The Trials of a Busy Mom

Month: February 2010 (Page 1 of 2)

Contests make the world go around

You know I can’t resist a good contest. It’s like an obsession for me. Seriously. People think I’m just lucky and just “win stuff” without any work at all. My kids will say, “Mom, could you win us a trip to Disneyland?” like it’s just that easy. Ha. Well, as of yet, I haven’t won my key for the car contest, although my dear sweet brother-in-law casually informs me that he AND his wife both have keys, now. But their teenage daughter hasn’t won one yet. Like that’s supposed to make me feel better.

Moving on. I think winning myself a notebook computer would really brighten up my day. First up for grabs over there is a Targus 16″ laptop backpack. Second on the list of possibilities: An HP Compaq Mini CQ10 Series Notebook. I KNOW! So, go check it out here if you want to enter to win. I would love to be all supportive and say “Good Luck – I hope you win!” but the truth is I’d really rather I get it, which is why I’m posting this link because it increases my chances. Nothing personal.

**It looks like my link doesn’t show up really well unless you roll over it, so I’ll give you another link

CLICK HERE TO ENTER

You know I must be getting pretty desperate

I’ve been battling this cold for a couple of days now. I did pretty much nothing productive yesterday. Last night I even asked my husband to show me how do the nasal washing. I must have been pretty desperate. But I manned up and did it, and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. I might actually even do it again tonight. Maybe.

Cough, cough, sneeze, sneeze, snort.

My Jenna was complaining of stomach aches and headaches and crying last night, and still doesn’t feel good today. Since there was no throwing up, I normally would hesitate in letting her stay home from school, but really, I still feel like crap, so who am I to tell her she isn’t sick enough to stay home?

So, she’s home, I’m home, we’re all home. In the snow.

I love getting presents in the mail!

A while back, there was some kind of a contest with Lee jeans. Something about becoming a facebook friend and then entering to win a free pair of Lee jeans. Of course I entered. Duh. Well, I have since forgotten all about that contest, having moved on to other contests which I must win. There’s a car contest going on right now, and it’s driving me crazy that I haven’t’ gotten my ‘key’ yet. When you hear the song of the day you have to be caller 20. I’ve been caller 4, 7, 14, 3, and even 19. I have yet to be caller 20. Argh.

Any-who, today there was a FedEx truck out front, and the nice FedEx man came up and rang the bell. When I went to the door, expecting it to be something for Ryan, I was surprised to see my name on the big fat envelope. Oooh, did I order something? I tried to remember.

The package was from Lee Jeans. Oh, yeah, I remember something about Lee Jeans. Did I win? I was surprised to open the package, and there was a pair of jeans IN MY SIZE. Now you may remember my frustration at finding THAT pair of jeans, and what a pain it is to find a pair of jeans that fits, right? So I was a little wary to try them on. I mean they SAY they are in my size (longs, even), since I must have filled in that information when I entered the contest, but would they fit?

Aren’t they cute, with that little pocket flap? Love them. And when I tried them on, I must say I still love them. They stretch, but aren’t too tight, they don’t gap at the waist when I sit down, and they are long enough. Wow. Just to be clear, Lee isn’t paying me to write a review, but they did send me a pair of jeans for free, so of course I’m going to toot their horn just a little bit. These are called the slender secret jeans, and just in case you think you need to get yourself a pair, you can find them here. Oh, and look, they are on sale!

That totally made my day! Now, if I could just stop the stuffy head, sneezing, coughing, runny nose and the other stuff I’ve got going on, it might turn into a great day.

My friends Billy and Elton

Billy Joel and Elton John

We had to wait a while for this concert, since it was originally scheduled for November, but this date was actually much better for us, so I’m not complaining.

When I won my tickets back in the fall, our friend and neighbor heard that I was going, and mentioned that he was so jealous. He had thought about going, but didn’t see the point in paying so much for the bad seats that were left. So, when I won another set of tickets later, I decided to give them to him. He and his wife were very appreciative, and offered to buy us dinner. Win-win!

