Baptism Gone Wild!

Well, Patrick is officially baptized now. The priest was quite confused why we didn't have anyone joining us for the baptism after mass but I think he quite understood why we chose to not do it during mass as Anna is such a nightmare these days. She spent the time during the ceremony wandering off from us, exploring the altar, playing Marilyn Monroe with her dress over the air vents, trying to get her hands in the baptismal font, oh the list goes on. Thought about asking for an exorcism for her, but didn't want to delay getting home to a nice bottle of wine.

So we don't have any pictures during the ceremony but we took some afterwards and Fr Don was kind enough to take one of our group all together. I will see about posting a couple here in a bit. I updated my profile photo with one from last night so those long distance friends and family can see how my hair has been de-poofed, aka chemically straightened. That was a good decision and I recommend it to anyone with the poofy kinky hair that sometimes results from pregnancy. No idea what to do about the gray hairs that result from children, sorry Andrea, my much younger and grayer sister, haha!

Representin'

Well, some of you know that I am a bit low maintenance, mostly due to having no money to blow on frivilous things for the first 32 years. So needless to say, I am not representin' well for medical wives. Once we moved to Kansas there were some expectations from friends and family that came with being done with residency. Housekeeper, nanny, spa services, extravagent vacations, fashionable clothes, you get the point.

Straight up, I will never be fashionable but being in Kansas that means I at least fit in for casual occasions, which is 97% of our time here. The other 3%, like Patrick's baptism this weekend, is covered by ordering an entire head-to-toe outfit from an online store and hoping it fits. Our vacations still entail visiting family and friends, due mostly to time constraints. No 12 weeks of vacation like some civilian radiologists unfortunately. I don't know if I could ever enjoy a vacation where we are spending ridiculous amounts of money though, doesn't sound relaxing. I would no doubt figure out how much the hotel was costing by the minute and fret about it.

Anyway, the best thing we have done is getting a sitter for a couple afternoons a week so I can run errands quickly without children and also doing date night once a week so we can talk without interruption. Hard to finish a conversation with Megan and Anna around. Somehow everything leads back to Harry Potter. In fact, they have even taken to combining princess stuff with Harry Potter, apparently Cinderella ends up marrying Harry in some later stories. I suspect they have a bit of a crush on Harry, need to make sure they never see those weird pictures of that actor naked with some horse. What the heck was that for??

So the main point of this post was to announce that for the first time EVER I got a pedicure. Christen, I owe it all to you for shaming me into this one. And props to my girl, Erlinda, for the gift certificate that convinced me to at least try it. The gals working at the spa were kind about my hideous feet and even talked me into trying a facial the next day. Okay, now that was a waste of money, lesson learned. Sean said I didn't need to tell him how much that cost unless I wanted to keep getting them so that's my little secret.

Oh and as for a housekeeper, we already discussed in another post that I want a Dish Fairy, not a housekeeper. To get the house clean we just need to have guests coming. Caroline and Andy arrived late last night so that got us motivated to get the place in shape. We were hoping Megan wouldn't realize they were already here this morning so I could get her off to school but she spotted their rental car. They are only here for 2 full days so I am letting her be "sick" today. Trust me, if I made her go to school she would have had such a fit she would have made herself sick.

Turn Head

Again, photo software would be awesome, too bad the Easter Bunny didn't pick up on that hint. I guess I will just order it with the new computer I think I need. haha!! Oh yeah, the photo is from Easter, hence the poofy pink dresses.

Grandma Marjie Sweater

Megan thinks the specks of pink make it a girl sweater but Patrick doesn't mind. I need to get some photo editing software to reduce the resolution on these photos so they show up clearer on here. Sean is beginning to realize that photography is in no way a cheap hobby. Well, neither is video gaming...

