Black Sheep of the Family

Morning, all! Well, I was bad. I decided to skip Seminary yet again. I just couldn't bring myself to get up and drive all that way. So I slept in till 6:50am. Then got up, got Tom off to the bus, and got the other kids ready for the bus. And out the door we went, to the bus stop. And I woke Jake up to get ready for school.

I visited for a bit with the girls, then headed back home. And got Jake where he was supposed to be, and I decided it was time to buckle down, and tackle the house. So I got ready. I had my most comfortable jammies on, I turned on some Christmas tunes, and popped an energy supplement thing (it was a HUGE project... hehe), when the phone rang. It was Kim.

She was like, "What are ya doing?" And I said, "Cleaning the kitchen. Why, you got a better offer for me???". hehe. And she did! Tim and her wanted to take me to IHOP for breakfast!!! To say thanks for helping with Scotty yesterday. Awe, what sweethearts!!! You guys are awesome!

I asked if I could change out of my jammies, and she said she was in her jammies too. OK, works for me! Sweats, slippers, jammies, hoodie, fingerless gloves, and hat to IHOP it would be! Nice :) I'm such a fancy dresser...

They came to get me, and off we headed, to the East side, to IHOP. We chatted the whole way, then were seated, and ordered breakfast. Kim and I got the same thing. The breakfast sampler with the Cinnastacks. She'd said how SUPER yummy they were, so I wanted to try them. Oh yeah, they were DIVINE!

Thanks for breakfast, you guys! It was super fabulous! I couldn't even finish it all! I tried, though! We had a good time eating and chatting and laughing. With me, there's always a lot of laughing :)

After breakfast, we decided to swing by Barnes and Nobles for Tim to check out the books. I guess it's his favorite store. And Kim and I wanted to check out Dollar Tree, which is right down the way. I needed bread.

We got Tim situated, then headed to Dollar Tree. And we hit the motherload of bread! The truck must have JUST let out! Cause it was FULL of great bread! Natures on bagels and raisin bread and english muffins and good bread. Score it! I bought a bunch, enough to freeze, too!

We got a few other things, and Kim assembled a little "junk bag" of goodies for Amanda for her birthday yesterday. It was funny/cute. We sure had a good time giggling as we were throwing things in the cart. hehe.

I sure wish that we'd have gotten a picture of the two of us walking back to Kim's car, carrying all of our Dollar Tree bags, with our sweats and jammies on. We SO looked homeless. We tried to look sad and down troden, but yeah, we're just both too happy of people to play it off.

We dropped the stuff of at her rig, then headed inside to get Tim. And headed back towards Post. They dropped me off at the school, and we met Amanda there. The girls and I were getting together to eat lunch with the kids. Cause it was Friday. Love me some Friday lunch dates at the school. hehe.

Kim gave Amanda the "gift", and we had a good time watching her go through it. The monkey that you put in water and it grows was priceless. ha! Anyway, Kim and Tim headed home, and Amanda and I went inside to the eat with the kids. I was still STUFFED from breakfast, though.

We went and sat at our usual table, and waited for the kids to come in. There really were a lot of parents there today. It was kinda nice to see. But it was taking up a lot of space at the tables. ha! Kari was gonna come, but was sitting with Julia, then got a call from the school saying that Josephine was sick, and needed taken home. Poor Kari. I know she likes to come to lunch...

Maggie and Tom came, and we saw Rebecca there. And Suzanne. And a few other moms from the bus stop. The Kindergartners ate with us first. Jim was SO excited to see me. hehe. And he had a little friend with him. Her name was Jade. Actually, she was more excited to be with him than he was to be with her. ha! Isn't that how it always goes with girls/boys. hehe.

They eventually got done, and the 2nd graders came in. And we got to eat with Joe. He convinced his buddies to come and sit with all of us, and we had a good time. It helped that I had a bag of Recees pieces in my purse, too. hehe :)

We made an executive decision to leave before the 4th graders came in. Because my tummy wasn't feeling well, and Amanda needed to get back home to the packers. Eme always seemed to waiver between being happy and embarrassed when I came to eat with her. hehe. So this worked out well anyway.

We loaded up, and headed back home. Amanda dropped me off at my house, and I spent about an hour there. I kept thinking that I was gonna take a nap. Or start to clean. Or do something productive. But alas, nothing productive. Just screwing around on the computer....

Finally, at 1:30pm, I decided that I wanted to go to Walmart. We needed milk. So I texted Amanda and Kim to see if they wanted to come and play. Yup, they did. Caause Walmart is SO much more fun with company.

We got the few things that we needed, and wandered around for a while longer. Walmart is always fun to walk around, you know. hehe. I got the few things that I needed, and so did the other girls, then we headed to the quick check out.

Then we made a quick stop by Sonic for Happy Hour and some lunch for Amanda's hubby (who was still at home with the movers). We dropped his food off, then went to the bus stop. We got about 15 minutes to chat in my truck before the bus came. Oh yeah, chatting in the Suburban. hehe. At least it was warmer. There was a storm that had blown in the night before, and it was getting windy and COLD. Dang!

We got the kids, and I loaded them up in my truck. I picked up Leo, and took Amanda and Austin home. Then stopped at Kim and Tim's house to get my bread from their rig. Then I dropped off Leo, and went home. And had the kids help me carry stuff inside.

I had about an hour and a half before games started. So we started cleaning. And yeah, the house SO needed it. And it looked a TON Better when we were done. We just consolidated Tom's chores into one area, and left them for when he got home. He was at the youth center.

