Finally!

The stars aligned!!

A couple weeks ago Bob got a call from his buddy back in Arizona that they were ramping up for another power plant overhaul and they needed him for the job!
Yay!

Of course, this means that he will have to go BACK to Arizona for the job. Boo.
But it's only for 4-6 weeks. Yay!
Still, I'll miss him, especially when I'm loading up the boys into the car in the afternoons to go pick up their sister from school. Or at bedtime or bathtime or mealtime when I'll have no help wrangling all three of them. Or anytime I have to run a quick errand and end up having to take my entourage along, extending a five minute task into a half hour escapade.

However, beggars cannot be choosers and the money from this job is good. Hopefully it will lead into an opportunity here in California so we can FINALLY get back on our feet in a place of our own.

In other news:

Benny freaking LOVES the ocean! We went to the Channel Islands beach park and Ben practically threw himself into the water. He also loves squirrels and would like to catch one with his bare hands.

I'm thinking of getting Dylan back into a preschool though he's completely against the idea in every way. He is violently disinterested in school, which is not to say that he's not smart, he just does not seem to enjoy structure. Naturally, that's EXACTLY why I think he needs to go back to school.

State of the Union 2010

Just keep drinking, it's going to get worse.

Moved to SoCal - The Update

Apparently people ask my mother on a daily basis "How's it going with the kids?" because she makes sure to mention that she tells people everyday that things are going "fine" ... which is mom-speak for the house is still standing and noone has died yet.

She is right though, things are going fine. I approached this situation with trepidation, of course, but so far things have been just fine.

Despite the fact that in the first three days Benny broke a plate, Dylan broke a lamp and I broke a glass, things have been fine. Thank goodness noone has broken a mirror yet. Knock wood.

Mom is exceedingly happy to have been able to give up her terrible Cup-O-Soup dinner habit. I am very happy to cook every night and have someone ELSE wash the dishes. Fantastic!

The kids really love venturing out into the backyard pretty much whenever they feel the need. The yard is fully fenced and gated and totally secure unlike at the Arizona house where the yard was completely open, exceedingly large and totally open to strangers, bears, turkeys, deer, etc.

Elizabeth also just adores her new school. All the kids are super friendly, she's constantly greeting kids on the way into school and waving goodbye to new friends on the way out. It's very sweet. Her school is much closer to home now, we can walk there if we are so inclined and we have been a few times. She's also getting almost twice as many classroom hours here than she was back in Arizona, and she loves that too. Crazy kid. Loves learning. I'm truly blessed.

I am loving the shopping variety. I can actually check all the grocery mailers and find the best deals and save a ton of money on food that way, instead of getting packaged stuff at Walmart and fresh stuff at Safeway, end of story. Yes, I realize that my joy at a wider selection of grocery stores makes me A) old and B) lame and C) busted.
I'm fine with that. I get to shop at Trader Joe's, so it's all good.

We are hopeful that Bob will be able to get a job soon. There are a few opportunities we know about and he's applied for a few things and gotten in touch with the local union so...you know, we're staying positive.

All in all the arrangement is working out pretty well for us. The boys have their own room, which Benny sleeps in all night and Dylan really tries to sleep in all night. Elizabeth bunks with my mom and Bob and I have our own room. Downstairs the kids have a playroom with their own TV (for the horrible cartoons) and computers for their PBS Kids and Nick Jr. games. So they're totally happy.

I think the family member with the most joy in his heart is Sonny. He gets to lay outside in the sunshine all day, run around and play with the kids in the yard and not have to be on the tie-out at ALL anymore. He is in dog heaven.

Thanksgiving is coming up and I'm so happy that we'll all be together here. It will be different for me, I'm used to running the party back home, but I'm sure I'll get to do a lot of the cooking and frankly I use all my mom's recipes anyway so it will go over just fine.

I'm sure I just jinxed our harmony with this positive and upbeat post, but hey, I know you all wanted to know if we had killed each other yet...truth is, we haven't even come close.

And that's a good thing.

I told you it was bad!

We are moving.
Officially and totally.
Mooooving.

We have to try to sell our house in the next three months or it will be auctioned.
I don't know exactly when we'll pack up and head out, but it probably won't be very long.
So if you or anyone you know wants to buy a house in tbe beautiful White Mountains of Arizona, very cheap, let me know!

