Mom to the Screaming Masses

Workin' for the week

Damn, I'm tired.  Where did the weekend go?

Saturday we had no soccer games. The two big kids had altar server practice, so I ran them up to church and grabbed some coffee.  The new blackberry syrup mixed in with a latte - yum!  The new bed was supposed to come, so in a fit of optimism, I began to move beds around BEFORE the new one came.  That new bed was going to be Mackenzie's, and her bed was going to become Riley's.  No matter how I manipulated it, though, I couldn't get it to fit through the door.  So, out came the wrenches and screwdrivers, and I took the bed apart. With the help of my trusty sidekicks, we pulled the parts of the bed into the little girls room. 

Then I had to dismantle the crib.  Got that down, and it now resides in the closet.  I was pretty proud of myself - usually I wait for The Hubster to do this type of stuff, but I was determined.  I completely rearranged their room, and put the bureaus in the closet.  I wasn't certain that was going to be a good idea, but it really has worked out well.  No more changing clothes fifty times a day!

The new bed finally did come, though, and it was assembled in just 7 minutes.  Show-offs! 

But moving beds and dressers, and cleaning out junk, takes a toll on one's body.  It was 7 before I was finished to my satisfaction.  I showered and went straight to bed.

Today I lost due to a headache, and general lassitude.  I ate crap all day, and finally sent all the kids out to be with The Hubster.  Peace and quiet for two hours was mine, since he took them to the park!  I decided to make dinner, or as my oldest put it, "A real, homemade dinner??" Shut up, kid.  We had teriyaki london broil, carrot souffle, green beans, my famous homemade rolls, and special chocolate cake.  (recipes available upon request)

So, back to the grind this week.  More walking and less eating are on the agenda.  I'm interested in knowing what meals are sure successes in your house.  What recipes do you make that are ones reqested by friends and family alike?  Mine top two would be my rolls and chocolate cake, and maybe chicken enchiladas.  What about you?

Week in review

So, it's Friday afternoon, and I thought I'd do a week in review. It's been a whole week from last WIR, and I'm CERTAIN you all are interested in what I've been doing.

Reading:  finished Darcy and Elizabeth.  Pretty good, although a bit slower than the first book.  Redbook magazine, which squigged me out with one of their articles - raise your hand if you know what I'm talking about.  Several daily newspapers, Child magazine, back of various cereal boxes. 

Watching: FINALLY returned Pride and Prejudice.  Watched several episodes of Blue's Clues, and am currently crushing on Joe.  Morning and nightly news.  (Boy, am I feeling like THE most boring person ever....)

Exercise:  I did well here - broke the 20 pound mark.  3 miles on Saturday, 3 on Sunday, 4.13 Monday, 6 on Tuesday, 3 on Wednesday, nothing Thursday and 6 today.  Weekly total - if I can add correctly - 25+.  200 pushups, 200 situps.  Too many bananas and oranges; I'm totally sick of them.  No soda, 10 bottles of Propel and 8 bottles of water.  Coffee daily.  Smallest amount of weight loss in a week, though - not quite a pound.  Maybe that Coldstone wasn't such a good idea.

Clothing:  Bought one new dress.  Ogled some new shoes.  Got into smaller jeans, which cut off my breathing but I was so vain I wore them all day.  Ordered three new t shirts - two from Very Mom and one from Three Kid Circus. 

Housekeeping:  14 loads of laundry.  "Nuff said there - nothing has changed from last week.  I'm still a lazy, lazy slob.  But, hey!  We bought four tickets for the St Jude home, so I totally can dream that we will win a million dollar home this weekend.  I DID find a lucky penny outside the house......

Misc:  Had the "special" privilege of grounding my son until he is 47.  Without revealing too much, WHAT happens to teenage boys brains???  WHY do good kids act sooooo stupid?  Can I go back to the preschool age?

When I went to Starbucks today, I sat for a while to ponder some junk that's going on in my life.  Listlessly, I ruffled through the stack of spelling bee cards that are on the table for their current promotion.  I pulled out the first three cards and chuckled.  Each of those cards fit someone in my family to a T.  Can you pick the matches?

Pococurante:  Indifferent; apathetic.

Logorrhea: excessive talkativeness

Elucubrate: to produce by working long and diligently

And, today's question:  Do you think that kids grow up good in spite of you, or because of you?  That is to say, can good kids come from "bad" families, and vice versa?  Can you take all of the credit if your child is a perfect teen, and should you take all of the blame if the kid is a screwup?  Can, and should, grown people blame their parents for their struggles and shortcomings in life?

I'm totally not thinking of what to blog.  I'm coming up empty.  What can I tell you; what do you want me to write about? 

Personality defects

Questions and heavy thoughts for a Monday......

How well do you really know someone?

I mean, really, if you really like/love someone, how much do you know about that person?  If you knew everything about that person, would you still like him/her?

What about, if you found out that your best friend had a terrible habit, say, she was a shoplifter?  Or a child abuser?  Could you still be friendly with her?  What about the woman you know who is a bit too frank with her judgements?  Or a person who turned every conversation that you had with him into his own private gripe fest?

If you start to cut people out of your life, or your circle of influence, because that person doesn't measure up to your standards, what's to stop that from coming back to bite you on the ass? 

Do you think a person who is overly frank is worse than a person who tells everyone that everything is fine all the time?  How truthful are you?  If someone bugs the snot out of you, repeatedly, and you can't stand to be around them, do you still hang in there, hoping that it'll get better?  Or do you bag and run?  Is it better just to shut your mouth and keep your head down, swallowing your feelings and letting all of it go, or to tell it like it is?

What if you had the ability to know what everyone you ran into thought of you?  How incredibly embarrassing that would be, if you were walking by an acquaintance, someone who smiles and greets you daily, and a sign popped up:  "thinks you are a pompous, full of yourself, jerk".  Soon, there'd be no one in the entire world speaking to anyone, since we all have those kinds of thoughts about every other person. Really, can you honestly say that you've never had an uncharitable thought about ANYONE?  Tell the truth, now........

In a related thought, I was told once that, in every relationship, there is one person who is more liked than the other.  That is to say, either the wife or the husband is more well liked, and people go along with the offensive one to be around the "good" one.  And that preferred person changes, depending upon your circumstances.  People at school might like you better, whereas when you go to your spouse's job, you are persona non grata. Thinking about five couples you know, do you agree or disagree?