Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Last week was not a tad stressful and hard on my body. I did not start a temp job that keeps me hopping! I'm not so out of shape that I didn't suffer some kind of sprained ankle, daily headaches, an ocular migraine and sleep walking all in the span of 5 days. Those things are so not not normal for me.

We did not spend half of Saturday deep cleaning and I am not thoroughly enjoying having a clean house! I don't really hope it stays like this.

I'm not looking forward to getting my first paycheck this week. I mean I'm really, really, really not looking forward to it!

Last but not least, we do not have company coming this weekend. It's my parents and my dad is not going to change my brake pads and rotors for me to save some money! I can't really say I'm excited about having company, but I'm really not excited about getting a date night with Superman and having my car not jerk and vibrate every time I stop!

Saturday Cell Phone Mosaic

Tired, oh so tired.

It's been a long busy day!

We started with the chiro, like always. Superman made a plan for us all to take a room of the house and get everything all nice and clean. That way we all just pick up after ourselves during the week and I don't have to stress out about cleaning since I'm working now. I thought it would just be a quick clean, wipe stuff down, put stuff away, relax. But when Superman says clean, he means it. We spent a few hours scrubbing, wiping, sweeping, mopping... what I consider spring cleaning. Except we'll call it late summer cleaning. BUT, the house is immaculate tonight and as long as everyone puts their stuff away every time they get something out we'll just do a quick cleanup each Saturday and be done with it! I was so tired, I grumbled through most of the work but I'm glad Superman kept everyone motivated because I can relax so much better tonight knowing the house is so clean!

After the big cleaning, Superman went out to take care of the yard and I got caught up on laundry. I was able to keep stuff washed during the week but around Thursday I started getting lazy. Everything since Thursday had been taken out of the dryer and thrown over a basket instead of put away, but it's all caught up now too!

My ankles were both screaming for some relief by the time everything was done. I stretched out on the couch and was catching some z's as soon as I closed my eyes.

We were excited to watch some football tonight. But since the game is over now and my Titans lost to the Browns, I don't want to talk about it anymore. But we ordered pizza and had it delivered for supper! It's been such a long time since we've done that, so it was a special treat. And the perfect way to celebrate a clean house, my new job, football and yet another new freelance job for Superman!

There are a couple pictures of my t-shirt in the mosaic. Go here to find out what it's all about!

From August 28, 2009

And your day? Nice I hope! Show me!

Healthy Friday

Not that I was bedridden or anything before starting work this week, but I'll admit it, I led a mostly sedentary life. There was more sitting than standing while I was at home. I'm a big enough woman to admit that. (Is there a pun in that last sentence? Nah.)

So starting work this week has been kind of hard. Even though I only work 4 hours a day, I'm standing/walking 98% of that time. My body is just not used to that. And I'm paying for it.

See that lump? You know how most legs go in more before getting to the top of the foot? Well, my left ankle has decided to rebel against all the walking this week. That lump is a hard ball of swelling. Early in the week I just had the swelling and some soreness. Now I have swelling, really sore/borderline sharp pain during certain movements and this weird tingly feeling when I bend my toes or flex my foot. Kind of feels like a ligament or something sliding around. I've been taking ibuprofen for the swelling and icing it at night, but it has gotten a little worse with each day. I even told the chiropractor about it on Wednesday and he actually adjusted my ankle! I didn't know you could do that. Anyway, hopefully my body will adjust soon.

Other than my ankle hurting, I'm pretty excited about the new change. I'm up and moving around most of the day. And I can no longer walk into the kitchen and grab a snack whenever I think I need one. Did you notice my ticker today? It's the little changes, people!

I do think stress and exhaustion are taking their toll though. After supper last night I had my very first ever ocular migraine. I've had migraines but never anything like this. It started completely pain free, with a slight flicker in my left eye. It was so slight that it looked like floaters. The whole eye experience lasted about 10 minutes, going from a floater feeling to a very fast flashing to no vision and back to normal. Not in the center but more in the peripheral. When describing it to Superman, the only thing I could think it looked like was when the sun comes in a room where a ceiling fan is on and the fan makes the sun kind of flash or flicker in the room. After the flashing subsided, I lost vision in that same area of my peripheral. I don't think it was completely black, but really dark and fuzzy. I know Jack walked passed me and it startled me because I didn't see him until it was more in the center of my sight. It was very weird and very scary since it's never happened before. Almost the exact same time my eye returned to normal was when the massive headache hit.

Another reason I know I'm a tad stressed and exhausted? I woke up sometime in the middle of the night Wednesday in the kids bathroom. On the toilet. Why is that so weird? 1) We have our own bathroom attached to our room. 2) I usually wake up before I pee. 3) I actually opened our bedroom door, shut it behind me and walked down the hall to the other bathroom when I've never been a sleep walker. 4) I woke up as I was flushing the toilet and was very confused at first about how to get back to my bed. The whole thing was just really weird to me.

