And It's STILL Monday

I've had a little tickle in my throat since Sunday. By yesterday, it was a full-blown cold and today I woke up unable to talk. Do you know how hard it is to wake up your kids when you have no voice?! Between being voiceless and feeling like my head was going to explode, I decided I didn't want to drive up to North OKC to work today. (Which killed me because I less than 50 hours left to complete my internship.) I felt bad about not being there any time I was resting in bed or my recliner, then I would stand up, get dizzy, and remember why I didn't think driving was a good idea today. About 5 minutes before it was time to get the kids, and about an hour after Dave had insisted I take some cold medicine, I asked him hazily who was picking up the kids knowing that with my cold medicine buzz and the slippery roads that it wouldn't be me. And that's when Dave told me he had to get to work early. I asked him why on earth had he insisted I take cold meds when he knew I was going to be driving on bad roads. He shrugged, mumbled something about it being Dayquil and not Nyquil, and started dressing for work. One of my biggest gripes about my marriage is that if it's not a big deal in Dave's eyes, then it just doesn't matter. Also, he categorically dismisses me like a child or a lesser employee and did so today too. But, as I get older, my tolerance for this has decresed dramatically. So, while I did bundle up myself and Elisa and head out into the freezing rain, I told him exactly what I thought of his attitude before I left.

I flipped on the radio just in time to hear the news people interrupting our regular programming to tell us that roads were bad and we shouldn't be on them unless we HAD to be and that wrecks were everywhere. Lovely. Fortunately, the adrenaline rush I got from being furious at my husband kind of threw off my hazy medicine-induced stupor, and all I had to worry about was driving on ice with a headache, a sore throat, and the threat of other idiots on the road. (And they were out in droves by the looks of the evening news-you would think we Okies might have learned SOMETHING with three ice storms since Thanksgiving, but apparently not.) So, I got to the kids' school feeling horrible. I kept shutting the engine off to save gas since I got there early, but the car was freezing within two minutes every time I did. I finally gave up and just let it run the last twenty minutes I waited on the kids. (I guess I could have picked them up early, but I am SO over picking them up early and fearing inclement weather-so I waited.) We loaded everyone up and drove around the corner with for my first stop (car pool kids). To my great surprise, Dave was there waiting. My hero.

He drove my not-so-safe car home and let me use his. I think I've figured out the problem with mine. Aside from it not having four-wheel drive, it also has a high center of gravity. (It's a 2002 Durango) My other cars all had a lower center and it seems that they must have solved the problem by 2004, because my husband's Durango does great. Of course, it also has 4-wheel drive and XM radio. (Not that the latter makes a difference, unless you're driving cross-country with four kids by yourself.) Even so, I did slide a couple of times in residential areas, and I'm pretty careful so I guess all the wrecks today are no big surprise. On the drive home, I was thanking God for such a considerate husband who must have realized that I was too sick to be left alone with four kids. Nope-he had just gotten tired of the traffic and wrecks on I-35 and decided just to escort us home while it thinned out a little and try again. So, he brought the kids in the house, tossed me my keys, and without a glance backwards at feverish, glassy-eyed me; he left again. My hero indeed.

Since then, the kids have barraged me with their usual requests for snacks, computer time, and permission to play video games (all of which they have been grounded from for various reasons like sneaking Cokes up to the bedroom and lying about their homework being finished so they could play). I managed to screw up Betty Crocker's Potatoes Au Gratin Deluxe (too runny) on the one night it's absolutely too nasty to go grab a quick pizza, and my head and throat hurt worse than ever. Tristan and Caroline keep disappearing into his room (where I found the three empty Coke cans on Monday) and who knows what kind of trouble they are brewing there. And yet, I'm too dizzy and tired to go and see for myself right now. Needless to say, Dave hasn't called to check on us and sometimes I wonder if I'm not practicing all this single-parenting for a reason. But I don't think they grant temple cancellations for simply finding your spouse clueless and annoying. And he did follow me home from L & S's house which is more than I expected. The good news is that they went ahead and cancelled our class at work for tomorrow, so if I'm still sick at least I won't miss it. (It's a CPR certification class, and my last class was in 1997 while pregnant with Natalie so I really want a refresher course.) The better news is that the roads are a little better. The bad news is that they're expected to be bad again tomorrow and now that I'm in the habit of working part-time, it feels really weird to stay home. Hopefully, it will quit being Monday tomorrow.

Works For Me Wednesday

As I've already covered in great detail, I recently returned from a visit to my friend Anne's house. I think I even mentioned that she hosted not only myself and my four children, but also her brother, his wife, and their three children all at the same time. Beyond just the impressive logistics of finding a place for each one of us to sleep, the house was also remarkably clean the entire time we were there. As someone who struggles with staying on top of things, I watched her over the course of the trip to see how she accomplished this and what I discovered was a solution so simple, I probably have no business mentioning it here-but it was a revelation to me, so I will anyway. Her "secret" seems to be simply that she cleans something up as soon as she is finished with it. If there was clean laundry, she folded it and put it away as soon as it was finished-usually while visiting and chatting with us. She emptied the dishwasher before meal times and loaded it as she prepared something. We finished loading it when mealtimes were over and ran it before there was an overflow of dirty dishes in the sink. And we picked up the toys each time the kids were done playing with them. This may seem simple to the non-organizationally challenged among us, but for me it was a whole new concept. I tried it during Caroline's party and for once I didn't say goodbye to the last of her party guests feeling exhausted from the party and overwhlemed by the mess ahead of me because there wasn't one! So, my tip for the week (borrowed from Anne) is to clean things up as soon as you are finished with them. Works For Me! For more (better) tips, check out this week's Works For Me Wednesday at Rocks In My Dryer.

You Mean It Wasn't Monday?

I woke up this morning with a sore throat and a runny nose. I wanted to go back to bed. It was a good instinct, and I should have gone with it. Did you every have one of those days where no matter how hard you tried to keep things going smoothly they just fell apart anyway? Well, today may have been one of my worst days ever. I'm too tired, sore, and sniffly to go into detail, but suffice to say my day just stunk and ended with me and the kids missing the school skate party which was "no one's fault" and especially not my mother's. (Nothing ever is.)

To end on a positive note-I did my first freecycle today, and it went great. All that time spent organizing my pantry and cabinets left me with lots of 'extras' (Tupperware and bakeware) and most of it had never even been used, just stored in my cabinets. Now, it has a good home with someone who could use it. I *heart* freecycle.com.

Five Things About Caroline

On her fifth birthday!

(Today was the actual day, we just celebrated on Saturday.)

1. She was my smallest and earliest baby coming four days before her 02/02/02 due date and weighing in at 7 lbs. 7 oz. (I was miserable and agreed to an early induction.) Not unlike this year, there was a terrible ice storm when she was born and I was glad to be in the warm, cozy, and generator-powered-in-emergencies hospital with her. We would return to that hospital just four weeks later with a terrifying case of RSV and pneumonia and again, there was an ice storm. I'm glad we spent this year's storm at home. I wouldn't revisit those sick days in the hospital again for anything.

2. Caroline's favorite colors are pink and purple much like most of the My Little Ponies she adores. She also likes Bratz dolls-blech!Needless to say, we focus on the ponies around here.

3. She has been a little fashion plate since she was old enough to change her clothes. She often tears up her closet and drawers trying to achieve "the pewfect wook." This drives her not-so-hip mother crazy, but her Aunt Lanie understands. (In fact, if she didn't look so much like me, I'd swear she was Aunt Lanie's.)

