Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Dyson Deliciousness

Okay, so with 5 kids, a dog, two cats and fish we have a lot of dirt.

Dirt requires a vacuum cleaner. Vacuum cleaners require money. Money requires work.

It really is a vicious cycle, y'all.

Anyway, as far as vacuum cleaners go, there aren't too many better than a Dyson.

Except maybe a PINK Dyson vacuum cleaner!! PINK!! I have visions of me in my apron and high heels vacuuming with my PINK Dyson while humming the theme song from Leave It To Beaver. June Cleaver would SO use a PINK Dyson. Would she not?!! Oh yes ma'am she would!

So, there is this fantastic opportunity to win a free PINK Dyson over at Domestic Diva. And don't you know I am all about free. In case your still not sure...FREE!

One more time. FREE.

So y'all head on over there and try to win a totally bodacious PINK Dyson too. For FREE!

June would be so proud.

Bloggy Giveaway

**Edit**The deadline for entries is 8pm Saturday. At that time I will close comments. I will draw for the winner on Saturday, but will not post the winner until Monday. This would be for dramatic, nail-biting purposes only. That and the fact that I am proficient in procrastination**

Alrighty, I'm a little late getting out of the gate here, but I AM here. The family thang is totally throwing off my groove, but I am having a totally great time eating and shopping. So, on to the giveaway...


I debated about what to give away for a good long time. Let me tell you, those two hours were torture.

At first I was going to offer up my firstborn.


Yes, my 16 yo son was going to be my bloggy giveaway. He has many qualities that would benefit someone greatly. He is:

1. Tall (6'2") - This is great for those hard to reach items on top of the refrigerator.



2. Strong (like bull) - This is very beneficial for those pesky pickle jars.


3. He does what he is told when he is bribed, yelled at, asked most of the time. He is a mighty fine yard edger if I do say so myself.


4. He's a football player - not sure what an outside linebacker is good for around the house, but they are great fun to go and watch.


5. He is mighty purdy (pretty for those non-southern speaking folk) - not sure what that is good for either other than the fact I like lookin' at him.
(me and the purdy boy)


But then I found out that 1.it is not legal to give away your firstborn spawn child and 2. it would not benefit you or I because I would have to fly him to you as opposed to mailing him and that would be like expensive and once you received him then you would have to feed him and that would, well, like be expensive.


So.


Here is the official Bloggy Giveaway item up for grabs.


One brand new, in the box, Pampered Chef Tool Turnabout. Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I used to sell Pampered Chef. I love the stuff like I love my luggage, but I have an excessive amount of extras and since my highly organized, slave driving efficient sister is in town, she is encouraging a purging of non-necessary items.

And since this is the Bloggy Giveaway week I thought it would be nice to bless someone else with this organizational tool. Far be it from me to use the thing for organization. Plus, I already own one.


It can not only be used for storing kitchen utensils, but it is great for scrap booking pens and scissors, sewing paraphernalia and a vast assortment of other nifty items as well.




(notice my delicious pound cake in the background)


All you need to do is leave a comment in my comment section and I will officially enter you in the drawing which will be held on Saturday, November 3, 2007. I will use my state of the art number generator to choose the winner. This means I will tear up multiple pieces of paper, write your numbers on them and let the 7yo draw out of a bowl. How's that for technology?



Unfortunately, while I love my peeps in Canada and across all oceans, this giveaway will only be open to U.S. residents because I like have 5 children and can only afford my own country. And the Monk would not be happy if I spent a gazillion dollars on shipping free stuff to people I don't know.

If y'all would like more free Bloggy Giveaway deliciousness then head over to This Place and find umpteen thousand other totally free giveaways.

Monday, October 29, 2007

Family Update


Still shopping. Still eating.

Consuming large quantities of Zantac 150.




(we, however, do not shoot our food)

Saturday, October 27, 2007

It's A Family Thing Y'all


The family has arrived in town this past week. We've been shopping, eating, had a wedding, eating shopping. Did I mention shopping and eating?
I'll be layin' low for a while just hangin' out with the family. You know, eating and shopping.
I'm making pound cake a la Boomama right now so we will have something to nibble on while we're trying to be crafty. I like to refer to it as brain food. No calories or fat, you know.
Anyway, plenty of blog fodder has occurred for future posts, but for now I need to go back to eating.
Oh. And shopping.
Y'all come back now, ya hear.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

"Bear"ly Bothered



Did y'all notice that even though the sneezing baby panda scared the jeepers out of the momma panda that she NEVER QUIT CHEWING HER FOOD!