Kid "Harry's"

I was telling Anna about the baptism this weekend and how we'd go out to dinner someplace nice afterwards. She said,"oh, like Harry's?" which means she is paying attention to where we say we are going on date nights. So I said, "yeah, we could go there." Then she says, "how about kid Harry's?" and I said, "yes, kids can sometimes go to Harry's for special occasions". And she says, "no, kid Harry's is Chili's!". Hmm, no, I don't think we will be going to kid Harry's.

Don't worry, I don't think my kid says the darndest things. I am just laughing at the image of us going to Chili's all dressed up for a special dinner. Of course during med school years, Chili's was quite a splurge!

Ah, Normal Life Again

Spring break was surprisingly calm and we did enjoy not having the supermarket sweep style mornings where we have to get all children and various bags in the van in record time. A few days were nice enough for the bounce house and it really does wear them out, that was a good present for all of us. But now we are back on schedule and I am breaking the no TV rule with just a couple shows so I can enjoy the computer. Sean has been working some killer shifts lately for telerad so that limits my access. (Note to IRS, I am kidding about using the work computer for personal use. If you really want to nail someone with an audit, contact me for the name of Sean's coworker who really deserves it.)

Okay, off to start cleaning for Caroline and Andy who will be here on Thursday night. Then we will get some baby baptizing done and Grandpa Louis can relax. Maybe Patrick will sleep through the night once we baptize him??

Easter Blow-out!

Yes, we've gone overboard again, wow, so many gifts for yet another holiday. For the first time ever I bought the girls fancy dresses from that upscale boutique, Target, and kept them a secret until this morning, all part of my plan to get them to church with a minimum of whining and crying. What? Other people don't make Easter clothes a gift? Hmm, that's odd. I also got them some clearance Valentine items, they do love hearts! Oh and some books from the book fair at school. I think that was set up to buy rewards for your kids after a good report card, but Easter is good too. I did get them a big chocolate bunny, don't worry, my kids aren't totally deprived.

They did manage to get us to admit that we are the Easter bunny since the idea of a big creepy bunny coming in the house to hide eggs would no doubt cause nightmares. They haven't extended this logic to figure out that there is no Santa or more importantly, no little elves who report on their bad behavior. I also swore them to secrecy and I would doubt Anna's promise except she is too shy to talk to kids much at school.

Well, I did clean up Patrick's blow-out, have showered Megan, now to tackle Anna, or as Sean calls her, the wolverine. The screaming and splashing... oh happy Easter to all! Sean is working some insane shifts this weekend so he gets to miss out and catch up on some much needed sleep.

Mulder & Scully Return?!

http://www.stupidvideos.com/video/animals/Cats_In_Love/

Okay, sorry, I cannot figure out how to upload a video here so it plays but you really must cut and paste (again, can't get a link to work either) this so you can see what I believe to be my 2 former cats. Not only did they look exactly like this, but this is exactly how they acted. Not my couch though, which adds to the mystery. Did we ever take them to someone's house for catsitting?? Sean has been pondering this all night, when not reading CTs that is.

Advantages to being a Stay At Home Mom

Just thought I'd run through some of the lesser known perks:
1. Taxes are so easy! Zero!
2. Don't have to remember a work phone number. Embarrassing enough when I can't remember my home phone number. This happened a couple weeks ago and I had to play it off like I couldn't remember because we've moved so much and it was a new number. Yeah, only have had that one a year and half...
3. Can justify expensive jeans. Hey, still less than dressy clothes for an office job and I can wear them everyday and no one really notices. Try wearing the same outfit to your office each day, trust me, someone is snickering.
4. Can wear pajamas until 3:35 each day. You have to get out of the van to get your kindergartner, but morning drop off in pjs is a no brainer. I discovered that if you are 5 minutes late it is even easier to drop off, everyone else is gone!
5. Email is all fun! No pesky work related emails to slow you down.

I feel that I should have 10 of these but 5 is enough for now. Feel free to add your own.