4. She still sucks her thumb, but recently lost her beloved "gankie" when she left it at Anne's brother's house in Phoenix. She now clings pathetically to a piece of stuffing left over from it. We're thinking it was just a good time to 'let go' of "gankie" who had seen better days. (But she still asks for it daily. Sigh.)

5. Her best friend is her brother Tristan. At 22 months apart, they are my closest two children in age and they have been the greatest of pals since I brought her home from the hospital and he hugged her saying "Her's my fwiend, Mommy." At least two of my four love each other consistently.

Happy Birthday Caroline!

Menu Plan Monday

Monday-Cream of Chicken Breasts with crescent rolls, green beans, and fruit cocktail
Tuesday-Ham Casserole, corn bread, and peas (I'm embarrassed to admit that my "recipe" consists of cubed left-over ham and a package of Betty Deluxe Potatoes Au Gratin-Hey! The kids LOVE it!)
Wednesday-Fish sticks and mac-n-cheese (I was supposed to serve this last week, but the kids wanted taquitos instead. Who was I to argue?)
Thursday-I have a work committment until 4:30 so the kids will be at Gran D's until 5 p.m., so I'll likely just pick up something on the way to get them and eat it there. I'm thinking rotisserie chicken.
Friday-Pizza night
Saturday-Baked Ziti
Sunday-Crockpot Meatballs-I'm not sure which recipe I'll use yet.

For more recipes, check out our host Laura's blog!

Week In Review

Reading-

New Testament: Luke 1-12-I didn't have a lot of down time this week, but I did manage to get halfway through Luke which was good enough for today's Sunday school class.

The Basics of Archiving-I've actually been reading material from this online class since the beginning of the year, but I finished it this week! Yay me!

Watching-

Gilmore Girls-Well, I never thought I would care about Luke and April again-but I do. Sadly, I also liked seeing Chris, Lorelai, Rory, and GG as a family even though the writers really don't want me to. Oh well. I think I should have quit watching when my friends Toni and Angela did. However, they did at least give us some Zach and Lane enjoyment (FINALLY). Though I hate how one-dimensional Mrs. Lane's character has become. Please tell me this is the last season. Sigh.

Veronica Mars-I'm still not buying the whole Veronica/Piz thing, but I see that's where we're headed. It was great to see Mac (and does that mean we will soon be seeing more new Big Love episodes-please, please?!) and even better to see her find some boy to kiss. All in all, it was a good episode and props to the writer's for having the professor recognize Keith. It bugs me that no one seems to remember his best-selling novel and subsequent interviews when the Lily Kane murder was finally resolved. People in Neptune must be idiots not to recognize him on a daily basis.

Grey's Anatomy-OK, so I've decided that from now on the question is not IF I will cry while watching this show, but when. This time, it was when the shunned girl sent her friend back to her Amish parents to die in the faith, and especially when the mother spoke to her. Also, the part when George hugged Izzie back. And who didn't enjoy all the surgeons acting like babies and Bailey putting them in their place. It's been obvious to me all along that she will one day be chief, but I loved her face when she was told that. (I love that character and that actress and, having finally seen Shonda Rimes, I wonder if Miranda Bailey isn't really HER voice in the series.) And did anyone see the last two minutes of the show coming?! I was stunned. Oh, and I've got no comment on the whole Isaiah Washington/T.R. Knight issue. I've already commented on it previously and I haven't changed my mind. It's just that I'm too sucked into the show itself to worry about how immaturely the actors may or may not behave themselves off-camera. (Though I sure don't envy the show's execs all the headaches this must be giving them.)

*note* This week's Degrassi is sitting on my handy Tivo list waiting to be watched. I'll review it next week. I only watched GG and VM last night.

In My Netflix Queue-

Nothing this week-I was a little busy getting ready for Caroline's birthday party.

In My Spare Time-

Caroline's birthday party was Saturday and the time I didn't spend driving the kids everywhere was spent getting the house ready for the party. I got that Wonder Pets song "It's almost time for the big party" stuck in my head while I made the preparations and now that the "big party" is over, I can't seem to get it out of there. Help! As far as birthday parties go, it was a good one. The best part was being able to have it here without too much worry about the mess. Not that there wasn't cleaning to be done, but it wasn't as bad as usual. I guess those 15 minutes must be working somewhere. Not that you would notice if you were to ring the doorbell right now.

To celebrate the party being over, my sisters and I went out to dinner last night. I had big plans on taking myself to see either Little Children or Dreamgirls last night too. But it turned out I wanted to stay in my nice, warm house more than I wanted to go see a movie. Hopefully I'll see at least one of them before the Academy Awards. Which reminds me, would anyone in my general vicinity be interested in doing a watch party for that? The Rec Room is all decorated in vintage Hollywood left over from Natalie's party and I saw all kinds of cute stuff at Party Galaxy when I bought Caroline's decorations earlier this week. Let me know in comments or by email-either way, I know I'll be watching it.

Friday Flashback

I like to reminisce here, so I just created a new 'day' for it. (The Friday Free-For-All just isn't the same for me now that I don't listen to it on the radio anymore.)
I mentioned being pulled in two directions when it comes to the Super Bowl this year, but maybe I should explain why. My reasons to go for 'da Bears are pretty clear cut. I loved watching them win in the 7th grade ("We're just here to do the Super Bowl shuffle), I am a life-long SNL fan and know the significance of "da Bears," and my friends Toni and Jennifer live in Chicago. Not to mention a lot of my Sooner boys that went pro are now Bears themselves.

But then, there's the Colts. First of all, el-e-e is a fan. And then, there's my pal John. I've blogged about him in the past, but I've probably never mentioned that he originally moved here from Indiana and that a lot of fun Sundays were spent bowling and watching his Colts play. As you know, I was dating John's best pal at the time, and he (of course) always had to root for the other team-just to be that way. Which meant I always had to join John in rooting for the Colts-just to be that way. (And yes, I was once a godless heathen who bowled and watched pro-ball on Sundays. And I um...don't bowl anymore on Sundays.) Watching the Colts beat the Patriots a few days ago (no question as to who I was rooting for then) brought to mind this conversation from long ago:

Boyfriend (excited and in John's face): Hey John! Did ya see that? The Bengals got a touchdown. The Colts are gonna lose!

John (speaking calmly and slowly): It's OK, I'm not worried. They'll call it back. The Bengals can't score a legal touchdown. I'm sure of it.

(Although none of us were paying attention to the game before the touchdown, it was indeed illegal and called back)

John: Why will you look at that? They called back the touchdown. I knew I wasn't worried. The Colts are gonna win. But then again, they ARE playing the Bengals.

Boyfriend: John, shut the h*ll up.

(What's missing here is the way Boyfriend used to bounce around while John just stood there, completely unflappable, so the humor may be lost on the rest of the world-but not on my memory. And if that memory serves, the Colts were victorious that night.)

So you see, there's just no way my sentimental little heart could possibly choose sides. But I am planning on watching the game this year. It ought to be a good one.