Despite all of these things, I'm actually enjoying the new schedule. But man, I'm tired this week. I'm so glad today is Friday and will appreciate weekends even more now.

I don't have an actual recipe for this meal, I kind of made it up as I went! I was in the mood for a BBQ chicken sandwich!

I used 6-7 chicken breasts. I put them in the crockpot. I sliced a little bit of an onion and put that in. Then I used a whole bottle of a smokey BBQ sauce. I just kind of mixed it all up and left it on low for close to 8 hours, I know it hadn't been exactly 8 hours, but at least 7 1/2. When there was probably half an hour left, I took a couple forks and shredded the chicken while it was still in the crockpot. When it was time to eat, we were in BBQ heaven! We got about 7 sandwiches out of it.

And it was...

I plan to thoroughly enjoy this weekend more than I have any others. I hope to catch up on some housework, but more importantly, some sleep!

Hope you all have a great weekend too and remember to tune in to your regularly scheduled helping of Saturday Cell Phone Mosaic!

Peace out Gangstas.

Thursday Thirteen - Edition H

Courtesy of Izzy 'N Emmy. Pressured Inspired to play by Kimber.

1. Hot - Although that's what I consider myself, this time I mean the weather.

2. Help - what I've been getting (a little) this week around the house since I'm working part time!

3. Hurts - my ankle from being on my feet most of the day now

4. Hot Rod - one of my favorite movies

5. Hilarious - my kids and hubby are just too funny!

6. Home - where I love to hang out

7. HTC Touch Diamond - Superman's phone

8. Huggable - my dog Jack

9. Hootie and the Blowfish - my first real concert (years ago)

10. Holly - a girl name and a Christmastime berry

11. Happy - that I can contribute financially to my family right now

12. Hershey's - my love

13. Heaven - my future home (very distant future hopefully)

Whew, that was harder than I thought it would be! Wanna play the letter I next week? Let's do it and link up at Kimber's!

Wordless Wednesday - Friends

Not that I've ever dissed a mailroom clerk before...

But now I'll make sure I never do.

Yep, that's my temp job for the next month or two (or 6, who knows really).

I mentioned on Friday about getting back into the school routine and starting an exercise routine. And I had lots of great comments from you guys!

Amber suggested I actually write out a schedule. That idea would probably work best for me.

Cass recommended getting up 45 minutes before the kids to exercise. I ♥ you Cass, but that's a no go. I like my sleep too much. Last week I even started going to bed a little earlier than normal and still had a hard time waking up to get the kids up for school. I'm not a morning person.

And now I'm doing temp work for a couple months. It would just be plain stupid to pass that up. I've had several new followers join since I talked about our situation, so to catch up you can read here, here, here then here. I know it's a lot but it will bring you up to speed.

So while trying to get back to normal, I've thrown something else into the mix. I fear that I will be even more tired for a little while. I seriously don't know how working moms do it all. I admire all of you out there! I did some temp work last fall and it took a while to get the hang of things. But the added stress was my fault. I've been a stay at home mom for a really long time. I'm used to doing all the housework. I allowed myself to get stressed because I still felt like I had to do it all when all I had to do was ask for help. Not long after I figured that out, the job came to an end. But I'm more prepared this time, I think. I'm not afraid to ask Superman to help out a little since I'll be working outside of the home for a little bit too.

So as far as my normal back to school schedule, for now I just have to say routine shmoutine. It will all work out eventually. And I'm not going to even think about exercising for a little while because, seriously, if I don't lose weight doing this job there's something wrong with me. I sat for maybe a total of 30 minutes yesterday (including lunch) and was walking the stairwell half the time.

We ran to our local TJ Maxx Sunday evening and I found these shoes!

I totally loved them yesterday morning at 9:00 when I got to work (that's so weird to say!). They were so nice and comfy in the morning. But by the afternoon my feet had never hurt so bad. I need a new shoe plan.

After supper last night I took some trash out. Our trash cans are in the garage but right in front of the big door so we can just open it and wheel them out. Anyway, I saw this.

He was stuck in a spider web. And I would've been perfectly happy leaving him there. Superman had a recording session for choir last night and I made the mistake of telling him about the lizard on the phone. He guilted me into helping him get free. But at least Superman was nice enough to stay on the phone with me while I found something long enough to un-stick the web from the trash can. And listen to me whine and scream every time I got the broom handle even close to the lizard. At least Superman didn't laugh too hard at me and now that nasty little lizard is somewhere loose in the my yard again. And I'm putting Superman in charge of dog potty duty so I don't have to step in the yard!

Keep it real Homies.