I must say, I truly respect a female that even under a time of extreme duress, can not only keep her composure, but continue to chew her cookie.

The girl has some major skills.

One must also admire the fact that the jiggle factor of her fat roll doesn't seem to bother her even one little bit. Nope. No panda Lycra for her mommy muffin.

Hmmm...if only I could lay around all day with my fat roll hangin' out, eat cookies, watching the baby sleep.

Oh, wait a minute...

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Easy Peasy Toddler Crayons


Fact: Regular crayons in the hands of a toddler are toast.

Fact: Larger "specialty" toddler crayons cost a small fortune or your first born to purchase.

Myth: I will either have to deal with broken crayons or pay lotsa moola (or my first born) for toddler crayons

Not so my peeps. Herd up all them broken crayons and turn your ovens to 300 degrees and by golly, we'll make us some toddler crayons!

Step 1. Turn your oven to 300 degrees. Find and "old" mini muffin pan and either spray with non-stick spray or line with foil. Cute little mini muffin liners may be used if you are so inclined.


Step 2. Have your children or yourself peel away all paper from broken crayons and break into small pieces. This is the ONLY time in your child's life he will be allowed to break crayons. Let him proceed with reckless abandon.
Crayola really does work best for this. Cheapie crayons don't. Period. If using Crayola, hold crayon to nose and inhale deeply. Ahhh, Crayola goodness. Just brings back memories of 4th grade, huh?
Step 3. Divide crayons amongst muffin hole thingies. You can just throw colors in randomly if your that wild and crazy kinda mom OR you can put them in according to color if you really want this to be a learning experience for your toddler. Then he can learn his colors while scribbling, but not before putting the crayon to his nose (or up it, whatever floats his boat) and inhaling deeply. Ahhh, Crayola goodness.

(Just for the record, I am more of the wild and crazy mom and certainly would have mixed my colors, but I gave birth to a very anal daughter 14 years ago and she insisted on separating by color. She can also do math. Unlike me.)

Step 4. Put muffin pan into oven for approximately 5 minutes. These do not take long at all to melt. Once they are melted, pull the pan from the oven and begin to wait. I stuck mine in the fridge because I'm not a very patient woman at all. Even though it's a virtue and everything, I just do not excel in the patience area. I don't pray for it eit
her because we all know what happens when we do that!


When these have sufficiently cooled then they can be removed from the muffin hole thingies (so, what are the holes called?!!) Foil and liners make this a little easier. If you just sprayed your pan then life becomes a little more interesting. You must take a sharp object, a knife would be good, and go around the edges and sort of pry ease them out. If you've sprayed your pan well, they will come out. I promise. There should be no wailing and gnashing of teeth involved in this process.
Do y'all notice how the brown one looks like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup? Well. It's not. Trust me. Although, you could put it up to your nose and inhale deeply. Ahhh, Crayola goodness.

Want more interesting ideas and tips? Head over to Rocks In My Dryer and check things out.

Look Y'all, It's Fall!

Nothing like some chilly weather and a batch of Pumpkin Muffins to tell *Momma's favorite season Fall to "come on in and sit a spell"! Or better yet, Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins! *Momma was feelin' the Fall weather yesterday and soon she was putting on her apron and channeling Betty Crocker. Yep. Nothin' says luvin' like Pumpkin Muffins from the oven.

And look at me. A poet and don't know it.

*Momma would be me. Not, and I repeat, not my mother. You know, like MadMommaMonk, which is what the hubs calls me on his blog. I just was totally in the mood to talk in the third person today, that's all.
Posted by Picasa

Monday, October 22, 2007

More Blogger Honesty

We all have images in our heads of the person we want to be or become. I know I did - and still do. I also know that it has taken two years for my blog to really take on my real personality. I look back in my archives and while I remember the things I wrote, I sometimes don't recognize the person writing them. Does that make sense?


I guess it took me a while to find myself in blogdom.

When I acquire my new blog template (and I AM going to, by the way. Victory, at last!), I want it to really convey who I am. I want what I blog about to paint a true and accurate picture of...well, me. I think it is so easy to hide behind the cute pictures and anecdotal little stories all the while fooling all of blogdom into thinking you're something you're not. A farce, if I may.

