And a Fraggle Makes Five!

One of the major developments during my month long blog-cation (see how I did that, mixed the word blog with vacation... oh ya... this is some FINE writing here)  was that BLT's little one, Fraggle, came to stay with us for nearly the full month.

Five kids in the house - well five GIRLS to be exact - makes for a busy, loud, drama filled house.  Everyone got along really well, don't get me wrong.  But girls are just emotional creatures, LOUD, giggling, singing, drama queens.  It worked out great though, and she slid into place as the baby of the family with very few bumps in the road. As my good friend and mother of six always jokes - "When you have another kid it's just one more box of macaroni and cheese!" Having a preschooler in the house again was fun. It's a good thing I have a giant, vintage claw foot tub though, because the three youngest ones always wanted to hop in the bubble bath together!  It gave me serious baby fever though.  I looked at BLT at one point and said... come on baby... just one more?

Poor guy looked like I asked him to re roof the house naked in a snow storm.  He was not impressed with my suggestion.  Deep down I know he's right... hell it's not even deep down.  I just plain ol' know it's not going to happen!

It was amazing having the whole family together for an extended period of time.  We are convinced now, more than ever, that once the GAL is done and we have a final parenting plan in place with my X that we'll move forward with bringing Fraggle to live with us full time.  It's the right thing to do.  Her mother is nowhere in the picture and she's primarily raised by aging grandparents. They've done a great job and are loving grandparents - but he's her daddy and the deal has always been that he would have primary custody once it was possible.  So, now it's possible.   Fraggle gets instant siblings - whom she adores, so it's a win-win situation in my opinion.

So now we've officially got our own Girls Volleyball Team - I think they need a name.  We already have the idiot pugs for mascots.  Give the girls half a chance and they'll have them in jerseys.  YIKES!

Are you there blog... It's me Lucy....

Long time no see huh?
I needed a hiatus.  I needed to get through the Holidays and the madness that post holiday fatigue bring to my life.  I needed to focus on all the GAL bullshit that's infiltrated every corner of our lives. 

The past month has brought a bit of frustration, a few tears, lots of joy, lots of fun, and LOT checked off my "to do" list.  I started the PINK method diet... go ahead and google it, I'm too lazy to link this morning.  I was told the first two weeks I was grumpy.  I don't recall being grumpy, but it's certainly  not impossible - I was going through serious caffeine withdrawal. 

There is wedding prep galore going on around the BLT & Lucy abode.  We are making tissue pomanders, getting dresses fitted, and trying to find a suit for BLT.  Mostly though we are just worrying how we'll pay for it all.  I calculated that over 45 thousand dollars, my entire life savings and a chunk borrowed from my parents, has been spent in 2 1/2 years trying to get divorced from my gun toting X and to ensure the kids safety. GAL fees are currently what is sucking me dry - and there's  no end in sight.  I have to fight to prove to the court why I shouldn't be financially responsible for HIS monitored visitation and court ordered therapy... REALLY??  No child support for two years while he's in jail for trying to shoot me and I'm responsible for his therapy? How the (insert filthy expletive here) is that even fair?   Anyway... I digress... that's a whole different post I'm sure.  For now, lets continue to catch up shall we?

Taxes are done - that's another big weight off my mind.  I'll be able to give it all to my parents to start paying back the above mentioned loan.  It's a drop in the bucket - but every bit counts, and my pride won't let me keep money - even to pay for the wedding - if I owe them.  It's just not right to buy stuff for myself if I still owe them, know what I mean? I couldn't live with myself.

So I apologize for my long absence.  I haven't read my favorite blogs even to keep up with everyone.  I've just sort of tuned out and focused all my attention on the kids, the bills, and BLT.  But I'm ready to rejoin the land of living...

Say Hi and let me know if anyone is still out there! :)

I'm THAT Auntie!

Yep, I'm THAT Auntie.  The kind that spoils your kid and sends them home.  The one that feeds them candy and chocolate milk, lets them stay up late watching Disney movies, orders pizza, and sings Katie Perry songs with them at the top of her lungs while we make chocolate chip pancakes!

No lie... my nieces love me! The three year old calls me Auntie Num-Nums. 

For my oldest niece's 12th birthday I decided that a little kid torture would be fun!  Her mom told me she needed minutes for her cell phone.  I bought a Verizon Card and wrapped it in paper, and then cardboard, and more paper, and then some corrugate, then a couple boxes, and more layers of gift wrap. 

12 layers deep!  The outside box was huge - about  3 foot square.  Every couple of layers there was a note "not done yet", "keep going", "do you feel the love?"   LOL... all the grown ups were cracking up, and she was shooting me looks that said, "YOU ARE TOTALLY NUTS!!"  It was wonderful.

The kids and I also made her a dozen candy flowers inside a candy vase.  Everything was edible and very, very cute.  She loved it!

So after sugaring her up sufficiently I went home and left my Sister In Law to deal with the messy parenting part.  Whooo Yahhh - I love love love being an Auntie.   Of course when my SIL does the same for my kids I think, for just a brief second, that payback is a bitch.  But hey...  it's our job to spoil them.  Moms and Dad's get to do the serious stuff!

