The Haunted Housewife

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!
See the Haunted Housewife run screaming from the house.
I give up. I quit. It's just not fair!
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!
What could possibly have caused such Halloween terror in TypicalTown, America?

Read The Haunted Housewife to find out...

Do you remember those books? Choose your own adventure. I liked them. I even tried to write one once. Now I'm going to write another one. Are you ready?

Once upon a time there was a Happy Housewife. Let's call her Ruby. Ruby woke up early one Halloween morning to face her morning workout torture. Unfortunately before she could even make it out the door to the gym, she was faced by the gaping dishwasher and the over-flowing sink full of dirty dishes. Bummer. No Dish Fairy came to visit last night. Oh well, she thinks, the dishes will have to wait. Boot camp torture comes first!

Just over an hour later, Ruby returns home, tired and sweaty. Dutiful and loving wife that she is, she immediately starts a pot of coffee then turns to face the Dish Monster. Time passes. Children wake up. Children are called to breakfast. Children are sent to dress in their cutest Halloween clothes. More time passes. Panic sets in - why aren't the lunches made yet? Why do you have so many tangles in your hair? Put on your shoes! Put on your coat! Hurry, hurry, hurry! We're late! Does Ruby get a shower after her workout? No, of course not. But that's okay. After a couple errands, there will be time for a shower later.

The morning passes. Ruby returns the library books, checks out some new library DVDs, buys milk and a snack, and returns home with just enough time for a very quick shower.

Should Ruby
a) take a quick shower
b) wait and take a shower later


But wait, she thinks. I'm worth more than just a rushed shower. I'm worth a long, hot, take-my-time shower. I'll take a shower while Littlest Child eats lunch and watches the new DVDs. Ruby gathers some newspaper clippings for her friend Shanita, cleans out the car console a bit, then heads to PreSchool Land to pick up Littlest Child.

Fast forward... Littlest Child is watching Dora so Ruby heads upstairs for her long-awaited shower. Oh look - the shower bucket is full. Ruby empties the water into the garden then turns on the water to warm up.

Should Ruby
a) take a shower
b) decide to give the shower a quick scrub before she gets in

Ruby decides that she should really give the shower stall at least a cursory scrub before the mildew comes to life and attacks someone. She very carefully removes the shower bucket that has accumulated another 3 inches or so of water in it and puts it on the rug next to the bathtub. She squirts a little Soft Scrub on the shower then rubs it in with the scrub brush. Somehow in her ultimate gracefulness, Ruby manages to knock over the bucket, spilling the water all over the rug and the bathroom floor. Alrighty then, she sighs. Guess I'll be cleaning the whole bathroom today. It wasn't the plan for the day but it needed to be done.

Two hours later, Ruby is showered and the bathroom is clean. The first load of rugs has been washed. Littlest Child has become bored of Dora and wants to help Ruby. They do a little vaccuuming of the bedroom then head down to the laundry room together. Put two rugs in the dryer. Discover the rubber backing from the other two rugs is coming apart. Decide to throw them away.

Should Ruby
a) check the deep sink to see if the rubber backing has clogged the drain
b) go on about her business as if nothing is wrong

Ruby and Littlest Child put towels in the washer, turn it on, then leave to pick up the Big Kids at Big Kid School.

Fast forward about an hour. All the kids are home. Oldest Boy has assembled his bow and arrows for his Halloween Archer costume. The missing rocket has been returned by Nice Neighbor Lady and another rocket has been swallowed by the Very Tall Pine Tree. Ruby decides to go see if the rugs are dry or if they need to be hung outside on the sun.

Eeewwww! What was that? Why is the floor wet?! Oh no! The deep sink is clogged and overflowed. Why is it that Ruby's hard work cleaning the bathroom has been rewarded with a flooded laundry room? Why? Why? Why?

Should Ruby
a) run screaming from the house. I give up. I quit. It's just not fair! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!
b) call her friends to vent her woes, laugh at herself, and keep on keeping on.

An hour or so later, the laundry room is mostly soaked up. Dinner is cooking and it's almost time for trick-or-treating. Oh and don't forget the icing on the cake... while mopping up the mess, Ruby discovers that the washer was set for Extra Rinse. Because, really, there wasn't enough water on the floor already today!