We scrounged up something for dinner, and it was time to go to the games. And my stomach was really not feeling well. Sigh. I loaded Jim and Joe up in the truck, then set about delivering them to games. I dropped Joe off at his game, then drove Jim to his. They started 15 minutes apart. I walked Jim in, and asked a coach if I could leave him then come and pick him up after. They said it was fine.

I went to pick up Amanda, then went back to Joe's game. It was almost over. I got Joe, and we headed to Jim's game. And unfortunately, it was over. Crap. I tried my best. The coach was there waiting for me with him. Ooops. I felt bad. But I was doing my best.

And then the dude in charge of the sports was there, and pulled me aside, and was like, he's too young for you to leave him. Sigh. I explained that I had to run and drop off another kid at a sport and pick him up, and that I didn't realize that this game was SO much short than the other game. Joe's game was 45 minutes long. I just assumed that Jim's would be too. It's only 30 minutes. So Joe and Jim's game both got over at the same time, and it started at different times....

He said that I should find a friend to come and sit at the games with Jim. Yeah, cause I have SO many friends with nothing better to do on a Friday night than to come and sit at my kids' basketball games. Cause that's where I totally wanna hang out.... Not! Maybe if they didn't plan games at the exact same times, then I wouldn't have to worry about it.... I got a little upset with him. I could have handled it better, I'm sure. I tried not to be too pissy with him. Not sure if it worked, though.

I got Jim, and we headed to the Youth Center to pick up Tom. And Tom and Jim fought the whole way home. Great. I get chewed on for Jim being alone at the game, then the kids fight on the way home. Nice evening, you guys! Hmpf!

We got home, and I walked the kids inside, and directed Tom to do his chores. Everyone else was already done. The house looked pretty good. I told the kids that they could have electrons free time, and Amanda and I headed off to Kim's Tim's promotion party at Shamrocks. It's an Irish Pub restaurant and bar on post at Freedom Crossing (by the PX).

It was a fun time. I think I'm a little old for that scene, though. hehe. Lots of loud, young music. There were a TON of young army dudes there, drinking. Yeah, SO not my thing. Karaoke. Dancing. Bumping and grinding. Yeah, NOT into that so much.... I tried not to stare... hehe.

Mostly, I just sat at the table with my friends. We had a good time at our own little table. Brian and Kari were there, and Amanda and I. And Kim came and went as she could. She was playing hostess. They did a very nice job on the party. I think that everyone who came had a good time. Congrat's, Tim, on making Major!

Amanda and I headed home around 10:20pm. I was getting sleepy, and someone had propped open a door, and the smoke from outside was getting in. And was hurting my eyes and throat. And it was RAINING! Luckily, with the rain came a little warmer temperatures. ha! Gotta like that . It took the edge off of the biting cold wind that's been whiping through El Paso the past few days...

Jim had fallen asleep on a couch when I got home, and Joe was sleeping on Jake's little bedroom floor. Eme and Tom were on laptops, and Jake was on game cube. I had the kids turn off their electronics, and do another round of chores. I helped kids clean up a little bit, then sat down to blog. And now it's late. It's almost 1am. How the crap did that happen??? Sigh. I'm sleepy now :(

Eme and Tom both have games in the morning. Which means that I don't get to sleep in. Maybe I'll sleep right up to the time we have to leave, then go, sleep in the car, and come back and go back to bed. Is that bed parent of me? hehe. I think that almost every Saturday morning we have Basketball games.... Lucky us - ha!

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CUTE! Look at those precious kitty's! I feel like that sometimes! The oddball in the group. The Black sheep. hehe. Go figure, there....

Ants in your Pants

Once again, it's that time! New stuff in the store :) Click HERE to go to the store to give it a look! I think you'll like it!









So, super duper busy day! I woke up at 5:28am, and yeah, I just couldn't do it. So I reset the clock for 6:50am, and went back to bed. I'll do better next week. After taking 2 weeks off from Seminary, I just couldn't get back into the swing of it again. This crazy busy pace is gonna be the death of me. hehe.

I was up in time to get the kids off to the bus, and chat with the girls there for a bit. I asked the bus monitor lady for the paperwork for the kids to sign, and she told me that she couldn't give it to me. What? She said that she had to talk to her supervisor first. Come on! Seriously? Sigh. I let it go... I chatted with Maggie for a bit, then headed back home. I had to get ready for a therapy appointment at 8:30am. But I had to leave the house at 8am in order to get there in time, with traffic and all.

I came back home, and I got ready, and Jake got ready for the bus. He left, and I left shortly after. I drove on over to the West side, and texted with a few friends before it was time for my appointment. We were trying to solidify plans for dinner tonight. And I decided to meet up with Terra at Bassett Mall after my appointment.

My therapy went well. It had only been a month since I'd last been, and while the time had flown by, a TON had happened since last time I'd been in. Jake had been in and out of the hospital. He'd started new meds. I was on new meds. Lots of changes. We talked about everything that had been happening, and "processed" it.

I set a few goals for the coming months, and set up a new appointment, for 3 weeks from today. I'm gonna work on scriptures and prayers, and organizing my house. And I'm gonna start exercising again. I have to get in "winter" mode. It's SO cold here. You know, I could get some books on tape on my iPhone, and listen to books. Cause I like to ready, but don't feel that I have time. This would be the time that I'm looking for, you know... Good solution. And there's my exercise... I just need to find the time. I could do it during Seminary. But dang, it would be cold!