So, Friday night, they picked us up and we were off on a double date! We went to the Gateway to eat dinner, but found that every restaurant was crowded and had long waits. We put our names on the list at Applebees (you know, “30 minutes”) and then went to find something else that might be faster. No such luck. So, 10 minutes later we were back at Applebees, waiting. I think they got us in at 6:45, which was cutting it close. We asked our server what would be fast to order, and then we all ordered off the sandwich page, to expedite things. To their credit, the service was quite quick, and we were out of there a few minutes before the concert was scheduled to start, at 7:30. We walked over to the Energy Solutions Arena, and there was a BIG LINE to get in. I’ve never really had to wait in line to get in. I wondered if there had been a problem with ticketing or security or something. Or maybe everyone else was also late from waiting for Applebees. I don’t know.

Once we got in, we parted ways with our friends, since our tickets were in AA, and theirs were in VV. We climbed up to our seats, and discovered that while we were facing the stage, we were VERY far away.

See that section 101? Well, go up 15 rows, and there we were. I think there were about 6 rows behind us, so I feel bad for those guys. Our friends were closer, but had to see the concert from the side, so they couldn’t see all the jumbo screens and stuff.

With two great artists and a WHOLE bunch of songs, the concert was great. Here’s a pretty honest review of it here, in case you are interested. Billy Joel was a lot more personable than Elton, talking to the crowd and such. He actually said, “I’m not Billy Joel, I’m his old man.” The songs were great, and we did some singing along.

I noticed a correlation between how close your seats were and how much dancing was going on. Way back in our section, there were only one or two people dancing, including the lady two down from me who looked to be in her 60’s and was wearing her leather pant. I think she was there with her mom. She did a lot of dancing, singing and shouting out. She got her groove on. But really, she was only one of 3 people in our section who were dancing. Down on the floor, however, there was a LOT of dancing going on. I don’t know how much they paid for those seats, but they must be the die hard fans, because they were all crowding the stage to shake hands with the artists, dancing in the isles, having a party. Of course, it from the look of it there was also a lot more beer consumed down there than way up in the cheap (or in our case–free) seats.

I’ll admit that I’m kind of an old fogey when it comes to concerts, and I think they are just too darn loud. Why must they turn up the amps to defcon 12? I put in my earplugs for the last four songs (yes, I did bring ear plugs. What’s your point?) and thought the songs sounded better through the earplugs.

As they were wrapping up the concert, I turned to my husband and yelled over the noise, “But he hasn’t done Piano Man yet,” and then, what do you know, they BOTH played and sang piano man. I took out my earplugs for that one.

Overall, it was a really fun night!

So you can be in the know, too.

My friends were giving me a hard time last night because I didn’t alert them to a great deal on a paint stick a while back. Can you believe that? A paint stick? I guess I should have bought paint sticks for ALL of them. Anyway, so I WILL alert you all to a great deal on Heelys that’s going on right now.

At 6pm shoes, they are having a big sale on Heelys shoes. I got four pairs for certain people for under $50 shipped. Boo-Yah. Go here and search for your child’s size. At this price, sizes are indeed limited, but hey, you might find what you need.

And in other news, I’ll be enjoying the songs of Billy Joel and Elton John tonight! Hooray!

Things I love on a Thursday

–When the checker at Costco says, “Do you have any coupons?” and I say no, and she checks to see if there are any coupons for what I just bought, and sure enough, something beeps, and she says, “Well, you saved $3 on something.”

–Book Club. For 15+ years, we’ve held book club once a month, thanks largely in part to my especially organized and fabulous dear friend Melinda. We get together and talk about the book, our lives, our best tips and finds, and we eat something yummy. It’s a wonderful way to stay in touch with friends, and to add a little extra happy to my life. And tonight is my turn to host said book club.

