandparents of 3 to grandparents of 6 all within a few months! My kids are going to love having cousins at the Jones reunions! Wahoo!

On Brad's side, we have Aeryn to love and snuggle. We miss her so much. The girls are only weeks apart and I hope we can get them together often.

My first poll

I posted my first poll about blogs and music. I have found that I need to keep my sound off on my laptop because so many blogs are playing music at once and then I can't listen to what I had on. Am I the only one experiencing this? I'm totally not complaining. I get that blogs are our own place to do what we want, say what we want, and express what we want. I wouldn't want to squash people's expression. But is there a happy medium? Like not having the music on auto-play or something? Am I the only one even thinking about this?

Okay, I have some totally exciting news I'm going to be posting tomorrow, so check back. :)

Irresistible

Okay, I know you guys are already sick of me blogging today, but I couldn't resist this! So dang funny. And I don't even like Star Wars. Don't hate me for admitting that, by the way. My awesome aunt, Susan, sent it to me.

http://www.stupidvideos.com/video/song_dance/John_Williams_A_Cappella/#213523

Revenge, Melisa style

In honor of my friendly neighborhood vandal, I'm putting up a picture I got from Elizabeth's blog.

Just click on it to make it bigger.


I didn't ask permission, but she gave me permission for the Obama Christmas story, so I'm going to assume she is still open to me stealing her stuff. :) Thanks Elizabeth!

Hey haters!

Okay, I was taking Jamo to school today and apparently someone is upset that I used my constitutional right to vote to vote for McCain/Palin. They tried to pull out the 'for sale' sign, knocked the box with flyers to the ground, and then threw an Obama sign over their handiwork. It makes me wish I still had my McCain sign so I could put it back out. Thankfully no eggs were thrown, no other noticeable damage was done, my mail was still in the mailbox and my van remained safely in the garage.

Being drastic

I have fallen off the weight loss bandwagon. I could tell you it was because of the whole move thing, but truthfully, I've been at a plateau a lot longer than that. I couldn't seem to get myself to get back to work. So, I'm going to put this blog out there so I can hopefully have more accountability. Unfortunately, I'm a chicken and am not willing to make it a public blog at this point. It has a lot of personal and incriminating stuff on there. Ya'll are welcome to read it, but please be gentle with your comments and such. It is still a sensitive thing for me. And keep in mind that I started it thinking it wouldn't be shared with the public at large, so it is probably a bit rough around the edges, shall we say? I'm definitely not sending out a mass invitation for this blog, but if you want in, just let me know. If I sent you an invite to the cookie blog but you didn't accept it, it automatically deletes after a month. Just so you know, you weren't un-invited.

Having said all of this, I finally got my butt back to the gym today. YEAH! It felt great, of course.

By special request

Thanks, Nata-Leigh, for making me feel loved and missed! I never thought I could be missed after 3 days. I would have thought you'd appreciate the break. ;)

So, I'm trying to come up with some excitement to share. Hmmmm, got some boxes so I can start packing all of the clutter (Thanks Elaine!). Have only used 2 of said boxes. But I did get the toy room cleaned (AGAIN). The only room I have left to do is the study. And boy, does it need a lot of work. I keep putting it off. Naughty me. It is just going to be so miserable to do and I can't bring myself to do it after the crazy few weeks I've had. Think of your junk drawer and what a disorganized mess it is. Now imagine it being the size of a bedroom. And there you see my problem. I've spent an hour here and an hour there, but what it really needs is a lot of undivided attention and a lot of boxes to start packing all the clutter.

We haven't had so much as a nibble on the house, which might be considered a good thing until I get the study done. But, all 20 of the papers in the "Take One" box are gone. I had to make a copy and put more out there. So, if nothing else, there is at least some "silent interest" if that is even a phrase. At least 20 people were interested enough to grab a paper. We'll see how fast the next batch goes.