Holy Week Jeans

Anyone who has seen me in person in the last two years (minus the big pregnancy months) know which jeans are my favorite because I literally wore them every day until I got such a big hole in the knee that they no longer qualified as "fancy jeans". It was too cold to wear them in recent months too so I've been on the hunt to find them again. I found a pair that sort of looked like them on Nordstroms.com and couldn't believe when I read the description and it mentioned "a small hole at the knee for that worn in look". Yeah, I don't need mine pre-ripped, thanks. I can apparently handle that myself. Oh well, it will be too hot for jeans here soon enough and I can start the quest again in the fall.

In the meantime I am eyeing some orange sneakers by Keen. I feel that only my mom and Lesley would approve of this. My girls are voting for pink, but alas, that is not an option. I did however find them shoes at Target for Easter so all is well. I also put together their lame Easter baskets and continued on with the tradition of sampling the candy while hiding in my closet. I trust I am not alone in this.

Double Duh

So all winter long I have been staring at a big blotch on our main window in the living room, you know, the one everyone walks over to and looks out. So yes, I'm sure everyone has noticed this dirty window. I've just been waiting for warmer weather to get out the power washer thing and do all the windows. Well, after many months it just now occurs to me that I can open the window right next to it and scrub that spot off, voila, genius.

So I go to do that today and discover that the blotch is on the INSIDE of the window. Yep, looks like a yogurt drink gone wild there. I have spent countless hours being annoyed by this, yet never figured out that I could have gotten rid of it in about 5 seconds. Life with kids is fun!

Tagged

HERE'S HOW YOU PLAY. ONCE YOU'VE BEEN TAGGED YOU HAVE TO WRITE A BLOG OF TEN WEIRD, RANDOM THINGS, FACTS OR HABITS ABOUT YOURSELF. AT THE END, YOU CHOOSE FIVE PEOPLE TO BE TAGGED, LISTING THEIR NAMES AND WHY YOU CHOSE THEM TO BE TAGGED. DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE THEM A COMMENT "YOU'RE IT" AND TO READ YOUR BLOG. YOU CAN'T TAG THE PERSON WHO TAGGED YOU. SINCE YOU CAN'T TAG THAT PERSON BACK, LET HIM OR HER KNOW WHEN YOU'VE POSTED YOUR BLOG SO HE OR SHE CAN READ YOUR ANSWERS

1. I read magazines from the back, thanks to years of Rick Reilly columns in Sports Illustrated.
2. Now that RR is no longer writing that column, I don't even pick up SI anymore.
3. I read the Williams Sonoma catalog like it IS a magazine with the added benefit that I can easily order anything in it.
4. I gladly pay shipping charges now that I live so far from major shopping. Cheaper than gas! Love that man in a brown uniform and so does Sean... last night the Wii was delivered.
5. My purses are usually from Target. By the time they fray I want a new one anyway and for $12, I can get one.
6. My shoes are not from Target. Those hurt.
7. Thanks to Bridget, I am a tea snob now.
8. I still drink $9 bottles of wine, too expensive to be a wine snob.
9. I didn't really miss TV during the writer's strike and now I resent that it will cut into my computer time. I will only watch the essentials... Lost, The Office, 30Rock, Grey's, HIMYM, I think that's it.
10. We eat pancakes at least 4 mornings a week and the syrup from WS is worth every penny. Too good to share with the kids!

okay, I guess I will tag the people I know who blog... Keely, Salmans, Misty, Christen, Walker. If your name is Jennifer, you now go by your last name, fyi. Too many Jennifers in my life, especially in Kansas!

Call Girl Shoes?

I am on the hunt for some shoes to go with the girls' Easter dresses and found what I initially thought were some cute ones. They called them Cinderella slippers I think, clear plastic with a little bling and a little heel. Would have looked cute with their poofy Easter dresses. Then I remembered who I was dealing with here... the girls tend to latch on to favorite items and wear them nonstop. I started imagining where these shoes would get worn if they ended up being favorites. With jeans? For that Texas look. With shorts? For that hooker look. With bathing suits? For that pageant look. Yeah, I will keep searching for shoes. Feel free to send suggestions (and coupon codes!).

