Girl Scout Cookies...

glorious girl scout cookies...For sale at my house. Usually we walk around with an order form and people think about what they want, love the fact that they don't have to pay now, and spend 3 weeks dreaming in anticipation of their beloved girl scout cookies. Not this year... this year is "cookies now".
Basically, it is a throwback to the 50's to make people feel all warm and squishy inside when they see adorable little girls running around with signs and wagons. What it means for me, however, is I have to cart around 100's of cookies in HOPES that I will be able to sell any.
And since most of our clientele were church members, that makes it very difficult. We can't set up a table or cart around a wagon, or anything. While I fully understand the reasoning behind that (if we let one person, we'd have to let everyone), it still makes my life difficult.
So that said...I HATE selling girl scout cookies, and now I hate it even more. I do like eating them though. Already tore through 1/3 of a box of samoas. yumyumyumyumyum!! I will also be buying some trefoils and thin mints.

Anyway... other than that, my friend's kid came over with a cold sore and touched all of Lucy's toys last night...so that was awesome. Had to spend the evening Lysol-ing the crap outta the toys because I am just NOT going to subject my poor kid to that! :(
Why don't people understand that cold sores are HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS!? Touch your face, touch other people and things, spread herpes to everyone. It is NOT "just a little cold sore". It is a freaking festering, contagious, nasty, disgusting VIRUS that you have FOR-E-VER!!
I hate that people are so inconsiderate. I really just want to throw all the toys away and start over. Or move. Just leave all my stuff here and go. I HATE cold sores. Yuck. (no offense if you get them, just don't come over and infect my freaking kid.)
Hmph. But honestly...how do you tell your friend, "I don't want your kid touching my kid's stuff...let's just keep it outside."? You know? You don't.

Wow...ok, that was quite a rant. Onward!!! This week on Facebook, everyone has been changing their profile pic to a celebrity who looks like them. It's awesome how close some of them are! Then there's me. I don't think I look like anyone. An online look-alike program told me I look like Amanda Bynes, but I'm not so sure. I think maybe Jennifer Garner or some no name actress in the background of a movie maybe... but I have pretty average, common features I think. Any thoughts? No, Justin, I don't actually look like Lisa Loeb.

I think I want to go to the Zoo again this week. Today we're all going to a bday party at Chuck-E-Cheese... should be at least a little fun! But I really liked going to the Zoo a couple weeks ago. I think I wanna go again. Maybe we'll get Sea World passes too? Is Sea World any good? I haven't been for a long, long time! Hmmm....

Anyway, that's my life right now. Hope everyone has a great Sunday! buh bye!

Best Friend...Are you out there?

I really want people to seek me out.
I really want them to invite me places.
I want them to decide "yes, I will attend your gathering" without first seeing if a better invitation surfaces.
I really want give and take, it goes both ways friends.
I want to invest in you, but I need you to invest in me sometimes too.
I want to have inane conversations and deep conversations.
I want people to want to hear what I have to say.
I want to have people call me to connect.
I want to call them and say "let's hang out!" and they say "ok!", and not "well, uh, I, uh... how bout in two weeks from 10:52am-10:57am?"
I want to be someone's first-on-the-list.
I don't want to "disappear" when your other friends are around.
I want to call someone and say come over right now and have them say ok.
I want to share tiny victories like finding my favorite toilet paper on sale.
I want a best friend.

I have realized that maybe this doesn't exist in one person, and at least at this point, doesn't really exist anywhere in my life, except in those that "have to". I know that people who genuinely like me must be out there somewhere and I hope some day to find them. But as for now I will settle for what I can get, I guess. I have decided to take the initiative more in my life.

If people constantly turn me down, I will stop putting myself out in front of their speeding train lives. I will invite them to parties and shrug it off when they inevitably say no. I will not stress out over the "maybe's" that are more likely "no's". I will not feel slighted when they won't commit to yes or no. I will be happy when people unwaveringly say yes. I will relish the friendships I do have, and be hopeful and not downtrodden with new ones.