Thursday 13 #14

Thirteen songs from my iPod First things first: My 10,000th visitor did not identify themselves nor did their IP address give any hints. It was only numbers. BUT, if you visited here at 8:38 a.m. and have the numbers 30 and 18 in your IP address-then you're the lucky winner! Thank you! I've saved this list for a day when I was too tired to come up with something better. That would definitely be today. I'm one of those people who doesn't get excited about things unless there is some kind of emotional attachment to it. So, most of the songs on my iPod are there for a reason. I solved my dilemma of hating all the change-ups on my favorite morning and afternoon radio shows by purchasing an FM transmitter for my iPod. In a true blonde moment the other morning, I thought to myself "What a great radio line-up they're playing this morning! I LOVE all these songs." Then I remembered it was MY iPod and my music playing. So, I'm going to hit shuffle, list the first 13 songs that come up, and explain why it's on my playlist. 1. "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" Elvis Presley-For all my "I've got a degree in Classics/Latin" persona, I'm a Southern girl at heart and I love The King. I HAD to read Elvis and Me in high school, watched the mini-series during its first run, and have visited Graceland twice. 2. "I Believe" Blessid Union of Souls-They played this video about three times on my flight back from Italy to the good old USA. The following summer, my friend Christy won tickets to their concert at Frontier City AND lunch with the band. At lunch, they autographed posters for us and they put on a great show. This isn't necessarily my favorite song, but it reminds me of a great day. 3. "I Get a Kick Out of You" Patti Lupone-This is from the "Anything Goes" soundtrack. Cole Porter wrote it. 'Nuff said. 4. "Into the Groove" Madonna-Played at the first dance I ever attended (Which was at a Gifted and Talented camp I went to in Jr. High, it was NOT a Rainbow/Demolay function-Are you surprised?) It's also good for work-outs. 5. "Love Remains" Colin Raye-While he isn't a fan, this was the CD I listened to most often when Dave and I started dating seriously and anything from this album reminds me of falling in love that summer. 6. "Can't Help Falling in Love"-Elvis Presley-I told you before, I LOVE me some Elvis and this is my favorite song of his. 7. "One Boy, One Girl"-Collin Raye-See my answer to #5. 8. "How to Save a Life" The Fray-Like everyone else, I heard this on Grey's Anatomy and had to have it. For some reason, I'm often inspired with ideas and dialogue for my screenplay while I'm listening to it. Not sure why-but I listen when I get stuck and need inspiration. 9. "Magic" Olivia Newton-John-OK, embarrassing! I borrowed this from Dave's CD collection. (He still has a crush on her.) My reason for having this one is no more than pure childhood sentimentality. (Yes, Xanadu is on there too.) 10. "I Don't Want to Talk About It" Rod Stewart-Hey! If Dave can love Olivia, I can love Rod. He's coming here in concert in April. I may have to go this time. 11. "Passera'" Il Divo-If you speak Italian, it's an awesome song. It's actually about how songs help you get through the hard times in life. "Passera'" = "It will pass." The basic idea of the song is that whatever hurt you're going through will pass, especially if you sing depressing songs about it. If this had been on the radio in Italy during my mission, it would have been my theme song. In many ways, it still is. 12. Polka Power-Weird Al-Well, I couldn't possibly make a list of my iPod songs without at least one of his, right? 13. "I'll Have to Say I Love You in a Song" Jim Croce-I've found myself really excited about a lot of the songs I remember listening to as a kid. I stumbled across this one on one of my Singers and Songwriters CD's and uploaded it just because I could. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. John H 2. Jeannine 3. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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Who Will it Be?

I am about 19 hits away from my 10,000th visitor. Some people do this in the first year of their blog while I have been plugging away at this one for just over three years. Oh well, it's quality not quantity; right?

My stat counter is not nearly as cool as I sometimes make it out to be, so I may or may not be able to figure out who my lucky number 10,000 is. If I already know you and where you live, sometimes I know it's you when you read here. But mostly I can only speculate, and often I have no freakin' clue who or where a hit came from. Especially when I do something like Works for Me Wednesday or Thursday 13 and get hits from random people everywhere. So, just in case I miss it-thanks to all 10 of you for enjoying my blog enough to read it regularly. I'd say "I couldn't do it without you," but since I mostly write for me, me, me. Instead, I'll just say thanks for making it much more fun! (And I still remember being psyched about reaching 1,000 hits.)

Works For Me Wednesday

I've mentioned before that my time-management skills leave a little something to be desired. Especially when I go online to update my blog. First, I'm checking my email, reading updated blogs, and before you know it; I should have started dinner half an hour ago. So, I've taken to unplugging my laptop before logging on. That way, I can blog from wherever I am in the house, but never for too long because once my battery gets low, I know my time is up! Works for me!

Thus Saith Flylady...

And behold if thou shalt labor all thy evening in thy house and spend but only 15 minutes in this week's Fly Zone, great shall be thy rejoicing in thy kingdom (house) for thou shalt eventually get it all clean, 15 minutes at a time...

I hope she's right.

Tackle It Tuesday? Fuhgedaboutit. I just hope I get the laundry put away tonight.

Battlestar Afterglow

After a Battlestar Galactica marathon last week AND last night's new episode, Dave and I have come to the following conclusions:

Apollo and Starbuck are both just too committed to their marriages to get involved right now no matter how what their feelings might be. This means that they must now invoke 'the ex-with-residual-issues/feelings towards each other code of silence.' This code, as I've come to understand it, means that they cannot communicate with each other in any way, shape, or form for the rest of their natural lives. However, it is apparently OK for Apollo to lurk on Starbuck's blog, that is if she had one. But otherwise-no taLking ever again! OK, so Dave didn't contribute any of that last part-that was all me.

Gaius-Not a cylon, it's too obvious.

Starbuck=Cylon-This was Dave's conclusion based on her paintings. This was met with much whiny protest from me. "But I don't waaannnt her to be a Cylon. I liike her." However, Dave said at the beginning of last night's episode "there's probably going to be some kind of supernova and THAT'S how they will find the eye of jupiter." Boy was his knowing smirk no fun by the end of our evening. So, Starbuck my friend, I hate to tell you this; but you're probably a Cylon. And you need to check your blog stats.

And finally Colts v. Bears?! I have to choose sides? I can't do it. Sorry.

Menu Plan Monday

Here is this week's menu with the usual credit for the carnival going to Laura at Organizing Junkie, of course. Check out her blog for more!

Monday-Meatball Calzones (held over from last week)
Tuesday-Turkey casserole (I have several recipes, I haven't decided which one to use yet.)
Wednesday-Fish sticks with mac and cheese (Mutual is tonight, it has to be something easy.)
Thursday-Chicken patty sandwiches with oven fries. (Natalie has a Valiant girls activity from 4:00-5:00 p.m. and Girl Scouts from 6:30-8:00. Yep, Thursday nights pretty much stink, but Valiant girls is only twice a month and used to meet concurrently with Mutual. They switched it up on us a couple of months ago. Nice, eh?)
Friday-Pizza night *hopefully* at Gran D's house. She's back in town and misses our company. I miss her too-just not enough to drive in the ice and snow.
Saturday-Out/Leftovers (notice how things are easy on Dave's night to cook? Oh well, as long as I don't have to-it's all good.
Sunday-Baked ham and cornbread

As you can see, a pretty easy week. I hope I can keep my kitchen clean.

Week In Review

Reading-

New Testament: Mark-Since this is one of the shorter books in the NT, it didn't take me long at all to read it. I spent the rest of the week perusing the New Testament study guide which is actually pretty good and likely didn't deserve any of my mocking in last week's review. Because I'm more familiar with the New Testament than any of the other scriptures, I think this year's study will be much more in-depth than last year's where my only goal was just to actually read the Old Testament from Genesis to Malachi. But hey, that was a good start.

Deborah and Barak by Trudy J. Morgan Cole-She was the first finalist to my second in last July's Blogging for Books contest. You can't imagine my delight in finding that my writing was second-best only to an actual published author and a very enjoyable one at that. When she recently mentioned this book was available at Amazon.com, I bought it immediately. So far, I've only read the first chapter, but I'm enjoying it very much and will no doubt give a more thorough review next week when I've finished the book.

Watching-

Still no new episodes of Gilmore Girls or Veronica Mars...

