Stephie is home sick today. Going to rip my hair out and go insane. Meega has no school either. Hers is a planned day off. Hopefully I can pay her a bit and take a nap so I can feel better.

I hate the new website of my hosting company. DH says its ocd. No I have never been diagnosed. I just do NOT do change well at all. I can't even handle my toothbrush being moved. It's just I want things a certain way and only my way Yes my kids are trained on how to fold my towels to. NO I do not do a mommy dearest on wire hangers. I want my kitchen my way. I want the house a certain way. AND DO NOT EVEN MOVE THE FURNITURE! It gets really ugly. He messed with the settings on my computer and I admit I had a melt down. Its a comfort thing for me. Seriously. I feel out of sorts if things aren't where they belong. I also have a real hard time with my day if I don't start with a shower. Ok that is enough about what goes on in my mind.

Brent ( the kid who rents a room from us)  had an accident in his truck. He rear ended someone. His poor little truck. He walked home. It gets better. He was trading insurance and locked his keys in it. So he called his parents for a spare. He figured he would get it from his parents at work. Well... at midnight the police were are our door to let us know where the truck is. Thanks ? So back to sleep we went. He gets to work and well his mom has the key in her purse and she is out of town at a horse show. He texts me and asks us to get his truck. Umm... I have no clue how to break into a vehicle. We asked looser boy and he did it in less then a minute or so. Well, Brent didn't tell us he left his lights on!! The battery was dead. So we jump the truck and got it home. The front has some good damage.

Jon had a good day ( insert sarcasm here). He had to get an MVR for work. Went to DMV and was in and out so he headed to work. The opening guy wasn't there and Jon didn't know it. He set off all the alarms and didn't know how to turn them off. He got to talk to the sheriff and the alarm company. He is getting sick on top of it. He called and asked if he could go back to bed. We told him no. He worked a 10 hour shift. He was not happy.

6 Tbsp butter ( I use a lower fat butter I found at the store)
6 Tbsp flour
2 c chicken broth ( I use Chicken Base from Costco)
1 c  half & half ( I use the fat free kind)
2 c veggies  ( I use 2 cans of Veg-all with the juice drained off)
4 chicken breasts, cooked and cut up (I seasoned with pepper and poultry seasoning while cooking)
1 can diced new potatoes
4 pie crusts ( I use pre-made)

Preheat oven to 375. In large pot melt butter. Add in flour to form a rue. Cook for approx 3 min. Add salt and pepper to taste. Using a whisk mix in half and half and chicken broth. Bring to a boil and simmer until thick. Approx 5 min.

Mix veggies, chicken and potatoes in a bowl. Divide equally between 2 pie crusts. Pour sauce over mixture. Place top crust on and seal edges as desired. Poke holes in top crust. Cook for approx 40 min.
 

Salsa and Ketchup. Tomato soup is on the plan for this weekend.

Quote from a kid : EWWWW!!!This ketchup has flavor!! It taste like a tomato!!

So umm yeah... Rented movies again cause of course I have nothing else to do.. Right...... <- hear the sarcasm there??

Baby Mama : I did stay awake but could easily have napped. It had some cute moments but it was a bit long for my taste. Had some why is this in there moments. It was ok. It passed some time and gave me something to watch when nothing else was on.

What happens in Vegas: I napped. It was just another ok movie.  It even put my 10 yo to sleep.

Forbidden Kingdom : Ummm we all went upstairs except DH and Jon and watched Spongebob. Not my taste.

So overall this week in my opinion was a flop. Sadly...Waste of time and gas to pick up the movies...

That's who!!

just how sharp a Pampered Chef knife is??? Well... Its REALLY FREAKIN SHARP!! Like lets go the ER because you cut your finger to the bone and it won't stop bleeding cause the cut goes all the way to the nail bed and the pad.