I am a slacker on this blog this week!

Just so there's not two ANTM recaps back to back....

This week I registered Elizabeth for kindergarten. Sad. AND it makes me feel older than I actually am. Maybe that's just because my mom was five years older than I am now when I started kindergarten so that's my reference. Did that make any sense? I have a headache today....bar flu.

Anyway.
After that depressing incident...I realized that Ben is turning one next Tuesday. So my number one baby in real school AND my babyest baby is not a baby anymore?!?!
Ugh.

Also this week, perhaps because he sense I was losing my mind, Bob FINISHED THE BATHROOM!!!

Yay!
It's totally done, finally!





Whooooooooooo hoo!
Ben took the inaugural bath this morning. Faboosh!

Today the kids and Bob (minus Ben) are going to buy the plants for our veggie garden. Yay!
I hope they get Early Girls!
And that's about it.
Next two weeks are gonna be crazy. Balls out crazy!
Last two weeks of school....trying to potty train Dylan once and for all. Cleaning out closets. Sorry mama.
Fun stuff.

Updates!!

I've been hit and miss lately because of two factors.
Factor 1: My computer was a piecer. AKA a piece of doggie doo doo on your shoe, all smeary and horrible.

Factor 2: My mom was visiting. Which of course means that we're always either doing fun activities, grocery shopping or cleaning the house. Or watching HGTV.
Mostly the last one.

But I'm back in full effect now because of two events:

Event 1: Mom went back home and I'm seriously considering blocking HGTV from my television just so I don't ACCIDENTALLY start watching it again and falling into old patterns and begin to consider the notion that I should re-paint ALL my kitchen cabinets.
HGTV already got me to make new couch pillows for the living room, purchase fabric for new pillows for the kids playroom, make new curtains for Elizabeth's room (including matching bed pillows) AND buy Dylan new Thomas the Tank Engine bedding.
Seriously. Enough!!!

oh, and....
Event 2: My husband went out today and spent a good portion of his hard-earned money on a NEW computer tower for us!
Yay!
No more overheating! No more fried motherboard! No more jet-plane engine fans!
Yay!!
Now I just have to transfer my hard-drive contents and it's allllll good!
Yay yay yay!!!



In other news:
I asked Elizabeth today, "Don't you miss Nani?"
She said, "No!"
"What? I miss her already!"
"I don't like to miss things. And we're going to see her this summer!"

So I'm a big dork for missing my mom and Elizabeth is a coooooool cucumber.
Yeah, right.

Lemme upgrade ya!

I made an epic decision yesterday and replaced all my digusting aging cut up stained plastic cutting boards with beautiful brand new hardwood cutting boards. Yay!
I got a set of three for $15. Gotta love Wal-Mart!

They came shrink-wrapped in plastic, so I got out a knife to free my brand new fun stuff!

As I'm putting the knife to the plastic to slice it open I actually had this thought....


"Be careful! Don't cut the cutting boards"

Sigh.
I immediately realized how stupid that sounded. As if to prematurely cut the cutting boards would be a travesty. THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE FOR!!! To get all scratched and cut on and damaged!!

I'm such a dork.

And anyone who ever calls me will appreciate this little upgrade. I FINALLY went and bought a new phone for the house! Yay!
Our OLD phone had a charge life of about 2.4 seconds and was constantly running out of juice mid-conversation. So annoying.
Plus since we switched to the cable phone we had only ONE phone jack for the whole house and the handset was constantly being left off the hook or would be clear across the house (yeah, the vast expanse) and we wouldn't be able to find it and the calls would go to the answering machine even though we were RIGHT THERE because we couldn't find the damn phone!

So today I went and spent the whopping $40 to get a brand new cordless phone with answering machine built in (I HATE voicemail) and an EXTRA handset with it's own charger base. So we can have a phone here by the computer where the modem is and then anywhere else we want where there's a plug!
Yay!
This is a tiny thing I know, but I guarantee it will make a huge difference in my life.
And that folks, is just how old and sad I am!

Alright you sleuthy detectives....

I can't keep anything a secret!!

So yes, fine! We're going to move away from this podunk nightmare and back to NorCal, where life is wonderful all the time.

Well, more of the time.