Battlestar Galactica-Wow! I watched the whole marathon with all this season's episodes and I'm STILL a little confused. But not nearly as much as I was previously. I try so hard not to love this show, but I just can't help it. And yes, the boxing episode still packs quite a punch. (Pardon the pun) In fact, I think it's the best one of the season. It sure explained a lot. Dave was both impressed and a little frightened when I could explain in great detail exactly why Starbuck ran off and married Sammy first thing that next morning. What can I say? I'm glad that I now prefer watching TV characters with self-destructive habits instead of being one of those characters in real life. It's a good thing.

Grey's Anatomy-As someone who has given birth four times, I'm glad rather than being a self-destructive person anymore, I just enjoy watching m very critical of birth scenes on TV. As someone who once said good-bye to her sweet mother-in-law as they turned off her life support in the ICU, I dreaded what my opinion would be of my favorite show when I could tell where the plot was headed. I needn't have worried. They nailed both the beautiful and the terrible that is letting go of a loved one like that. I was eager to read what the Grey Matter blog would have to say about the episode (The writers actually go online after each episode airs to explain their point-of-view in writing what they did. It's wonderful!). It was no surprise to me to read about Krista Vernoff's experience with losing her father because I knew no one could have written that episode as well as it was done without actually experiencing such a thing personally. Not only was what she wrote inspiring from that angle, but it also made me happy to see that she could take a personal experience like that and write something so beautiful from it. Sometimes, I feel like that screenplay I'm working on is so autobiographical in nature that it isn't really appealing to anyone but me and maybe a couple of friends. Seeing the huge reaction and outpouring sparked by this one Grey's episode leads me to believe that there's hope yet for what I'm doing.

At the Movies-

The Prince of Egypt-I've seen this before, but I can't seem to find the video. So, when it came on HBO family, I made sure to Tivo it. The kids really liked it and for some inexplicable reason, I started crying when Miriam and Zipporah sang "When You Believe." I guess I've been thinking a lot about how far I've come since my baptism 14 years ago, and watching the Israelites marching out of Egypt brought to mind the early Latter-Day saints leaving Nauvoo in the dead of winter. And I guess I was just so overwhelmed by the realization that God has always had His hand on all of those He loves whether that I got all teary. And then that little kid started singing in Hebrew and the floodgates opened wide. "We were moving mountains before we knew we could..." Indeed.

The Brothers Grimm-And we go from the infinitely inspiring to the infinitely stupid. I didn't think a movie boasting Matt Damon and Heath Ledger could be this bad. Boy was I wrong. I think Tristan summed it up best when he said "Mommy, that would have been scary if it hadn't been so dumb." And I can't review it any better than that.

Mallrats-You know, I'm not normally someone who laughs endlessly at jokes about bodily functions, but let Kevin Smith make them and I can't stop laughing. I'm not sure what makes all his movies so engaging. I doesn't take a rocket scientist to see what I love about Clerks and Clerks 2 (if you've known me longer than 10 years), but I adore just about anything with his name on it. Even Jersey Girl-which was actually a lot cleaner than his usual cinematic offerings. (And you can bet I'll be seeing Catch and Release too.) You know, I never really liked the Brodie character, didn't care whether Shannon Doherty went back with him or not, and I didn't feel they developed the other two characters' (Jeremy London and Claire Forlani) relationship enough to care about them either. And yet, I still loved the movie. Maybe it's all the comic book and Star Wars references...yeah, that's gotta be it. And Jay and Silent Bob-you've gotta love them too. (Oh, and you know that's the only time in her life that Shannon Doherty got billed before Ben Affleck in the credits.)

Armageddon-When both this movie and Deep Impact came out, there was quite a bit of discussion in a long-defunct LDS newsgroup I belonged to about how Deep Impact was the "good" movie and Armageddon was just the "pop culture" one. I stayed out of that debate because I love Armageddon so much more. I love the visuals, every bit of dialogue written for Steve Buscemi's character, and even the cheesy Aerosmith soundtrack. In fact, I realized last night that I don't really even like Billy Bob Thornton as a person, I only thought I did because I like his character in this movie. And again, if I don't tear-up when Bruce Willis says good-bye to Ben Affleck, and then Liv Tyler, or when he says "We win, Gracie." I'm guaranteed to do it when the shuttle lands at the end. When I think about how many times that I've seen this movie and that I still cry each and every time, I'm a little embarrassed. So, I will share with you some favorite lines from the movie:

"Try and catch Papa Bear!" (OK, that's more of a favorite scene.)

"Russian components, American components, ALL MADE IN TAIWAN!"

(And, as I mentioned, ANYTHING Steve Buscemi's character says-and I'm long-winded enough today without typing up all of that.)

I guess I'm just a pop-culture gal.

Out and About-

Actually, I went nowhere this week except for Wal-Mart yesterday and church today. But, I did get my kitchen and pantry clean and organized as well as my front bathroom and I also got a lot done in the girls' bedroom. Pictures to follow on Tackle It Tuesday, I hope.

Ladies and Gentlemen...

Mommy has left the building! After more than a week at home, I thought it might be nice to get out for a bit. Dave and I took all the kids to Wal-Mart. Now I need another week-long vacation to recover from it. There's a reason I don't usually take all four of them with me to the store. Now I remember it. To the fine folks at Wal-Mart, you have my sincere apologies. Next time, it will just be me or my husband. I promise.

Pizza Night Ponderings

We're still homebound tonight, even though I'm reassured that we can get up and down our street safely because our little rural community actually sent a sand truck to us even though they are in no way required to maintain our area. (Apparently, the mail man's intelligent decision not to deliver mail to this route until the ice cleared finally brought some attention to how treacherous our area is and how slow it is to melt.) As I mentioned, I'm enjoying this little cocooning time with my family and wasn't eager to break the spell. So, remembering that just about every slice of pizza that I ever ate in Italy was homemade, I decided to make tonight's offering rather than letting Little Caesar's have the honor. (Although I don't think I saved any $$, that $5 pizza is a tough deal to beat.)

And do you know what I remembered as I kneaded the dough and sauteed the garlic for the sauce? I make darn good pizza. Dave likes to joke about my inadequate cooking skills and, for the most part, he is right. I think I may even have managed to burn water in our 10 year marriage. But my Italian food? It's good. It should be. It's the only thing I ever learned to cook as an adult. In Italy, at least 10 years ago, the "lunch hour" was 2-3 hours long. Odd by our American standards, but with few teaching appointments during those hours and lots of time on our hands; I spent many a happy "pranzo" chatting with whoever my companion was at the time was while teaching myself to make the wonderful pasta dishes we ate with member families by trial and error. Returning home was hard, because I could no longer get my hands on the ingredients I favored for preparing such things. Not to mention Dave's lack of enthusiasm for anything that isn't served fried with a side of gravy. But, my recent trip to Arizona (and subsequent visit to Trader Joe's) seems to have re-awakened my passion. And it's nice to remember that I'm good at something.

I've blogged at length about starting out my adult life as a domestic violence survivor and I'm sure anyone who can do the math (myself included) would be prone to say "But that was a really long time ago. Surely you've moved on from the scared, shy little thing that you once were." And for the most part, that's true. However, like many other things, there is part of me that will always be recovering from that. There is part of me who still believes she's not as good as the next gal and part of me who feels in order to be a better partner she has to adopt the likes and dislikes of whoever she is with in order to keep his approval. And so, without meaning to, Dave's opinions and attitudes color a lot of what I do or don't do. He doesn't really care for Italian cooking outside of the Olive Garden (ick), so I don't make it very often. He doesn't think it's cool that I even served a mission or that I'm bilingual, so I never bothered to speak Italian to the kids or to talk much about my mission. (To them, anyway. The poor Young Women hear about it constantly.) He is unimpressed by my college degree and frankly still confused about why I'm getting a Master's. He tends to focus a lot on the things I'm not so good at. Things like staying caught up with the laundry, cleaning up after this kids, or being organized. So, I tend to focus on my shortcomings as well. It's not that Dave is a jerk, he's just a guy. And he, in particular, thinks the best way to "fix" me is by pointing out everything I do wrong-and rather bluntly at that.

