Teaholic not quite anonymous

For the last three years plus Matt and I have always thrown our change into a freezer bag. Well, it's really full and instead of just letting it sit around the house we wanted to deposit it in the bank. So I went to the bank today and they 'don't do' loose change. WHAT?! No, you see, I'd have to roll it all myself. Ladies and gentlemen, I do NOT plan on rolling all my loose change.

So then the question was, what do we do with it? Yes there is coinstar but that takes a percentage of our change. Well, I would hate to do that. But then Matt found that we can get an ecertificate to various etailers through cointstar and then coinstar doesn't take any percentage out. They have an amazon.com one and, you know? We can always find things to buy at Amazon. So, tonight I'm off to get an ecertificate for the loose change we have.

I worked out at 7 this morning since Matt and I were up late again last night. I went out for coffee (although I had herbal tea) at Wegmans. I was able to get through two magazines before I finished my tea. I cut out my name and left them there. I'd rather other people get use out of them as well. After tea I went grocery shopping. I walked out having spent $119!! SHEESH! But, most of it was specialty stuff that I don't normally buy--breadmixes for myself and Matt's parents, prune juice cans for Maddy, Wegmans Brand marinade sauces, salad dressing, two twelve packs of beer for Matt that I only find at Wegmans, and yes, a mini peanut butter pie, too.

Alright, I think I'm going to nap while I can! Matt won't be home until later tonight since he has a happy hour afterwork. So I better take my break while I can get it!

Tea of the day: Twinnings Black Currant Black Tea and Twinnings Herbal Lemon Ginger
WO of the day: 30 minutes elliptical

Just a few that I've been noticing lately.

Now, instead of saying "This." She says, "What's this?" as she points to something.

She loves Wegmans Triple Spice French Dressing. I try to give her veggies to dip in it, but she just sucks the dressing off the veggies instead.

She really does not like fruit in natural form (she'll still eat fruit in babyfood). She does like veggies though, so that's good at least.

Maddy understands more and more every day. Tonight, I told her it was time for her bath and she ran to the upstairs gate and pointed to her room. If I ask her about milk, cookies, crackers, if she's hungry, if she wants cheese, if she wants water or yogurt she knows right where to go for all of them without missing a beat.

She bumped her head while she slept last night (and today too) but when I got her up this morning I saw the red mark on her forehead and I said, "Did you bump your head?" And she reaches up and puts her hand to her head and gives me a frown.

She loves to feed ME. If she finishes with food and her spoon, she'll use her spoon to feed me instead.

She's a great helper with her coat, hat, and clothes. She really helps take them on and off really well.

She notices if something is different in the house: doors are open, cabinets are open, things need to be put away. She loves to take on and off lids now and matches different lids to their appropriate items.

She yells at the cats if they are where they aren't supposed to be. She shakes her finger, frowns and says, "Go, go, go!"

She loves to play outside. I've been trying to get out with her for even 10 minutes every day and she just loves it.

She hates coming in (or stopping anything she likes to do) and literally flails her body all over in my arms. So here come the temper tantrums!

I guess that's it for right now!
Good night!

Now that I have your attention (which I'm SURE I do). Let me tell you what he said last night.

"I give women what they want so they'll give me what I want."

If that's not a womanizing comment, I don't know what is. He's quick to remind me that I have benefited from his charms? wily ways? numerous times. Little extras, that great table at dinner, the extra bottle of champagne... He reminds me that he was the one who got those for us. I need to remind him that what he's doing is called FLIRTING to which he brushes off as 'being nice'. (I do say this in jest, of course.)

He does have a way with coworkers, male and female alike. He figures out what makes them tick and uses it to his benefit. The above statement was about work and playing into one of the characteristics of his coworkers who like things streamline and simple. So when he made his pitch he made sure he emphasized how what he was recommending would make things more streamline and simple. It's called business, I guess. I had to use some of it in working since I worked with so many different teachers--I needed to sell ideas, too.

Of course, after he heard I was going to blog about this as I was giggling he changed his definition of what he calls these 'powers' of his to a word neither of us can remember now (although I think he remembers but he's hiding it). I wish I could, it was a lot more subdued than his quote above and I will need to revise if I can remember it. He was quick to remind me that he only uses his powers for good. I was quick to remind him that I'm NOT MOVING no matter how many powers he tries on me! HA!

A few more Maddy 'd'oh!'s
--She ate a piece of cat food yesterday. Just one, but before I could reach her she put in her mouth and chewed it. She seemed to like it since she wanted to go back for more!!!

--She 'tripped' out the dining room door that leads to our deck yesterday. She was actually crawling and I left the door open to run inside and she came in behind me. I turned around and she wanted to run from me but missed the 4 inch drop out the door and landed on her nose. Poor thing is all scraped up and I feel terrible.

--Maddy now runs from me when I need to change her diaper. She'll still get out all her diaper materials but then will laugh and run away.

--If she knows I'm coming to get a bowl from her (of yogurt or hummus) because she's finished she will quick stick her whole hand in the bowl before I can get there. I don't know what she's trying to accomplish considering she hates it when her hands are dirty.

It's really nice outside today. Windy and mid 50's. I put some clothes out to dry and have done three loads of laundry. Of course, the hard part is still to come, putting it all away. As long as they come in from the line dry, I can put them away tonight while Matt watches Maddy. I do love the smell of linens on the line though.

Although it sure has been a pain. First I needed to take Maddy with me while I sorted laundry, strip the bed, and then started a load of laundry. She likes to help me load the washer though, so that keeps her out of trouble as long as she's in my arms (note the cat food from yesterday). Then I needed to get her exersaucer since it was really muddy from all our rain last night. I couldn't let her be on the grass. As it was, *I* didn't want to be on the grass. My shoes are all mud and I had to roll up my pants really high. She hated that, since she wanted to be free to roam around, but oh well. I needed to get it done. So in and out, in and out I went with Maddy. I just left her exersaucer in the backyard.

Speaking of, my one load in the dryer just buzzed so I am going to fold that and then go out and see if the rest is dry. I'd like to get as much as I can get done without Maddy since it takes SO LONG with her. Not to mention, I want to do weights and the like.

Oh, I did get my cholesterol screening back, I'm within the normal range but they said I could use to lower it some. So, I am thinking about starting my diet journal again. It really seemed to help last night so I may give it a shot again this time. My thyroid test isn't back yet.

Tea of the day: Twinnings Black Currant, Bigelow Chamomile
WO of the day: 30 minutes elliptical this morning, will do weights, sit ups and push ups soon.

Have a great weekend! I will be spending mine with preoccupying Maddy while Matt works on the basement project. We need to get in there and do it's all ready when the drywallers come in.

Funny of the day: Living Will... I have one, do you?...

Last night, my wife and I were sitting in the living room and I said to her, "I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependent on some machine and fluids from a bottle. If that ever happens, just pull the plug." She got up, unplugged the TV and then threw out my beer.

What a beautiful day it is here! High of 60 with very little wind and lots of sunshine! Maddy and I took advantage of the beautiful weather this morning and we went to one of our local banks that has a change counting machine free for everyones use. (Thanks to Jess for the recommendation, it REALLY did pan out.) I was so glad not to have to use a coinstar although the Gift Certificate to Amazon.com wouldn't have been all that bad. So we're $150 'richer'. Ok, well, we aren't richer, it just more spendable now. ;)

After the bank since Maddy was still in a great mood, we walked down to Giant and picked up a few produce items since we're out. Then we walked back to the car (Well, she was in her umbrella stroller that I keep in my trunk. We have two, one for each car and they are a lifesaver.) and then over to the park!!! As we were about to drive by I asked Maddy if she wanted to go to the park and she pounded on the window and pointed. So cute. So she was bouncing all the way into the parking lot in her car seat. First she swung on the swings, then went down the slide, then I let her wander around (still holding one of my fingers since she wasn't sturdy in the mulch) and we explored the pine cones, evergreens, rocking animals on springs, etc... She had a blast. We got home and she was basically ready for a nap and that's where she is now.