Now, don't get your dainties in a dither here. I'm not writing all of this to confess to you that I've been blogging a lie and that I'm really some big, hairy man, typing from my basement in Wisconsin. All the while eating large quantities of cheese. And nuts. Roasted and salted.

I'm not. Really. I am in fact a wo-man (key word here, y'all) in Texas (sometimes hairy I suppose), typing on either my teenage son's laptop or a desktop in a garage office , which by the way also holds the cat litter and my husbands desk, trying to nurse a 3 month old baby, homeschooling a 7 year old, attempting to homeschool a 4 year old and looking at the mountain of laundry on my love seat that I should be folding instead of blogging. But hey, I'm nursing the baby, right? Oh. And eating large quantities of chocolate. Large quantities of cheese? It DO bad things to me. Yep. Bad things.

My point is that sometimes things are not what they seem. As women, in particular, I find that this can get us into a heap 'o' trouble. We start seeing other women's blogs and their crafts, and their neat and tidy homes (but I'm not bitter.), and their frugal finds and we start becoming discontent with what we have. We want what they have.

So, what do we do? We start trying to do more crafts or sewing... while neglecting our homes. We start trying to find the best frugal deals so we can ever so proudly post our pictures on the blog, BUT never minding the fact that we shouldn't have spent the money in the first place. We start begging our husbands for new blog templates so we can be like the other bloggers. I would never do that last one. Ever.

I'm not even going to touch the neat and tidy house part. No sirree. Ain't even goin' there.

Honestly, while I'm fairly certain that most of the momma/homemaker bloggers out there are honest folk, I do think it would be pretty easy to paint a picture that perhaps might not be totally accurate. Or worse yet, the way we interpret them might be slightly skewed. I'm just sayin' unless we really know these people, like in real life know them, we really don't know what goes on behind the blog, so we need not make assumptions.


I'm not trying to write some expose entitled Bloggers That Lead Double Lives - Did They Really Save That Much At CVS? I'm just wanting to convey the fact that I want to be myself. I don't want anybody to think that I have it all together (ROFL) or that I can do this or that and that they should be doing it too.

Please don't think I'm slamming or insulting the blogs that focus on the things I mentioned above. I am not at all. I DO read them and enjoy them. Immensely. If you're a naturally crafty, neat and tidy (Heaven bless you!), and frugal all in one then I think that is positively fantastic! Really, I do. I have friends that are like that and I love them.

I think it is great to go and read someone else's blog and gain inspiration or motivation from them. I do this on a regular basis. I especially love the recipes. Recipes R Good. I just think we need to be careful. Careful not to start coveting what we don't have or can't do. Careful not to let it breed discontentment in our lives. Careful not to forget that glorifying God should be our chief end.

So, I guess I've blabbered on for forever and a lifetime to say this: I want people to enjoy reading here. I want to be who I am (y'all know..the unorganization thing, and all). I want people to see me for me. Especially other mothers or homemakers who struggle with insecurity or doing it "all" (as I do sometimes). I want people to see that I struggle with my walk with the Lord. More importantly, I want to give God the glory for all things. Good or bad.

Believe it or not, y'all help me with all of these things. Y'all keep me accountable for what I type. And those that know me for real, know I'm unorganized. These are good things. They keep me honest. They keep me humble. They keep me looking to God to help me in all of these areas.

I know y'all deserve some sort of reward for reading this novel 'til the end. The fact that you made it this far and didn't quit after the 437th paragraph tells me that y'all are good people.

Yep. Good people.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Foiled Again

OK. So my evil creative plan didn't work.

He saw what I had posted and counter posted me threatening to get me a Dora the Explorer blog template if his blog was pummeled with comments.

But since NO ONE commented on his blog... Swiper, No Swiping will in fact, not be my new blog title now. Ahem.

Did I mention no one went to his blog?

I have one word for y'all.

Chickens.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Let's Work Together...

So, you know I've been workin' Monk lately to buy me a new fancy schmancy blog template for Christmas. Unfortunately, I've also been workin' him for an iPod Nano (a girl needs her tunes) and these. Two sets. So I can have service for 8.


What can I say? I'm a highly complex and diverse individual.