This was very effective in the first years of my marriage and I found myself back in the position of turning myself inside out for someone else. Hiding who I was and what my talents were and trying to change into someone that would make him happier. But, hitting that dreaded 30th birthday almost 5 years ago has wrought some interesting changes in me. The older I get, the less I feel the need to apologize for myself and the more courage I find to focus on those things that I enjoy and that I want out of life and then going to whatever lengths are necessary to make them happen. Going after my Master's degree is a big example of this, but there have been smaller ones lately that make me even happier. This year at Christmas, I made pork loin and baked ziti as my main dishes rather than turkey and ham. Why? Because I wanted to! (And, to my surprise, Aunt M LOVED the pork tenderloin.) We have turkey and ham leftovers every year on Christmas night at my grandparents' and while I love me some leftover turkey, I'm tired of eating the same meal twice in one day. My drive to Arizona after Dave kept telling me "there's no way we can get there before the game," is also quite a personal triumph. You see, when things get rough between Dave and I, he loves to point out that I could never leave him because I'm "not cut out for single parenthood." And while I certainly hope things don't go that route, I am on my own with all four kids 5 nights a week and we do just fine. We drove cross-country with adverse weather conditions happening all around us (though not TO us, thankfully) and we even managed to have fun! I don't mean to turn this into a "my husband is so mean" post, but after breaking up with my first boyfriend completely unable to even tell you what my favorite color was (it's YELLOW!); I do take a certain amount of satisfaction in those things that make me a capable individual and not just his "other half." (Or anyone else's for that matter.)

And you really should smell this pizza sauce. It's to die for! And even if I'm the only one who appreciates that, I still did a great job with it tonight. Buon appetito!

According to Gary England...

As of tomorrow my kids will have missed an entire week of school for weather. This is absolutely unprecedented here. And snow is coming on Saturday!! I have not left this house since I arrived here at 2 p.m. last Friday and I am LOVING it. Even almost a week into it, I don't feel a bit of cabin fever. Should I be worried?

How to Take a Bath (On a Weeknight)

Since my husband and I do our only team parenting with a hand-off of the younger children in the school parking lot while I wait to pick up the older ones, it goes without saying that finding "me time" once I get home is next to impossible. First, there's the homework/piano practice/can I PLEASE play computer debate. Then, there are the chores I didn't get to before I left for work and to take the older kids to school. (These chores are often compounded by my house being at the mercy of my two and four year-old daughters throughout the morning.) No sooner do the chores get done than I have to work out some kind of PBS v. Pokemon debate and start dinner (which I already know no one is going to eat, but I digress...) So the idea of me taking a nice, hot bath on any day of the week that doesn't begin with the letter "S" is laughable.

However, a new 'habit' (do NOT call it a goal or it will not happen) is an early morning workout with Denise Austin. I like the yoga part the best, and it really does seem to help a focus-challanged gal like me while I'm at work. Unfortunately, re-starting the yoga habit leaves me a little stiff and sore 12 hours later. I knew what I needed was a hot bath, but how in the world was I going to pull that off without disaster. I sat down, scrolled through all the stuff I Tivo and forget to watch and stumbled across...a PLAN!

First, I told the older kids to put on their pj's. I wake them up just after Denise and I say goodbye for the morning. This works in my favor, because then they are good and tired fairly early in the evening. Once they had their pajamas on, they both actually asked to go to bed. We called Dad, said our evening prayer, and I sent them on up to dreamland. The younger girls are kind of a problem for me. To get enough sleep himself, Dave encourages them to sleep in too. Not good for a mom who has to get up at 6 a.m., but not insurmountable. Once the older two were settled, I shut the baby gates that lead up the stairs (so the sleeping beasts wouldn't be disturbed by the antics of their smaller counterparts), started my bath water, and put pj's on the littles. Then, I returned to my trusty Tivo menu and found one of the world's most annoying cartoons. ("Most annoying" = crack/cocaine to the pre-school set) This time, it was a Christmas episode of "Dragon." (Not "Jane and the Dragon which is actually kind of cute.) I waited until my tub was ready, and hit 'play.' Most importantly, I did not *repeat* did not make a production out of turning on the show. It only took them a few minutes to notice that a cartoon on par with running one's fingernails along the chalkboard was airing without mom pre-empting it by changing the channel. They were seated and watching it within seconds and I was in my bath. For thirty minutes all three of us were enjoying our personal idea of nirvana. As I heard the credits roll, I drained the tub and donned my pj's. All the sitting and snuggling on the floor had lulled the little girls into a false sense of sleepiness that I capitalized on by slipping them both into bed with me where we all cuddled until they really were ready for bed. I got my bath AND a good night's sleep out of the deal. And that's how I took a bath on a TUESDAY. Of course, that never would have happened had there been new episodes of Gilmore Girls or Veronica Mars. It's all about priorities, people.

Thursday 13 #13

Well, I've decided that rather than subject you all to another 5-day trip report, I'm just going to hit the highlights of our recent adventure in a Thursday 13 format. I know, I know, you're all going to be deprived of a description of every mile from here to Tucson and back; but you're just going to have to live with it.
(I know it's becoming protocol to do your "13th Thirteen" by listing the #1 from each of your first 13 lists-but I'd rather talk about my trip.)

So, here are my 13 favorite things about our trip:

1. Finding out how wonderfully mature my oldest daughter and son can be when they know I'm counting on them. They helped me get us packed and out of Albuquerque before the snow storm hit (and we beat a bad one). They were wonderful at keeping themselves entertained, helping with the smaller girls, and only rarely asking "are we there yet?" (Though the question was more often "Is this the desert?") Of course, they regressed the minute Dave stepped across the threshold of Anne's house on Saturday night, but at least I know they've got it in them.

2. Knowing that I can take such a long road trip without Dave-I am woman, see me drive by myself with four kids. Yay me!

3. Getting to see Anne's house and my Aunt Kathy's house for the first time. (Anne, I posted tons of pictures recently on Flickr, and you are so going with me to Kathy's house on the next trip.)

4. Watching all of Anne's nieces and nephews I met on the October trip get to play with my kids while sitting around watching it with Anne, her siblings, and the spouses and reminiscing about all the things we used to do as kids. It was especially nice seeing Tristan have so many boys his own age to play with-it's usually Natalie that has all the cousins her age.

5. Driving a vehicle into the mountains that was actually made to handle such a drive. (And the XM Radio was fun too, even if it was mostly tuned to Radio Disney.) I think the coolest moment happened about 40 miles from the Arizona border. As I drove there was sleet falling on the windshield. I wasn't afraid of it because it was too warm to freeze, and it was beautiful even as it smacked into my windshield. As it fell, the sun came out from behind a cloud which, for a few minutes, seemed like the most beautiful part of a snow storm suddenly bathed in almost heavenly light. It was probably as close to heaven as you get on this side of the veil.

6. Enjoying the company of Anne's husband-something that never happened with that first one. Also, enjoying the company of the awesome women her brothers married. Late-night "tea time" where we sat around drinking herbal tea and eating leftover stocking candy was a particularly fun activity. (Though the movie was fun too-I don't get to see anything outside the dollar theatre too often these days.)

