Not sorry for you Charlie

I really did not intend to mention Charlie Sheen in my posts-EVER-but after seeing his rant, I felt, will to put it lightly-PO'd.

Okay, so let me get this straight.  You are special, so you say, a genius, again according to you, a friggin' rock star and are tired of people not knowing how special you are.  Hmmm.  And you don't make enough money.  Please tell me how making $2 million+ a week is not enough.  You should really check with your accountant.

Let me tell you who is special-the men and women who have been deployed to keep YOUR sorry ass safe.  Some more than once.  Many did not come home.  They had to leave their families for long periods of time.  The teachers who have received paycuts because there is no money in the budget to pay them.  The firefighters and policemen-some who have lost their pensions-to help you when you need it.  My friends who go to work everyday, who travel away from their families and will probably never see $3 million in their lifetimes.  And they don't complain.  My husband who works so hard for us, so that I can stay home to care for our home and children.  They are all special.

Somebody please slap this guy for me.  I take that back-your energy is better used elsewhere. 

Done, enough said.  I will never write about him again.  Now that I have gotten that off my chest, I will go on with my day, even though I don't make $2 million a week.  I'm pretty sure I can do it.

I want it done, yesterday!

I have heard that patience is a virtue.  I keep telling myself this is a virtue worth having.  It would cut down on stress, stress, and, well, stress.  Just when I think I have it, my impatient self seems to win the battle.  Like now.

I have made it my goal this year to clean out every drawer, closet, cubby, basket, cabinet, and shelf in our house.  This is no small task I know, but I have given myself a year to do it.  I even thought I would have a yard sale and make some money on the stuff that needed to go.  My patient self apparently did not get the memo-impatient self won that one.  I could not stand the pile of yard sale stuff in my dining room and off it went to Goodwill. 

This week, I tackled my son's room.  Not too bad.  I got his closet done, his dresser cleaned out, and his night stand done.  His desk, however, was another story.  Half of the drawers I opened and promptly closed-I just could not deal with the contents.  I didn't have the patience.  I know, it is a process.

Next is my youngest daughter's room.  Yikes-I may need a day or two to mentally prepare.  To pray for the patience it will take to clean it all out and get it livable.  With organizing, it always gets worse before it gets better.  Patience!

Meanwhile, my bedroom has become the dumping ground for clothes that don't fit, kid's old artwork and papers to go through, and I am getting a new dresser so I have to clean out my old one.  I think I am a glutton for punishment.  And I want it all to be done!! Ohm-patience Lizzy, patience.

It will all eventually get done-I gave myself a year.  But yesterday would have been better.

Magazines....

Hi.

My name is Elizabeth.

I have a magazine problem.

It is serious.

It all started about thirty years ago when I picked up my first People magazine.  I was hooked.  I think I have spent around $985,643.52 on magazines in my lifetime.  I just can't seem to get enough.

I mostly read decorating magazines now-and they are the pricey ones.  Here's my hand-you can smack it.

I still need my rag-mags.  You know, the gossipy ones, the ones everyone says they wouldn't be caught dead reading.  They are lying.  I know-I used to be one of those people.  I can freely and openly say that yes, I do read the rag-mags that talk about who's wearing what, who's going out with whom, who just dumped who, and who just had plastic surgery-in Hollywood, I would hazard a guess and say that that list would be too long to name.  I know, I'm mean.

But back to the decorating magazines.  I. LOVE. THEM.  more than my luggage.(Guess what movie that is from!)

I think I love them because they are pretty, they are informative, and they give me hope that one day, my house will look like that.  *Sigh*

I have entered a twelve step magazine program.  I will let you know how it goes.  But I have a feeling, it just won't work for me.

Thankful for quiet

There are some days that I am thankful to have an open schedule-a day where I can do what I please.  For a few hours anyway.  I need it so I will not lose my mind or unleash my wrath on those I love the most.  Please know that I say this in the most loving way possible! 

