It's not for the faint of heart.

Welcome to my slightly silly, often odd, and mostly messy life.





Thursday, December 22, 2011

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!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

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!

Sunday, December 4, 2011

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!

Saturday, December 3, 2011

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....

Friday, December 2, 2011

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....

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Thankful

I decided I did not have time to post a daily, "Thankful For" list.  Let's be honest, I can hardly find the time to come and post every couple of weeks.   I do however want to officially post the things that I've been blessed with this year.  I think it's important to recognize your gifts, big and small, and to acknowledge them.

Since there are thirty days in November, I'll put my top thirty blessings here, in particular order...
1. My Children
2. BLT's Love
3. My Parents Still Being Alive
4. Living in A Small Town
5. My Vintage Style Schwinn
6. Generous Landlords
7. Good Teachers
8. An Excellent Lawyer
9. Good Health
10. A Dependable Vehicle
11. Rainy Days
12. My Kindle
13. Ethel
14. Long, Slow Kisses
15. Lazy Sunday's
16. Snow Tires
17. Banana Bread
18. Handmade Gifts
19. A Kitchen with Three Ovens (yep... I'm so lucky!)
20. Being Able to Pay My Bills (even if it's just barely)
21. Faith That Everything Happens For a Reason
22. Good Friends
23. A Diligent G.A.L
24. Smart Children Who Excel in School
25. My Perfect Bed
26. Netflix
27. Wedding Plans Coming Together
28. An Excellent Job
29. Medical Insurance
30. Daisies and Tulips