Shopping, Recession-Style

We headed to Kansas City rather spur of the moment this weekend, after deciding it was too cold to walk in the St Pat's Day parade (shh, don't tell Megan... she hasn't realized that we missed it). On the way there Sean and I were discussing the recession, what constitutes one, who feels it the most, etc. Yeah, really kept the kids entertained. Anyway, we feel we are rather immune to the recession since Sean can't lose his job with the Army, no matter how hard he tries. Being in a gay video only works about half the time if you're a doc because they need them so badly, so he has decided not to go that route.

Anyway, after all that talk and deciding that part of a recession is pyschological, we then fall prey to it and not only do I buy nothing in KC but I in fact return items that I bought last time I was there and don't even bother to find replacements. Thus, it was the most boring trip ever. Oh, but the girls were introduced to the Disney store, which they had never seen before (yes, they lead a sheltered life), so I guess a small donation was given to help save the princesses. Other people take their kids to Disney World for spring break, we take ours to the Disney store...

Bounce House

Finally remembered to get a photo of the girls in the bounce house. Not often it's nice enough to get it out. Soon it will be so hot that we will barely remember this weather but in the meantime I am quite tired of it. I'll post some action shots next time, need my better lens to get some good ones of that.

Molten Chocolate Cake

8 oz (2 sticks) unsalted butter
8 oz BITTERSWEET chocolate
4 large eggs (room temperature)
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 425. Melt butter and chocolate in microwave, stirring frequently until it is smooth and melted. Beat eggs, egg yolks, and sugar on medium speed until very thick and light in color (about 5 minutes for me). Mix 1/4 of the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture, then fold all that back into the rest of the egg mixture. Don't stir too much, just mix it together by hand until it's all the same color. Then sprinkle the flour and salt on top and gently stir that in.

Ladle into 8 individual, buttered souffle dishes (1/2 cup to 3/4 cup size) on a cookie sheet to hold them all. Bake for 8 minutes or until done around the edges but still liquid in the middle. I usually bake at least 11 minutes but I think my oven is cool. You can then let them cool, unmold them on plates and warm up for 15 seconds in the microwave when time to serve. We just eat them out of the souffle cups when they cool off enough to not burn our mouths. Oink oink!

Blurrrrr

Blur applies to some photos I took with the new lens and with this week in general. I did find out that it wasn't operator error for the lens problems though so that was a relief. Unfortunately that meant I had to deal with calling a store in Brooklyn and arranging for a new one. I know they are always snickering about how I'm in the faux Manhattan when I call anywhere near NYC. Oh well, my house costs 10% as much as something comparable there, so snicker away. Snort if you must.

Anyway, between Sean working some odd shifts, the sitter having to change her hours and the time change, I am so off schedule that I have no clue how it got to Friday, aka day 2 of the boringest spring break ever. No amount of caffeine is working either as I'm hitting hot tea in the morning and iced tea in the afternoon-- as it is finally warming up here! Okay, that brief warm spell is supposed to be over in time for the St Pat's parade tomorrow, so we may skip walking in that. Loyal followers may recall that last year there was a certain realty company who was walking in the parade and handing out listings for homes. Seriously. I was handed one for a 3 bedroom house, how did they know I'd prefer that to a piece of candy?!

Signs of sleep deprivation this week: I was so groggy during best reality show "Bachelor: where are they now" that I was so afraid I missed something important that I saved it to watch again; I would go feed teething Patrick at night and would end up sleeping in small chair for hours; and I just tried to make bread dough on the bake setting of my machine (hot flour anyone?). Also, we finally reached the "Ferberize by accident" stage as after a dose of Tylenol I made Patrick just cry it out (had only been an hour since I fed him last, nothing else I could do). Of course the most telling sign of sleep deprivation is that I have barely been on the computer this week. Sad indeed. I will try to find something more entertaining to post later or at the very least, my recipe for molten lava cakes.

