Golden Goodness

Ed and I never fight about anything that is consequential. I mean it. We bicker about anything and everything, but when it comes to fighting, it is never about anything that matters. Shall we take today for example? Today we fought about Golden Grahams. Really. Golden Grahams.

When we were going to bed last night, he had asked whether there was any good cereal in the basement. I told him that we had Golden Grahams and he was pleased. This morning I went downstairs to get my work clothes and pop tarts for the kids’ breakfast and seeing them on the shelf, I also grabbed the Golden Grahams.

I went about my regular routine, fed and dressed the kids, and got ready for work. On my way out the door, I casually called out “Hey, I brought up that cereal for you.” For whatever reason, this upset him. Why did I have to say something in front of the kids? Now they will want to eat them. I should have just left them in the basement and he would have gotten them. Of course I have to make some pissy remark like “because you need to eat the whole box??” Finally, I yell “What is your problem!!!!” and he yells the same back at me, to which I reply “STOP YELLING AT ME!!” and he says “NO!”

At this, I go and kiss the kids goodbye and leave in a huff.

How does a situation like this resolve itself, you might ask. It’s really quite simple. Pretend it never happened.

We didn’t talk until almost noon today. He called me to test out the quality of our new phone. Neither of us mentioned the squabble. As I said, it was inconsequential; over before it started really.

When it comes down to the big things, we talk. And talk. And talk some more until everything works out. This is how we function as a couple, and we function well.

Unless it’s about cereal……

Today like totally sucks man....

1. Do yourself a favor, go out to Starbucks and get yourself a peppermint mocha. TODAY!! Grab a cranberry scone while you’re at it….they’re delicious!
2. Today is one of those days. You know the kind. Where I just want to scream “WHAT IS THE MATTER WITH YOU!!!” at everyone.
3. This was somewhat remedied by a lunchtime trip to Target---They finally had boots in the kid’s sizes. FINALLY. I also bought 5 picture frames. I think I could live at Target. There is a Starbucks inside.
4. Did I mention Ed and I have been cataloguing all of our photos? There’s some funny fricken stuff in there! I have many things in my “to scan” pile.
5. Speaking of fricken, I need to stop saying fricken. Eddie keeps calling people fricken crybabies. He also says “son of a project!!” and I have no idea where that came from.
6. And speaking of Eddie saying funny things…. On our way to my cousins the other night, after Eddie and Caitlyn played with their baby cousin on Thanksgiving, Eddie said to me “so when you have 2 more babies mommy, how many of us will there be?” We probed him on it. “When you have 2 more boy babies. Caitlyn wants to be a big sister.” Oy Vey!
7. Eddie, Caitlyn and I pretended that we were camping last night and told stories in my bed and all went to sleep together. Sounds perfect, right? It was miserable. There were children bouncing off of the walls, screaming and not much sleeping. At one point, Eddie got up out of bed and said he was sleeping in his own bed and was walking around the whole house in the dark. Finally, after much wrangling and a bit of hollering, everyone was asleep before 9:30.
8. I have no idea what we are having for dinner tonight. I meant to put some chicken in the crock pot this morning and never did.
9. My hair is so long right now. I think I like it.
10. Still sipping my mocha. Hopefully today will be smooth sailing from here.

Giving Thanks, Sarcasm, and Potty Mouth

I feel like I should do a “what I am thankful for” entry……but it would be sappy and somewhere along the lines of “I love my kids so much!!” and all like “blah blah blah”. So I’m going to give you a random and somewhat superficial list of items that I would like to give thanks for.

1. I am thankful for the 2 new pair of pants I bought at Old Navy last night, one of which is a comfy pair of straight legged cords that remind me of what a hippie I used to be.
2. Also for the over-the-range microwave we bought last night—what a space saver!
3. I’m thankful that I had the chicken pox when I was 9 as opposed to my youngest brother who has them now at age 18
4. I’m thankful that the kid’s daycare photos finally came in
5. And that they actually turned out really well
6. and that I get to spend $130 to keep them all!!
7. I’m thankful for Nestle’s Peppermint Mocha Creamer
8. I’m especially thankful for my 4 day weekend, even though I will only have Sunday to rest
9. I’m thankful that we rented Ocean’s 13 to watch on Friday after dinner—Pitt and Clooney….mmmmmm---happy thanksgiving to me
10. I’m thankful for the bulk sized jar of green olives I bought for turkey sandwiches last night

I could come up with more I’m sure. I’m still feeling a bit out of it. Nothing is particularly wrong; I just feel a bit off. I can’t put my finger on it. Perhaps gorging myself this weekend will assist. Oh, there are other things I wanted to say too!