Wonder Woman Stuffed Zucchini

Come close... I'm about to give away an old secret family recipe for Wonder Woman Stuffed Zucchini. Do you have your pencils ready to copy it down? Okay, here we go...

1. Make regular stuffed zucchini for dinner. Decide there is enough stuffing left to make stuffed zucchini again soon.

2. Put extra stuffing into a freezer bag. Decide not to label the bag because of course you will remember what is inside. Place bag in freezer.

3. Wait about a month.

4. Decide to make spaghetti. Now that it is actually fall and you have no fresh tomatoes on hand, decide to use some frozen spaghetti sauce you made over the summer.

5. Remove bag of frozen spaghetti sauce and leave to thaw on counter.

6. It's getting late. Decide to warm sauce on stove while you cook noodles and prepare garlic bread.

7. Stir sauce.

8. Look very closely and wonder to yourself... "WHAT is that?!!?" After all, it looks like spaghetti sauce with meat (probably ground beef) but wait - is that rice?

9. Have lightbulb moment. Oh yeah! That's the extra stuffed zucchini stuffing I was saving. Maybe I should have labeled it. Duh!

10. Debate whether or not you should still have noodles. Decide to cook the noodles anyway since the Bella won't touch the stuffing if her life depends on it.

11. Come up with a creative name to sell this latest creation to the diners... How about Wonder Woman Stuffed Zucchini?! The zucchini boats are invisible just like her plane is invisible!

12. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and enjoy with a slice of garlic bread and a glass of wine.

And finally... (this last step is optional)

13. Tell Husband what's for dinner. Laugh. Forbid him to stop for a free taco at Taco Bell on the way home. Force him to eat your special secret family recipe. You may have to go out later to get him the taco anyway so use your own judgement on this one.

Pass the Earplugs!

There are 6... count them, 6, kids about 10 feet from me playing "jump to our deaths!" Which, actually is fine with me. I just wish they'd do it silently! The joy and hilarity of it all is about to rupture my eardrums.

Okay, they really aren't jumping to their deaths. They're leaping down 2 steps onto a fuzzy blanket. This is safe because 1) it's only two steps down and 2) they are going one at a time. And at least one parent is expected to arrive in about 9 minutes which will reduce my total number of charges to 4. And technically, I have to keep 3 of them anyway. So if they can refrain from actually killing themselves or getting hurt in any way for the next 10 minutes I'm home free!

Individually they're fine but...

Last night was Homecoming. Ron was the designated photographer for Melissa and her friends. He met them after dinner, took a few great shots, then came back home.

This morning we were talking and Ron said... I don't want to have any teenagers. I think I'll have to sell ours before they turn into teenagers. Why, I asked. Well, individually they're fine but get them into groups...

Hmmm... sounds like a few Marines I know. Individually they're fine, but get them into groups. Ugh!

So anyway, even though Melissa came home late, everything seemed to go well. I didn't get the official report yet since I went to bed as soon as she got home last night and needless to say, she's not awake yet at 0900 the next morning. I'm not in favor of teenagers because I don't want to have to stay up late waiting for them to get home. 013o is definitely past my bedtime. I was expecting her at 1 (per her other mother's instructions) which is still past my bedtime, but apparently Ron approved her delayed curfew. Hmm. Guess we'll see about that "struck by lightning" promise when the Real Mom gets home tonight!

Diamond Is A Girl's Best Friend

Apparently Bella has an imaginary friend. Her name is Diamond. She is the only one in her family who is invisible. She lives in the field of the white dandelion just through the woods.

Who knew!?!

It is kind of nice to hear Bella telling about Diamond. I rarely hear her speaking of imaginary things. Is it because she's the middle child who never spends time alone with me? Is it because she is so quiet that she never talks about anything? I'm sure I don't know and I probably never will know.

It's Just Hair... It Will Grow Back...

or in other words... Wow! That's short!

I went to the salon this morning, compliments of my neighbor. The hairdresser recommended cutting it short. It will look good, she says. It will make you look younger, she promises. I, being incapable of saying no, discussed it for a minute but ultimately caved in. After all, as I tell the kids all the time, it's just hair. It will grow back.