Our main obstacle right now is getting the house here sold, any tips are welcome. Also anyone looking to purchase or rent an approximate 1800 square foot 3 bdrm, 2 bath vacation home/family home on one acre in the beautiful White Mountains should let me know. I can let it go cheap.

OK, it's out there, phew. I feel better. I hate keeping things from you Internet. Oh, and friends.

Bob, who was initially 100 percent against the idea, now cannot wait to move away. It has more to do with being fed up with poverty and his crappy boss than anything else. Today is the first day he's worked all week AND it's only a half day AND it's bullshit grunt work AND he's beyond pissed off.

His exact quote:

"I can't WAIT to get the hell off this fucking mountain!"

I had to try to talk him down like you would a angry raging bear in the yard...backing away slooooowly, slooooooooowly all the way.

He left in a big ass huff, so, I gotta say thank goodness he's out THERE huffing and puffing and not in HERE knocking around in the house driving us all berzerker!

Yesterday we commenced Operation Fix the House Up by finally starting the tile on the bathroom shower! Yay!
Bob is doing it himself and we've had all the materials for like a year. He's already halfway done. Huzzah! It looks great.
Dylan was the helper. He helped paint the shower walls with RedGuard (it's waterproofing) and somehow ended up painting his own ass cheek. Under the diaper. Don't ask me how, I really don't want to know.

Then last night we made the monster list of all the other repairs and upgrades we need to get done. It's not terribly bad. All of it we can do ourselves and a lot of the bigger things timewise (like repaint all the walls) are not that expensive.

And that my friends is the big secret news that you all let me keep a secret for about 36 hours. Good job super sleuths.
Melting Pot here we come!

Holly Jolly Christmas

It's the best time of the year???

I'll tell you now that there IS snow, and I'm currently having a cup of "cheer"

We're having a low-key, minimal, small scale Christmas again this year. My mom is going to play Santa, arriving on the 23rd with a sleigh Mitsubishi full of presents.
As for us, well, we've had some Christmas miracles that will allow us to get a few gifts for the kids from us. I've been doing well this month at work so, that's a major blessing. Also, Bob has found a guy who is willing to pay him to help hang Christmas lights on his huge house and do minor landscaping and other odd jobs. So Bob has been working some weekends helping this fellow out and making in a weekend about what he makes in a week working his regular job. This has helped the family finances tremendously, obviously.

Other miracles have also happened which will also help make a nice holiday this year and help us beyond the holiday too...all good things.

Last night it snowed about four inches. School was cancelled and Bob couldn't work so we brought the kids to their cousins' house and they all (Bob included, actually Bob leading the way) made a snow igloo using a plastic storage box as a brick form.
It turned out to be QUITE the impressive sculpture. I don't have pics yet...but will post when I do.

The kids are all over their terrible illnesses, thank goodness. Bob and I and the baby all escaped the horror. Now we'll move onto the next round of illness. I noticed Benjamin coughing a bit today...sigh...obviously he's getting the Tazmanian Flu or something.

There's other new news here, but...eh...another post, another day. And no, I'm not pregnant. At all. In any possible way! :)

School is Stressful...and other things

Not for Elizabeth, for me.

On Monday when I dropped Elizabeth off at school I also had my first parent-teacher conference. It made me sort of nervous.

Thankfully, Elizabeth is great at school. The teacher said that Elizabeth is very smart, friendly, interested in school. She knows the rules and routines and follows them, she behaves well and is helpful and she's doing great.

Now, I've volunteered a few times in the class and the boys and I have stayed for lunch a few times, so I've seen Miss Elizabeth in action and saw that she was one of the more "together" kids. Some of the kids in her class are still learning how school works and can't seem to sit still for anything. These are mostly the younger kids and the boys. Sorry guys! You're all twitchy when you're 4 years old.

I was just glad that Elizabeth's evaluation was in line with how I thought she would and should be performing in class. It's nice to know that other people can see what you see in your kid, you know? Otherwise I might start to think I was delusional and she wasn't really as awesome as I think she is...thank goodness, that's not the case!

On Friday we're having a home visit from her teacher and the school director.
Not because we're special or terrible...all the students are getting home visits.

So, today I started cleaning, like, really cleaning, like super duper hands and knees vacuuming under the fridge cleaning.

