Movie Review Monday

Toy Story 3:
We went last Tuesday to see TS3 and everyone loved it. Of course if you read last week's post you would know that it didn't start out all that great since I am pretty sure Sarah Jessica Parker was NOT in any of the Toy Story's LoL
Toy Story 3 is the final installation of the Toy Story Saga and it was just as good as the others, IMO. This movie was about Andy being all grown up and having to decide what to do with all his toys. After a mix up landing all the toys at Sunnyside Daycare, Woody must convince them they were not meant for the trash and help them return to Andy's house. Toy Story 3 is about love, friendship and sharing. Anyone who has ever seen any Toy Story should see this one and it is definitely worth the price to see in theaters. All of the kids sat through it and didn't make a sound. We cannot wait for this to come out on BluRay. It is one of the best trilogies of all time (again, in my opinion).


My kids love Toy Story so much that they have to have just about anything Toy Story related. We have the Toy Story 3 book with CD in the car, two Buzz umbrellas, Woody and Jessie dolls and numerous Toy Story themed pajamas that we have accumulated over the years.

And in the deepest voice he could muster, Adam says first thing this morning: "I'm Sheriff Woody!" Although he would have preferred the Buzz pjs (which they didn't have in his size), you can see how happy he is with these ones that daddy bought him yesterday at Wally World for only $9!

What A Weekend

Did you miss me??? Nah, didn't think so. But that's ok. I can still torture you with my pointless blog about my crazy life as an Army wife and mom to 5 kids. So there, you have been warned.

This weekend was jam packed full of fun... and pretty cheap fun too.

Friday was my hair dying adventure. If you missed it, you must check it out here. It is probably way funnier to me and Trista and probably would have been even funnier with pictures but we didn't think that far ahead. John had to get dinner ready while I was finishing up with my hair and then we all rushed out to Jacob's last baseball game.

The game was a good one. I think they lost... not quite sure but they don't tell the kids who won or lost. It is about having fun and learning how to play, after all. Jacob had a nice hit before we got there, struck out twice and then had another nice hit. He was batted into home and made a nice throw from center field to third base holding the runner at third instead of allowing the run to come in. He really enjoyed baseball but says he didn't enjoy it enough to play next year. We shall see though. He will likely play basketball in the fall so he can see how he likes that.

Saturday was the Quad Cities Air Show. John took the boys and went with a friend and his sons out to the airport for a hot, muggy and loud day. They didn't see many of the air shows but saw a lot of stuff on the ground. John got some good pictures of the boys on the Army helicopters and tanks and even some of Jacob doing push ups for the drill sergeant. Jacob and his friend got to man a couple of boxing robots and in the video I was sent on my phone I can hear Adam crying cause he wanted to do it too! They had a good time but ended up leaving early because of the heat.

While the boys were out enjoying the planes, we were in side shopping. Went to Old Navy first to use my rewards coupons. They were offering 30% off the entire store and I had $40 in coupons. I came away with almost $70 worth of clothes for me and the girls for only $5. After that we headed over to the mall for some random stuff for our 80s night. We went to Claires and found a hot pink shirt and lime green suspenders. We then met up with Kristina and her kids, and the guys at Spencer's before heading over to Hot Topic. Those three stores are like the ultimate 80s headquarters. We sent the boys home and then enjoyed some smoothies from Bubble Tea.

We were at the mall so long that the kids were starving so we had to get home for dinner. We made the kids some leftovers, John and Jacob went to the baseball picnic to get Jacob's trophy and Trista sent Jason to get us some chinese food. Mmmmmm. The rest of the night is a blur and I wasn't even drinking HA!

Yesterday was our road trip to the Chicago Southland Lincoln Oasis. Sounds like that would be a blast, right?! Not exactly. It is just a bridge over the turnpike with restaurants in it. We were meeting my mom there so she could take Jacob and Kadie for the week. It was a lot of fun though. Trista and I sang along to Britney Spears and all the Alice in Wonderland songs and talked about anything and everything we could think of. We made a stop at a gas station in the middle of the smallest town in history and stocked up on goodies for the ride home.

