My "Justin Fix"

We went back to the lake today. It was a gorgeous day... not really swimming weather. Only about 85, but we had fun! I dug in the sand with the kids and found some really neat rocks. Justin came along this time, but he didn't even wear his bathing suit. He said, "I am not getting in that nasty water!" Now I know where my kids get it! He will only swim if it is a pool, I guess. But we had a nice time sitting in the shade and talking and making fun of the young people trying to impress each other, critiquing bathing suits, (or lack thereof) and generally just spending time with one another. It has been a few months since we have been able to do that. Sometimes I forget what good friends we are and how much we make each other laugh. It is easy to forget when you are married and you generally don't have more than 30 minutes a day to talk to each other. You tend to forget why you got married. You tend to forget why you became friends! That you once had a lot in common with this person and not one of those things was kids, or bills or sharing a bed. But today I remembered that. I remembered what a funny and interesting guy my husband is. How smart he is. How much we share the same interests and sense of humor. It was a good day. And then we got home, bathed the kids, and he is gone again. Off to the play. I can't wait until it is over and we can hang out again. Maybe even go on a date! But I guess today was my "Justin fix." It was a good day.

Jeans

So I know that I talk about this weight loss thing all the time, but it is one of the big things going on in my life right now. And I just have to say one thing... I put on some jeans that I have not worn in over 2 years today. It was out of desparation because I don't have anymore clean clothes (yes, I will be doing some laundry today) and I don't know why I tried them on. They have been in the back of my closet for ever. But I pulled them on today! I can wear my Levis! Anyway, this diet is starting to pay off!

Final Game

Caroline's final game was great last night! They won the game 12 to 2 and Caroline scored 2 goals! That is so awesome!!! I am so proud of her! She was just a great player and got in there to steal the ball. Now we just need to work on remembering to steal it only from the opposing team. She was just so excited about doing so well, that she was trying to take it from everyone! This season was a great success. They only lost 2 games the entire season, and Caroline never missed a game! And she just got better and better as the season progressed! I am a little sad to see the season end. But now it is time to get ready for school and violin again! I lost another pound folks! That is 21! And I have lost several inches as well. Now if I could just see the results when I look in the mirror... I just have 12 lbs to lose before I get to my 33 lbs by the age 33 on Sept 26th. (My birthday.) I will really do my best!!! I am on my way...

The Lake

We did not go grocery shopping yesterday. So we are still lacking food. We have some cans of stuff. Can you make a meal out of tomato paste and peaches? We will be going today, though. Yesterday I took the kids to Rigby Lake. It was free and wonderful!!! I can't believe I have not gone before. We got there at 11 am. It was freezing cold and pouring rain, but I could see the sun, so we stuck around. Within a half an hour it was sunny and within an hour it was HOT! We stayed there until 4pm. The kids played in the water and sand and I sat and read my book and talked on the phone and got a pedicure from the exfoliating powers of the sand. It was lovely. The kids were entertained the entire day. If I would have only taken them last week, I may not have been so eager to lock them in a dungeon somewhere. I took some pictures, but you will have to wait until I get the film developed. There was only a little bit of sunscreen left, so I sprayed the kids liberally. But there was none left for me. So I am a little crispy today. I look kind of funny because I have little spots where I had gotten sunscreen from the kids onto me and it is white in those spots. I look a little like a leopard. The water was a little cold for my taste, but the kids loved it. They loved to play in the sand the most. When we got home they had to go directly to the shower. At one point Hilton had to go potty and was peeling off his bathing suit before he got to me. I was wondering what he was doing! We need to work on when it is appropriate to pull down one's pants, and when it is not... But I am glad we went. We had a blast and I was able to have 5 hours of whining-free peace. I wish I didn't have to pack and we could go everyday. But today... we need food!