An hour and a half later I'm looking at a pile of hair on the floor and a girl with very short hair in the mirror. What have I done?!?!?

Do I look younger? Not that I can tell. Do I hate it? No, but I'm not sure if I love it. I don't think my hair has been this short since my mom took me out back with scissors and a garbage bag during the Lice Scare of 5th Grade and cut it all off. Not even when I cut it "short" upon graduation and commissioning. What I miss already are the options. I can no longer wear it up or wear it down or curl it. It is what it is.

I have no other opinions yet so I've got my fingers crossed that every one will love it and think I look 10 years younger.

And if not, that's okay. It's just hair. It will grow back. I hope.

Ryan Tidbits

A new diet plan... recommended for scaredy-cats... The Chicken Diet.

How it works? Imagine everyone is a monster, scream and run away, A LOT, which burns lots of calories. Apparently he got it from a Scooby book. Of course. Scooby, monsters, running away...

At first I thought he meant scaredy cats should eat a lot of chicken but then he explained it to me. Maybe I should try the chicken diet.

**************

Darn... there was another really good one and now I can't remember what it was. Maybe it will come to me later.

Wait - I remember now!

Felisa is the #3 leader of the house. Don't mess with her. Seriously. Daddy is the #1 leader, Mommy is the #2 leader, and Felisa is the #3 leader.

Almost a direct quote. I don't even remember now what we were talking about at the time but I thought it was hilarious the way he said this.

To tote or not to tote

Well, it seems we're in the big leagues now... Ryan has soccer. Bella has cheerleading. All the kids have swimming lessons. Which means I'm spending a lot more time away from home, with ALL the kids than I used to. And that means I have to come prepared... chairs to sit in, blankets/towels for the ground, entertainment for Felisa, hair bands and comb for Bella, snacks, water, etc.



I've always been one to tote around a lot of stuff - just in case. And I don't mind bringing everything but the kitchen sink. I just don't like looking as though I've brought everything but the kitchen sink. The last few weeks spent at the various activities has shown me that a lot of the items I'm bringing need to come to all the places we go, so I should have it all in one bag that is always ready. Another reason to have only one bag is that Ron likes to travel light. He gets impatient when I have a lot of stuff to round up and transport. So if I only have one bag, I can just grab and go, thereby avoiding the dirty looks and the exasperated sighs.



We've graduated from diaper bags (woo hoo!) so now I'm searching for the perfect "bring everything but the kitchen sink to every place under the sun" bag. I read a review of a bag over at Family Travel Gear that has lots of pockets and compartments so you don't have to dig around in the big black hole trying to find what you're looking for. Sounds good to me... one place for water, one place for snacks, one place for the cheerleading horses (ask Felisa about that one!), etc. I don't want to buy a bag sight unseen but I like the idea of pockets. I saw a couple bags at Tuesday Morning this morning that looked promising. The purple bag was smaller, and it was purple, but it was $50. There was another sport duffle with a mesh pocket for the soccer ball, but it had no price. And so the search will continue for a few more days at least...

To the Moon and Back

Ron put the seat down in the minivan the other day and discovered the kids' messy litte secret. Crumbs and indescribable ick everywhere. Deep down inside I knew it was there. I was just living in denial. So Felisa helped me while I spent a good two hours scrubbing and vacuuming and vacuuming and scrubbing until it's back to normal. I would say good as new but we all know that's not possible after 3 kids plus friends and multiple road trips. I think I vacuumed enough crumbs to lay a path to the moon and back. I even found a sticky shrivelled strawberry leftover from the drink Ryan spilled at Sonic in Kansas.

(Yes, I'm a terrible housekeeper... lazy and messy too. What of it?!)

Plateau Already???

So I started my sugar-free candida diet on the first day of school, Sept. 4. I made remarkable progress in the weight-loss department and some progress in the yeast killing department. It has been only 2 weeks and I feel stalled out. Week 2 seems a bit early for a weight-loss plateau. For one thing, I am finding the weekends harder to stay strict to my restrictions. For another thing, my weight has been fluctuating back and forth between 172 and 173 for the past couple days which is making me crazy frustrated. My daily calorie intake is 1/2 to 2/3 of what is was over the past 6 months to a year at least. I have been exercising again, which had dropped off during the summer. I'm doing everything right and have what seems like nothing to show for it.