This has been a week of work, sick children, and a long must-do list.  By must-do list I mean "I must make my way through these two hampers of laundry before I give up and just buy new clothes" or "I must pay these bills so we can cook our food and I can wash those clothes" or "I must vacuum upstairs and down because I have not done it in-well, a while."  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

So when blessed Friday rolled around, I still did have a small must-do list, but I tacked on a few fun things to do when I had finished.  I went to the library-one of my favorite things to do.  Please support your local libraries-use them, donate books to them-we need them!  I then made my way to one of my favorite local shops and did my best to support the local economy.  After that trip, I made my way to a local antique shop and made my way up and down the aisles, checking out what great bargins they had that day.  I bought myself lunch from Jimmy Johns and enjoyed a movie.  In case you are wondering, it was "The Queen" with Helen Mirren.  Fantastic movie, one of my favorites.

I had a great day-just me, myself, and I.  I adore my sweet husband and my kiddos, but I do love my time to myself.  I need it, I must have it, or I can get terribly cranky.  Just ask them-they are all for me having my "me" time.  If it sounds selfish, like there are a lot of references to "me" in this entry-yes there are, but I think everyone should have time like this.


You have to have time for yourself, in whatever way you choose to spend it.  You can not be all things to all people if you leave nothing for you-including time for quiet.

Smell the roses

My daughter is sick today.  Thankfully, she is not flu or strep-throat sick, but a nasty cold and cough.  She has soccer team try-outs coming up, so I thought I had better find out for sure.  We did, and she is fine, but oh how fun the trip to the doctor's office was.  I had forgotten!

Since my kids are all over the age of five, gone are the days of sometimes weekly trips to the doctor's office.  I know we have all been there that have kids-the ear infections, the flu, strep-throat, and all of the other interesting things that children pick up that we have never even heard of.  Foot and mouth disease?  I thought that was something that cows got-how did my two year old get it?!  Fifths Disease-what the heck is that anyway?  When that went through the house, the doctor who checked my oldest said she wished she had had a camera, because it was one of the worst she had seen!  Eeks!!  But again, I have gotten a little off topic.

My trips to the doctor for the kids now are mostly just well check-ups, and believe me I am very thankful for the fact that they are healthy.  But today, I was reminded of the times when they were toddlers and we would sit for at least an hour in the petrie dish of the sick waiting area.  Yuck-you need a hose down from the haz-mat team when you leave.  As I sat with my quiet fourteen year-old, my heart went out to the parents who sat with fussy toddlers who seemed to want to climb all over me instead of their parents.  It was annoying at first I will admit, but I quickly remembered that it was not so long ago that that had been me.  I gave my quiet daughter a big kiss and a thank you for behaving-to which she looked at me like I had two heads.

Yes, time with teenagers is scary and difficult, but today, I was thankful for that quiet child sitting next to me-instead of having one climbing all over me, fussing because they wanted to run all over the office, or were hungry, tired, etc, etc, etc.  Even at the doctor's office, you have to take time to smell the roses.

Happy Love Day!

Howdy all and a Happy Valentine's Day to ya!  It has been a quiet day around the house-everyone at school or work, but love is in the air and soon there will be Valentine's passed around to my four Valentines.  I do love them all like crazy!!

Here they are:

I am the one with the green sweatshirt.  We were at the beach...ahh, I wish I was there now...Okay, back to reality.

All I needed today was four smiles from my four favorite people.  I got them in spades.  Happy Valentine's Day to one and all.  I hope you got a smile today-or two.

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!!

No, this post is not about Gomer Pyle, but feel free to channel him as you read the title!  No, today I received an early Valentine's Day surprise from my sweet husband.  Since the kiddos have school, he has to go to work, and Valentine's Day is not a federal holiday, it has turned into just another busy Monday.  Enter Valentine's Eve and a surprise lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, P.F.Changs!

It was lovely, and delicious, and the company was(of course) top knotch!  It was great to have some adult conversation without having someone ask for more milk or if I can cut up their meat or to ask children  please not to talk with their mouths full of food!  This is not a barn!!  But, I digress.

