Ever Have One of Those Weeks When Everything Just Piles On?

Yeah, me too.

On the cusp of my friend’s farewell, my mom came to town for a visit. Then had a BBQ to attend on Sunday, then had to pick up kids from work, then had to fix something for dinner, then get uniforms ironed. Monday it was Eldest’s birthday, which is being observed on Thursday due to work schedules, and she also had to go run to main base and see a friend she hadn’t seen in seven years, because it was her birthday and that’s what she wanted. Then Eldest had to go take her driver’s test today, which took up all morning because she made the appointment waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay over on the other side of Texas. But hey, she passed and I am no longer a chauffeur.

WHOO HOO!!!!

And as an intrepid friend pointed out, she can also be a designated driver. It’s a win-win.

Aside from that, we are also getting ready to go to the lake once again. But before we can go, we need to have some work done on the house. Luckily nothing major, just painting the bathroom and decluttering the upstairs. Why? Because the Lemur King and his royal family are coming for a visit!!!

And I can’t wait! We are going to do all the Big Texas things and eat Texas food and have a grand time. They’ll get a chance to rest on the trip back north, not to worry.

I will try to post more fluff this week. I just have to make sure my mom is otherwise occupied. Maybe cooking for the clan. That would be a win-win, too 😉

How Do You Do?

A few days ago, I was in line at the check out, waiting my turn to unload my cart, when my eyes wandered over the many, many tabloids and what passes for investigative magazines. Incredibly, I had not heard of most of the people that grace the glossy covers. Ok, maybe not incredibly since I am a hostage to the Cartoon Network.

If it’s not animated, I don’t know about it.

But I had to stop and stare to read one magazine cover, twice.

This made me a bit sad. I remember when we first moved to the US, being a new kid in school, and how every kid in my class came up to me to greet me, be it with “Hey, you’re new here?” or “My name is Amy and you can be my friend” or a few kids saying “Watch this!” It wasn’t hard to meet new kids. As I grew older it was more subtle, but it was still relatively easy to meet people. College made an art of it, what with “mixers” and frat parties and ice cream runs.

But I don’t remember having to read about how to make friends. Yes, I recall a book along those lines. But my issue here is how disconnected we have become from the physical and how connected we are in the technological. I admit to having plenty of online friends, met through the magic of the internet. And I am grateful for each and every one of them. But it’s a sad state when someone feels the need to publish a guide on social interactions that we should still remember from Kindergarten.

Always remember: it matters not how awkward or how smooth the path is to making a new friend. What matters is getting there 🙂

The Endless Summer

Four days later, I can sit down to write a post.

I think it has been four days since my last post. I really have no idea.

Between driving kids to work, working on updating Little One’s room, running stuff to Goodwill, birthdays, anniversaries, family visits, reunions, more reunions, graduations, the promotion ceremony, and the normal day-to-day stuff of running errands and chores, I am just horse tired. Not just tired. HORSE TIRED!!!

I don’t even know what that means.

And now I realize that June is almost over, and I feel like I haven’t done anything. Except clean the refrigerator. I did do that. After that chore, I needed an anti-depressant.

Anyway, I better get going. If I keep going at this rate, I may not need to ever go to the Y 😉

Friday Sithy

It’s the last day of school, my friends.

This day can easily end in tears. However, that also means I get to return to my normal blog-reading-and-commenting state. Aren’t you happy!!?? I sure am. But since today will be taken up by early release and last minute uniform checks and sundry stuff, I shall leave you with a Sithy, courtesy of XBradTC, who threatened me with dire violence kindly sent this to me, thinking it would be a fine addition to my home.

AN AT AT BAR!!!! I think this would go well in the living room, or right by my crafting area.

Have a great Friday and stay thirsty, my friends 😉

Random Thoughts on a Wednesday—Scratch That. TUESDAY!!! Afternoon

I took Eldest to the mall this afternoon. She needed shoes for her graduation, and I needed shoes for a promotion ceremony. I walked into Macy’s™, where I seldom shop, and went to the shoes, right through to the sales rack, found the perfect pair, and proceeded to check out. “Shopping Like a Man” level: ACHIEVED.

There is no worse earworm than that of a Zelda game.

Funny how cleaning the house takes only minutes when you know you are having company.

Before I went to see Curtis Stone, I had two different types of vinegar in my pantry. Now I have nine.

Kindness is always free.

I have trained my dogs to want to go out as soon as I sit down. Ok, they trained me.

I’m still trying to wrap my mind around how some people claim to be ready for the zombie apocalypse, and yet they can’t manage to kill a spider without the use of five pairs of shoes, several cans of Raid™ and a Bic™ lighter, all the while crying like a toddler who fell off the swing set.