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Last week was not so completely exhausting. It wasn't the first full week of school and I didn't feel like I was the one going because of getting up early and helping with homework again. It also wasn't rainy and blah and I don't kinda wish I could've just slept the week away.

While buying maxi pads at Wal-mart Saturday evening, Little Dude did not continually inquire what they were for. He finally did not come to his own conclusion that they are pads to help Mommy's feet feel better! We did not just let it go at that!

I don't believe that God always knows what we need when we need it. Do you remember when I mentioned our renters were having problems? His position was given to someone else while recovering from back surgery. He finally recovered and was able to bid and transfer without completely getting canned. Well, we did not find out last week that the wife just lost her job. We do not depend on them to pay that mortgage which hurts us this month. Do you also remember that last fall when we needed it, I was given a temporary job? Well, I didn't get another call late Friday afternoon. I do not start back to work today at the same place Superman works again. We definitely don't need the little boost and I definitely had to take it. (This is also why I needed to go shoe shopping over the weekend!)

So, dear friends, I'll be here as much as I can over the next month or two. But if I don't show up here one day just know that I'm out there, working hard for the family and thinking of you all!

Saturday Cell Phone Mosaic

It seemed like a busy day, but it was nice.

We started with the chiropractor and then Lowe's. The kids made school buses today.

Peanut needed a music book for band. The letter it was mentioned in just said we needed to buy it. I assumed at the school. I found out Thursday after school that we had to get it at a music store in the area and that she had to learn a song out of it to play at school on Monday. This is Music City, so no problem, right? Wrong. After calling around, we had to drive 30 miles today to find a store that had any. While we were there we went ahead and got reeds and everything else Peanut needs.

We found a TJ Maxx while there because I am in serious need of some dressy/girly/comfortable shoes but I hate paying much. I'm a sensible gal so I wanted 1 brown pair and 1 black pair. I found the cutest brown pair there but am still on the hunt for something black. And just as cheap.

We were absolutely starving so we grabbed some Arby's before heading home for a little nap.

After napping we had to run to Wal-mart and now we're all settled at home watching the Hannah Montana movie!

From August 22, 2009

What did you do today?

Healthy Friday

Can you say exhausted? That's what I am.

I kind of put all my new exercise routine plans on hold this week. There was just so much to adjust to with it being the first full week of school. Middle school starts an hour later than elementary so I actually lose an hour of my day this year. It's been a strange adjustment, and by the time Peanut leaves I already have in my mind that I've lost what time I would've used to exercise. I'll have to retrain my brain. Once it finally wakes up, that is. With having to get up super early again and helping with homework again it has just been an exhausting week and kind of blah.

I wanted to point out a new link at the bottom of my left sidebar. I agreed to advertise for an online company called PartSelect.com. They sell parts for several different brands and types of appliances for much cheaper than having a repairman come fix something. Just wanted to let you know that link is there if you need anything repaired!

I think this is my last recipe from French's. The recipes have been... interesting? They haven't been bad, just stuff I might not make very many times. This is the Crunchy Onion Chicken.

What you need:
2 cups (2 oz.) FRENCH'S® Original or Cheddar French Fried Onions
2 tbsp. flour
4 (5 oz.) boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 egg, beaten

Place French Fried Onions with flour into plastic bag. Lightly crush with hands or with rolling pin. Transfer to shallow dish.

Dip chicken into egg; then coat with onion crumbs, pressing firmly to adhere.

Place chicken into disposable foil pan. Sprinkle with additional onion crumbs, if desired.

Prepare grill for indirect cooking over high heat (400°F). Cook chicken in covered grill 20 min. or until no longer pink in center. Source.

I thought it was just okay. I liked the crunchiness of the onion crumbs, but I thought the onion flavor was a little overbearing. Superman liked it though...

Sorry I haven't been real exciting lately. This new schedule of ours should start getting easier to get used to next week. I don't want to say that then I'll be back to my normal, hilarious self because maybe some of you didn't think I was as funny as I think I am! One thing's for sure though, my ego hasn't gone down one bit!

Saturday Cell Phone Mosaic. Be there or be square.

Peace out Ganstas.

Top Ten Thursday

I don't really have much to say today so I'm doing something new today!

I'm joining Sara at Domestically Challenged, Jennifer at It's a Beauty Filled life, LZ at My Messy Paradise and Zeemaid from In The Mommy Tenches for Top Ten Thursday!

The topic today is the top 10 websites they can be caught using. I'm not going to do that because if it's not Blogger or Twitter, it's just a bunch of different survey sites and that's just really boring.

I'm still just a big kid at heart, so my topic is my top 10 favorite 80's cartoons!

10. Richie Rich

9. Mighty Mouse

8. Muppet Babies

7. Alvin and the Chipmunks

6. Smurfs

5. Garfield and Friends

4. thunder, thunder, thunder, ThunderCats!

