I Should Be Folding Laundry

Picture show

Isn't she lovely?  This is my little niece and she turned one last week.  This weekend, Brian, Ariel, Racecar and I hopped in our trusty minivan and headed down south to Louisville, Kentucky.  It was a fine time filled with lots of good food, good drink, little sleep and birthday cake, oh and poker.

We left on Friday in a mad dash for the door.  I was running so far behind, I had my blood work done, I worked out, made a stop and got home at 11:20 am.  We were planning to leave for our weekend getaway at 1 pm.  We hadn't packed a thing, I needed to shower, fax some forms to make sure our 5K t-shirts arrived on time, feed the kids and our house was a stinkin' mess. (A DISASTER, I TELL YOU!) I showered, packed, fed the kids cheeseburgers in the car and left the house a stinkin' mess (A DISASTER, I TELL YOU!) and we left at 1:23 pm. 

We really had such a nice time.  The adults stayed up too late and drank too much, luckily all of our kids slept well and slept long which made the lack of sleep bearable.   I only took 350 pictures from Friday night to Sunday morning.  I love my camera.  See, I take important pictures like this:

And yummy pictures like this:

And pictures of Ariel when she is deep in thought:

And handsome Racecar pictures:

and wild party pictures:

The girl on the right reads my blog (don't blush, KW!):

And here's a picture of me in my finest hour (in other words: just a teensy weensy bit tipsy):

So, there you have it.  A good weekend with great company.

You can imagine our surprise when we had only been on the road for less than one hour on our way home, and it was ONE HUNDRED DEGREES outside when our air conditioning stopped working and our car began making an awful grinding noise.

I'm not going to go into specifics, because it's long and complicated and just puts me in a really bad mood and I'm bound to use four letter words, but we are home after seven and a half hours (when the trip typically takes four hours), we are five pounds lighter thanks to sweating and our van is now sitting at the shop waiting for some guy to look at it, fix it and then charge us six million dollars just so we don't sweat like pigs any longer.

It will be totally worth it.

This week in pictures

First of all.  We have a fence.  It's finished.  Those are beautiful words.  The fence is done.

This is a picture Ariel drew of the guy who serves me coffee at Dunkin' Donuts.  I don't know what is more disturbing, the fact that he's so much a part of her life that she's thinking of him and drawing pictures of him or the fact that it looks just like him.

A delicious snack.  Seriously, it hit the spot.  Cinnamon-y graham crackers dipped in coffee.  perfect.  But then again, I have a strange love for graham crackers.. 

What?  It says whole grain and calcium, it's a little healthy.  Right?

Right?

My favorite picture of the weekend.  Ariel felt very old Saturday night helping me prepare dinner.  She set the table, very thoroughly washed a tomato and washed dishes.  And was pleasant about it, too.

Just look at this glorious bag from Kimberlee Faith's.  I won this a while back from Rocks in my Dryer.  I picked the two patterns, upgraded the size of the bag and added the initial.  I LOVE this bag.  It came on Friday and it has already gone to the beach.  It only took the post office THREE WEEKS to get it to my house. 

 

Oh well, they were forgiven when I opened the box and found this masterpiece.  If you are ever in the market for a beautiful, custom purse or handbag, consider going to Kimberlee Faith's.  I definitely will.

 

Another favorite of the weekend.

Will the pictures ever stop?  I know that's what you're thinking. 

And finally, we started off the day by going to the beach.  It was a perfect day.  Very hot with a nice breeze.  We are lucky to live so close to such a nice one.

Well, at least Brian, Ariel and I feel that way.  Racecar happens to hate sand, water and heat.  He had a blast, as you can tell.

Happy Fourth!

We took the kids to a parade yesterday.  They definitely loved it.  Brian and I enjoyed it too because we parked really close to where we sat which makes us happy because lugging all that junk food around gets tiring, you know what I mean?

Yes you do.

It was an interesting parade.  Good, yes?  Loud, crikey's yes.  Hot?  yeah.  It was just kinda generic.

Look at Shrek and Dora.

