Trying to Put Off for Tomorrow What I Can Do the Day After That

Sketchy blogging lately, I know. Sorry, but my Madre is in town, cooking and having a ton of fun with us, and that’s just not to be missed. Seriously, how often do you get the chance to eat for hours while laughing about everything?

Anyway, this week I shall be trying to get caught up on everything I have neglected, including laundry and cleaning. And maybe do some cooking for a change. I feel like I owe my mom and sis a night off from all the cooking and cleaning. We need some comfort food today. I’m thinking meatloaf and mashed potatoes and steamed veggies and homemade rolls.

I’m also thinking I will throw out the bath scale.

And quite possibly my jeans.

Anyway, I’m still murdering books and will be posting the outcome and how-to over at Junk and Glue. Eventually. Little One is beyond thrilled with the sculptures and I am beyond thrilled she has kept her room clean. I know I am rambling but I can’t help it. It has been a crazy week and weekend. Still, I have to get the house is good shape before vacation so I don’t have to deal with it when I return. Nothing worse than having to clean house after frying your skin while having fun fishing.

I swear I will have a more coherent post sometime this week. Until then, enjoy the day!

Getting Dirty

Heh, fooled you with that title, didn’t I? Well, I am clearing the garden today, and relocating those white rocks in the flower beds, and whacking major shrubbery.

But not with a herring.

As low maintenance as our backyard is, the dogs tend to wreak their own special kind of havoc by running in the flower beds while barking at the dogs on the other side of the fences. Consequently, all the gravel and pretty pebbles get displaced. If it were up to me, I would have all that taken out and replaced with MOAR DURT!! But it’s too costly of a project to undertake at this time, so we stick to maintaining it. Hopefully one day we will set up a hammock for nice summer evenings. Along with fifteen bug zappers.

Can’t take chances with insects around here. Not when they can carry you off 😀

Irons in the Fire

Holy cow, do I have a lot of crap going on.

Tomorrow we shall enjoy the Independence Day parade, in which Son is taking part. But today, we have to get in gear. Have to clean the rooms, do loads of laundry, get uniforms ready, finish storing stuff in the (nicely organized) garage, trim the Barbados trees, re-do the gravel beds, and clean the cabinets.

Oh, and have a repairman fix the upstairs A/C unit.

Because it’s Texas. In the summer.

Ain’t nobody got time for that.

Hopefully after all is done, I will have time to finish a few projects I have going on, like the book sculpture, the light fixture (still figuring out how to even out the ornaments), a scrapbook layout for a challenge (almost done) and some DIY cupcake stands for a party (they will be the party favors).

It’s not that I got tired of making stuff. It’s just that I didn’t want to ruin my nails before our trip last weekend. It was moot anyway, seeing as I broke three of them while at the lake. I may not have a lot of vanities, but I want my hands to be somewhat presentable.

Because no one wants to shake hands with dried up gobs of E-6000 😀

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 😉

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!!

Channeling Alice Cooper

For the first time in like forever, I am looking forward to school ending and summer vacation. For most Stay-At-Home mothers, “summer” means “jail”. But honestly, this time it will be a reprieve from the almost constant deluge of school functions, meetings, concerts, and ROTC events. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy being involved. But there is only ONE of me, ok?? It is extremely difficult to be everywhere at once with the Laws of Physics refusing to bend to my every need. Every. Single. Weekend. PEOPLE!! It would have been fine if only all three kids had their activities in the same frickin’ town. But no…. THAT would have been waaaaaaay too easy.

Only the best back-to-school ad EVAH!!

But even I know summer can be a pitfall. It can unravel faster than a cheetah ripping through the yarn aisle at JoAnn’s™. So, a few rules MUST be implemented, observed and enforced in order for Mommy to not escape inside a bottle not lose her mind.

RULE #1

The term “I’m bored!” is banned. If uttered, even in a whisper or under breath, the culprit will have earned five hours cleaning the outside windows with newspapers and vinegar. Yes, I am old school.

RULE #2

You are responsible for your own breakfast AND lunch during the weekdays. Asking me for it will earn you an extra set of chores, to include attic cleaning.

RULE #3

TV will be limited to only three hours per day (not counting evenings). This does include any videogaming. Breaking this rule will have earned the perpetrator three hours of outside activity. Pooper scooper may be involved.

RULE #4

The query, “Why?” is no longer valid. End of discussion.

RULE #5

Any schoolwork for the summer will be done the FIRST two weeks of summer vacation, and not the last 20 minutes of summer vacation. As an addendum, any schoolwork that requires math or physics is solely the responsibility of Daddy. Mommy was told there would be no math.