–Sugar and all things made of sugar. Hence, giving up sugar for Lent is especially hard for me. But since I realize how much I am addicted to sugar, it makes me want to get it out of my system even more. Because I recognize that when I’m stressed, angry at the kids, rushed, bored, or basically ANY emotion, I eat something sweet. I experience the sugar instead of dealing with the emotion. I’m on day 2 of my sugar fast and I miss my sugar. Especially when I’m preparing dessert for the book club mentioned above.

–Volunteering at school. Well, I don’t always love it, but I love that I am now able to do it. And I love that other moms also help out, and I want to do my part as well. Thursdays are my volunteer day at the school, and sometimes I’m there for one hour, sometimes I’m there for three hours. It makes me feel good when I do help at the school.

–My family. And this guy.
john and mom

–This song.

Sometimes we fall down and can’t get back up
We’re hiding behind skin that’s too tough
How come we don’t say I love you enough
Till it’s too late, it’s not too late

Our hearts are hungry for a food that won’t come
We could make a feast from these crumbs
And we’re all staring down the barrel of a gun
So if your life flashed before you, what would you wish you would’ve done

Yeah, gotta start
Looking at the hand of the time we’ve been given here
This is all we got and we gotta start thinkin’ it
Every second counts on a clock that’s tickin’
Gotta live like we’re dying
We only got 86 400 seconds in a day
To turn it all around or throw it all away
We gotta tell ‘em that we love ‘em while we got the chance to say,
Gotta live like we’re dying

And if you plane fell out of the skies
Who would you call with your last goodbyes
Should be so careful who we live out of our lives
So when we long for absolution, there’ll be no one on the line

You never know a good thing until it’s gone
you never see a crash until its head on
All these people right when we’re dead wrong,
You never know a good thing till it’s gone

Thanks, kid

I just twirled John around the kitchen. “We’re just like figure skaters!” I said, since thoughts of Olympics and figure skating are current right now.

“You would be too old,” he said.

I cannot possibly be old enough to have 2 daughters in Young Women

It’s just not possible. I can’t be that old. Nope. But sure enough, last night the Young Women had their New Beginnings Night, and Natalie was invited. Because she will turn 12 this year and enter the Young Women’s program. Nope. I can’t be that old.

But in a way, I’m excited. I’m hoping that YW will give my two oldest girls something more in common, some reason to bond. Because right now they don’t get along. There is a lot of tension and fighting and rude behavior between the two girls and I can’t really do anything to stop it. I remember in my own growing up years that my brother and I used to fight and tease each other. Well, if we’re being honest, it was mostly me doing the teasing. But then, once we were both in high school, we had something in common. Our own private “club” or something. And we got to be friends. I have hope that something like that will happen with my girls. Hey, a mom can hope, can’t she?

I’m also excited about the new personal progress program. Did you know that Moms can get their own personal progress awards along with their daughters? It think that’s cool. If I’m working on my value goals along with my girls, maybe we can keep track a little better.

What do you think of the new personal progress program?

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How was your Valentine’s Day?

Or, as my single friends call it–“single awareness day”? Ours was good. Since Valentine’s Day was on a Sunday, it seemed to stretch through the whole weekend. Friday were class parties, and I was in charge of coordinating the third grade party. Jenna’s class was a lot of fun, and the party went well. While I was there, I checked out the science fair. There were a lot of soda experiments, and a LOT of popcorn experiments. Natalie ended up with a second place ribbon for our project. Yes, I say “our” project, because what kid does their own science fair project without a TON of help from their mom or dad? I’m going to see if I can get Dad to do the next one.

Friday night we did indeed watch the Olympic opening ceremonies. Wow, that’s one long program. At 10:00 I turned it off and made the kids go to bed (two of them were already asleep in the family room). When we went to watch the last hour the next day, the torch lighting was cut off. The program just went too long. But it was amazing! The kids are loving watching the Olympics. They’ll watch ANY event, no matter how boring.