Eddie has apparently inherited my sarcastic gene! This morning, while waiting for what seemed like hours in the car, while Ed finished a phone call, Eddie goes “What is taking Daddy so long? My friends are already eating lunch….” And a few minutes later “When is daddy getting in the car? My friends are already taking their naps….” Both were said with an eye roll and a hint of a grin. My kid.

I also heard a good potty mouth story this weekend, and it wasn’t my kids! (because they’re too busy singing “Old McDonald had a butt! Poopy Poopy Oh!”)

A friend of mine was outside with his 2-year-old daughter, working in the yard and he saw her approach the front of their house where he had 3 scarecrows lined up for decoration. She got in front of the first one, looked it dead in the eye and slapped it across the face and yelled “BITCH!!”. She moved to the next scarecrow and did the same, and the third scarecrow after that. He could hardly scold her because he was laughing so hard. He was reluctant to even tell anyone the story for fear that they would think his daughter was mimicking him slapping his wife around. It gave me one of the best laughs I’ve had in a long time though.

Ok, I think I’m done now. There is much slacking to be done before I leave today.

Flippers Do Not Go With Dress Pants

So it’s Saturday, and here I am working of all things. There are about 15 people here who don’t actually work for me, but all of the managers rotate Saturdays. Sadly, I’m not a lot of help to them because I’m so far removed from what they do. But I sure can give them direction! Plus 2 of my associates are here too, and they know a lot more that I do.

So I was wondering, does anyone ever do this? NO, you don’t do it every month based on your cycle, to see what you could potentially have if you were to potentially get pregnant this month? Oh, ok me either. But on the off chance that I did do such a thing, it predicts that I’d have another girl. It’s right for my other kids too. But I should say that I’m not pregnant, because I’m not. At least not that I know of. (NOT THAT YOU KNOW OF……) Seriously though, I’m not. (OR AM I???)

Ed is a member of the Kiwanis and their annual dinner dance is tonight. I didn’t get to go last year (lucky me…er…DARN!) because I was at a friend’s wedding in Syracuse (**note to self, wish Erin a happy anniversary) but we are all going tonight. Which meant that I couldn’t even wear sweats to work on the one day it is acceptable because Ed and the kids are picking me up and we’re going right there. I am wearing my ugly ugly shoes, that actually look kind of like flippers that I bought when I was pregnant with Cait because my feet were so huge……they are a size 9 and are so ugly---but comfy!! My size 7.5 heels are in the car for later.

So, here is a list of things I had to do before coming to work this AM to ensure a smooth transition to our function tonight.
• Feed both children. When can they make their own fricken toast?
• Pack a diaper bag for tonight, just in case either of them pees their pants (I’m not a daredevil, sorry—the grocery store is as far as I go without back-up)
• Leave out clothes acceptable for play today
• Leave out fancier clothes for this evening, and instructions as to what shoes each child should wear
• Instruct Ed to wear some of the new clothes we bought him last week, rather than the same khakis and polo shirt
• Pack Cait’s brush and pony tail holders so that I can do her hair in the car
• Tell Ed to make sure they both have clean hands and faces before they leave (seriously)

And I still got here at 9. Oh happy day!! It’s 12:30 and I have 5 hours to go. So far I have looked at and printed both of our credit reports, perused MySpace and spent about 30 minutes on the phone with Ed. Further down my agenda is writing letters to our insurance company, who still refuses to pay for Ed’s tonsil surgery, citing that it was not medically necessary, and send requests for all of Ed’s medical records to the hospital and doctor. Perhaps some online shopping, lunch, and general screwing around will help to pass the time.