3. Jetsons

2. Flinstones (I know it's an older show, but I watched my fair share of reruns!)

1. Scooby Doo

Make sure to visit all Sara, LZ, Jennifer and Zeemaid today!

Wedding Mishaps

I believe that every wedding has at least one small mishap. Something doesn't go right. Or at least it doesn't seem like it's going right to the bride because she's freaking out anyway!

Like the wedding we photographed on Saturday. With the maid of honor and flower girl showing up 15 minutes before the ceremony? Big mishap in my eyes.

What went wrong at our wedding? Let me take you back to August 3, 1996.

It was 101 degrees and I picked a long sleeved dress. How dumb.

Our videographer fell walking backwards down the steps off the stage. Actually we didn't even know about it until we watched the video and we got a good laugh out of it.

We didn't want to see each other before the ceremony so we did our formal pictures right after. The reception was there at the church so the guests went on in to the reception to relax for a "little bit" but our photographer took over 2 hours to get the pictures. When we finally walked in to the reception almost everyone was gone.

Last but definitely not least. The one that ticked me off. And I didn't even know about it until we watched the video. Superman's cousin and her fiance were in the crowd. Her fiance fidgets quite a bit and a family member next to him keeps leaning over close to him. We finally realize what all the fidgeting is about. Any race fans out there? Do you know what's going on around the first weekend in August? The Brickyard 400. The cousin's fiance had a small battery operated TV in his lap with the antenna up his sleeve. They were watching the race during our wedding! Superman laughed but knew it ticked me off. The next time we saw them, something was said about it. It was a family joke for years. After a while I managed to laugh along, even though I thought it was the most rude, disrespectful thing someone could do.

Well, there's mine! Anybody else have a wedding blunder to share?

Brain fragments

Catchy title? Yeah, I thought so too.

Two reasons for the title.

1. Because I'm just throwing out bits and pieces today.

2. Because that's what I feel like is splattered all over the inside of my head after the long, exhausting summer and trying to get used to waking up so early again.

The first full day of school yesterday went great! Peanut had her first day of band. I don't know if she loves the idea of band or actually learning to play an instrument more, but she practiced hours on end last night.

Remember, it was her very first day ever! I think she's off to a great start!

Princess and Little Dude are enjoying it too. I have a feeling this week will get pretty rough being the first full week though. Princess was looking pretty tired by supper time last night and by about 7:30 she could barely keep her eyes from crossing. But she gets pretty grumpy when she's tired. So no matter how exhausted she looked, it was a fight to get her to go to bed last night.

As for me, it really stinks waking up at 6:15 again. I'm pretty darn pooped trying to get back into the swing of things. I totally intended to write something really quick to tell y'all that I'm taking a day off to start getting my house back in order. But I guess some of the brain fragments came together after all to become a somewhat coherent post!

I plan on blogging about our wedding mishaps tomorrow so be ready!

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

What a week last week!

Last Monday night I did not have the biggest scare of my life thinking someone was in the house. I hope to never have that feeling again.

We did not get out and play in the water last week finally. You know, with it not being the last week of summer vacation and all. But it didn't last long because it wasn't as enjoyable for those sensitive to mosquitoes.

We did not have a week completely full of junk food. I don't know why, but celebrating the last week before starting school just seems right with cookies, ice cream and other junk every day. But what kind of mom would not only let her kids eat like that, but also join in? Not me, that's for sure!

But with all the junk we didn't have last week, I think I might have learned my lesson and decided it's not time to start seriously working on losing weight! I'm actually not very excited to get started!

And the kids did not start school last Friday. They all did not have great days. That's good! It's not like I was worried about them or anything!

Saturday Cell Phone Mosaic

Phew. I'm glad today's over with.

We were up bright and early this morning. Even though I was asleep before 11:00 last night (on a Friday, which is super crazy for a night owl!) I still had a hard time getting up. We got to the chiropractor not long after they opened for our Saturday adjustments, then rushed back home. Superman dozed off for just a little bit (he was up until 2:00am working) while I double checked batteries for the camera and flash. We had a quick, early lunch, got changed and all gussied up and were off to do some work.

We haven't shot a wedding in just over a year and a half, right before we moved. I forgot how stressful and tiring it is. Even though I'm not actually the one with the camera the whole day, I am the one trying to keep Superman on task, making sure he gets certain shots at certain times and standing where he should be for the best timing and shots, carrier of extra charged batteries, holder of lenses for quick swaps when he rushes to me during the ceremony.