We got home around 6 last night, I got caught up on Facebook and then went to bed. I was exhausted. Next road trip, Trista drives :p

Adventures in Hair Dye

Today I let my friend talk me into dying my hair again... this time I went blonde (again) with a two pink stripes in the front. Mind you this is not the first time I have had hair this color but the last time was 15 years ago. And we used kool-aid! This time we went with the real deal. The good stuff from Hot Topic. And it went something like this...

Around 1230pm Trista showed up to dye my hair. I had two boxes... one medium blonde and the other medium auburn. I went with the blonde so we could do a pink stripe instead of the red with a purple strip since Trista has purple in her hair. We decided next time we would swap :)

We ran out of dye but managed to cover my hair and let it sit for 15 minutes. The box said 10 but we gave it a little longer for good measure since we were covering up red. It didn't work... my hair was now a strawberry blonde and not light enough to look good with the pink, so Trista ran out to get some Color Oops so we could "start over" and then the lightest blonde she could get.

We had the leave the Color Oops on for FORTY MINUTES!!! Saying this stuff smelled bad is an understatement. It smelled like a cross between rotten eggs and dirty diapers. I had to open the window and plug my nose. I was in my bathroom and Trista could smell it downstairs... it. was. bad. It worked though... for the most part. It took out the red but the blonde was now a nice yellow. Sadly we didn't think of getting any pictures until we were already fixing it with the new blonde.

Another 20 minutes later and I had blonde hair. Now it was time for the pink but it was after 5 o'clock so John was stuck making dinner. That didn't make him too happy. By the time we finished with my hair John and Jacob had already left for baseball and the rest of us had to eat dinner before we could go.

I brushed out my hair and blew dry it for the 4th time today and pulled my new hair back into a ponytail. I didn't have time to do anything else and I really liked it like this. I even put on a hot pink shirt and still have hot pink nails from my last mani/pedi. It really turned out good and I don't think I got any funny looks.

This is going to be awesome for 80's night and I feel 15 again and I LOVE IT! But if my hair falls out, Trista is buying me a wig... a good one too :)

Where Did Wednesday Go?

That's right! It was another one of those crazy hectic days that just got away from me.

We started yesterday morning with severe thunderstorms with a chance of tornadoes so Jacob stayed home from day camp. Good thing, too, cause he is scared of storms. We then had friends come over around lunch time to do some crafts. We made some cute Duck Tape purses! We made one for each of the older girls and it took forever. 4 rolls of Duck Tape to make 7 purses all for around $15. Not too bad!

After that was all done I sent Jacob home with a friend and kept two extra girls here with me. Then it started to storm again so we spent about an hour in the basement waiting it out. These storms are getting a bit ridiculous if I do say so myself. My friend has had her garden saturated, her basement flooded and half the shingles blow off her roof JUST THIS WEEK! It's insane. Summer isn't much fun when we are all hiding from Mother Nature.

John finally made it home from work and brought home pizza for us and the 7 kids we had here. I was beyond stressed out from the crazy day we had and had no desire to cook anything... not even leftovers. Pizza is always a winner though :)

After dinner I made the kids get ready for bed and watch a movie so that I could relax and do the same. I ended up watching Gracie. It's a soccer movie set in the late 70's where a girl wants to play on the boys soccer team after her brother (the team's soccer star) dies in a car accident. It's a feel good, you can do anything you put your mind to, kind of movie. Perfect for a lazy, rainy, stressed out from the day kinda night.

By the time that was over it was almost 11 and I was exhausted. So yah, that is where my Wednesday went. How was yours?

Adieu Good Friend

Thankfully, I am not referring to a real friend. At least, not a real HUMAN friend. However, I am saying a heartfelt goodbye the the movie theater that I have come to love and cherish.

12 years ago I worked for a great company. The people were awesome, the pay was alright but the perks... that was what made this job so desirable. FREE MOVIES!!! Anytime we wanted, we could go see a movie AND bring friends. How awesome is that?!

That company has now been bought out, sold, gone under. Not entirely sure since I haven't done any research but I do know that our local theater has been changed over and the theater I worked at is closing down. It is a sad day.

What makes this even sadder is that for about as long as I can recall, we have been visiting one Showcase Cinemas or another. Savannah didn't have one but I enjoyed going back to Ohio and visiting my former employer. Showcase/National Amusements was the envy of all other movie theaters.