I am never too anything to be hungry.

That does it for today’s randomness. Hope y’all have a pleasant evening!! 😀

UPDATE!!!!!

It has been brought to my attention by Rob that it is Tuesday, not Wednesday. This is what happens when I am on pain meds and have no chocolate in the house.

Picking Battle Axes

Every day, it’s the same old story.

“Go wash the dishes!”

“Get in the shower!”

“Are you done with your homework??”

“It’s past your bedtime!”

Yes, they do have set chores, but seldom do they do them of their own accord. They don’t have a set time for bed, but if I am the one waking them up, then I sure as Hades don’t want to deal with slow cranky kidlets.

Last night, I finally had my epiphany: WHY DO I GO THROUGH THE TROUBLE??

Stick a fork, I’m done. I am not their social secretary, nor am I their daily reminder calendar. If they forget the dishes, I will gather them up and place them on their bed. If they forget laundry in the washer, I will take it out and let it mold on the floor. If they forget to put away food, they will enjoy it for breakfast. I’m too old and too grumpy to be chasing after that crap.

It’s my summer and I will be enjoying it, too!!

So, This Happened

Today I was scheduled to take one of our vehicles in for a check up and diagnostic. My mom had transferred ownership of her old 1994 Saab to us for Eldest to use once she got her license. Yes, I am still in tears about that. Anyway, it is having some issues, so I made an appointment on Tuesday to take it in to be checked out. One can’t take chances, you know?

Anyway, I took the kidlets to school without incident, and then headed back home to pick up the other car. I put my hair up in a clip (it’s frightful), washed up the dishes, and then grabbed the keys and headed out.

So I got into my Pathfinder.

And drove down the street to the mechanic.

In my Pathfinder.

Not the Saab.

And if you think I just went down a couple of blocks before I noticed, think again. I was turning into the shop before I noticed. Luckily I had time to turn around and switch vehicles before my appointment.

And this is what happens when you don’t drink coffee first thing in the morning 🙂

Ever Feel Like You Have Nothing to Say, but Feel the Need to Type Some Sort of Post Anyway?

Yeah, neither do I.

So, since it has been a while, I give what is possibly the most awesome U.S. soldier, EVAH!!

Platoon Sergeant in Iraq, wearing Tartan Wilson, (found here). EPICNESS!!

Now, go fan yourselves 😉

Best Mom Day, EVAH!!

So, yesterday was Mother’s Day, and the kids and Hubby surprised me with bling and a new Lolita™ wine glass. I think I am getting to be a bit predictable. Anyway, after gratuitous amounts of loving hugs and coffee, we decided to go to the outlet mall to shop for Little One since she had outgrown a ton of clothes, for which Goodwill is grateful. It was a nice day, and I find shopping therapeutic and relaxing.

I do NOT find traffic relaxing, which is why Hubby drove.

Anyway, we decided to have lunch first at a restaurant conveniently located next to Williams-Sonoma™, which is close to kryptonite for me as y’all well know. I had finished eating and figured it couldn’t do any harm to just go look. So off I went, feeling Hubby’s eyes roll as I meandered into the store. Mind you, I wasn’t planning on getting anything, until I rounded the corner and found this:

I had been looking for that size for a while, but was reluctant to pay the $$$ price tag. Seriously, three figures for that small saucepan? No way. So I checked inside for the price in case it was on sale.

$29.97???

Wha……….??

I check everywhere on that pan to see if there is another price tag. Nope, just the $29.97 one. ZOMG!!!! I run over to the checkout and ask if this is the right price and the manager says that usually the current stuff that’s returned to the outlet is priced to move, so yes. AWESOME!!! But if that wasn’t enough, it was an additional 30% off, plus 10% off for military. So my little saucepan cost $20 and change.

And no, this doesn’t mean my Le Creuset™ bargain hunting is over. It just means that I really, really have to downsize a bit more 😉

Can’t Stop Me Now

Last weekend we cleaned out the garage, and let me tell you, it looks AMAZING!! Well, technically half of it does. We couldn’t clean out the other wall because it has all of my stained glass stuff, and we need protective gloves and eye goggles to clean it out. Still, the garage is a vast improvement over the trash dump site way it was before.

But now I am itching to reorganize something. Some people finish a project and sit back to admire their work. I tend to want to channel that satisfaction towards another problem spot. The problem is, there are too many problem spots.

And Legos come in handy for this.

Picking one is like a Lay’s™ potato chip. You can’t stop at just one.

So I guess I better go get a bag of potato chips and finish that off. That’s something I can certainly achieve today.

Glad I found a way to channel my productive side 😉