Mom to the Screaming Masses

The answers, part II of maybe III

Ready for round 2?

Michelle asked: What do you like best about blogging?  What got you started?  Do you pay attention to your stats?  How many uniques do you get a day and do you care?  Who do you admire as a writer/blogger?  I like the fact that I have become a better writer, I think.  Don't bother to correct me if I'm wrong - I'm a fragile flower, easily bruised, and you'll crush me for life.  I started blogging when my friend started her blog.  I read her for while, realized that I could do that, and the rest was history.  I check my stats every night, I have no idea how many uniques I get, and I care to a certain extent.  I'd be a liar if I said that I didn't - I have ads on my site, and that's one way for me to know about how lucrative this whole thing is.  As far as admiration, hmmmm - I'll have to get back to you on that one.  Sorry.

Margalit asks: How many bathrooms do you have and what is the "hurry up I gotta pee" protocol when there are a lot of jiggling up and down at the same time?  Three full baths - we are VERY lucky - and it's usually youngest to oldest, unless someone has an enormous pressing need. 

Mission Monday: The last ditch effort

So, we've done the kitchen, bathroom and the entry way.  This week's mission will be short, sweet and to the point, and will ready the last little bit for the holidays. 

BTW, Happy Festival of lights to my Jewish readers!

I'm talking specifically about readying your medicine cabinet for all of the incredibly nosy  so sweet guests that you will be entertaining.  If you don't have a medicine cabinet in the guest bath, where do you keep your personal stuff?  Under the sink, in the drawer, out in plain sight?

Get rid of the expired antibiotics that you never finished, the 3/4 used up tube of face cream that cost a fortune but makes you break out.  Toss the rusting can of shaving cream and the fifteen razors that are clogging up valuable real estate.  Into the trash can goes the perfume you hate, the makeup that makes you look ancient, the lip balm that is used up.  Wipe out the shelves and leave a little note for the curious. 

I'm kidding about that.  I think.

Replace it with fresh stuff - don't forget new tylenol or ibuprofen - and a new toothbrush.

There.  You are finished, and that didn't take too long.

What was the weirdest thing you found?  For me it was migraine meds from 2000.  We've apparently moved with this three times, as I haven't taken it since then.

The answers, part I - of II or III

Wow.

All y'all have so many questions!  And, yes, that is my southern part creeping out.

I'm going to break the answers into a couple of different parts.  And, if you are late to the party, leave a question on the entry below and I'll add it to the list! 

Questions and (possible) answers

I am lame.  I am also tired and annoyed and guilty of yelling at misbehaving children who push the envelope day and NIGHT, night and DAY.  I thought to myself, "Why bore the good blog readers that you have with yet another whiny, ranting post?  Instead, let them interview you!"

And so I am.  I'm opening this blog to questions.  If you've got a question for me, leave it here and I'll answer them tomorrow.  Oh, please, people, PLEASE do not disappoint me.  The last time I did this I received one question.  ONE.  I felt so dumb and unloved. 

So.

Ask me any questions you have and I'll do my best to answer them.

But not the dirty ones.  Cuz my parents read this blog, and um, I'm innocent.

Cravings and desires

One thing that I've always struggled with is a love of food.  I mean, a REAL love of the four main food groups - sugar, fat, salt and chocolate.  At night, I dream about freshly cooked Krispy Kreme donuts.  Cheesecake, peanut butter ice cream, tortilla chips covered in melted cheese and topped with sour cream and tomatoes. Reese's cup are just about the most perfect food ever created.

My old M.O., when stressed, was to grab a treat.  Cut off a corner of the pan of brownies, grab "just a spoonful" of ice cream, reach into the pantry for one, or two, or twelve chips.  The drive through Starbucks was a godsend to me, many a cranky day. 

Today I had so many opportunities to eat crap.  We went grocery shopping, which took much longer than I anticipated.  Two kids and a husband in the grocery - who wouldn't want to grab a sleeve of cookies and nosh?  We had the work done on the van and the estimate was OFF, both in money and time.  We had a band concert.  The mail was full of bills, mostly with big numbers on them.  I had to figure out how to drive carpool home from school - 9 kids, two schools, a husband and a car that seats 5.  I made two trips, and thank goodness a friend showed up and was willingly drafted to help. 

It's a love thing

Since Karen over at Chookooloonks has closed up shop, I'm not certain if Love, Thursday will continue.  I hope so, even though I've missed SEVERAL weeks, due to less than loving behavior over here. 

