Coolest clock on the block

Apparently my laptop hates Blogger. Or Blogger hates my laptop. I can't get any sites to pull up on it now. And I've been trying to load this video since yesterday. Argh! Glad I have a desktop too!

You want my clock, admit it. Actually, it is Brad's clock. My mom gave it to him as a graduation present from medical school. It is the easiest way to get in the Christmas spirit. There are 12 regular songs, but there are also 3 Christmas songs.

Here is a picture of another decoration I forgot to mention, my snowmen. I made them years ago... I think before Jamo was born. And they aren't heavily damaged yet. Remarkable...

And if you love Twilight and Facebook, this is pretty funny:


http://www.omnivoracious.com/2008/12/meyerbook-bella.html

Prayers appreciated!

Travis and Resa are still having problems with the birth father. While I am sympathetic to his plight, he is in no shape to raise a child right now. I will spare you the details, but you can go to Resa's blog if you would like to read them.

http://travisjonesfamily.blogspot.com/

We would surely appreciate prayers to keep this happy little family together. And for peace and acceptance of the Lord's plan for them. Thank you!

Snow!

I decorated finally!

Today I woke up late. Not that it mattered because as I opened the garage door, it wouldn't budge. Ugh. Seriously?! Seriously. Can't get the van out if the door doesn't open! I called the school and told them Jamo was going to be late. Called Carrie to see if she could take him. Tried to chip off the ice with a shovel. Jenny drove by and tried to help me lift if manually. Nothing. Later I noticed the cable was snapped, so I called a repair guy. He got here at 5. Said the spring was broken too. (It is obviously broken, I just didn't know what I was looking for. He isn't trying to screw us). But since I told him it was the cable, he didn't bring a spring. Can't come back out until tomorrow afternoon. Yeesh. But he did work on it for awhile and got it fixed to the point that it opened manually and I got the van out. So, I'll be digging the van out of a pile of snow tomorrow morning. Ugh. That is why I love my garage! At least he got the van out. Not that we can afford another ridiculous repair after the main line clog. Sheesh. Why, oh why, do these things happen to me?!

And in Christmas news, I finally got the sparse decorations up. We aren't doing much as far as decorations go this year. I tried to do it yesterday, but made a huge mistake. Asked the boys to come to the basement and help me bring up the boxes. And they found all of the toys I planned to get rid of. Yipes. Much weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth commenced. How dare I give away all of their favorite toys?! Needless to say, no decorating got done yesterday. But tonight, we got the tree decorated. I hung up the advent calendar, garland and wreath, and even managed to hang some lights out doors while it snowed and then rained(?!?!) on me. We are talking the barest of bare decorations, people. And if anyone has suggestions on where to hang the stockings, I'm open to ideas. I thought about maybe down in the rental since there is a fireplace there. But then we wouldn't them much. But maybe that is a good thing. Thoughts?

Oh, and here is a story I forgot to blog about. Someone stole our 'for sale' sign. I thought maybe it fell and got buried under snow, but no, it was taken. Yesterday someone left the box that holds fliers under one of the trees. And then this evening, they left the main sign, without the writing part, just the metal, in the dead end street. What in the world? It makes no sense to take it and even less sense to bring it back piece by piece. Hopefully they will bring the topper back tomorrow as that is the part Marilyn missed the most.

Last thing, pictures on cookie blog! No more of my Q baby, but some cute ones of Stinkerbell as Tinkerbell, the boys sporting jerseys with matching numbers, and the Christmas decorations. The funny thing about the jerseys are that the one Roo is wearing is Brad's from eons ago and Jamo is wearing his from this basketball season.

Here is a warning

You have to show this to your hubbies after you dry your tears from laughing so hard.

http://bewareofthedoghouse.com/videoPage.aspx

Quentin!

Okay, I got some picutes of sweet baby Q! Check out the cookie blog if you want to see him and all his cuteness!

Overload!

Lots of pictures and videos over on cookie. Stinker birthday stuff. Cute picture of Quentin, so delish! Roo's professional birthday pictures. Jamo's school and basketball pictures. Oh, and the videos are of snow, and Jamo playing basketball. I finally got to scan all the pictures, because Brad, being the ever so studly guy he is, was able to fix it when he came home last week. Was it just last week that he was here? Why does it seem like it was forever ago? And, as always, if you need an invite into the cookie (picture) blog, just get me your email.