7. Seeing how great my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Bob were with my kids. They never had any of their own, and they always seemed a bit awkward around me and my sisters. It's a whole different story with them now. And wonderful to watch.

8. Just soaking up all that Arizona sunshine-it was cloudy the first day we were there, but it warmed right up on Saturday and Sunday. (And boy are the kids ever missing it right now.)

9. It goes without saying that being in the place I was baptized on the actual baptism anniversary was a wonderful bonus. Since I didn't even live there at the time I was baptized, it's not a place I ever counted on visiting again.

10. Shopping at Trader Joe's-Oh how I miss it!

11. Knowing exactly where I was once we got to Phoenix and getting to show off my superior navigational skills to my Dad and husband who had no clue where they were. (Again, yay me!)

12. Getting to go to a football game WITH Dave (we usually take turns going while the other one stays with the kids) at an INDOOR stadium with real chairs instead of a bench with numbers. AND a stadium that sold churros, no less. (And standing up while looking WAY down at the field with two Diet Cokes in my system after a week of not consuming any caffeine was a pretty exhilirating experience too-though not one I plan to repeat.) Win or lose, that was an awesome game. Oh yeah.

13. Finally, (for Anne) giggling with her oldest brother's wife about how Natalie kept trying to sit by her son and how he kept blushing and scooting away from her. As we walked out the door, she shouted "Well fine, N-just don't say 'bye' to me then." Oh good grief! Anne, you were right. I guess Degrassi not the only thing with a "next generation."

Since we've been home, I've heard nothing but rave reviews from my kids about mommy's "other home" and they are asking incessantly for Anne and her husband Lobo. I wasn't sure until about two days before I left on this crazy road trip if I should even go (I would have given our tickets to my aunt and uncle who were mentioned in the list) and now I'm SO glad I did. And aren't you glad you didn't have to read about it for five days!

See more Thursday 13's here.

This Time, It's Personal

One of the nice things about having so many days of school cancellations is that I've been able to catch up on a lot of the chores I had planned for Christmas break and then pre-empted when we got tickets to the Fiesta Bowl. As you can see from yesterday's post, I've really accomplished a lot around here. What you haven't seen is any mention of the annual ritual of cleaning and organizing the kids' rooms (You really ought to click and read that entry as opposed to this one. It's a lot funnier). That's because I haven't felt like it. But, now that the laundry is caught up, the pantry is organized, and the kitchen and bathroom are clean; I'm running out of excuses. So, today I grabbed several empty boxes and laundry baskets and went up there in a half-hearted attempt to clean the girls' room. (I start there because there are three of them in a room and none of them are as interested in keeping things neat-unlike their brother who likes to keep his room picked up-yay!)

What I found up there infuriated me to the point that these girls are getting their junk cleaned and thrown away on a scale I previously would not have thought myself capable. Why? Because I went up there and in the ruins of the endless mess of toys, games, and doll accessories I found my favorite Weird Al CD and it had been stepped on and broken in half. Let us all bow our heads in a moment of silence...As I cradled the precious pieces in my hands shouting "Why God, why?!" I began grabbing junk in their room and throwing it into the trash bags hand over fist with nary a thought of "but I remember when..." or "but so-and-so gave this to her for (fill in the special occasion)." Nope, this time I've finally had it.

Natalie likes to whine that her room would be just fine if it weren't for her sisters. While that may be true in part, the fact of the matter is that I help her clean her room over and over to no avail about four times a year and she's getting too old for that. I've made her step-by-step cleaning lists, given her more toy bins to keep things organized, and taken so many privilages from her that she hasn't played her new DS or a computer game since we got back from Arizona. Nothing has worked. And so, in retaliation for such a very personal attack on MY property, I'm grabbing a garbage bag and getting to work. She may not thank me, but I know somewhere the spirit of my poor Weird Al CD will rest a little more peacefully.

Works For Me Wednesday

I've mentioned here before that I suffer from Type 2 ADD which, in simple terms, means that I've spent most of my life staring out the window daydreaming. According to my research, medication doesn't help this type of ADD nearly as much as some type of organizational training and so, my obsession with Flylady.com was born. Unfortunately, during stressful times, even those famous "15 minutes" seem beyond my reach. Worrying about work and school deadlines, PTA stuff, or even listening to the kids' noise completely sidetracks me from whatever cleaning shore I'm trying to accomplish. After choking down Focus Factor pills, setting timers, and more beating myself up over the mess in my house than any human being should ever do to herself; the solution turned out to be rather simple.


If I want a shiny sink, clean bathroom, or folded laundry; I just pick up my iPod, put on the headphones, and get to work. Getting into the music really helps me shut out my other distractions. Of course, it's never turned up so loud that I would miss something bad/important happening with the kids and I have way too many "informers" among my four children to ever miss out on any serious misbehavior anyway. But, if I want to get any cleaning done around here, my iPod really helps me stay on task. Works for me!

Tackle It Tuesday

I'm trying something new here. Since I'm so proud of my cupboards in the pantry and since I worked so hard on them; I'm going to participate in 'Tackle It Tuesday' which I stumbled across at 5 Minutes for Mom. The idea is to tackle some kind of project in your house over the week and report it on Tuesday or to do a project that day. I've got pictures from both-but only one "before" picture because I didn't find this until today.

So, here is my kitchen/pantry project:

And here is our front bathroom that I started and finished today (Trust me, you didn't want a "before" picture of this one.):



And because life isn't fun without at least one good "Before" picture, I leave you with my laundry pile underneath my newly organized pantry shelves:



I guess I need to get started on that one quickly. It's almost bed time-even though there is, yet again, no school tomorrow. (Not that I'm complaining...)

Haven't Done This in Awhile

Here are the top ten searches people use to find my blog:

but I digress-Self-explanatory


digress-Ditto


about me meme-Meme or not, it's ALL me all the time here. It is my blog, after all.


"Nine Corona's" Weird Al-That probably came from this post. But any Weird Al is good Weird Al as far as I'm concerned.


let's go outback tonight-You know, I'm about to re-title that post because it's still getting tons of hits and my sister and BIL are through their rough patch now.


"short for elisabeth"--That would be "Elisa." She would have been an "Elisabeth, were that not the name of my sister's Dalmation.


I had to be induced with the drip for all 3 babies once they brok
e my water noting would start on its own. They always started my drip first, THEN broke my water. Ah memories...(I'll spare you the details.)

have you ever thought that even if i am satan (addison) Best Grey's Anatomy line EVER!

pro/con for ID badges in schools-Hmm...I'm neither pro nor con, but if I've got to wear one at work, why not at school too?


menus4moms-Find 'em here! One of my favorite websites.

Baby It's Cold Outside?

A couple of hours ago, my boss called to let me know The Agency would be closed tomorrow because school was cancelled in the metro. Huh? What? Dave and I were having so much fun watching Battlestar Galactica that we kind of forgot about the outside world. Apparently all the ice that fell on Friday and Sunday hasn't melted one bit and our holiday weekend continues tomorrow. A glance at the 6 p.m. news caught us up to speed as did posts by Shannon and Jen* who are in other parts of the state. I guess I don't have to worry about the Golden Globes running late tonight.

Poor Dave, he has to go to work anyway.

* Yes Chris and Lanie, THAT Jen-she found me AND she has a blog! Check it out!

Menu Plan Monday

I'm not feeling incredibly motivated to figure out what we're going to eat this week which tells me that if I don't stop and think about it right now, meals are going to be scattered and stressful all week. So, here goes:

Monday-Petite sirloins, biscuits, salad (I bought a lot of grill food in case we lost power and had to use our gas grill.)

