Watch out OH

In less than 24 hours, I'm gonna be responsibility-free for 5 whole days!  I'm taking off out of Manchester at 9AM to meet some friends in OH, go to a pagan festival, and go to a Ren faire before flying home Monday.  I'll tell ya...in the last about 24 hours its been REALLY clear I need a break!  I'm sooo grateful to HG taking over with the girls and having a good enough job that we can afford to do this!  My suitcase is almost all packed, I've already checked in and printed boarding passes, printed out the hotel confirmation, and I'll finish packing after we get home from dance tonight.  This is gonna be GOOOOD!!!  And since I won't be driving any time while we're there....I plan on feeling no pain for much of the time, and stuffing myself...my diet will be here when I get back.

Backless Dresses

So HG has put in his order...for his company's Christmas party, he wants me to wear a backless dress.  So I've been looking online at different dresses, and I'm having fun imagining it.  (The thought of having to wear one of those pasties bras isn't very fun though....and there's absolutely NO WAY I would think about going without...post-nursing sag is all I'll say.)

Some of the dresses Ive been looking at:

http://www.edressme.com/evening-dress-6732.html,

http://www.dhgate.com/deep-v-collar-silk-and-satin-evening-dress/p-ff8080812d3be5b4012d666cae18117a.html

http://www.dhgate.com/the-best-2011-new-style-hot-sale-custom-made/r-ff80808131dec4420131fd00f8c45fd9.html

http://www.edressme.com/fav-6564-royal.html

So what do you all think?  Which one?  (Oh, I just colored my hair a pretty mahogany this past weekend too.)

Saving money...NOT!

So we thought that since LK had a princess backpack (albeit not a regular sized one), that was one less thing we had to buy for kindergarten...which she started last Thursday.  Her snack container (I could only get Tinkerbell in the little square zippered ones) took up the majority of the space, but I figured no big deal.  I couldn't see them giving her much else to have to bring home, homework or otherwise.  WRONG!  Theres a regular sized plastic covered folder that she carts back and forth every day that contains      communications to us and from us to the teachers (which has to be bent to get it in), and then today she had to bring in a stuffed animal for show and tell too.  I don't know HOW she managed to fit it in, but she did.  (It helped that it was just a beanie baby bear we got at the fair this past weekend.)  Off to the store I go...as soon as my nails finish drying.  Tonight's dancing, and I needed to either fix my manicure or do a new one.  Since the polish was wearing off more on some nails than others, I opted to go from lavender nails to a deep rose.  Oh...and I should go switch out the laundry before I go too.  (SHOULD, yes...WILL...???)

Playing Patty Cake

Last night we had so much fun at our dance lessons.  We went in early and went to the beginner's dance class before our lesson, and got exposed to 2 more types of dance...the merengue and the tango.  That puts the total number of dances we've been exposed to at about 6...in 4 lessons.  We're finally learning turns too, so that should make our practice sessions at home more fun.  (We got 3 different ballroom dance albums on iTunes, and the other night moved the table out of the way in the kitchen, then practiced for about an hour or so.)  Our teacher told us she could really see evidence of our practicing in the way we moved together too...more in synch, more smoothly, I followed better....  We still are (as she puts it) "playing patty cake"...meaning we join palms between us.  No dance hold yet...but hopefully soon.  Another thing that she noticed that she said was HUGE was that we consistently were on our own finding not just the beat, but also starting on the one (as opposed to another beat).  Pretty cool.  Now we've just got to figure out how we're gonna pay for it until we get the inheritance coming our way in a couple months.

Its sooo nice to be able to get dressed up, get out of the house and just be a couple on a date without worrying about the girls.  We found a neighbor in high school that they adore who is really good with them.  Minime had been having such a hard time whenever we went out, crying and clinging....until Shannon.  Now she's fine...last night she gave me a hug and kiss then went over to Shannon, then LK hugged and kissed me, then she said to Minime didn't she want to hug and kiss me?  (LK hadn't seen Minime hug and kiss me just before.)  She hugged me, but said she'd already kissed me and didn't want to again!  Talk about feeling put in my place!