Random Stories with Meat Theme

Sean gets these newsletters from the various hospitals that he moonlights for so we have a small glimpse into the civilian medical world. The one today highlighted a new dining room for the physicians, very posh and the food sounded like it was free? Really? Isn't that like giving goodie bags to movie stars? I digress.

Just to contrast this with the Army hospital, last week Sean told me that it was gourmet burger day down in the cafeteria and they finally figured out to just split one with someone else, because they couldn't eat the whole thing... and they were rather expensive. Oh, how expensive? I asked. Well, $2.25. It is a "better grade meat" afterall. Now this reminds me of something Anna said to Megan yesterday to convince her to try a hotdog. She said, "Megan, it's not DOG". No, Anna, not in this country. Hebrew National. We answer to a higher authority.

6 Months!

It's been a bit of a blur, but somehow we have hit 6 months with Patrick. A few photos from yesterday which I later realized was in fact exactly 6 months... Aunt Katie already mentioned that he doesn't look happy here. He is sick of winter, none of us are that happy these days. Oh and he's teething.

My House Obsession

As some of you have figured out, I am obsessed with home design and love to pour over glossy magazines filled with pictures of homes without toys and clutter. Well, it all started with my friend Mark in college who was kind enough to explain the projects he worked on in the architecture program. A true Southern gentleman, he was also the most popular SYR (dorm dance) date on campus and I have some photos of us together and for some reason I am wearing gold disco pants UNDER my dress that I think my old roommates can explain...

Anyway, check this link for a house Mark just managed and helped design. It will be on the cover of the April issue of Architectural Digest. I am not often sincere in this blog, but in this case I truly could not be happier for him. He would disappear for weeks when working on projects in college and it is wonderful to see that it paid off. Unfortunately this means that I can no longer afford for him to design me a house though...
http://www.ramsa.com/project.aspx?id=236
(okay, I tried to do insert link and nothing shows up so I just put the link in but you will have to cut and paste-- help!)

8:13

Whoops, that daylight savings time did mess us up, as predicted. We woke up with mere minutes to get in the van and get to school in time. Only a few minutes late which made drop off so much easier. Can't imagine how the teacher is dealing with 17crabby kindergartners today, better her than me. Only 2 more wake-ups until a super-sized spring break, so hopefully that will give us time to adjust. Good thing we didn't plan a fun vacation or anything, yes, that was good planning indeed. We'll just stay home and fight over how much TV is available for purchase. Way more fun.

Artsy Photographer

I thought I'd review the steps I have taken to become more artsy in my photography skills.
1. Wear Black. Okay, I have some work-out capris, a bathing suit, some high heel boots and a wool pea coat.... check.
2. Wear a Beret. All right, this one is easy... go take Sean's out of his car, rip off the patch thingy. OH, no, that would mean I'd have to sew it back on, impossible. I will just keep it on and take "majorly" artsy photos. (har har)
3. Smoke. What the heck, cigarettes cost how much??? Blank stares from cashier when I ask to buy just one. How do poor people afford these?? AND lottery tickets. Baffling. I guess I will just wear black outfit to a bar so it smells smokey.
4. Phew, I am tired. Will get the camera out tomorrow.

Tip of the day

So, you're hanging at the Keenans and decide to wash your hands. No problem. But wait... why are there no towels? Peeps, just look down below. Dat's where we hide them. Fo' shizzle. Anna is on top of that job, always putting them back where she thinks they go...

New Camera

Here are some test shots with the new camera. Nothing exciting and I still have way more to learn, like how to use the new lens that everyone else raves about. It hates me and did not respond to profanity. Double click on an image if you want to see fly-away hairs and other such details.