Any other Christmas I'm saying things like, 'oh, it doesn't matter what you get me. A Yankee candle, or three, will be just fine'. Not so this year. I want things people. Specific things. Please don't mistake my "specific things" for greed because 'tis -not- so. You can ask anyone that knows me -or buys for me- that I just don't ask for specifics very often. With the exception of a Yankee candle. Or three.



Of the three things I've listed, I figure I can do without these the most. I just reeeaaallly luuu-huvvv them! And the iPod Nano? Well, I suppose I can still listen to my CD's on my handy, dandy, under the counter CD player.



But the blog template? No can do. I simply must have a new template. I'm just thinking of those of you that read here really...all two of you. Y'all see the state of misery this thing is in. It's screaming for color and personality. It's also screaming for readership, but that's a completely different issue, now isn't it?



So, this is where the "let's work together" thing comes in. I'm asking those of you that do read - all two of you- and those that just happen to stumble across my blog because for some reason you googled the words - pathetic and blog - in the same sentence, to please help me obtain a new template.



How, you ask?



I'm asking y'all -both of you- to beseech my husband on my behalf, and plead my case to him as to just how pathetic my blog template is and how it is paramount that I recieve a new one.




Still asking how?



Well you could leave a comment here...OR...you could go to his blog, which by the way is full of much more discerning and penetrating content then let's say, um, here, and pummel, batter, pelt, inculcate him with your many evidences as to why I need a new blog template.



Namely, this one looks pathetic. Or you could even say that the blandness of it is stifling my schtick. It's curtailing my creativity. It's vexing my vibe. It's making me mental. Okay, well that last one is the status quo...but still.



Or that you just simply want me to shut-up whining about it.



I'm imploring y'all, for the love of all that is good and right, just let the man know what his wife really wants and needs (I'm using this term in a completely and totally creative sense here) for Christmas.




And to the lurkers? I know who you are. Please come out of hiding for me. For the blog. For the love of all mankind and the free world.

Oh.



And use big words. He likes them.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Jumpin' Jehosophat! The Cat Came Back!

So, some of you might remember in my Monday post that we realized Monday afternoon that one of our two cats was missing. Since...um..Saturday.

This particularly hateful feline, named Gigi, had been gone for 3 WHOLE DAYS! We just knew something bad had happened to her. Our house backs up to a creek and wooded area and we have seen foxes and all other sorts of random critterage back there. We assumed she had become a Happy Meal of sorts, for one of them.

Monk was silently doing a happy dance as he didn't really like this cat. Sis was rather gleeful about the disappearance as well, even breaking into strains of The Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah a time or twenty. Me? I was rather indifferent to the whole thing as I have become somewhat numb to tragic things happening to our animals. It just does.

But Madgirl? Oh my. Oh, my, my, my. It was not pretty. No sirree. She cried. She sulked. She wrote bad poetry. She blamed us that her psycho cat went flying out the door Saturday night and we did not call out a search and rescue party. I mean, this cat had done this before and had always come back. She normally doesn't even leave the confines of the backyard. Until this past Saturday night. Oops.

So, just when we figured she was gone for good, what do you think happened? She came sauntering up onto the back deck, squawling her head off at about 10:30 last night.

Yep. Monk didn't want to open the door, but he did anyway because you know, it was the right thing to do, after all.

That and he wanted to stop the Madgirl from turning her 3 day drama into a made for t.v. mini-series.

I was doing laundry when he brought her in to show me and I nearly choked on a dryer sheet.

So, what do you think we did next?

Why we went and threw her in the bed with Madgirl. Who was asleep. Sound asleep. Needless to say, she first reacted like she had seen some sort of apparition, then she hugged Gigi and cried and then fell over and went right back to sleep. And that was that.

So, Gigi the Jungle Kitty is now safe and sound, giving her hateful looks and plopping her haughty self on the back of the couch. Business as usual.

And Monk and Sis? Well, there's a little less spring in their step today, but you never know...the back door could just accidentally open tonight.

Or tomorrow.

Or the next day.

Accidentally, of course.

Cheap! Cheap! Cheap!



Oh my word, I sound like a car salesman!

But I'm not.

Speaking of cars (great segue, huh?)

...that is my WFMW post for today. We are traveling to Michigan at Thanksgiving to visit my sister and her hubs. We will be gone 11 glorious days! We needed to rent a vehicle so we didn't have to take the "ghetto cruiser" or "loser cruiser" or what I like to call it the broken down piece of garbage the Ford Windstar. Trust me y'all, this thing is dying a slow, painful, expensive death. You wouldn't want to take it on a trip.

