For the love of randomness

Don't you know how I just LIVE to never be expected, as random as I can be at all times. So random, it's predictable!
I have no clue what I'm yapping about though. The point is simply, that I have random photos to share today.

I might have mentioned my most perfect hot cocoa ever? This is it. Those are perfectly formed teeny tiny itty bitty chocolate chips all over it. Then it's got that super delicious thick layer of cream and beneath all of that, the second greatest cocoa ever had by me. Ranking behind my super special hour long hot cocoa. It takes forever to make, but what a treat! :)
Anyway, my birthday cocoa for all to see.

This was actually taken on my birthday as well. It turned out to be one of the foggiest days yet here, one of the foggiest I've yet to see. One that would shut Texas down, well...slow it WAY down anyway. Here? Nope, we were speeding down the A11 without a second thought. It slowed down to 60 a few times, but not much and not for long.
Anyway, this is a road near the house. It is the back way in, often times I pick the boys up from their long day at school and drive around the village a couple of times until they pass out. Otherwise they are SO tired from the day at school they fight and fight and it is a nightmare and it is already so late when I get them, it's pointless to get them to sleep then, and well...let's just say I want a drink or five by the time I DO get them in bed. So...I drive them slowly, silently until they pass out.
This is the road that Kade and I will go down everyday when he starts full time school in September. That is assuming he gets into our catchment school which I hope he does.

This, also the same day obviously. This is further down the road where I got a peek at the sun! It popped out for just a minute, hello there friend! Oh how I miss you! COME BACK!!!!!
Anyway, I've been wanting to get a shot here at just the right time of day and I think this worked. I've seen some heavy-ish fog with some strong sun before in Texas, but it was always morning, not really this thick and well...just different. haha!
This is sunset. Sunset at --- gasp! 3:30 in the afternoon! Don't you think that'd drive you batty? It's kind of rough about now, but...hey I'm optimistic when no one is looking, and just keep telling myself that spring will soon be here, we're closer to it now than we were a month ago. When it is here, I'll probably let the boys stay up till midnight if the sun doesn't go down till 11PM b/c we'll be outside every waking second I'm fairly sure. My already limited computer time will come to a halt b/c I'm so sorry and I love all my peeps, but this pasty Texas gal needs some rays!!!! So do the boys, their little above the bum tan line is long since faded. I loved that, so cute. As bad as Co is about clothes now though, I doubt he'll have one this year!

Our first commercial advertisement. Yo Rice Krispies people!!! Here's your 2009 model, we'll have some Izzy tunes too and make you a good ol' commercial, photo shoot included at no extra cost.
They've all, oddly, gotten hooked on rice krispies lately. Apparently Co decided to have himself a bowl. He poured it right over the top of his fruit loops...and the table...and the chair, and the floor too.
Sadly, Chops is not so much into plain kid cereal and well, it was just too damn cute to even get mad at Co for it. So hell... it's one of those times, I let them make a mess. It all cleans up and a big crazy rice krispie mess on a Sunday morning is a good memory to me, I'm sure it will be for them too.

On that note. I bid you all GOOD NIGHT! It is 10:30 PM. It is silent except for the ticking of these damn keys. I have no laundry to do. I have no dishes to wash. I'm already showered even.
I.
am.
going.
to.
watch.
an.
entire.
movie.
in.
SILENCE!
uh, except for the movie sound of course. but a WHOLE movie and mike better not interrupt me, but he will i'm sure! just because.

Note to self...

