The Trials of a Busy Mom

Month: April 2009 (Page 2 of 2)

..and I’d like some random with that.

Today I get to spend the majority of my day at the dentist’s office. Ugh. You know how much I LUUURVE to sit in the WAITING ROOM at the dentist’s office. Waiting. And Waiting. But it’s teeth cleaning day so we’ll muddle through. John and I have appointments in the morning. We were actually scheduled to go a few weeks back, but John got sick with his mystery sickness, so we rescheduled. The other kids are scheduled for 3-5 pm. Which means from 3 until who knows when. Oh, no! I just realized we have a major problem here. Seriously, I JUST now realized that I can’t BE at the dentist’s office until 5:30 or 6, because I have to be up in Salt Lake at the Tabernacle at 6:15. When I made the appointments months ago, I didn’t realize I’d have rehearsal tonight. I’d better go and talk to my husband about that one.

Last night’s dress rehearsal was…well, let’s just say it was a bit rough. The trumpet player wasn’t going to be there when we started, so we changed the order of some songs, and we actually stopped and worked on a couple songs. So it was more like a rehearsal and less like a concert. I hope the 5-10 people in the audience didn’t mind. But it was good to work through some trouble spots, and hopefully we can all so better on Friday.

Oh, and we’ll be performing with the choir on Easter morning. Tune in to Music and the Spoken word Sunday morning to see and hear us. Or, since you will probably be busy with you Easter festivities, you could always set your tivo.

I’ve been painting this week. All by myself. Usually Ryan helps me paint, especially with the prep work and the edges. But on Tuesday, when I looked at the calendar and saw a big blank space all day, I decided it was the day to paint. I’d only had the paint sitting around for a month, so I think it’s about time. I’m painting the boys’ room. They wanted blue and yellow. I settled for blue and Khaki. So far I’ve done the khaki. I was going to tackle the blue today, but since we’ll be camping out at the dentist’s office, I guess we won’t be doing the painting today. But this time I did it all myself. I took off all the light switch face plates, and the outlet (we have WAY too many plugs in that room, by the way) face plates. I couldn’t get the speakers out, but then Ryan couldn’t get those out, either. I guess I’ll just paint around those. I did the taping, I moved the furniture (to the center of the room. It’s real convenient to paint around a bunk bed, I tell you) and I did the edges. Yes, I’ll admit that the edging is a bit rough. I didn’t realize we had a new pad for the edger available, and once I changed it I did better. I’ve even painted around the nice big shelf. If I do say so myself, it’s not too bad. I’ll post some pictures when I get it finished.

Painting really is a workout, though. They should call it “sqats and lunges with paint”. My legs are sore, my back is sore, and my arms are tired. But that could also be from ringing bells, who knows. It probably wasn’t the best week to start a project, but you’ve got to start these things when the motivation strikes.

Today I got spam in German. It’s a first for me. “Bestellen Sie noch heute und vergessen Sie Ihre Enttäuschungen, anhaltende Versagensängste und wiederholte peinliche Situationen!” among other things. Well, I wouldn’t want to be stuck in any peinliche Situationen, so maybe I’ll look them up. WhatEVER.

And the rain has turned to snow. But I’ve complained enough about the weather, so I’ll just let that one go.

Have a GREAT Thursday!

No, it’s not coat weather anymore

I have to mention my latest bargain find. I went to return a few things at Kohl’s, and since they had been nice enough to send me a 30% off coupon, I did a little bit of shopping around. In the clearance racks, of course. I found some jeans for kids at $4.99, and a skirt for picky Megan that was 50% off, but the great one, the one that made my heart go pitter patter, was this one.

coat

I know this is a tiny little picture. It’s the only one I can find online. But this coat, which was originally priced at $160 (cough, cough), was 90% off. Yes, that was a Nine, Zero. So, the coat was priced at $16.00. Wow! But it gets better. With my 30% discount, that coat was $11.20.

A-hem. Can I get a little high five from my friends?

Hopefully I will not be NEEDING this coat for quite some time. Hopefully we have seen the last of the winter weather and I can wear my nice Spring jackets. I will tuck this coat in the closet for next fall, when I can pull it out and rejoice again at my shrewd shopping skillz, and be happy to have a new coat. I will leave the price tag on, of course, so that in the dreary months of October and November, when I lament that fact that I have to get the coats out, I can pull this out, and say, “Hey, I have a new coat! And LOOK, I only paid Eleven dollars for it!” (Although it doesn’t say eleven dollars on the price tag. It only says $16 on the price tag. But I think I’ll remember. And if I don’t, you can remind me.)

Ultimately, we are all our mothers

Don’t you love it when you hear yourself turning into your mother? This morning, for example, I did the “You’re going to wear THAT?” that used to annoy me so much when my mom did it.

But don’t we all eventually turn into some form of our mothers? Personally, I don’t think that’s such a bad thing.

Yes, it’s me under this pile of wrapping paper.

Megan celebrated a birthday on Saturday. She’s now officially a teenager. How nice.

She started out her birthday with–what else?–A Soccer game. It was 34 degrees out, and snowing. There was so much snow on the ground that they had to all walk along the lines to clear away the snow, so they could tell when the ball was out of bounds. She DID wear a hat and gloves, a few shirts and a hoodie, long pants under her shorts, and all that gear. But she was still freezing when it was over. Oh, and they lost 1 to nothing. But still, for a soccer loving girl, I think it was an appropriate way to start her birthday. I was not there for the whole game, and when I did get there, I watched from the car. Because they should rename Spring Soccer as “Watch from the car Soccer”. Because I’m not insane. Poor girl couldn’t get her shoes off when we got home, because her fingers wouldn’t work.