I mean, I know we are working on a tight budget in here smalltown, Indiana, but Dora looks like she hasn't slept in days after letting Shrek cut her hair.  Even the kids wouldn't go anywhere near the speechless creatures.  Not only would they not go near them...they actually took steps back.  Creepy, I say.

Then there was this.  And I have no idea what it was or why or who, just pure confusion.

And maybe a little fear.

And finally, after reading this sign, you really wish there was such a thing as Markers with Spellcheck.

And here's proof of the tremondous amount of noise.  If you look closely, you can see most of the people in the background covering their ears.  good times.

But then there was this:

And this:

And this later on:

And then it turned out to be the greatest Fourth of July ever.  I can remember holidays as a child as being the greatest experiences.  I had no idea they would be better as a parent.

The post where you get to hear about my butt

A bike!  A bike!  That's right, I received a bike for Mother's Day and I LOVE it so very much.  I felt a little silly when I first got on the bike, because, you know, it's been like 18 years since I've ridden a bike, but it also felt so wonderful.  Only once did I think I was going to be part of a mailbox and oncoming car sandwich, so that's not too bad.  After my first long bike ride I felt a little winded and my legs felt a bit like jelly and it hit me that I had actually been exercising, which is so crazy, because I was having fun!  And exercising!  If I could have eaten nachos at the same time, I'm certain I would have thought I had died and gone to heaven.  Unfortunately, nachos were not involved in my new exercise routine, at least not yet, anyway.  The only problem is the incredible about of pain I am feeling in my butt.  It definitely hurts and when I'm not riding my bike, I can still feel the bike seat in my butt, which is not fun, really.  (it's a little bit fun, though.)

My friend told me that I will get used to it and that I need to go out every night, as planned, even though it hurts and it will go away.  I'm starting to wonder if she hates me because I just sat on my bike tonight and headed down my drive way and it felt...not good.  Imagine you have a bruise on your thigh that hurts and you take a 150 pound boot and apply it to your bruise, it doesn't feel good, okay?  But, I persevered and rode very fast for about fifteen minutes and then came home and voila!  I had exercised.  Like magic.  But my butt?  It hurts.  Bad.  If you happen to see me rubbing my butt, this time it's because my butt hurts and I'm trying to make it feel better.

I totally took a picture of my bike, it's so pretty.  But do you know how much effort it takes to get that download cable and download pictures?  A lot of effort.  Let me tell you.

On to other news...are you intending to purposely not purchase gas tomorrow (May 15)?  Cause you know, it's the national DO NOT BUY GAS DAY, and supposedly gas prices should drop by thirty cents per gallon, which should bring it down to about $8.69 a gallon, should the DO NOT BUY GAS DAY actually work.  Anyway, I've read a few articles about it and many people say it just doesn't work, but apparently, as I mentioned before, the last time a DO NOT BUY GAS DAY occurred, the prices dropped significantly, so I guess if there is even a 1% chance that it will work, then maybe you should participate?  Because seriously?  These gas prices, sure make me glad I have a bike.

Oh look!  My bike!

Well, since I downloaded the dang pictures, here's more.

Popsicles are delicious:

Happy Mother's Day.  (no, he's not laughing and yes, I need my eyebrows done.)

Fine, enough pictures, I know.  just two more.

Oh, wait.  I lied.  Here's another picture.  I sat the kids down here because they were running all over the sporting goods store where we bought my bike and it was making me crazy.  I looked above them and said "huh!  Not only is this Mother's Day, it's also the closest my children have ever been to a gun."  I'll be sure to mark this day down in their baby books.

A close up of the gun.

Okay, I'm done for real.

Friday Love Letters

Dear Beloved Tivo in my bedroom,

You know how much I love and value you, you bring me quiet time at the end of a loud, tiring day.  I just can't seem to figure out why you continue to suggest The Golden Girls as something I should watch.  Is it because I watch Sex and the City and the two shows are so similiar?  You know, Blanche is Samantha, Rose is Charlotte, Dorothy is Carrie and the old lady is Miranda?  Because they are not alike and I do not want to watch The Golden Girls.  Please stop recording it because I will fire you.  (I will never fire you.  I love you so much.)