I headed back near post once the appointment was over. But went to Bassett Center. And met Terra there. She had her twins with here. And Amanda met us there. We went to Jewelry box, then went to a few other stores. And took the little girls to the play area. Then had lunch at Wendys. Oh yeah! I introduced the twins to Frostys and fries. It was a BIG hit. hehe. You're welcome, Terra! LOL :) Ms Bessy is cool! LOL :)

We went to a few other stores, then Amanda headed home to help her hubby get a few things organized for the movers tomorrow. Terra and I headed to Target, and walked around for a bit. I wanted to see if I could find a present for Amanda. And I found the cutest Jammies for her. I hope she likes them!!! We had fun walking around and looking at stuff with the little girls. I'm glad that they like me :)

We parted ways, and I headed home. I barely made it home before I wet my pants! ROFL! I had to go SO bad after my 2 sodas at lunch. Or was it 3. I don't remember. ha! And I got a phone call when I got home from an Army health insurance person. She was assigned to be Jake's case manager. Sweet. She was the person to call if I needed anything. She was calling to check up and see how he was doing, and if we needed anything. We chatted for a bit, and she got familiarized with our family dynamic and situation and such, and then I got a text from Kim.

She said that she was taking Scotty to Peaks. I called her, and she said that she was on her way to get Scotty from school, and that just she and him were going. Oh no. That's not gonna work. I took Jake with Amanda, and it was hard enough with a friend there. That's SO not something to do alone. I told her that she was NOT to go alone, that she was to swing back to post and pick me up. That she HAD to take me with her. That I'd find sitters for my kids, and that I'd be there for her.

She came and picked me up, and we headed to New Mexico to Peaks. And it wasn't so hard when it wasn't your own kid, I must say... I chatted with Scotty in the waiting room there, and kept him entertained. Kim was having a hard time (understandably), and was a bit out of it. Poor girl! She's one tough cookie!

We waited for quite a while, then finally, it was our turn. We were taken to a different building, and the assessment dude came in. And filled out papers, and asked lots of questions. And Scotty was determined to be a fit, and was able to be admitted. I think it'll be a much needed break for Kim and the kids. I know that his last episode scared the other kids. And understandably. Autism is a hard thing to live with. I can be scary. The effects of it can be scary. I applaud Kim for being strong and getting help. Hats off to you, my friend. I know it was a SUPER hard choice, but you did the right thing. Your family will be better for it in the long run. Trust me.

It only took about 2 1/2-3 hours for the entire admittance process. I think it was closer to 3 1/2-4 for Jake. It seemed like it took forever for him. Maybe it was just that being the friend was easier than being the mom? I don't know. At 5:00ish, we said by to Scotty, Kim signed a few more papers, and we were on our way. Rush hour traffic was horrendous. We were headed to Carinos on Airway for dinner for Girls night out. Kim decided to just drop me off, and head home. Too much stress for GNO. Can't blame her. If I had a hubby at home, I think I'd like to go and be comforted too...

Kim dropped me off right at 6pm, and I met up with the other girls. Kari and Amanda and Terra and Maggie and Suzanne and Veronica were all there. It was a fun group! We had a lot of fun chatting and eating and laughing. Lots of laughing with this group. hehe.

After dinner, Terra and Maggie and Amanda and Kari and I headed to the Comedy Club. Suzanne and Veronica had to head home. We got in free with our Military ID's. I was feeling really sleepy, but still thought that it was pretty funny. Except for the chick comedian. She was super bad. And not crude bad, just bad bad. She sucked.... Good think her routine was only about 5 minutes long. Either that, or they just realized how bad she was flopping, and pulled her? I don't know. But all the other acts were super good. The headliner was pretty funny, too. And the dude right before him had the BEST voices. I liked him too :)

After the show, Amanda brought Kari and I home. I love my group of friends! We had such a great time together. Thanks, you guys, for making December Girls night out a GREAT time! I got home, and found Jake playing video games in his room. Um, yeah, gonna have to reconsider letting him have the TV in his room. Not such a great idea. It's gonna have to come out of there. Can't be playing video games at all hours of the night.

I got Jake to bed, and had him take his meds, then sat down to load the store and blog. And here it is, 11:47pm. Not quite midnight yet. But it sure feels like it. And it's cold here. I should probably turn the heat on. Haven't done it yet this year. There's a winter storm blowing in. Might even get a snow flurry on Saturday. Crazy, huh??? It was SUPER windy tonight. At least, I'm gonna go and turn off the ceiling fan. I't freezing me. ROFL!

I think I'm gonna skip Seminary in the morning, and just start off the new week fresh on Monday. Is that bad of me? I'm sleepy and very tired.... Is it time for Captain America to be home yet? I need some help....



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December Photo Frame

Holy Moly! Is it really December already???? How did that happen???? I guess that's good, because that means that Captain America will be home soon! Thank goodness this deployment is almost over!

I woke up at 5:28am, and SO wanted to go back to bed. But didn't. I grabbed my blanket and headed to the car. And Jake. ha! I got him too. We headed to Seminary, and I had my nice 40 minute nap. Well, kinda nap. It's chilly, and not very comfortable. But I do my best. LOL.

On the way home, we were listening to the country station, and we heard this song by Toby Keith called "Red Solo Cup", and it was HILARIOUS! And I've had it in my head for the rest of the day! Too funny :) Sure, it's a drinkin' song, and I don't drink, but I do drink punch. And Diet soda. LOL! I can pretend they're talking about that. hehe. And I have parties. Just not THOSE kinds of parties. LOL.

Anyway, Jake and I got a kick out of it on the way home. We saw Tom off to the bus, and got the other kids ready for the bus. Then I walked the kids on over, and stood in the sunshine, cause I was freezing. But if I stood real still in the sunshine, it was almost warm. Ok, so you guys in the states with real winter, I know that you know what real cold is. My hoodie and socks with flip flops don't really count as saying I'm cold. hehe. But that's why I live in the Southwest, right? That, and that's where the Army sent us.... LOL.