I did get ketchup made today. Just a hint of blood flavoring!! Just kidding about the flavoring. I did however get to make a trip to the ER. I was slicing the tomatoes and yeah well.. read up there. So I got 4 tomatoes cut and off I had to go. I got home all bandage up and finished making it.  I could see the knife coming down. I could see it cutting my hand but could not move it. I stood there for a minute then it dawned on me what happened. I then proceed to shout HOLY FREAKING CRAP I CUT MYSELF and blood then gushed everywhere. The kids thought I was kidding. One did come to check and then freaked out screaming "she really did" then all had to come look. Jon offered to drive me to the ER but I did it myself. If I had felt well enough to go to church this whole thing would of been avoided. But no.. I was tired... I didn't feel well... My allergies were acting up...I just didn't feel like being human. If I had pushed myself I would not have been making ketchup cause it was ubber easy to do and I would not have cut myself. Oh did I mention it was a 2 stitch cut? Yeah. It is gross.It hurts. I am mad at myself. I am happy we have a ton of ketchup. I am angry I got hurt. I knew it would only be a matter of time. I can't use my hand right so I improvise. My fingers do not bend right since I broke it and it irritates me to no end.  I knew sooner or later I would hurt myself. /me smacks head on desk... I knew I should let DH do all the major cutting for me like he usually does. Why did I feel compelled to make this??? Why could I not wait?? Its called freedom of choice. And for some reason I make bad choices. Hind sight is always 20/20. Lesson learned. If I don't feel up to church then it is not an invitation to do chores around the house. It could have waited one more day.

We ran into town to get some things at Costco. We get a call from Jon that something was wrong at PJ's. So we stop by... They got slammed so DH had to clock in for a while and help out. So we get home from that and I did some more laundry and worked on my kitchen floor. Have I mentioned how much I HATE my kitchen floor? The flooring is impossible to keep clean. I have to hand scrub it about every 3 months. It takes about 3 hours to get done.  If I don't do this it looks like crap. I quick mop it every day but to no avail. I have tried everything but nothing works. It irritates me to no end to spend so much time doing this.

DH was on the roof prepping it for winter and found it needs repairs too.  There are about 15 spots that need shingles replaced. Several shingles are loosing gravel. We have probably one more year out of this roof. My landlord was not happy to hear this. Its been a long time since any major repairs have been done on this house. The roof is 20 years old. The deck needs to be replaced. The bathroom is still not fixed. Calgon take me away!!!

We went to town and DH went back into work for awhile. He had more problems to solve. I took the girls and ran to the commissary and Safeway. We then picked him up and went to the mall. We had fun. I did find a quilt pattern for Jon's quilt. Now I need someone in Hawaii to pick me up the fabrics he wants. Or someone to take a trip there and run an errand for me. Or someone to buy me 2 tickets and hotel and I will go

Now we can get Bunny her braces!!! WAHOO!! I am happy!!!

I also might have a *whisper* J O B. Just doing some marketing stuff. Nothing major. I am not able to work without paying arms and legs in Daycare. Very flexible hours of less then 10 a week. Works really well for me!!

I am majorly ticked at Liz. She has lied to me. I confronted her yesterday. I have been watching the baby for her and now we are questioning if she was doing what she told us she was. So today I was supposed to watch him... She showed up and DH asked her about her behavior ( she has a speaker box that is from a friend of Jon's that she won't return) and she snatched the baby up put him in his car seat and left. We did not hear a word from her for the rest of the day. She is burning bridges with me. I do not know now if she expects me to watch him anymore or not. I do have other things in life to do. And the comment that they are letting me watch the baby so we can spend time with him made me about choke. I am quite happy seeing him once a week at the mall. And the comment that we have done nothing to help them out set me off. I put a roof over their heads when they were homeless. I have been watching the baby so she can get a job and get off welfare. So to say I have done nothing to support or help them really frosts my cookies and sets me off. So yeah it is a major sore point with me so lets not go there right now. So now we have no clue if/when we will see or hear from her again. My guess is Thursday when she is supposed to start work. We shall see.

Wish me luck. We have some interest by someone to buy POST!! We are hopeful.

Caps intentionally on for the next statement.

WE HAD A SNAKE IN THE HOUSE!!! A FREAKIN GARTER SNAKE BUT STILL. IT HAS SNAKE IN ITS NAME.

It was in my laundry room. It made all of us scream like girls. It was 3 rooms into the house. NOT KOOL!! Seriously. We had Brent remove it. At that point one of the girls chime in oh yeah we had one in the lower yard a few days ago. The cat ate it :barf: . And she was on my bed!!! Not anymore!!! Nope not happening!! I also found out they tossed one over the hedges at the neighbors yard.