Matt has been downstairs working on the basement. We are quite surprised at how little we really NEED to do!!! When it comes to the wiring, besides some can lights in the closet all the rest is really there. Matt wants to do some miscellaneous coax wiring since it's going to be the last time he can get up into the ceiling before it's drywalled. Now he's off to Lowes with a huge list of stuff we need.

We did buy the cabinet for under the stair storage. We bought a lateral cherry laminate filing cabinet. It's nice because it gives us the most bang for our buck. There are no little edges that stick out or decorative corners that stick out like there would be on a dresser (which means the drywall can fit snug around it). Filing cabinets are REALLY sturdy so I'm not worried about it breaking (which wouldn't be good since it's going to be drywalled into the wall). Plus, it looks nice and gives us additional storage in what would be unused space. The top drawer locks, too. I'm contemplating some shelving under the stairs as well, but we didn't get that framed out. Now, Matt could do it, but we'll see how much time we wind up with before the drywallers come. Oh! And I finally bought another new filing cabinet to replace our current one. It broke a while back (ok, ok, I said they were sturdy, but this one was really old and wasn't made very well) and now we're finally replacing it!

Later on tonight I think I need to make a couple runs out myself to pick up a few things. I want to buy some shelving still for my rubber duck collection in the bathroom, a new mirror for behind our bathroom door and a couple other items. I will probably wait until Maddy is in bed since I don't want to make Matt stop working on the basement. He's been with us every night this week and I know he's itching to get things done. So I'll wait until tonight.

Well, I'm off to lift some dumb bells while Maddy is napping and Matt's gone. There's no time like the present!

Oh, and I think I've seriously committed the worst photographers nightmare. I haven't printed pictures since Maddy was 9 months old so now I need to go through all of her pictures through now and sort the ones I want printed, doubles, triples, wallets for family, etc... This will take FOREVER. Not to mention, I need to sit down with her baby book and fill in where I've left off.

Tea of the day: I had coffee with splenda and chai spice creamer
WO of the day: Weights in a minute!

Yes, Matt does. She's laying in bed next to him on his laptop with insomnia. The good news? It's been a while! The bad news? I have it tonight. Ah well.

So here's a few random insomniac thoughts for this 5 am hour:

1. Retail therapy is good. It is VERY good. Now, I'm not saying "The malls latest outfit and trends, perfume and makeup" therapy. I'm saying, the "Kmart at 8 pm after the kid is asleep and I want to get out of the house" therapy. So if you can't guess by now where I was last night at 8 pm, sorry! Funniest thing, I still didn't get three of the things on my list and I think they will wind up being a Walmart or Target run (new full length cheap mirror for the back of our new bathroom door, shelving and showe curtain rubber duck rings). What did I buy at Kmart? New decorative pillows for our bed (I can hear my dad now, NO, NO! NOT PILLOWS!). I four mix matching ones, two ivory and two purple patterned. Two sweatshirts and a onsie with kitties on it for Maddy on sale. A PJ on sale for Maddy. Toys--yes, toys.

2. I love to buy toys, books and art stuff for Maddy. It is my downfall. Last night I bought her two toys: A elmo remote (since she loves her MP123 player), and a shopping cart. I bought a coloring book and went a bit crazy in the stationary department: washable markers, finger paint, squeeze paint, and big pad of paper. Of course, I justified my trip by saying we needed kitchen garbage bags and infant's tylanol. (Oh and I bought a blow up pool for Maddy for summer as well. I know, crazy, but I couldn't find one last summer!)

3. I've realized it's not that I'm necessarily 'done' at 6 pm because of Maddy. It's not that I need daddy to come home and take her over (although that certainly does help). It's that I need the adult interaction! I can do much of what I normally do with Maddy during the day without being worn out as long as I have someone to talk to who uses more than four words at a time. I think my brain is literally mush by that point because I haven't had intelligent conversation (not talking about our phone calls mom) since that morning. Now, Matt is great to me and he does come home and take Maddy over or we share responsibilities.

4. Being on the computer does not help insomnia whether or not I'm still in bed. So I'm off to try to get some more sleep otherwise tomorrow will be a really long day. Goodnight!

(That was the question I asked myself when I made it to the end of this blog. Nothing like starting out fluffy and then getting all philosophical.)

On Sundays I tend to start thinking about the next week. So let's see...

Tomorrow, nothing particular going on. Maddy and I may make a few trips out depending on weather to Kmart to take back one of the pillows that don't quite match the duvet cover. Maybe to Target to take back a rod I bought for the bay window a long time back. If I can find the receipt. And Lowes to take back some clamps Matt didn't need. If the wetaher is nice I'm sure we'll spend some time at the park, too.

Tuesday we have playgroup with ages 1-2 first thing in the morning. It'll be interesting trying to get out the door at a specific time. But Maddy will LOVE to play with other kids.

Wednesday night I have a 'sleep over party' being hosted by one of my mom's from my local mom's group. What is a sleep over party you ask? Well, they serve you lots of wine (ok as much as you want without looking like a lush) and have you play with sex toys. It should be so much fun, funny and a blast! It's basically a Pampered chef party for the bedroom. Nice part though is when/if you order anything it's done privately with the consultant in another room. I've opened up the invite to my other mom's group and I've had one taker so far. I will need to ask again for my RSVP. Hey, I'm willing to go to any place that gives free wine! ;)

Thursday night (on the opposite side of the coin) I have a Sunday School meeting.

Monday and Tuesday nights will be spent with Matt finishing up things in the basement before the drywallers come on Friday. I offered to cancel my Mom's Night Out on Wednesday to give him more time, but he insisted (and yes, that was before he knew it was all about sex toys, too).

Friday morning we'll have a crew of about 4-5 guys in our basement putting up drywall and mudding it!

They will most likely be back on Monday to sand and paint. So we need to get on picking a color for that room ASAP! I see a nice taupe in our near future or a buttery light yellow.

After it's painted, we need to think about getting carpet put in down there (after the bathroom is finished). We aren't sure how much of the closet we want carpeted. I'm thinking about doing the front wide part with carpet but the back deep long term storage with flooring. We'll see! We have the flooring for the bathroom already (same as the rest of the bathrooms and foyer).

The bathroom will need to be finished after the drywall guys come in, but first we need to find a tile guy for the bathtub walls before the plumber can come back out to finish the bathroom. Then, then, then!!! We load up the room with all our stuff and we have a spare room! Whoo whoo! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel even though it's still a good month away!

I have to say I was pretty worn out tonight after Maddy went to bed. Matt keeps asking me if I'm mad at him. I keep telling him that REALLY I'm not. I'm just tired and worn out. It's like there's nothing left inside of me to keep on the happy face. All I want to do is lay down, read and go to bed. He assumes that if I don't want to hang out with him it means I'm mad at him. (Which, given, sometimes it can mean that.) But really, I'm just too worn out to hang out. It's just time to vegetate and be alone. And it's not that Matt doesn't give me time to myself. I got out last night after Maddy was in bed and I got out today. I'll be getting out on both Wednesday and Thursday on my own, too. And Matt takes Maddy as often as he can so I can get a breather. There are just some days that are easier than others and it doesn't always have anything to do with how Maddy's day has been or how much I've seen Matt or how long she's slept. There are just some days that I'm more into it than others--having nothing to do with outside forces. Today was one of those days.

Not that I'm complaining! I have life pretty darn good! I have a great family, food on the table, clothes on our back, friends and family who care about us, two cars that run and are paid for, a house we own and have the financial means to fix up. Our family is in good health. We have money in the bank, Matt enjoys his job. I have the great opportunity to stay home with Maddy and I really enjoy it. We live in a great area with great neighbors in a great country with the freedom to worship and state our beliefs whatever way we want, too. Everything else that we have??? (And we have a lot of very nice extras.) It's all extra riches we've been blessed with but are totally unnecessary. Life is good. And the little things that creep into daily life have a way of worming their way around becoming irritations. I just thank God that I only have those 'little things' to deal with and not horrific big things (poverty, homelessness, loss of a loved one, abuse, ill health) that unfortunately do afflict people.