So, I start pricing out rental vans. Not pretty. No sir. The cheapest rate I found was through Budget and it was going to cost us $678!! Yeeeoouch! But we needed the rental and we were just gonna have to bite it.

My darling sister (the one we're visiting) happened to call just before I was going to reserve the van. She asked me if I had ever visited Priceline.com? Who? What? Isn't that the commercials with the guy from Star Trek whose about as old as the stars and calls people 'namby pamby? Just so happens, that's the one. Who knew?

Anyhoo, the rental rate was the same on Priceline. Oh well, no deals.

And then the most amazing thing happened. My sister says to me, 'let's make'em an offer'. What? Offer? Like a garage sale? Yep. And that's what we did. We offered them around $20 less per day off the regular price of the rental.

And do you know what they did?

They took it!!! Woo-hoo!! Our rental van price went from $678 to $470! That's a savings of over $200! See, I can do math!

And they do this with hotels and airfare too! I don't think I can ever take another vacation without checking with Priceline.com first. Of course, my next vacation won't be until 2017, but who's counting. And hopefully, the Star Trek guy won't be their spokesperson anymore. He's just not natural.

And there you have it. Long, drawn out and rambling, but guess what?

It works for me!!

(Thanks to Shannon I am able to share my wealth of knowledge with you. Thanks, Shannon!)

Monday, October 15, 2007

Just Another Manic Monday

I have a love/hate relationship with Mondays. The first day of a new week. Monday is a fresh start.

Officially, I'm not behind until Tuesday.

However, when Monday morning starts off less than stellar, you can pretty much bet your bottom dollar that the rest of the week ain't gonna be much better. I am the eternal optimist, I know.

The Baby Girl began my new week by waking me up not one, not two, but THREE times in the night! It stormed all night long which enabled me to promptly put my bleary eyes back to sleep, but it still wasn't enough to squelch the coming wave of exhaustion. I woke up to take the Boy and Madgirl to school and thought I would surely die of sleep deprivation.

After dropping the Olders off at school I was then promptly caught in a torrential downpour of epic proportions. Monsoonish.

And you know what, y'all?

Rainy days on Mondays always get me down.

I came home wet and sleepy and put my sorry behind back under the covers alongside Baby Girl to try and recoup some of what had been lost in the night. (This is one of those perks of having your hubby work out of the house - he made breakfast for the other girls) Unfortunately, there was not much sleep to be had and with great effort I pulled my tired self from the bed.

This is when the real fun began.

I dressed Baby Girl and the other girls and did, against every fiber in my body, manage to get myself dressed WITH make-up. It is then that I plopped myself on the couch and stared into space and did some random blog reading.

By this time it is 10:30am and I had plumb worn myself out with all the morning's activity.

I did leave the house for about 45 minutes to go and pay two bills and run to the grocery. It is there that I purchased myself a tall, non-fat Cinnamon Dolce Latte WITH REAL WHIPPED CREAM. I also bought 3 bags of flour, a four pack of caramel apples with nuts and the $3.99 Monday special - 8 pieces of fried chicken.

After returning home I decided to get busy. So, I started cleaning out my pantry.

The pantry, y'all.

Let me clarify that I have HOUSE FULL OF COMPANY coming in a week and a half for my niece's wedding and I decide that my pantry is THEE number one thing to do on my list of priorities. I mean, we all know that the garbanzo beans and green beans being separated with their labels facing forward is just SO much more important then, let's say...CLEANING A TOILET!!

I busted a bag of old fashioned oats in the cleaning process and am now trying to come up recipes to take care of about 852 cups of oats. I've already made a double batch of granola a la Boomama and I definitely see some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies in my near future.

But dinner? Nope. Hadn't even thought about that today. I'm guessing I could do some sort of buffet with leftover fried chicken, granola and oatmeal.

On top of all this excitement we realized that our cat is missing. After much thought, we realized she's been missing since, um, SATURDAY NIGHT! Yep, we're an astute bunch around here.

And now that I've written the longest post in the free world concerning the most unproductive day of my life, I will officially close the laptop.

And try and figure out what to do with the last 849 cups of oats.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

But I Don't Wanna Be Gummy Bears


Gummy Bears
You may be smooshie and taste unnatural, but you're so darn cute.

