Surviving the Domestic Jungle

They say all good things must come to an end and I am thinking this is the end of my blog. It seems to have ran its course and I am starting to just feel done. I have written a ton of stuff and perhaps I have actually run out of things to say! I was thinking I may go through all of my posts one by one and print them out and make some sort of book. I may need to have 6 print cartridges on hand because I have over 800 posts..perhaps I should buy an extra ream of paper! I looked up how much my site was worth and it is a surprisingly high number! I was quite proud of myself actually! Anyway, I am considering selling it but I dont know if I am ready for that big of a step just yet. Anyway, thank you for reading and perhaps in the future I will feel more like writing but for now I am going to sign off….

My three year old has not yet developed the filter that keeps you from saying random things about strangers out loud and within their ear shot. She has actually embarrassed me a few times! Once there was this little teenager with pimples on his cheek and she said “Look at his polka dots”. Then there was this morning when we were walking and this man was jogging by. He was wearing this space age looking tinfoil jacket (I’m assuming it was one of those workout enhancing sweat jackets) and as he jogged by, she asked me why he was dressed like a superhero! I told her that anyone that can jog is a superhero because I truly believe that! When it is as hot as it is and you put on an extra layer then you have super human powers!!! There are more stories I could tell about Hailey saying things about people but some are pretty bad! In someways I wish we didn’t all censor ourselves and were as honest as children. They call it exactly how they see it. That guy looked like a superhero and that was that! I understand why we censor ourselves because that guy probably didn’t care that my daughter thought he looked like a superhero and most people in general don’t care what others think of them. Imagine if we all said what we all actually thought! That would be entertaining to say the least!

I have been working out for the past few weeks and I am not sure how I feel about it. While I feel great after each workout, I am really struggling with how much to eat and I don’t think I am eating enough because I feel like crap. I have headaches and am frustrated. To add insult to injury, the number on the scale has gone UP! I don’t look nor feel heavier so I guess its just the old “muscle is heavier than fat” excuse. It is discouraging though…I was expecting it to go down. I was not a fan of working out to begin with and I had magical fantasy thoughts that I would have instant results and while, this is hard work! And it takes time to see results! I can tell a difference in my body because its mine but I don’t think that anyone else can tell. My main focus at this point is workouts that involve the kids. I spent all weekend doing outdoor things and plan on continuing that until it becomes to hot. We walk nightly and sometimes I take them twice a day. Today I will go walk in the park for about an hour and then I will walk tonight for about 30-45 minutes and I plan on eating something extra beefy for dinner because if I don’t my bones may snap like twigs!! I need to google how to eat properly when working out because so far it is a total mystery to me!

They say that everything in Texas is bigger and our weather is no exception. It doesn’t get hot, it gets painfully hot and when it is cold it is freezing! The rain can be a sprinkle or a complete downpour which is what it was last night. When I woke up yesterday morning it was a sunny day so I did the biggest, fattest load of laundry I could because I fully intended on using my beloved clothesline. Well, it got grey and rainy ( I was so angry!!) and then the sun popped out in the late afternoon so I hurriedly hung them up and subsequently forgot and headed to the cake tasting. When I arrived at the cake tasting it was sunny, when I left it was raining and it got worse and worse as I drove up the highway. I have only been literally scared one time when I was driving in bad weather and this was the second time and much much worse. I was on the freeway surrounded by semis and could barely see. I was actually very grateful for the semis because they had these lights on their trucks that helped me see the reflectors on the road which was my only point of reference. Wall after wall of water was pouring down on me and at one point I was going 10 miles per hour and that felt wildly out of control. I finally made it home and lets just say the laundry spent the night on the line getting hammered by the weather. Unfortunately a huge limb fell in the backyard and we have no cable or internet until they come fix it. So, that leaves me with no phone, no internet and no tv. I’m pretending it is 1876 and keeping the lights off as well! Thankfully my husband took pity on me and left me with his high tech jazzy phone that allows me to be on the Internet. And when it comes to the doomed load of laundry, I gave up and threw them in the dryer!

Last night was the cake consultation with my sister and I almost didn’t go. Guilt kicked in and I ended up going. If you ever want to get me to do anything, make me feel guilty and consider it done. Guilt is my kryptonite! Anyway, I went and my sister and her husband to be showed up and hilarity ensued. My sister is a weirdo and that’s the best way to explain her. I was telling a friend of mine the other day that my sister is the kind of person who would practice Wicca and wear a cape. She is lovably awkward and annoyingly scatterbrained. Anyway, the cake in my head was not the cake in her head and the words “electric blue” came out of her mouth in reference to the cake. She has a very classic, almost victorian style dress and she came up with this zen like, lotus flower covered creation. I was biting my tongue so much I think I may have bitten it off. Every bride is entitled to whatever cake they want, however, if you are my sister I will secretly think you are ridiculous but happily indulge in said cake on your wedding day. The cakes we sampled were nothing all that special but they were good and the lady that is making the cake is doing it on very short notice…as far as weddings go. The big day is in 2 weeks! I am DYING to see what this cake looks like because after that consultation it should be a very very very interesting creation

I try to stay knowledgeable about fashion but lets face it, I am not a Real Housewife of (enter any city here) and I do not know Andy Cohen! I have three kids who are far more important to buy clothes for than myself. Anyway, like I said, I try to keep knowledgeable but some fashion trends are garbage and ridiculous. My huge pet peeve at the moment is shoes that have open toes…for no reason. I am soooooo tired of seeing a lovely knee high boot with the toes exposed. What the heck is the point of that? And to be honest, most people have the feet that nightmares are made of and I just don’t want to see their little piggies. I cant imagine wearing boots/shoes that are closed everywhere ‘but the toes’ in the rain. That is a recipe for disaster and soggy feet. I am all for fashion and nicely cut dresses and maybe even bright colors but all in all fashion has to make sense and be somewhat functional. Yes, we all have shoes that hurt our feet but we still wear (present company included) but pain and beauty go hand in hand just like fashion and function should. All I am going to say is if you wear those silly boots/ shoes then you better have your toes done up like they are little Christmas presents because you could be wearing a fabulous outfit but all that stands out are your toes!