Sick

I was fine all day until I ate lunch. Then I had some of those Tyson Chicken Nuggets. We are out of food! I had no other choice! And I was shaking because I didn't bring a snack to church. ( yes, I am worse than the kids.) We have NO FOOD!!! I am not kidding! So I ate those chicken nuggets and started fto feel yucky. I took a nap, (because that is what Sundays are for, afterall.) I figured I would make dinner and dessert when I got up. But when I got up, I felt worse. I felt very woozy. (Is that how you spell that?) So I made up a quick batch of goulash and had to lay down again, then I got up to make the cake (of course we have plenty of desserts in the house.) and I knew I was going to be sick. I went in my room and then I got sick! I couldn't believe it! I felt much better afterwards. And I only had a really bad headache by the time I went to bed. So I don't know what it was! I am thinking that the nuggets are junk food and my body isn't used to it anymore so it rejected it.... Could that be it? At any rate, I have GOT to go grocery shopping today. I will stock up on stuff that is good for me so I don't throw up anymore. Of course, my husband was just trying to stay as far away from me as possible... he washed the sheets and blankets just in case there were any germs on them. He didn't even want me coming out to the kitchen to get a glass of water in case I contaminated the whole house. He can't afford to get sick. I understand that. But a little sympathy? Is that too hard? The up side to all of this??? I lost another pound! That is 20!!!

Modern appliance

I always thought microwaves were a waste of space. I mean, of course we had one because I could make popcorn in it, but come on, I am not one of those 80's moms who cooks everything in the microwave. No matter who told me that cooking veggies in the microwave tastes the same as on the stove, I always opted for the stove. So when the microwave recently went kaput, I didn't think much of it. I thought, "oh, I'll get that space on top of my fridge back." Boy, was I wrong! I use the microwave much more than I would care to admit. And if you take a look inside of it, you would see that. It was up on top of the fridge, which made it a little difficult for me to reach. I could never really see inside of it, so it didn't get cleaned much. (Please don't barf.) But when I took it down today, to throw it out, I was shocked! And the last few days we have been really missing it. Justin usually heats up his dinner in the microwave. He doesn't get home until late, so he eats way after we do. I amke popcorn in the microwave. I make chicken nuggets for the kids' lunches in the microwave. I melt butter for recipes, I defrost meat! The microwave is a great invention that I have taken for granted. I would like to repent for my shameful dismissal of the microwave. I am sorry that I did not take the microwave more seriously. I need it back. I want it back. But that microwave has gone to microwave heaven. It was actually a hand-me-down from my mom and dad 10 years ago, so it is at least 15 years old. Now we will have to buy a new one. Until then, I will have to use the old-fashioned oven and stove. I guess we won't be making popcorn anytime soon. I don't know how to make it on the stove. (Yes, I am pathetic.) Dear microwave, why did you leave us like this? Was I really so horrible to you? I promise, I will be more attentive to the next microwave. I will wipe it clean after every use. And I will never take it for granted, like I did the last. Oh, microwave, microwave, where fore art thou, microwave?

Best Mom

Well I made it through yesterday without killing my kids. I ended up taking them to the library and the summer movie. (We saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) But I am telling you, by the end of the day I wanted to hang the children by their toes. I think I was just extra sensitive. They weren't being especially naughty or irritating. It was the usual level of grating offensiveness. But I just felt like I could not handle another minute of it. So I did what any horrible mother might do in the same circumstances. I took them somewhere and plopped them in front of a giant screen. They did not like the movie because they found it a little weird, but they were quiet for almost 2 hours and I enjoyed it too. I escaped into the world of Johnny Depp. It would have been nice to have a little romance mixed in the story for my own benefit, but all of the candy and chocolate were a great substitute. I could live my fantasies of eating all the candy and chocolate I want without the insult of adding those evil forces to my hips, thighs, and chins. When we got home we had to go to a soccer game. (They won this time!!!) And then we came home and ate dinner and put the kiddies to bed. It was bath night, but I just couldn't do it. I could not fight with the water all over the floor and the screaming when trying to rinse out shampoo and the screaming when trying to brush through wet hair. Plus, there weren't any clean pajama's anyway. The laundry was still in the dryer. I attempted to be a mom yesterday, but I ended up being a naughty teenage babysitter who does everything the mom asks her not to do. The kids ended up with no vegetable for dinner, only some spaghetti with Prego. And if they asked for treats all day my wrote reply was, "I don't care." To which Hilton would delightfully reply, "that means YES!" Today I shall be a better mom. I will make sure they get plenty of fruits (or at least fruit snacks) and vegetables (or at least make sure some of the fruit snacks are green.) I will not yell at my children (at least not loud enough for the neighbors to hear.) I will play games with them (or at least get the games down from the top shelf for them.) and I will make sure they are clean (or at least presentable.) I already feel like a better mom today. It is almost 8:30 and I have not put one of them in their room yet! I am the BEST mom in the WORLD!!!