I am a great person. I know I have my downfalls, but I also know that I am a great friend that will do everything in her power to enrich your life. I love people. I love to entertain. I love to feed people physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I love to do nice things for people. I LOVE investing in other's lives. I want to be your friend.
Yes, I will probably talk your ear off at times. Yes, I may offer advice that is hard to hear sometimes, but I will pray for you and help you and be a listening ear when you need it. I want to share my life with you. Will you share yours with me?

WHERE....ARE...YOU?

I like bread

I like all types of bread. Especially bread that is soft and squishy. I like bagels, tortillas, rolls, loaves...all bread = yum to me. I especially love this new thing I found called "tortilla bread" it is AWESOME. It's sort of like... that gordita shell from taco bell, but BETTER. Oh yumyumyumyumyum. It's all I can do to not eat the whole bag RIGHT NOW. Here is a blog post featuring it. No, i do not want, nor will I ever eat or make tuna burgers.

anyway, just thought you should all know that. :)

Lucy is practicing with "Yeah" when she wants something. Still says it with a question mark at the end cuz it's new and she's figuring out how to use it, but it makes things so much easier to have her say yeah and no (she shakes her head). It is SO cute! I certainly like that kid. Oh and speaking of Lucy and bread, she says bread now - "breh". Two things I like in one place. Nice.


I officially think Lucy is awesome... The end.

Thoughts for the day

You know that unshakable chocolate craving that sends you scouring the kitchen and you eat 14 other non-chocolate things trying to satisfy the craving and then hate yourself? Well, I bought a bag of M&M's to just store in my freezer. Better to satisfy it quickly than eat 1000 calories of other junk and then end up running to AM/PM anyway, right?