My hubby and I don't get the chance to go out just the two of us all that often and Valentine's Day is a special day for us-we were engaged on February 14th don't-cha-know!  So I was a wee bit disappointed when the stars did not line up on the national day of love.  Enter, my surprise lunch.  I love my hubby-he puts up with a lot(wink wink).  Most days I am angelic, but there are times when the halo slips just a little bit.  Okay, sometimes I can't seem to find it.  And he loves me anyway.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  Spend it with someone you love. <3

Up the stairs and back down again

A while back, I had a wild hair to pull the carpeting off of my stairs, since I had discovered that there were nice hard woods underneath.  Brilliant idea! It wasn't until after taking off the carpet and ripping out about a million carpet tacks that I realized how hard a job it would be to actually stain them myself.  I know-whoa.  It would be quite an undertaking.  And I have three kids, two dogs, and two cats.  How in the name of all that is holy would I be able to keep them off of those steps for days on end?(Cue the nail biting.)

So, my clever idea was put on the back burner until one week I found my husband out-of-town and my children at their grandparent's for a week, along with the larger of my two dogs.  So, with just myself,my cats, and my 20-pound pooch here, I decided that enough was enough.  I was finishing those steps.  And voila-

The finished product!! Ain't it a thing of beauty?!  And the best part is, it only took me six hours!  Well, two years and six hours if you count the time in-between.  Even better, it was only $68!  That's right folks!  Just carpet off the bolt from Lowe's and all of the paint and primer I already had handy.  Oh, and some heavy-duty staples, so add another $2.50.  If I can do it, so can you kids!

But today is such a gloriously beautiful day, I will be spending it outside-and so should you.  Inhale that fresh air and warmer weather in early February.  It does the mind good!

A Mighty smart Mind

I have a nine-year old daughter.  She is sweet, sassy, and well, way smarter than I am.  She is a complete and total carnivore-and I love her to the moon and back.  I make her scrambled eggs and sausage for breakefast.  Every morning.  Cereal?  No way.  Bagels and cream cheese?  Bleck.  She wants her protein-and the spicier the better.

She loves her eggs with Old Bay, garlic, onions, salt and pepper.  She calls it "Emma Stuff".  She wants to be a chef one day and own a restaurant.  She wants to name the restaurant, you guessed it, "Emma Stuff".  She also wants to live on a farm and own about a hundred horses.  She also suggested this morning that we invent a ham dispenser, so we would always have Smithfield ham in the fridge.  I love that girl.  She is brilliant.

Her school play is today.  It's called "Mighty Minds"  and all about standardized tests.  Interesting.  I never would have thought that would be a fun topic for a school play, but what do I know?  I can't wait to see it.  She has a line in it and I know she will do great.  She is the leader of the pack and I already got her off to a good start with her protein-laden breakfast.  Time to go see me some "Emma Stuff".

Happy Friday and go do something fun and smart to boost your "Mighty Mind".

Trying to be anything but sluggish

It's February.  It's cold.  Spring is thirty-eight days away.  I am trying not to be a slug.  I am trying not to cozy up on the couch every second and read.  My get-up and go self is yelling at my sit-down and veg self.  "Come on you!  Paint the living room!  Clean out the attic before it is a million and one degrees up there!  De-clutter everything!" 

Some times my veg-self is very compliant and does what it is told.  Other days, it is quite cranky and just tells get-up and go to shut-it!

Ugh-dilemmas.

Most of the time, a happy medium is reached.  Things that absolutely need to get done are done, along with an adequate dose of sluggishness.

I still feel guilty.  And I am not even catholic.

I was up at 6 a.m., fixed coffee, two breakfasts, packed three lunches, gave a lecture on study habits, sent two kiddos off to middle school, woke up a nine year old from a deep, warm slumber, kissed a husband as he went off to work and let out and fed two dogs.  All before 7:30 a.m.

I think I will go read.