And I was pretty stressed today. I'm so glad it was a very small wedding party since it was actually a 25th anniversary vow renewal. But it was organized like a first wedding, they went all out! Against my better judgement, I agreed last night at the rehearsal that we could start the formal photos an hour before (1:00) the ceremony (2:00), and shots of them getting ready half an hour before (12:30) that. I would've pushed it back at least another half an hour, but like I said, it was a very small wedding party so I agreed. Did it work that way? Nope. Was I super stressed being the time-keeper of photos? Yep. The bride (should I say bride or wife since it was a vow renewal?) didn't get there until just before 1:00 because the hairdresser didn't get her in the seat on time. At least we got the guys pictures out of the way but there was more stress and waiting to come. The bride/wife's daughter was the maid of honor. She had the flower girl with her at the hairdresser and she also had all of the jewelry with her. They got there 15 minutes before the ceremony. We busted through some pics of finishing touches and then it was time to roll.

The ceremony was kind of weird to me. Not like, freaky weird, just weird that it was a vow renewal and it was exactly like a normal wedding. I understand getting each other new rings. Heck, after 25 years you deserve a new ring! But there wasn't anything different about their vows and I found it strange that they lit a unity candle again. To me, if you have a unity candle there, it should already be lit and just be there because the two already became one so why do that all over again?

The reception was nice, but because of so many people running late we still had to go back in and take pretty much all of the formal photos since we couldn't get them beforehand.

Anyway, we were just pooped when we got home. I did a little work, started going through the 763 photos Superman took to narrow it down to the best 150 for the proof book. Not an easy task. This week I have to edit all of those and get them ready to order. And my little piggies are chubby and swollen from running back and forth, up and down stairs at the church for several hours in heels. Which I never wear. But today really made me miss doing weddings. I don't enjoy the extra stress but there's a little adrenaline mixed in there and I love going through all the shots and editing them afterwards. Plus it's awesome money!

And after all that, we had to run to Wal-mart tonight. Superman takes Prilosec for his acid reflux and he was out. Without taking it in the morning, he would be in pain all day. So we went and got that and a few items from Peanuts new school supply list (Grrr. Don't get my started on that one).

And now, I'm so ready for bed!

From August 15, 2009

How was your day?

First day of school and Healthy Friday

You know how this week went. Refresh your memory here because I'm just not talking about it!

So, it happened. Just like I said it would. We met both of the elementary teachers last night and got 2 brand spankin' new supply lists. At about 6:30pm. The night before the first day.

We had supper at the McDonalds in Wal-mart so we could get the new items and ran into everyone else that had just left the open house. Half the things on the list were sold out because, seriously, are we the only school system in the country that gives lists the night before? I'm sorry, it just makes absolutely no sense to me.

Needless to say, I was irritated. Princess and Little Dude have a bedtime of 8:30. Because of the extra shopping we didn't even get home until 8:00. I had a mountain of paperwork to fill out for each kid and while I did that, they tried to pack their backpacks. Twice. They didn't ask and I didn't tell them, but the second time they understood to only pack what was on their new lists and not everything we've bought in the past couple weeks. They then grabbed a snack, brushed their teeth and I didn't have to tell them twice to get to bed. I think they're a little excited!

On a happier note though, both of the 3rd grade teachers were very nice and I think we got the good ones this year! I know some of you are teachers so don't think I'm coming down on all of you, but our school definitely has some duds. This state puts most of their money into the magnet schools and public schools get the leftovers. Superman and I have talked and we will be researching the different magnet schools in the area. They usually send out the applications in the fall for the next year so we want to be prepared this fall if we decide to go that route. Which I think we will.

This morning has gone well! Princess and Little Dude are already gone and Peanut's bus comes in about 1/2 an hour. But don't they look cute?


A recipe from French's again. This is the Asian Marinated Steak.


What you need:
1 cup FRENCH'S® Reduced Sodium Worcestershire Sauce (30 % less Sodium) or FRENCH'S® Classic Worcestershire Sauce
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1 tbsp. minced fresh ginger
2 to 3 lbs. boneless loin, round or flank steak

Mix Worcestershire, garlic and ginger in deep dish. Add steak. Refrigerate 30 min. or up to 3 hours. Drain steak.

Grill steak over high heat about 15 min. for medium rare, turning once.

Place steak on serving plate; let steak rest 10 min. before slicing. Serve with additional Worcestershire on the side.

This recipe actually had some info. The recipe above calls for reduced sodium worcestershire sauce and I only had regular so this nutritional info is for similar to what I used. Granted the steaks I made were about 2 1/2 - 3 servings each, this is obviously for 1 normal serving.

Nutritional Analysis Per Serving (prepared with French's Classic Worcestershire Sauce): 197 Calories, 7 g Fat, 3 g Saturated Fat, 0 g Trans Fat, 66 mg Cholesterol, 29 g Protein, 2 g Carbohydrates, 0 g Dietary Fiber, 192 mg Sodium. Source.