Do not dry fleece material in the laundry-mat dryer.
I made a resolve as I needed to take the bed linens up to wash, that I'd just take every last stitch and give myself a damn break from this never ending laundry nightmare for a few days. Many of you know that laundry is my nemesis anyway, now add in a damn washer the size of a bucket and imagine my predicament.
The nightmares of drowning in oceans of downy, being chased and attacked by body-less clothing. It is just too much sometimes.
So I loaded my poor car to the top with EVERYTHING, even if it might be clean but didn't have a soft fresh feeling to it, it ALL went. I spent a few hours, so happy to be gawked at by the amount I had to bring in, but this is what happens when I go on strike for 48 hours damn you single people who wear ONE uniform all week and (ew) reuse your towels 8 times w/out washing. BITE ME!
I worked hard, got to read my book a bit, which is grand as it is getting to the really profound parts now, and I have nice clean clothing all put away neatly. It's a dream come true.
However, I learned the hard way...that sweats, and super soft fluffy wonderful fleece blankets and scorching hot laundry-mat dryers, are not meant to work together.
Now all my wonderfully soft fleece is crunchy and smells like burnt plastic.
That's special.

*sigh*

Since I have so much spare cash flying around, now I can go replace all these blankets. JUST great.

I give up. I'm just laundry cursed and that is that.
We're retiring and moving somewhere warm year round and going nudist. We'll air dry after a shower and rough it and just sleep on the damn ground. Call first before you come over, or you'll be cursed with your own slew of nightmares for eternity. ha!

I am sure I am typing and reading like a madwoman, I'm too tired to even be humorous.
Off to bed and more laundry nightmares. Now I'll wake up sweating to the image of fleece trying to crunch me to death in my sleep.
Great.

the reaction will be funny

how many people are shocked by my previous entry. haha.
i'm good at that. but for real.
i've been shocked at the shocked reactions i've gotten thus far for it.

Good-Bye Mr. Bush

Well, I'm not really going all on or off about politics b/c that would be idiotic of me. I'm not, like my friend Nicole, tattooing a photo of Obama on my rear end. Okay she's not...yet anyway, but I'm not that passionate at all about it.
However, I will say that for awhile I was a fan of Mr. Bush, but seriously...how can I be anymore? So with this...I bid you farewell kind sir.
It was....familiar I guess I can say. Sort of like a deja vu?
At any rate, I figure a good long vacation on that big fancy ranch in Texas with that big fat bank account will do a body and soul good.
Hey! How many of my friends, friends of friends, loved ones etc... etc... have lost their job, their home or had to go on government assistance just to keep from starving? Right.
Yes, please Mr. Bush and well hell, let us add in the other people who I'm loathing at the moment...MR. and MRS. OIL TYCOONS, please enjoy your luxuries while the rest of us flippin starve (and no flipping is not the word I wanted, but I will censor myself). I AM passionate about this.
Love how people like to GIVE BACK. Ever notice how it is that the people who seem to have the least are the ones that give the most???? I've noticed it.
I shall not go off on a tangent though. NOpe.
I just get sick over all I'm seeing everyone go through. Don't think we're not affected though, please don't. We are, just as much...the only thing we've got securing us is Mike's choice of career many years ago. Good one on ya honey! I can't imagine some of the uncertainties so many of my people are going through. It affects my business too b/c don't we all know how much of a luxury photos are. *smart ass smirk* So we all have to cut back, live lighter and try harder.
I agree it is good for us sometimes.
I agree that MANY MANY of us got ourselves into this mess. Greed.
I agree, that DUH if you only make $40k a year, you really ought to get the drift that you cannot, in fact, afford to buy a $275k home with no money down. DUH. Stupid. DUH. Many should've used their BRAIN. Just because the bank will GIVE it, doesn't mean you should TAKE it. Just as...Mr. and Mrs. Greedy Bank Tycoons sit around over a cocktail with Mr. and Mrs. Oil Tycoon and Mr. and Mrs. Greedy Politicians laughing at all the poor peasants eating bread and water.
Well, ya know what? Perservere! Perservere damn it! Good news is...WE CAN LIVE ON BREAD AND WATER! We might even thrive on it! What do you think THOSE people would do in many of our shoes right now though?
Yeah, let us see how far they'd get. Wouldn't it be neat and nifty to have a little button to just give those folks a reality check whenever we deemed it necessary. New law. Anyone with $XXX in their bankroll, has to be open to a middle or lower "class" person's reality check whenever we see it fit. Yep. I think it would do the WORLD some good.