Birthday surprise!

First, I have to say that Brad helped me fix my laptop from a distance last night. It is working great again and I have access to private blogs once more. YEAH! He is one amazing man.

It snowed this morning. I should have known it wouldn't bode well for me.

I took Stinker to Wal-Mart to do her birthday shopping and get her birthday pictures. At least Stinker hasn't taken scissors to her hair yet. She was asleep when Roo did that. Besides, she doesn't have enough on top to cut anyway. She does, however, have a huge bruise on her cheek. She whacked Roo, and he tackled her and she landed head first in our Little People Nativity Set. It is quite a bruise. Of course it would happen right before pictures. Anyhoo, the grandmas sent money so we could pick what she needs. I gotta say, I really love that. My original plan when I arrived, was to get her pictures done in her pretty blue dress first. But the photographer was helping someone else and said it would be 15-20 minutes. I asked if there were openings in an hour, and she said I'd have to wait so she could check because she was busy. Uh, no thanks. Stinker and I had a blast shopping, and then my phone rang. As soon as my mom said, "Guess what!" I practically screamed, QUENTIN!!! Yeah! Travis, Resa, and David drove as fast as they could from CA to AZ, but Q beat them there by an hour. If you make it through the slide shows, there is the only picture I have of him in all his cuteness. I can hardly wait to get more, but I know that they are just cherishing every second with him and haven't gotten a chance to send many pictures out yet. I am just so excited that Quentin and Stinker get to share a birthday! It sure will make it easier to remember, and as scatterbrained as I've been lately, it will help!

Stinker and I finished our shopping, and headed back to the picture studio. She was with another family this time. Said I could wait in the waiting room. Great. Decided to unload groceries instead. Kept Stinker busy with a sucker. She was sticky head to toe. And somehow, in that hour, her white hose had tons of brown scuff marks. And the bathrooms were closed for cleaning. Of course. Pleaded with the janitor for paper towels. Wait some more.

She finally got us in. Asked when the last time we'd been there. October 13th. "Oh, well, that is the same promotional period, so I can't give you the discount rate." Like heck you can't. I told her it was $4.99 last time and it is $7.99 now and that isn't the same. When did it start in October. She didn't know. Can she look it up? "No. I'll just give you the discount and get in trouble." I'm not asking you to get in trouble. Just look up when the stupid promotion began or something. "No, no, I'll just do it." Fine. Stinker smiled about once. Then she refused to sit. Refused to smile. Didn't want to play. It was past nap time by this point. She kept using a feather duster trying to get Stinker to smile. I asked if she had anything else. Props? Distractions? Something glittery? Something sparkly? Something noisy? "No. There is nothing else. Just this reindeer." Seriously? You take pictures of kids all day and the only smile motivator you have is a feather duster and a reindeer? No props? Nothing? You've got to be kidding. She said to wait awhile and maybe she would be in a better mood. I said, "No, we've already been here for an hour. This isn't going to get better." I mean seriously? Is she going to go buy something cool to use as a prop or smile inducer? Because if not, what is the point of staying. So I just left. I'm going to have to try a different store again tomorrow. But Stinker's pretty blue dress is pretty sticky, so I don't know what I'll put her in.

It snowed the whole drive home while Brad let me complain about said photographer. He is so good to me. Stinker was asleep before I got home. I unloaded her and the purchases. Wrapped presents. Helped the boys get more icicles. Ordered a birthday pizza. Ate said pizza and then it was off to the Y for swimming lessons. I couldn't resist the opportunity to have some hot tub time. Ahhhhh. I love sitting in a hot tub and watching snow outside. Waited outside the men's locker room for 30 minutes for the boys to come out. Argh! Family locker rooms people! Look into it! Got home late, but Shan, Zac and Lindsey were still there. Helped me take pictures and video because I only have 2 hands. Love them. Then it was try to get the hyped up kids to bed. And blog about the insanity. :)

Aliens

Surely my children would never do such things!

Why would my dear sweet 5 year old decide to cut his hair with scissors for trimming babies' fingernails? Doesn't he know we have family pictures coming up?

And why would my precious and innocent 2 year old be irresistibly drawn to coloring rainbows on all of our freshly painted walls? This isn't the Sistine Chapel, you know. I don't need murals all over the halls and rooms. Couldn't her brothers manage to keep all of their crayons, pens, and pencils out of her reach?