I’m going to start in on lunch now, but I’m sure I’ll be rooting back around in here later.

What day is it?

I ended up having a busier day then I thought I would today. I could not get to sleep for the life of me last night and ended up passing out on the couch waiting for Jon ad Kate Plus 8 to come on. Of course, as soon as I heard Kate's voice, I woke right up. She is one miserable woman. M I S E R A B L E . I ended up back asleep within minutes and before I knew it, it was 3AM and Eddie was sleeping on top of me. I put him to bed, and went to bed myself just as Ed came home so I ended up being awake until nearly 4.

When I dropped the kids off at school this morning I had every intention of coming home and sleeping for a while, but Ed suggested breakfast, and we went from there. I got the kids their winter coats. The sets with the snow pants at JC Penny were marked down from $70 to $31.99. Eddie's is an army green and Cait's is lime green. Both are adorable. Ed got some clothes as well, and we got underwear for Eddie and a rolling Dora back pack for Caitlyn.

From there, we went over to Best Buy to look at camcorders, since ours is ancient. We didn't buy, but got some good ideas. We kind of want one that takes stills as well as videos, but we don't necessarily want to pay $800 for it. So we'll keep looking...

I dropped E off at home because he was worn out and then headed to Target to look for winter boots, hats and mittens for the kids. I got all but the boots which were mysteriously sold out in girls size 7 and boys size 12. Got Cait a few things on clearance too.

From there I went grocery shopping and spent $300. $303.93 to be exact. I do feed a family of 5 you know...plus there were a lot of great deals and I had really good coupons. I saved over $80. Ed doesn't hear that though, he hears $300 on groceries.

I unloaded the car, threw dinner in the oven, picked up the kids and we all sat down to eat before Ed left for work. We've done amazingly well with this eating in the kitchen jazz. Oddly enough, it seems to help the kids clean their plates. It seems the television was distracting them. Who knew??

I finally got the kids in bed close to 9:00 because I was waiting for Caitlyn to poop, and here I am, pooped myself. (can I tell you how great it is to not worry about buying diapers any longer??? She even stays dry at night--for which it is difficult to praise her for since Eddie still does NOT stay dry trough the night) I need to do a few things to get read for work in the morning and then I'll be off to bed. 4 day work weeks tend to suck for me, having to jam in 5 days worth of work in to 4....but then again I'm working this Saturday so maybe that will make up for it.

I'm a bit crazy tonight thanks to my after dinner coffee with the peppermint mocha creamer that Swistle recommended. It was so good, I could die. Now where am I going to budget in those extra 70 calories? So good.

Ok, I'm spell checking but not proof reading. For your viewing pleasure.

I will write something with substance tomorrow. I promise.

Thought of the day: Sunday is by far my favorite day of the week. This also means that today, being Monday, sucks.

***Edited to say that Caitlyn wore underwear all weekend!! One small accident early Saturday! She went to daycare in undies today!

We actually had a pretty fabulous weekend from Friday straight through yesterday. I booked home from work on Friday to get Ed and the kids, and we went to see “Bee Movie” which was pretty cute. From there, we went to Toys R Us to buy the kids Power Wheels because they were discounted quite a bit and we figured we’d get them now while they could still use them as opposed to waiting until Christmas when they’d have to sit around for months. We had a quick dinner at Applebee’s and got home around 11:00, with both kids still being wide awake.

Ed worked Saturday morning and the kids slept in until 9:30! Ok, well actually, Eddie was up at 7, but went back to sleep on top of me on the couch until 9:30. In any case it was a bonus for me because I went to bed at my usual time and slept about 2 hours later than usual. I sat around drinking coffee and catching up on my TiVo while the kids played for a few hours and when Ed came home, we started in on the house. He went outside to build the rest of my furniture, and I tore apart the kitchen. Why we have so much Tupperware, I will never know. But I packed it- and half of my baking dishes away in the basement. I tore apart our utensil drawers as well, and now you can actually open and close them without losing a finger. The next kitchen project involves an over-the-range microwave and moving the cabinets that I acquired from my Gramma over to where our coats are now. If we can do this we may be able to accomplish something that is unheard of in our house---eating meals in the kitchen. We ended up in bed pretty early on Saturday sleeping so late stopped the kids from napping.

