I Should Be Folding Laundry

Dove Evolution

Dove Evolution

Cook off

I have been cooking all day today. I baked six dozen chocolate chip cookies. 12 creamy chicken enchiladas (for my neighbor), chicken quesadillas for dinner and I have prepared pot roast, ready to be put in the crock pot in the morning. This weather, I swear I could bake for hours. Unfortunately, I keep eating. oopsie. My legs hurt, I'm glad to be sitting.

So, Brian and I started watching Heroes last night. We watched the first episode last night and the second tonight. I have mixed feelings. I mean, it's a great show, I just don't like so much intensity in a show. Guess I'm boring!

Here are some pictures from this weekend:

My sister and I with Mary Addison, about 3 minutes after we arrived in Brown County. (it doesn't take us too long to take pictures.) Yes, we have on the same sweater, (bought my first.) (and the same jeans) yes, we are gay.

Rewind to Friday at a playdate. Anna and her friend. They are both VERY girlie. They get along great.

Noah and his friend. They were cracking eachother up. It was hilarious.

Mary Addison. OMG. She's so cute.

so cute.

One of the reasons why I love Brown County.
I now own one of the orange mums on the right.

I love this girl.

Sister.

It was so cold on Monday. We went to Target to buy scarves and gloves. And hats and gloves for our freezing, golfing, drunk husbands.

This sign is great. I spotted it from so far away. It's significant because one brother's name is Dan, the other is Dave. (by the way, I took this picture from across the street. My camera kicks ass.)

The other side of Brown County. LEATHER.

One of our favorite stores.

Damn right I got the blues.

Thanks, Buddy Guy, for the perfect words for the title of this entry. I owe you, man.

So, yeah, I'm a little blue. Brian and I just returned home from our sixth annual outing to Nashville, In. We ate, drank, SHOPPED and slept. And by God, it was awesome. awesome. I have the blues because it's over. I always get sad the day after, every year I am sad. This year is different because I didn't purchase anything amazing. I buy ALOT of home decor from this town and most things are things that people comment on when they come to my house, in fact, it's odd when people don't make a compliment. (they're jealous, I know.) just kidding. no i'm not.

Anyway, this time around was different. I couldn't make a decision. There were three things I wanted...badly, but I didn't know if I loved them. Well, 2 things I didn't, one thing I did and I didn't figure it out until today. Now my blues are deeper than usual. P.S. I did ask Brian if I could call the store and have them ship the (large) item to me...he said we'd talk about it later. he's a good guy.

So, we are back in town. I am back to the same old grind with the chickens, they're a little unruly, which is to be expected, but now they are sleeping. I was going to clean and catch up on e-mails, but then I saw Madonna was on Oprah today, so I better check that out. What? I LOVE. love. love. love LOVE. Madonna. Sorry, I do. Ever workout to her last album? Don't knock it until you try it, girl. I'm going to watch Oprah, in the afternoon, that's it. I've already washed and folded four loads of laundry today (and put them away!) and cleaned my kitchen, including my sink with Comet. I deserve a little R&R with two wonderful woman, Oprah and Madonna. I'll let you know how it goes.

Yes, I have lots of pictures from this weekend. I shall share. After Oprah and Madonna.

I have no idea why the font is funk-d-fied, no idea.

no use crying over spilled pumpkins

Unless you are emotional to begin with. Tonight, about an hour and 10 minutes ago, someone broke our pumpkins on our front porch. I'm pretty pissed, but I'm also sad because they were the pumpkins the kids picked at our first outing to a pumpkin patch. whatever. (I can't believe I just described what happened without typing out the swear words that are flying around in my head right now...I'm impressed.)

We have so much going on lately, I only have a few minutes to blog, as I am very tired.