Stink is being a stink. She has decided to potty train herself. Every time I change her diaper, she wants to go potty, nay, INSISTS that she goes to sit on the potty. Really, I think she just likes to get out the wipes. She is going through a TP and toilet wipes phase. It is driving me a little bonkers.

I am in love with all of my new birthday stuff. My phone rocks. My purse rocks. My new bling rocks. My sunglasses rock. And by rock I mean that I love them. Even if no one else liked them, I do. A lot. I am one happy camper.

I am missing Brad tons the last few days. We got free texting this month so we could communicate at will. But with our new phones and the data plan thing, we could chat on msn messanger all day instead. All day being the rare moments he has between patients. Being the old school kinda gal that I am, I sent him this:

If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that Id like to do
Is to save every day
Till eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you

If I could make days last forever
If words could make wishes come true
I'd save every day like a treasure and then,
Again, I would spend them with you

But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them
Ive looked around enough to know
That you're the one I want to go
Through time with

If I had a box just for wishes
And dreams that had never come true
The box would be empty
Except for the memory
Of how they were answered by you

If you are too cool to recognize this song, it is Time in a Bottle by Jim Croce. Yes, I fully embrace my nerdiness. Anyhoo, I heard it in the car the other day and started crying. This being apart for weeks on end kinda stinks.

What had been intended to be a short little post has now become incredibly long. I probably should have cut it in half so I'd have something to talk about tomorrow. :)

Virtual tour link added

I added a link to the virtual tour on the cookie blog. :)

Thirty-two!

I love getting older. I have no hesitance whatsoever to proudly announce my age. I have had an amazing life and happily accept every year it brings.

I had such a wonderful birthday. I feel very blessed indeed. It was hard being away from Brad though. I did go and buy a cake. A mini cake for the kids to share. I got a pumpkin roll. Yum! No, I don't plan to eat the whole thing. But it is my birthday and I wanted a pumpkin roll cake. And I got a bottle of sparkling grape juice. All of the money I got is already spent. :) And I love my stuff. And my new phone. Well, I haven't had a chance to give my phone uninterrupted attention yet. Maybe tomorrow...

Oy, what a day!

Last night I woke up to vomiting sounds at 3 am. Probably my least favorite way to wake up. My favorite being a rainy morning with Brad next to me and no alarm clock to wake us up. The benefit of being older is that the boys are usually great about puking in bowls or the toilet, but apparently this one caught Jamo by surprise. He had said the night before that he thought he was going to puke, but he wasn't acting very serious about it. Shows me. So, I cleaned up a lot of the puke on the floor, but didn't do the scouring because I was exhausted. (For the record, I did get the scouring done this morning before voting).

I had such a big day planned today. Sigh. Rachel was going to watch Stinker. I was going to go to the Medical Weight Loss Center, register my cars (again, as the last time didn't work out), go to Roo's parent/teacher conference, head to the bank, Blockbuster, vote, get the van's oil changed, and then head over to JC Penney to spend my birthday money on a GREATLY needed new purse. Guess how much of that I got to do today? Right. Vote and parent/teacher conference (a million THANKS Shan!!! And folding my laundry too. You rock!). Oh well. Those were the 2 most important things. Besides, now I'll get to do the shopping tomorrow on my actual birthday as Rachel agreed to take Stink tomorrow instead. Angel woman, I tell ya. I am getting a new purse! And my new phone will be arriving! My bracelet from Brad's dad and sister arrived yesterday and I'm already wearing it. (shhh, don't tell! :) )

Oh, and in exciting news, the listing for the house is up!!! And yes, I know I'm in the picture. Duh, Melisa. Just what I need. A side profile shot in my house picture. Ugh. The virtual tour should be up today sometime too. Anyone want a fabulous house??? And just because I'm that goofy, I'm not putting the link on here. I don't exactly want to advertise my address. It is one thing to have your address out there, and another to have someone link your blog to your address. So, dash over to the cookie blog. Come on. It's easy. Just click the big, fat link over there. If we know you at all, or even if you are a friend of a friend, you are welcome to check it out. It is just meant to keep out the sickos. Of which I am sure, none of you are. :)

And one more thing, GO VOTE!!!

