Yesterday I answered my door and found a slovenly-looking young man in his early teens staring back at me. I didn't know this kid, so I expected: a) Wrong house or Can I wash your dirty car/mow your overgrown yard/sell you overpriced candy (any of these are good options) Instead, he looked at me with his dead fish eyes, stammered and then said, "My mom lives over there (he nods his head backwards), and she's trying to raise money for cancer. Umm, for poor people with cancer. ...

Ok, so let's pretend you have a kid.  Let's call him "X".  And let's say he's almost 10 years old.  Next let's pretend that Santa Claus brought him a $250 Nintendo Wii for Christmas and X has this fairly expensive gaming console is in his room, attached to his very own (cheap) TV. Then let's say X proceeds to not treat his remote (wiimote?) not so lovingly, leaving it tossed about in his room when he is not using it.  Next let's pretend that X's daddy who is on a 15 m...

What insane woman would take two boys and a baby girl camping all by herself?  What insane woman would forget toothbrushes, Cub Scout handbooks, and chairs? What insane woman would try to fit a partially inflated full size mattress, a suitcase, a cooler, a duffel bag, a mini swing, a backpack, 3 pillows, one 9 year old, one 6 year old, one 4.999999 month old, and one XL 28 year old in a small $30 tent?  What insane woman would come Saturday afternoon instead of Sunday morni...

Orian (kind of) stayed home from school today since he is not well and possibly contagious (got sent home sick from school yesterday for harfing green stuff up into his hand...ewww), although he acts like he feels perfectly fine. I wanted to get a haircut since I hadn't had one since well before Izzy was born, and I needed to go to Wal-Mart for various items which I had carefully written down in green marker on a stolen piece of notebook paper.  Orian had been playing a video game wh...

Orian is a funny little guy.  He has very picky tastes, but he loves food.  SPAM is one of his favorites.  I realize it's completely unhealthy, but he loves it and it's a Hawaiian staple. SPAM is meant to be sliced and pan-fried, so that's what I do with it (left-overs are good diced and thrown in with some rice and an egg for poor man's fried rice).  So my little guy had his SPAM and then in the midst of his snack, came into the living room to inform me that he had a ...

I'm finding myself so very easily annoyed.  Even with people I typically like, but *very* annoyed with those I don't. It's like I'm in a bad mood and it just won't go away.  I don't like being patronized.  Being encouraged pisses me off.  I am so freaking jealous of people with simple problems like 5 lbs to lose or a husband who does a poor job of diapering the baby. I realize everyone has a right to complain and further that just because someone goes through something ...

I am in such a bad mood today. I'm not really sure why. It could be that all my hair is falling out.  It could be that my 6 year old's leg problem is not resolving and I have no idea what's causing it.  It could be that my house is never clean.  Or that I walk around like a zombie because I'm so tired.  Maybe because my husband has been gone for 7 and a half months, and he'll be gone for 7 and a half more and just when it seemed like the end was in sight the end got moved ...

Ok, this is starting to get ridiculous. Of course all these things happen while Adrian is away. I remember the unholy nosebleeds of '05. Orian has been complaining about leg pain for about a week. He complains about it constantly, especially before and after school. However, I had noticed that he sometimes didn't seem bothered, so I wondered if it was just attention-seeking behavior. This morning I woke him up and then took Izzy downstairs to get her lotion and diaper and clothes on...

It's 11:49 am and I'm having a hard time staying awake. It's my own fault.  On the weekends, (or school breaks) I get into a bad cycle of staying up late and sleeping in.  That's my preferred way of doing things, but grown-up life is not compatible with teenage sleep habits. Last night the boys and I watched School of Rock (NOT Orian's choice; he wanted Superman Returns) and had a Laundry Party.  We made up categories for prizes, and the boys had a great attitude about ...

For some reason my boys have started waking up way before me and Izzy and getting ready for school. I am NOT complaining.  It's odd, but nice, to wake up to clean, dressed children.  They can get their own breakfasts...I've seen them do it...but for some reason they just hang out until I'm up to get the cereal ready for them (yes, I know, not a nutritious breakfast, but we do the best we can). Izzy and I usually wake up at 6:25 except fr the mornings we...gasp...don't take...

I finally got my official notification. He's going to miss her entire first year.  I am crushed.     

1.  The kids had a decent Easter. Easter Eve (??) a neighbor brought his kids over and they all played and painted eggs together and ate pizza.  Izzy loved the attention, and my boys had fun chasing the 2 year old around the house.  Two year old loved to scream "baaaabeee!  baaaaabeee!" to Izzy.  At one point while I was nursing (with my Hooter Hider cover on), 2 year old became concerned when she couldn't locate the baby.  I told her the baby was eating and show...

I have recently taken to giving to the homeless at every opportunity.  Never a large amount, since I'm a debit card girl anyway and don't generally have much cash on me.  But when I approach the red light or stop sign I dig through what I have and come up with a dollar or two. I used to just drive right by and could very much justify doing so, but then I got to thinking about how much other people have done for me.  I have been touched by more generosity than one person could p...

I spent most of today cleaning since Spring Break is over and school starts tomorrow and I wanted our routine to get off to a good start. I was close to having everything I wanted to do done and in time to watch The Simpsons, too. Out of nowhere my middle child announced that he had something in his ear. Ok. It could be wax. I've seen the insides of his ears. "It's a little blue ball," he told me. I asked him if HE put it in there (obviously he did because little blue balls d...