At any rate. I should ask this of Mr. Obama. Once the really really important stuff is underway. Ya know, war stopping, recession ending, history making etc... etc....
can the military have a raise please????
Hey it's worth a shot right?
Oh hell, while I'm at it. Even as much as I really dislike taking them, I could do up some MEAN family portraits! I mean...seriously. Really. Seriously.
Well, lucky for me, people still experience milestones and still love to have photos. Phew! Things might slow down, but I'll always be here, camera ready. They always pick back up again. :)

At any rate, a historical day is upon us. Sleep well all, look forward to new beginnings. Let's hope that he IS the right medicine for this sick, sick economy (among other things) and that he can right some of the wrongs, fix some messes and move us forward instead of us always seeming to go backward and further in the hole.

Welcome new Mr. President. Welcome.

What a difference a day makes

I've been in such a foul mood lately. Who knows why, I think it has even been since Christmas, just escalating day by day. So much that I seriously can't figure out WHAT it is/was for and really pissing myself off all the more because it WILL NOT GO AWAY!!!!!

Well last night I went to sleep before 10pm. I woke up at 6 this morning, sore from sleeping so long, but feeling a bit better, still wishing there was not so much to do today and those darn kids would sleep till nine just ONCE! Regardless, up I was and in the shower. A shower first thing in the morning???? Yes, it's a great thing and always improves my mood where a nighttime one just does not.

Off to school the boys went happily and I came back home to figure out which of the 50 things on my list were going to take priority. Since this 2.5 hour school day thing stresses me out so much. I just can't do anything in such a small amount of time! If there are a bunch of little somethings, which there always are, sure I can get them done but the anxiety over what is most important etc... freaks me out all the more.

So, I took the dog for a walk! Definitely needed to be done as it is, but my car is still filfthy and I have yet to make a grocery list as we're going straight from school to get that taken care of. Yuck.

Oh well.

It was lovely out this morning though. We went a different route and my how much more relaxing! It was a small road between two small village, no one else and maybe 3 cars passed the whole time. It was a balmy 36 degrees out, which I must say how funny I've changed so much already! The birds were singing, not just chirping annoyingly. There were pheasants scurrying everywhere and the weather was just gorgeous.

Since no one else came by, my dog didn't try to eat anyone, there was no human/canine wrestling match to keep him at my side etc... so that was very relaxing too.

It was nice to get to just take the time and really SEE our village. There are some exquisite homes here with breathtaking gardens. Our village is certainly not the nicest of all and is very much a tiny one as we don't even have a school and most small ones do but when you take the time, it is a very beautiful spot indeed.

My Online Score!!!

I've been searching for a dining table for ages, and have not had an easy time of finding one I liked. Call me picky. It's not really what I was looking for, but what a steal!
All at once I found 4 table/chair sets that I liked in the right price range (i.e. CHEAP) and this is the one I went to see. In PERFECT used condition!
I'm so proud of it! It added one more star to my "world's greatest shopper" badge.
:)

thirty. one.

i'm not sure why it is. turning 30 was absolutely nothing to me. no big deal at all. BEING 30 is not old, its not that big of a deal. when someone asks your age range, you say, "i'm 30." however, seems that NOW i have to say, "i'm IN my 30's."

somehow, that is a smack in the face, reality bite...holy crap. i'm IN my thirties! thirties???? seriously?

am i ever going to actually FEEL my age? i mean its great that i don't feel as old as i am, if that ever really makes sense. just meaning, i feel like i should just be....24 or something. i don't feel mature enough in my mind, settled enough or whatever you want to call it, to be IN my thirties.

never the less, time apparently doesn't seem to care if i want to push 'pause' on aging until i feel that age.

unfortunately.

so far, i've had a pretty nice day though. today was school day for the boys. so i dropped them off and went into norwich to meet a friend for a coffee. i joked with mike it was a long drive for a coffee which i don't even drink. ha! i did actually have one though, once the taste of my gum (which does NOT mix well with a caffe latte mind you) wore off it wasn't too terrible.