• Noah is still sleeping like crap. In the past 2 weeks he has slept well two nights and I am about to lose my mind. (too put it mildly) Last night was the hardest, I'm so tired. I took him back to the doctor today and his ears have cleared up completely. Thank Goodness. Now I know if he wakes up it's not because his ears hurt....good to know.
• We bought a new car yesterday. Brian's car had severe malfunctions on his way to work yesterday and after MANY YEARS AND DOLLARS spent on this car, it was time to say "goodbye car! Hello car payment." Yesterday was the longest, busiest, most chaotic day we've had in a long time, obviously because in ONE day we found and purchased a car...that we BOTH love alot. I may like it a little too much. It's a 2000 Bonneville, it's so so so pretty and in perfect condition. We are very excited, the kids love it, too!
• Brian and I are going out of town on Sunday for our annual trip to Brown County. We have gone every year since 2001 with my sister and her husband. We are going a little later this year since the week we usually go my sister had just returned back to work from maternity leave. I love this trip. My sister and I shop while Brian and her husband golf and drink. It couldn't be any more perfect. Our condo is even on the golf course. It's great! I am anxious about leaving, I should not be because Brian's mom is staying here with the kids and they just love her, but you know, I'm just anxious.
• I have a wedding to go to tomorrow. I have to go alone since Brian has to work tomorrow night(don't even get me started, okay?) My cousin is getting married. I found the greatest skirt tonight, I love it. However, I was shopping with the kids so I did not try it on and guess what??? It's too big! Brian's going to go back tomorrow and get me an 8! (that's how busy my day is tomorrow, I can't get my own damn skirt.)
• I am still successfully maintaining my weight. I weighed in on Wednesday at my Weight Watcher meeting and it went well. Makes me happy.

I'm sure there is so much more, but like I said, I'm tired and I have no business being up this late and I still have to wash my face (which is a 39 step process) brush my teeth, clear off my bed and put laundry away.

oh bother.

A very cute spider that Anna made. It was hanging on the refrigerator the other day, Noah approached it and sang a beautiful "Itsy Bitsy Spider" to the spider. He then took it off of the fridge to show it to me, while he was running over he noticed the eyes moving and it FREAKED him out. He dropped it on the ground and came running towards me.

This week (so far) in pictures

Pajama party! We celebrated Brian's Grandma's birthday party on Saturday! She turns NINETY THREE today! We had a great time and we were able to visit with Brian's sister and her family from Indianapolis. Here's a picture of the three grandkids in the pj's. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! She's a very clever woman. Very. Anna and I. We had a girls afternoon out after church on Sunday. We had lunch and we went shopping. My boy. My girl. We celebrated my nephew's birhtday, who turned 11 on Sunday. Lots of birthdays! Our old entertainment center. I can hardly bear to look at it. We bought it just over four years ago. We had purchased the TV, it was in the car when we realized we didn't have anything to put it on, so we ran to Target and bought this. I HATE IT. but now it's gone. In the presence of perfection. I LOVE IT!! Brian worked hard all night. We rearranged the living room and it feels so good. Very feng shui. We finished just in time to watch the Bears come back. It was awesome! Goofy, goofy children. How can you not love kids??? In their new slippers. They both sleep in them. It's very cute. The house of Fletcher in the fall. We are looking at new front doors tonight!

sleep

sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep sleep

I'm freakin' tired. soooo tired. too tired too blog. Yep, there is my excuse, too tired to blog. I'm sure I'm not any more tired than any of you, I'm just tired. Perhaps my thyroid meds need adjusting, yes, perhaps I'll schedule a dr's appointment, that would be good, I'll do that right after my nap. Nap? Me? No... I'm a liar. I've taken a few naps this past week, of course, that is just what they are, they're naps. You know 15-30 minutes. To me, anything longer than that is a good night's sleep. A good night's sleep. mmmmm...that sounds great. I want a good night's sleep. I had one. On Friday night. I slept from midnight until 7:45am without waking up ONE TIME. I had a great day on Saturday, too. (filled with THREE 12 minute cleaning "episodes"...thanks, Elisa!)