Ed got up with the kids yesterday morning so I could sleep for a while. I had been fighting a cold all weekend and woke up with 100% no voice. Nothing. (it did come back after a while) Ed made coffee and chocolate chip pancakes and let me just sit and relax, which was really nice. He and the kids went outside while I showered, and when I put Cait in for her nap around noon, Eddie and I went to a craft show at our local fairgrounds. I was hoping to find Christmas ornaments, but I didn’t really like what they had, so we had kettle corn, walked around for a bit, and I took him for lunch before we went grocery shopping. It was really nice to spend time with Eddie alone. So often it’s just Cait and me while Eddie goes off with Ed or FIL, so having a mama’s boy for the day was good for me.

This of course leads us to today where I am sick, and at work. This morning has been horrendous, so I’m hoping for a much better afternoon.

Random List Post (on weight, diet, baby names, child spacing, you name it!) I'm everywhere today!!

It so feels like Wednesday to me today. I don’t know why. I feel out of sorts. Maybe because I went to the gym this morning and I usually (by usually I mean last week) go MWF? I don’t know. In any case this will be a list post, because I really like lists, but also because I’m feeling a bit lazy.

1. Speaking of the gym, I’ve been going for a week and at least paying attention to what I eat, and I have lost one tiny pound. One. I wish there was some way to see immediate results. I wish I was the type of person who could do one of those crazy liquid diets. I wish that I could somehow get the lbs. to melt away. It doesn’t work that way though, huh.
2. Speaking of weight loss, I causally mentioned to Ed that I was going back on the pill because I don’t want an unplanned pregnancy to get in the way of my weight loss goals. (I have an appointment 11/9) He was actually kind of upset with me about it. He kind of thought we’d have another baby sooner than later. Well ok then. We disagree. I’m not canceling the appointment, but I will have a serious discussion with him before I start the pill. Who knew??
3. Eddie and Caitlyn were spitting last night. Their dinner, their beverages, just plain spit, you name it. They were out of control. At one point, I said to Eddie sternly “We do not spit in this house” and he said “Well can we spit in other peoples houses?” I had to walk away so he wouldn’t see me laughing.
4. I’m tired of my job and the shenanigans that go on. That’s all I have to say about that.
5. Caitlyn is on day 5 of being dry. She ran back and forth from the bathroom all last night saying that she needed to poop, but couldn’t get it out. She went in her pull-up right before bed and was actually upset about it. Today is a new day!!
6. Our local park is having an enchanted forest tonight and my FIL and I are taking the kids to walk through. I think they’ll enjoy it. Plus they get to try out their costumes before wearing them to school tomorrow.
7. Eddie still hates school in case you were wondering. He keeps asking for Ed to go with to drop him off, and I know it’s because Ed will stay and I will not. Ed can’t say no though, and usually follows us over. I kiss both kids goodbye and go. Ed has usually just left Eddie by the time my 20 minute commute to work ends. Now even at home, he wants to know where I am all the time—and says things like “Mommy, don’t leave me!!” when I put him to bed or am in the kitchen or something. I wish I knew what to do. I’m sure it’s not stay by his side for life, which is totally my inclination right now. I just feel like “my poor poor baby….” All of the time.
8. It’s supposed to be 70 degrees tomorrow for trick or teat---how awesome is that? I have to pick up crap for the kids to take to school tomorrow for their party and parade and now apparently for an impromptu Halloween party at work. I should have saved the pumpkin cookies (which are FRICKEN AWESOME!!) for tomorrow.
9. Did I happen to mention that we took all of the chocolate candy the kids got last Halloween and put it in the freezer? We have every intention of passing it out tomorrow night. Is that wrong in some way? It was all standard sealed chocolate; we didn’t save gummies or anything, so I think it should be fine. They weren’t going to eat it all.
10. I’d love to know what everyone is dressing their kids as for Halloween, or better yet, I’d like to see photos.
11. FINALLY!! I happened to hear a girls name on the radio this morning and immediately decided it was my new 2nd or 3rd favorite name for a girl. Do you want to hear it? No really, do you? It’s a name Ed would never go for, but I love it. Are you ready? It’s Sabina. I think it’s so pretty! Sabina. It makes me smile.