Apparently aliens have abducted my children because mine would never do such things when their mom is already teetering on insanity.

Don't worry. 2 dozen freshly baked chocolate chip cookies seem to have fixed the problem. Though not the problem with my internet which is not allowing me to look at private blogs for some annoying reason.

Baa!

I'm such a sheep. Here's my list. :)

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped - does that big ol' swing at Lagoon count. ;)
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train - Vienna to Venice, it was awful
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice - we didn't even think of it while we were there, such slackers
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset - from the top of Timpanogos even
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language - with Brad's help
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person - does the outside count? it was closed the day I went. :(
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business - anyone need a VHS turned into DVD? I had 3 customers
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt - shudder
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job - from babysitting of all things
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox - I still have two scars on my forehead :)
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Totally copied a post from someone else's blog to your own

Counting my blessings

I'm watching the Extreme Home Makeover that took place in our town here in MI. Okay, truth be told, I missed the first half, so I'm not exactly sure what happened, but this is what I think happened. A nurse at the hospital Brad used to work at died recently after contracting Hep C after getting stuck while working on a sick patient. The same thing has happened to Brad. It makes me grateful that he hasn't contracted anything as a result. It was scary enough that he had to go and get regular testing. Ugh. I know it isn't a dangerous job like firefighter, police, soldier, etc., but there is still danger involved. I try to not think about it, but it is part of the reality.

I've been spending the weekend crying because I'm not going to be able to move out to Philadelphia with Brad until our house sells or gets rented. Essentially, December is out of the picture. I was so sad to think of spending more time without him. But then I watched this show, and I couldn't even imagine being without him for the rest of my life on earth. At least I know that I'll be back with him in the near future, even if months don't seem very near right now.

Countdown

Is anyone else as anxious as I am for Christmas to get here?

I love the snow that came today. It is beautiful. I just wish Brad wasn't driving home in this mess.

Unusual Thanksgiving

Well, if something bad is going to happen, at least the timing was perfect.

On Tuesday, after declaring my hiatus, my internet went down. I'm not really sure what time, as I was reading and totally into The Host. I ended up reading until 4 am that morning. Yes, it sucked me in! At least the kids slept in and I got over 5 hours of sleep. Wednesday the internet still wasn't working. I spent a lot of time on the phone with the useless tech support. They said they couldn't send anyone out until Friday. I guess it didn't bother me that much since I was still completely engrossed in The Host, but it did make things like finding a shuttle for Brad's dad to get here difficult. I didn't realize how much I needed the internet! For looking up phone numbers, addresses, etc, not just blogging. It was made somewhat easier by the internet on my phone. Sure am grateful for that little feature! I got The Host finished and really did end up loving it. I would probably put it after Eclipse and Twilight and before Breaking Dawn and New Moon on my favorites list for Stephenie. I would definitely recommend it for a good read, especially if your internet is down anyway. By that evening, both Brad and his dad had made it here safely. Words can't explain how grateful I was to have Brad home again. He makes me feel whole again.

Thursday was Thanksgiving. I was desperately in need of a break from kids. I dreaded being apart from Brad, but knew they needed some daddy time. My friend Jill just got back from Ukraine last week with her two adorable children, Keith and Kristina. With my situation being what it is, I wouldn't have a lot of chances to go visit them before moving further away. So, I got to spend 4 heavenly hours with nothing but my thoughts and music. No kids fighting, no one asking me for this that or the other, no responsibility other than obeying the speed limit, and music that I got to pick. Her children are adorable. Such sweeties. I haven't been to a Sonic since OK, but the one there was closed for Thanksgiving, so Jill and I just went to Burger King for lunch. Then we went to see Twilight together. We'd both seen it already, but we thought it would be fun to see it together. And it was. :) Then we sat around at the theater eating ice cream and chatting for another hour. After that, I had 4 more hours of peace and quiet on the way home. I was definitely grateful for the recharge, but desperately missing Brad too. And maybe the kids a little. :)