Elizabeth's teacher said they don't come over to evaluate the cleanliness of the house, but I'm not taking any chances.

Besides, my house could probably use the attention. As my former roommates can attest, I'm not the worlds-best house cleaner. I'm faaar from the worst, but I'm certainly not the best.

I hate chores and chore charts, and I do terrible things to them. Messy, dangerous things.

So today is picking up all toys and vacuuming every floor and clearing off the kitchen counters of accumulated junk and reorganizing the shoe rack by the front door and dusting and reorganizing the bookshelves day.
We're about 30 percent done. It's going to be a long day. Oh, and laundry has to get done today too. Wow. It's going to be a loooong day.
I've been at it since 7 am, burning off all my pent-up election frustration.

Speaking of which...I stayed up until 11 pm EST watching the election returns come in. I was initially upset that the networks (all the networks) were calling states 10 seconds or less after the polls closed. I mean, they were calling New Mexico for Obama when the returns were still showing that McCain had a lead...that lead eventually went away and the state DID go to Obama, but still...

And before you post, yes I know that they have detailed maps of the precincts and exit polling and they have a pretty good idea demographically how each precinct is going to vote based on voter regs and all that and so they can look at what precincts have and have not reported and figure out pretty reliably how the vote totals are going to line up before they're even reported and thus can fairly accurately call states as the polls close....but still. It was ticking me off.

PS This electoral college thing is really irritating.

Elizabeth is happy though.
I told her this morning it was President Obama and she sat up in bed and said...

"My guy won?! Yay! I win, you lose, I win, you lose!"

I'm not spilling anybody's beans here but I will say that today all my "major" problems seem trivial and downright stupid.
And that is all I have to say about that.


- In other news -

Elizabeth and I (and the boys) pushed our shopping cart down the bulk foods aisle of WalMart the other day.
That is where they keep the 240 oz ketchup and the Duggar Family sized box of pancake mix and the tremendous jar of pickles. Etc etc...Everything is HUGE!

Elizabeth observed all these items that were in containers just the same as the regular packaging just four times bigger and said...

"Mom! Maybe giants shop here too!"

Did you hear that?

it was my heart breaking


Sure, I had no chance anyway...but still....



Ryan Reynolds off the market, whah!!!!!

In other celeb news:

Heather Locklear was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence of pills!

"Harry Potter" keeps showing off his putter on Broadway

and of course we mourn Paul Newman

Shhh. Don't jinx it!

There's this thing that might happen and if it does it will be SO GREAT AND FANTASTIC!
But I'm not supposed to know too much about it or even talk about it because apparently, I'm a jinx.

Who knew!?

Keep your fingers crossed! even though technically, you aren't even supposed to know that you should be crossing your fingers!

News news news!

No, not me. I'm still pregnant!
Yay!

Here's the new news...
My college roommate and dear friend Joan has had her baby!
Yay!! Even though she was due AFTER me, and that's so not fair!!!!!

She's sketchy on the details, probably because she's so tired.

Baby Scott was born April 26 at about 3:00am! Three weeks early!

That's all the details I got. No weight or nothing! Bah. I need pics!


In other baby making news:

Those Duggar people are doing it again.
18 kids.
That's insane. But at least their kids are all good, presumably. It's hard to get in really bad trouble when you're wearing prarie clothes.
I kid, I kid. I know, to each their own. Whatever.

Because...
You can just have two kids and tons of money and have problems. BAD problems.
Like stupid Nick "Hogan" Bollea. Hopefully he'll really serve the time. Idiot.

Whoa.

Heath Ledger is dead. Wow. Didn't see that one coming.
Here's the story

Oh, and Amy Winehouse smokes crack.
Yeah. That one seems about right.

Bald Britney appears at LA tattoo parlor

Ok, apparently, Britney checked in and out of rehab, shaved her head bald and got lips tattooed on herself...
Bald Britney appears at LA tattoo parlor

At first I was like, rehab? Really? But I guess she could use it.

Then the tattoo? I am against the tattooing of lips onto people.

The baldness...eh, yeah, that makes sense, just shave it all off and start over...especially after hairdos like this...



BTW: This story was on the CNN Radio news this morning...
What, no play by play on the Anna Nicole embalming??