I visited my new blog friend this morning and I found this cute little test. Little did I know the havoc it would wreak on my morning, hello!

I'm sorry, I just don't see myself as a gummy bear. I'm mean, yeah, I guess I could be called "darn cute" (oh puhleeze!) and I'm most definitely smooshie, BUT I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE SOMETHING CHOCOLATE!!!

Do y'all hear me? I was supposed to be something C-H-O-C-O-L-A-T-E!



And unnatural? What, for the love of pete, is that supposed to mean?



I believe this leaves me with no other option, but to self-medicate.

So.

I think I will now take my "smooshie" self straight down to Starbucks and order a Tall, Non-fat Cinnamon Dolce Latte WITH real whipped cream! There ain't nothing unnatural about that now, is there?



But really now. I'm not bitter.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Just When You Thought All Was Lost...

It truly is good to be her mommy!


My favorite part has to be, "kiss and a HOG"! My children always give me pork with their affections. Nothing like a pig product to endear one to her mother. It's a magic moment. Really.

Disclaimer: Please disregard the Jeff Gordon (24) paper in the above photo. I have no idea where or how this paper was obtained or entered into my household. Although we live in the South we are NOT nor ever will BE Nascar fans. At least I won't. Monk might. He's weird like that.
Posted by Picasa

Brutal Honesty

Motherhood is hard.

Nobody ever said it wasn't, but when you're smack dab in the middle of it you start to realize the vastness of it. If you're not careful it can swallow you right up.

Needless to say, it has been eating me alive lately.

Lack of sleep, mountains of laundry and cleaning up the constant trail of toys are all a natural part of it. It's really not that part that is so taxing. It's an underlying current that no one ever told me about that seems to give me the most issues. It's the emotional side of motherhood that can just plain WEAR ME OUT!

It's the part where the rubber hits the road and we see just what kind of parents we have been or what kind of children we are raising. Are they kind to others? Do they exhibit grace to others? What do they say when I'm not in earshot? How do they behave when I'm not there to give them the evil eye? And most importantly, do they love God?

I'm not talking a superficial love either. Not a "What Would Jesus Do" kind of thing. I'm talking a deep and abiding love. Do they stop and think about His love and His grace and His mercy? Ever? We expect to see these things in our older ones through their fruits, but even sometimes then the line can be blurry. Their teenage angst (which for the record, I completely loathe)seems to overpower any logical thought that might come out of their brain and sometimes I just don't know.

I look at my little ones and ask myself, "do they see Christ in me?". Am I the best example I can be of selfless servanthood, love and grace? There are times, more often than not, that I have to admittedly say, no.

When the dishes pile up and laundry seems to never end (laundry really is a thankless job, y'all)and I am nothing but a raving, maniacal lunatic about the whole thing, I'm just not sure that's showing selfless servanthood, love and grace.

It's when I can walk away from the cluttered counter tops and the pile of laundry (have you noticed the underlying laundry theme, here?)and sit and talk to them, and I mean REALLY talk to them. You know, the look them in the eyes and really connect with them, not the come talk to me while I'm blogging and I'll nod and say, "wow" occasionally kind of talking. It's when I can read them a book or play a game instead of all the other stuff, that I truly believe I am showing them Christ's love.

But to be honest, that's harder than it seems sometimes. I can get so caught up in a blinking cursor on a blank screen some days or vacuuming the living room that I can't see what's right in front of me. I can clean the house until it shines, write funny little stories and give witty comments till the cows come home, but if I'm not tending to what God has given ME to tend, then what does that say about me? This is where the emotional side of parenting can get rough.

My children are brutally honest mirrors of me. If their reflection is not one that is God honoring then I need to look inward. That is when the soul searching begins. That is when I need to look at my life and ask myself, "am I glorifying God?". Those are tough questions. They require tough answers.

And that, my friends, is why motherhood is hard.

Monday, October 08, 2007

I Can't Wait For That Day

Today I was chuggin' along in my little van, otherwise known as "the ghetto cruiser". Let your imagination figure that one out. Anyway, I was on my way to Wal-Mart, in all of its low price glory, to grocery shop and I wasn't in a good mood AT ALL.

I was feelin' down.

Way down.