Slackeriest Halloween ever!

I know slackeriest isn't a word. But it fits. I did nothing for Halloween. Didn't buy or carve a single pumpkin. Didn't get out a single item of decoration. Didn't put a moments thought into costumes. I just let the kids go through the dress up box and pick something. Jamo grabbed some stuff he thought Pikachu would wear and took his Pokemon ball. Roo used his Hulk slippers and hands. Stinker put on a Dora backpack and a tutu.

We usually give away a lot of candy we get to the treaters, but by the time we got back, most of the treaters were done. Oops. So we have (had) lots of candy! And I didn't decorate because it would look tacky in the Virtual Tour pictures, which were Friday afternoon. So I didn't see a point. And I didn't have any desire. ;)

Roo had a rough afternoon yesterday and drove me bonkers. I banished him to his room at 6. He got quiet so I checked on him at 7 and he was asleep. Of course, he was up again at 10. Sigh... Stinker just ignores alarm clocks, so there was no sleeping in at our house. But does that mean I can get the kids to church on time? NOOoooOOOoooOOO. Stink jumped in the tub with her dress on because the boys didn't drain it and I forgot to check on it. Then Roo spilled a bowl of cereal. Seriously? Seriously. All before church.

Okay, pictures are on cookie of the "costumes" and such. I also have a slide of sleeping children, the missionaries, and the marble toy we have. My kids LOVE the marble track. They get to be creative and put stuff together and try new things. It is great. The thing I don't like, is marbles are terrifying around kids Stink's age. To deal with this, I ration out marbles. If Stinker is asleep, they each get 5. They can't leave them on the floor or the marbles go in time out for a week. When they are done, they have to hand them back to me so I can count and make sure they are all there. If Stink is awake, they all get 2 each, and I stay in there and do periodic marble checks to make sure we still have them all. You can see this in the video. :) If not being played with, the marbles are locked away. Am I paranoid. Oh yes, yes I am. But choking on a marble is a nightmare to me! It would be worse than a hot dog or grape! Ahhh! It is a wonderful toy though and the kids think it is great.

Finally!

Yeah! I finally got some pictures up! The house is done! Okay, not completely, but mostly. We'll just ignore the fact that the study, basement and garage are disasters. I am only one person and can only do so much. The only reason I got as much done as I did is because of all the help! Thanks! I really appreciate everyone who came for a day or even an hour to help. Kate, my dear, I owe you big time. You came over almost every day for 3 weeks and even brought Paul to join in the fun. :) Rachel, none of this would have happened without you taking Stinker so often. I think you saw her more than I did this week. And last week... I hope you know how much easier it made my life not having her getting into everything while I was painting, spackling, nailing, or whatever.

Are you ready to hear my ingenious idea for keeping Stinker's diapers on? I put one piece, footed pajamas on her backwards. There is no way she can get in there. But in reality, this was probably someone else's idea and I just didn't listen the first time. It is saving me a lot of duct tape. :) This wouldn't work great in the summer. Or during the day. But her problem time is at night so it is a great solution for us.

We need Brad back. Jamo just got on the phone with Brad and said, "What's your name? Is this really daddy?" Sad. :(

Okay, that is my update for the day. I'm putting the slides on the cookie blog very soon. Halloween pictures may or may not be up tomorrow. I didn't really have time to think about costumes, so I let the kids go through our dress up box and come up with something. And I didn't get to go to their schools to take pictures because I couldn't be at both schools at the same time. That and I had the photographer here... I couldn't decorate for the holiday either because I didn't want the pictures on the listing to be dated by having Halloween decor. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. :)

Photo tag

I am still not techincally in the blogging world. I'm going nuts cleaning. Pictures are tomorrow, listing on Saturday. Any and all help would be appreciated! Stinker will be playing with Haley, who see her more than I do these days.