I want to go on a family vacation. That vacation might include a bunch of non-immediate family members. I think it would be super duper fun to rent a van and all drive together, too. Or maybe an RV! Grand Canyon? Yosemite? Beach cities? We shall see...more details to come!

~~~Commenters: Give me some ideas of where we could go!~~~

I can tell weekends are difficult to blog on and about. So we may or may not have weekend posts. This weekend was alright. We did a lot of cleaning (can't tell though) and hanging out with friends... Sunday was an entire day of restaurant eating! Sat we had a wedding, and Lucy was SO squirmy, I didn't make it even 45 min into the reception, so we went home and had make-it-yourself dinner and watched a movie called "Shorts". It was pretty cute! Took me a bunch of junk food and a few hours to shake my cruddy mood from dealing with Lucy and having to leave, but I got through it. :)

Lucy can say the words "apple" (appoh) and "plant" (paah) now, and talks about them a lot. it's SO cute. She also loves cream cheese so much that I started just giving her a spoonful instead of a bagel and CC because she just scrapes it off and throws the bagel on the floor. It's pretty comical how much she loves it.

Gwen is officially a flute player. She loves it. She wants to continue private lessons so she can keep learning, too! The instructor told her that if he had waited for someone to teach him everything he needed to know that he would still be a beginner too, and she should be a self starter and use the chart in the back of her book to teach herself too. After all the times I tried to tell her to practice, she never wanted to til she heard that! Funny how stuff like that makes a concept click like that! i'm so proud :)

Now i'm going to eat my elementary school lunch of a PB&J and apple. byebye

So I'm on the every other day plan...

what are YOU going to do about it? It's more than you're used to, so kiss my hiney! hehe
still feels so icky. :( I must have some kind of tummy thing. no throwing up, no "other" stuff, just upset tummy, little bit dizzy and tired. So weird. oh and a weird taste in my mouth. Nope, not pregnant.

So that's my life right now. did I mention my lips are chapped? "Ugh, my lips hurt real bad!" hehe

So what's new in the life of me? Nothing. Haven't cleaned my house for a few days, so there's always that....guess I should.

.......................Bah this blog sucks. I'll come back later.

An apple a day...

I eat an apple every single day. If I don't have apples, I go to the store. I LOVE Apples. If I don't have one, I feel weird all day. And for all the lame-o's who think I'm crazy, read this stuff! An apple a day really DOES keep the Doctor away!

My favorite variety is the Gala apple, but they're not in season all year, so I usually have to switch for a while til they come back around. This year, I found a new favorite, called the Honey crisp. It is everything perfect and wonderful in an apple. It is crisp and juicy, and sweet and tangy... it is lovely and amazing. But now they're $3.49/lb and that's just too much. So I have to switch again. The Galas are looking better now than they were for a while, so I got one to try.

But today, I tried another new apple, called the JAZZ Apple. Knowing nothing about it, I went ahead and bought one for fun. I tried it this morning, and it is a really firm apple, that tasted like a mix of red delicious and gala. I looked it up and it's braeburn and gala... but I am impressed that I got part right! Anyway, I can't decide if I like it. I may have to go back to get a few more.
Now I'm halfway through... i don't hate it, don't love it. But it'll do til galas are at their peak again.

I feel like there are certain times a year when apples are scarce. The reason I can't remember is because I couldn't eat apples when I was pregnant with Lucy. They made me feel icky. So I have only been eating them for a year since then and it hasn't come full circle yet. It seems to me they are always producing them off-season though, so I don't know.

If you want to learn much much more than you'd ever need to know about apples, go here.

'Kay bye. :)

Well at least I don't feel like crap today too....

....but I did yesterday and that made me forget to blog. Not sick; not pregnant; just felt icky.

that said...it was a blah day. I went to Marshall's cuz I had to return something, and I went to Vons in the rain to get groceries. Then I went to home group, which I love, and fell asleep through the whole thing (not that Ryan was boring, cuz he wasn't). I was so tired! but when I got home, I caught my second wind and ended up staying up til almost 12. :(
Gwen and I did play "tattoo parlor/ beauty shop" though and that was fun! I got a pink heart and a green star tattoo, and purple lipstick and nail polish... i like her a whole lot. :)

so that was my Monday. :)

fail blog.

Well only a few days in, and I already missed a day. BAH! Oh well. I was super tired and felt lame yesterday. However, I did watch Mystery Science Theatre 3000 "Zombie Nightmare", and it was awesome. And we led worship and it was spectacular! i LOVE leading worship with my husband. He is SO used by God, and the Spirit falls so undeniably heavy...I love it (not that it is us - it's God all the way)

Today I don't feel good. I have this weird metallic taste in my mouth and it's making food unappetizing, and it's upsetting my tummy. YUCK.