Now, I am a music lovin' girl and I love all sorts of music from Opera (#16 makes me cry) to Etta(#7 is the best ever). Music really affects me and I have always turned to it when having a bad day, good day or needing something to help me clean my house (I need a whooooole lotta music for that one).

Anyway,I have a special fondness for southern gospel as well. It was the music I grew up listening to.
Stop cringing and move forward, people!
I really don't listen to it very often anymore, but today I needed something to bring me out of my funk. As I was digging through the console I came upon a southern gospel CD I hadn't listened to in a long time (not to mention unidentifiable food objects). I put it in and skipped through a bunch of stuff I didn't like when I happened upon one I had long forgotten. I was gonna post the words here when I found a YouTube video of a choir singing the song.

Now y'all, you've got two choices when you watch this:

1. You can ignore all the sparkly gowns, hand wavin' and wigglin' going on in the background and focus on the great words, OR

2. You can join in on the hand wavin' and wigglin' (sparkly clothing is optional) and still listen to the great words. I was driving when I heard it so there was no wigglin' AT ALL. Okay, maybe just a little. I will also admit I probably did a little hand wavin' too. I had no sparkly attire on whatsoever. Promise.

My point is: Focus. On. The. Words. People.



Just so you know. My bad mood went completely away.

And on top of that...it rained! The Lord is so good. :)

Friday, October 05, 2007

The End of a Long Friendship

Good friends are hard to find. It seems they are hard to lose as well.

This week I had to end a long friendship. A friendship I have had since childhood. This particular friend, like me, was always a little nutty. She still is. So am I. I suppose this is why I loved her so.

Unfortunately, this friend has not been good for me. I probably knew it all these years, but I loved her so dearly that I couldn't bear to end the relationship. Even as a child, my mother would tell me she was a problem. I would steer clear for a while, but I always went back to her.

I guess I found comfort in her in some strange way. I've known her so long that I can't imagine life without her. But for my own sake I have had to say goodbye.

I'm embarrassed to say my husband has even commented that I'm around her too much. Especially this week. Most of my children don't even like her. Can you believe that? What's a girl to do?

I'd be lying if I said I won't miss her. I will terribly, but for mine and my family's health I have to let go.





Goodbye Little Debbie. You've been a good friend. A nutty, faithful friend all these years. But alas, all good things must come to an end. Don't take it personally. It's mostly just 'cause you're makin' me fat.

Thursday, October 04, 2007

Rebirth and a Candidate

For those of you that know me in real life, know that my hubby, a.k.a The Mad Monk was going to close his blog. (insert wailing and gnashing of teeth) I think competing with me became too much for the man (or not). It was going to be the end of The Mad Monk and Madmomma Monk (because that's what he affectionately calls me - ain't it sweet?).

Put away your hankies and give me an amen because the man posted today!

Yessiree, nothing like political season to put that glimmer back in his eye. It makes his Madmomma Monk a wee bit proud to see him in the game again. Even if he doesn't read MY blog. But I'm not bitter. Really. I'm not.

Anyway, he's posted a nifty little link to a political quiz that matches you with the candidate that best suits your beliefs. I took the quiz earlier and the results are on my blog if you can find them.

Let's put it this way. As a momma of 5 I really have to work at keeping law and order around our house. (hint hint) I'm not really known for my subtle side, y'all. I'm a little dramatic, if you know what I mean.

So head on over to The Mad Monk's blog and give the man a little happiness.

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

That Reunion Thing AGAIN!



This week at Rocks in My Dryer, WFMW is being done a little differently. Backwards, that is. Rather than me offering my sage tidbits of wisdom (snicker,snicker..and I don't mean the candy bar)I get to ask all of blogdom to help me with something, anything my little heart desires.

So, here it is blogdom. This is the low down.

My 20 year high school class reunion is in November in Michigan (I live in TX). I will be there anyway because I'm visiting my sister for Thanksgiving. I'm debating as to whether I should go or not.

I really didn't care for most of these people...BUT...there are a few I would love to see. Since I have no guarantees that those few would be there, I'm struggling with deciding if I should go. Stupid. I know.

If for nothing else I could go just to see who got fat. I suppose as long as I count myself then that's a perfectly legitimate reason.

Okay, blogdom. Y'all help me decide. (I should've downloaded one of them fancy poll thingys and then it could have just been a vote.)

