Irritable

Hola, peeps! Not quite the day I had planned, but it was good :) Stared off at 6:45am, getting kids up and ready for school. Everyone was feeling better, so they all were going to school. I think I'd found Eme's nasty cough, so I dosed myself with meds, and tried to go back to sleep. Jim begged me not to make him go to childcare (hehe), so I called and canceled the appointment. Sleeping in sounded SO much better than taking him in anyway.

Jake left at 7am, and Tom and Eme and Joe at 7:30am. And I tried to sleep. And then the phone rang at 8am, and it was Eme. She had a field trip to the UTEP Art Museum today. And didn't have a signed permission slip, because she'd been sick. And if I came up RIGHT now, she could still go. Sigh. So I threw on some clothes, and headed up to the school.

Jim and I went inside, signed her paper, and headed back to post. And you know what? I felt good, and was awake. So I started cleaning. I put on my Glee soundtrack, and my apron, and sang and danced and cleaned. I got the dishes one, and the counters cleared, and the kitchen floor swept and picked up. Then the living room swept, and the stuff picked up, and then I started re-arranging furniture.

I decided to move the big TV back out to the living room. Poor Boxer has been feeling neglected, because everyone hangs out in my room, and he can't. He's not allowed in here. So if I move the "party pad" back to the living room, then we'll be all set.

After I got it all rearranged and looking fun and nice out in the living room, I realized that it left a gaping hole in my room. No TV. And I'd kinda gotten used to watching shows in the evening on my couch in my room and blogging at the same time. Which left me needing a TV and a tiny computer to watch TV on.... If only someone hadn't smashed all the electronics in the house.... that was an EXPENSIVE temper tantrum....

I got Jim to the bus, and Skyped with Captain America for about an hour. It was good to catch up, and chat. Sure do miss that boy :) He sounded in good spirits :)

After our chat, Terra came and got me, and we headed to the Montana Walmart. I have fun making fun of Terra for being irritable on the phone with the Doctors office. hehe. Yeah, that would come back to get me later...

I'd decided to lock all of the Living room electronic components in a trunk under the coffee table, so I needed a keyed lock. First stop at Walmart, keyed locks. And I found one for only $4. Not too bad :)

Then to the electronics. And I found a netbook (in black), and a 32 inch TV that I liked. And it said that it would hook up with the VGB component. Sounded good. So I grabbed a cable cord too. Expensive little buggers those were. There was also a computer there for $100 more, that had HDMI hookups, but I didn't really need that much computer. So I went with the netbook.

I paid for those items back in the electronics, then met back up with Terra. We decided, in the grocery section, to have a cookout tonight! With hamburgers, and corn, and chips, and s'mores. Yeah! We grabbed all the stuff we needed for it, paid, and headed out.

And went to the CDC to pick up the twins, then She dropped me off at home. I had enough time to set the TV up before Jim got off the bus. And realized that it did NOT have the VGB connections... I KNOW that sign said it did....

Now what? The laptop and the TV were not compatible. At all. No fixes for that one. So, I decided to take the unopened laptop back to walmart, and grab the one that was $100 more. I could turn back in the cords, too, and it wouldn't be a full $100 more... OK, this was do-able...

I grabbed the receipts, and the cords, and the laptop, and grabbed Jim from the bus, and we headed to the "Jaurez" Walmart (not really in Jaurez). And I was TOTALLY Amazed that there wasn't a line at the return counter. That's a first! I even put it as my facebook status. Boy, did I jinx myself BIG time.

After the woman being helped left, it was my turn, and the kid who made the return said that his drawer was out of cash. So I'd have to wait for about 5 minutes until he could get some cash. Just me, yeah, that wouldn't have been a problem. Me AND Jim, not so much. He was FASCINATED with the change counter machines, and was totally in other peoples business trying to see what they were doing... And laying on the floor, using himself as a broom. And pushing other peoples carts around. Sigh. That kids does NOT like to wait... Impatient little turd...

FINALLY, I got my cash, and headed back to Electronics. And guess what? No laptop at this Walmart for $100 more. I found a worker, and explained to him the situation, and he said that they sold out of that good deal laptop. Sigh. He said that to get one with a HMDI port, it would cost 200-300 more. Seriously? Crap. I didn't wanna pay that much. I wondered if I drove clear across town to the Montana one, if it'd still be there.

The dude asked what kind of TV I'd bought, and I went and showed him. And he said that it said on the sign that it had a PC port. Yeah, the sign SAID that, but I assured him it didn't. So he an another dude pulled the TV down from the wall, to show me that it had one. And they looked, and looked, and looked, and guess what? It didn't... Really? Surprise there...

So the guys convinced me that what I needed to do, was to return the TV that I'd bought, and get the one that was the same size, but $20 cheaper, that DID have a VGB port. But not I had to re-buy the laptop and the cords. Seriously???

I asked if they could have the laptop sent back to the electronics, but the dudes said no, that I had to go to the front to pay. So they were gonna get someone to bring the TV to customer service.