Today I realized that no one can compare... at least not Rave Motion Pictures. Don't get me wrong here. I am not going to bash them or say don't go there. I am just a bit disappointed in our experience this evening. An experience that prompted my husband to say, "This never would have happened if this was a Showcase Cinemas."

You see... just recently our Showcase Cinemas was bought out by a company called Rave Motion Pictures. During the transition they cut the frequent customer program which allowed card holders to receive points every time they visited and at one point they could only accept cash due to a system change. They changed the entire pricing for their concessions and they even changed the military pricing for their 3D movies.

While all that is a bit disappointing, there is nothing that can be done about it. It is the only theater in town and heck, I like me some buttery movie theater popcorn straight from the concession stand. None of that is going to stop me from going. And still, nothing is going to stop me. I might as well get to the point of this story before you all stop reading.

Tonight we made a trip out to Rave Motion Pictures to see Toy Story 3 with the kids. We opted to go with the 2D instead of the 3D since we were already there and didn't want to wait around with the kids. Besides that, I hate the 3D movies, I had a headache and the kids never keep their glasses on anyway so basically it's a waste of money. Tuesdays are only $6 for all movies, all ages and even the 3D shows so taking 5 kids on a Tuesday saves us $10 (more if we weren't military and more if it's a 3D showing).

We get our tickets, find enough seats for all 12 of us that went together (the theater was packed for a weeknight) and waited for our movie to start. When we first sat down they were showing some commercial with Toy Story characters in it and then moved right into the previews. We saw previews for movies like Life As We Know It and Morning Glory which were not exactly kid friendly. I enjoyed the previews but we saw Rachael McAdams in lacy undergarments and heard Christina Applegate talking about dry humping. Yes, all that with a bunch of kids in the theater.

I was getting a bit concerned but remembered seeing the Toy Story commercial when we first came in and figured they were marketing movies for the older crowd. You know the ones I am talking about. All the teens and 20-somethings that have waited, what, 10 years for a Toy Story 3. So ok, I get it. Then it happened. The movie started and it was NOT a kid friendly movie. There she was strutting her stuff across the screen... Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex and the City 2. Big OOPS!

Myself and another movie-goer ran out of the theater to track down an employee. They immediately came in to check it out and got in touch with the projector room to get it sorted out. It took forever and not before a few choice words were blurted out on screen and a bird was flipped. Nothing my kids haven't encountered but I am sure there were some parents that would not be taking this as lightly as I am.

We didn't get to start watching our 7 o'clock movie until 8 but we were offered the opportunity to switch to a new theater (to see the 3D showing) and then were all given passes to come back another time. We waited it out and even when it was showing the right movie it still was not completely fixed. Some how the alignment got thrown off and there was about a foot of black on the bottom of the screen and a foot of projected movie above the screen. It didn't hurt the movie any and no one seemed to complain... we were just ready to get on with our movie.

The movie itself was great. Very funny. The kids loved it, the parents loved it, the teens loved it and I will definitely be first in line when this comes out on Blu Ray. The cast of voices were all the same and all the new characters were great. If you haven't read about the hidden things in this movie, keep your eyes peeled and see if you can spot them. *HINT* Check out the garbage man's teeshirt :)

Just So You Know

It may seem like I am purposely not posting a blog on Sundays... but I wish that were true. Sundays just seem to get away from me. It is our "clean whatever needs cleaning" day and we usually just spend the day together as a family.

Yesterday was such a busy day that I didn't have much time to get on the computer. We didn't get up until 1030am, ate "breakfast" at noon and then at 2 I had to rush out the door to get a birthday present for a birthday party that started at 3. When I got to the party and met up with a friend she handed me her phone. Apparently, I had left mine at home and my husband was calling to let me know his mom would be there around 6... not 9 like originally thought.

That may seem like an honest mistake... a bit of dyslexia, if you may. I assure you, it was not. It was a case of, "Hey dad, what time is mom going to be in town?" to which he replied... "Not til late, around 9 or so." Then the husband calls his mom to see where she is, what time she will be here, etc etc, to find out that she already left and would be here around 6. Oops. Guess he isn't taking the girls to the park... he has to clean! And on father's day!! Double oops.