Tuesday-BBQ Beef sandwiches from leftover roast, corn on the cob, baked beans

Wednesday-Balsamic chicken and mushrooms, mixed vegetables, fruit salad

Thursday-Haystacks, peas, canned pears

Friday-Pizza

Saturday-Meatball calzones*, salad, applesauce

Sunday-Turkey Breast, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, green beans, rolls (I love Thanksgiving dinner, what can I say?)

*Recipe taken from Menus 4 Moms:

Meatball Calzones
Dough of your choice (see notes-pizza dough, store-bought or homemade)
Cooked Meatballs, 3 per calzone (see notes, store-bought or homemade)
28 oz. can of spaghetti sauce
2 cups mozzarella cheese
Roll out dough and cut into 6 rectangles, about 5"x7". Place 1 heaping Tbsp. spaghetti sauce on each rectangle. Top with 1 heaping Tbsp. cheese and 3 meatballs. Carefully fold rectangle so that the long side is folded in half and the short sides are touching each other. Seal all around and bake according to the dough instructions. When done, place on plates and top with more sauce and cheese and serve

For more recipes, visit Organizing Junkie!
And for even more, check out last week's Works For Me Wednesday at Rocks In My Dryer where "healthy eating" was the theme of the week.

Hormones?

The following TV moments have brought me to tears today:

1) Various figure skaters performing with their children
2) The reunion of Colin Firth and Kelly Preston in a cheesy teen flick starring Amanda Bynes
3) A special moment between Meredith and George (because I couldn't wait until next Thursday to watch both Grey's episodes)

I checked the calendar and it's all good. I'm not insane, I just have PMS. Though there's a pretty fine line of difference between the two.

Speaking of TV, Toni, there's a Battlestar Galactica marathon on Sci-Fi tomorrow. Given my mood (swings) that boxing episode is likely to have me in hysterics. I finally saw the episode that followed it earlier tonight and it wasn't nearly as good. It didn't even make me cry, and THAT'S saying something right now.

Week In Review

Reading

The New Testament: Matthew-This is definitely easier to read than The Old Testament and even just skimming the words brings back memories of Sunday School with Aunt M or my grandparents, Vacation Bible school, and good times at the Baptist Student Union. (Yes, I have a very eclectic religious background. It came in quite handy when I was a full-time missionary.) I found an old Institute manual that I think good old Jon must have given me back in the day. I think I might pull it out for reference because if there's one thing I'm missing in my life-it's even more cheesy 1970's quotes to use while teaching YW. (That's kind of an inside joke to anyone who teaches out of the YW manual-though there are updated quotes at LDS.org.) Anyway, I think I'm really going to enjoy the New Testament this year.

Watching-

Degrassi-Let's add insult to injury, shall we? Let's get rid of Joey and ship him off to Calgary without as much as a goodbye. Dear Degrassi writers-You stink! OK, so the show isn't targeted at me and, much like the 90210-fest it's become, they are getting rid of the adults now. And Craig-but he didn't die and the Degrassi death-watch is still on. I thought it might be Toby for a minute there, but he's pulled through so far. My bet is still on him though because he isn't in the cheesy opening credits. And yet, even with all my criticisms, you can bet I will be tuning in next week.

Grey's Anatomy-Actually, it's still sitting on my Tivo list waiting for me to watch it. I heard it's a two-parter,though. So I might save it all up for next Thursday. (Jen in Wilburton, wanna drive up here and watch with me? Please?!)

In My Netflix Queue-

The DaVinci Code-I finally gave up on finding Dave's copy of the book and just watched the movie. I have mixed feelings about it. Parts of it were really good (mostly the parts with Sir Ian McKellen), but I could have done without the three endings. (Was it just me, or did that movie seem like it was going to end three times and just kept dragging on instead?) I also don't think it was one of Tom Hanks better performances, but that's just me. I did like the "it's what you believe that matters" message because that's my own personal philosophy, and frankly I think that's where they should have ended the movie.

Pirates of the Caribbean 2-We've had this since Christmas, but I wanted to make a big production out of watching it. So, I made elaborate snacks and popcorn, we heated up the home theatre room, and went up there with plans on a grand scale. The kids watched for about 10 minutes, then Tristan played his Star Wars lego game on the PS2 while the other ones cheered him on. Oh well, Dave and I enjoyed the movie. However, I wasn't so big on Capt. Jack Sparrow this time around-he was better as a supporting role and by the time the end came, he had done so much to tick me off that I wasn't sad about anything that happened to him. Fortunately, everyone else was and we'll have a lovely concluding movie next summer to wrap things up. I do love me some Will Turner though-Orlando Bloom just does that swashbuckling thing so very well. As with most sequels, I felt like Depp's part was over-inflated and that the special effects and stunts were a little over-done (got a little tired of all the rolling sequences), BUT it was still worth all the effort I put into setting things up last night. Even if the kids were unimpressed.

Weather Report-

So far "the storm of the century" hasn't lived up to its hype. Not that I'm complaining. However, there has been enough ice on the ground to make getting in and out of my driveway and my neighborhood (and since most of us are in acreages, I use that term loosely). At least I bought rock salt this time. Dave claimed we "didn't need it" back in November and didn't help me buy it this time. (And I'm sure the sight of me lifting and slamming all 50 lbs. of it into the back of my car by myself brought great amuseument to anyone watching me in the Albertson's parking lot last Thurs. morning.) However, I have noticed him spreading it liberally on all the spots on the driveway that froze so badly during the last storm. ("Well, I don't think we really needed it, but since you bought it..." Yeah, right.)

FLYing at Home-

I am so proud of my kitchen cabinets and pantry that I want to post pictures of all of it. Just don't ask about the rest of the house. But, as FlyLady says...babysteps.

Let it Storm!

Today marked the beginning of the much bally-hooed "ice storm of the century." I guess it didn't start getting hype until last Tuesday, but it feels like the OKC Metro has been prepping for it for months. Stores are out of everything. I think the married couple (no kids) who were buying 6 loaves of bread at the store last night were going a bit overboard as was standing in line at Wal Mart last night for almost an hour to buy the usual stuff we need when payday rolls around, but I'll admit it was scary to drive to and from work today. Scary, but managable. It's funny what you can do when you know you HAVE to do it. Of course, I arrived at the kids' school to pick them up early patting myself on the back for driving I-35 so carefully and calmly as ice pelted my car and the road; only to forget one of the kids in the carpool and to have to go back to the school for her. It's always something with me, isn't it? (In my defense, she was home sick yesterday.)

So, with Dave off work as well, we are all holed up here with plenty of food, blankets, and all the other necessities not to mention a pretty good back-up plan in case we lose power out here in nowhere land. I even remembered to buy rock salt for when the storm is over and everyone else can get out of their driveway but us. In fact, I think rock salt is the only extra item I was meticulous about buying. Otherwise, we're good to go and planning on a nice cozy weekend.

Thanks to everyone below for their comments. I didn't mean to leave that up for so long. It was a busy week regardless of what the weather was going to be like today and I got a little crazy and spent most of the week organizing the kitchen. I almost wish I had taken before and after pictures...

Roll Call

In honor of National Delurking Week, would you pretty please leave a comment for me and let me know you read here? I think I know who most of my readers are, but I would love to be surprised. (And I would love to get 20 comments on this entry-I've never had that many.)