Speaking of neighbors... I don't like my neighbors boat anymore. It's in my way. We ummm.... like to stand in my upper yard and hit gold balls into the lake. And their boat is in my way. We are afraid of hitting the boat. He needs to move it back into his little boat shelter. I have about 60 or 70 more balls to hit We use a club or a metal bat. The kids can actually whack it way the heck out there.

OH OH OH !!! We finally have the camcorder batteries charged!! I can finally upload the cheer videos we took. We had misplaced our charger and finally have resolved that situation. I found a new one.  

Oh and if anyone on the East coast wants to get me some state quarters I will trade Denver mint ones. I have 4 sets of Denver mint and no Philly mint ones. Also I am missing 4 states I think. I will pay shipping and the cost of the quarter or trade.

Liz no showed at the mall tonight. I am disappointed. The girls missed the baby. I did have some friends stop by though. We had fun visiting. It was nice. The girls sat and read. We talked about things to do here. I am excited now. I think we are going to try and go over to Leavenworth for a day in Oct. I love to see the fall but I hate living in the cold. The town is awesome. It is like an ever ending Oktoberfest/ holiday town. They dance on the May pole. Its way cool. We went over a few years ago. Its a 3 hours one way trip. So its a long day. I can't stomach hotel fees and food though. So we make a one day long drive. It kind of sucks though. I want to go but not sure its feasible.

Jon is really sick and tired of his job. He is hoping to get into the shipyard come next month. There is a hiring freeze on right now. If no shipyard job he is going to start college and get his AA. He has a plan. He has a good plan. Just needs some things to make it work out.

Meega is evil!!!!! One of her fellow cheerleaders told her how to annoy one of her teachers. They had him last year. They told her to get a clicky pen and click it over and over. The teacher told Meega to get new friends ( he was not serious) Wait till she wears her cheer uniform all day tomorrow and he finds out how much time they really spend together.

Still no Dr appt for the girls. I keep trying but not getting any place. SO frustrating. I know the ER is there but I hate taking not very sick kids there when the clinic should see them. I hate that they are so overbooked they can't squeeze anyone in for same day illness.

Jon is driving again and he is ubber frustrated. He found out he got screwed yet again. I do not see what the gain is to tell him he will get a promotion/ pay raise when there is no intention to follow through. Well, good thing he is out of there in a few more months.

I got my peaches!!! YUM!!! They are so freakin good!!!!!!! Seriously!!! I am contemplating eating them all instead of canning them.

We went to a big box craft store today and picked up a few $1 craft things for Thanksgiving to do. It kept the girls busy for a few hours. They were having fun. I however am not happy to see Thanksgiving stuff in my house before school has even started.  The girls made foam decorations. They are cute.

My pickles came out AWESOME!!!! We are done with like 6 or so jars so far. The girls are addicted. I sort of am. I like the zucchini ones best.

I am very slowly working on Meega's quilt. I have an offer from someone to do it for me and I am considering it. I really want to get it done for her. Now Jon wants a quilt. He feels unloved. He is the only kid who won't have one. I told him I would work on a machine one for him when I get this one done. His is going to be queen size since he is 19 already. He wants it all in greens. I found a pattern I really like that works for him. And its easy to machine sew/ quilt. I really need to learn to knit still. That is on my list. After watching The bucket list DH and I were talking. I kind of came up with a list of things I want to do in my life. Learning to knit is one of those things. I want to make each of my kids a quilt. I want to get my house completely organized and clean ( <- hahaha) But seriously I would like to. I also would like to become a better cook.  I want to travel too. I am thinking I might make a page on my website side here of my list and cross out things I do get accomplished. I think it would be really interesting to see what I can get done.

to say NO NO NO to people??? Someone DH works with needed someone to watch her 2 kids. And I said I would. I felt bad for her. She is a single parent trying to make it. Her kids are cute. They were good kids. I am just so over the daycare thing it isn't funny. It's me not her kids. Honest. When  I was younger ( boy do I feel old now) I had no issue watching kids. Now they wear me out horribly after a few hours. I think it's more my house is not kid friendly right now. I have major projects going on all over.  I am working on kids rooms, cleaning the living room/ dining room, cleaning my bedrooms and the family room. And by cleaning I mean CLEAN!!! as in every drawer gone through and tons of stuff removed. I am at the point I hate my house. The main issue is I feel restless. This is the longest we have been in any one house. I have an urge to move really bad right now. And no we have no intention of moving any time soon. I just wish we did

I think I am in a funk... I know I am sad about the school issue. I know I am not happy with GoDaddy right now. I know I am sad at my house. I know I want to talk to my mom but cannot. I know I am mad at one of my children. Very Mad.