The kids got on the bus, us mom's chatted for a little bit, then I headed home. Jake headed to the bus, and I grabbed my laptop and did some work on the couch. And watched a few episodes of X-files. I was originally planning on going to the Zoo with Eme, but wasn't really feeling up to it today. What with the meds change, and not having heard back from the teacher about the trip, I decided not to go. Too much stress. And I was still feeling a bit anxious.

So I stayed home. And after designing a WordArt pack, and 1/3 of the month of December's freebies, I took a nap. When I woke up, Captain America was on Facebook Messenger. So I chatted with him for a bit, and we came up with a list of a few tasks that needed accomplished tomorrow. Or today. Or just real soon. And I need a list, or else I forget. hehe. I'm good with lists :) It's fun to cross things off of them, too!

We chatted for a bit, then it was time for me to get ready for Jake's appointment for meds refills. I went and fixed my hair. I figured that it'd been WAY too long since I'd straightened it, so I spent the next 30 minutes fixing myself up. And I put on fun zebra accessories for the day. Yeah, I must not have fixed myself up in a while, because everyone noticed. LOL! That's what you do, look like crap for long enough, that when you do dress up, EVEryONE notices. RoFL!

I headed up to Jake's school, and got him out of class, then headed back to post for the doctor. We were running a few minutes behind, so I dropped him off at the door with his ID so he could pre-check in. Trying to get him to be a bit more independent. He managed just fine. By the time I parked and walked in, it was Jake's appointment turn. PERFECT timing. They got his height and weight (217 and 5'9.5) and vitals and such. Then it was on to see the doctor. We really didn't have to wait long at all.

And thannkfully, the doctor had read his file. So she knew that he was Aspergers. And didn't treat him like he was a freak like the nutritionist did. But talked with him just like being a little goofy was normal. I really appreciated her. She got his meds refilled for him, and sent them to the pharmacy. We were in and out of the drs office within about 10 minutes. Now, the pharmacy was another matter. That was about 30 minutes...

But we finally made it home. I parked at the bus stop, and Jake walked home. And I waited with my friends for the kids to get off the bus. We had a bit of trouble with the bus monitor today. She insisted that we had forms filled out for the kinders and 1st graders for pick up procedures. Um, why not the 1st day of school if that was a rule? Why now, the last day of November? Sigh. She wouldn't let me get Maggie's kinder because she was running late. I get him at least 2 days a week when maggie is late for the bus. You can't change the rules. You have to be consistent.... At least give us some warning....

Anyway, we managed to get her to tell us what the 'rules' were, and told her to bring us a form to fill out so we could list all the ladies at the bus stop as people to release our kids to. When did things get so hard??? Sigh.

We stayed and let the kids play for a bit. Until the sun went down, and we started to freeze. Cause it's cold here for us El Paso climatized people. Hehe. And just so you know the extent of my laziness, I'm blogging from my phone right now. I had my computer in my bed in the dark, but it died. And rather than crawl out of my warm bed, I installed a blogger app on my iPhone. oh yeah.... I did :). Hehe.

Anyway, once it got cold, we gathered up the kids and headed home. I had them start on chores and homework, and Kim and I made a quick run to Guitar center. It was one of those stops on the list. Captain America said that Toms guitar had dead frets. And it needed fixed or replaced. And we had the 2 year warranty. So I needed to get it taken care of. So off we went :)

I set the guitar on the counter, smiled real nice at the little dude, Ryan, said that my hubby said it had dead frets, that it needed fixed, that he was overseas and couldn't take care of it, and that I didn't speak Guitar and that it was now his job to take care of it for me. Lol. And he did a good job. He got on the phone with the warranty people, and did whatever he needed to do. And told me when to expect a call, and what to do if I hadn't heard from anyone by a certain time tomorrow. And gave me his name and hours he worked tomorrow so I could come back in and get help. Very helpful guy! Thanks, young dude! Glad you speak guitar!

It was a short trip there, and we headed back home. I dropped Kim off at her house, then headed home. And got my gang ready for basketball practice. The older kids had done their chores, and were getting ready for some free time. I grabbed Joe and jim, and we headed to basketball.

Jim practiced, and Joe played with Leo. I chatted with Kari and Suzanne. Remember the lady down the block who gave us the dresser? Her boys are on Jims team. Nice, huh! We chatted, and she's coming to girls night tomorrow! Awesome!

After practice, we loaded up, and headed home. Kim texted and said that she'd had some trouble at home with Scotty, that he'd had a bad meltdown, and that she'd got hurt, so wasn't going to the movies. Dang, I know how that goes. Sorry, Kim :(

I got the kids situated for bed, and went to pick up amanda and kari. We were gonna see Jack and Jill, that new Adam Sandler movie. On post. We got there in time to get popcorn and a drink.

And it was hilarious!!!'. I haven't laughed so hard in I don't know how long. Maybe it's because I have boys and think that bathroom humor is funny. Or that people getting hit by things is funny. Little boy humor. Rofl! I guess that's just my mentality! I'm an 8 year old boy at heart :). I laugh at farts and when people fall down....

I'd recommend it. Super good. I laughed the whole time. I'll go and see it again when it comes to the dollar theater. Definitely.

We headed home after the movie, and I dropped off the girls. The kids were already asleep, and actually did pretty good on their chores. I know, right??? I was surprised too! Hehe.

I sat on the couch and texted with Kim for a bit, and finally came to my room and got ready for bed. Which is web I decided to blog from bed. And then I had a low battery. And I'm long winded, apparently. Me? I never knew ! Hehe.