I must say, he did an excellent job. I was very impressed. I even left the birthday party early so I could come help and he didn't have all that much left to do. I made a bed, picked up a bit of the kitchen that had gotten messy again and then started dinner (which we ate just shortly after the mother in law arrived).

After dinner we took a ride out to Scott County Park to see where Jacob would be spending day camp this week with the boy scouts. We found it without getting lost in the ginormous park... woohoo! Then we came home for some popsicles, but not before stopping to get me a tall caramel lite frappachino hold the whip :)

Six Word Saturday

***The weather is nice... for now***

see my previous post in case you are wondering why this is my life in six words :)

Blucky Weather

The weather here in Iowa has been blah and yucky... hence, the blucky weather title. Overcast, hot, humid, rain, thunder, lightning, hail and possible tornadoes. And have I mentioned... I HATE STORMS!

I am a big chicken when it comes to storms. Not so much now that I have kids because I have to make sure they aren't too scared but they still make me nervous. I never have an emergency bag ready so I almost always run around throwing some things in a backpack... just in case.

Today we had a severe thunderstorm warning with high winds and the sky by my house was an eerie shade of green. That did not make me comfortable so I sent the kids to the basement and did my rounds of the house. I turned off lights, made sure the kids had clothes and shoes on (you know, so their feet don't fly away in the storm), threw some flashlights and important documents in a bad and took our laptops downstairs to wait out the storm.

The kids were completely calm and no one complained about being stuck in the basement. That probably had something to do with us having three laptops and a tv down there and still had power to use them all. Nonetheless, they didn't drive me crazy like they would have if we were in Savannah still.

In Savannah we had to sit in our hallway which was right in front of the washing machine and dryer which made me very uncomfortable. Sometimes I would make the kids sit in the closet at the end of the hallway since it was the innermost place in the whole house but it wasn't very big. They hated being in there without me and if I was in there it was hot and noisy. The kids would fight with each other and fight over who was sitting with me. That is the great thing about having a basement... they can spread out.

After the first row of storms passed by, I came upstairs and left the kids down there. Much to my surprise they actually stayed down there for well over an hour. I had enough time to wash all the counters, do a load of dishes, clear the table and wipe it down, sweep the hallway, dining room and kitchen and clean the living room. It was so quiet. I wish it was like that more often but I won't hold my breath.

A second set of storms rolled through this evening and they didn't make me quite as nervous as the first set. The sky was much more ominous in some places but by the house it was mostly just a thick cloud cover with occasional thunder and TONS of wind. Wonder if my garbage can is still standing?

When John came home from work he found our garbage can had been knocked over with the wind from the first storm. Luckily that is all that happened at our house. Our friends weren't so lucky. Yesterday they had a flood in their basement and today half their roof shingles blew off.

Sadly, this is not the last of the blucky weather we will see. The forecast for the next 10 days is nothing but rain and storms. Anyone else think there might be something to all the end of the world movies??? They all center around crazy weather! (Well except for the ones where we are attacked by aliens or giant robots).

*edit* I have been informed that my garbage can is safely tucked away in the garage. Now I can rest easy :)

Blogging

I am lying in bed this morning and as I am trying to go back to sleep I remember that I have been terrible about blogging this week. I have been a day late with all my posts (but backdating them... sneaky, huh).

So to get on top of things I start blogging in my head. Have you ever done that?! Or maybe it was an email, or letter, or a conversation you wanted to have... you just start saying what you want to say in your head and it just flows so easily.

I was half way through my WFD blog and thought to myself... if I sit here too long thinking about what I am going to write, then I will forget it by the time I actually get down stairs and start blogging. So I jumped out of bed and got right on it. It didn't turn out exactly like it played out in my head but it was still a decent entry.

There really wasn't much of a point to this blog except calling myself out on my deceitful blogging, but I just wanted to share on time, at least once this week. So like it says, "Blogging with Discipline, regular writing, occasional brilliance." This was just a regular writing :)

WFD

Almost every day before coming home from work I get a text from my husband asking, WFD, what's for dinner. And up until recently I always knew. I had a menu with two weeks of dinners planned out and all I had to do was consult that. Now it seems my answer is always, IDK, I don't know.