Right now I just feel like I am going through the motions of living but not being alive. It's hard to explain. I think its a blues funk.. We have not had a mice summer and I hate being cold.  I hate rain. I hate change. I hate mess. I think this is causing my funk.

Useless facts you never wanted to know 50 lbs of pears make 48 pints. I did not know it was that many. Now I need to go buy 2 more cases of jars before my peaches get here in Sat. We did a light syrup with cinnamon. YUM!! This with the peaches will make a good set for winter. We also realized we are slowly building up a food store again. I had one about 2 years ago but money got tight and we ate it. I have been picking up a box here, a container there. But with all my canning this summer I am replenishing the extra stuff. I need to work on the main items this winter. I have some things but not a lot. I did mange to make this entire month on less then $250 for groceries. And that includes my pears. The peaches are actually after our next payday so I am considering them in my Sept budget. I am working on building things up slowly so I dedicate a little each month. Oct will be apple month. I am thinking we need 75 to 100 lbs. I so under did pickles this year. The kids are in them already. They came out so good!!! The dilled beans are awesome!!! I only have 7 or so jars and they are going fast. I have a feeling they will be gone by Dec. Lesson learned. I also found out I prefer to can in pints over quarts. I need to buy more next summer. I have like 4 cases of quarts. Hmm  I should use them to do apple sauce. My kids eat it like it going out of style. I still will probably need a couple more cases. 

                                                    --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Movie review!!! I have 2 today.

 First one was Drillbit Tailor. Not worth my time. I did not enjoy it. I stopped watching it about half way through.

Second one is The Bucket List. AWESOME!!!! I so enjoyed this. It is so good. It has a sad undertone but I really enjoyed it. It was well worth watching. It is inspirational too. I want to do some of the things they did.

                                                      -----------------------------------------------------------------------

I have a new recipe!!!!! It was way Yummy!!! The kids loved it!! Stephie is asking for it again already. It is a chicken and wild rice soup.

4 cups chicken broth
3 cups water
one cooked chicken (rotisserie from the store is fine) I used some legs out of my freezer and cooked them up. de-bone and cut up
1 (4.3 oz) Rice-A-Roni wild rice
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
16 oz of half-and-half ( I used fat free)
Approximately 1 1/2 cup shredded carrots
3 celery stalks
2 garlic cloves-minced
1/2 white onion-finely chopped

In a large pot over medium heat, combine broth, water, and chicken. Bring just to boiling then stir in just the rice (You will use the seasoning packet in a minute). Cooking on medium heat. In a skillet sauté all of your vegetables with about 2 tbsp olive oil until al dente. Add them to the large pot with the chicken, water, and broth. In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper, and flour and set aside. In skillet used earlier melt butter over medium heat. Stir in contents of seasoning packet from the wild rice until mixture is bubbly. Reduce the heat to low, stir in the flour mixture to form a roux. Whisk in the half-and-half, a little at a time, until fully incorporated and smooth. Cook until thickened for about 5 minutes. (Keep an eye on this, the flour will otherwise like to clump up at the bottom of the saucepan). Stir cream mixture into chicken, water, broth, and veggies. Cook over medium heat until heated through. About 10-15 minutes. (Be sure again to keep an eye on this so the rice doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot and might burn).
*Serves approximately 8.
*Goes great with rolls or some kind of bread or breadsticks!

                                            ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dh is now hooked on World of Warcraft. Thanks a lot Boychild!! What is means is that I have no computer time on Lappy. I am using DH's antique that has issues hoping I type faster then it overheats and shuts down. I honestly am not angry. It is just an adjustment to not being able to log into the things I like. Its also not my computer so it feels weird. It's not my screen saver, mouse is set to his preference, programs are different. I use Vista and he has windows XP. It's just awkward. Maybe he can sell a kidney and get his own shiny new computer!! KIDDING!!!! SO if my posts seem weird that's why. I also do not know how to gets the pics of the camera onto his computer. Mine takes the memory stick and automatically does it. Then I upload them to my host site. So pics might be few and far between right now. Unless I remember to do them when he is not on and access them through the network or I remember to buy a flash drive this weekend and put them all on there. I am seriously thinking about that. It would free up a bunch of disc space and I could use it on either computer then. Also his spell check is hard for me to use. I guess once you go Vista you can't go back