So here it is, 11;23, and my thumbs hurt from texting this blog. Lol. Maybe I should have sucked it up and gone and got the charger, right? I'd have been done by now.... Sometimes being lazy takes a TON of effort!

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GREAT Santa picture, Sharon! I love how the kids look so serious as they get older. Like they are REALLY thinking hard about what they want. Not like when they're little and they're trying hard not to freak out. LOL

The Proof is in the Pudding

Hey there :) So, I got up at 5:28am, and got Jake ready for Seminary this morning. And drove on over, took my morning nap, and drove back on to post. It was chilly this morning! I got Tom off to school, the kids off to the bus, Jake off to his bus, and got myself ready for the dentist. 8am was my appointment. Starting things off early this morning.

At 8am, I was at my appointment, ready for my temporary crown. They made the molds and stuff, and drilled and whatever else they do. It took an hour and a half or so. I just pretended that I was at a spa for my teeth. hehe. Because the people were so nice and attentive to my teeth's needs and such. ROFL! And I didn't have to do anything. And they had water for me. Yeah, I was stretching. But it was fancy-ish. And expensive. Yeah, we'll just play it off as a spa...

Anyway, it was 9:45am before I headed back home. And when I got there, I decided that I was canceling the rest of my plans for the day. No yoga. No volunteering. I needed to focus on working. I had nothing designed for Thursday. And no December freebies yet. It was time to get serious about it.

So I went home, and sat down to design. And it took me FOREVER to figure out some ideas. Yeah, this was gonna take longer than I thought... And then I realized that it was the Topomax. It's making me stupid. I can't finish thoughts. I can't remember names. I can't focus. And it's getting worse and worse. I spent 4 1/2 hours trying to design today, and got 3 WordArt packs designed. That's pitiful! I used to be able to crank out a WordArt pack every 15-30 minutes! It's the Topomax.

I went to hang at Amanda's house since she's moving next week (even though we don't talk about it), but I did really good at focusing. Well, as much as I could with my topomax. I just did staring at my screen. Not that she was distracting me. She was wandering around her house packing.

Her hubby came home at lunch time, and he and I and her had BBQ ribs and corn for lunch. Oh yeah, those were good! She'd cooked them in the crock pot the day before! Mighty good! At least I managed to get SOMETHING designed.... Sigh.

At 2:30, I packed my stuff up, and headed to my doctors appointment. I got right in, and explained my situation. I liked that the topomax made the migraines go away for the most part. But I didn't like being dumb. LOL! So they cut the dose in half. And I wanted to try a different antidepressant. For social anxiety.

So tomorrow, no prozac, and 1/2 the topomox. I must say, I'm a little worried. I don't want to become a recluse. hehe. I've been anxious about it all day long... Anyway, I got a refill on all of my meds from the pharmacy. And called Tom, and had him get the kids from the bus. Then headed back home.

We had about an hour and a half before we needed to be at basketball practice. Jake had gone to Nick's house after school, and the other kids did some chores and had free time. And I sat on the couch and had anxiety. LOL. I'll figure it out sooner or later, I'm sure :) I did start a crock pot earlier in the day, so at least I had dinner figured out!

At 5:15, we headed out. I dropped Tom and Eme off at the Youth Center. And took Jim and Joe to Logan. Joe had practice, and I visited with Kari and some of the other moms. We had a good laugh over the fact that I was the mom of the kids with the cleats from the last game. ha! Yup, I was "that kids mom".... I explained about the drugs. And the deployment. Yeah, works every time... ROFL!

After practice, we let the kids play on the playground for about 15 minutes, then headed home. Jake was home, and Eme had been dropped off by her coach and was home too. We got dinner ready, and started on homework and getting ready for bed. At 7:30pm, I went to pick up Tom, then we continued with the bedtime routine.

8pm came very soon, and by 8:30pm, kids were kinda in bed. And it wasn't until almost 9pm that everyone was finally in bed. It's 9:30pm now, and Jake and Tom are still awake. Tom is still working on his homework. Jake is getting drinks and doing this and that.... I'm super sleepy. I need sleep!

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Ha! Look at those messy faces!!! Little kids DO love pudding, don't they :) hehe. Thanks for the awesome layout, Sharon! You do a WONDERFUL job!

Slow as Molasses

Well, Cyber Monday broke the internet. Really. It did. Cause I can't get on 4shared. Or box.net. Or upload pictures to facebook. Or order anything from Miche. And I was gonna get some new shells. Cause they were 1/2 price, you know! Sigh. But because the internet is broke, I can't do any of it. At least I can blog, though, right. That's something. I guess I'll come back on here tomorrow and host my wordart. Cause I'm not able to even do that. Freaking Cyber Monday. It's messing up my groove. And we don't like when that happens, right???

I woke up at 5:25am, and got ready for Seminary. I grabbed my fuzzy slippers, and my blankie, and headed out the door. Jake and I had just enough gas to get there and back. He didn't even fight me waking up. Thank goodness!

I napped in the car, and he went to class. Then we drove back to post, and I helped all the kids get ready for the day. It's hard to convince them that it's winter. They constantly wanna wear shorts. I know it's winter. I'm freezing. I bundle up. But I have to force them to put on long pants. hehe.

We had prayer and saw Tom off to the bus, then headed to the bus for the little kids. I visited with Amanda and Kari and Rebecca for a while after the bus left, then headed back home. Jake had a therapy appointment this morning. We got ready, and left a little early to get gas in the car. Cause we were driving on fumes on the way home from seminary. Seems to be a theme these days. hehe.

