My Heart Hurts in a Good Way

Today…

*sob*

Today, Little One turns THIRTEEN YEARS OLD!!!

*sniff*

How did this happen??? I specifically told her she was NOT to grow past the age of ten. I know I did! I even made her sign an agreement. So what if she was asleep and it’s not her signature? That’s irrelevant!! The point is she is supposed to stay my little one, my punkin, my baby, especially since the other two disobeyed me as fast as they could.

But no…. She just HAD to go and start growing up. And not just in age, but in height, too. I am officially the shortest person in the family.

*wails*

But I will get over it. A birthday means cake, and fun, and happiness. And even though she is commencing her path to adolescence and leaving her childhood behind, that just means I get to throw fits and cry like a baby get to enjoy her new-found confidence and charm.

That is, until she makes me mad. Then all bets are off 😉

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LITTLE ONE!!!

Tacky is the In Thing

It’s that time again. HOMECOMING!!!

This is Eldest’s senior year, and she really, really wanted a tacky Homecoming mum for her last year in high school.

I could not pass up the challenge. I purchased the required flower, backing and ribbons, and added to it feathers, a boa, Christmas strands, and a gaudy chandelier drop I found. I would have used LED lights, but that was sooooo 2011.

And my niece’s will have zebra striped ribbon, huge bells, and glitter!!

Very tacky, and I for one love it. I’m of the opinion that one should stand out. One should not go through Life unnoticed 😉

Thursday?? What the…??

I was so busy yesterday, I completely forgot to post fluff. Let’s face it: this blog is just fluff, but sometimes that’s what you need because there just isn’t enough Calgon™ to go around.

Anyway, yesterday I decided to go around town looking for cheap junk items of small value to alter for Eldest’s room. As y’all may recall, she wanted me to Steampunk the whole thing. Well, that’s hard to do when she keeps it looking like Hurricane Ike hit it.

And that, my friends, is a VAST improvement over what it was like only two days ago. Because you can walk around the room!! Yes, that’s a strip of duct tape on the corner. And she does write on the little mirrors. By the way, I warned her I would be posting a pic of the DMZ room, so this won’t freak her out. Much… Anyway, today I get to paint PVC pipes, cut up corks and foam insulation board. Oh, and do some fake mercury glass, because I am NOT paying out the nose for that stuff when I can easily fashion my own.

I can’t wait to finish her room, and then I will be waiting impatiently for her to move out so I can take it over 😀

First Day of Freedo– I mean, School

Today heralds the first day of school. I was the only one excited. I can’t imagine why.

I went to get Eldest up, knowing that she wouldn’t have set her alarm for the amount of time she would need, and I was right. Her reasoning: she proved to herself this summer that she can get ready in 20 minutes.

(Insert maniacal cackle here)

Yes, I kicked her out of bed, and told her to get ready anyway. Son was out of bed by 6:30, and ready by 6:50. Eldest was STILL getting herself ready, and was out the door by…. 7:00 AM. So much for that 20 minutes.

Little One is on a different schedule, though. She still got up early, but then had a crisis: She had no PE clothes.

Me: We went shopping yesterday, and you said you didn’t need any!

LO: Well, Eldest was supposed to give me hers!

E: I did! But she can’t find the shirt.

LO: And the shorts are too big!

Me: And y’all didn’t figure this out until now??

E: Well…

LO: ….

Me: GAH!!!

But I resolved the crisis, as usual. It was a bittersweet moment when I saw her to the bus stop. But only for a moment, because peace and quiet had made a date with me back at the house, and I didn’t want to keep them waiting 😉

Endtimes, or as It Is More Commonly Called, Back-to-School Shopping

Today finds me fortifying myself with plenty of caffeine. Why? Because aside the fact that it is too early (so I have been informed) to open a bottle of wine, I have to take the kids shopping for back-to-school stuff. Little One in particular is beside herself with the fact that this year she gets to have a locker and wants to decorate it.

Did you know you can buy wallpaper for your locker?? Neither did I.