RIP Mufasa

So HG and I had the talk that I'd alluded to in a previous post ( http://amithesaneone.blogspot.com/2011/07/talk.html ).  While we were on vacation we had "Fussy" boarded so that he wouldn't pee all over while we were gone.  It was kinda nice coming home to a house that didn't smell like a kennel.  My parents had watched our dog Hershey while we were gone, and when they came over to bring him back on Sunday, Dad noticed that though he loved the attention of being petted he didn't purr at all.  (This is HUGE, as he's always been purring up a storm any time he's around anyone he loves.)  He also noticed that he seemed kind of dazed.  Of course, he didn't tell me this until I was on the way to the vet with him.  HG had started to talk to the vet about it earlier today, and couldn't continue...he was crying too much, so I got the pleasant task of taking him.  When we got there and were taken to a room, I opened the top of the cat carrier so he could get out to explore if he wanted....it took more than 10 minutes for him to do so.  I was also petting him most of the time we were there (I stayed through the time the first injection made him sleepy but left before they gave him the overdose of anesthesia), and as Dad had said, he never purred.

We're Back

So last week we were off on adventures.  First was Cedar Point in OH (HUGE amusement Park and water park), pic number one was when we were waiting out the rain wen at the water park, the second was the last day at the amusement park...I wouldn't have been in the pic, but minima wouldn't get over by Snoopy otherwise!

Last stop was Niagra Falls on the way home.  The first pic below was taken on the Cave of the Winds tour on one of the platforms, and the second was taken from the Observation Tower.

Its hard to get back to the daily grind...and it was really nice family time...a first for us (to have a full family vacation with all 5 of us).

Doing the Box Step....For Now

So HG and I have started ballroom dancing.  We've had 2 classes so far, and our instructor is really cool.  We're going to Arthur Murray, and the way they teach dance is different...you don't just learn all about one type of dance at a time, or per lesson...they teach you how the dances are all similar.  That way, you don't have to wait until a certain type of song gets played...you can figure out which dance goes with the music and can move with it.  So far we've learned a bit of foxtrot, rhumba, and waltz.  Surprisingly, HG is having a really good time with it.  (Ive wanted to get into ballroom dancing since like college, when I had a day of ballroom dance in my jazz dance class.  So I'm totally there.)  HG has been talking about getting me some special shoes for dancing in, and tonight he came home from work with 2 pair.  (Unfortunately, my feet are just a wee bit wide for them.  Both of the pairs he got have to be returned Monday, which means he'll have to lug them all day so he can exchange them on his way home...the store thats right on his route from the T into work isn't open when he goes in.)

Attitude Adjustments

My Mom sells Mary Kay.  The reason I tell you this is because she is now a team builder...she has three people that she has signed up, which is a big deal.  Monday night was a special recognition rally for her, and some family friends of ours, one of my aunts, and I all came to it as well.  (Dad was there too, to take pictures.)  In order for me to do this, HG had to get home by the time he normally leaves the office, which he did.  So I leave, not in time to get to Mom and Dad's house, then go to the meeting, but I got to the meeting before Mom and Dad did.  So I was texting HG about some things that had happened that day (namely the dance studio where we're taking ballroom dancing calling back), and he got all pissy on me and came down on me for not calling them like he'd asked me to.  Rather than taking it, getting defensive, and it starting an argument (which would have happened back a year or two ago), I just said back that I had  called and had to leave a message, and they were returning my call, as I'd expected them to back on Friday, and I told him to "lose the attitude."  He didn't read the message until some time while Mom's rally was going on, but when I called after to tell him about it, the attitude was gone.

The Talk

I just told HG that we needed to have "the talk" about our older cat, who's name is Mufasa, but we call Fussy.

This picture ws taken 6 years ago.  Four times in the past week (the last being this morning) he has peed in the dog's bed in our bedroom, necessitating its washing.  He had never done this at all until a couple weeks ago.  He also pukes with regularity...and is on thyroid medication for under active thyroid, which he's been on for a month now.  So this can't be a side effect of the medication.  For now we're shutting the cats out of our room.