What is the cause? My little cheats? The carbs in my cheats could be disrupting the low-carb effects of the candida diet. Not drinking enough water? Hormones? Not nursing? The last time I did this battle with the yeasties beasties, I was nursing. Apparently that burns a whole lot more calories than I realized because last time it all just seemed to melt away - all 40 pounds of it.

Will I wake up one day and have dropped a pound or two? One can hope. In the meantime, I guess I'll just keep plugging away. On the plus side, I ate out twice today and still kept my calories to under 2000. Pretty darn remarkable if I do say so myself.

Oh and if you want to spy on me, here's a link to my FitDay journal.

Little Mama

After yesterday's crazy hectic schedule of school and after-school activities, today's easy pace is especially welcome. I'm still feeling a bit under the weather but better. I got to sleep in until 7:30ish. Ron gave the big kids breakfast. I picked a suit for Ron and packed lunches for Ryan and Bella and then nothing else. No exercise, no shower, no taking anyone to school (R and B have a ride in the mornings). I have nowhere that I MUST go until 3:00 when I pick up the big kids. And it's great!

Felisa has been playing with her baby doll this morning. She changed the baby from her pajamas to her clothes. She played a game with her baby - she strung up the barrel of monkeys (hanging from my finger of course because there is nowhere else in the house to hang them from) then let the baby knock them down. Then she gave the baby her teddy bear and played some music so she could go to sleep. I was babysitting with the baby asleep on my calf while I folded laundry but then Felisa decided the baby doesn't like to sleep on pokey legs (did I mention no shower today?!?). So she moved her to the pillow and shushed me multiple times (I guess I was folding too loudly). Then after the baby slept on my pillow for a few minutes she moved her to the baby's crib. Unfortunately the baby was crying when she woke up from her nap because Mommy Felisa was gone. They played a little more while I made some breakfast for myself. I called Felisa down to have some eggs with me. She came with the baby and told me she would have to eat with only one hand as she was holding baby in the other arm and the baby doesn't like to be dropped. I have to agree that in my experience, babies do not like to be dropped. And then... when she was done eating, as she was getting up from the table, the baby knocked over her water cup and made a big mess. I have to agree once more... in my experience, babies make a lot of messes!

Isn't it amazing how many universal truths there are to being a mommy? And so far, it looks like Felisa will be a great one.

***********************************************

In other news...

A reportedly very annoying (according to Bella) little boy cut Bella's hair during math yesterday. The teacher called to report the incident and told me that she handled it very well. I'm glad. And of course Bella has so much hair, you can't even tell. Unlike when Felisa cut her own hair a few months ago.

Ryan's soccer coaches are working them hard in practice. Or maybe he was extra tired because of his cold. He has some good coaches this season and lots of friends on his team so we're all happy about that.

Bella got to use pom poms at cheer practice yesterday. Raising that cuteness quotient even higher! First home game is in a week and a half.

I made my kids (and myself) sit out in the hallway (on the cold, hard linoleum floor) to chow down our McD's dinner while Bella was in the gym cheering. The sign clearly says "No food or drink in the Gym - Water Only". Next time we'll probably just eat in the car after we drop her off - more comfortable. But anyway, after we ate, we moved into the gym so we could be more comfortable (a carpeted floor!) and so we could watch practice. Another family came in with burritos, spread a blanket (they get points for being careful), and started chowing down. I was a little annoyed that they weren't following the rules (you know me - I love people following rules!) but didn't say anything (you know me - avoid confrontation at all costs!). Happily, the coach came over and told them they couldn't eat in the gym because we would lose our practice space if caught. So there.

A Trip to the Carnival

We went to the carnival last night. Splurged on the 50-ticket sheet that cost $40. I thought it would be nice for the whole family to ride the ferris wheel, and at 4 tickets a person, that was 20 tickets right there.

