Ellen?

Ok, so, my 2 year old was watching Ellen and...

My 2 year old was eating her breakfast off of the high chair tray, when I decided to get into the shower. Meeeeema was asleep in the car seat, so I just pulled the high chair into the hallway where I could be sure that Boog would not feed sleeping Meeeeema any Froot Loops! I thought we were set until Boog let her need to watch Ellen get the best of her! As I was getting out of the shower, I noticed that she was leaning around the leg of the high chair, because she was trying not to move the high chair out of my sight, to get a better look at the tv. She only did this maneuver for a second before giving up and going back to her frooty goodness. Again, she decided to watch a little more Ellen, someone interesting must have been "up next," because she leaned around the leg again and that was all there was to it! She was on her belly and pinned between the wall and the high chair! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! I say that was PRICELESS! She got up with just a few muttered whimpers and went on eating her food!

God knows, there was to be no sympathy from momma! If you have that much of a TV addiction that you are willing to break your neck to watch Ellen at the ripe old age of 2, well I just can't feel sorry for that!

Mad Hatter? U Decide!

My sister has been on me about making all of the different things that I do and not taking pictures of them before I let them go! So, here is a mess of hats! Some of them have homes and some will be donations. I make them on the looms, because it was disasterous when I tried crocheting one on my own! I really do like making them though--there is something wonderful about completion of a project! And, even more so about knowing that my kids will not be destroying the project that I have finished! Everything else that I finish around here is undone in 5 minutes! UGH!

Have a great day!

Pink Zone

A few weeks ago, I was asked by a very good friend to help with a fundraising effort that uses proceeds to further breast cancer research. The organization is called the Pink Zone. This effort is extremely close to my heart, since my mother lost her battle with breast cancer and all of the other uglies that come with it in September of 2007. I gladly accepted the request to help make pink bracelets!

(There is a game at our local high school. The girl's basketball team is hosting the fundraiser for the Pink Zone. I truly hope it will be a success!)

I have plenty of "little helpers" along with some that would rather not be called "little helpers!" My two 6 year old sons, Bake and Bucko, my 9 year old daughter, Ponch, my sister and the one who asked me to do this in the first place, K, and I have all been working on making these not always quite pink, but always pink in theory, bracelets! I have been working a little here and there, when I can find extra time, during the day. My friend and sister and children have also helped on more than one occasion, so we have made a real "team effort" of it! I am proud of the willingness of my friends and family to help with something that has truly touched our family much deeper than we had ever wanted it to! I know we did not want to lose our mother, grandma, friend, but we all are doing what we can to make the best of a suck-ass situation! We are doing what we can to keep others from knowing the pain we have felt over the last 16 months!

As I just said in an email to a very dear friend of mom's, I do not want my children to feel the sting of any cancer! This is a monster that should not be living under any child's bed! I hate it and I want to stomp it out! I am very proud to have a chance to help make this dream a reality for many!

Before I got all frustrated about what cancer does to a family, I meant to say that the lady that the Pink Zone was started for, or however I mean to say that, passed away on Saturday, January 24th, 2009. When I got the message about her passing, I was deeply saddened and then I decided to turn the hurt and sadness, for another person lost to something so unworthy of taking lives as cancer is, into the determination to make as many bracelets as possible! My sister and I spent much of the day working diligently, because I think we both decided that the sting of death will not go unnoticed! We did not have to know Kay Yow to know that she deserved better! I believe that a strong fight deserves to be honored and noticed! This is my small attempt at that!

You fought a good fight Coach Yow! I am certain that many will miss you!

What Skinny Jeans Mean to Me!

What skinny jeans mean to me, is that I am just one dressing room door away from, "WTF is going on here?!?"

In Depth Conversation!

So, I am standing in the shower, which happens to be the only time/place that noone is hooked to my hip and my 11 year old, Z, finds his way into the bathroom. He tells me that he has been on the phone with TH's grandma. He tells me a little about their conversation before talking about the fact that he has a hard time understanding what is going on when she cries out of nowhere. She is the lady who lost her son a few months ago. I told Z that when she randomly cries she is thinking about things and just because she is not telling him what she is thinking about does not mean that she is alright. He seemed to still be a little puzzled, so I likened it to the way I felt when my mom died. I also told him that C has a harder time than I did, because her family has a hard time dealing with that loss, so most of them do not want to talk about it. This means she is just alone with her thoughts most of the time. As for me, I have so many friends who allowed me to bend their ears and did not ever try and change the subject, so I was able talk about my mother and get my fill of memories and sad thoughts or feelings, until I was "ok" with it! (This I am thankful for!)

Next thing I know, Z is telling me about all of his feelings and how he does not like to cry, because it just makes him feel worse and how he talks about the way things used to be when mom was around, because that is what he wants to think about--not her dying. I felt like there was some serious connecting going on--real breakthrough--until he interrupts right about the time I was telling him that our memories help us survive tough times and says,

"Mom, are you about done in here, because I really need to go to the bathroom!?!?"

Ok, so maybe not the breakthrough I hoped for, but I am making ground with the "no pooping while I am in the shower" part of life!

-5 at 1 o' clock?

Are you freaking kidding me? I mean, seriously? I am soooooooo stinking cold! It is -5 at 1 and I am pretty sure that I live in Illinois and not ALASKA! What the heck? My feet are freezing! And, because I don't like breathing hot air while I sleep, I had to sleep in a sweatshirt and pajama pants with long john's underneath! UGH! There is nothing worse than having to sleep in full gear! I even had two pairs of socks on! First thing this morning, I got up and turned the vent back on in my room! Did I mention that I have had the faucet running for a good 17 hours now? That's right, we had to turn it on early, because we live on a concrete slab and if the pipes freeze, someone will have to jackhammer up our entire kitchen!