HG just emailed me a link to what to do concerning old cat litter box problems...maybe we'll try that first.  I told him that he needed to tell Red to prepare him, as he had just lost a dog he and his bio mom had.  I've also told the girls that Fussy may soon be in heaven like Momma Kitty, and LK asked if he was gonna be her pet, and I said sure...she seemed to accept that.

HG has had Fussy for over 10 years, and got him when Red's bio mom was looking for someone to take her friend's cat, so we have no way of knowing how old he is.  We recently had his teeth cleaned, and he had to have 2 teeth pulled, as they were destroying themselves.  HG and Red are really attached to him.  As far as I'm concerned, I don't think I'll miss him when he goes.  Sounds heartless, I know...but Ive never forgiven him for something he did.  When I moved in here, I had a beautiful calico cat, named Belle.

This is a picture of her the day after I got her, and I loved her to death.  I don't know if Fussy never accepted her, or he was just being a typical clown cat.  Whatever the reason, he wasn't giving her the space she needed, and she was extremely unhappy here.  She was losing weight, and for her sake I decided the best thing was to re home her, even though I'd gotten her only a year before.  Ive been in contact with her new owner, and she is really happy where she is now.  I searched through my email for pictures of her now...I know her new owner had sent me some...but they've disappeared into cyberspace, apparently.  She's much heavier than she was even in this picture, and she was acting like a queen of her domain (which of course she is).  So even though she's happier, I've never forgiven Fussy for causing her the distress that led to her re homing.

After looking at the email HG sent, I asked if we were going to be doing one of the things it talked about, and he's replied that there are options.  We'll see what happens.

A Conundrum

I just dont get it.  For either Meme or Grandpa (my parents) or HG Minime goes right to bed with no- or little- fuss.  (Grandpa's here tonight.)  But she normally wants me to put her down (which of course breaks my heart...NOT!), its a different story entirely.  She plays around and giggles; when I tell her its time to lay down and go to sleep, she says "No Mommy lay down"; when I start the lullaby music and start to go out of the room, she screams "No!" and clings...I have to do this like 3 or 4 times sometimes.
HG says its because she knows she can play me, which doesn't make sense.  Other times in the day she KNOWS that I dont take anything, and she is more often than not good about taking her nap in the afternoon.  So I'm at a loss.  Does anyone have any insight?

Mom's Night Out

So HG has this big project at work thats coming to a head.  (We have had to reschedule our vacation to Cedar Point because of said project.)  Last Sunday he worked on it.  Monday night he worked late on it (didnt get home until after 10PM).  Ditto Tuesday and Wednesday...only Wednesday he got home even later, as he missed the last bus going to the stop he parks his Jeep at.  So he took another bus to a different stop and caught a cab to the Jeep, and got home close to midnight.  His coming home at a normal time yesterday felt like a short day for him, he said.  Last week one of my friends I used to work with had posted on Facebook about Ladies night at a bar nearby every Thursday night.  After the 3 nights dealing with the girls solo, especially with them asking for their Daddy, and whining that they couldn't see him, I decided I needed a break.  So after the girls had had their dinner, were changed for bed, and had been read to, he took over and I left.