The All-Powerful Mom

Things my kids think I should be able to do:
1. Control the sun. No one wants the sun shining on them in the van.
2. Speaking of the van, they think I should be able to make it fly.
3. Know how to spell everything and also, know every word they are spelling for me, whether or not it has vowels. I am terrible at this, always lose track of what they are spelling out.
4. Make spring come. Or make it snow. Or make it stop snowing. Or make it colder outside. Or warmer. Or less windy.
5. Make the food come faster at Famous Daves or anyplace that isn't Wendy's.
6. Make the Neflix movies come immediately.
7. Make it Christmas sooner. Oh how they whine for this.
8. Make Megan have a twin, preferably Kira.
9. Make it so we only have to get on one plane to go on trips, not 2-3 planes plus car rides on each end of the trip. (I do tell them to ask Daddy for a private jet service but so far he has resisted this.)
10. Change the day to Saturday so there is no school or work. Even harder, they ask me to HOMESCHOOL so they can play all day. Yes, that is what they think homeschooling is.

So, if anyone can help me out with this stuff (jet engines for the Odyssey?), let me know. Then maybe I can "represent" for all moms and hold my head high.

(Yes, we are still working our way through the Slang2 flashcards)

The stars are in alignment

Yes, all 5 of us slept from 11pm to 7am last night. I don't recall if this has ever happened before, not even when there were 4 of us. Or 3 of us. Sean was on Army call and apparently it was too cold for people to go to the ER for their back pain (that has been going on for a month), so they didn't call. Moonlighting didn't call either, as that happens if it gets really busy too. No nightmares, no water requests, no barf clean up required by the girls and Patrick went 8 hours without a snack. Then we got up at 7am, had time to make pancakes, didn't have to Richard Simmons them out the door either, plenty of time. I'm sure this will continue every night from here on out. Wait, what's that? Time change this weekend? ARGH!!!!!

In other news the camera has arrived, let the new obsession begin.

Dish Fairy

Tonight was one of those nights where you just look at the kitchen and think, maybe I'll just move and let the new people deal with this. Several people have suggested that I get a cleaning service to help me out and make up for Sean being busy with the telerad, but what I really need is a dish fairy. No cleaning service is going to show up every night from 7-8pm to clean my kitchen the way I want it cleaned. It is going to take years (long years) to train the children to do it right (imagine what I will have to pay them to do that if I'm paying them 25 cents just to go potty now).

It probably wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't cooking 2-3 different meals each night. Sometimes we all eat the same one or variations of the same one, but more often than not I make something fancier for me and something plain for the kids (and Sean falls in the middle there). Fancy means lots of dishes, usually a roasting pan that is crusted up. This could also be solved if we had a Dean & Deluca here or dare I dream... a Central Market. Heck, even a Trader Joe's would make my day. In the meantime I at least have date night to look forward to, then I only have to clean up the mac & cheese pot from the girls. Anyone care to place bets on the percentage of meals that will be eaten poolside this summer??? Need to hit our food minimum at the club! Come on, summer!

Do you get paid to go to the bathroom?

Well, if you're an hourly employee then I guess you do. And if you're Anna. What started out as a reward system for not watching TV has morphed into paying the kids to do whatever we need them to do. While bad on a number of levels I'm sure, it does make life smoother. We offer them check marks for doing things like getting their pajamas on quickly, cleaning up toys (doesn't always work for this task though), and for Anna, going on the potty when I ask her to.

Ideally this will get them to the stage where they are more cooperative and do what we ask them to do without fighting us every step of the way. Realistically I see them asking for a raise as time goes on and they realize that each check is only worth a quarter and that doesn't go very far in the toy aisle at Target. After a week of being sick and getting hooked on TV again, I am more than willing to pay them extra to keep from having to hear Dragon Tales again. Come along, take my hand, let's all go to Dragon Land!

What are my peeps watching these days??

Okay, what favorite shows got left off my poll?? Is it Lost, because if so the writer's strike didn't really affect that show since they're on this weird schedule anyway. And if you do watch, Aaron or Eric? We thought Aaron but apparently others think it is Eric. If you don't understand what I am saying then don't worry, it's not a spoiler, just a difference in speculation at this point.