Saturday was the usual kind of Saturday around here. Basketball games, and Ryan went to try to install some fun equipment at a friend’s house, then let Cole drive down to Spanish Fork to get the slide projector and screen so we can do a slide show for Family Home Evening. There were, as usual, some harrowing moments, but I was not there to freak out, so that’s good. At home we frosted Valentine cookies, the kids played and I did some puttering and cleaning up. I’m also working on some sewing for the kids’ bathroom. I’ve got the shower curtain done and now I need to work on the window treatments and pick a paint color.

I made dinner for the kids, and invited Ryan out on a DATE for valentines’ day. Big Mistake. I should have just skipped all Valentine celebrations and left that for another night. I called ahead to Texas Roadhouse, because I had heard how awesome it was. I called at 5:20 and they said “It’s about a 90 minute wait.” So, we planned on getting there at 6:30. Ha! There were THRONGS of people standing around outside the restaurant. Hordes, even. While waiting, we chatted with another couple of parents from Megan’s soccer team (who TOTALLY got in WAY before us), then had a lovely chat with a PTA friend of mine and her husband. We were checking out the “couples” that were there for the Sweetheart’s dance, critiquing the girls’ dresses, and why in the world would she wear that summer dress and those sandals to a dance in February? Anyway, we were there a LONG time. Then we saw our next door neighbor, who was there with hubby AND three kids. Her wait was looking very long, so she told me later they bailed and went to Chuck-a-rama. We persevered, however, and about 8:10, they called out our number.

Was it worth the wait? I guess. The food was amazing, and the service was FAST. They need to get you OUT of there in a hurry, to seat more guests. We enjoyed watching the busboys take over a table. It was about 90 seconds from the time one couple left until the next couple was seated. Seriously, they’ve got that system down. We ended up eating the rolls, the appetizers and the salads, and brought the steak and sweet potatoes home. Yum. I’m looking forward to eating that sweet potato for lunch.

Sunday, the actual Valentine’s day, was a JOYFUL day around here (note the sarcasm there, if you can). Ryan and I had been asked to speak in church. Groan. But, I guess it was our turn. We haven’t spoken in…I don’t really know how long. We had such a huge ward for a while, with new people moving in all the time, so the new people always got assigned to speak. We’ve been a smaller ward for about two years now, and somehow we have stayed under the radar. Until now. We were assigned to speak on Music. So I found a great talk on music by Elder Russell M. Nelson, added a few personal experiences and my own take on it, then found some additional articles and took a quote or two from each of them, and -bam- talk done. I thought it was a decent talk. But when it came time to give it, I realized I was going too long. Seriously? Too long? I NEVER go too long. I must not have been doing my customary ‘talk really fast when I’m nervous’ thing. Yay, me! So I actually had to skip over some of my talk in order to leave some time for Ryan to give his talk (after the special RS number “love at home”). My favorite quote from the whole talk was this one, President Young said, “There is no music in hell, for all good music belongs to heaven. It would be punishment enough to go to hell and not hear a note of music for all eternity.”

Anyway, the talk is done, and now we can reset the clock and hopefully not have to speak for a long long time.

After church we went up to my parent’s house for dinner. Dinner was yummy, and we had fun playing some games while Ryan earned his keep and did some computer fix ups for them.

Aside from the talk in church, it was a nice valentine’s weekend.

When we got home and the kids were in bed, it was time for some serious valentine’s day fun.

We watched the Amazing Race together. What? Did you think I was going to say something else? Get your mind out of the gutter. Did you watch it, too? What did you think? It’s too early to pick favorites quite yet, but the ditzy blondes annoy me, and I don’t really like the overly gayness of others. I really like those cowboys, though. I hope they stay in a long time. Here’s a great wrap up in case you missed it.

My plans for the day

Happy Friday! Whacha got going on today? Fun stuff?

Well, my plan for the day include a valentine party for the third graders,
checking out the science fair,
lunch with my boy John,
various cleaning up and laundry duties,
homework nazi and trying to get the kids to do their various cleaning up and laundry duties,
making dinner for a lady in her ward and her family of 10,
and watching this..

The Olympics begin!

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