When I got to where the bar was, of course the spaces right in front of it were all full, so I drove around the block looking to see if I could find anything, then I just parked in the parking garage nearby and walked over.  At first I was looking for my friend, but upon learning she wouldn't be there for another couple hours, I just settled at a bar in front of a Paw Sox game on tv.  It took a wee bit to figure out how to get the special prices ($3 martinis, wine and drafts, $5 cocktails, and half price appetizers), but once that was done and I was sitting there with my chocolate martini and a plate of chicken fingers, life was good.  I talked to a couple who were there next to me.  We got talking about our kids (their son, 4 next Monday, and our 2 girls)...then they moved around the corner.  So I sat there watching the game, munching and sipping, and looking over my facebook feed.  Came upon another posting by the same friend about getting a free drink, so I inquired and after the martini, had that.  In the midst of that another woman came over and sat down, and we struck up a conversation.  How she was there visiting a friend who was working that night, was from Pittsburg, PA but was relocating to Boston for graduate studies  in the fall,  and on and on.  We had a nice talk...I showed off all 3 kids, bragged on HG, we talked about Boston...and in the midst of it my friend came in for work early.  She was sooo psyched to see me!    (Somewhere in the midst of all that I got an espresso martini too.)  So my new friend and I kept talking until I had finished that, and decided it was probably time to be heading home.  (5:15 comes pretty early!)  So I settled up my tab...after 2 martinis and chicken fingers, even with tip it came to less than $15! I'd say this is a place worth remembering!

When I got home, Bill was not impressed with my state..."You're staggering...you gotta watch that" but it was a good night....and just what I needed.

Losing weight...NOT!

Well, I THOUGHT that not fitting into the dress I'd wanted to wear would give me the motivation to get up early and work out...for the past 2 mornings the alarm has gone off, and I've just laid there.  This morning HG asked me :I thought you were getting up?"....my reply...."My get up and go got up and went."  So I'm asking, how do you get motivated?  What works for you?

Unlikely Photo Ops

We (all 5 of us) went to a wedding a couple weeks ago, and since we were together and all dressed up, I made an appointment for us to have family portraits done.  We left the house about 9:30 in the morning, and the appointment was for 4:30 in the afternoon.  If I'd thought more about it, I might have canceled...thinking SURELY there would be no way to get decent pictures after the girls were awake for soo long.  Fortunately, I didn't...and the results were AWESOME.  We had the best photographer, who got the girls to behave enough to get some really incredible pictures.  She took ones of each girl, the 2 girls together, the girls and Red, Red alone (and some of them looked like they belonged in GQ), HG and I, and all 5 of us.  I sent an email to family with a link to the proofs, asking them which ones they wanted...and my mother-in-law said there were too many great ones...she was having a hard time choosing just a few!  I'm sooo glad we did them...I'd been wanting family pictures for a long time...this was the first time Red was with us and we were all dressed up.  There was even some color coordination going on...both girls had the same color families on (though LK's dress was bright and Mini-me's was muted), Red had a monochrome thing going on with a lavender shirt and purple tie (lavender was an accent color in LK's dress), and HG wore a cream top with a purple plaid tie.  I, unfortunately, had to wear a turquoise dress, and that was the only one I could get into.  (I'd hoped to be in an abstract print dress that had purples in it, but I've not lost enough in my bust yet to be able to get that on.)  Good motivation to get back to my early morning workouts...I get up when HG does and do a workout while he's getting ready for work.  (Normally he gets up at 5:15, so usually by 6 I'm done and can get my shower in and have a little time before the girls get up.)  More to come on the workout, but I will say this...before I met HG, I'd lost 40 pounds and was down to like 14% body fat following this workout and their diet plan.  Cant as easily do the diet plan now with a family, but I can do the workout...and I cant wait to start seeing results.

Vacationing

Last week we had an awesome time at the beach at my parent's house, and my cousin was in town then too, so we got to spend time with her.  Of course, HG didnt have vacation, just Red, Little Kitty, Mini-me and I.  He took the train into town to work every day.  Then Friday we came home, I took Mini-me to get her stitches out, we packed up the motorhome and went to VT to a friend's campground for the long weekend.

Sunday morning I woke with my right eye swollen...apparently I got a spider bite in my sleep....it got to the point that if it hadn't gotten better, I would not have been able to drive.  Thankfully, it did...but it looked pretty bad in the meantime.  I didnt take a picture of it at its worst, but this is how it looked Monday night:

On Monday before we headed home, HG, Red, and I went tubing down the river next to the campground while the girls stayed with our friends and did crafts.  This was the first time I'd done anything like this...not being a strong swimmer, I borrowed a life jacket and had HG tie my tube to his.  It was really enjoyable...even the occasional ice cold splashes/washes we got, as well as the occasional bumps from rocks too close to the bottom of our butts.  Getting out at the end though was another story....I must have looked like an invalid, clinging to HG's hand and stumbling slowly out of the water, and I only fell once.

