It wasn't me!!

We went to McDonald's yesterday with my best friend Heather and her daughter Little A to celebrate her birthday. No - not Little A's, but Heather's birthday - because we know how to party baby!

Anyway - the kids had a good time playing, but we're rounding them up and I'm putting Luke's shoes on while I have him stationed in a high chair and I hear the alarm go off. I look up to find out the horror and humiliation portion of the outing was upon us. Travis decided to open the door - yes the emergency door - and hold it open so that we could go outside.

Sweet, right?

To make matters worse, when I did the walk of shame up to the counter to tell the kid who, by the way, should have been in school - I mean it is 1:00 on a Wed and she couldn't have been more that 16 -

Anyway, we (meaning I) tell her that we (meaning Austin) set off the alarm and ask if someone could turn it off. She just looked at me with her 16 year old not-in-school-self and said, "Well, you know that is the emergency door."

Thank you very much. I am now enlightened.

I've decided never to go grey

So we started painting the exterior of the house this weekend. The dare devil in me decided to pick off white- called "Dove White" - by the ever so clever paint people who have 500 different shades for every color and a million names to match---most of them look the same to me.

Really, when do you finally say - hey these people have enough colors to choose from? No, no - the Divine Dove won't do. I really must have that Dove White???

I blame it all on HGTV. Which I must confess I am obsessed with. You know that commercial where they are talking about House Hunters and they say pick #1, or I'd pick #3, etc. I really do that. You can try and be cool and pretend like you don't know what I'm talking about, but you know that you do!!!

Anyway, I did the ceiling part above the front door and it dropped all over me...hair, face, you name it. When I went inside to take a shower and clean up, I made the mistake of looking in the mirror.

One of those floor to ceiling door mirrors that we really should have gotten rid of a long time ago for the obvious reason.....it's a floor to ceiling mirror and you really don't need that in the bathroom of all places if you plan on keeping any of your self esteem after 2 kids.

My dark hair was streaked a daring "Dove White" and I will proclaim here and now that I do NOT plan to be old. Okay, well maybe I'll be old one day, but I will never go grey. It was horrifying!

Like in Back to the Future 2 or 3 - I can't remember which one - and you see Loraine (Marty's mother) in the future and she looks awful. Well, I had my ride in the Dolorian today, and it sucked.

my booty shake done broke me

I went out with my sister and girlfriend last Sat night....and I'm still paying for it. I'm exhausted. I used to party like a rock star at least 2 time a week, but I think 2 times a year is pushing it now.

It was fun we danced, drank and talked ALL night but I still don't feel quite normal yet. So I'm debating with myself....was it worth it? On one hand, I don't want to be THAT old yet, but on the other maybe I am THAT old and denying it is just self delusion.

I had about 20+ goals for the new year, but I've decided to narrow it down to 2. Happy and healthy. Most of them fit into one of those 2 categories anyway. Much less to mess up on with such broad categories anyway and as a side note, I almost never keep the resolutions anyway.

We went to the lake for New Years and had a blast. It was quiet (for a few days until the rest of the boys came) and relaxing. I think we're going to be spending more time there this year now that Luke is old enough to handle it and actually have some fun.

Hush Your Mouth

OK - after watching the press conference and news last night I might have been scared into changing my mind about moving. We have great credit, so I think we could still get a good loan. But now I'm not sure the idea of selling in a bad market and buying in a good market is smart given the volatility.

Never mind what I said earlier this week - I reserve the right to change my mind about all issues - from the mundane (should the toilet paper face in or out) to the life critical.

I guess we could just put it on the market and see what happens. We don't have a NEED to move so we could just take it if the right offer comes along and stay here if it doesn't. Not sure if that is going to be a sticking point on the bambino with Big B though!

Those of you who know me -

even if you're an acquaintance -

or someone next to me in the fruit isle in the grocery store -

You've heard me rant about lending practices for years now. I can't believe it has come to this. Over the years, this has been like watching yourself run out of gas, but refusing to stop at the station on the corner.

OK - maybe a gas analogy to the housing and lending crisis wasn't entirely appropriate given the current economy....hush your mouth.

She's alive.....

OK - so I was in the hospital, then there was this little hurricane called Ike - maybe you've heard of it by now. Really - not much of an excuse - health and natural disasters......

Anyway - I have the baby bug BAD. I had nips of it a while ago, but now it is just eating at me. Luke walked for the first time on Sunday. I don't think that could possibly have anything to do with this baby bug increase....not one bit.

But Big B thinks we need more square footage before we venture into the world where the parents are out numbered. I hate to admit it, but I agree. Soooooooooo we're going to start staging the house and decluttering this weekend. I think that the process will take some time though. A month or two.

I know what you're thinking. Now isn't a good time to sell. Yup - you're right. BUT if the margin settle for on the sale of our house is enough to account for the SF price difference on another house - then I'd say that I could live with that.

Grand Prize and Groceries

Ladies and Gentlemen - we have a winner.

And that winner is me.

What's the prize, you ask? The grand prize winner will have her diaper duty cut in half.

That's right - through the use of pez as rewards (or bribery - depending on how you look at it) Austin is now potty trained! His current success rate is about 98% and that, my dear friends, is a miracle.

In other news, I was at the grocery store the other day and I almost had to take out a small loan from the bank to make it past check out. Good Lord! The prices are insane. I swear I buy pretty much the same stuff every week, but the bill keeps shocking me at the register.

I need a plan of action. I thinking about becoming the most obsessed bargain shopping, coupon clipping, mom in the universe.

Then I decided that was too much work. I'm all for less work.

So, I was thinking that I don't need to spend all of that time and effort for just my family. Why not share and be shared with??? (See the laziness principles at work here???)

I'm sure that other moms are thinking the same thing. I wonder if you guys think it is a good idea to take a week and plan the meals and groceries with the specials and coupons and then share......

Seriously?????

I'm so tired. Austin was up late and Luke was up and down all night, then Austin woke up at 5:45 this morning. How very rude of those boys. You would think that they would have learned a few manners by now. Don't they know I'm tired?

And it's not a sane tired either.

I was reading a message about crying in the closet on the phone after giving birth. I was amazed that some other mom had done that too.

I thought that I was the only one - and I would have never admit it if she hadn't brought it up first. Not one of my finer moments.

Anyway, so here I am TODAY. And I acutally considered crying in the closet "just for a few minutes."

I have officially lost my mind today. I blame it on the fact that I'm running on fumes. Granted, I had a baby, but it was 10 mo ago, so I think it would really be a stretch to blame it on the hormones anymore....and I can't come up with any other GOOD excuses.

Stay out of the closet - stay out of the closet - stay out of the closet. Don't go towards the light..........