In fact, LAST weekend, I slept well. IN FACT (yes, again) I was even telling my sister on (last) Monday how I am convinced that if I could get 7.5-8.5 hours of solid sleep a night, I could accomplish anything. And with that, I would be fun to be around, because friends, I have not been fun to be around. Right, Brian??? I said "RIGHT, BRIAN?!?!?!!?!??!?!" devil woman. that's me. Because, Noah became sick and forgot that other people and that when he screams, please hear him and that when he screamed he terrifies his mother and she runs to his aide MANY times a night. Things are turning around, though. Noah is feeling better, although he still complains about his ear hurting, and he's still waking up at night. And when he wakes up, I wake up and when I wake up...I wake up. I lay and think. It's ridiculous. BUT, on the bright side, I have been on a search for a couple of things, here's a list:
1. A perfect entertainment center
2. A perfect front door
3. A perfect new mirror for my master bathroom (which is nothing master about it, it may as well be a bathroom at a festival, but hey it's attached to my bedroom, so I can't complain)
4. A perfect new shower curtain and bathroom accessories and let's see what else???
5. I forgot.
Well, scratch one off of the list, I found THE entertainment center. Brian is putting it up tonight. I'm sure he's excited. (total sarcasm) BUT, what he is excited about is me NOT obsessing about finding THE PERFECT entertainment center. because it has been found. And to add to the picturesque memory of me finding THE PERFECT entertainment center, the woman who came to help me load it onto my cart first told me my fly was open. FANFREAKINTASTIC. No really, I did not care, I didn't turn red, I didn't get warm, I was just pleased she told me. :-)

My computer is acting funny, really funny, like "I think we should back this bitch up, funny." So, I tried to blog last night and then this morning, but I couldn't, but now here I am. blogging.

By the way, did you hear about the new red campaign? It's awesome, truly. Please check it out.

Oh and the kids chose their halloween costumes yesterday. Noah picked Bob the Builder, which was surprising and Anna chose Belle from the Disney store--which was not surprising. She wanted to be a pony, but I couldn't figure out how she would sit in school with it on, so luckily she fell in love with MANY costumes at the Disney store.

Don't you see??? IT'S OCTOBER!

How can it be October?

Not October FIRST. October 12TH. Almost half way through the month. Halloween is almost here. The leaves are starting to fall, not just turn colors, BUT FALL. It's 43 degrees right now--we had snowfall today. Then, before we know it, it will be Thanksgiving and then OH MY GOD CHRISTMAS WILL BE HERE AND THEN IT WILL BE JANUARY AND OH MY GOD MY KIDS WILL TURN THREE AND FOUR AND THEN IT WILL BE FEBRUARY AND I'LL BE ....

GASP, (WHILE CLUTCHING MY CHEST.....)

30.

I need a cigarette.

(no, I don't smoke, it's joke. geeze.)

INAUGURAL POST

So, it's my first official post with my new look. I have been looking for a new template for a long time. I said to Brian last night "I think I finally found a blog template that I like, it's free and it may actually work." He was very surprised and happy. or at least he acted like he cared, which I do appreciate.

Either way, my first post with the new look is not going to be as pretty as my blog itself. Today has been a bitch. Starting with last night while working on my blog, Noah began waking up and crying, which is not necessarily typical for him, but, he has been waking up a little bit for the past few nights. Last week, he had a little cold, but nothing bad and it went away quickly. I think I medicated him once for it. BUT, I have noticed him playing with his ear. I took the kids for a bike ride yesterday, which means, I walk behind them while Anna peddles her tricycle and Noah moves his legs behind his peddles, it was a long ride, about 45 minutes. Anyway, he would touch his right ear on occasion. Any normal, observant mother would think, "hmmm...I wonder if he has an ear infection.???" Not this bitch. I thought "he can't have an ear infection, he is eating, sleeping, drinking and playing." The past 700 ear infections Noah has had, all normal life comes to a screeching halt, he won't eat, drink or sleep. So, why would I assume that touching his ear was sign? I should have assumed. The child was awake almost all night. He refused to take medicine, which has never happened before, he even spit it ALL over me. (very. very. frustrating.) He wouldn't lay in his bed, our bed, stand up, sit down, stop crying, drink, he didn't want me to hold him, he didn't want his Dad to hold him and mostly, he did not want to sleep. oh, and really, really did not want me to sing. Therefore, he did not rest, until he finally took motrin, I snuck the syringe in his mouth and he had no choice but to swallow. Then he slept for 2 hours. 2. hours. (by the way, by 5 this morning it was apparent that it was his ears as he kept crying out "OW MY EARS, OW MY EARS!!)