RULE #6

Music while doing chores or for the joy of it is fine, as long as it is within the accepted parameters: no screamo, no alternative, no techno pop. Also, it must be played at a level consistent with my ability to keep my sanity, so nothing above 1,200 decibels.

So far these are a few of the solid rules. I shall be printing these out and posting them on the refrigerator, as well as on each of their doors. And quite possibly the bathroom mirror. Obey these rules, and you don’t get hurt. It is that simple.

Disobey, and deal with your father 😉

Weekends Should Start on Mondays

I just do NOT understand why everything piles up on Fridays.

One kid has Sign Language Club, another has German Club. Then we have high school football, and tonight Little One’s band gets to play with the High School band, which means she gets to sit with them all through the game, which also means she has to stay until the end of the game, which translates to traffic jam afterwards. Tomorrow, the other two get to enjoy an ROTC trip to the USS Lexington for the weekend, and that means that Little One will enjoy having a sleepover for her birthday.

From Roamy, who knows me well 🙂

Just what I need: a bunch of screaming teens in the house, eating sweets and chocolate and drinking sodas and gossiping about the cutest boys in school. And I will be serving and cleaning up and praying the earplugs hold up.

Hope y’all’s weekend is far quieter 😉

Not Even Trying Today

I got up and felt like a cat had chewed me up, spit me out, and dragged through pond scum.

And I’m not even sick. Just tired.

I was thinking of doing a giveaway for the blog. Something either made by me or just some random weird thing I find at the clearance section of Home Depot. Or the Dollar Store. Not sure yet.

Then I thought of doing a simple dish each week and featuring it so that the food pic haters would have some angst in their lives. But that’s not how I operate. I don’t like fostering angst. I like fostering fear.

I also thought about posting pretty thought of the day. Then I recalled I am Sith.

Anyway, I will think of something tomorrow. For now, I am off to paint PVC pipes, attach a ventilation duct for a dryer on the ceiling, and make a lamp out of a flowerpot.

Don’t judge me because I’m crazy. Judge me because I am too tired to make a rebuttal, and this is your only chance 😉

A Little Fun Between Strangers

My poor dog Lenny had a miserable night. Her ears are infected, and that necessitated a trip to the vet. Thankfully, she loves, and I mean LOVES going to the vet. That wasn’t going to be the issue.

But Hubby’s car is in the shop, and the van has issues, and so Hubby took my Pathfinder to work this morning, which meant I had to borrow a vehicle, which meant my niece’s Isuzu. My niece is 18, just graduated from high school, and does all the seniors-are-cool stuff to her car.

1. Tassel on rear view mirror: check!
2. “Acquired” Whataburger™ table number*: check!
3. Obligatory “2012” signage: check!
4. Phrase written in shoe polish: check!

Wait, what??

Great….just great. I get to drive all over town with this. The good news is, no one will recognize me while driving around. It’s a big enough area. Anyway, I get to the vet’s and Lenny is beside herself wanting to make several new friends, including two parakeets, a trio of ferrets, a Scottish Terrier, a huge dog probably bred from bears, and a very nasty cat. I say nasty as in mean, not icky. Her own owner doesn’t like her. Moving on, I go outside to wait for them to bring me Lenny, since the place is packed, and the gentleman that arrived at the same time I was parking struck up a conversation.

Gent: I take it you like to dance?

Me: Well, yes… like most people, I guess.

Gent: Country dancing, huh?

Me: No, more along Big Band and Waltzing, why?

Gent: *points to niece’s vehicle*

Me: OMIGAWD!! Sorry, I didn’t write that. It’s my niece’s vehicle, and I had to borrow it today.

Gent: So does that mean you’re a waltzing babe?

Me: No, it means I am taking that car to the nearest car wash.

Gent: *laughs*

I must have turned three different shades of red. But he had a good laugh, and if I helped to make someone happy, then I win, right?

*For those not familiar, Whataburger™ is a Texas chain, and a lot of graduating seniors always feel compelled to abscond with one of their little numbered table signs. It’s a right of passage 😉

Omigawd…

I completely forgot to post an entry today.

I had a very early doctor’s appointment again, and then had to stop to gas up the vehicle on base, and then went to check out if the Le Creuset™ pot was on sale, which it was, and I got, and then came home to a whiny dog who had not been let out, which I rescued, and then to fold the rest of the laundry and then to start a Tres Leches cake which takes FOREVER, and then swing by the grocery store for last minute stuff for dinner, which I am about to go start.

Also, Teresa sent me this link. I ♥ this!!

It is on my List of Things for Aggie’s Birthday®. That’s a list I am now going to leave conspicuously pasted all over the house, starting in September. It’s never too late to start 😉