i got to check out the city centre and some of the shops there. very neat, very affordable stuff to! i even got to step foot in an h&m. a lifelong dream of mine...okay, maybe just a past couple of years dream of mine. regardless. i got to.

finished it off with one of the greatest hot cocoa's ever with the tiniest of chocolate chips on it, such a pretty cocoa, i had to take a picture of it. :)

when i picked the boys up from school, they both sacked out in the FOGGY ride home, and have taken a long nap, which i've just now looked at the clock and should go wake them up because they will be up till midnight if i don't!!!!

anyway, hopefully mike brings me some form of chocolate and some firewood for my birthday. that'd be just perfect.

he got me a card yesterday, laid it on my pillow. it was a very very sweet card, that even down to the feet comment, was sweet. but the foot comment, that was just sneaky to toss in there!

at any rate.

yay me. another year survived. can't complain about that.

but do i REALLY have to be IN my THIRTIES?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

i don't WANNA!!!!!!!!

*sigh*

oh well.

with that, i shall leave you with a few photos of my beautiful children. if i did nothing in this world worth a damn in the past THIRTY ONE years, it'd all be worthwhile for the great things i did do by having my angels. :)

yeah...they're still being pretty good! much easier to talk nicer about them (is that mean even?) when they are being so nice.

Blessed be the RARE day

That they BOTH nap anymore! I suppose I got spoiled because I could almost -- almost -- always get them to nap at the same time. However, Kade has tried numerous times to drop napping and failed at it, but lately it seems he is finally ready. By fail I mean he'd refuse to nap and be a complete and total mess by 5 or 6 pm with still a few hours to go. If he did stay awake, he was a little beast to say the least but most often he'd fall asleep wherever he was still for 5 seconds and he could NOT be woken up. So it was just not time yet and we'd just have to suffer through it until he decided that whole napping thing wasn't so bad after all again.
However, he thinks it is the worse thing in the world now. This only happened because I persevered. This was a day he woke up at about 5 AM. That is the only reason it happened.
Cody, I doubt I'm going to get 4 years out of him on the naps. While the boy DOES love his sleep, he's always been one to just come out and tell you he was tired and wanted to go to sleep. He'd lay down and be out within seconds, like his Daddy. Now though, he's starting to fight them more and more, push longer and longer to stay up etc... He's even lasted longer than Kade at bedtime lately.
The thought of neither of them ever napping is horrifying to me.
It's a Stay at home for now, but for real Work at Home Parent's only reprieve. (I really hate it when people would call me a stay at home Mom). Try working at home with your own business and two small children then downplay my role as nothing more than baking cookies, playing hide and seek and cleaning my house, having a warm dinner on the table with my MAN walks through the door. Please, try it out first, then come to me with the condescending tone.
So I can say, "yeah...that's what I thought."
So, you may be thinking to yourself, "well yeah, but now aren't YOU doing that to stay at home parents?"
Most certainly not! That in itself is an EXTREMELY difficult job, one which is only meant for certain people, which in many instance, I can be honest enough with myself to say...I am not one of them. It takes a very special person to do it, to do it and be GOOD at it. I'm not. I do it, but I never feel good at it. I have some friends who stay home with their children and they are always out doing play groups, making crafts, playing games and going to parks, museums and other kid related things.
Me? Oh HELL no. Taking my children to anything other than dropping them off at school and the rare insane run to the grocery or pediatrician, is just cause for some manic raving before the day is done. It is exhausting, they piss me off, run me down and own my ass before it's even half way through whatever we are out to do. Sadly, I rarely feel it is worth it because they behaved SO awful and I am just not a Super Mom. I'll be nutty enough to try it again soon though, I should say that I DO try, it just never goes well, so I don't torture us all and keep trying daily.
At any rate, their good to bad day ratio lately has taken a swift turn. I don't even know why I'm typing this because it never fails that I do and they turn demon on me. At any rate, they've been acting a great deal better and I've been trying extremely hard to just shut up and roll with it.
I've somehow gotten caught in between those Super Stay at Home Moms and the Super Go to Work Moms and just hang out in limbo in between.
Ah well. They started back to school today and it was not a moment too soon. While they made the Christmas break much more enjoyable by behaving much better, as of the past couple of days, it was TIME for them to get away from me and me from them.
See, I fully understand its not just ME that needs the break, they do too. In fact, instead of feeling sorry for myself always feeling as if I can't go pee in peace, I should feel sorry for the kids, I can't imagine having to be around me so much! haha!
I feel sorry for myself not getting a break from myself most often!
Oh well. Maybe I'll learn to behave a little better some day too. They were more than excited to go back though. Kade was ready to play with his friends, although I'm constantly getting these weird stories from him about one boy he talks about ALL the time, I think he likes him, but I think they must have a Love Hate relationship. Since he said the other day that he was really ready to go play with "S" again, he is a lot of fun, but he "fight me". So then I imagine some steel cage match being held in their classroom over who gets the red crayon. I really should do something more constructive with my thoughts I think.