Lucy seems to be weaning herself from nursing...at least in the daytime. She WILL NOT do it. And then she wakes me up mid-night to nurse. Sigh. I do Not kow what to do.

Anyway, that is totally all I have to say. :)

Wine Party

Eleven wines + Eclectic foods + Good Conversation + Late Night = FUN + Hungry + Headache + Tired. Now I Want Sleep.

Today was a fun day

Lucy, me, Virginia, and Olive went to the Zoo today! It was really fun! We walked almost the whole thing, and while we were all tired and hungry when we left, Virginia and I felt GREAT! MY body definitely craves exercise... who knew!? As always, I didn't take any pictures. There just wasn't anything picture worthy! But, since it WAS Lucy's first trip to the zoo, I really should have. She really had fun though. She especially liked the meerkats.

Later, Gwen lucy and I went to Walmart and decided to eat at Bob's Big Boy. WOW! I haven't eaten there since I was like 8 yrs old! The business closed for a long time, and I guess they decided to open restaurants again? Anyway, my M-I-L was in the vicinity, so she stopped by to visit while we ate, and like a Ninja grabbed the bill and paid it before I could blink! Now THAT's a cheap date! hehe (for me!) What a blessing... I love her. :)
We got burgers and fries and hot fudge sundaes. YUMYUMYUMYUMYUM!!!!

Anyway, so short and sweet yes, but today was a long, great day and I am tired!
Night night!

iBlog. youBlog? WeBLOG?

Do you ever read someone else's blog and wonder where they get the inspiration for their blog? Do you wonder what makes them tick? What made them choose whatever it is that they have become interested in or passionate about? Like in the movie "Julie & Julia", she writes a blog about her experiences cooking through Julia Child's cookbook. We see the tossing around of ideas that culminates in her deciding to write a blog. And as far as blogs go, it makes sense to me that she did that.

But, what about other blogs. What about blogs dedicated to candy (see here and here) or favorite tv shows like Saved by the Bell, and car seats? Or as we saw yesterday, sleep-talking? What makes people decide to devote a blog to such topics? What makes them choose to make it their personal goal to become the Blog authority on this stuff and write about it ALL THE TIME? I can't even keep a blog about nothing going! Seems interesting to me.


Ok that is all about that.

Today Lucy and i watched/danced to her new Bible Songs DVD. She loved it! It was SO cute! Notice that she's holding Mikey's deoderant. She likes to do that, and now she likes to take the cap off and try to eat it, too.

An example:


It's supposed to rain today, and then ALL next week...so that will be interesting! We're supposed to go to the Zoo tomorrow so hopefully that works out!

So since this is my place to say things.... you know what bugs me? People who are martyr-ish (aka self-sacrificing, selfless, etc) about things and then they run around complaining about it! Well if you don't want to take care of your kids "all the time, all by myself", then get a babysitter or let your husband help or something! If you really want the last cookie, don't give it to me and then "oh I would have loved that cookie, but i gave it to you cuz I love you.... oh i wish I could have a cookie..." YouknowwhatI'msayin'!?
What about the close companion, "I can't do this because..."? Well change that thing! "I can't read a book because my kids won't leave me alone." Well, I see you're on facebook all the time; why don't you get off and go read?
Ugh...sorry. I know I shouldn't rant about stuff... I just get so TO'd! hehe

What's funny about this is that i can't even guarantee that people are even reading this nonsense! So I guess it doesn't really matter! blahblahblahblah.....

I have made a few resolutions this year. Not that I actually stated at midnight on NYE that I wanted to do these things, just that they seem to make sense as the last 12 days have gone by.
Here they are, in no particular order:

1. Be more of a joy than a pain.
2. Be more productive throughout the day.
3. Get up and ready before the kids.
4. Be more of a Mommy than a babysitter
5. Eat better.
6. Make a blog entry every day.

Now I know there are more, and I even as I was typing these, I came up with more, but they basically all fall into the same category... BE BETTER. That said, I have done really well with most of them so far. I am tired of feeling crappy all the time. And, I know that that has to do with what I eat, when i eat it, when I start my day, how I DO my day, etc.

Yes, as I sit here and type, my eyes are wigging out because I slept SO terribly last night, but I will not succumb to the nap monster because I always feel worse after I take a nap. So I will continue to do what needs to be done, and I think I will continue to feel better about myself in the process. I hate how gross and useless I feel at the end of the day when I realize I got nothing done, or when I see that the bag of cheetos is now empty and it was full, or when I don't take a shower til 2pm. You know?

But recently I have been getting more active (even if that just means sitting on the floor playing with Lucy or going outside for a while), eating better (I GOTTA because I'm not going to be on the "nursing-keeps-me-thin" plan for much longer!), and trying to do at least SOME chores every day, and I am so proud of myself at the end.