Friday Brad woke up bright and early to go a get a few Black Friday deals. Black Friday is sooooo not my thing. I avoid shopping whenever I can. Then he came back and got the kids to go pick out a toy. He really missed them and wanted to do a little spoiling. The internet guy came while Brad was shopping with the kids. The internet guy declared that our modem was dead. Lovely. Brad was still out shopping, so he was able to get one before coming home. I spent Friday reading Stephenie's copy of Midnight Sun. Dang. Dang. Dang. I wish, oh how I wish, that she would finish it. It is my favorite book so far, even more than Eclipse, and it isn't even finished. Oh, the injustice. I'm just such a romantic, and to read page after page of how deeply he loves her just melts me. Sigh. There were so many tied endings in MS. Like what he actually did do to Lonnie. How Ben asked out Angela, and a hundred other little details that I loved reading about. Dang. Dang. Dang. We had our turkey dinner that night, but it was all pretty low-key. Just the basics. I needed a break, not a huge elaborate meal. Brad did most of the hard stuff anyway. He just amazes me. He also worked on fixing the internet. If it had broken when he wasn't here, I could have gone weeks without internet. I'm pretty glad it broke while I was absorbed in a book, and when Brad, the ultimate handy-man, was here to fix it.

Brad just amazes me on a hundred different levels. I'd been asking him for months to read Twilight, but when he is reading, it is usually a medical book and he has little time to read for fun. I kinda dropped it, knowing it wasn't fair to push him when he is already so busy. Then last week he called and asked if he could buy it on CD so he could listen as he drove to work. He said he knew it was important to me, so it was important to him. And he did it without concern to the reaction of other guys. In fact, my dear brother revoked his 'man card'. Goof ball. My happiness is paramount to Brad. Everything he does, he does with me in mind. That makes him my Edward. He also is my own personal heater. He lets me warm my cold hands and feet on his constantly warm body. He is Native American, though he isn't part wolf, and that makes him my Jacob. He is also an incredibly talented and dedicated surgeon, and that makes him my Carlisle. Please forgive my mushy ramblings about Brad. I've been suffering without him for nearly 6 weeks, so I've had Brad on my brain lately. It was bound to leak into my blogging...

Friday night, we put Stink to bed, put a movie on for the boys, and left them with his dad so we could go watch Twilight. It was so much more fun for me knowing that he had read it. And to see him catch the changes and differences and be able to talk to him about them. We even started reading New Moon together. I sure love him.

Today, Brad has let me catch up on days of emails, blogs, facebook posts, etc. Right now, they are all out getting their hair cut. My boys really needed one! Tonight we are watching some football! Go Pokes!

I think that is about it for my days without an internet recap. Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

Hiatus

I'm taking a blog break so I can finish The Host before my FIL has to take it back to Brooke in OK this Sunday. Totally not into yet, but I hear it gets better, so I'll keep plugging away for now. But really, I just want be reading New Moon right now.

Twilight! AKA embracing my nerdiness

Any long time readers of this blog will know that I've never shied away from embracing my nerdy side. And thanks to that I found some others who love Jim Croce. Now, for us true nerds, are there any Alan Sherman lovers out there? Doesn't count if you have to Google it! :) I've had his music stuck in my head for 2 days. I need to get his CD.

So, it is now time for me to embrace my Twilight nerdiness. I won't be expounding on the finer details of the movie for you who haven't read it yet or who have no desire to do so. I got it out of my system with Becky. :) We talked about the movie for about as long as the movie was! Okay, that is totally an exaggeration. We only talked for half an hour, but I still got it out of my system. Love you, Becky!

Anyway, this blog is about embracing my Twilight nerdiness, not the movie, which I L.O.V.E.D. by the way. I'm going back next week in fact. I digress...

About 11 of us gals decided to have a girls' night out to watch Twilight. We made t-shirts for the occasion too. hee hee Having never had much of a talent for puffy paint and sparkly stuff, I made a shirt using an iron on transfer. Most of the work being done on the computer is more my type of crafting. In fact, I screwed up the shirt once it got to the ironing. I'm truly inept. I'm digressing again. So, 11 of us more mature Twilight fans all got together in a restaurant complete with shirts. I'm sure we looked a sight. :) We chatted and giggled and had a marvelous time. We had a quiz based on the book. I had an unfair advantage, having just read it this week while I was sick. I got the most right and won a prize! Go, Melisa! Go nerdy! Chocolate and pens. A few of my favorite things. Ahhhh... And then we had a vote for the best t-shirt and I came in second to a hilarious shirt that I loved so much I voted for. I also wore my Breaking Dawn necklace I made at the release party and the Twilight bracelet that Dana made. I bought it with the money Brad's mom gave me for me for my birthday, and I've been anxiously awaiting to show it to other Twi-hards. It is red, black, and white, with crystals in some of the beads, and little flecks of sparkle in them. So beautiful! And I got to pick out the charms for it. I picked out an apple, an infinity symbol, a lamb, a lion, and a crystal heart. Yes, I know the crystal heart isn't until Eclipse, but it is my bracelet and I can get what I want. :)