I forgot to take something out, nothing will be thawed within the hour and what can we make that is quick and easy. Lately we have been really good about cleaning up the leftovers in the fridge. So good that my fridge looks empty without any in there. On the plus side, it has kept us from wasting food. Another common dinner around here has been breakfast. Pancakes, corn fritters, eggs and even cereal some nights.

Makes me feel like a crappy mom for not having a better dinner planned, so last night I took out some hamburger. It had been forever since we had tacos and that was what I wanted. I didn't make them the same as I usually do... with taco seasoning... but with chipotle seasoning this time. On whole grain tortillas too, instead of regular flour tortillas.

The kids loved them! I was surprised that each and every one of my kids ate their entire taco. Even Lexi, the pickiest eater in this house, ate her whole taco. She didn't ask for seconds, but she did say she liked it after asking why it tasted different. I was pleasantly surprised and extremely happy to know my daughter is giving different things a chance rather than just saying she doesn't like it and refusing to try it.

And since I was such a good mom for dinner tonight, I decided to pull out dinner for tomorrow too. Tomorrow we are having crockpot roast. Mmmmm.

I *HEART* Chick Fil A

Shortly after moving here, I attended a playdate at Chick Fil A. They were offering free breakfast every Thursday so it was a super cheap breakfast and a nice way to hang out with new friends. That lasted through the end of the year.

Then we learned about Mommy & Me which was every Tuesday morning. Free coffee or hot chocolate for moms. Singing, dancing and crafts for the kids. It became such a routine that when summer hit, we weren't sure what we were gonna do. Taking 5 kids to Chick Fil A for breakfast and crafts can be expensive and a test of any mom's sanity.

But even though it is crazy sometimes we still plan to go at least twice a month (when we get paid) so the kids get their dose of chick'n minis and I can pay the bills. Yes, you heard me... pay the bills. They recently started offering free wifi at our local Chick Fil A so while the kids do their fun stuff and play in the play area, I can get my bills paid so I have more time at home for fun stuff like doing the dishes and washing the laundry. I know, that was pretty funny, wasn't it ;)

Movie Review Monday

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - Johnny Depp was excellent, as was the entire cast. In this movie adaptation of the musical, a man is wronged and comes back after 15 years for revenge with a new name and unrecognizable by the townspeople. I thought I would be "scared" to watch this by myself but up until the end I found the "blood" pretty comical. It was a great story and I loved the music. Worth a look if you like dark movies/musicals.

2012 - Toted as the "Best Disaster Movie Ever Made" by some guy from Fox, I did not think this was the case. Don't get me wrong... I LOOOOOOOVED the movie but I still think The Day After Tomorrow was much better. 2012 is a gripping movie with lots of action and a family outrunning everything that comes their way. If you like disaster movies this is definitely one to check out. It will keep you on the edge of your seat... but if you are one for the "believable" you may find this more comical than anything since there are lots of unbelievable aspects. To me, that makes the movie that much better. I only had a few "issues" with the movie myself... one part being when a plane is engulfed by an ash cloud but manages to escape when I know the ash would have ceased up the engines and took down the plane. But nonetheless... great movie! Great acting! Great story line!

Six Word Saturday

*A Handful of Kids All Summer*

Plus some! I don't think we have gone but a few nights since summer started without at least a couple kids staying the night. It has been fun for the kids and not too stressful on me. So far, so good. It's free fun for them and that is what matters, right?

Lexi's Dilemma

A couple weeks ago, Lexi dropped her High School Musical piggy bank and the bottom corner broke in several pieces. She brought it down for her dad to fix but we didn't have any super glue so it sat on the counter until a couple days ago.

This morning Lexi took it upon herself to fix it. She improvised and used some nail polish. So proud of herself she just had to come show me in the kitchen. I admired her handy work and then came her dilemma.

"Mom, what do I do with the piggy bank that is in my room?"

You see, we had an extra piggy bank and I gave that to her until we could get hers fixed. I told her to just leave it for now until I figured out what to do with it and she turned around to go back upstairs.

That's when she got her answer as to what to do with the other piggy bank....