TTFN!!!

Tuesday Randomness

1. We bought 2 snails for our fish tank. We now have a baby snail. From what I hear, they multiply more than rabbits. Maybe I’ll start a snail farm. You would think that the pet store would warn us about their spawning. They didn’t.
2. I went to Old Navy on my lunch break to spend the gift certificate I got from my mom and get some clothes for Cait. For some reason Eddie has tons of fall/winter clothes and she has none. Anyway, the store was super picked over so I ended up coming back and ordering some things online. You’re bored with me, right? This is what I got for Cait, and with the exception of the dress which I paid FULL PRICE for (because it is more than adorable), everything was less than $4. I can’t wait for the dress. (I got the black shirt in 3 colors and the pants in 3 colors too)






3. I started using Neutrogena’s complete skin care system and it is finally making a difference. I wrote a while back about how insanely horrible my skin was. I feel a whole lot better now.
4. I joined NaBloPoMo and have committed to posting every day in November. I decided that I am going to do a “Thought of the day” entry every day in addition to whatever regular entries I might write.
5. I saw my sweet niece Samantha for the fist time since July on Sunday. She is so fat and cute in her 6-month-oldness that I can’t stand it. I told my BIL to bring her over any time. What’s one more kid to watch? Eddie and Caitlyn loved her. When I told Caitlyn she was her baby cousin she looked at me with a huge grin and said “Mine Mommy? My baby??” It was adorable.
6. The kids also both had their hair cut on Sunday. Caitlyn now has a cute bob. Very cute.

Finally I just wanted to thank all of you wonderful ladies for your words yesterday. How amazing is it to have this cross country support network of people who know just how I feel? You all make me smile.

P.S. I did not go to the gym today on account of being super sore from yesterday. I always forget how hard the fist week or so is. I will be back tomorrow though. And I ate half a brownie last night. There, I’m being honest.

100th Entry---COMING SOON

Updates on the sick kids? Cait is better and back at daycare. Eddie stopped throwing up at about 10:00 last night but hardly slept a wink, so he’s home with Grandpa. (Goodbye $40)

The real reason for this post is that my 100th entry is fast approaching and I want to do something fun. I’ve already done my 100 facts list, so I was thinking that it might be fun to have you people out there ask me some questions. Anything you want to know? I’ll answer it ! Ask me as many questions as you want!

You can leave your questions in a comment or email them to me at crazylittlethingcalledlife at gmail dot com

I will post questions and answers sometime next week.

Come on! Get started!!

Here In My Car

Ed drove me to work today which afforded me the opportunity to do one of my favorite things….people watch. It amazes me how people are lured in to this false sense of privacy while they’re in their vehicles. In the 20 minutes we were in the car I saw:

o a man reading the news paper
o a man gingerly stroking his moustache, no doubt marveling at his manliness in that he can grow facial hair
o a woman talking on the phone and applying mascara
o several people in animated phone conversations
o a man shouting in to a walkie talkie style phone while holding a cigarette and steering with his other hand
o The DHL delivery guy attempting to light is cigarette while wearing his leather delivery gloves

As I was watching (and pointing and laughing in my mind) it occurred to me that people are probably doing the same thing to me on a daily basis. I too, for some reason, feel completely uninhibited when I’m in my car.

Here is a random sampling of the things you may see me doing on any number of (ok, probably most) days:

• Turning around frantically to make sure that I actually did drop both kids off at daycare
• Jamming to The Wiggles because it didn’t occur to me to change the CD after dropping the kids off
• Laughing hysterically at (and talking back to) Howard Stern
• Singing at the top of my lungs to either Meatloaf or The Monkees while pretending that I won a contest to be able to sing on stage with them because I know ALL of their lyrics
• Screwing around with my satellite radio (and not looking at the road) because I have horrible reception
• Filing through 100 CD’s (while not looking at the road) to find “the perfect one”
• Having my own animated phone conversation while trying to hide the fact that I’m even on the phone because I don’t have a hands free device.
• Running my fingers through my hair to determine whether or not I brushed it after my shower
• Sniffing my armpits to make sure I am properly deodorized
• And oh crap….did I brush my teeth? I really need to be more organized. I check out my teeth in the rear view mirror
• Trying to figure out how I am going to eat the pumpkin muffin from Starbuck’s that is full of cream cheese without making a huge mess
• Cleaning up the smeared cream cheese from said muffin from the side of my face

But you can’t see me anyway. Right?