Life gets in the way of all my plans

I'm sure you understand what I mean!  Isn't that the case for everyone? At least for those of us who are not independently wealthy, living a life of ease?  Where oh where is that nanny? Has anyone seen my Chef?

I was hoping to update my blog several times over the past few weeks, and each time I sat down I was inundated with things to do - wedding things, kid things, work commitments, emails, Christmas projects... you name it.

Now it's nearly Christmas, and I'm getting ready to head out of town to celebrate with BLT's family.  The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of shopping, wrapping, and packing to get gifts send UPS to the future in-laws.  Once that was accomplished I needed to focus on my niece's 12th birthday, as well as my annual holiday cookie party.

I love this time of year, but occasionally I have to remind myself that these things are supposed to be fun - they aren't supposed to be stressful.  I have to sit back, take a breath, and let some things go.  I tend to aim for perfection and beat myself up if we don't fit in every event, every party, every tradition.  As the kids have gotten older I've found it harder and harder to keep up.  This year all that stress was multiplied by the knowledge that upon our return in January we will be facing a visit from our GAL to do a home study and discuss my X with the children. She's trying to determine what their interest is in seeing him, and whether or not they are emotionally ready for that to happen.  It's an incredibly stressful idea - the thought that someone is coming into your home to interview your children, poke around, and make judgements on your abilities. 

I had wanted to go to Zoo Lights.  I wanted to get holiday portraits taken. I wanted to bring cookie baskets to our fire house. I wanted to make Christmas cards. None of those things were accomplished.  Hell, I only got a Christmas tree put up on the 16th because the Cookie Party was happening that weekend and I wanted the house to look somewhat festive! At this point I'm going to be rushing like mad for the next two days to get the four kids hair cut (to avoid looking like small homeless people when we are introduced to BLT's extended family for the first time) to finish up the laundry and pack up our bags, to deliver the idiot dogs to Ethel for doggy-sitting, packing up the car, and cleaning out the fridge so we don't leave food to go bad for the next couple weeks.

I did manage to get my snow tires installed, and get the kids to bathe the rotten dogs - which I know Ethel appreciates! 

So it appears that the Nanny has permanently run off with the Chef - so I better get to that long "to do" list before I end up even farther behind!

Lost and Found

In the past few weeks I have misplaced and/or just flat out lost...

My Kindle
My Favorite Purse
My Left Jogging Shoe
My Phone Charger
My Green Travel Mug Lid

I have found...

My Kindle
My Favorite Purse (The Kindle was Inside)
My Stack of Birthday Cards I Bought To Mail Out (didn't even know those were lost)
My Favorite Perfume For Sale.. I thought it was discontinued
The Perfect Bridesmaid Shoes

That darn phone charger and coffee lid are problematic to be sure though... and I'm really sure my jogging shoe just got shoved to the deep dark reaches under my bed.  I'll have to send a small child under there to root it out!

I am more than a bit worried however that they'll finally find my vibrator I lost six months or so ago.  After a rather fun evening with BLT that sucker has not been seen again, and I think in the heat of  the moment it fell off and then under the bed,  but I've wiggled under there as far as I can and I haven't been able to see it. 

Dang it... neither the jogging shoes, nor my toy were inexpensive...  They better turn up!

Not Feelin' that Christmas Spirit

I'm not upset.  I'm not depressed, or feeling negatively in any way about the holidays - I'm just overwhelmingly busy.  Usually I'm one of those obnoxiously happy holiday partakers who decorates her house to the nines.  The tree is up the weekend of Thanksgiving, and I've got holly hung by the front the door, stockings near the mantle, cheesy patterned Santa and reindeer pillows on the couch, a collection of nut crackers on display, and our advent calender ticking off the days towards Christmas.

This year?  Nothing yet.  We are taking the kids south to see BLT's family during Christmas, so we're leaving on the 22nd and don't plan on coming home until the new year.  I'm just not overly excited about hauling all the decorations out for two weeks of enjoyment. I even borrowed a fake tree so I don't have a fire hazard here in my living room while we are away... but it's still sitting in it's box in the middle of the floor.

I'm busy as hell at work, and I have to get all the holiday gifts wrapped ASAP and mailed down to the family so that the kids can open them Christmas morning.  I need to do laundry and pack, finish up my baking for my annual cookie exchange, figure out what to do for BLT's birthday - it's in December as well - along with your average host of holiday obligations. 

It's all fun, and I'm not Bah Humbugging any of it... but damn I'm tired.  I just don't feel like decorating this year....

His Reasoning

BLT was getting ready to head out of town.  There's a huge racing industry show in Florida we attend each year, and we've been invited to participate in a televised commercial segment of the show.  This is an amazing opportunity for our growing little company. 

BLT was given the OK by the boss lady to purchase a new pair of shoes, some slacks, and get a hair cut on the company card.  He went out on Tuesday and got himself all cleaned up.  Wheww boy, does that man shine when he's all spit and polished.  I asked him how come he got all sexy right before he was leaving me for a week.

His Oh So Male answer was, "So you'll be horny and rub your boobs all over me when I get back!"  Well... okay...  you smooth talker....