Do I go to the reunion or do I cut my losses and not waste the time and money?

p.s. Mindi, I already know your answer, girlfriend. But if you are so inclined as to tell me for the THIRD time that I need to go then I will perfectly understand!

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Hack! Hack!

Give me a B
Give me an R
Give me an O-N-C
Give me an H
Give me an I
Give me a T-I-S

What Does It Spell???

misery.

It's official. I have the plague. I went back to the doctor today and received my sentence.

However, in my time of sickness, I have not lost my sense of duty to be productive. So, I'm layin' on the couch thinking up songs from Broadway musicals that can be changed into songs about illness.

And here we go:

From The Music Man (Pick a Little, Talk a Little) - Cough a little. Hack a little. Cough a little. Hack a little. Sniff, sniff,sniff. Hack a lot, cough a little more.

or

The Sound of Music - The hills are alive with the sound of mucous. (okay, I stole that one, but it's still good).

or

Singing in the Rain - Coughing out in pain, I'm coughing out in pain. What a horrible feeling...I'm hacking again.

how about

From South Pacific - I'm gonna cough that crud right outta my lungs, I'm gonna cough that crud right outta my lungs.

Enough already! Stop this infernal gibberish!

Obviously, I'm delirious and unless y'all are musical loving freaks like us, then all of this babbling makes no sense at all.

Actually, it doesn't make much sense to me either. I think it's time to put this post to bed.

I think I'll put myself to bed too.

Now. Where'd I put those drugs?

Monday, October 01, 2007

Colds, Ugly Blogs, Bad Hair and Other Utterly Useless Thoughts

Who needs lungs? Apparently I don't. I think I've pretty much coughed them both up and out over the last two days. Cold, you say? HA! I'm pretty sure we are beyond cold and now fall into the category of plague.

Since I am predisposed to bronchitis, I went to the doctor on Friday. You know, so I could catch it early before I lay on my bed wheezing and unable to function. I couldn't get into my regular doctor mind you, so I saw this other doc. "Oh,no," she says, "you just have a bad cold."

Well, it's been eight days now and I'm still coughing and still blowing out great green gobs of...er...stuff. Anyway, I've called my doc back today and hopefully they will call me in something without having to pay yet another co-payment. In the meantime, the Kleenex company loves me. So do many other major drug manufacturers.

And now onto ugly blogs. Do I not have the single ugliest blog you have ever seen? I tried. I really did. I wanted something different. Something Fallish.

I failed.

Miserably.

So, I have asked my dear hubby to buy me a custom blog template designed by one of them high fa-lootin' blog-maker people. You know, one of them fancy schmancy deals that only reputable bloggers have. The kind of blog that people actually..uh..read. Unlike this one.

A girl can dream, can't she? Boomama I aint'. Like Merchant Ships I ain't I'm not either. I just wanna be pretty. Kinda like the cheerleaders in high school. You know. Not much substance, but sure pretty to look at. Maybe the substance will come after I'm pretty. Uh. Probably not, but it doesn't hurt to dream , hope, beg.

And onto bad hair. I have it. In a major post-post partum sorta way. While I am pregnant I do not lose hair. This is bad for two reasons. 1. I have abnormal amounts of hair to begin with. and 2. I have abnormal amounts of hair to begin with.

Then, about 2-3 months after I have a baby I start losing hair in copious quantities. Shocking quantities. Molting might even be a better term. I'm in my molting stage. When showering the drain needs to be cleared sev-er-al times. If not, before I know it I'm in water up to my ankles. To the untrained eye one might mistake the wad of hair that I acquire by the end of my shower for a rodent of mouse-icious descent. An auburn, wavy haired rodent, but rodent nonetheless.

The molting is bad enough, but add to that the lack of shine and the none-to-attractive style and well...ya got nothin' but bad hair my friends. Ponytails are my go-to style right now and that spells nothin' but t-r-o-u-b-l-e. Sooooo, I'm in the mood for change. One must tread carefully while in this state lest one commits a serious hair faux pas. Think 80's. The whole decade.

Must-Have-Better-Hair!

And falling under other utterly useless information would be the fact that I haven't started Operation Organization for, what else?...Lack of organization. I'm trying. Really.

Also, I received more class reunion information today. Do I really want to go?? I just don't know. For the love of pete (just who IS pete, anyway?), someone make a decision for me!

All randomness will now officially come to an end. I can hear the sighs of relief everywhere.