Pros:
*We rode the ferris wheel for 30 minutes (yes, I checked my watch). About 10 minutes of the actual continuously spinning ride and the rest of the time loading/unloading passengers, two gondolas at a time.
*None of us was too big or too small to ride.

Cons:
*We rode the ferris wheel for 30 minutes. 20 would have been plenty.
*There was a four passenger per gondola limit so we had to split up and couldn't ride together as a family.

So was it worth almost $20 to ride the ferris wheel? I think so. It was the first time for all of the kids. There was a nice breeze and it was fun to look down over the park and the people below. Of course, it may not be worth $20 to do it again next year. We may try the "ride all night for $20" night next year. Three kids times $20 is $60. Which seems like a lot. But we ended up spending almost that much anyway if you add in the snacks and the attempts to win a goldfish. And the kids only had 3 rides each other than the ferris wheel. If it was ride all night, they could go through the mirrored fun house to their hearts content. Although it wouldn't be cost effective for Felisa to go on the $20 night since she's only tall enough for about 2 of the rides. Do you think she'll be 42" by next fall? Probably not.

All said and done, it was a nice couple of hours. It was pure torture to watch Felisa eating her melting ice cream cone. I wanted so bad to just lick it a few times to stop the drips. But I didn't. I did eat a couple of Ron's nachos though... those were borderline forbidden foods unlike the death-on-a-cone ice cream. Or should it be life-on-a-cone since it would feed the yeastie beasties and let them live to see another day?!

So Far It's Working...

Well, the very special, eat-nothing-and-be-very-hungry candida diet is working. I'm down 3 pounds this week and am slightly less itchy. I am not any less witchy yet but hopefully that will come. :)

As I swallow the tastes-like-dirt supplements I remind myself that this is for my health. I want to be healthier. I do. But in the meantime I also want donuts and cake and bread. And coffee... don't forget the coffee. But, since I am incapable of drinking it without sugar, I will no longer drink it. I'm feeling better today than earlier in the week. I may even be productive today. On Wednesday, after sending all the kids to school, I ran two errands then came home to take a nap. So, a little less than productive this week but hopefully that will all change once I get used to my new eating habits and evict a few more of the Yeastie Beasties.

Now off to pretend to be productive... My kitchen corner shelf arrived yesterday. I wasn't expecting it until Monday so maybe I'll have to tackle the kitchen today instead of ignoring it for a few more days. Maybe I'll even finish it sometime soon so I can progress to the next room on the list. Any votes on where to go next?

The Possibilities Are Endless...

The first day of school... for two out of three anyway...

Despite the insane first day of school traffic and parking issues, Felisa and I were able to drop Ryan and Bella off for their first day of school. Second grade in a classroom UPSTAIRS - wow, the big leagues! And all-day Kindergarten. All day. As in whatever am I going to do for the next six and a half hours. Bella decided she could walk to class by herself even though Ryan offered to walk with her. I did ask him to walk with her to the stairs so that I would know she was headed in the right direction. And so they went... It seems strange to have two of them gone all day long but I feel much more comfortable with things now that I've been through it once already. There is less UNKNOWN to stress me out.

So... that leaves Felisa and I. She was sad this morning that I wasn't packing a lunch for her and that she wasn't going to school today. She immediately cheered up when I told her she could go to the Donut Store with me instead. Because really, donuts are way better than school. At 0930 we were done shopping. Which leaves 6 hours until we pick up the other kids. I'm sure I will soon be used to it but for now that 6 hours stretches out before me with so many possibilities... we could go to WV even and still be back in time. We won't. But we could!

So far Felisa has played Scooby Doo (with me), put together a puzzle (by herself), and is playing upstairs. I've boiled some eggs (need some quick no-sugar, no-wheat breakfasts now that the Yeast Wars have begun in earnest once more today), put away the groceries, talked to Shani on the phone, ate a snack of 3 baby carrots dipped in hummus, and considered cleaning my office.

3 1/2 hours to go... soon it will be time for lunch and a trip to the library and dry cleaners. Or maybe just to the library. We have to leave something for Thursday's entertainment!