She did thaw out and there was no permanent damage, though.

After we got home from soccer, we warmed her up and had a house full of kids. We watched my sister’s 3 kids overnight as a birthday gift to her. They were actually not too much trouble, and I think all the kids had a good time. We turned on conference through the house. I don’t know how much they heard, since they were all playing, but at least it was on. On the radio. Not the TV. Because when we turned on our tv
–remember that big tv that we got for free and then Ryan fixed for about $40? Well, we turned it on for conference, and there was a flash and then some green, and then—nothing. It died. So, we have no tv. Eek. Thankfully, we could still listen to conference, and Megan hadn’t planned a movie party for her birthday like Cole had done the week before.

Megan’s party was Saturday night. She only invited four friends, and it was a great party. While the men were at the Priesthood session of conference, I took the girls to Boondocks. They played laser tag and video games, and more laser tag. Since I didn’t have any little people with me, (thanks to a sitter at home) I was able to sit and read a book and not worry about anyone getting lost or needing help. It was great. I finally got them out of there at 9:00. On the way home I learned lots of lyrics to songs that were playing on the radio, since they were being sung VERY LOUDLY right behind me. But Megan’s friends are so cute and fun, I don’t mind.

While we were gone, the elves were busy at home. When Ryan and Cole got home from the meeting, they hauled up all the pieces of the drum set and got it assembled before we got home. They also took the chance to jam a bit.
When we came home, all the kids were hiding. They jumped out when Megan came in and said, “Happy Birthday!” It was quite the scene.

She was thrilled with the drum set and other presents.


Megan decided she wanted a birthday cookie instead of a cake, so we had made this one in the afternoon, and she had fun helping me decorate it.

It was a fun party, and more importantly–easy for me.

So, we’ve made it through birthday land for a while, and I thankfully get a break from parties. For a while, at least.

Eyebrows?

Last night I dreamed about plucking my eyebrows.

Seriously? Eyebrow plucking?

We had a wonderful Relief Society Activity last night. The games went well, the get to know you activity was fun, the food was delicious, and it all went well. I think everyone had a good time. Our first activity! And we made it through.

So, maybe the eyebrow plucking dream was the signal to me to relax for a minute, before the next big thing. You think?

And I have to give a shout out to my dear husband. He is a fabulous support. This week I was gone three nights out of five, all for church functions. And next week–well, next week is a concert week, and that means I’ll be gone Tues, Wed, Thursday nights for rehearsals, concert on Friday, and Music and the Spoken Word on Sunday morning. And he will be here to hold down the fort. He jokes about it, when we have busy weeks like this. We communicate by emails and notes, and then check in at night when I get home. I’m so grateful that I have his support. I couldn’t be in the Relief Society presidency OR the Bells on Temple Square without his understanding and willingness to help out.

So for today, I will catch up on some things that need to get done, get ready for Megan’s birthday tomorrow, watch my sister’s kids, and get those tweezers out. Because I really DO need to tweeze those eyebrows.

Sometimes we’ve got a little too much technology here

This morning the treadmill was so exquisitely boring, I could only handle 1/2 a mile. Then I had the great idea to do my new workout video, Jillian Michaels’ 30 day shred. I mean, she scares me on Biggest Loser, so I thought maybe she’d bully me into a few more crunches and stuff.

I knew the DVD player up in my bedroom worked, since the kids all piled into my bed last Saturday to watch a movie while Cole was having his “teenagers only” party in the family room. So, I went upstairs to pop in my new video. I managed to switch inputs and hear Jillian’s motivational introduction, but then it dumped me into a menu and I had to select my workout of choice. Hmmm. Let’s see. When I push this “down” button, I’m back on tv. If I try this button, it does nothing. This button? Nope. There is no way to navigate on the actual DVD player? What if I don’t have the specific remote needed for this DVD player? Let’s see, I’ve got about three remotes here in my room, let me see if ANY of them will solve my problem. Nope. Lights? I don’t think so. Radio? Not this time. Huh.

Thus ended my workout for the day.

My husband has got so many gadgets and remotes and everything is so “automated” that a simpleton like myself can’t figure it out. I think he does this to keep me dependent upon him, right?

Having said that, Techno Husband just sent me a link to a really funny article about the Ten Surprisingly Common Causes Of Death In TV Hospitals. In honor of ER’s final episode tonight and all. He’s funny, that one. But I am thankful for Techno Husband and all that. If I didn’t have him, I would have to record tonight’s 3 hour ER extravaganza on an old VCR, since I won’t be home to see it. I mean, who remembers how to program a VCR anymore?

Tonight we have our first activity as a new RS presidency, our Relief Society Birthday dinner. Eek. I’ve put in the time, and I hope I’m organized enough so that things will go smoothly tonight. And hopefully it will be fun for everyone who comes. I hope people come. Ugh.

If I didn’t have that party that we’re in charge of, I would be going to the viewing for a high school friend who died way too soon in a tragic auto accident this week. He was a good man with a heart of pure gold. He was one of the kindest people I know, and even though I haven’t seen him in many years, I still feel a great loss at his death. He leaves behind a wonderful wife (also a friend from high school) and 6 children. His obituary is here.

I’m reminded today about how important it is to live every day, and cherish those that you love.

Wow. That was a terribly mottled mix of a blog post. Oh, well, I don’t have time to rewrite and edit it all, because I get to take my 8 year old daughter to the dentist and see if they can repair her molar that has a chunk missing.

How’s that for more randomness?

April Fools

For your April Fools Day viewing pleasure, I think we could all use a nice big laugh. So, here you go. It does take a few seconds to load, so click on over and read your email while you are waiting.

Happy April 1st.

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