After a yummy dinner and lots of giggling, the ladies decided to descend upon the mall's stores. I am sooooo not a shopper. I did manage to look in a Bath and Body Works though. But that is the extent of my mall shopping. I decided to just go and wait in line so I could save seats for everyone. And due to my expert planning (aka luck), I was at the part of the line that had chairs to sit on. Sweet. So, I sat and read my movie companion while I waited for the movie to start. My mom got it for me when she came last week, and I hadn't had a chance to read it. I figured some time would be spent waiting for the movie to start, so I decided to bring it. And when we were allowed in the theater, I was able to procure some pretty nice seating, if I do say so myself, for all 11 of us.

Since we just got new phones, we have unlimited internet access this month on them. I was able to follow the BYU/UofU game pretty closely on my phone until it got to be obviously one-sided. Yes, yes, that was a good game to miss. :)

And there is my nerdiness for ya. For you gluttons of punishment, I have pictures on the cookie blog of my 2nd place winning shirt, my bracelet, the festivities, etc.

Pre-Twilight post

Yes, I'm going tonight for the first time. :)

Isn't this exciting?!

http://www.twilightlexiconblog.com/?p=2723

Yeah for New Moon! I think they should do all 3 at once. :)

And because I must throw some football into my Twilight post, I'll share this with you too:

I asked Brad if BYU and OSU were playing, who would he cheer for. He said, and I quote:

"My blood is orange, baby. Edward likes to eat cougars, remember?"

After laughing until I cried, I realized I couldn't argue with the logic since he is my Edward. :)

The dilemma

Here is my dilemma. I already bought a ticket for Twilight tomorrow night. I should have put on my calendar that the BYU/UofU game AND the OSU/OU game are on tomorrow night. I'm going to be disowned from both sides of my family! The biggest games of the year and I'm going to miss them both! ARGH!!!! Decisions like these shouldn't have to be made! I've never seen Sophie's Choice and have no clue what it is even about, but let's call this Melisa's Choice. A huge football fan choosing between her favorite teams and one of her favorite books. I can't win, and I can't lose. Well, my teams can lose. And if they do, it might make missing the games easier... WHAT AM I SAYING?!?! Of course I can't want my teams to lose! Do you see what this is doing to me?!

As Matt so wisely said, "May all red teams lose this weekend."

GO COUGS!

GO POKES!

****Update**** Nata-Leigh has informed me that the OSU/OU game is not actually until next week. So, I'm only missing BYU/UofU, which is bad enough, but thankfully I won't be missing both. But I still love watching OU lose, so I'm standing by my original statement of wanting all red reams to lose. And for the record, I am not anti-UofU. I just don't like them when they play the Y. But I am most definitely anti-OU.

You aren't Job!

Quit trying to compete!

Sorry for the long read everybody. I just really really really needed the vent.

I just can't even believe my life. So ridiculous. While I obviously think I have nothing on Job, I can't shake the 'poor me' feeling right now.

I have about 5 loads of laundry to do. That isn't counting the bedding and towels I have from my renter who left yesterday and the one leaving tomorrow. I got the laundry started, but then dashed over to weigh in at the MWLC. I'm a little bitter about it because it takes an hour of my time when I could just hop on and off a scale in 2 seconds. Not too mention Odie's on board computer has been complaining lately that I need to get the oil changed. Of course. Then a quick trip to Blockbuster to return some movies. I came home and while unbuckling Stinker discovered that she had opened my box of chocolate shakes and bit some of the packages. She was quite the dusty mess. I get in the house and there was a message on my machine. Someone wants to look at the house! YEAH! I'm just thrilled! Get done answering some questions and such, and go down to switch out the laundry. And what do my eyes behold?? Water. All over the floor. Truly. I called my favorite plumbing people and they said they could send someone out between 2 and 4. Not too shabby. Then Roo's bus calls. Can he be ready 20 minutes early? The bus driver is in the area and would be late if she dropped off the other kids and had to come back. Sure, why not get him ready while all my stuff in the basement sucks up water. Truth be told, he was already completely ready, being the anxious boy he is, but I just couldn't leave him to get on the bus by himself. Come to find out the bus still has high schoolers on it. Ugh. Is it too late to change my mind? Don't panic, Melisa. This isn't a big deal. If nothing else, the kid knows how to scream. :)