When we got home it looked like the sky was going to open up at an moment, but since the lawn was a mini-jungle, HG got right to mowing it, in case he didnt get the whole of it done, leaving me to manage the girls and start unpacking.  So I get a movie playing in the motorhome, but when I bring the first load in Mini-me was all "I come" and when inside wanted to change into a long sleeved top and jeans (and it was at least 90 out).  Little Kitty stayed put (as she usually does when a movie is on), but with Mini-me's antics there was no way I could get any unpacking done, and trying to think of what to make for dinner was making my head hurt.

Upon conferring with HG, I tried, repeatedly, to call in a pizza to be delivered, but at both places there was no one answering the phone.  (By now it was 6:30, and the girls were making noises about how hungry they were.)  HG was almost done with the lawn, so I called in a take out order at a chinese place nearby, and after he was done with the lawn, he went for it.  By the time dinner was done and the girls were both changed for bed it was almost 9, and as I was sitting down on the sofa to read them both one story, HG said to me, "I just want to tell you, you're doing really good....we've all had a long day, but you've kept your cool through all of it."  To get just how big this is, you have to understand...., HG has never given me a compliment like that...and as little as 6 months ago my doing as well as I had that day wouldn't have phased him at all...he just thought I should be doing it, and would only b*tch when I wasn't.

Our garden was in desperate need of being harvested....the broccoli, spinach, and lettuce all had lots on them, and our rose garden was so full of deadheads it took me over 30 minutes to get them all, and cut the roses to take in the house.  I finally have just one load of laundry left to wash from the trip (and what was in the hamper from before we left), and its full again, and we haven't yet mixed Mini-me's laundry in with it yet!

Minime's Spill

This is how I spent my night Tuesday night....7 stitches total, 2 inside the cut and 5 to close it up.  Thank the Gods that a neighbor watched LK so she didn't have to come to ER with us.  It took over 2 hours for a room to be available for us, and another hour to get the suturing done!  Am also thankful for our unlimited texting and data plans...the battery on my phone almost died from all the calling and texting HG and I were doing.  This picture was taken to show him what it looked like.  Minime was really good...she only screamed bloody murder twice (once during the shot of Novocaine and the other in the midst of stitching), only fought my holding her hands once (when she was getting the shot of Novocaine) and didn't fight the nurse holding her head. The whole time of the procedure I was singing to her to help calm her, and the doctor and nurse commented several times what a good girl she was.   As soon as they finished stitching her up, she was all, "Lets go Mom"...and since then has only complained of pain from her boo boo twice.  The first time I gave her some ibuprofen, but the second time she wanted nothing to do with it!


The moral of this story...don't let your kids stand on the toilet seat with socks on!  (I was getting the floss ready to floss her teeth when she fell and hit her chin on I'm guessing the toilet paper holder.)

Here We Go Again.....

My HG is away on business this week...his plane took off about a half hour ago.  Sooo...he left the house about 2 1/2 hours ago (the airport is relatively small and you dont need to get there as early), and ALREADY the girls are both on my last nerve. (My hat is off to all you single parents...you are Wonder Parents as far as I'm concerned.)  First they want snacks, and Little Kitty wants exactly what Mini-me is having (which is leftover from her Fathers Day breakfast that LK wasn't here for, but at an aunt's house.)  I make something similar, and pacify her, then Mini-me decides she doesn't want that, but Cheerios, accompanied by high pitched crying and whining.  Then, when we're getting ready to go out in the backyard, and Mini-me wants to wear a bathing suit NOW and not wait until after nap, when I'll have water in their little pool that has been warmed by the sun for a couple hours (just filled it, and its gonna be a b*tch to try to dump later, and I purposely only filled it half full).