I don't ever splurge on steaks like that. I usually buy some thin, flimsy meat that can be passed off as steak. But this time I went all out. And oh, it was so worth it!

I will do my best with SCPM* this week. I mentioned a little while back that we got our first wedding since moving here and it's this weekend. So we'll be running around like crazy with the rehearsal tonight and big events most of the day tomorrow. I'll sneak as many pics as I can with my phone while Superman runs around shooting the wedding. Does anyone still need instructions on how to do SCPM*? Get them here so you can join in the fun! And you don't have to just use your cell phones. Use whatever you want and come play!

I also thought about doing something else fun next week. Our recent wedding anniversary brought up a lot of memories. One memory that really ticked me off. I thought about doing a post on wedding mishaps and putting MckLinky up so you can share your stories too. What do you think? Start writing your posts because I'll put it up next Wednesday or Thursday. Watch for it!


*Saturday Cell Phone Mosaic

I'm gonna throw up

I'm so jittery and anxious today I can hardly stand it.

Butterflies are swarming my stomach.

My heart is pounding.

I have a million questions racing through my mind.

My problem?

First day of school. It's tomorrow. And I'm not even the one going!

There are so many changes this year. Peanut starts middle school. Her school hours are different, she has a different bus stop, new teachers, new classes. I can handle that.

What I can't handle is that they start school tomorrow and she just got her schedule in the mail yesterday! We go and meet Princess and Little Dude's teachers tonight but not Peanut's. She toured her new big school with her 5th grade class towards the end of last school year. But there is no open house since she received her class schedule. No parents tour. No nothing. She learned of her homeroom yesterday and is expected to go find it tomorrow. Alone.

Am I being too over-protective? Worrying too much? I know she's getting to an age where it's time for me to let go a little. But am I wrong to think there should be some kind of open house so parents can help their newcomers to the middle school world at least find their homeroom before they walk in alone with first day jitters?

I always thought the state we moved from was too strict with school, but at least I know they would've offered tours and more time to prepare.

By more time, I mean that supply lists just came out here a week ago. Am I wrong to also think that those kinds of things should be sent in the mail from the schools so you are prepared? Instead, we wait until the week before school starts to see if Wal-mart puts out the lists we need. That is the only way to get them. And there's no use in checking the school's websites. They barely update them during the school year so why would they even touch them over the summer. And what's irritating is, the lists they put out at Wal-mart are usually completely generic. We'll get completely different lists from their actual teachers tonight and tomorrow and have to buy even more/completely different supplies.

I usually don't post more than once a day, but these thoughts have just been buzzing through my brain like crazy today and I had to get them out.

Told you I was a worrywart! I was finally starting to feel better and I've made myself sick all over again today.

Let's just get this out of the way

I didn't want to have to include all this in tomorrow's Healthy Friday because, well, it's just not good.

Why is it that celebrating always leads to food? Think about it. Birthday? Food. Holidays with family? Food. Any football game? Food.

Last week before school starts? Food. Junk food to be exact.

So before Healthy Friday goes up tomorrow and I tell you, again, that this week just didn't go good, again, I just want to get this out of the way.

I mentioned Superman's "Sticky Gooey" in this post. This, my friends, is sticky gooey.

It consists of sugar frosted flakes, peanut butter, sugar and maple syrup. So... mainly sugar. Superman whipped this up for us Monday night.

Then, this week, the kids and I made these.

And these.

This is already a sugar overloaded post so I won't even mention the ice cream.

And I don't really have a point to this post at all. Except I didn't want to be completely ashamed tomorrow in a post where I try to talk about something healthy.

So. I'm gonna go have another cookie. The sooner they're out of the house, the better, right?

Confessions of a stay at home mom

I feel like my brain is a big gob of mess lately so I'm just gonna throw it all out there today.

Let's start this off with a food confession. Since this isn't Healthy Friday, I'll go ahead and admit that I loves me a warm flour tortilla rolled up with butter on it. Probably not good for you, but sometimes it's just what I need.

I had a Fla-Vor-Ice pop on Monday for the first time in years. Man, it was good. Then I had my second.

I spotted a lizard tail on our sidewalk Monday. I don't know if I'd technically call it a sidewalk. I think of sidewalks being by the street. This was the "walk way" from the front of the garage around to the side garage door. Anyway, I saw this tail and was totally grossed out. At first I freaked out wondering what happened to it and (more importantly) where was the rest of the lizard? Then I remembered they can lose their tails and grow new ones. So, great. The rest of this guy is still around here somewhere.