KIDS!!!

Okay, I have just had it with these kids. If someone doesn't come and get them soon, I think I am totally going to lose it. I keep cleaning the house and it gets destroyed the minute I turn my back. I am trying to pack and they want to "help." I had a HUGE bag of chocolate chips in the freezer. A couple lbs worth. Hilton got into the freezer, got the bag and dumped almost the entire thing all over the kitchen floor. I had to throw away most of the chocolate chips. All of those wasted!!! I was furious because I had just told both of the kids that they could NOT have any. He deliberately disobeyed me. I wanted to spank his bottom! But I put him in his room and gave him a mean look. That did the trick. Yes, I am a mean mom. But today, I cannot handle it. My fuse is short. I want to go on a little vacation by myself. Go see a movie or something all by myself. But Justin's play opens next week, and between that and classes, he is super busy. I see him for about an hour during the day when he comes home to eat, and then he gets home at midnight... sometimes I'm awake... So that does not leave him a lot of time to watch the kids for me. I need to escape in a book or something.

Misc items

After all of those wins, Caroline's team lost last night. They were so tired. Caroline didn't want to go to begin with because she was tired. Then, there were only 4 of them who showed up again and the other team had 8. So our team had to play the entire game with no subs when the other team got subs every 2 minutes. She felt very badly that they lost. But oh well... We got great news yesterday! Justin's contract was extended to include next summer semester! Yea! So at least we know he will have a job through the summer next year. We will have to start looking for another job for next fall. But we are trying to be positive. We continue to pray that something will open up here and they will keep him. We would really love to stay in Rexburg. I just got great news from a friend of mine! She and her family have been chosen by a birth mother to adopt her baby! They have been trying to adopt for years and it is finally happening! I hope we all can keep her in our thoughts and prayers that the adoption goes through!!! They really deserve this!

Purging (Does that sound gross?)

Yesterday I went through all of the kids' toys. The bedrooms were a disaster and so I decided yesterday was the day. I sent the kids outside to play all day because the weather was beautiful! (the high was 72) And I purged. I have never gotten rid of so many toys before. If they don't play with it, I tossed it. I threw away 3 big white garbage bags and I have 1 garbage bag and 1 box to give to DI. The kids don't seem very distressed about the things I tossed. I didn't touch Caroline's dolls, or Barbies so she was happy. I did toss all of her My Little Pony stuff. I felt bad about that because she has the castle and stuff. But she never plays with them anymore. I may change my mind before the end of the day. But I hate to keep them just to keep them... I got rid of all the toddler toys. This broke my heart. There are mostly things that we had bought for Caroline and handed down to Hilton. But they were just taking up a lot of space and Hilton drags them out of his closet every week just for them to sit there and make a mess. So there are a lot less toys. (Which is GREAT!) And now I can concentrate on packing. Justin doesn't seem too concerned about this. We will have 4 days to move all of our stuff into the house. I think he is thinking that we don't need to pack it, we can just take it over book by book. He is in for a rude awakening. We have lots of friends who have offered to help, though. Which is wonderful! Someone has offered to get a trailer to help with the big stuff, and lots of people have offered to help us move on the big day. And I have a great friend who said she'll watch the kids. So it is going to go very smoothly. I am hoping. I registered for my first class for this fall!!! I am taking Child Development. I really wanted to take one of the science classes, but everything else was full. But this will be a good way for me to get used to school again. I am pumped!