Oh and in case you're curious... you can check out my FitDay food journal here. I've joined a 10-day challenge at Shrinking Mom to log what we eat for 10 days. You can view previous entries also and see what a difference the yeast wars makes to my diet. I usually eat without even trying as many calories as I've had so far today, even with my Starbucks (sort-of) cheat sugar-free soy latte. Amazing. And what would be even more amazing would be if I lost weight again like I did the first time. I've found though, that to keep it off, I can't go back to my old ways. The Yeast will find me again like it did this time. I can do it.

Another One Bites the Dust

And another one gone and another one gone...
And another one bites the dust!

As I mentioned the other day, our TV is broken. The repairman called Tuesday morning to tell me they had discovered another problem that was causing the original problem. Which means the TV wasn't fixed yet and may not ever be fixed since the part they need has been discontinued. We should find out next week sometime whether Ron gets to buy a new TV or not. We've been using the portable DVD player to watch movies in the TV room all month. Yesterday that one died as well. Now what will we do?!?

This morning we decided to pull out the TV/VCR from Ryan's room that has a Scooby tape stuck in it and plug it in to the cable box to see if we could get TV back. The tape came out (but is broken). The TV works (once we found the remote - a 15 minute search!). But it's not accepting the cable input for some reason. We have ABC and CBS, a little fuzzy but in color. We found PBS in fuzzy black and white. So, cartoons in B&W on a 13" TV... definitely better than nothing. We could try another video tape but I'm afraid to upset the delicate balance we have going now.

In other news...
School open houses this morning.
Corey's birthday party today - I can't believe he's 3 already!
Swimming this evening.

Quote

"If there were no schools to take the children away from home part of the time, the insane asylums would be filled with mothers." -Edgar W. Howe

5 days and counting...

Cows and Sheep and Pigs, Oh My!

In celebration of the last day I have to drag my children around the Farmer's Market of the summer, I decided we should go to the special market. The one far away with not as many booths but oh look - it's on a farm! With real farm animals! Cool! Turns out Ryan has been here before on a school field trip (a good mother would have remembered that fact!). In any case, we all had a fabulous time touring around the barns and seeing all the animals and taking pictures of all of them just in case we forget what a pig looks like.

And next week... I get to go to the market all by myself! And buy, or not buy, whatever I want! Woo hoo!

Why Is the Sky Blue?

Because the moon is red...

Full Moon with a Full Lunar Eclipse today. Too bad we couldn't see it. If we lived in Oregon though, it would've been perfect.

I woke up at 0530, as promised, to check the moon situation. Light clouds and a moon that is setting too far to the west to see past the trees. I even walked all the way to the far end of the block, in my pajamas, to make sure I couldn't see the moon. Ask Bailey - she was there - she'll vouch for me. So, I decided against waking up the children, putting them in the car, and driving all over town to possibly see part of an eclipse in the half an hour we would have remaining before the sun came up.

Another full eclipse is expected on Feb. 21, 2008. I hope the elements cooperate so we can see it!

Pink Girl

I often manipulate, I mean guide, my children by giving them choices. As in... choose what I want you to do/have or else choose nothing. For example, you may have carrots for snack or nothing for snack. Choices are important, after all. That way they feel in control even though they aren't.

Unfortunately, Felisa has been paying attention. She has discovered the pattern. She wanted to wear pink today (which happens almost everyday!). As happens more than I like (I am the Queen of Matchy-Matchy after all), she chooses tops and bottoms that don't quite go together. Her pinks just weren't jiving so I offered to help. How about this nice pink shirt with a flower on it... goes great with these pink flower shorts! A match made in heaven! But no. Felisa says I want to be just plain. Okay then... how about these pretty (mostly pink) striped shorts to go with that plain pink shirt? Nope. The choice was plain pink or nothing. Which is pretty much almost exactly what she said to me. Alrighty then... I think I'm in control but really I'm not. Obviously.

In other news...

My children seem to have bladders of steel. A few other children we know will have to go potty almost immediately after drinking. Not my kids. Oh no. They can go practically all day without a potty break. Unless of course we are headed up a mountain pass with no shoulders or other stopping places available... then it's an emergency! I would say that falls into the Murphy's Law subset of Steel Bladders. Corey is here this morning and has had to go potty twice in the past half an hour. Not just any potty but dancing all around the bathroom, HURRY I GOTTA GO, potty. I asked him how many gallons of juice he drank this morning. He said Cranberry Juice. Still don't know how much (probably only one cup!) but I don't think he qualifies for the Bladders of Steel Club.