I Wanna Dip My Balls In It

If I do not get this for my birthday, I will be highly disappointed. I can not remember being more excited about anything for quite some time.

I had to wear a trendy bank issued polo shirt to work today, along with a pair of khaki shorts. I wasn’t completely comfortable with the way I looked so I asked Ed for his opinion. Want to know what it was?

“You look like a gym teacher.”

He’s charming, huh?

Can I just tell you that I love my sitemeter? I LOVE it!! I love knowing who reads my blog and when, even if they don’t leave me a note. I feel all like “WOW!! People DO care what I have to say!!” What a great thing to install, and to think, I never even knew it was there! (or that people could see me lurking on their blogs like 5 times a day. Ha)

I will write and post pictures from Kenny Rogers and the birthday party this evening.

TTFN!

Top 10 Hysterical (and sometimes inappropriate) Things Heard From My Kids Lately

10. Eddie “I’m a piss-pot!!! Right Mommy?” and when he’s told not to talk like that.. “But I WANT to be a piss-pot!”
9. Eddie ”Mommy why does Cait pee out her butt?”
8. Caitlyn, when asked her name “Caitlyn Mason Lastname, JR.” We tell her that her name is Caitlyn Renee, and she replies “NO I JUNIOR!!!” (she also pronounces Caitlyn Cake-Inn which is adorable.)
7. Eddie: “Do you love me, yes or no?” even though he says it 100 times a day
6. Caitlyn upon hearing someone else wished a happy birthday “NO! It my HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!”
5. And also “ I two!” and she holds up 2 tiny fingers.
4. Caitlyn every time I leave the room “Don’t leeeeeeeeeeave me Mommy!!!”
3. Eddie “Pssssssss” as he grabs his crotch and pretends to pee everywhere
2. Eddie “This is my FAVORITE toy!!” as he stis down in front of the mirror at the play vanity in his new classroom.
1. Caitlyn, while lifting up her shirt and pressing on her nipples “I got 2 buttons, Mommy!! Just like you!!!!!!”


I love them muchly.

Recoup

This past weekend took a lot out of all of us.

Friday night we went to the baseball game down town and stayed for the fireworks afterward. The kids had a really good time, but we didn’t get home until after 11PM.

Saturday, we had cake for Cait’s birthday in the afternoon and then later went to the county fair and saw the school bus demolition derby with my MIL. The kids loved it! A few of the busses were painted really well and we rooted for the Spiderman Bus all night long. Our second favorite was the Mickey Mouse Bus that had a Mickey Mouse figure standing on top of it. Unfortunately, after a few hits Mickey fell down which upset Caitlyn quite a bit. Then his head fell off and another bus ran it over which caused her to go in to a fit of hysterics. Ed and I were trying to calm her down telling her it wasn’t the real Mickey and so on when Eddie screams “MICKEY IS DEAD CAIT!!!” and kind of rolled his eyes like “deal with it already”. We couldn’t help but laugh. We aren’t winning any awards for parents of the year, that’s for sure.

We took a lot of photos but I haven’t had the chance to download them yet. We spent the day doing pretty much nothing Sunday and everyone was pretty crabby from lack of sleep.

Yesterday was day one at the new daycare and drop off went well; we spent some time with each of the kids in their new room and they were good. Today, not so much. Eddie was fine, but Caitlyn freaked out. Ed wanted to stay with her until she was calm and I wanted to leave and let her work it out. He stayed, arguing that it was like we were leaving her with strangers, and I left. I see his point and where he is coming from; I do. But I feel like if we baby her she will refuse to get used to it. I know that I’m doing the right thing, but I feel horrible when I leave her.