Anyway. I have honestly, absolutely nothing of much importance as usual. We're hoping to have our chocolaty brown pooch to join us very soon. I'm even looking forward to it too! Shocker right? haha
I haven't had much time on the computer. I've been killing myself to try and keep up with this damn house again, to get over the holidays and to teach these darn sloppy ass kids how to keep their crap put up. I can't wait for warmer weather so I can boot their asses outside more AND so the boot sales will pick up more so I can dump some of these damn toys off on some other unsuspecting fool parent. I'm gonna have a HAY DAY getting rid of this crap! It is a hard thing for me to do to get rid of toys oddly, but it is time. I can't take it.
If anyone needs to buy something for my kids. Buy them clothes PLEASE, but remember how picky Mommy is! hahaha
No for real, we didn't even get too crazy this Christmas like we normally do. Some other folks did, but that's okay, I understand it fully. We just need to get rid of some old to make room for the new. Where's Kristy when I need her??? She'd whip my toy pack-rat fanny into shape in no time! Maybe it is time to annoy myself to no end with some FlyLady. How I hate those emails.
I find myself flipping the bird to my computer screen or mouthing off other obscenities to that silly email bitching at me to get up off my ass and go wipe down my freakin sink. However...I know too many folks, with stronger convictions that me, that swear by it and how it saved their home. Not that ours is drowning or anything, it's just the TOYS! Okay and my office still.
I should hire someone to just clean my office, but I can't stand for anyone to touch my stuff, so there's a good catch 22.


Okay well there is ONE announcement. Cody is at school today in UNDERPANTS (aka underwear). Jeans and undies. Not sure how that is going to go. He's only worn a night time pull up for about 2 weeks now, but...the kicker is that he is home and we all know what Cody likes to wear at home. Shoes.
So I have no clue how he's going to do if he needs to get his jeans and undies down to go. I sent a lot of clothes though. It was sort of a damned if you do and damned if you don't scenario.
I didn't want to back step and send him in a pull up, BUT he honestly takes it WAY more personally if he has an accident (which he's NOT had but once when he had on undies) than Kade ever did. So would it be worse to still let him wear pull ups when he's not home, or take the chance of him being embarrassed and feeling too much pressure.
I chose letting him just try it out and told the teachers if he was having a hard time, it was fine if they put a pull up on him. I took him to the dr. the other day and I asked him before we left if he wanted a pull up or undies and he chose a pull up. He thought about it for a long time, so I give him props for deciding to go on the safe side b/c he wasn't sure if he could make it. That kid pees a LOT, no wonder the pull up bill was starting to get so monumental, so that is really my only concern.

Well, off of here now and on to something else. Hopefully with more meaning than meaningless jibber jabber. A nap sure does sound good but I sure do have several other things I could do. How often do I just lay down in the middle of the day and nap though?
Darn kids. They've just got it made. They have no idea....