                                             ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

So that is today's endless rambling post. A bit of this and that. I have everything all canned and ready to be put away. I also got 6 loads of laundry done today. We cleaned up the house a bit too. The girls were ubber helpful with canning. Stephie helped peel, core and cut pears. She was a sticky mess when we got done. Then we made a pot of soup and scarfed it with some fresh bread I picked up today. We needed milk so I got bread while I was there. I also am trying out a spam and french fry casserole tomorrow. The kids are looking forwards to it. I do like spam but usually in Fried rice. Speaking of I need to make that this weekend.

                                              ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I spent quit sometime tweaking things on here. I am debating how to change my layout. I can either change my current address to like a one on the end or I can just keep the canned layout and live with it. I am fully capable to write html. I am vary able to make my own graphics and such. It drives me nutso to be stuck using their layout. But I am not sure I want all the work to go into it for now. I am working on some new things for our website to make it spiffier. I am contemplating going back to college and taking a few classes on web design and possibly working in the field as a freelancer. Most people want certified people not self taught. I have set up about 6 websites for other people but its not enough of a resume. I know how to do it but there is tons of room for improvement.

We did risk life and limb and go to Old Navy today for some denim. I am not impressed. We got 3 pairs of jeans. That's it. Nothing special. U am not to thrilled with their products. Every freakin pair of jeans is cut different. Not style wise but the same size was an inch different in 4 different pairs of pants. That is way to many to try on in crowds. Bunny was not copping well so we cut bait and ran. We roamed the mall and I read 4 new quilting magazines. I so want to make my quilt. I have the fabrics. I have the sewing machine. I have the pattern.  What is missing you ask??? Meega made me promise that until her quilt is done I will not start any others. Well.... Her quilt top has been made for 3 years now. I have it pinned to the backing and about 1/6 of the way hand quilted. That is the problem. Hand quilting hurts. It never used to bother me but then I broke my hand. Now it is extremely slow going and painful. I am now only making machine quilts. After I make mine I have to make Boychild his. He does not have one. He only has his Harry Potter comforter from my mom. Yes is has meaning for him but! He is 6 feet tall and its twin size. He needs a bigger blanket.

Liz never did call or email her brother and wish him Happy Birfday. I am a bit miffed with her anyways. We have not seen the baby in a week now and she did not come to the mall tonight. Bunny is having serious withdrawal.

I am not kidding. My day today consisted of hacking into my blog because I lost my password and putting up all the posts from the last few days I couldn't do. Watching DH wash both cars. Making pesto, browned butter with myzithera(sp) cheese, and sauce on spaghetti for lunch because DH and Boychild both had to work today. I made 3 different types because everyone has their own likes and no one could agree on one today. Easier to make three and not have any fights. Playing mindless games on my computer. Watching High School musical for the umteenth time with the girls and watching the grass grow. Seriously. That was my day. I woke up not feeling good and it never got any better. I did get the girls to clean their bathroom so that is a good thing. And DH did clean the deck and spray for ants. So something got done that needed to. But I feel blah...So back to today's topic.

I have tried a few products and have decided to give reviews to help other out. I am going to use a Rant and Rave format.

RANT is about Select comfort beds. These are the sleep number ones. I hate ours with a passion and now I found out DH does too. We have not liked it for the last 3 years. But when you spend that much on a bed you feel obligated to keep it. We have had nothing but issues with it. We had both bladders in the bed MOLD!! and the foam in the middle broke down. We did find out it is a known defect and get it replaced. However... The new pillow top is not as comfy as our old one. We both have spent tons of time trying to find a number we like. We each have our own side.  I now have 6!! pillows on my side alone. The mattress parts slide apart and you have to remake the bed every 5 or 6 days. I am sorry to say and hope this is not to gross but I do not wash my sheets but every 10 to 14 days. I can't do it any sooner since I do so much laundry already. Trust me when I say I love fresh washed sheets. I do 2 loads of laundry a day and its time consuming.  But having to adjust my sheets is a PITA!!! I would not ever buy this bed again.