What's interesting about Noah getting sick today is that my neighbor who has a 4 year old and a 2 year old is scheduled to have her 3rd baby on Thursday via c-section. She had blood work and pre-op appointments to go to, which typically is not a big deal because her mother is retired and essentially is her live-in Nanny, so she's available to babsit. BUT, at the same time that my neighbor had to be at the doctor, her mother had to take her father (mother's husband) to the doctor, an oncologist. 4 years ago he went into remission after battling Hodgkins Lymphoma...well, it's back. BAD. Everywhere, including his spine. Needless to say, I offered my services to watch her children, who love to play with my kids, it wasn't a big deal at all...until Noah got sick. Now what do I do? I can't cancel on them, but can I really expose these two children, who are about to live with a newborn to whatever Noah has? Yes, that's what I did. I had sometime to prepare before they arrived. I used Clorox wipes on practically everything and Noah didn't play with either one of them because he felt like shit. PLUS, doctors always say "ear infections are not contagious. cold are." Right? Well, I did tell my neighbor once she picked the kids up, but she seemed fine with it.

So, then it's 1:30pm and I have a 2pm appointment for Noah at our pediatricians. The nightmare is that this boy who didn't sleep the night before always takes his nap at 2 pm. He did fine for the appointment. He has a double ear infection, the one ear that he pulls at and cries so hard when he (or I) touches it is "flaming red and oozing." To think that 24 hours ago, I didn't have a clue.

The good news is that he is now on antibiotics. The bad news is that the bitches at Walgreens made me wait for "flavoring," which was recommended by them, for 15 minutes, in addition to the 25 minutes I had already waited. By the way we got home, it was 4pm, and Noah fell asleep in the car. Both the kids are napping now. The house is a mess because of our playdate, I started cleaning up but I was so scared of waking Noah that I decided to let it go (for now) and tell all of you about it. Thanks for listening, by the way.

Oh, and one more bitch, while I'm at it. I wanted to do my maintenance weigh-in tomorrow for the month of October, but I just accidently ate half a package of graham crackers. son of a bitch.

By the way, it's 4:58pm and he's already awake. I need a big mac.

Can you tell?

I've done some redecorating.

OMG, THIS WEEKEND.

We had one of those weekends that you dream about. At least, that I dream about. The weather was THE BEST. The kids were incredible and we did SO much! We had a great family weekend and got a ton of things done around the house. I got a new vacuum cleaner, Brian got a new shed, Noah got a new dresser and played with his hot wheels for hours and Anna, well, she got to drink Sprite, pick apples and pumpkins, eat munchkins, ride her bike, play with her neighbor friend, watch The Little Mermaid, go to Sunday School, play with her Oma and Great Grandma, eat her first twizzler and sit in a cart with a ghost. Who wouldn't have a blast? Right now, both the kids are peacefully sleeping, while Brian is playing his new playstation game, The Godfather, which is freaking me out, so I am in my bed watching a house flipping show and reveling in the most amazing weekend we have had in a long, long time. and thoroughly enjoying my clean house. (Well, mostly clean house.) I would go into detail, but, wouldn't you get bored? so. many. details.

P.S. I have NO idea why some of the pictures are only showing half of the picture, it's pissing me off, I've tried to repost THREE TIMES now, but it doesn't seem to matter. I quit. Not to mention the fact that not all of the pictures are showing up.

The stage above our table. (which took me awhile to realize it was there...I thought their music was just really loud and recorded...kinda shows how good this musician was!)