Yes, my friends, you can actually purchase a chandelier for your locker. And carpeting!!! You know, when I went to school, our decorating was limited to school rules, as in, “NOTHING ALLOWED”. Sure, sometimes we skirted around that by using a few magnets to hold pictures or taping stuff we liked, but we had to operate on stealth mode, so it had to be small and very inconspicuous. I remember Mr. Profitt walking by one friend’s locker and bursting a blood vessel when he saw the wall-to-wall coverage of her love life. Good times, good times…

Anyway, the sooner I get this over with, the better off my eardrums will be, since I will no longer hear, “CAN WE GO SHOPPING FOR LOCKER STUFF, PLEASE, OH PLEASE, OH PLEASE!!!???”

Trust me, this will take a while. She’s not easy to please. I think she takes after my grandmother 😉

Guess What???

I’m still busy. I know. Y’all are just SHOCKED. I can tell.

Today I was up before 6 AM to take the older two kidlets to the ROTC Fish Camp. Then I drove through traffic so congested it needed Nyquil™ in order to drop off my BIL at the barracks in time for his appointment today. I raced home, only to remember to stop to get some groceries, because dishes need dishwashing liquid in order to get clean. Also I was out of coffee creamer, and I was actually doing the kids a favor by getting some. That way they wouldn’t have to deal with a cranky mom tomorrow, when I have to do this all over again, only with a trip to the mall included. Oh, and school registrations are this week, along with prep days and school portraits and my appointment at the hospital, and packing for our vacation.

Hopefully a week at the lake will relax me.

I get the funny feeling I’ll be doing pretty much the same stuff I do here, only with a lake attached. Whatever…as long as there’s wine and the noise is lower than 1200 decibels 😉

Order in Chaos

Today heralds the arrival of Eldest from her sojourn in the Houston area. That also means I will have guests this weekend, and thus follows that there will be stuff going on entertainment-wise.

That also means cleaning the house, grocery shopping, and a trip to the liquor store.

A trip to Crazyville is already on the schedule.

But I am not going to freak out and try to gourmet myself here. If I could serve a sloppy joe on a doughnut for brunch, I would. I will make it all self-serve, and provide paper plates and plastic utensils and perhaps napkins. After all, one can always use the garden hose outside. It’s days like these I wish I were in Fiji.

Vader has the right idea.

Off to be productive! Y’all have a great Friday!! 😀

Lots of Locks for Love!!

This morning I am taking Little One to donate her hair for Locks of Love. She has the most beautiful hair, and it is with great sadness that I will do this for her, but with great joy too, for she is thinking of others.

She makes me very proud, and teary eyed.

I will update this afternoon with a pic of her new ‘do. I can’t guarantee I will be legible, since I’ll probably imbibe something with which to ease the hysteria 😉

UPDATE WITHOUT HYSTERIA:

It looks adorable, and she looks so much older now.

I’m not ready for that. I’m going to go drink now. 😉

Purgatory

Oh, it is. Trust me.

Today I am going to go pick up a friend’s niece so she can come over and hang out with my girls. That sounds fine so far, since they get to play video games and gossip. But that’s not all…

I’m taking them to the mall.

 

Yes, I’m still on a financial diet, and yes, I have been very, VERY good. But that’s not the worst part. No….taking three very excited girls in a vehicle and shepherding them is the worst part. I might as well fix myself a drink and have it waiting for my return. Maybe two drinks.

I’ll make a pitcher.

Pray for me!! 😉

The Things I Learn

You know those commercials of idyllic life? Where the mom has an impeccably clean home, and beautifully furnished, and her son brings home his friends, and she has a beautiful platter of food for the strapping youngsters rabidly starving after being outside?

That’s not me, ever.

The ROTC kids like to come over after practice twice a week, and they like to take over the kitchen. Drinks, food, snacks, pretty much everything is open season. And the conversations are hilarious. I had no idea a burger could become petrified in the floorboard of a Toyota. I also didn’t know that you can slide into said Toyota like you are a Hazzard Duke with the General Lee. Not because it’s cool, but because the locks are broken.

Like this, but with only two legs.

And right now, they are playing Rockband™ while my ceiling shakes and my eardrums wince.

It’s kinda cool being the hip mom, though. Even if I do wear glasses and yell at them to get off my lawn 😉