After I deal with that for like 10 minutes, LK starts in with her demanding that I play baseball with her, and doesn't stop until I have to tell her that I suck monkey balls at pitching and wouldn't be able to get the ball to her for more times I throw it than not.  She starts in again, though not as strongly, even after we've come outside and Ive had to, 1. put away the  snowshoes HG had cleaned yesterday to put away, but never did, and 2. run out front to find Mini-me over by the rose bed on the far side of the house.  So I have to debase myself again....then I let her play with it by herself on the porch, knowing full well that it wont take long for her to hit said ball into the bushes.  (It takes maybe 3 minutes)  Then I tell her I'm not going hunting for it.  Then whining starts..."But WHYYYYY??  When will you???"    "I'm not, youll have to wait"  "For how loonnngg??"  Then its all "Can we have a picnic for lunch and dinner?"  "No"  "Whhhyyyy?"  Mini-me interrupts (thankfully) with "Potty, mohom" (in the motorhome)...I counter with lets go inside..."NO!  MOHOM!!!!"  I start to walk towards her, and she says "No I walk" (she knows when I say we're doing something, if they dont do it, I carry them to do it).  Then we get inside and she starts playing..I say didnt you  have to  go potty, and her response, as she walks to the door and opens it, "No potty."  Then I get a whiff....shes already gone in her pullup...so I have to carry her screaming "No potty" over and over to her room to change her.

When thats done I look at the clock...thank the Gods, its time to make lunch.  I tell the girls I'll get them when its ready.  So fine, they come in the second time when I call them.  I'd decided to make them heart shaped sandwiches, and though they dont say anything, they eat no problem....except that LK likes to be a clown and Mini-me apes everything she does.  LK KNOWS this, but does it make any difference at all?  Nope.

And thats just the first morning...we still have the rest of today, and 4 more before HG gets home.....wine  will again be my friend.  Bedtimes are a whole different set of issues.  Thankfully, on one of those days they will be in daycare, and Mom will be down another.

The Hazards of Children in the Garden

So after the girls went down for their naps, first I froze in the basement (my Hunky Geek likes to keep it down to tundra there at his home office space) to read my groups and facebook, then to warm up I went outside to check on my herb garden.  I'd wanted to wait to see if we needed to put a dripline in, both because we have never needed to before, and I have to decide what else to put in to fill in where I gave some of the herbs to a new neighbor.  What I saw made me cringe....basil about 75% yellow, cilantro and dill about 10% yellow...the rest looked to be okay.  So...I go over to the hose reel to get the hose so I could water them.  Pulled...and barely a budge.  Pulled harder...this time a few inches.  Kept trying, and not getting much.  Finally I lifted the iid...and I saw the problem.  Yesterday I'd seen our 2 terrors playing with the water faucet and around the hose reel, but didnt think to look at what they'd done.  What theyd managed to do was to pull parts of the hose reel out, and off the reel in the housing, making it incredibly difficult to turn.  After about 10 minutes I managed to get most of it straightened out, pulled the hose out and watered the plants.  Unfortunately, when I tried to reel the hose back in, it was still not laying flat, so it looks like that will be a job for HG when he gets home.

Now that Ive decompressed some, do I dare to try harvesting some lettuce, or checking out the roses?  Since its past time for the girls to be up from their naps, I dare not...not until they're up too.  Little Kitty (Kitty was her birth mother's nickname, and she looks spitting image how her mother did) would get up fine on her own, but until we get Mini-me (our 2 year old who looks spitting image of me at her age) out her crib and into a bed...she could be either screaming her head off and I wouldn't know it, or she could try to climb out on her own (shes gotten a leg over on several occasions) and get hurt.  And before I get all kinds of crap from people about why dont I get her out of that crib like last week.... 2 reasons.  First, until HG's last paycheck, money's been pretty tight.  Second, there's not been enough time to get everything else AND that done too.  Plus...have you tried to take 2 rambunctious children solo furniture shopping??  I dont relish that thought....I'll wait until my next day that both are in daycare to go checking things out.  (It'll be this next Tuesday.)