Of course the next step is, If I have it so good, how can I help others who don't? Matt and I have discussed this and worked out solutions to this question in our own way. Obviously, it's a very private matter (although sex parties aren't) so it's not something I'm willing to discuss. But how have you answered that question?

Goodnight!
*Crossing fingers for no insomnia*

Tea of the day: I had coffee this AM
WO of the day: None

The house is still falling down around me. With the construction in the basement it feels like it spills over into every room in the house. There are Lowes bags everywhere! (We no longer live at Lowes, it's come here to live with us!!) Dirty basement floor, tracking dirt everywhere. I need to really take the vacuum down there and just vacuum everything! Then I need to get out the mop and bucket and give it a good once over. But I know as soon as I do that we'll be back in and out that door and it will be dirty all over again. I will definitely vacuum soon though, I don't need it all tracked over the rest of the house.

I put up a really cute video of Maddy today. However, it doesn't put our house in a very good light!!! It shows Joe on the counter eating my banana I left there for a second. He NEVER goes on the counter, unless there is banana there. Then it shows Maddy trying to eat the same banana Joe just had and then her toothbrush on the floor.... sheesh. It ws too cute not to put up though. I did give her toothbrush a thorough cleaning though. I also threw that banana straight in the garbage!

Oops, looks like my time is up! Maddy is calling for me.

Tea of the day: Stash Green Chai, BBW Relax Tea
WO of the day: 30 minutes elliptical

Yes, again, this is to the people without children. I heard from Matt today that one of his coworkers and his wife are talking about having kids. So they came to my photo gallery because Maddy is cute. (And well, she IS pretty damn cute!) But before I can be blamed for persuading this defenseless couple into 18 years of servitude I thought I'd address the issue once more.

My life is seriously NOTHING like it was when I didn't have Maddy. NOTHING. Now, I did choose to be a stay at home mom and if I continued to work, that aspect of my life would have stayed the same. But, as it is, it is nothing like it was. I don't know how I filled the time in my day before I had a kid. What on earth did I do with all that spare time? I know I slept a lot (don't look forward to that). My priorities have changed quite a bit. I'm not as much a perfectionist as I used to be. I let thing slide a bit more. That said, when I say that my life is nothing like it used to be I'm not saying it's WORSE either. Because, it's not. I'm REALLY HAPPY I have Maddy. I snuggled her tonight for a while on the couch and we giggled together. I had the time of my life. She's such a blessing and such a little person. It's amazing to watch her grow. I will say, there are days where I'm REALLY frustrated by how little I get done, how little she eats, her moods, how little she sleeps, how she keeps bumping her head...etc...etc. There are frustrating days. There are days where I am plain worn out--done. And then she comes to give me a kiss or a hug and I find that I do have a little bit more energy for that last game of chase or that last blow on the belly before bed.

Kids can change your marriage, too. You need to make sure you spend the time carrying for it as much as you would your kid. Spending time with your spouse as your spouse is really important. Start making time for it now, because you'll need to make it a priority later.

Kids can be infuriating, loving, frustrating, caring, eye-rolling, funny, pouty and snuggly all within two minutes. But it's definitely an adventure! It's not one I'd miss for the world.

On a totally different topic: What the heck is with all these people taking their kids out with them when they commit suicide lately?? The dad who killed his daughter by crashing their plane into his ex-inlaws house?! Or the dad who strangled and then dismembered the mom when they had two kids in the house?? Did he not realize that he was taking away their mother and once he was caught, father too?? I realize to even commit murder that these people must not be moral or loving people. But why don't they consider, even for a moment, the impact this will have on their kids? SHEESH!

Ok, off my soap box.

Today didn't quite go as planned. We missed playgroup because I forgot our filing cabinets were being delivered. We did run out to Walmart to pick up a few things we needed. Maddy loved waving to all the kids and the other adults she ran into. Matt was home at 5 tonight and dinner was on the table at 5:03. We had Thai marinated salmon and asparagus stir fry blend over whole grain brown rice. The rice was left over and the rest was really easy--throw it in the skillet, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Maddy and I had fun tonight though. Surprisingly, I'm not all that tired even though I've had her all day minus her 1 1/2 hour nap. I'm ready to kind of veg out though--maybe go and read a bit. Tomorrow we have her 15 month check up and tomorrow night is MNO. I'm looking forward to getting out of the house with other moms.

Oh! My mom is coming the end of the month to visit! That will be a lot of fun since it's been 4 months since Maddy has seen her. She may even have a new bedroom to sleep in although I'm sure it won't be completely finished.

Tea of the day: Stash Green Tea, BBW Relax Tea
WO of the day: 20 minutes elliptical (all I could squeeze in) but I did do 8 lb weights and Pilates ab work later in the day.

"I'll eat anything as long as I can dip it in ketchup."

Well, Maddy is a healthy little girl! We had her 15 month check up today. She weighs 25 lbs. 1 oz and is 31 and 1/2 inches tall. She is in the 70% and 75% respectively when compared to other children her age.

She didn't like getting probes with the ear probe, listening with the stethoscope, or being held down for measurements. Of course, she didn't like the shots. The only thing she DID like was seeing the other kids in the waiting room who I wouldn't let her near since they were on the 'sick' side of the waiting room.

I hate filling out paperwork. We changed insurance and I hate all the paperwork! Especially when I have Maddy with me and all she wants to do is play. I filled out most of it, except giving them Matt's cell number instead of his work number. I have it written at home and on my cell but I didn't want to take the time to find it. And I didn't remember his SS#, but they had the old one on file so I told them to write it in themselves. It just seems silly to fill out this huge form just for once insurance change!

Why is it that I always bring so many things with me to the doctor??? I needed the umbrella stroller since it was a walk from the car. I brought her diaper bag and filled it with a few toys I thought would preoccupy her (which it did until she was upset, then she wanted nothing to do with any of them), a blanket since she needs to be down to everything but her diaper. Of course, we have our coats, my purse, her hat... sheesh! It's like we're going on vacation for a week!

But she was done crying by the time we made it out of the examination room. And she's been really good at home, too.

I think I may just kill my Ruthie cat. You see, Joe was laying under Maddy's crib in the pull out drawer. I got him out of there and got Maddy ready for her nap. I laid her down and then closed the door behind me. 25 minutes later I hear Ruthie mew from inside the door!!! WHY didn't she come out while I was getting Maddy ready? WHY didn't she try to go find Joe when I pulled him out? WHY didn't she come out in the last 25 minutes??? So I go up and open the door. She RUNS back about 3 feet. Now I have to actually step in the room to get her out. This wakes up Maddy who starts crying. GEEZ!!! Now she's back asleep.

I'm doing a load of laundry right now and the dishwasher is going. I have MNO tonight given the weather isn't too bad for me to drive in. We are expecting 1-3 inches of snow so it shouldn't be an issue. But we'll see!

Ok, I'm off to get some stuff done before she's up! Have a great day!

Tea of the day: Black Rose Tea
WO fo the day: 30 minutes elliptical this morning, will do stretching, sit ups, push ups and weights now.

Well, I finished with my photographer's worst nightmare. You see. I've been taking pictures religiously but haven't printed any since July. So, it was time. But I had 9 months to print!!! Plus, I don't save just the best pictures of Maddy to my server, I save them all. I needed to go through all of them to find the ones I wanted. Then, I tried to use Snapfish like I have in the past but it didn't allow me to upload them all in one shot anymore. I don't know why. I wasn't about to upload them individually. I went over to Shutterfly instead. I received free shipping and the first 15 prints were free, thank goodness. Plus, I could upload them all at one time.

So how many did I upload? 232 pictures. Yes, I uploaded 232 pictures to be printed. Not to mention, I did a lot in triples for the grandparents. I did some quadruples, too. Some I did as many as 5 or 6 since I wanted it for her baby book, her photo album one for our big album and also the grandparents. I also ordered 5 wallet sets (4 wallets per sheet) of 8 pictures. So that's 40 sheets x 4 pictures per sheet = 160 wallets! Add in the additional set of three of another picture so that's 172 wallets. In all, we ordered 640 individual pictures whether it's 4x6 or wallets. Crazy, I know. But I have plans for all of them! How much did I spend on these 640 pictures? $153. Well worth it, in my book. Afterall, it is my hobby (and the grandparents benefit from it as well).