His session went well. We talked about ways to DE-escelate the situation. To try and help Jake figure out how to come down on his own. Not to engage him when he gets frustrated. Sigh. That's hard as the grown up in charge, you know. Not to engage in a power struggle. I need to be better about such things, I know. As this deployment drags on, I know I need to step it up. I know I need to. But I can feel my control slipping instead of getting stronger... I'll do my best...

We finished up, and headed out and off to Jake's school. I dropped him off at school, and headed back to post. I went home to check on the dog, then headed to Amanda's house. Crystal was there visiting with Amanda, and we all hung for a bit and checked out ads for Christmas stuff. We watched a little TV, then around 12:30, headed to the post office.

I'd got a slip on the door a few weeks back saying that I had a package, and I'd forgotten to go and claim it. And had been SO afraid that they'd sent it back to Captain America! Oh a crap! He was gonna be SO upset! (And rightfully so!) I silently prayed that it was still there! The line was super long (of course!), and luckily, when I got to the front and asked about the package, it was still there! I super lucked out! The lady even commented that the package should have been sent back. It shouldn't have been there. I totally lucked out that it was still there. Someone was watching out for me :)

We swung by Kim's house, and picked her up, then headed to Big Lots. I wanted to check out a set of Dishes. They were SOOO super cute. Remember the pattern I showed you a week or so ago? Yup, it's that one! I want them. I went back and looked. $50 for a set of 16 pieces. So it would take 2 sets for my family. That's $100 for dishes. Hmmm, I don't know if I'm quite ready to pay that much.... We don't have any real dishes right now.... We are using plastic everything.... What do you think? $100 for dishes? Is that too much? I didn't get them for now. I'm gonna have to think about it for a while....

We went to Ashley furniture for Amanda to pick up her check from the returned stools, and Kim found a piece of furniture that matched her entertainment center in the clearance section! For only $100. She'd payed WELL over that for the rest of the set. She was pretty excited. She paid, and said that she'd come and pick it up later.

We went to Albertson to get a few things for Amanda for dinner, and Little Cesaers was right next door (pizza and salad for my family) then swung by Sonic for Happy Hour drinks. Then back to post to drop Kim off at her house. And went back to Amanda's house.

Soon, it was time to go to the bus stop. Amanda is getting ready to move (wait, we don't speak of such things!!) and she had cleaned out her fridge, so I had a few bags of food from her house. We let the kids play in the lot by the bus stop, and the moms visited. Until the sun dropped behind the mountain, and we got chilly. So we headed home. But the kids got about an hours worth of play time in. hehe.

We came home, and I had the kids do their chores. I made the salad, and dished up salad and pizza. The kids loved it. Everyone once in a while, I make something they like. hehe. I left them to finish up their chores, and went to take a nice hot shower. At 6:30, I invited Kim's kids over to watch a movie with mine. She and her hubby were off to the gym. Cory and Austin and Scotty came and watched a movie with Joe and Jim and Tom and Eme. They mostly watched the movie. hehe. There was minimal messing around going on. hehe.

After the movie, Tom walked the little boys and Scotty home, and I put my kids to bed. And I did my part to clog the internet with shopping for Cyber Monday. I finally managed to purchase a few shells for my Miche habit. I figured that if Captain America was supporting his Civil War reenacting habit, then I could support my handbag addiction, right? LOL. I may have went a tad overboard. I blame it on the Topomax. I lose all control on that stuff. Hurry home, Captain America! I need you here!!! :P

I'm gonna pop back over to my blog/hosting sites and see if I can get my WordArt to host. Maybe some of the shoppers went to bed. We shall see. Otherwise, I'll try and host if for y'all in the morning. It's now 9:30pm, and I'm getting sleepy. Night, y'all!

Click on the link below to go to my account to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work. thanks!

4shared

box.net

Ha! That's a good one, Sharon! How did you manage to get that many puppies lined up in a row!!! Perfect!!! Thanks for the layout :)

Pea-Brained

Hey there :) So, is it bad to admit that I was actually hoping that someone would be sick so we could skip church? hehe. I was subbing for Jim's class (6 year olds), and I just didn't wanna do it. LOL. I just wanted to stay in bed and be lazy and watch TV with the kids all day long. That's really what I wanted to do.

I crawled out of bed at 8am, and threw on some comfy church-ish clothes. And had the kids get dressed too. Eme showered, and everyone else looked passable. And we ate, and loaded up in the truck. And yeah, it ALMOST didn't start. I forgot that the last time I drove it, it was completely out of gas. Crap. Now we were really gonna be late. And breaking the Sabbath. Hmpf!

So we headed to the Shoppette. And I got JUST enough gas to get the free Candy bar. 8 gallons. And kept the receipt, and headed to church. We'd redeem it later. We got there about 10 minutes late. But, for some strange reason, church was late getting started! So we were on time! Score! But our row was taken. Boo :( But there was a free row in the middle in the front. So we took that.

And the kids were somewhat good at church. Joe had to sit in the row in front of us because he wouldn't leave people alone. And Jake was being just a tad bit disruptive, but not terribly bad. And I had to move Tom at the very end of Sacrament meeting to a new row. And when he wouldn't move, I had to threaten to drag him out by his ear (he moved on his own then). All in all, it was a pretty good sacrament meeting. I really enjoyed the talks today. They were both very good.

Jake fell asleep during the end of Sacrament meeting, and I just chose to let him sleep. I know, I'm mean. He was sleeping on the 2nd row, and I just left him there. hehe. I'm sure he woke up in Adult Sunday School, and had all the grown ups looking at him. LOL. Maybe he won't fall asleep in church next time. ROFL! There's my ornery streak coming out!

And I headed to Primary. I sat with Jim and 2 other little girls in his class. And it was SO not where I wanted to be. But I made the most of it. They were pretty good. Jim is a bit of a handful, especially for me. You know how your own kids are turds when you are around? Well, Jim is doubly that way. Yeah for me... hehe.