Rave is about my beloved V Slicer. I bought this approx 15 years ago. I could not live without this. I used it to cut all my pickles for canning. I use it to slice onions. This gets thumbs up from me. I use it for tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, etc... I really like it. If this one ever decides to go to the slicer in the sky I will do whatever it takes to get a new one. This is one thing I have to have. 

For those who do not know... We lived in military housing for 16 years ( I think) and now we are renting ( we do hope to someday buy a house). Well, I have had to learn how to use small spaces and make them work. I have decided to share one of my favorite ideas.

It is a spring tension shower rod. I picked up some iron hooks at Home Depot. Its perfect for hanging up pots, pans and strainers. I also hang up my Thats-a-bowls from Tupperware. It frees up a cabinet and puts them at easy reach. I only hang up the items we use a lot. I do not hang them all. It works out perfectly. It leaves no marks when you take it down. I have this over my sink so after I wash said items I hang them up immediately and save sink space also. I have been lucky enough this has worked in our last 7 houses. Although these hooks we purchased in this house. My movers lost my other ones.

I finished the books. My brain hurts from so much reading in so few days but it was my only chance. I needed to take a day off between books. I very much enjoyed them and the kids are now inhaling them. Meega loves them so far. Stephie is liking them but long books are still a struggle for her. All in all we are enjoying them. There were a few moments I thought were to wordy and could of been shorter but it all does click and is worth reading. I never did read Harry Potter as that just did not appeal to me. Dh did read them and does with the kids. Right now DH and Stephie are working on Dear Diary in America books. SO reading in important in our house and we encourage it.

We still have stupid post up for sale. We have a lot of lookers but no takers. We also keep getting no shows. They bug me!!! I sit here and give up my time and no call, email, nothing. GRRRRR!!!!

I stayed up until 2:30 to finish the 2nd book!!! I am so tired!! They are so good. I am working on the third one now. I really need to find a balance and do some housework. But Its been so nice to read for hours on end without kids interfering. I do miss them terribly though. *le Sigh* They come home on Saturday morning. But who is counting the minutes Dave took me out to dinner tonight. It was fun. Then we went up to our fishing spot to see if the salmon were running yet. Not until the 16th do they open up this area. So a few more days. We came home and I passed out on the couch. I wanted to read but my eyes would not stay open.

Liz moved out again today. She conned some lady into renting them the basement of her house. She did get all her stuff out of the garage so that was good. I miss the baby. Of course she did the you have my cell phone number and there are no minutes on it so why bother and we have no internet so you can't email us. So we cant get hold of her in case of emergency. It bugs me to no end. She really needs to grow up.

We had an adventure today!!!! We lost the directions to girl scout camp. So we GPS'ed it. Well.. that is not always the best idea. It tried to take me down some forest service road you need a 4 wheel drive for. We circled about this forever road in the middle of nowhereville. I wound up driving down some gravel dirt road for about 5 miles. Oh and a Ford Focus does not make a good off road vehicle When we closed a door a huge cloud of dust came flying off. Now DH has something to do tomorrow morning He can wash cars!!!We did finally find the right way and the girls are now at camp. ;cry; I miss them!!!!!!!! Stephie was nervous about it but looking forward to some fun. So I MISS MY GIRLS!!!

Today was Jon's last day at the Silverdale Papa John's. He has relocated to the new store. He may actually get manager out of it like he has been promised!!!

I found it!!! I know how I am spending the next few days!!! I am so excited!!! (hmmmm still using a few to many !!! for my taste but I had to!!! ROFL) Meega asked if she could read the series by Stephanie Meyers. So I did some pre-reading on it tonight and we did purchase the books. So I am going to read them all before she does and gets home from camp. That should fill about 3 days. I am also going to hit my fav farm stand since its season for cucumbers and can. I plan on making about 30 lbs of pickles. They won't last long but they will be tasty. So that is how I am spending parts of next week. Sounds like a plan.

I got volunteered to take the girls to the dollar store!! I want to spend time playing with them not being a chauffer today!! They leave for camp on Sunday and I am dreading it!!

Hmmm.... Looking at this post I use a few to many !!!! I need to cut back on the excitement in life.

It has been a quiet day otherwise. The house is a disaster. I give up. I can't get it clean so its almost a why bother thing right now.

DH got a call he has training in Seattle next week so I am going to go with. He is going to drop me off at Ikea for a few hours. Kind of a love hate thing. I  will enjoy being there cause I love to look at their merchandise but! I will be by myself and I find that lonely. I am going to be sad next week. The girls really do keep me on my toes and they won't be here. I will have to find some other way to amuse myself.