CRASHHHHHH!!!! Her bank slipped out of her hands and shattered into a million (ok, maybe not that many) pieces and there was no way it was getting nail-polished back together. Our hands flew to our mouths and then we both started laughing. Guess we now know where that other piggy bank is going... no where!

It's Been One Week

since the kids' last day of school and I must say, it has flown by.

We were kept busy with end of year parties, final soccer games, cleaning for our bi-annual inspection and just trying to not be driven nuts in each others' company. I have a feeling come August I am going to wish the summer hadn't quite flown by.

We have a ton of tentative plans for summer vacation. We already went to Adventureland once and I think we may make another trip some time later this summer. The library is offering a ton of free summer events including crafts and movies so that will keep us busy for at least a couple hours. Going swimming is also a free activity since we have two friends with pools. We already found out that our two youngest are little fishies in the water. Put a life jacket on them and let them go! They are little pros.

Jacob and Kadie are going to Ohio at the end of the month for a fun-filled week with Grandma Kim and Papa Don. They are going to play baseball in the yard, go fishing, go to a Mud Hen's game and do lots of other fun stuff. They cannot wait!

We will all be going to Ohio the first week of July and Lexi's friend Ashley and her family are meeting us there! How exciting! We will be going to Cedar Point, the zoo, and definitely making a stop at Bob Evan's. You know, no Toledo trip is complete without that traditional Bob Evan's meal. We will probably make a trip to Tony Packo's too for some fried pickles that we did not know existed until recently. Yummm!

When that trip is done, Lexi will head back to Georgia with Bonnie, Ashley & Tyler for three weeks. She has flown before, so I don't doubt she will be fine but she will be a UM on the way home. That is an "unaccompanied minor" and that makes me a little nervous. Thankfully it is a non-stop flight and she is a very independent, smart and mature 9 year old.

After Lexi comes home from Georgia it will be time to meet my friends from all over the country! It's the annual Spunky meetup, only this year we invited the RCC girls along too. I cannot wait! We have plans to go to Chicago, the Mississippi Valley fair and drink lots of yummy stuff of the alcoholic variety.

I am hoping to make a trip up to Des Moines for the Iowa State Fair to see Jeff Dunham for John's birthday but nothing is definite yet. It would be a total blast and he definitely deserves a great birthday treat. We will see how that goes... it would be a great end to a great summer though. That is for sure.

Two and a half months with all 5 kids at home while the hubby does his Army duties sounds a little bit like torture but when I put it all out there... I don't see much time for being stressed... let alone enough time to hog-tie and gag 5 kids while I rock in the corner sucking my thumb begging for my mommy!

Adventures in Adventureland

This past weekend we made a last minute decision to tag along with a friend to Adventureland. The military rate is about $10 cheaper than the price at the gate and I got a sitter for two of the kids while John worked so we could save some money and gas by taking just one car.

The forecast called for rain and yesterday morning the sun was disguised behind a mass cover of clouds. Luckily the rain held off for most of the day and the potential of rain held off the locals, so we pretty much had the place to ourselves from 10am to 8pm. I don't even think we waited 5 minutes for any ride.

There were 6 kids (3 of mine, 3 of my friend's) and 3 adults (my friend's mom was our lifesaver). It worked out perfectly so that 2 kids would go with 1 adult but by lunch time we were all together again and stayed that way for the rest of the day.

The babies (3yr old Ayden and 4yr old Adam) had a blast on all the kiddie rides and even some big kid rides. They both rode the log ride, an underground/in the dark roller coaster, and Adam would have rode anything they let him on. I cannot wait til he is big enough to ride the coasters with me.

The 5 yr old girls (Kady & Kadie) were a little brave as well. They both rode The Dragon which is almost like the corkscrew. It goes really fast and upside down twice. My Kadie cried when she got off the first time but wanted to ride it a second time with other Kady. Unfortunately the gift shop did not have any "I survived The Dragon" shirts small enough for the tiny girls.

The two 7yr old boys (Seth & Jacob) were not quite so brave but had a blast on all the water rides getting soaked from head to toe. Even though it was a rainy and cool day, we still managed to have a fun time riding the log ride, the river rapids and a waterslide ride where 6 people sit in a giant innertube and get splashed (but only a little).