Anyway, I realized last night that since I'm more productive in the day time, I more relaxed at night when Mikey is home. I also realized that I am more able to feel like I can get up off of the couch (read: life waster) and go do something and let him read or play video games or whatever. I don't really know why? Did I develop some confidence I didn't have before? How on earth can Mikey relaxing not upset me? I AM a woman, right? Well, whatever it is, I like it.

Now if I could just develop the ability to feel ok about ditching my Hubby in the living room so I can go sleep when he isn't ready to. Last night I was falling asleep at like 9:15, but for some reason felt like I wanted to stay up with him even though he was reading and I was typing a blog. Well, maybe that should be on my list too. I went to bed at 11:15. :( And he woke me up "inadvertently" when he came to bed at midnight. Lucy was crying, I sorta remember hearing that, and he let her. I swear sometimes he pretends not to hear her. PUNK!

Anyway... I am off to go eat some yummy salad. I LOVE Salad. Well, actually maybe it's a homemade mac n cheese sort of day, so I think I'll go eat the left overs from last night!

And my Hubby is on his way HOME! YAY!!!

Brainworks: from the makers of Dreamworks?

I don't think I have things to blog about! I mean I'm sure I could come up with something, like how Lucy is transitioning from 2 naps down to 1 and that makes me a tired mommy... Or how we played outside for a while today and she gave me lots and lots of pine cones that I took and said "oh thank you!" and then gave back or put on the ground as she ran off and played more. And how I loved every second of it and plan to do it as often as possible...after all, why not?

Orrr.... How 'bout the fantabulous after Christmas "I didn't want this gift" gift exchange extravaganza thing we had at our house on Friday night? It was SO much fun! A bunch of people came and we all ate Spaghetti & meatballs and drank and were merry! The gift exchange was fun, and included such favorites as a used "Dirty Macarena" instructional VHS, and one of those static electricity balls, and some miscellaneous crap someone grabbed on the way out the door and threw in a bag. it was awesome.

I have recently been turned on to this blog. Basically it's a wife's blog detailing her husband's mid-night sleep ramblings. It is freaking Hilarious! Maybe only because i have experienced some similar ramblings myself, especially when my husband is stressed out, but still funny. I can't help but crack up at it!! (e.g. "Dogs' scrotums. They stretch."; "Pork chops are most satisfying. Mmmmmmm. Dangle them from the ceiling."; "Oompa loompas don't sing in heaven. They tidy up the clouds."; "Legs time! Everybody get your legs!") You can't make this stuff up!!!

Nothing really new here to report... Lucy is approaching the 16 month mark, and that blows my mind! I look back at her as a baby and can hardly remember it! She knows how to say so many words and understands so many more! Her current favorites to say are "baby", "owee", "nose" (as she points IN it - notice I said 'IN it', not 'to it'), "doggie" (which says 'wuh').... and many more. The kitty cat says "mwow", btw. :) Oh...and "MINE". need I say more?

I can't even handle the cute. She has learned to take her diaper (and her clothes) off, which when I discovered it was met with laughter and despair, and she does it as frequently as possible. She also recently learned to take the sheet off her bed. Sigh. Why don't i take more pictures of these things?!?

Anyway, Lucy has hardly watched any TV in her young life, which is great! BUT, I am beginning to think that maybe she needs to have a little bit. i just don't always want to hang out with her, nor can I think of as many games and stuff as she needs in a day! Sometimes a kid just needs to dance and sing! And for that reason, I will be procuring my Mom's collection of children's videos from when I was a kid! On that list we have such favorites as: Psalty the singing songbook, The Donut Hole, and The Music Machine, and many more! I am so excited to share these with my kids! I LOVED them! Oh they're so hokey and wonderful!!!
You just gotta watch this clip from The Donut Hole...it's classic!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62VQ42gHnxw

If I could get a record player in my house, I'd introduce them to all the wonderful records I listened to when I was a kid, too!

Gwen is flourishing as well. She is learning the flute and the violin, is currently learning to draw, square dance, do long division, and all sorts of other stuff. She will be started 3-D art later this month, as well! Such a busy little person! She certainly loves it though and I don't mind at all! Better to be doing things like this than playing video games all day or something!

UGH!! I am such a picture fail! :( I need to carry my camera around with me all the time!

ANYWAY, I am being told that I need to go to bed... SOOO I must go for now. Cassandra had a really good idea that I want to try to steal. I want to try to write a blog every day for 30 days (at least). Let's see if I can do it!

And with that, I will leave you with these butt-crack-of-dawn musings of the sleep-talker guy. heh.

"I haven't put on weight. Your eyes are fat."
"Well that's just great. Peanut butter in my crack. [...]"
"Do you like what you see? No? Well, bloody look harder. Strain your eyes!"
"Give me back my hands! Limb thief!"
"Your hands are all fingery fingery."
"Big pig. Massive oink. Little curly tail."
"You shouldn't say things like that. my breath can kill."
"I love the fact you're a moose. Yes. So soft, so soft."

buh-bye!