Okee, dokey, I'm off to go hang out with Matt for the night! Then early bed, since it will be another long day tomorrow! Goodnight!

Well, we're in the home stretch to dry wall! Matt worked in the basement ALL DAY today getting the wiring finished up. Then he cleaned up some of the room tonight. Now Maddy is in bed and we're going to finish working on the filing cabinet in the family room. Tomorrow he still needs to cut a hole in the wall leading outside for the fan for the bathroom. We need to sweep up down there (I wish we had a utility vac!) and move his rack 'o computers into the family room so the workers can get in the spare room. After drywall, then comes painting (either Saturday or Monday). Then the tile guy and then plumber and then we're done! Ok, well, not really since I would still need to buy doors, drapes, shade, etc. But we'd be closer than we were.

Maddy and I were out and about a bit today. We went over to Kmart to take back the pillow that didn't quite match our duvet cover. We picked up some stuff there too. They were having a huge 70% off sale on most of their clothes so I bought myself a hoodie, couple shirts for Matt, one for his dad and a bathroom/pj set for my mom. Last time I was there I went through their kid stuff for Maddy so I didn't do that again. I did buy her Easter shoes today and she already has her Easter dress and sweater. It's sooo cute. I believe I already have the tights, too.

After Kmart we went to Lowes to pick up paint chips and I believe we've found the color we want for the room. I also picked up Minwax to match the color of our trim to the filing cabinet that will go in the wall.

When Maddy napped I ran a couple more errands to Best Buy, Ulta (ok, I can't resist Ulta and it's in the same shopping center) and Target. I have realized that I'm either using my old duck shelves or making my own for my rubber ducks in the bathroom. I finally found the shelving I want and it was $15 each and I'd need 4. I don't want to spend that much just to display my rubber duck connection!

It was nice to get out and about today. I kind of needed it. Matt offered to let me get out of the house tonight for coffee night but I am feeling pretty good about how things have gone today so I passed on it.

Poor Matt though. He's been working his tail off in that room 24/7. I feel bad for him, especially now that he has his cold back again. He's achey, exhausted, and stuffy headed.

A few new Maddy things:
Maddy drank out of her own cup without a lid today for the first time. She did GREAT with it. She also really enjoyed it. For the girl who never held her bottle (yes, she never held her bottle--too lazy even though she knew how) I was happy she's doing well with a cup.

She's able to point to body parts now: Head, hair, nose, tummy, feet, mouth.

She follows directions REALLY well, almost all of the most common ones: Sit down, come here, go get..., where's...?, etc.

Our blog, gallery and email will be down most of the day tomorrow due to Matt needing to unplug our rack 'o computers. So don't check in; there won't be anything to look at!

Tea of the day: Stash Green Chai
WO of the day: 30 minutes elliptical, 8 lb weights, Pilates ab work

So Maddy went to church today for the first time in quite a while (minus a trip to a sister congregation a few weeks back with Matt where she didn't last through even 1/4 the service). And she did SOOOOO WELL. It's not that I was worried, but I assumed I'd spend a lot of time in the children's room since she really hasn't NEEDED to sit still that much. I don't put her in positions where I expect her to be quiet, really. We don't go out to dinner with her, for the most part. She lasted the entire church service but I did take her out after communion since I wanted to let her stretch her legs between church and our church meeting. I did teach Sunday School today but the kids were soooo chit chatty. Plus, we started late. But I did get my lesson taught, so that was good too.

We took Maddy to the park again today. She went to three parks yesterday (one once and the other twice). She LOVED it. She loves seeing other kids, walking around, making friends. Today she went down the slide on her own (enclosed). Matt was at the bottom and I was at the top. She LOVED it. It was so cute. As she gets bigger and bigger I have so many more fun things to do with her. It's a blast.

Well, tomorrow the drywall guys will be back. They need to finish mudding and taping, doing some drywall repair and then painting 5 rooms (powder room, new bathroom, new bedroom, closet, certain walls and ceiling of our existing bedrooms). I can't WAIT for this to be done. It will be an early morning so I can get my workout in. But, I want to and it's important to me.

Ok, well, I'm off. Matt and I are going outside to have a fire in the chimnea. Have a goodnight, all!

No workout and no tea! We were in a rush to get out the door this morning.

I'm too tired to even title this post! It was a LONG day today. The guys showed up at 8:30 and worked until 6:30. They did a great job. Not everything is done, but a lot IS finished and it looks great. They are always very nice to Maddy, are very careful in the house, always polite and really work they butts off. I'm impressed.

That said, I'm ready for them to be DONE! Ha!

I found out a couple of them had little kids at home so I sent home a few toys that Maddy no longer plays with and I wasn't that fond of. It's nice to give them to people who will use them.

Maddy did not get a nap today because they were in her room painting. They were also in my room, the main floor and the basement. There was no where to go with her. Finally, she was so tired out that we took a walk and she slept for about 25 minutes of it. She cried hysterically when she woke up. I don't think she knew where she was and I definitely don't think she wanted to be awake.

She's started a new stage now: Climbing. She climbed into her glider today in her room while I worked on taking down all the stuff on the walls, her dressers, unscrewing the outlet covers, etc... She likes to climb up the stairs outside (with our hands around her, of course).

We did run out to get groceries today. She's sleeping now and I hope she sleeps LATE tomorrow. Poor thing was exhausted when she went to bed. I'm tired too, though. I didn't sleep real hot last night and there's just something about people wandering through my house that wears me out. Not to mention, I was on Maddy without a break today, part of the time she was hysterically tired. So, it has worn me out. Tomorrow is another day of it though, so I better rev up my engines!

Oh--on another topic. I think our elliptical machine has seen better days. It now squeaks really LOUD and it's coming from inside the wheel. So, now I'm not working out in the morning anymore. I will be using the bike, but only after I can get it put into the spare room and they are working in there right now. I'd like to have Matt take apart the elliptical machine to see if he can fix it, but there's no space or time for that right now. So it will need to go on the back burner. There's no point in getting it fixed since it would cost at least 1/2 of what the elliptical machine cost us. So until then, I'm hoping to do the bike most days and then when we're ready for it try to fix this and if not, buy a new one. I don't want to be without my elliptical machine!!!! I love it too much!

Goodnight!

No workout and no tea. I was going to do yoga but they were through the living room so much I couldn't even pull out the mat.

Last night I didn't sleep very well. It was fitful, but not great. Tonight it has turned into full blown insomnia. It didn't help that as soon as I woke up, my nose immediately filled up. You see, with moving all the furniture, they stirred up a lot of dust (Did I ever say how much I HATE dusting? I find no use in it. Cleaning the bathrooms and kitchen? Sure! It keeps things sanitary. Washing floors? same thing. Dusting and vacuuming--I hate it. I see no point). I laid there. Tossed a bit.. mind racing. Now I'm finally up.

It would be nice to predict insomnia. Or it would be nice to get insomnia when I could take a simply sleep without being hung over the next morning. But 3 am is not the time for a simply sleep!

It's infuriating though. I'm dog tired from yesterday and have another long day tomorrow. So I'm going to give it another shot. I need to be up in 3 1/2 hours! Good night again!

I can't TELL you how good it looks. It looks just fabulous. The guys DEFINITELY know what they are doing. They are true professionals and it shows in every detail of their work. So if you EVER need framing, drywall, painting or staining done and live near me call Mike with Home Works Painting! Not only is Hymie's crew great, but dealing with Mike is super easy. He returns phone calls promptly. He shows up on time (as does his crew). But they are also flexible. We had some other work being done that needed to push back the drywall and painting and Mike didn't give us any hassle about it. He worked with us. He gives written estimates and isn't afraid to use email! They are all great professionals.

I love the color, too. It turned out just the way I wanted it. If you'd like to see more pictures of the project, here's the link.

Maddy had a nice day today. She did get an hour nap in. I'm so glad for that. We went outside to play a ton and she loved that, too. She's just so much fun lately. It's a blast!!

Well, not much to say, really. I hope everyone had a great day!