I haven't been feeling well lately. I've been extremely tired, sick to my stomach, have bad heartburn, and just really out of it. I thought I would've bounced back from our crazy busy summer better but I'm no spring chick anymore and I think it's taken it's toll on me. I don't ever want another summer like this one. I can't even remember how many visitors we had since school let out at the end of May. And July just seemed nuts. We had Superman's parents for 4 days too long. Superman had a music and worship conference at church 3 late nights in a row then we took the kids half way up north that weekend. We went all the way up the next weekend to get the kids and visit real quick, came home on a Sunday and Superman had business travel that Tuesday - Thursday. The whole month was stressful and exhausting. And now I've found myself worrying about school starting. I shouldn't worry because I'm not even the one that has to go! And the kids don't seem worried about anything. I think it's because Peanut starts middle school this week. A big different school, with bigger different kids, she has to change classrooms now, blah, blah, blah. I'm a worrywart, but this time I've worried myself sick. For real.

On a happier note... We spent our Monday afternoon doing this.

From 81009

And before anyone asks about the mosquito bites, yes, Peanut and Little Dude have a bad reaction to them. Princess and I got away without a single bite, but the Claritin and Benedryl had to be pulled out for the other two. No, we don't use bug spray because I believe Deet is too harsh and it usually doesn't work anyway.

You ask, I deliver. Here's my new shirt. $14. Heck yeah!


Are any of you taking advantage of surveys? Seriously, check it out. As of this earlier this week, I have redeemed enough points from taking surveys that I have $60 coming! $60! Just for sitting with the computer and giving my opinion! Let me know if you're serious about signing up for some and I'll send you referral links.

Happy hump day already! 2 more days until we send the kids to school and get a routine (and my brain) back!

Scared to death

Last night was scary.

Superman took the girls to Wal-mart to pick up a few ingredients for his yummy sugary snack he calls sticky gooey, and Princess had fresh allowance burning a hole in her pocket.

I stayed home with Little Dude and played some Wii. Not long after they left, I swore I heard a door shut softly. A minute later I thought I heard Superman's voice. I went to the front door and it was locked, just like Superman left it. I peeked outside and they weren't back yet. I think my heart stopped.

Naturally, fear took over. I sent Superman a text asking where he was, telling him to hurry and what I thought I heard. He called and asked if I looked around the house, and asked if the dog was barking because he would be GOING.NUTS. There was no way in hades I was checking the house by myself. I was scared out of my mind.

I've been alone (with and without the kids) plenty of times; day time all the time, 1 evening a week when Superman has choir practice, even 2 full nights when Superman was gone on business. I'm an adult for pete's sake but I've never heard noises like that and have never been more scared in my life. My only thought was protecting Little Dude. I did the only thing I could think to do. I grabbed my purse, keys, dog and told Little Dude to get his sandals on and get in the car. We didn't turn the TV off or lights off, we just left.

I was trying so hard not to scare Little Dude but he was questioning me like crazy and started acting scared too. I finally told him once we were gone that I thought I heard something in the house, got scared, didn't feel safe and that the most important thing about being a mom was protecting him and his sisters and I felt like I needed to leave the house until Daddy got back. So we drove around for a little bit and talked. I felt Little Dude's little hand on the back of my arm and I reached back to hold it for a minute. He said "Mommy, if anybody ever came in and tried to take anything important from us, I'd kick them... you know where."

We pulled back in after Superman and the girls were back, who, by the way, wouldn't get out of the car until we were back and the house had been checked. Superman took a golf club out of his trunk and went in before us. It was all clear. I don't know what I heard, or if I actually heard anything, but everything was okay and I finally stood and cried my fear out for a minute.

We started getting the kids to bed on their school schedule this week so they're not completely exhausted on Friday for the first day, but it didn't happen last night. I think they were like me, a little jittery the rest of the night.

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Over the weekend, I did not buy the cutest shirt at TJ Maxx for cheap! We do not need to shop there more often! I didn't plan on having Superman take a picture of me in my new shirt just for this post and forgot!

The kids don't start school this Friday! They aren't excited, yet nervous. And I'm not ready to have my quiet days back!

And my brain is not so fried from this summer that that's all I have!

Saturday Cell Phone Mosaic

Happy Saturday!

It felt like a weird day. We slept through the alarm clock and didn't make it to the chiropractor. We always look forward to Saturday morning adjustments so it's not normal for us to sleep until 9:00 when we know we're going.

We did make it to Lowe's though! The kids made power boats today. It was a quick project but they always enjoy going!

We ended up finishing school shopping last night so we were going to head straight home after Lowe's. We made a last minute decision to stop at Blockbuster. We have Guitar Hero World Tour and have been dying to play Smash Hits. So Blockbuster was still closed, like 45 minutes after they should've opened. We thought we'd walk over to TJ Maxx and stop back by Blockbuster when we were done. Superman needed a new pair of jeans and he found a pair for $10! We stopped back by Blockbuster and they were still closed. Luckily there's another Blockbuster a few miles away so we went there instead.