Trista and I enjoyed having her mom there to watch the kidlets while we road on some rides. We rode "Space Shot" 4 times... once on each side for a different view of the park from the top. The kids loved waving at us from down below. We didn't really ride anything else that at least some of the kids could ride but being such a dreary day and having her mom there allowed us to be able to enjoy ourselves more than we would have had we been there on a hot and crowded day with no extra hands and eyes.

Now I just can't wait to take Lexi to an amusement park again now that she is a bit taller and maybe a little bit braver. Now that she knows her 5 yr old sister can do the big rides, maybe she will too. I just won't traumatize her with a big ride first :)

Everyone Has A Twin

We were at Target today when EVERYONE had to use the bathroom. I was standing outside the "green" stall (the one with the green handle... the ONLY one with the green handle that my 3yr old insists on using whenever we are there) when I noticed a lady standing behind me.

It was kind of busy in there but not enough that someone had to wait since there were still plenty of open stalls. Feeling like I was being stared at, I turned to see if she was actually staring. And she WAS! Right at me.

And to top it off, she looked just like me. Maybe that is why she was staring... she, too, knew that everyone has a twin somewhere in the world and she was just as shocked as I was to see hers standing next to her in the bathroom. It was just too weird.

I had to do a double take when I noticed that my twin was even wearing clothes similar to mine and even had her hair pulled back the same way I did. I realized then that my twin was really, truly my twin in all ways because she was just my reflection staring back at me from the mirror. I swear I came to this conclusion much quicker than it took you to read this LoL

I Expect More

In every relationship you get what you give... at least that is the way it should be. It doesn't always happen that way and it drives me a little crazy.

Mostly I am talking about friendships. Doesn't matter if you have been friends for 18 years, 18 months or 18 days... if you are friends, then you are friends. You expect to be treated the way you treat your friends.

I think I am an excellent friend. If someone needs a babysitter for mom's night... I offer my husband. No, seriously, I do. He usually agrees. He is awesome like that... because he is a good friend. He knows that if we want someone to watch our kids that we have to watch their kids at some point too.

I am always willing to help. If I am out shopping with a friend and they forget their debit card... I cover their total. If my friend wants a date night with her hubby and has no one to watch her plethora of kids... I do it. No questions asked. I even feed them dinner if they haven't eaten yet. Someone needs to borrow a vacuum, a car, a stamp... I am offering what they need. It is just who I am and it makes me expect more out of my friends.

So it kinda bothers me when I ask a friend for help... no matter how small or large... and they turn me down. Or completely ignore the request altogether. Do unto others, right?

Bad Soccer Mom

In seasons past, I was always taking pictures... I attended every game... I took videos and cheered loudly into the camera. I was a great soccer mom and I loved every minute of it. Maybe that was because I HAD to be there...

John wasn't always able to and I had to make sure he didn't miss anything. This year he is Lexi's soccer coach and is able to stay home with all the other kids when Adam plays so I can actually relax and watch the game. When you are taking pictures you don't actually get to watch the game and see your kid play. So all the memory you have of that game is in pictures which don't always hold the same emotions as actually seeing the game. So I took it as a nice break to be able to actually watch my kids play.

I confess, I have been lazy with attending things now that John is home all the time. I can send him to games, school functions, and to the grocery store for milk when we run out. It just makes life so much easier... and less chaotic. It almost makes me forget how I did it without him. So maybe this soccer mom isn't so much a bad one... but a dependant one. I depend on my husband to give me that much needed break even if it is just me taking one kid to a soccer game, drinking my coffee and not taking pictures.

It is a break I welcome but it's not the soccer mom I want to be. Next season I promise to try harder... take more pictures, cheer louder, and post videos on YouTube for the world to see. And maybe I can even talk John into coaching again... yah, probably not.

Six Word Saturday

*Will soccer be cancelled or not*

That is what is on my mind this blucky Saturday. Lexi's last soccer game is this afternoon and the forecast calls for severe thunderstorms today. It would kinda work out nicely if it was cancelled because we have the library's reading kick off at noon and her game starts at 130. Then again, my luck is not that good. Which is why I really want to know if they are going to have the game or not.

And... You Are?

All day I was thinking of things I could possibly post on my blog and now...