We had signing time, then had sharing time. I snuck out for the last part, and went to the truck and got the stuff for my lesson. Then came back in just as we were doing closing for sharing time.

Then we headed off to class. And it went pretty well. We talked about tithing. And how everything that we get comes from the Lord, so it shouldn't be hard to give a part of it back to him, right? I brought in 10 bananas, and showed how if we had 10, and gave up 1, we'd still have 9 left. That's still a lot of bananas. Then we ate bananas the rest of the lesson. Then we had a talk about how we can't eat too many bananas or it does bad stuff to our tummy. LOL. I had to cut them off at 2 a piece!

We showed pictures of temples, and talked about how tithing dollars build temples. And played with the light switches, and said that tithing dollars paid for electricity. And heat. And all sorts of stuff. Then we colored pictures. And ate more bananas. It was a good time. The hour passed pretty quickly.

After church, we figured out that there was a Youth Fireside tonight, and Tom REALLY wanted to go. Brother Harris said that if I met him at the church, he'd bring Tom the rest of the way, then bring him home afterwords. Sounded PERFECT to me! I'd totally do that :)

We headed home after church, and got lunch. We watched some TV and I napped on the couch. We took turns picking the shows. I picked X-files, and only saw 1/2 of it, cause I fell asleep. The kids picked cartoons or something else. I'm not sure. Eventually I moved to my bed. My head was hurting. I'd forgotten to get my daily caffeine dose in. I know, bad. But you can't judge me too harshly. My husband is deployed. And yes, I just played that card. hehe :) It works in SO many settings!!! I play it ALL the time :)

Anyway, I slept for quite some time. The smart things would have been to take some Excedrine Migraine, and sleep it off. But no, I just tried to sleep it off. So it got worse as I slept. Eventually, I woke up, and it was KILLING me. So I took some pills, and laid down for about an hour more, and it was a little bit better. After about another hour, it was almost gone. Yeah, won't be repeating that one again! I'll detox off of caffeine some other time. Now is NOT the time, though :)

We cleaned up a bit, and did some chores. We had left overs for dinner, and go some laundry done. Eme helped me organize my jewelry (she LOVES to do that...) and I picked up in my room a little bit. And soon it was time to take Tom to the fireside. I asked Amanda and Terra if they wanted to ride with me! Jake said that he'd keep an eye on the little kids and watch a movie with them. Since I was just dropping Tom off at the church and coming right back, I thought it would be ok.

I picked up Terra, then Amanda, and headed out. And we got to chat about Thanksgivings, and about Terra's hubby coming home, and Amanda's trip to Phoenix for Thanksgiving, and about her Black Friday shopping trip. We dropped Tom off with his ride, and headed back to post. We made plans for our Girls Night Out this coming Thursday night, and talked about some more plans. We like to plan fun stuff, you know! Something always happening with this group!

I dropped the girls off at their houses, and headed back home. My kids were watching the rest of Batman. Oh yeah! We never finished it last night. So I sat down with them, and we watch it. Well, most of it. It was bedtime before it got over. I sent Joe and Jim to take a bath before too long. They SO needed one.

They got changed and got their Jammies on, and went to bed. Then I sent Eme and Jake off to bed. Seminary in the morning. Not looking forward to getting up super early, butt crack of dawn again. hehehe.

And I finished watching Batman. Tom came home around 9pm. He was SO excited about the fireside. He said that Jake had REALLY missed out. That it was AWESOME! I'm so glad that Tom enjoyed it. I told Jake that once his dad came home, he was gonna have to start going again. I just didn't have the fight left in me to make him go. But it'll return once dad does :) Be warned, Jake!

Anyway, I made the Facebook flyer for our Girls Night Out, and started blogging. It's now almost 10. Because I slept most of the afternoon, I'm really not tired. But if I'm getting up early, I should go to bed, right? hehe. My kids are going back to school tomorrow, so it'll be worth it!!! LOL :) Jake has a therapy appointment in the morning.... Oh wait. I think his therapist called and canceled it. Because she was sick. Or was that last week's appointment. Hmmm. Now I'm not sure. I'm gonna have to call in the morning and find out. Maybe I should just assume that it's canceled and let him get ready for school. That might be the best course of action at this point... I should really write these things down :) I remember that it was when I went to the commissary that I took the call. But I can't remember who I was with at the time. I think I was with Amanda. I don't remember..... Maybe it was Walmart. Now I really don't remember... Now I'm just rambling. ROFL! See how random my brain is! (can you tell I didn't get enough grown up interaction today???)

Click on the link below to go to my account to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work. Thanks!

4shared
box.net

OMGosh, this is adorable! Are you sure this isn't me as a baby??? Cause it SO could be! hehe :) Great layout, Sharon!!!

Hey Sugar

It was a relaxing Saturday in the Harty household! Gotta love that. I slept in until around 8am. I think that's when it was. Only a few kids were awake when I got up. The slowly trailed out of their rooms. And Jim was the last one awake. Joe had spent the night at Cory's house, so there was no one to wake Jim up in the morning. hehe.

Anyway, we spent the morning doing nothing. Hanging out. Playing on electronics. Watching TV. Just being lazy. The house was mostly clean. We nibbled on left overs. It was a good time.

Around 10:30am, I texted Kim and asked if she wanted to go with me to the Clothing supply store and to the post office to mail a package to Captain America. He needed a new ACU top. She said yeah, so we left our kids at home (with responsible (enough) people), and headed out.