Tea of the day: Coffee again, since I made it for the guys working. Tomorrow I'm back to tea!
WO of the day: None, hopefully tomorrow AM!

Last but not least: HAPPY BIRTHDAY GARY!

I don't really know what to make of it yet. My skin is smoother than it's been in ages. But that's because of the exfoliant in the wash. It's a three step process, so it takes longer than I'm used to. I broke out really bad about a week ago and that was while I was using the proactiv. I think it's definitely a decent routine, but I just don't know if it will take care of the stress/hormone related acne I get sometimes. I will try another month and see how it goes. Right now, I'm slightly optimistic.

I was up at 5:00 today. Don't know why. Just was. I didn't try to go back to sleep since I figured I'd be more tired waking up later.

There are no guys coming today and it's supposed to be beautiful weather. Maddy and I will definitely take a walk and go to the park. We'll probably play outside a lot, too. It's time to find the sunblock and check the expiration dates.

I have bunko night tonight! That will be fun, as it always is.

Ok, off to make tea and Maddy is up!

Tea of the day: Gloria Jeans Cinnamon Spice
WO of the day: Yoga during her nap. I'm moving the bike and elliptical machine into the spare room today for tomorrow morning.

...ok, let's change that to, beautiful bed is peaceful just looking at it.

I hung out the sheets on the line today after I washed them. Man, they smell good. So I made the bed afterwards. Some of you may not know it, but I used to be a housekeeper for a few years in High School so I can make a GREAT bed when I want to. Now, the issue is that most of the time I don't take the time to even make it. I'm NEVER in my room during the day, so what's the point? Well, after buying some decorative pillows I've been making it more often. And I love it. It totally changes the look of the room. It's restful just staring at it.

My bed has been a work in progress. Matt bought the sheets, comforter and duvet for Christmas for me. I bought a beige blanket and mattress pad with a gift certificate we received for Christmas. Just recently I bought the decorative pillows and throw blanket. We already had the bedskirt.

So now I vow to make the bed more often. It's just relaxing to even see it made. Funniest thing, I don't actually like to lay on throw pillows. But they are fun to look at!

And THAT was my random thought for the day!

Well, today was a rough day. Maddy was very fussy today. I thought she was sick for a bit, but she's drooling like crazy so I'm pretty sure she's getting her molars in. She only slept a 1/2 hour for her first nap and then 1 hour for her second. She woke up crying both times.

This wouldn't be that big of a deal if I hadn't taken a simply sleep last night at 8:30. I was in bed at 9. Matt told me Maddy woke up at 9:30 and 10 and I can honestly say I didn't hear a single thing. She woke up again at 2 and I saw she had itchy eyes and a watery nose. She had played with cat tail at the park yesterday so I assumed it was allergies and gave her benedryl. Well, then my allergies kicked in and I needed to take something too. So what do you take at 2 am? Night time? Day time? I took two sinus night time. Needless to say, with two night time meds in me when I woke up at 7 I was SOOOO tired. So, at 12 when I laid her down I laid down, too. Too bad she only slept a 1/2 hour. I was dead to the world when she woke up. Then she fussed on and off for an hour and a 1/2 before I finally gave her another nap. I tried to lay down with her again but I didn't sleep.

Matt came home a bit early tonight and it was really nice of him. He stopped at the grocery store for a lot of stuff that I asked him to pick up. After dinner he cleaned up and took care of Maddy while I got a shower. He even brought a martini up to me in the bathroom! He's a gem, I tell ya. Also, this morning, he made coffee for me (knowing I'd need it over tea) while I got dressed quick. I'm so lucky! He's up giving Maddy a bath now so I'm not going to stay very long.

Tonight I plan on going through my pictures (yes, they came today!) sorting them out, writing a little letter to send with the wallets and organizing them into photo albums and sorting them out for family.

This weekend Matt's parents are here and Matt and I have a list the length of our arm of things we need to get done around here. So hopefully I'll check back in on Sunday feeling like we accomplished a lot.

Tea of the day: Coffee
WO of the day: none, but Matt did move my elliptical machine for me into the spare room, so tomorrow I'll work out with my iPod! It's been too long!

I'm not a scrapbooker. I don't take the time for that. I am, however, a photoaholic. When I was single... wait no, even married with kids... I never quite understood people who sent me pictures of their kid(s). Well, I do now. I have over 25 envelopes ready to mail. Most have 8 wallets of Maddy. Some have one of Matt and I before his work Christmas party (but seriously, who cares about us?). Some have just 4 pictures for people who were much like me before Maddy was born.

I also sorted out pictures for Matt's parents, my parents and us. Now, tomorrow, I need to go to the post office and buy the rest of the stamps I need and put my pictures into various albums. After that is done, it's ALL one. I'm so excited to get it all finished. This has become such a hobby for me (as you can tell by my gallery). I love it. So I have been in heaven tonight. But I must go to bed. I'm sure Maddy will be up during the night so bed is calling! Goodnight everyone!

All she's been wanting to do is be lazy. I'm still not sure if it's in addition to the teeth but she has 102. I called our advice nurse at the pediatrician and she said that if it doesn't get better to bring her in tomorrow. If it gets worse or her symptoms (lazy, drooling) change, call again today.

Matt's parents are still coming up even though I did warn them that she's sick and I don't know what with. It will be beneficial for us, to allow us to get things done. Hopefully she won't want just mommy!

I did get my pictures organized and into albums and her baby book. They look really nice and I'm quite thrilled with the result. Thank goodness for my online album that allowed me to put them in order!! Sheesh, that would have been impossible otherwise.

Ok, well, I think I'm going to try to dust the living room since it's driving me crazy. Drywall dust everywhere, STILL!

I had coffee and no work out again. I'm hoping to kick both back into gear on Monday! This has been a really off week for me!

I go to church. I'm not REAL regular, but every other week or so. I teach Sunday School every week when kids show up (the kids I teach are visitors so they aren't real regular either). That said, there was a long time when Matt and I didn't go to church real regularly. Maddy still doesn't go to church regularly either. Last week was her first week in church in a very long time. She didn't go this week because she was sick.

We are looking for a new church home. We still want it to be WELS but other than that, we're flexible. There are three churches in our general area that are WELS. One we were members at for a while but we didn't feel like it was right for us and we wound up not going and then deciding to switch churches. So we switched and that is the church we are at now. However, while we've been more active in this church (again, not real regular) we aren't pleased with the direction this church is going. It's not that we begrudge them goodwill, but they aren't being realistic and the stress is easily felt. So that leaves us with one more church (although Matt and Maddy did go to our first church of the area again to give it another shot--but again, it didn't feel right). Matt and I went this morning and the service was really nice. Pastor was very friendly. It was a nice traditional WELS service.

Traditional isn't always good for WELS though. You see, WELS members tend to be born into the church and they tend to be stoic white people who are shut as tight as a clam. Don't get me wrong. They are decent people, but newcomers??? They tend to see right though you. They aren't real friendly that way. They aren't RUDE but they aren't FRIENDLY either. Now, that doesn't affect Matt and I much since we've grown up with that for years and years. Sooner or later, they do come around.

But it was a nice church and after going a few more times I can definitely see it being a church for us. It's by my old work, too. So it's fun to drive by there actually.

I do have one question. Why do people go to church if they don't want to be there? Oh yeah, their mom makes them. Ok, there were four boys two rows in front of me and they were all goofing around before service in the pew. It wasn't that big of a deal. Once service started two of the boys continued to REALLY goof around, outwardly, brazenly. The two moms who were with them were oblivious to this entire thing for about 10 minutes. Finally they split up two of them and yet, the one still tried to mess with the other. It was just so obvious they didn't want to be there. I know they are at 'that age' but what makes them need to be punks about it? Honestly, if I hadn't been a guest I would have said something. They were just so disrespectful and distracting. Giving credit where credit is due, however, one of the boys who COULD have easily kept messing around DIDN'T as soon as church started. Even when being egged on by the one who was a prick, he didn't take the bait.