But a friend of mine shared this picture with me and I loved it so much that I really felt I should share it.  My youngest is sometimes hard to love.  This past week we attended Santa Breakfast.  It was loud and raucous and overwhelming to me, and I don't have SID.  She hung in there like a trooper, but long about 45 minutes into the hour, she'd had enough.  She climbed up on my lap, buried her head in the crook of my neck and placed my hands over her ears.  She closed her eyes tight and sucked on her pacifier like she was drowning.

And that's when my friend snapped this shot.  (She reads here, so I hope it's ok to post this!)

What I would like for Christmas

A replacement for my favorite piece of jewelry, my Irish ring that was lost about 6 months ago

A new laptop, one that has a fan that will not run alllll day and night,  and overheat every seventeen uses.  A functional power cord would be good, but I might be asking for too much.

Gift cards to Starbucks, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, the local pedicure place, Regis Salons to get my hair color redone.

New underarmour running pants and a pink underarmour top - it's really, really cold out there in the early a.m. and when I wear the XL pants that I bought last year, they, um, fall down a bit.  Sometimes more than a bit.  (Maybe I need a belt?)

A plane ticket to Chicago in July for Blogher '07 - I wish I had enough frequent flyer miles to redeem for this.

Alas, and alack, I am not getting these things.  I am, however, getting some things that are FAR better.  You only WISH that you could be me and receive the precious gifts that are making their way to me EARLY - as in, THIS Thursday. 

You really wanna know what I'm getting?

Things I have broken

In the past week, in no particular order:

My Pampered Chef glazed 9 inch baker - I use this all the time.  Also my larger baking stone.  This goes along with the stoneware loaf pan that my daughter broke this summer.  If I had the time, I'd sign up to be a consultant just to replace my stones.  Anyone have extras that they need to get rid of?  I can promise them a good home, with no soap on them EVAH. 

The law when I sent my son to bed without dinner.  He told me it was a felony.  Who knew?

The power cord on my laptop.  It is now, no longer, a laptop. If you move it, the cord no longer connects and your battery will die.  So I sit, contorted sideways, in order to blog for you.  Do you admire my dedication?

Four fingernails.

The idler pulley on my van.   It's not QUITE broken yet, but definitely on its way out.  I'm wondering exactly where I'll be on the road when it goes.

The handle that one would use to recline the driver seat back broke off in my hand.

The power button on the DVD player in the van.

The power button on the front of the satellite box. 

Mission Monday

So, tonight was fun.

I made homemade pizza with the younger four kids, the older two having been banished to their rooms for crimes against my ears.  We mixed the dough, patted it out and baked it for five minutes.  I took it out of the oven, topped it with homemade sauce, sliced meatballs, fresh parmesan cheese and lots of mozzarella cheese.  I popped it back into the oven and set the timer for five minutes.  The timer buzzed and I grabbed the potholder to remove the baking stone from the oven.

And that, my friends, is when it ALL went to hell.

A bit of housekeeping

I've been remiss in getting some information out there. 

To begin with, is anyone checking out Design Mom?  If not, you totally should be, as she's dong a month of giveaways.  I've been entering daily with great hopes of winning.  After all, she's rounded up some truly amazing products - a 3 pound tower of chocolate, Funktion Aprons, Bed nest pillows, the list goes on and on.  I won last week!  I found it kind of ironic, though, that I won three embroidered infant t shirts from Sarah Starr Designs, since I have no one that can wear an infant size.  I REALLY wanted the chocolate, and some of the other stuff would have made fantastic gifts for my mom.  What was I going to do with infant onesies?  I could give them as gifts, I thought.

Well, I solved that problem quickly.  I donated one of the shirts as well as a matching pin to an auction. Because I am a lame-o, and tired from running 3 miles at 6 this morning, I've lifted this from Izzy's.  She explains it sooo much better than I ever could:

Starting December 13th, I am participating in Her Bad Auction, an event to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association of Canada in the name of Tanner, nephew to our friend and fellow blogger Catherine Conner. Tanner is afflicted with this cruelly debilitating and life-shortening disease.

I urge you to go see what’s up on the auction block because there are some fabulous things to be had, very likely at a bargain.  There are books, template designs, diaper bags, t-shirts, kids books, cds, an iPod, the list goes on and on.