They really do enjoy the new place so far though. Eddie has a guinea pig named Max in his room and he can bring him home for a weekend if he wants.
(God, please don’t let him want to bring the guinea pig home.) He also enjoyed the hermit crabs in another room. Cait had fun riding tricycles and playing with a little girl named Anna.

I’m still tired from the weekend and from having Eddie in our bed last night, and on top of it, I’m strangely nauseous. I’d really just like to go home to bed, but I have too much to do at work.

Maybe we could start today over……

Regarding Baby Clothes

This started out as a comment on Swistle's Blog, right here, but it got too long. I love talking about baby clothes though, so here it goes.

Oh boy! Baby clothes is one of my favorite subjects! When Eddie was born in the dead of winter, I had no problem just keeping him in the footed sleepers at home. He stayed warm, and I was sure he was warm. When he started daycare I sent him in a new outfit every day. Sometimes he’d go through 3 outfits a day, but he was always fully clothed.

When Cait was born in the dead heat of summer, I kept her in onsies, but I bought the ones with the little skirt around them so she was a bit dressed up. I had the same policy on her leaving the house though, always dressed.

I openly admit that I am neurotic about my children’s appearance and clothing and I know that this is a direct result of not having a lot of clothes, especially the “cool clothes” while I was growing up. I don’t ever want my kids to feel like I did. EVER. So even though it makes no difference to them right now, it makes a huge difference to me.

We tend to get lucky in the hand me down department as both kids have cousins, a brother/sister pair who are about a year older than them, whose grandma shops at high end stores. They get a lot of high quality never worn stuff as well as winter coats and snow pants—a tremendous help. When it comes to buying clothes, I do a lot of Old Navy and Target clearance, plus the Okee Dokee branch at JC Penny and Sears has a play clothes line that is extremely reasonable $5-$6 per piece, pants and shirts. They usually run a 2 for $9 special at season change and that’s where I get a lot. They get plenty of clothes for gifts as well.

Oh, Swistle, by the way—I am the same way with girly clothes, even if I end up having another girl. Cait has way more than she will ever need or wear and I just.can’t.stop.buying…..

And when they’re done with the clothes, they are stored in labeled bankers boxes categorized by gender and size and stored in age order in my basement so that I’ll know right where they are when the time comes.

Neurotic much?

A Photo Entry

Here's what happens when you let your almost-2-year-old have access to your cupboards:



Potatoes in your bed

These are the glorious cookies I made using Sarah's recipe:



This is the cutest girl in the world...



One of my new favorite photos, Eddie and Grandpa at the creek



Paris Hilton in training:



Caitlyn the monkey at the brown park:






Eddie on the ladder:



And going down the HUUUUGE twisty slide at the brown park for the 1st time




One more at the creek:




And finally, the giant coffee mug Ed bought me at Cedar Point next to my regular favorite mug for emphasis:

K E T C H U P

I remember singing a song in grade school, something along the lines of

“Ketchup is good on most anything! Hot Dogs! Hamburger! Onion Rings!”

I thought about it the other day as I made some wonderfully tender, flavorful breaded turkey cutlets for dinner. They were quite amazing, if I do say so myself. Naturally, I took offense when Ed put ketchup on them. KETCHUP! ON TURKEY!

He said to me at one point during dinner

“The ketchup tastes kind of weird….”

I didn’t even look up from my plate, but replied quite snarkily

“Perhaps it’s because you’re dipping TURKEY in it.”

I was livid, and so offended, and so……like my mother……in that moment.

But seriously, what in the hell would possess you to slather ketchup all over your perfectly good dinner? To be honest with you, I find it to be quite rude.

I blame his mother, who coats my perfect pork chops in the stuff. I know, right!! MY PORK CHOPS! They taste like heaven!

His mother who upon dishing herself a plate of my cheesy Italian goulash this past Saturday, immediately went to the fridge and squeezed ketchup all over it.

I threw her out of my house.

OK, not really, but I sure felt like it.

And what happened when I politely informed her that there was already ketchup in the goulash?

She giggled and took her seat.

Another Non-Post

1. It is 49 days until I am on vacation, and 52 days until I will be in The White Mountains of New Hampshire in a VERY well appointed hotel room for very little money ($89/night) due to it being EXACTLY one week before their peak fall foliage season begins.