Parents are good for bailing you out of bad situations and you really should thank them when they do.

Liz called. She can't take being homeless anymore. DH wanted me to just say so what? You made your choices. I agreed to let her move home for a few days. I am happy to see the baby but... She does not watch him and he wrecks the house. Also she does not clean up after herself. I want a clean house!!! So anyways... that is my insanity for today...

OK today is rant and rave... I sometimes wonder if I sound like a lunatic!! I sometimes wonder if I am one LOL!!! I know I am one!!! If I was sane I would drive myself batty!! SO back to today's post....

Rant: We have POST listed on Craigslist. We have been getting lots of emails for showings. We had 4 showings set up and 2 actually came. I was shocked. 2 came!!! I was careful to not put our phone number up for the nut jobs to call. Its bad enough to field the emails. We are trying to get it sold to get Stephie's braces paid for. So we need a buyer here pretty dang fast or we will miss the deadline for this semester at UW. I would hate to make her wait until January for her ortho to start. But is may be what we do. If we wanted to go a different route we could use a local Orthodontist and make payments but it would cost us substantially more. So we are on the fence. I have turned this stress over to Heavenly Father and I know he will provide a solution. He will show us the path to take.

Rave: Papa Johns chocolate desert things. They are so freakin addictive!!!!! Seriously folks!! Go try these!!!

I sent my relief society president an email. I gave her a list of things we need to get rid of from the house. Hopefully she knows someone who needs the items so we can find room in the house again. I had to give Liz notice that she can't leave her stuff here for more then one more week or we will be disposing of most of her things. I cannot be a storage facility. We do not have room and I want my house back. I want my garage to be once again almost empty. We were on that track when she moved in. So sadly she has to make some tough choices and get her things out or I will donate/ rehome them. I have not heard one word from her since Sat and do not expect to. Sadly these are the choices she is making. My heart is breaking at not seeing the baby. We knew when she left this would happen. How hard is it for her to send an email or call and let us know how they are? She did not give us a phone number we can reach her at. She is not only hurting me she is hurting her sisters. They love the baby so much. But then this is her choice in life and someday she will look back and realize how much she is hurting other people in life. I hope she gets to grow up. I hope the baby is safe and not in danger. I am so worried for his safety. I hope she is feeding him and taking care of him. I hope she knows that she can leave him here if it came down to it. Sorry for the sadness today. My heart is heavy with stresses in life.

I could write fluffy bunny posts everyday but then I would not be being real.  I hope I am not offending anyone or being mistaken for always being in a black mood. Sometimes life is full of highs and sometimes lows. I seem to be in a low right now. It has been a hard year for me. I know others have life harder then me. This is my daily struggles.

Today was a lazy day. We did about 2 hours of house/yard work then chilled the rest of the day. We got a lot done out front. Of course there is still a ton more to do. It one of those I fell behind in house work and catching up is impossible!!!! I feel like I can never get caught up let alone ahead. So if anyone is bored and wants to come do yard work I will BBQ

Stephie is feeling unsure about camp. She has never been away from home for more then a 2 days and never without Meega within arms distance. We have been talking about it to relieve her fears. The good things is the camp out they did in June was to the camp so she knows where she is going to be. She doesn't know anyone who will be on her part so she is very nervous. So we shall see. I think she will have a good time. Just need to get over her extreme shyness.

Our day started at 8:00 AM !!! Meega was in the whaling days parade. She had a good time. It was fun to finally see her perform. We do have video but no one has uploaded it yet. Dh will have to do that this week. We went over to Papa John's until the parade started. We had 2 hours to kill. We did set our chairs out right in front there so we had some good seating. That was nice. It was pretty fun before the parade for us to " play" in the street. It was the main street of town. One that has a street light on!! Stephie and I kept jumping into the street off the curb for fun We tried Papa John's new chocolate desert things. THEY ARE AWESOME!!!! Seriously!! I highly recommend trying them. They are so good!!!! We helped Dave do opening stuff for the store. Had to pass the time somehow. The parade was over 2 hours long. Taking into account we live in the middle of nowhere this is impressive!!!  The derby cars we so cool!! I wish Dh had the night off so we could of gone. But no he has to work. He did like 13 hours of over time last week. BOO! I know that the pay will be good but yeah... It shows in Stephie's behavior. But she is working hard this week on a better attitude and it does show.