You would think all of these phone calls with plumbers, interested buyers, bus depots, etc, wouldn't be that stressful, but every time I get on the phone, Stinky is screaming 'Daddy! Daddy!' and trying to grab the phone. Sad on so many levels, but still frustrating. It isn't always daddy on the phone.

If I'm going to be in the flooded basement, I should find something for Stinker to do. Well, it is nap time! Seeing as how she is on the tail end of illness, she is in the diarrhea phase. Lovely. Have I mentioned I've been super nauseous the last 2 days? Diarrhea doesn't help nausea. Just so you know. Change the second, oh so lovely, diaper of the day and get her down for a nap. Plumbers call to say they can come now. GREAT!

Head downstairs to start sorting through the disaster. Ugh. My poor friends are now sucked into my chaotic life. I think I mentioned we have a massive basement we aren't really using, right? So, I let my friend Natalie put some stuff down there before they moved. There is so much room down there, it wouldn't be in the way at all. And then I told Shannon she could hide a Christmas present there too. I won't say what since this is a public blog and kids could see it, but think super expensive. Not to mention all of the stuff I took down there when we started packing. And now there is a bunch of water. Gag. I start moving boxes to drier ground. And when I got to a wet box, if it was books or the like, I took them out to dry. THANKFULLY, most of the water was absorbed by the cardboard and the books got very little in the way of moisture. In all, we got away relatively easy. It didn't even get to Shannon's box. Hallelujah!

The plumber shows up and gets to work. Says the main line is backed up. Nice. Gets his big drilling tool and has at it. Tells me that flushable wipes (Kandoos) are in fact not flushable. They don't disintegrate like TP and shouldn't be considered flushable. Good to know! If there is a bright side to any of this, besides the damage to boxes being minimal, it is that the water that backed up was from the laundry, and not the toilets. Can I get a Hallelujah?! I was pretty grateful, let me tell you. It all cost a pretty penny. Especially considering I'm trying to figure out where we will get a first and last months rent for Philly while paying a mortgage in Lansing. Anyone want to rent a lovely 6 bedroom home? Sigh.

And in the midst of all of this, the fabulous missionaries came to help with my leaves. For some reason, having an open house, sick kids, becoming sick yourself, and then getting a flooded basement all while your hubby is out of state leaves very little time for raking leaves. Imagine that.

Lest you all think I am nothing but calm, cool and collected, I'll share another little tidbit with you. My curtain hanger on the door, isn't staying in. I tried to push it in, but no. So, what does any sane person do? They whack it with the side of their hand and try to force it in, right? Of course not. Here is another tip. If you are going to take out aggressions by hitting something, hit some smooth and flat and preferably soft. Do not hit something narrow and round and hard . I can't even write right now, though thankfully typing is still possible. Lovely. And if you even made it through this rambling recap of the last few hours, you will be rewarded with pictures on the cookie blog. They aren't up yet, but should be by the time you read all of this. ;)

And yes, I moved the boxes, vacuumed the water, and sprayed bleach before blogging. I'm not a total slacker.

20 seconds

In the 20 seconds it took for me to open the van door and get out Roo's coat, Stinker snuck out to the garage. I came back in, went to grab Roo a snack and started looking for Stink. Then I heard muffled wails. I opened the garage door and there she stood with her puppy and baby. Man, she is fast.

tmi

It is really hard to balance a barf bowl in your lap while you hold your 2 yr old who wants to play with it. Calet is being so clingy today, and it is not the best day to spend it holding her. Sigh...

So, I'm going to spend my sick day doing nothing. Except reading Twilight yet again in anticipation of this weekend. And goofing off on the computer. And remembering why I keep putting off pregnancy. I hate puking.

And if you are curious, last night went much better. Not perfect, but lots of improvements. But it is getting really really REALLY hard to carry my boys back to their bedroom. My boys are growing up!! Sigh