2. And in 55 days we will be in Portland, Maine where I will consume lobster for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert (where available). We will spend time in another beautiful hotel for $55 a night because our good friend Melissa is the General Manger there….ooooh yeah.

3. My 5 year wedding anniversary is also in 55 days. Do you think that vacation is enough of a gift to each other? Or should I be considering a gift for Ed?

4. It’s going to be a beautiful, sunny weekend. We’re looking for something fun to do on Saturday. I’d like to go to the Toronto Zoo, but I don’t know if we feel like driving 1.5 hours. Ed has to work on Sunday, but the kids and I are going to Canal Fest (celebrate the Erie Canal!! WOOT!! WOOT!!) with my parents. [there’s actually a really cool craft show and festival]

5. Ed spent the day with my brother and some friends at Cedar Point yesterday. He was the only husband to bring a gift back for his wife (a huuuuuge coffee mug) . He also called me from the spot where he proposed and told me how much he missed me, and that it wasn’t the same without me. Brownie points for him.

6. He bought the kids hats too.

7. This girl at work constantly starts her sentences with “As well”. For example, “As well, we will be moving to a new format next week.” She drives me insane

8. Another girl constantly asks me, when I’m by myself, “How we doing?” I answer her with a smart-assed “We’re doing great, how are you guys” every single time and she just doesn’t get it.

Questions, Questions

1. I need a good eye cream. The bags and circles under my eyes are unbearable. Does anyone have any suggestions? I’d like to look so young and vibrant that people would think I was the baby sitter rather than the tired, tired mommy.

2. As far as skin goes in general, mine really sucks right now. My complexion has gone down the toilet since I had Cait, and more so since I went off the pill. While the acne is a small price to pay for the absence of migraines and severe hormonal fluctuation and actually having a sex life (I often joked that the pill didn’t work by stopping me from ovulating, it just plain turned me off to doing it..), something really needs to be done here. I tried Proactiv, no go. I’ve been using this antibacterial face bar and that’s not working either. Has anyone found the secret to a beautiful complexion? This week I’m trying the “chocolate gives you zits” theory and I’m not eating any. Which sucks. And it’s only 2:00 PM on Monday. Please, tell me what to do oh wise women of the blogosphere.

3. I also need a diet that works if you have one. I can’t stomach (haha pun absolutely intended) the feeling of being hungry. I hate not eating bread. I hate limiting myself in general. I considered for a brief second trying that new Alli supplement….that is until I read that if you should by some chance over indulge in fatty foods, an oily substance will leak out of your A-hole. I even told myself that the prospect of a greasy rectum would be enough of a deterrent to not eat any fat at all. Then I took a long hard look at myself (that means I thought about my impulsive personality for about 2 seconds) and decided that unless I was committed to ruining pants and unders because they most definitely would have grease stains, this was probably not a good idea. (BUT IT’S FDA APPROVED!!!) So anyway, if anyone has a plan that meets the criteria of being able to consume bread, never being hungry, and few limits in general, plus the absence of oily anus, I would sure love to hear about it.

**On a side note, I was quite proud of myself for only having a salad for lunch, with grilled chicken as opposed to crispy chicken. That is until I discovered that the dressing alone had 200 calories in it. Why can’t everything just be easy?!?!?! (ok, I just checked and the salad itself was 90 calories and the chicken was 120, so a 440 calorie lunch…not too bad I guess. All I had for breakfast was reduced sugar oatmeal and black coffee—90 calories)


4. I need to know why my button and zipper on these capris is on the wrong side. Like, the button is on the left. I posed this question to my co-workers. Someone thought that maybe they were actually MAN-pris, or capris for men, but I assured her they were women’s. Then I was asked if maybe I bought them in Canada…apparently Canada has some backward zipper policy that I am unaware of. In any case, I didn’t cross the border to get some capris. I bought them right here, at JC Penny in the “misses” section.

5. Why oh why oh why do men insist on showing their feet off in their “mandals”. I hate feet in general, but man feet are the worst. I beg all men to please keep their feet sheathed in their socks.