Maddy is feeling better today (so I've heard, I haven't been around much since I had early service and the dropped Matt off at home and went on to Sunday School). I guess she's been playing and laughing more and just seems better overall. I'm glad since I didn't like the looks of her last night. She slept through the night just waking up once and then went right back to sleep. What a good girl. Matt's parents left today as soon s Matt was home from church. They have a funeral to go to today and still had the drive back in front of them. I do appreciate them coming up to watch Maddy though. Matt was able to put up both light fixtures and all the bathroom fixtures. I was able to paint the bathroom door and trim upstairs (thank goodness). We did go out for dinner last night and that was nice, too! Plus, they watched Maddy today while Matt and I went to church.

Still have stuff we want to do today after Maddy is up. We want to finish the filing cabinet, put together the other one and recaulk one of the bathtubs.

Oh, I took on a new 'project' today. I've used my mottled spray paint to paint a couple frames for the bathroom wall. We'll see how they come out, but so far they are looking decent!

Have a good one!

Well, I had a flood in our basement today. I mean FLOOD, about a 1/4-1/2 inch standing water. You see, the washer was filling but the hose popped out of the sink and the gravity sent it down the hose (onto the floor) instead of into the washer.

Four very lucky things about this:
1. We didn't have carpet installed yet.
2. It didn't reach a closet where there's just stuff all over the place on the floor.
3. I HEARD it was still running. It would have been easy to not even notice and even think of it.
4. Maddy was taking a nap.

Of course, I had recently thrown out my mop altogether with the intention of buying a new one. But never did. All of our spare towels were in Maddy's room and I did NOT need her awake through this so I wasn't going to get them (plus, they wouldn't have done enough good anyway). So I wound up sweeping the water into a dust pan and dumping it in a bucket while I waited for Matt to come home.

And let's talk about Matt for a minute. I call his cell and he answers, "Can I call you back?" He was obviously in a meeting. I say, "NO! We have a flood in our basement." He repeats me out loud, "We have a flood in our basement. I'm on my way." There wasn't any, "Oh hon, can you handle it? How bad is it? Do you need me to come home?" Thank goodness!!!! He did ask if I got the water shut off and I said the water is no longer flowing so there's no need to worry about it. On his way home I called him and told him to stop at Sears Hardware (on the way home) and grab a shop vac. There was no way to get all that water up without it. He was home in RECORD time. I guess he ran into an issue with the check out clerk at Sears (trying to help solve a problem with another clerk when Matt asks, "Can I get someone to check me out?" She says, "Yeah, I'll do it (and turns around to keep solving a different problem.)" Matt says, "Look, I'm buying a shop vac I need to get home ASAP cause there's a flood in my basement. Will you PLEASE check me out right now?" She sighs and says, "Yeah, I'll check you out. Hold on." Matt says, "I understand you want to fix that, but I have a FLOOD IN MY BASEMENT and need to get this SHOP VAC home NOW." She strolls her way over and rings him up. So there are TWO CLERKS trying to solve one problem and Matt is the only one at the register but somehow they can't seem to check him out??)

But anyway, he gets home with the shop vac and darn do we work well as a team. There's no explaining that needs to be done, no brainstorming how to solve it, no debating who'll do what. We just get a move on and get that water sucked up. There's no need to talk about it. We just do it. We help each other and it all gets done. Matt's on his way to work now and Maddy is still down for a nap, thank goodness. I'm wearing high waters (named quite appropriately) and my bare feet are a bit cold, but really? The basement is looking pretty good! We have two fans blowing, one in the laundry room and one in the spare room. The spare room's windows are open. The drywall doesn't look any worse for wear but we still want to get it dry as much as possible with the fans.

Whew! Not to mention, I've been trying to get other stuff done around here and Maddy hasn't really wanted to let me. I DID finish off the powder room besides the mirror. I think we're going to frame the mirror before we put it back up. It looks really nice. If you want to see pictures you can see them here.

So today has been an uneventful day thus far. I am more than welcome to that! After yesterday's washer flood fiasco I'm ready to just have a normal day. I have done a few chores around the house and woke up early (two days in a row) to work out. I've been drinking tea instead of coffee, too! i did take a couple of pictures of Maddy looking out the front window at the garbage men.

I don't have much to say and I'm hoping to get some more chores done since Maddy is still laying down. Have a good day, everyone.

Tea of the day: Black Tea
WO of the day: 30 minutes elliptical yesterday and today. I will work in weights later, too.

Matt told me to put this on my blog... so here it is! He definitely wins the good sport of the day award. Even was willing to pose for a picture. Another reason I love him.

Matt is really good to me in every way. He loves me for who I am. He appreciates things I do around here. He understands that it's hard to stay home with Maddy all day some days. He calls what I do 'work' and he bristles when other husbands don't think their SAHMs don't do work. And he calls them down for it! He makes me a martini after a long day. He pushes me to get out of the house with friends or by myself. Matt helps keep our marriage intimate and connected. He's funny and makes me laugh even when I'm crying or just knows when I need a hug and not a laugh when I'm crying (that's a real talent since sometimes *I* don't even know which one it is). We don't argue about money, about Maddy, about much really. We see eye to eye on most everything.

That is--Laundry.

Yes, laundry. Laundry is the topic of this discussion. It's not that I expect him to do laundry. I don't. I don't expect him to cook meals either or keep the house clean. Those are things I signed up willingly for when I decided to stay home with Maddy. Maybe not all SAHMs are willing to do all the cooking and cleaning, but I'm comfortable with it since Matt does so much for the house in other ways and is wonderful with Maddy at night. Really, as long as Matt doesn't make it HARDER for me to do the above, I'm happy. (I swear, I was going to bite his head off when I found his dirty socks on the floor of the bedroom for the upteenth time and his hair gel on the counter.)

But, back to laundry. Remember how we're having house projects done around here? Well, one thing we are proud of is that we didn't need to rent a storage unit or a pod. We moved all the items out of that room and into our dining room, family room and laundry room. Really, the dining room is unusable but that's not a huge deal. The family room is still useable albeit cramped. And the laundry room is still useable, well, kind of.

I have two large 6ft rolling racks in my laundry room. I have almost exactly 2 ft (a bit less, I'd think) in front of both my washer and dryer to do my work. Let's put it this way, when I bring down the dryer door, it touches the rack. That's how much space I have to move in there.

I am not complaining about this. I am used to tight spaces and I can put up with anything for a little while. I lived in the world smallest efficiency in college and I can PACK man. I can use spaces that people never thought of. Plus, it saved us from getting a storage unit (and the hassle of moving it all there and then back).

But I am complaining that Matt continually puts items the washer and dryer and in FRONT of the washer and dryer. I continually need to ask him to NOT leave things anywhere near the washer and dryer. It's hard enough doing laundry as it is. But to fill that two foot space in front of it with misc. stuff is driving me nuts. Again, as long as he does not HINDER my being productive I don't care if he helps or not. But DO NOT mess with my work space (what little I have of it). It is sacred. He moved something in front of it tonight so he could roll a different 6 ft storage rack back into the spare room. Fine and dandy, I don't care. But when I asked him to move it back he tried to blow me off saying he'd do it later. NO, SIR. Do it now. If I need to do laundry I am not going to spend 20 minutes of my time having to clear out in front of the washer and dryer to do it.

I think I need to get out the 'caution police only' tape and tape off my washer with 'caution if you want clean clothes do not enter'. That said, he did move it, even with a bit of eye rolling.

(The same goes for my elliptical machine too.)

*Humpf* There's my pet peeve of the day.

Last night I had mom's night out. It was the 'slumber party' (aka sex toy party). It was postponed a few weeks ago due to the snow we had that evening. It was a lot of fun! Lotions and potions, toys, gag gifts, books, games and lingerie were the goods. It's was fun to have a couple glasses of wine, sit back and relax with the girls and laugh a lot. I think everyone else had a good time, too. Everyone was making notes on their order forms. I believe everyone left with a little black bag as well. And no, I'm NOT telling you what I bought!

The ladies were really nice and the consultant was also pretty decent. She was a pusher though, not products, but the company. She was trying to recruit a lot and also trying to set up more parties through us. That was a bit annoying, but overall, I had a nice time.