We got to that one and there was a sign on the door that said cash only, their debit/credit card thing wasn't working. Ugh. We never carry cash. Isn't that the point of a debit card? So the kids and I went on in and Superman went to our bank's ATM down the road. It didn't work. Was it not meant for us to rent any games today?! He stopped at another ATM, that one worked and we got our games.

We got home and played some Guitar Hero, had some lunch, then the kids played some Cooking Mama. I don't know what my deal is lately but I was so ready for a nap. I could've dozed off in 2 minutes but we decided to wash the cars instead. That didn't work either. We rent our house and they have been working on our spigots outside. We are waiting on a part before they can fix the one in the front of the house. We didn't realize they didn't hook the original one back up completely and Superman got sprayed.

We gave up.

I hit the couch and was out in no time.

We got a gift card to Steak N Shake for our anniversary to we decided to use it tonight. Saturday's are great days to eat there because kids eat free! It was scrumptious as always and I ate too much, like always.

And here we are. The kids are showered and we're watching iCarly together. Then they're going to head upstairs and Superman and I are going to watch The Soloist. (If I don't fall asleep again!)

From August 8, 2009

Come on and play!

Healthy Friday

I don't even really know what to say this week. We didn't do anything out of the ordinary, but I just feel extraordinarily exhausted.

Well, nothing out of the ordinary except for ringing the neighbors doorbell twice this week during the day because one of their wizard dogs got out and I was returning her, and *deep breath* hearing our dog bark wildly at almost 1:00am Thursday morning and he never barks unless something is wrong so we go look (because we're night owls and were still awake anyway) and the neighbors dogs are out again and we know they're out of town so we go out to get the dogs and they take off down the road so Superman walks down the road whistling for them while I get a flashlight and we couldn't find them until our dog barked again about 10 minutes later and we dashed out the door to catch those magical cuties and we got them back in their yard and I guarded the fence while Superman trampled through their yard in the dark trying to find where the dogs are getting out so we didn't have to return them anymore, which we don't have to in the first place but we like those dogs and don't want anything to happen to them because one doesn't even have a collar. *pant, pant, INHALE*

Does anyone else find it really sad that I've referenced to that same post twice this week, in addition to just posting it on Tuesday because I have nothing else good to say? Good, me neither.

This is totally not healthy but it was exactly what I needed this week. I won another contest! This contest was hosted by Lolli at Better in Bulk. Geez, I couldn't win anything forever and this is my 3rd win now!

Do you have any idea what is in this box?


No? Good. Go get some napkins or a tissue or drool cup. Go ahead, I'll wait. Trust me, you'll be glad you did. Can you tell what it is?

Here you go.


Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!! (I was going for the hallelujah chorus there, just work with me)

Yes. It's a cake. Isn't she glorious? It's the Triple Chocolate Enrobed Brownie Cake from Bake Me A Wish. Did you notice I'm linking to Bake Me A Wish like crazy, even 2 of the pictures? I'm hoping they find these links and offer me one to giveaway to one of you! (hint, hint) Wouldn't that be awesome?!

We cut into that puppy for dessert last night. I have no words to describe the mouthwatering goodness! Even the little plaque on top that says Congratulations is was chocolate!

I tried yet another recipe from French's. This was the Carolina-style BBQ Chicken. Er, it was supposed to be before I charred this one to death too. The first time I blamed it on still being half frozen. This time? I was totally wrapped up in an engaging round of Halo while it was on the grill. Yes, I'm a gamer mom. But I digress. Hey, at least we ate chicken again after this incident.


What you need:
6 large boneless skinless chicken breast halves
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar, divided
3/4 cup French's® Classic Yellow® Mustard
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup Frank's® REDHOT® Cayenne Pepper Sauce
2 tbsp. French's® Classic Worcestershire Sauce
2 tbsp. vegetable oil

Place chicken into plastic storage bag. Mix 1/2 cup brown sugar and remaining ingredients in measuring cup. Pour 1 cup marinade over chicken. Marinate chicken in refrigerator 1 hour.

Pour remaining marinade into saucepan. Add brown sugar and simmer until sugar dissolves; reserve.

Grill chicken on greased rack over medium-high heat 15 min. or until chicken is no longer pink in center, turning once. Serve chicken with reserved sauce.

Calories not listed. Source.

Other than being charred and actually having to peel the bottom layer off, it was really good!

I'm so glad the weekend is here! It's tax-free weekend here so we're going to finish school shopping so we can finally be done with it. And the LaZboy got moved out to the living room this week. Do you know why? The first preseason football game is Sunday! Feels like we've been waiting all year for this weekend. Oh yeah. We have! GO TITANS!

See you here for Saturday Cell Phone Mosaic this weekend!