How are the rest of you doing?

Anyone else froze to the ground?

Oh, and, I think I failed to mention that this wonderful weather has prompted a two-day and hopefully not 3 day school closing, which means my house is full of kids and everything that goes with them! It would be different if they were all calm and sweet natured all of the time, but come on! There are 6 full time kids and that means trouble--some time, some how, some way they will find it!

Have a great day!

So, I am Working on this Quilt...

So, I am working on this quilt and I was soooooo excited to do it, becaue I absolutely fell in love with the fabric that I just had to do something with it! It turns out that I am not really making a quilt, other than the part where I have to hand quilt it. HA! I did not make individual squares, because the material has a "quilt square" look to it to begin with, so it is more of a "blankie."

The whole thing started when my grandma got me a craft book. I do not read or follow patterns well, because I AM A MORON, so I did not really expect much from the book, but I did not tell grandma that! She lives on very little to begin with and if she saw fit to buy me a book I had better make the best of it, damn it!

Anyway, I got the book and called her to thank her and she started telling me about the duvet cover that she loved from the book. I have to wonder if she got the book for me or for me to make her a duvet cover that she liked, from said book?!?!? Regardless, I have the "pattern moron issue," so I decided I would search for some fabric to make her a "bed cover" with.

I love, love, love this material! It makes me think of Paris, which happened to be exactly what my sister said too, as she went material searching with me! It is soooo neat! Granny had better like it too, or ELSE! That's right! Or ELSE!

Since I decided not to make a "quilt square quilt" out of this "nearly perfect" material, I went ahead and got some coordinating green and pink material to put along the edges, so as to extend the side of the "bed cover" some. Did I mention that I looooooooove this material!?!? Well, I do!

Currently, I am doing the excrutiatingly slow hand quilting around the little hearts! I like hand quilting--sometimes! Right now, it is slow and slow and more slow, but I would have to guess that I will survive! I will let you all know if I don't!

After the quilting, all I have left is to secure the binding, so I guess I am well on my way to finishing this project. I can't wait to see grandma's reaction! I already ruined the "surprise" by calling her and telling her I am making her a "bed cover" and that she had better love it, flaws and all, because she loves me! You know, like when your 5 year old gives you a booger crusted kiss and it melts your heart, because it means they still love you even after learning you are not perfect after all! Yep, like that!

Well, that blanket/quilt/bed cover/anything but duvet cover is not going to quilt itself, so you have a great day and think of me working away!

This Just Sucks!

I just read something on MSN about Patrick Swayze's battle with pancreatic cancer and it is making me crazy! I hate the idea of someone going through cancer--anyone going through cancer! Any type of cancer! Any type of person!

I hate it!

I hate it!

I hate it!

HATE IT!

I sit here with one tear down my cheek and think about what my mom was going through when she first figured out that things were not going to be pretty and after reading his story, I just can't even think straight!

I guess this is better than shutting down all together?! I am just plain PISSED OFF!

GFIC

For Christmas, I got an assortment of thoughtful items from a good friend of mine. One of the items was a can of GFIC Chai Latte. I have never tried this kind, but I do love my chai, so I thought it would be worth a shot. What's that? You don't know what GFIC is? Ok, sorry! I will elaborate. Any coffee drinker over the age of, oh, let's say 40, if not before lost her flavored coffee virginity to General Foods International Coffees! Long before the time of Star Bucks and other major coffee chains, during a time when there were coffee shops rather than coffee houses, there was a can of GFIC on the countertop of many American housewives and otherwise! Good old GFIC! Suisse Mocha and other flavors were among my mother's coffee delights! I don't drink coffee, so I had never bought any of this, but it was in my box of gifts and certainly worth a try. I can say that if I tried drinking this particular brand of chai alone, I don't think I would be very pleased with it, because it is over run by cinnamon, but one teaspoon mixed in with my favorite Oregon Chai makes the most wonderful chai flavor explosion! YAY ME!

Yep, I really do get that excited over chai tea! It is just an extension of me and every part of my being! This morning I had to make a choice--treadmill, or chai? Meeeeema and I decided that the chai was a logical decision! It is just what has to be!

Have a great day coffee and non-coffee drinkers alike!

'Bout to Pee My Pants!

As I stand at the kitchen sink quite literally feeling like I am about to pee my pants, I realize that my daily routine is as such:

Need to fold the laundry (bout to pee my pants!).

Gotta wash the dishes (bout to pee my pants!).

Man, do I smell poop (bout to pee my pants!)?

Yep, better clean it up (bout to pee my pants!)!

Wish someone would take care of these kids (bout to pee my pants!)!

Ugh, who says we have to eat dinner (bout to pee my pants!!!)?

See ladies, I would probably be a million times better off if I would just go to the damned bathroom and stop trying to do one more thing before going! Instead, I get so frustrated, as I am RIGHT NOW, because I want to finish as many things as I possibly can before finally allowing myself to stop off at the trusty porcelain throne!

I am really, really about to pee my pants!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Well, I don't do the typical American New Year's resolutions, because they always seem to come back to bite me!

I would like to have a magical resolution about being more patient with my kids, but the last time I went and did something as sssssstupid as asking God for patience, I found myself wanting to beat the whole damned family for weeks and weeks on end!

So, I resolve to be more sensible with the things that I ask for!

What do you think about that!!?!???!

No suckers here!