I got there a 1/2 hour early because the evite was changed from the first one. So I helped set up food. Also, I really hate mapquest directions. When it says, 'bear left' onto a road what they mean is 'the road you are on will change name'. I was going and going looking for my 'turn' when I was on the road I needed to be on. I didn't get home until 11 last night and didn't get to bed until 11:45. I was still up at 6:30 this morning to work out and surprisingly I'm feeling pretty good. I think it's the working out. It really helps my energy level.

I've been working out lately on the elliptical machine in our spare room with the door closed. But because we don't have a shade up in there yet (that's tonight) I've been working out with the light off and my iPod playing. It's been kind of nice to watch the sun come up and the world wake up while working out. I face the window so I see cars leaving and lights coming on in the houses around us. It's relaxing yet energizing all at the same time.

People are really creatures of habit though. It's funny how I see my neighbor walk his dog in the same route every morning and seeing the same cars leave at the same time, too.

Tonight I have another Mom's Night Out. It's at a friend's house and will be fun. We are ordering in Chinese food and just hanging out.

Lunch with Maddy is such a gauntlet. I don't want to feed her too early because if she's not hungry she won't eat. But if I wait for her to be hungry then she's REALLY hungry and is crabby because it's almost nap time, too. I also try to give her enough food items to choose from when she's eating because she's definitely turned into a picky eater. She likes to feed herself now, so she HATES it when I try to help. However, she doesn't eat enough on her own and it drives me nuts. It's not the mess; it's the amount of food she doesn't get into her!

Also, she is a condiment freak. She loves whatever the real food item is topped with--butter, peanut butter, salad dressing, syrup, salt flakes!... Here's her cutie patootie picture of her licking butter off her sippy cup after she smashed it onto her buttered bread. SHEESH!

Tea of the day: Basic Black tea (2 cups)
WO of the day: 30 minutes elliptical, weights and pilates ab moves.

Although I do owe my mom's group an apology. I am supposed to be at MNO tonight, but... well.... after I went for dinner I walked by a Cost Cutters and JUMPED IN! I didn't have an appointment (and fortunately, she fit me in). I never met the hair stylist before. Nor did I have any kind of recommendation. That's EXACTLY how I like it. There's a thrill to not know what you're going to get. See, hair grows out. It can be changed. It's not permanent. Three hours later, I walked out with a cut, color and highlight. Best part? I shouldn't need to get it colored again because I matched my roots. So here's the afters and here's the before! The top picture is of her blow drying it that night with a bit too much wax. Also, it's in darker lighting since I got home at night. The other after is during the day time by the window after letting it air dry.

So moms, I apologize that I didn't show up. But well, the moment struck and I went with it!

Thanks to my good friend Joy for the recommendation for the Proactiv three step system. My skin is amazingly clear--more clear than it's been in a VERY long time. Even the teensy tiny blackhead on my nose are virtually gone. Right now, I am VERY impressed. However, I do wonder if it will handle cystic acne when my hormones cycle through or I get stressed out. But for right now, I'm really liking it.

It was a nice day yesterday. Maddy went outside to play with the two twin two year olds down the block. They were all running around the common area and had a nice time. Maddy loves to play with other kids her age.

Maddy also turned 16 months yesterday! How exciting is that?! Well, it is for me. She's getting so big so fast.

This weekend is a lot of the usual--house hold chores, some grocery shopping, etc. We need to get the double bed set up in the spare room so my mom will have a place to sleep. We still don't have the bathroom finished, the doors put on the closet or the bathroom or carpet down. But at least there are walls up and a shade on the window (no curtains or sheers yet, but soon!).

A couple of things I REALLY want to get done this weekend: Put up the powder room mirror and frame for it. Install the powder room faucet. Take back a lot of things we didn't need to Lowes, Kmart and Target for the spare room. I want to get on this before the 90 days expire or we lose the receipts! I guess that's it, really. I want to get some cleaning done, too. But all in due time.

Ok, have a great weekend everyone!

WO of the day: None today!
Tea of the day: Coffee, splenda and creamer

Ok, so I've been thinking about this all day today. Kids as luggage. What the heck am I talking about, you ask? Some parents treat their kids like luggage. They drag the kids everywhere, no matter what time of day or what shape the kid is in. They are along for the ride.

Is this bad? Not necessarily. As long as the kid isn't sick, missing a nap or been strapped in a carseat, cart or stroller all day it's fine. But--it's quite obvious when the above are happening. When a fussy, tired, whiny kid comes rolling by me in Lowes at 2 pm it's quite obvious they've missed their nap. Or a kid who's coughing and looking feverish (quick hide Maddy, she doesn't need those germs) is crying in the middle of the mall tells me he should be at home in bed, resting. I can't stand seeing kids out late either. I'm sorry, there's a reason it gets dark outside. It allows our body's natural rhythms to lull us to sleep. When we force kids out of their rhythms it's just plain MEAN.

And let's not even TALK about kids out at restaurants late at night. Let's not talk about how the parents expect them to sit still, behave, listen, eat nicely when they are tired, crabby and should be in bed. Let's not talk about how oblivious the parents are to their own child's needs and how RUDE they are making other patrons put up with their child's whining.

The fact of the matter is: Children change parents lives. Life does NOT go on as before when you have kids. And if you think it will or that it does, you are fooling yourself or seriously neglecting your child's needs. Harsh words? Yes. But it's the truth. Our lives don't stop. But they do change. The pace we live at is more 'kid pace' than 'our pace'. Since we were the ones to sign up for this position, that's the way it should be. Naps are more important than that trip to Lowes (unless you're buying a wet/dry vac. I can forgive you for that). No one needs anything at the mall enough to take their obviously sick child to it. Heaven help me I see a young kid out at 10 at night at a nice restaurant. They are only little once. Let's give them expectations that we know they can live up to, not unrealistic ones. Let's let their little lives be filled with adventures (that do include the mall, Lowes and restaurants at a reasonable hour) and fun not trials and havoc. You know what? If parents realize what their children can and cannot handle their lives are happier, too. Sure, they may not get to do everything they want to do when they want to do it. But we don't let our kids do that either, so there's a give and take. Happy kids make happy parents.

Kids also miss out on fun today, too. Too often they are dragged around all over doing chores with parents or in some kind of camp or practice. Now, I think organized after school activities are GOOD in MODERATION. It's when there is no time to relax and have unstructured time that I think it's a hindrance.

My .02 for the day.

All we have left to do is spray paint with dark satin paint the nuts and bolts to the lighting fixture. It still requires taking back off the tulip shades but that's not a HUGE deal.

So here it is, the before and after. Not to bad considering it wasn't even a planned renovation. A 'quick coat of paint' sure did add up to a lot! It reminds me of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" But yes, once we realized they were going to paint we decided we didn't want the standard off white. Then we realized the gold toilet paper holder and door knobs to the cabinet don't match the silver towel holders. So why not get all new so they match? So let's take these off so they can fix the holes before they paint. Well, if we're going to fix those, why don't we get a new light fixture to match? All right. Now that mirror looks out of place. Boy that faucet looks bad... So there way go, before I know it we've spent $400 remodeling the bathroom. ($100 was for the faucet and the paint/fixing drywall is also included in that.)

I do LOVE the faucet though. I wasn't really ready to go buy one yet, but Matt found this one at Lowes and bought it. I was ready to take it back since I didn't feel like spending that $100 right now. But, the more I thought about it, the more I liked it. So we kept it and put it in. It REALLY ties together the accessories and fixtures. I LOVE it.

Today I went our 'new' church for first service. I woke up one hour before service and had a 1/2 hour drive there. So I got ready in a little under 25 minutes from getting out of bed. I haven't done that since my teacher days! I did talk to Pastor and he said he'd call us this week about discussing transfer/meeting up. After church I had an hour to kill before I needed to be at our other church for Sunday School.