We have really gotten out of the TV habit during this strike, just spending that extra time on the computer obviously! Also baking a lot more cookies these day, which disproves the theory that watching more TV makes you gain weight.

Head Boss

I of course have 3 bosses but there is a head boss lately, that is Anna. I have determined that this is a very annoying age, where she is trying to become independent and thus won't listen to me but also wanting to stay the baby and thus instructs me on how to take care of her. If I don't do what she wants she makes a lot of noise until I do. She knows full well that I will give in when the noise starts if Patrick is sleeping and she uses this to her advantage. At 3am this morning she woke me up with demands for more water which I agreed to do. Well, she then wanted ice in it and when I resisted those demands, she started screaming and punching her stuffed elephant (the one she screamed for me to go get from the basement at bedtime earlier in the night). I didn't want to host an elephant funeral today, so I gave in and even resisted putting the ice down the back of her pajamas.

We have had informative talks about boarding schools and how when she's there she will have to dry herself off after a bath, but it's just not sinking in. Megan of course overhears these conversations and frets all night about when I am sending them there. The next stage is to start packing a suitcase...

Does Not Bode Well for a Deployment

Well, if this weekend is any indication of how life will be during a deployment, I'm going to have to clear out an entire cupboard for cereal. I will also be good friends with the drive-thru guy at Wendy's. I'd like to think our culinary defeats are due mostly to our lingering nausea, but I'd be lying if I didn't mention laziness as a factor.

The back up emergency toys are also all over the place, waiting to be hurled back in the big boxes and shoved in the storage room about 2 minutes before Sean is due home tomorrow. I should also squeeze a shower in at some point as I dare not calculate the number of hours since I've even used deodorant "in lieu of a shower", a famous Keenan family quote (which caused confusion among those who didn't know what "in lieu of" meant). The girls are well bathed as that is a way to burn time with them. Also back in action is the dear family friend, television. We had kicked it for a while but a week of sickness and he crept back, triumphant again!

News regarding my day job: the new washer and dryer are a vast improvement over washing the clothes down in the creek and then drying them by hanging over all the various pieces of baby entertainment equipment. I used the allergen cycle to try and remove the stench from Megan's little security blanket and the germs from some bedding. I swear, the cycle took almost 2 hours, glad I didn't attempt that too close to bedtime. Megan would have gone into hysterics. She insists she will never give up her silky and frankly, I believe her.

Oh, and another fun chore to accomplish while the husband is blissfully off playing poker, is cleaning out his closet. If he can ask for a missing item by name, I will give it back, otherwise it is gone. It seems that up until last year I was under the misguided notion that he was a size large. I guess compared to me? So that made purging easy. I also got out our summer clothes since it is getting warm in Texas now and I have forgotten that we no longer live there. It will help me from ordering an entire new summer wardrobe if I can see that I do in fact own shorts though. Everything is at least 2 years old though since last summer I was great with child.

I think the stars have aligned and I can get a shower, must hurry!

J Lo Dragon Tales

Okay, all you Dragon Tales fans out there, "Let's all go to Dragon Land"! Seriously though, J Lo named her twins Max and Emme, who are the kids on that show. They are cute names but it makes me chuckle. More than that, it makes me sing the theme song all day...

Even Steven

We are frequently reminded of the Even Steven episode of Seinfeld as we have ended up Even Steven many times. Well, yesterday was no exception as while the new washer and dryer were being delivered (not a moment too soon as the delivery guy pointed out as my hoses cracked on the washer while being unhooked!) Sean was winning in a poker tournament in Vegas. Yes, he won the exact amount of the new appliances, oh how exciting! So the question is, what should I buy today that will then later be offset by more winnings? Is it worth dragging 3 kids out to the Honda dealership to get Sean a new car just to test this theory? Or will the real Even Steven stand up and reveal that means he will lose all those winnings today...