Menu Plan Monday

Monday-Tacos, refried beans (from the foil pouch, of course), and applesauce
Tuesday-Chicken and Noodles (I 'borrowed' the recipe from thatgirl), and biscuits
Wednesday-Hashbrown dinner and sliced French bread
Thursday-Spaghetti and meatballs (I bought some tomato puree from Trader Joe's while in Tucson. I LUV that store. I wish the closest one to here wasn't in St. Louis...) and carrot salad. I learned to make this in Italy, and I love it:
Carrot Salad-
My kids prefer baby carrots to the regular ones so, I grate enough of those for the five of us, but I think I used to use about 3-4 big carrots. I mix in a small amount of olive oil, a larger amount of Balsamic vinegar and a dash of salt. There is no exact measurement, just play with it until it tastes good.
Friday-Pizza night (We've skipped it so often over the holidays that I'm actually looking forward to it!)

Check out more menus at Organizing Junkie!

Week(s) In Review

Reading/Listening-

Old Testament-I finished it! Granted it was on January 3rd rather than Dec. 31st. But, I still feel it was an accomplishment. Of course, I think I would have to read it three or four more times to really feel like I "knew" it, but I'm happy to move on to The New Testament this year.

Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx-Almost a year ago, Audible.com let people download this for free. I finally remembered to put in on my iPod and listen to it. Just as heartbreaking as the movie. But, it was a good diversion while driving across icy I-40 into Albuquerque (OK, so Dave was driving, not me.)

Radio Disney Songs-I have to admit I've taken a liking to "If We Were a Movie" by Hannah Montana and "The Year 3000" by The Jonas Brothers, I think? Also, LL Cool J does a pretty good cover of "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf." Sadly, I'm not any more fond of the High School Musical soundtrack than I was last summer. And now Natalie has the CD. Oh well, at least Radio Disney makes for a peaceful road trip. I also had the 'pleasure' of listening to "A Very Minty Christmas" at least once each day we were on the road. The car dvd screen was right behind my head. It was hard to miss. At least it made Caroline and Elisa happy-and it was amusing to hear Tristan and Natalie mocking it from the very back seat. Just like their mother...

"The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas" soundtrack and The Rocky Horror Picture Show" soundtrack.-Blasts from my past, to be sure. You know, I can't believe I'm saying this. But, we should have gone to Rocky Horror more often as teens. It was always fun, and I think that's something I am sadly too old to do now. It's also sad that I have trouble remembering to turn in my kids' permission slips at school, but can still quote a lot of the ad-lib Rocky Horror lines. At least the ones that go with the songs. And we went what...three or four times? (It conflicted with our weekend dances, and they always took priority-and usually involved dancing to "The Time Warp." I'm sure it would be sad to see me do that now.)

Watching-

Degrassi-It's back! And I may be wrong, but I think they're about to kill off Craig. Maybe Jake Epstein is tired of doing cameos? Or, even worse, they want to make sure that there is no reason for Joey Jeremiah to EVER come back. More's the pity...

Get a Clue-An older Disney channel mystery movie starring Lindsay Lohan. Since I'm owning up to liking Rocky Horror, I guess I should also admit I'm still a fan of hers. I do hope she survives her 20's. (And is it too late to blame my viewing habits on a 'tween' daughter? Yeah, I thought so. Especially since I don't even let her watch Degrassi with me. But the Lindsay movie WAS her idea, really.)

In My Netflix Queue/At the Movies-

Night at the Museum-I really hoped to go see this while we were visiting Anne and thanks to one of the Young Women in her ward, we pulled it off! The movie itself was cute-nothing amazing. I'm not a big Ben Stiller fan, but I loved Dick Van Dyke and Mickey Rooney and Robin Williams was adorable as usual. What I liked best about that movie was the company I was in, though.

Le Divorce-I've wanted to see this for awhile. Anything with a cast that boasts Naomi Watts, Kate Hudson, Stockard Channing, AND Leslie Caron has got to be good, right? It was. Understated, but good.

An Evening with Kevin Smith: Evening Harder-The best idea Dave and I have had yet for celebrating an anniversary yet. We've watched the first disc last night, we'll get to the second one later tonight.

Bonus features from Pretty In Pinkwatched with Anne because it was too late to start the movie, and bonus features from Clerks 2 with Dave because it was too late to start the movie. We've got a freakin' home theatre upstairs, you would think we would make the time to actually use it. Oh well...

On The Town-
We ate some good pizza in Florence, AZ on New Year's Eve and some good Indian food in OKC at Khazana.

On Golden Pond-I watched Mr. C and Ma Walton as Norman and Ethel Thayer. While no one will shine in those roles like the late Henry Fonda and the late Katherine Hepburn, I was surprised at how good they were and at how little I thought of their more famous TV personas while watching the show. It was a good evening.

The (Im)Perfect 10

Dave and I were married 10 years ago yesterday. To mark the occasion, I scanned a picture from the wedding album and planned a very nice post to go with it. Then, my scanner and my laptop wouldn't work together, my internet connection slowed down to nothing, and I started feeling not-so-good after dinner. My mom called to see if we had any anniversary plans, then she and Dave proceeded to shoot down everything I came up with. So, I gave up and went to bed early only to be awakened repeatedly by some kind of stomach thing. Such is life, such is marriage, and it's all good. (And I'm much better now, by the way. Just tired...) Maybe we'll figure out some good way to celebrate by Spring Break. And hey look! I figured out the scanner problem after all.

Safe and Sound

We made it back to our house at about 9:00 p.m. tonight. Dad, Dave, and I took a little leap of faith and went the I-40 route after all. It was clear, but Albuquerque (or "Albaturkey" in Caroline-speak) was pretty icy once you got off the highway and there was a car being towed out of our motel parking lot this morning. We watched the temperature climb from 14 degrees there to about 52 degrees in Amarillo before going back down as night fell. I'm glad and grateful we got home safely, but I always feel just a little bit of letdown when I get back from an Arizona trip. It's been that way since my first visit there in 1985 and I guess some things just don't change. Oh well, at least now I know I'm tough enough to drive there and back with my kids whether Dave has time to come along or not. And that's something to look forward too...

Why Is This Girl Smiling?

To paraphrase Alice Otter, I ought to feel pretty bad right now; but the fact is I feel pretty good. (I searched for the actual quote from Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas, but I couldn't find it.) Yeah, we lost the game. But, as one OU fan said last night, "That was one of the most exciting football games OU has ever played and we got to see it in person!" I agree wholeheartedly. As we drove back to Anne's brother's house from the stadium last night, Dave and my Dad played armchair quarterback while I looked out the window at this desert I love so much and took a little mental inventory and this is what I came up with:

I've been able to visit places and people I love TWICE in ONE YEAR! TWICE! Previously, I hadn't been here since 1998. I got to celebrate the 14th anniversary of my baptism at the very place where it happened and with the people who helped make it possible. I got to watch my kids play with the kids of Anne's siblings in much the same way we used to play together-and I can't put into words how touching and funny it was to see it. I proved to myself that I CAN take a road trip with four kids BY MYSELF and even manage to enjoy it. Yay me! I got to attend a live OU game with my husband, close to our 10th anniversary, in the nicest stadium we will likely ever visit and I got to be in Arizona, watching OU football, AND eating a churro all at the same time. (Do they sell churros at Owen Stadium*? I didn't think so!) It just doesn't get much better than that. So, after an all too brief visit with Anne's brother's family (who very graciously watched our kids to help accomplish that 'see a game with my husband' miracle), I arrived back at our hotel with a huge grin on my face that no amount of curious looks from the Boise St. fans could erase. (And believe me, they DID look confused when they saw me.) Just keep scratching your heads, Boys. Not all victories happen on the football field.

*Yes, I know it's not Owen Stadium anymore, but I find I'm extremely resistant to referring to it by its "proper" name. I still call Homeland "Safeway" too.