It's time to do the laundry... How do I know?
Sign #1: After Ron left for work this morning I discovered the basket of clean laundry dumped out on the bed. Which means his underwear drawer is empty. On the plus side, there is clean underwear available... just not where it belongs.
Sign #2: When I went to take a shower I realized my towel is still downstairs in the dryer. Along with all the kitchen towels and washclothes. But that's okay - I didn't do the dishes last night anyway so I hadn't missed them yet.
Sign #3: The dirty baskets are full. Instantaneously since Ryan had been building a stockpile of dirty laundry in his room. Putting his clean clothes away is usually how I discover Mt. Laundry (he's supposed to be putting them in the central laundry baskets daily but that doesn't always happen...). I haven't folded any laundry in, well, in a while, so I haven't been to that side of his room (the view of Mt Laundry is conveniently blocked by the bed so no one will see it unless you go all the way in). Now that the mountain has been relocated to my bathroom, it is most definitely time to do the laundry.
Maybe I'll even fold it and put it away this time. Maybe.

The Tale of the Town of BeetleBug... done. The Tale of the Town of Pumpernickel is coming up next. This is where Ryan's transformatron robots live. I'm not sure of all the details (my eyes tend to glaze over mid-story) but it involves tricking people into looking for the enemy in false locations. Mt. Everest... Eiffel Tower... I don't know. You'll have to check with Ryan to get the whole story.

Okay kids are hungry... time for a break.

One hour later... snack has been prepared and devoured. Corey has had another potty break. :) The dishes are done. The Play Triangle (similar to a love triangle but slightly different) of Ryan-Bella-Kana has been moderated. Dinner is started in the crockpot... taco night! Turns out we're out of coffee... found the empty bag on the counter amidst the dishes. Guess I'll have to go to the store after all. I need lettuce for the tacos. (I planted a fall crop of lettuce yesterday but I'm pretty sure it's not ready to pick yet!) I was going to text Shani and ask her to bring some (along with lunch for her) when she comes back from work so I wouldn't have to go immediately to the store but now that we need coffee also I'll have to go to the store anyway. Now the question is when will I go. I have to stop by the library today or tomorrow to return videos. We have uniform pickup for Bella tonight (conveniently located next to the laundry). I also need to get a 2008 calendar now that our schedules for the year are starting to come in. Looking back over the last few years' calendars it looks like Bella's turn to pick and next year will be Felisa. Which means we should go to the mall sometime this week. And while we're there I'll get the rest of Bailey's thank you gift for Grandma D. We could go to the library and the mall tonight after uniforms. Tomorrow morning the TV repairmen are coming back - alleluia - to install the repaired mother board. Which means we will have to spend the rest of the day watching TV in the TV room since we've been without it for over 3 weeks now. (Not without TV entirely of course - that would most certainly be torture - just TV in the main watching room.) No time for errands tomorrow.

And still more exciting news in the life of me... I think the yeastie beasties are back in full strength. I've had a feeling for awhile now that they are still hanging around but have been trying to ignore them. After some internet research on recurring canker sores as a symptom of candida (I've lost count I've had so many in the last couple months) I think it's time to go to battle. I've set the first day of school as my sugar-free start date. It's not going to be easy but I really wouldn't mind being happy and healthy again. And hopefully skinny and cute but that's partially another issue.

And now I'm off to... well, off to do something anyway! Never a dull moment!

And the winner is...

Ron!

That's right folks. Ron is the winner of the "Get your lazy butt out of bed first" Race. The prize? The chance to do whatever you want without any children accompanying you, all in the least-hot part of the day. I would say the coolest part of the day but cool does not exist in August. Not even at 6:30 in the morning.

Which means... Ron is out on his bike. Should be home soon. Which means I need to get my lazy butt upstairs to give the kids breakfast then get dressed so I can dash out as soon as he returns. I've got important things to do after all... farmers market, dry cleaners, whole foods... whoo hoo! Look out world, here I come!