They say god only gives you what you can handle. Well, he thinks very highly of me right now! Life has its ebbs and flows and I am caught in an ebb. Everything seems to be happening at once starting with my phone being thrown in the toilet. I don’t have a cell phone anymore which is freeing but yet inconvenient and I honestly think I prefer life without one. I just want a land-line and email. Everyone seemed to survive life before we all had phones glued to our heads and I am sure I would be just fine without one. I would however miss my GPS. Anyway, I think I am going to get rid of the service and should life be unbearable without it I will get another one but for now I want to give being disconnected a go. THEN, all of my passport stuff comes back and is rejected for being invalid yet they don’t state why it is invalid and I do not have a phone to call and ask why!! Annoying to say the least. I may never ever get to Canada again unless I sneak in dressed as snow!!!!!! These are trivial stresses in the grand scheme of things as we have much much bigger things to deal with because my husband has a past that is catching up with him and therefore becomes my problem. He has a lot of challenges ahead of him and things seem to not be working out as planned these days but when things don’t go my way I know there is a bigger picture that will become clearer as time goes on. For now I will settle for a phone!!!

I had mentioned that I got a job a few days ago (maybe more like a week or more ago…) and I talked about my struggles with choosing the right childcare. Well, it turns out the best most affordable childcare is….me. After looking in to many different childcare options like a daycare and even interviewing a possible babysitter, I financially just couldn’t swing it. My childcare would have cost more than what I was making and that just doesn’t make any sense. If you want to make money in this world childcare seems to be the way to go! So many day cares have waiting lists! Sadly I had to turn down my job and trust me it wasn’t without hours of intense thought and a heavy heart. I really wanted that position but it cant just be right for me, it had to be the right choice for my whole family and I will never ever compromise the kind of care my children receive. Its bad enough I will leave them with the childcare at the YMCA. The toddler room always smells like poop. I am not impressed at all but its only 30-45 minutes so I dont feel too terrible…and I am 20 feet away! So, I suppose it is back to the drawing board as to how I can bring in money all while caring for my children. In a year or two it will be so much easier as they will be older and subsequently cheaper (as far as childcare goes) and maybe then I can take a step into the working world. For now my only employeers are my babies and they pay with hugs

I am having a little trouble understanding my sister. She is getting married at the end of the month and could careless about all the details. I have been trying to contact her since last friday and never heard a peep until today when she left me a voicemail. Called her back and she was like “What do you need?”…Ok, first of all can I just say I HATE when people do that! YOU called ME!! Moving on…so I have been emailing back and forth with a cake baker to try and workout some times for a consultation and I finally got my sister to half way commit to a time and day when she just hands the phone to her lucky duck of a husband to be to deal with me. Not before she told me to find pictures of cakes and text them to her….yes, because I am on the payroll Moving on….I am not all that comfortable with him because I have literally only been around him maybe 8 times and I didn’t understand why my sister couldn’t just speak with me. I was telling him about the cake appointment times and that I had found a bridesmaids dress and he seemed to be on top of things but this whole wedding thing is a disaster. Do not ask for my help if you are going to treat me like I am bothering you when I am just trying to do what you asked. I set myself up for this because I know how my sister is and I should have known better. I have 4 sisters and not one am I close too. Actually the one I am probably closest to I have never met! Long, remarriage story there. For just one day I wish I had a sister that was my best friend…kind of like the movies I guess. The big wedding is in a few weeks and all that is planned and purchased is the dress….this “situation” has the potential to become a great story!! Stay tuned….

Last night the kids went to bed early, it was raining and peaceful and I decided that it was the perfect time to kick back and watch a movie. Now, my selection of movie is something that was filmed over 50 years ago and is still a damn good movie. The Swiss Family Robinson is awesome!! I watched it last  night and aside from the blatant abuse of animals and unrealistic pirate scenes, that movie is epic. If I ended up on some island I can promise you that the home I came up with would not look like theirs did! And I also would have let the tiger eat the youngest son, Francis, as he is insane amounts of annoying. Being stuck on an island with him would pretty much drive me batty. Anyway, I just love that movie and was actually surprised Hollywood hasn’t done a remake. They have remade every crap movie that ever was! I guess it is a classic and they don’t want to mess with perfection…I don’t know. I think it would be great to redo it. There was one line in the movie that was kind of suspect and it was when Fritz and Ernst were talking on the beach. They were chit chatting about girls and how they wouldn’t mind seeing a few. They then took it one step further and said by the time they saw a girl (being they were stuck on an island and all…) they wouldn’t care how old she was! Got to be careful with comments like that! Go older and you are cougar bait, go another and you are jail bait!! All in all, last night was the perfect rainy monday night!