Empty nest...

I miss them...






They are visiting the grandparents this week.



I don't miss this one...



She's still at home.

One thing leads to another...

Last week we replaced the downstairs carpet. It needed it - BAD - besides Alex flooded the bathroom to finalize the deal. While sopping up water I thought "you know what - this is never going to get dry" so I started pulling up carpet, and the pad and then it was a done deal (remember the wallpaper deal - started picking off a little edge - pretty soon the whole room is bare - I can be kind of spontaneous like that). By the time the HotY got home from work my job was done and I was thinking about new carpet. So we picked out carpet - and if you pick out new carpet you might as well do the tile in the bathroom before the carpet because we all know how messy laying tile can be. And once you have everything cleared out of the rooms to make way for the new carpet and new tile you realize some of it just isn't worth putting back in place so you need new furniture and once you have new carpet and new furniture you realize how dingy your walls are so you need new paint to match the new carpet, new tile and new furniture. And once you have new carpet, new tile, new furniture and new paint you realize that the upstairs really needs some work. And so it goes. In reality the furniture isn't new - the living room furniture got moved to the family room and now the living room needs the new stuff - but not until the new carpet and new painting and new flooring in the kitchen are complete. And as long as I'm getting new flooring I might want to think about some remodeling in the kitchen and granite countertops. See one things leads to another. The upstairs work hasn't started yet and will probably be a couple months before it does but the seed has been planted.

Oh and about the kitchen flooring - we have a big patio door in the kitchen with a southern exposure. It gets HOT - so hot that it brings the glue from the current flooring to the surface. YUCK. So what to do? I'm worried about doing hardwood in the kitchen because I'm just not sure it holds up to the wear, the spills, the kids and the dog. I'm afraid to do a Prego type product because of the hot southern exposure. What about tile? I've heard negative things about tile in the kitchen, it's hard on your back, anything that drops is toast, and it's cold unless you are doing heated floors. So what do I do? Suggestions???? Experience? Please feel free to share your thoughts.

TTFN...

Let's not mince words...

So I don't typically write a lot about Alex - I'm not any less proud of him but Alex is a creature of habit and a man of few words. A typical conversation with him goes something like this: "Hi Alex. Hi Mom. How was school? Good How was lunch? Good. What did you have? Baked Potato. What do you want for supper? McDonalds No. What else do you want for supper? McDonalds. Alex we aren't having McDonalds. What about chicken? McDonalds. Alex. Yes mom. I love you. Oh mom. Silence and then McDonalds". As you can see he is a man who does not see the value of idle chit chat, say what you mean and move on. BUT last night I asked him to clear the table (I KNOW - what terrible parents - we give our kids jobs) and handed him my plate. He looked at the plate, looked at me, looked at the plate again and then looked me straight in the eye and said Pain in THE butt. Took the plate and walked away. I looked at Dennis, Dennis looked at me and I really could not help but laugh - which I did not want Alex to see because I didn't want to encourage him to call people a pain in the butt but really it was so darn funny. I guess maybe you had to be there - but really, funny. It was funny stuff - trust me.

TTFN... and I don't care what Alex says I am NOT a pain in the butt :-)

So they say it's your birthday...

Today's the day - for those of you who did not bother to Google Barbie's B-day :-) So far the day has begun well. The HotY wished me a Happy Birthday as soon as I got up, Alex gave me a great birthday hug and kiss and the girls sang me a wonderful birthday duet (they are more excited about the day than I am) and I had a nice birthday greeting on my desk when I arrived this morning. Oh and I stopped at Panera and picked up treats to share the love :-) I don't know that even that doll Barbie could have had such a great day so far.

So here's to a wonderful day and melting snow (because really nothing signifies the beginning of spring to me like my birthday).

TTFN... be happy - eat cake!

It's getting closer...

Barbie (as in Doll - significant other of Ken - sister of Skipper - beloved friend of girls everywhere) and I have a momentous day coming up (I'll let you figure it out). I don't know what big plans Ken has in store for his girl but I'm sure he has nothing on the HotY :-) (I'm still really missing that smilie emoticon - it's been at least two years since I first mentioned this affront and yet has Blogger listened? I think not). Regardless the day is coming. I don't have any big expectations. Truthfully I'd really just like the house cleaning and laundry doing fairy to show up. Now that would be a wonderful gift. If anyone knows where I might find that just let me know - I'm all over it.


So that's it - let the big week begin.

TTFN... and just for the record Barbie is older than me - much older :-)

Panic attack...

I think I can understand panic attacks. I don't know that I have ever had one but this morning I got myself so worked up over "what could happen" that I couldn't move for five minutes. I could just sit there and breathe DEEPLY. I think that may have been close to a panic attack.

I have a friend who is struggling with a very difficult time in her life right now. One night she went to bed and less than 24 hours later her life had drastically changed. She had no idea what was coming when she woke up on that last day of the life she knew - it just happened. Thinking about my friend and how fast life can change - THAT is what can immobilize me for five minutes in the morning.

A lot of the time we have absolutely no warning what life has in store for us on any given day. Just because my kids are getting up and starting their day just like any other day is not a guarantee that tomorrow will begin exactly the same way. That's scary. I know chances are great that tomorrow will be just like today (or even better) but what if it's not? What if something happens to my kids or the HotY or even that dang dog? I hate that about life - that unknown thing. BUT, as I understand it, there is nothing that can be done to prevent things from happening - unless you are willing to stop living. I thought about it for five minutes this morning (cocooning my family, my loved ones and myself) but then I realized the alternative of not living life completely and staying on the safe side isn't really living life. So here I go (just like everyone else) living another day and hoping for the best.

TTFN... go, live life - sometimes it all turns out much better than we expected - and sometimes it doesn't but at least we are living.

Well....

I could talk about the excellent presentation I attended earlier tonight by Dr. David Walsh about saying No to your children (seriously this was an excellent investment of my time - Say Yes to No is the name of his book - look it up). Yep, I could talk about that, BUT really there are other things to discuss. Other things like the pathetic bachelor (ummm let's see how long that lasts - my money says two weeks - and that is optimistic) and how pathetic it is that the pathetic bachelor is going to be on Dancing with the Stars. COME ON! Of all the pseudo celebrities in the world you people picked the bachelor, that John and Kate chick and Pamela Sue big boobs? Really that's who you picked? I don't even remember the rest of the cast because I was too busy checking out this sad group. I'm thinking the bottom of the barrel has been hit. Every event has a beginning, a peak, and an ending (can you say bell curve) - guess where I think DWTS is on the curve. Yep, BOTTOM OUT! I think I may be out this season - oh wait who am I kidding? I'll so be there but really only to see the train wreck - seriously...

TTFN... Oh and in between the dancing I'll be reading my book and learning to say no to my kids - really, trust me.