So I ran to Walmart and picked up some basic shorts and tshirts for Maddy for summer. She didn't have any shorts! I bought 24 months and they are big right now but I'm sure she'll grow into them. I also bought her sandals at Target a couple of days ago and they look soooo cute on her! She's walking really well in them too. I did buy her new robeez at Target, too, although one pair is already scuffed up from being outside with them on the sidewalk. Really, she's outgrown them and needs to be in regular hard soled shoes. But Matt is still partial to the Robeez so I bought them anyway. Once Matt's sentimentality wears off, we'll be ok with the hard sole shoes all the time. As it is, that's all she wears outside with me now. Matt hated throwing away her old ones (too beat up to save or give away) because he's sentimental that way. Ok, I didn't like throwing them out either! We could bronze them!? Just kidding.

I went to teach Sunday School but no kids showed up! But I did prep through Easter so that's set to go.

I got home and did a ton of laundry today. I washed things I NEVER wash (ok, very seldomly) like bathrobes and throw blankets. So I did three loads of laundry and hung most of it out to dry. Matt put in the faucet today and the mirror yesterday.

He's itching to get started on the tile in the basement. We've decided to go with tile throughout the entire room. Probably the same tile throughout the bathroom (walls and shower/tub stall) bedroom and closets. Matt also wants to put up more shelving behind the filing cabinet in the wall under the stairs. I'm fine with that for long term storage. Why not use the space? I'd still like to see how much a tile guy comes in at for both that bedroom, closets and bathroom. We have two coming this week. It'd be so much easier than US doing it. But we'll see what the premium is.

Ok, well, I'm off to hang out with Matt and fold laundry. Lots to do this week before my mom gets here in way of 'making space' in that room for the bed and the like. I still have a sneaky suspicion that we will be putting up the bed Thursday night while Maddy is hanging out with Grandma! Hopefully we can get it done on Wednesday.

Must make a list.

Tea of the day: Only diet coke between services. Didn't sit well on me and had a headache the rest of the day!
WO of the day: NONE. ARGH.

Maddy and I went to the park and to take a walk today before the tile guy was supposed to show up at noon. She was REALLY tired so I needed to get her out of the house so she could make it until noon. It was a mad rush for the door at 11 because I accidentally mentioned the word 'outside' before I was quite ready. So I change her shoes, put on her coat, put on her hat, grab my cell phone, grab my keys, grab my scissors (I cut some daffodils from our yard to bring in the house). I threw on my coat quick and out the door we went.

Well, we made it to the park just fine. There was no one there and Maddy didn't really want to play a whole lot. She was pretty fussy, but then, she was tired, so I knew this. I was also on the phone with my folks at the time so I don't think she liked that much either.

Ah well, off for our long-way-around walk back home to wait for the tile guy. It was a nice walk and Maddy rested a lot. I'd look at cars who were driving by me (about three) and they were all paying close attention to us. Well, Maddy is a cutie; how could they help it (I can say that, I'm mom. Don't hate her because she's beautiful)? Hmm... no, they aren't looking at Maddy. They are looking at me. Hm... I'm not quite as cocky about myself so I'm wondering what's interesting about me.

OH MY GOSH, I KNOW WHAT IT IS!!! This morning after my shower post workout I put on a couple dabs of Proactiv Acne Mask on a couple little spots on my face!!!! I FORGOT TO WASH IT OFF BEFORE WE LEFT IN MY HURRY! HAHAHAHAAHAAAAA... They are staring at the bright white blotches on my face. Ok, so now that I know what it is, I lick my finger and use the reflective surface of my cell phone as a mirror to wipe it off. I didn't notice the mask since it wasn't my whole face, just a couple of little spots. But I'm sure it was QUITE obvious. Ha! I just about died laughing.

Maddy was looking at me like I was nuts. I'm just glad we didn't meet up with anyone at the park. So what do you think? Do you think they would have mentioned it to me? Do you think they would have stared at it enough I would have finally figured it out? Or would I have been oblivious the entire time? Just too funny.

Ok, well, I'm off to do some more cleaning/straightening. I'm off to the family room that looks like a hurricane hit it. SHEESH.

Tea of the day: Stash Green Chai Tea
WO of the day: 30 minutes elliptical

What? You thought this laptop was out of reach? Now that I can climb I can get anything!!!

So, Maddy is all about the climbing lately. It's fun to watch her climb. What really surprises me is that she's doing pretty good climbing down, too!

It's a beautiful day here. I got Maddy all ready to go and play on the deck: hat, sandals, sunblock, toys, etc. As soon as we were out there she no longer wanted to be there! Frustrating. I know why though. She wanted to be in the front yard since she loves it there. But today is trash day and the garbage men hadn't come yet. I didn't feel like fighting her over the full garbage cans. I think she saw through my ploy.

I did all the double bed laundry today. The sheets and blankets went in the dryer. The comforter and bedskirt are out on the line as is the rest of my laundry, too. The weather is just too nice to pass up hanging stuff on the line. Maddy hated it though since I wasn't playing with her and hung on me and whined the entire time. But, oh well, I still had to get it done. I gave her extra snuggles when we came in.

Matt and I cleaned up the spare room last night and tonight we'll set up the bed. We brought in the a lamp and a night stand (although it's not REALLY a night stand but it will do).

We had two tile guys come today for estimates. So we should hear more from them in a couple of days. They can both start in one to two weeks so it all depends on numbers. They were equally polite and professional.

Pastor called last night and he is coming to meet with us next Tuesday to discuss transfer. We emailed our current pastor and let him know to expect a call from this one and why. I'll see if we get any email back from him.

Ok, just a quick check in. Maddy is up! Gotta run!

Tea of the day: Rose scented black tea
WO of the day: 30 minutes elliptical

I can't believe how great the weather is today. It's just a perfect day in my opinion. It's not too hot, too breezy, too cool. Just right! I have all the windows open and Maddy's down for a nap. Our Pear Trees are blossoming and are just beautiful. Maddy and I went to the grocery store this morning to pick up a couple of things for the next few days (mainly creamer for mom). They are supposed to be street cleaning today but I don't think that's going to happen since no one is here yet. However, we parked on the street on the way home and I just grabbed the umbrella stroller from the trunk and hung the groceries off it. It was a nice walk home.

She is getting to the point where I need to bring a snack along for her at the grocery store if I plan on buying any snacks there for her. She readily recognizes her goldfish cracker bag now and says, "Cookie" and tries to hand it to me so I'll give her one. Obviously, I'm not going to open it in the store. But Maddy was good about it. She just held on to it and that was about it. She had a couple goldfish when we got home.

After unloading groceries, Maddy and I went back outside to play. Yesterday, I used a basket we had floating around to store some outdoor goods--balls, hats, sunblock, bubbles, etc... So it's easier to outside with her now. I just grab the basket and her and out the door we go. She had fun although all she wanted to do was push her umbrella stroller. I don't know what's up with that. Plus, she's not good at it yet and she's not steady on her feet with it. So I had to hold it down so she could push it. She had fun though! I'm sure this afternoon we'll walk back over to the park. It was pretty crowded there yesterday but she enjoyed it.

One of the tile guys are coming back tonight with his estimate. I"m afraid to even ASK how much that's going to be. EAK!

Ok, well, I promised myself that I'd only spend 1/2 hour outside before I went in to do a bit of cleaning. The weather is GORGEOUS though, so maybe I'll take a bit more time and read one of my magazines.

Tea of the day: 2 cups rose scented black tea
WO of the day: 30 minutes elliptical (with the windows open and a fan in the window!), pilates ab work and pushups.

Mom is here! She got in about 10 minutes late from her flight. Definitely nothing to complain about. For some reason (bad accident on a freeway near us) the freeway I was taking was ALL backed up. So it took me a while to get to the airport. But Maddy slept most of the way and we did get there. Grandma sat in back with her on the way home and the trip home was less eventful.

Maddy and mom hit it off right away again. They both had a great time. We went to the park. They snuggled while they watched TV. All is well.

We have a lot coming up with week, which is just crazy. We meet with both pastors in the next week (departing and accepting). I have a friend driving from Georgia to Pennsylvania who'd like to get together (and I'd like to meet her, too) and we have tile people coming Monday through Wednesday. Sheesh!!!

Ok, well, it's late. So I need to head off to bed. Have a great night!

Tea of the day: Rose Scented black Tea
WO of the day: 30 minutes elliptical, crunches