I snapped a few pictures of my gang before I left. See how good they were being. hehe. Very entertained :)




Kim's middle schooler, Hunter, came with us too. I joked with him that he just wanted to come with us to hang out with me and my cool hat. He liked the horns. ROFL! I'm not sure that he knows what to think of me. I'm kinda a freak, you know. Especially for "cool" middle school 8th grade boys. ROFL!

We went to Clothing supply and got the ACU top. In and out in about 3 minutes. And we grabbed a Diet Mt Dew for the road. Oh yeah. And checked the PX mall for the Miche girl to see if she had a Brown big bag, but nope. None yet. But she did have a tiny purse that Kim ended up getting. With an extra shell! Super cute!!! While I was gone, Jake texted and said that he was going to Justins to play. Sounded good to me :)

And then we headed to the post office. I headed in, grabbed the flat rate box, the mailing label, and the customs form, filled everything out, got it all assembled, and waited in line. For like 10 minutes. But finally, it was my turn. I paid, and we were on our way.

We swung by the shoppette real fast on the way home, then Kim dropped me off. I made the kids "Turkey Balls" for lunch with our left overs. Great name, huh? hehe. You take your left over turkey, and cut it into little bits. And add the stuffing in with it. And a package of cream cheese. And make a paste of sorts. Then divide it into balls. And then wrap croissants around it. The refrigerator kind. And cover it with cream of chicken soup (milk added). And bake it in the oven until brown and done. The kids really liked it! Turkey balls! Try it with your left overs this year, ok!

They may have needed to have been cooked a tad bit longer...

And then I went to sit on the couch and do something productive with my computer. Leo came over to see if Joe could play, but he was already over at Cory's house. So then Leo asked if Jim could come over and play. hehe. So Jim went to Leo's house. Jim was SO excited! I was down to 2 kids. Now I could get some work done! And promptly fell asleep. hehe. I had the grandest of intentions. I really did. And I woke up at 3pm.

Kim said that she was gonna go to the Commissary and get some supplies for "late Thanksgiving" dinner. She'd invited my family to come! And I'd said yes, and that I wanted to come to the commissary with her too. Anyway, I texted to see if she'd left yet. She was on her way! I'd JUST made it. hehe.

We left for the commissary, and got the few things that we needed. I got what I needed for Key Lime Pie. SUPER YUM!!! The kids had wanted it for our Thanksgiving dinner, but hadn't told me until we'd sat down to eat. ha! How was I supposed to know? hehe.

Kim and Scotty and I shopped and got what we needed, then came back home. I made my pie, which was really kinda simple. It took the juice of about 8 limes. And 3 cans of sweetened condensed milk. And 1/2 cup of sour cream. And 1 TBSP of Lime zest. All mixed together. Then poured into a graham cracker crust. And baked at 350 for about 8 minutes. Then chilled. I didn't cool it enough. It would be better chilled overnight, I'm thinking. But still, it tasted pretty good!

And since I'd hard boiled 3 dozen eggs for my thanksgiving dinner, and forgotten about them, I made deviled eggs for "fake thanksgiving"! I made up about 4 dozen deviled eggs. I like mine with miracle whip and curry. Oh yeah, SUPER tasty :)
Jake and Jim came home around 5pm. And were starving. They kept eating everything in sight. So I knew that they wouldn't be hungry when we went to Kim's house. LOL. There's only so much I can do, right? hehe. Finally, at 6pm, we headed over. She said that she couldn't find her potatoes that we'd bought at Walmart yesterday. She'd searched the whole house, and they were gone. She thinks that we left them on the bottom of the cart!

Luckily, I had a TON of extras from my thanksgiving, so I brought my leftovers. Reconstituted mashed potatoes is superior to NO mashed potatoes, right? hehe. We warmed them up, and got the food on the table, and all sat down to eat. I said the prayer, and we all dug in. Jake had some punch and headed home. He said he wasn't hungry.

It really was a nice time at their house. Everyone seemed to enjoy hanging out, eating and visiting and enjoying one anothers company :) hehe, this napkin is for you, Captain America... I know how you LOVE the Bears.....
Check out this FANTABULOUS dessert that Kim made. Red velvet cake with raspberries and a vanilla yogurt/cream cheese white stuff. I'm thinking that some kind of mini white chocolate chip would be DIVINE in it too! Or crumbled Hersheys cookies and cream white chocolate bar....whats the name of it??? You know what I'm talking about, right??? Anyway, it was SO tasty!

And my Key Lime Pie.
After dinner, we cleaned up a little bit, then all sat down to watch Batman, the Dark Knight. Oh yeah, Christian Bale! hehe. We got through about 1/2 before Jim wanted to go home. Tom had already left, and Eme too. Joe had fallen asleep on the floor. So when Jim asked to go home, I figured it was my clue that I should probably go home. It was 8:45pm, and we had church the next day. hehe. I may have wanted to stay and visit/watch the movie longer, but my kids were trying to tell my that I needed to be the responsible adult and take them home. Hmpf! Sorry Batman, next time! hehe.

We managed to get Joe woken up, and walked the 2 blocks home. I had Jake and Tom and Eme do their kitchen chores because something was smelly in the kitchen. We finally found what it was. The gravy from Thanksgiving had somehow gotten left out! And had gone bad (duh!) A fresh lime chasing it down the garbage disposal did the trick! Now my house smells good again :)

It's now 10pm. I'm gonna go to sleep. I'm subbing for Jim's primary class in the morning. His teacher is on vacation in some warm tropical place. Lucky! One of these days, I'll be me!!! hehe :)
Click on the link below to go to my account to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work. Thanks!

4shared
box.net

Awesome layout, Sharon! Lovin' the whimsical feel to it! Your daughter is beautiful :)