So Jim and I headed back to the front. And he was SUPER bored again. I waited in line, and by the time I got to the front, still no TV. So I let the woman behind me go. And then the TV came. Still, only one lady ahead of me. I swear, she had 80 returns. OK, maybe more like 20. Little girls shorts and shirt sets, and they couldn't figure out which tops went to which outfit, and it just went on and on and on.

Finally, it was my turn, and I said that I wanted to re-buy the laptop that I'd just returned. Laptop? What laptop. Come on, people! Someone else said that it had just gotten re-stocked. Are you kidding me? OK, so maybe me making fun of Terra earlier for being irritable was coming back to haunt me. I'm sorry!

They sent someone to the back to grab the laptop. And I waited. And waited. And waited. And got a call from Operation Purple camp, that I had another form to fill out for Tom and Eme, and that she'd email it to me if I could PLEASE have it turned in by Tuesday. I gave her the email, and she sent it.

And I swore that if that laptop wasn't there before I was done with the phone call, that I was just taking my money and walking out. This was getting ridiculous. It'd been 15 minutes. The kids were now home, and Terra was at my house for the BBQ. Big sigh.

FINALLY, when I hung up, the computer got there. I waited for the person in front of me to be done, and then it was my turn. I gave the lady back the same change that she'd given me earlier for the laptop and the cords, and then paid for the TV. And they assured me that I could bring back the other TV. And if they give me any grief at all, I'm totally throwing a fit. Maybe I should bring Terra. She'd give them a piece of her mind. I just end up crying and blubbering on about things....

Anyway, I took my computer and cords and TV, and headed home with Jim. And yeah, I was SO irritable. I turned on the Glee Soundtrack and sang as loud as I could, to try and snap out of my funk. And it mostly worked.

We got home, and Terra was there with the girls. And one of them was scared of Boxer. hehe. He is pretty big compared to them :)

We filled up the pool, and the little girls and Jim played. I got the grill going, and put the corn on. And cleaned up a little in the kitchen, and pulled out the BBQ stuff. And tried to use the Mandoline to cut the tomatoes, but it still didn't work. I wonder if I got a defective one....

I made a fruit salad, then it was time to put the burgers on the grill. Soon, it was time to eat. We pulled the kids out of the backyard, and got them all dried. I put Boxer in his kennel so that he wouldn't be tempted to eat the kids' food. ha! They were sitting in the living room on the floor watching Gnomio and Juliet. Too tempting for the poor dog, I'm sure :)

Terra and the girls packed up after dinner, and headed home. And I got the first TV packaged back up, and the new TV set up, and the laptop connected, and all was good to go. We cleaned up a little, and I started to watch a show. And Joe started Freaking out. He and Tom were fighting. I can't even remember about what now.

But Joe totally lost his temper. And started kicking things across the room, and yelling at me. He's only 59 lbs, so still "manhandleable". So I grabbed him up, kicking and screaming, and sat with him on the couch for about 20 minutes until he calmed down. He tried to get away the whole time, and it wasn't very relaxing for either one of us.

Finally, my patience had worn out, and I carried him upstairs, and deposited him on his bed, and informed him that he had to clean the WHOLE room before he got any privileges. Yea, you should have seen the room. You couldn't even see the floor. Not a realistic expectation for a little person. But I was mad by that point. I left him there on his bed.

And went downstairs, and calmed down. I watched a part of my show, and got calm. The other kids were all cleaning their room. And Jim asked me if I'd help him clean his room so he could have electronics in the morning. Sigh.

So, I paused my show, and headed upstairs with trash bags, intent on throwing everything away. But after a few minutes, I was calm again, and sorted instead of throwing. All the trash went away, though. Why in the world would there have been 2 garbage sacks full of trash up there? Anyone? Freakin' kids. hehe.

It was actually pretty nice to sit up there and sort stuff out with the boys. They helped me out, putting things in like piles, sorting the good from the bad, the keep from the toss. We put up all the winter hats and gloves and scarfs (it was 100 today), and fixed the mattresses. The bottom one was a bit wanky (that's JUST for you, Terra) And the room looked 100% better when we were done.

The hall and stairs were still messy, and I told Joe that he had to get that cleaned tomorrow instead of his room. He was calm and happy and feeling good, so he agreed. And thanked me for helping him clean his room. Sometimes, work does better things than talking...

I put Joe and Jim and Eme to bed, and made sure that Tom and Jake were still cleaning, and sat down to blog. And design a freebie. And watch a show.

Jake and Tom eventually came in to stay they were done (Jake) and going to bed (Tom). Jake is now watching a movie on the couch with Boxer, and I'm gonna go watch another episode of In Plain Sight. That show has totally grown on me. Didn't really care for it that much at first.

It's 10:23pm, and I'm gonna try and sleep in tomorrow. Hopefully the kids cooperate. Not sure on plans for the weekend yet. I'll probably end up going somewhere with Terra and the twins and a few of my kids. Tom can babysit the rest. Terra's teen, Eryn, is having a sleepover, so Terra is gonna be "helper-less". I hate it when that happens! hehe. Heaven help me when Tom is gone for a week at camp, then to day camp for 2 weeks. hehe.

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It's totally not Sharon's fault that there's no layout. I didn't design it until just now.... I'll try harder, my friend!