I got tagged by Sarah and it looked pretty fun. Plus, I'm on my lunch break and need a distraction. :)

"Here is a fun & easy photo tag. Here are the rules: just go to your picture file, open the 6th folder, and the 6th picture! Then post it and tag 5 friends. "

I can't think hard enough to tag 5 people so consider all ya'll tagged. ;) If you want to do it, leave me a comment and let me know you did so I can see it! :)

Sorry mine is a boring picture of my partially tiled entry way. Too bad it wasn't folder 7. That has my pictures of the Twilight movie. :) But, just because I can, here is one anyway.

P3: Plea, picture, politics

I am in desperate need of moving boxes. Any boxes. Please, if you have any boxes that would love to see Philly, let me know! I could really really really really use them. If you are wondering why someone who moved so recently doesn't have boxes, I'll explain. When we got here, we thought we had 5 years in this house. We have away all of our boxes to a poor sap who had to move. We thought we would have 4 years to wait until we needed to start collecting boxes again. Instead, our time frame is closer to 4 weeks. Ugh. Now, we are the poor saps who are moving and could really use some boxes. Thanks!


Okay, I'm pretty much going crazy trying to get everything done. But at this point the big projects are done and all that remains is cleaning and redecorating before the realtor takes pictures for the listing on Friday. If I get a copy of the professional pictures, I'll link them or put them up. Until then, here is a picture of the FINALLY finished basement door as seen from the rental.

I'm kicking myself for not taking before pictures. This looks SO much better. There were gaps, and holes, and it was plain drywall, etc. I worked my hiney off on it, and so did a lot of other people. But I got to do the final touches. :)


And just to warn you, if you are voting for Obama, don't read any further.






Brad and I have worked extremely hard to get to where we are, and I would like to not "share (my) wealth" with those who haven't made the sacrifices necessary to have a comfortable life. Having said that, this totally cracked me up. I asked my friend Elizabeth if I could use it. She got it in an email. Enjoy! And if you are an Obama fan, don't blame me. I told you not to read this.


*'Twas the night before elections*
*And all through the town*
*Tempers were flaring*
*Emotions all up and down!*


*I, in my bathrobe*
*With a dog in my lap*
*Had cut off the TV*
*Tired of political crap.*


*When all of a sudden*
*There arose such a noise*
*I peered out of my window*
*And saw Obama and his boys*


*They had come for my wallet*
*They wanted my pay*
*To give it to the others*
*Who had not worked a day!*


*He snatched up my money*
*And quick as a flash*
*Jumped back on his bandwagon*
*With all of my stash*


*He then rallied his henchmen*
*Who were pulling his cart*
*I could tell they were out*
*To tear my country apart!*


*'On Fannie, on Freddie, *
*On Biden and Ayers!*
*On Acorn, On Pelosi'*
*He screamed at the pairs!*


*They took off for his cause*
*And as he flew out of sight*
*I heard him laugh at the nation*
*That wouldn't stand up and fight!*


*So I leave you to think*
*On this one final note-*
*IF YOU DON'T WANT SOCIALISM*
*GET OUT AND VOTE!!!!*

So, super busy weekend with Brad getting projects done. Hope to update soon. Maybe...

Just breathe deep

Okay. The painters/wall repair guys haven't shown up. Haven't returned any of my calls. Who me, panic? No... not me! Realtor coming on Saturday to do listing paperwork? No problem. ACK! I have 3 guys coming tomorrow to give bids. We'll see how it goes. I'm pretty nervous about it. I told them part of the consideration would regard how soon it could be done. I just hope it is done before she gets here so we can have a good idea what we have left to do before listing. And hopefully that list will be small.