Stephie has been being really good. So the end result is she earned the mall back. We did get a wooden pirate ship thingy to assemble. It has like 80 pieces. We now have a rainy day activity this week to do. Go us!!! I also got a free sewing machine for the girls to use. So we are going to be coming up with some projects to keep them busy. Kind of the thinking idle hands idle minds. So I try to keep them busy instead of in front of a tv or video game. We also picked up 5 huge 500 piece puzzles for us to work on. We have cheer practice this week then the girls are gone to camp. Not looking forward to that week. I am going to miss them terribly!!! I am not sure what I am going to do. I have a few projects I am thinking about working on.

My jaw is killing me. I went to the dentist today. Was supposed to be a simple fix on a filling. 3 shots of Novocain and it still hurt. Now my jaw hurts from the shots. AND THE TOOTH HURTS!!! I don't want to be an adult sometimes. I want my mommy.

So anyways....The project we started was to re-align children's bedrooms. Liz came home in mid loosing her room but not yet moved into the one she was getting point. She was mad we had moved her things. But in my defense it wasn't me who did it it was Dave mostly. And in my defense you could not see the floor in the room and the ants in there were insane. We found several half drank soda cans, bowls of food, and tons of candy on the floor. It needed a thorough cleaning and now the room has had it. So since Liz decided to move out we decided Stephie has the room to herself. She is enjoying it. The room is about 75% painted. So far she has unpacked 2 boxes and her dresser into there. It looks pretty nice in there.

We love the new fridge. It is 5 cubic feet bigger then the old one. And it has an ice maker and water in the door. The kids water consumption has risen greatly.

I made a yummy oops for dinner tonight. I had some udon noodles in the kitchen and some teriyaki chicken meatballs in the fridge. I was sitting there trying to figure out what to do. I made 5 cups of chicken broth and added a tsp of ginger and 3/4 tsp garlic. Brought that to a simmer and tossed in the meatballs. Let that simmer for 10 min then tossed in cooked udon noodles. Turned off the heat and added 3 tbsp low salt soy sauce. Added about 1/2 lb of bok choy let sit for 2 min and gobbled. The kids ate huge bowls of it. They were not keen on bok choy but loved everything else. It was very tasty!!!!!

Oh and this morning !!! We had an awesome breakfast!!!!! On a whim we tried Targets apple cinnamon streusel pancake mix. The girls say we need to eat it at least 2 times a month. It is a bit higher priced then things we normally buy but it was so good!!! They are $3.99 a box here. Usually we buy like bisquick or something so this was a nice change. So if you want something new to try give this a whirl.

After I had the dentist we went on a picnic at the marina. No I did not eat anything. I sat and drank a SOBE. The girls had a blast. We sat and watched the baby jelly fish and enjoy spending some time together. We walked around the docks and looked at the boats. We sat in swinging gliders and enjoyed the view. So that was my exciting day.

 I am done. Someone stick a fork in me. PLEASE!! Ever reach a point of over whelmed?? I am there. First off... We got a "new" fridge. New to use. I got it at a yard sale. Yes I am cheap. I will post pics up on Wednesday for wordless day. Gives me something to plan for this week.

Then ...Today was Meega's birthday party.

World's biggest cupcake??

Sadly not one of her 15 friends invited showed up. Summer birthdays bite!! I hate mine with a passion. My heart broke for the poor kid. On top of that neither her brother (worked until 6pm) or sister ( couldn't be bothered with anyone else but her selfish self) could be here.

OK.. I am still having a bad week. I am morning the loss of my mom hard this week. Just to much happening at once. I am feeling over whelmed. If it is not one things right now its another. I want to run away and hide for a month. Anyone wanna send me on a cruise to Alaska??? I would got for a one week one. Someone please take my place and be the responsible person for a week and let me just sit mindlessly and do nothing. I know I am in a funk mood wise. I need to find a happy place and not have so much to deal with. I was feeling better but its like when it rains it pours here.

We stopped at a local produce place on the way home. I wanted to get cucumbers to make pickles, and of course like everything else, they did not have any. They said things are blooming late this year so maybe in a few more days. Sadly we live about an hour from this place so if I have to trek back down I will go to my regular farmstand for them