NOTHING!

Can you believe it?! No????!!! Well, I can. My brain is complete mush these days. I am lucky if I can spit the right kid's name out before going through all of my options (and some that aren't even mine). Imagine calling out to one of your kids and wondering why they aren't answering only to find out you were calling them by the neighbor kid's name.

Ok, well I'm not that bad... yet. I am getting there though. I, seriously, cannot remember anything anymore. Ask me my soc. or birthday and I spout off John's. Not that that is unusual for an Army wife considering we need those two numbers so often that that alone makes my brain hurt. Just today I forgot my own phone number. It's getting crazy.

I swear I have a brain tumor... or early onset Alzheimer's. Alright, stop your laughing. But you know it starts with pregnancy brain... then it's mommy brain... and what then? Will it ever end? Seriously... will I ever get my brain back? Because... well... damn, I forget what I was going to say :)

Liar, Liar

Mediacom's pants were on fire!

Ok, so they don't really have pants... but they did lie to us.

On Sunday, my dear husband accidentally cut through the cable line. Of course it had to be on a holiday weekend and we were not expecting anyone to come out until at least Tuesday. However, the nice lady on the phone assured us that someone could come out THAT. VERY. AFTERNOON. I was about to be head over heels in love with a cable company! Then they didn't show...

At 7pm, my hubby called back and this time he was told someone had tried calling us twice. I looked all over for my phone after he talked to them and found that I had no missed calls which prompted John to call them back, AGAIN. Only this time he was told he was lied to... not once, but twice.

There are no techs that work Sundays and the soonest they could get anyone out would be on Tuesday. Not this person's fault, but she apologized profusely and set us up with an appointment for Tuesday afternoon. Ok, so we could wait a couple days since we weren't expecting a quick service call on a holiday weekend in the first place.

Tuesday rolls around and I make it a point to be home by noon to wait for the cable guy. Again, a no show so John makes yet ANOTHER call to Mediacom. This time he was told that no one would be able to make it out because of a commercial outage that would prevent us from getting any service anyway (I am assuming here because the lady was not clear but obviously nothing was going to be resolved with attitudes and choice words). She told us we may have someone come out on Wednesday but probably not until Thursday. So, another appointment was scheduled... this time for Thursday, between 3 and 5.

I tried napping and kept the phone close by anticipating the call saying they were on their way (which is what we were told would happen). No call and still no tech at 4pm. They still had another hour but I wasn't going to hold my breath and was ready to scout alternative cable/internet providers. Then the doorbell rang!

Finally, they were here and my faith in them has been restored. It didn't take but 5 minutes for the cable guy to splice our line. A quick tv check and resetting of the modem & network adapter and we were back in business. Woo! How good it feels to be back in the land of the living.

ECHO.... echo...

Wow! Has it really been 4 months since I last posted?! Yah, I have no excuse. I spend a lot of time on the internet and there is no reason I shouldn't have been posting. I take that back, I do have an excuse but it's not a good one. In fact, it's such a bad excuse that I won't blame you if you never come back...

I am a quitter. Seriously! I quit EVERYTHING! I mean, I did graduate from high school and I did graduate from college and I would never quit being a mom no matter how much I want to... but still, everything else, I have quit. Other than being a mom, the longest job I ever held was for 11 months and while I thought I was fired, I actually quit... long story that I might share at a later date but right now... we are talking about me being a quitter.

So yah, I'm a quitter. That Couch to 5k I started... never finished. This blog... just up and quit one day. Workouts, diets, jobs... the list goes on and on and on. I want to change, I do... and I think this is where I will start.

I always feel like I have no purpose in life... like I want to go back to school or get a job to occupy my time. You know, what little time I have left after my kids have sucked the minutes out of the day. Something for me, something to escape to and that is what this blog is supposed to be. And even though I talk about my kids a lot... it is still my little vacation. A chance to feel like I am doing something useful besides the typical screw-up-my-kids-and-save-for-their-therapy-bills-instead-of-college-mom.

So, what do you say? Are you with me? Will you help me do something and hold me accountable? Hello? Is anyone out there? Are you even listening? Well... even if I am the only one reading this I am still going to do it. Like it or not, Bri is back in Blogger Town!