I'm not being very patient these days. It isn't a good thing. I'm not letting stupid, rude, or annoying comments go these days. I'm having a hard time smiling sweetly and ignoring it. For example, I have a 3 day overlap with renters. My new guy starts Monday, but the first guy doesn't leave until Thursday. So, the original guy says he is concerned about having another guy in the place. I said, "Well, I was going to have him sleep on the couch, but Arnold is already sleeping there." Then he said something about how it would be hard to share the bathroom. I said "You're worried about sharing the bathroom? I had 3 girls down here for 10 days and they didn't have a problem with it. But if you do, fine. Don't worry about it then. I'll just let him stay upstairs for 3 days." Do NOT whine to me right now. I am just not in the mood to hear it. I have enough drama, don't bother adding to it. Technically, he was down there first as has the right to not want an extra person. Fine. I'll figure it out. I most certainly don't need your help or to hear you whining about it. I can manage just fine, thank you very much. Maybe I'll let him sleep on the inflatable bed down there and come up to use the bathroom. Who knows? I'm sure it will work out. I have much bigger issues to deal with. Like, WHERE THE HECK ARE MY PAINTERS?!??!

Delay

Okay, I am soooo bummed my painter guys didn't show up today. I was really hoping to start putting everything back tomorrow. Argh! At least the Watkins and missionaries came over today and saved my sanity. They fixed my front door, put up the rail, hung pictures, put boxes down in the basement, put in the baseboards, helped clean, raked leaves, and in general made my day much better. Tomorrow I need to paint all of the baseboards that got installed and paint the bathroom cabinets. I don't know if my painters are coming tomorrow as they didn't return any of my calls... I hope they do so I can start putting back furniture and hanging up pictures and such.

Rachel has been watching Stinker a ton the last week or so. She took some super cute pictures of the girls together and I stole them from her site. :) They are up on cookie blog.

Bubble bath + carpets

Bubble bath does not belong in carpets. Didn't know that? I'm telling you now. My bathrooms have been a disaster as they wait to get painted. They aren't exactly childproof presently. Needless to say, some unnamed stinker of a two-year-old decided to spill the entire contents of a 16 oz Spider Man bubble bath bottle in the playroom. Nice. Right before basketball practice tonight, so it sat on the carpet for 2 hours before I could get to it. Here's a tip: Don't add water until you've soaked up as much of the soap as you can. Duh, Melisa.

And because I needed the distraction and I was unofficially tagged by Jessica's blanket tag here it goes. ;)

Where is your cell phone? floor
Where is your significant other? Philly :(
Your hair color? blondish
Your mother? amazing
Your father? athletic
Your favorite thing? sleep
Your dream last night? uhhhh
Your dream/goal? finish
The room you're in? cold
Your hobby? computer
Your fear? loss
Where do you want to be in 6 years? DONE!
Where were you last night? lonely
What you're not? ready
One of your wish-list items? couch
Where you grew up? NM
The last thing you did? phone
What are you wearing? sweats
Your TV? off
Your pet? plants?
Your computer? fabulous
Your mood? accepting
Missing someone? desperately
Your car? awesome!
Something you're not wearing? socks
Favorite store? restaurant
Your summer? fast
Love someone? madly
Your favorite color? green
When is the last time you laughed? 10
Last time you cried? constantly

Before anyone freaks out, I maybe be crying constantly, but as many happy tears as sad are falling. This whole move is such a mixed bag for me. I'm still not past the totally thrilled, totally devastated thing. But I'm doing great. Getting ever closer to being done with the house. As soon as I can justify it, I'll be back in the blogging world full-time. Until then, sorry I'm not commenting, rest assured I've read most everything. :)

***Update: okay, the question about where I grew up was hard because New Mexico, Los Alamos, and White Rock all are 2 words! I suppose NM might be considered cheating, since it abbreviates two words. I just barely (a day later) came up with "southwest" and "mountains" as alternatives. Any of you who are from Los Alamos or have visited know what I'm talking about. :)