Signed,
I heart Tivo, not The Golden Girls
___________________________

Dear TLC,

Speaking of television, I just wanted to send a note of gratitude to you for the incredible, quality TV you offer.  From What not to Wear, The Real Deal, Little People Big World, Miami Ink and my new favorite Jon and Kate plus 8.  You make me very happy, all tucked in my bed at night. 

Love,
bff to tlc
___________________________

Dear Neighbor Across the Street,

Would you please, for one day, not do yard work?  I admire your passion, and know how important it is to not have a single weed growing anywhere and also the importance of sweeping every single blade of cut grass off of your very clean and tidy sidewalk, but you are making my house look like a whore house, and I don't appreciate that at all.

Love,
Too Busy for Yardwork
___________________________

Dear Neighbor Next Door,

I know you saw me wearing the same shirt two days in a row and I'd appreciate it if you did not judge me.  Because I do wear deoderant and I even get a shower in, once and while.
(please don't tell anyone, I want everyone to like me.)

Love,
I need more graphic tees
___________________________

Dear Maker of Bratz Dolls,

Please stop making them. 
Agree?  Go here.

Love,
Bratz Dollz Haterz
___________________________

Dear 5K Walk I am planning for this year,

Please be gentle with me.  I am very busy already and can't believe I've added this to my Platter of Stuff To Do, but this is a great fundraiser for a great cause, so please, let the sponsors fall from the sky and the runners come from all over the universe.

Love,
Crazy Volunteer Woman
___________________________

Dear Super Uber Mom of the Year at Ariel's Preschool,

I know I've mentioned you before in my blawg, but I have to address your behavior again.  I really appreciate the lovely pink bags you distributed full of nice hard candy and chewy, sugary snacks and play-doh to Ariel's class for your daugher's birthday, oh, not to mention the bright pink donuts from Ariel's favorite donut store, but did you have to include these?  Because everytime I hear it, I think I'm being chased by a wild, lunatic goose, and it just isn't fun.  Luckily, Ariel is invited to your daughter's birthday party at a dance studio on Monday.  I'll be giving your daughter a set of drums.

Love,
The lazy, irritable mother.

We did not go to Wal-Mart

I can hardly believe I went a Friday night without going to Wal-Mart, I'm a little shocked and thrown off by the change of routine, but I also feel like a daredevil, a rebel.

Brian and I did go on our date Friday night, we had a wonderful time, we were away from home and children for almost 5 hours.  We went to dinner, where I am pretty sure the waitress was very upset with my cheapness.  Here's an example of the cheap conversation we had:

"I'd like the Signature Margarita, please." 

"Would you like the Premium Signature Margarita?" 

I replied with "how much does it cost?" 

"$6.99." 

"huh??  How much is the non-premium margarita?" 

"four something," she replied dryly.

"I'll take it!"

Then I ordered the blackened chicken alfredo and she asked if I wanted garlic bread for forty nine cents.  "You charge for garlic bread when someone orders a pasta dish?"  She replies "yes we do."  Classy.

And although we did stay out of Wal-Mart, we did go to Home Depot because I had this crazy idea to paint Ariel's room on Saturday while my sister was in town and she could help me do it.  Because you know, nothing says a nice visit from your sister on a sunny Saturday like painting.  It wasn't the easiest decision, I have to tell you, we could have gone to breakfast, gotten manicures, gone shopping, gone to lunch, the possibilities were endless (and fattening!).  Instead, we opted to surprise Ariel with the pink room she has wanted for a very long time.  Plus, Ariel continues to peel the butterfly border of her walls and things are looking a little rough in there.  So, pink paint we purchased.  Lots of it.  Making our date even more expensive.  (oh and we totally did not take a picture of us.)

After Home Depot we went to see "Reign Over Me."  Let me know tell you that I am EMBARRASSED by my comment about Adam Sandler taking the serious roles, and how that actually made me NOT want to see the movie.  It's even worse that I made the opinion so very public by posting it on the internet.  It was an awesome movie.  Mr. Sandler knocked our socks off.  I laughed and cried and it is still sticking with me two days later.  My man Don Cheadle did not disappoint. I.LOVED.IT.  Go see it, k?

So, as planned, we spent Saturday peeling wallpaper and painting, without Ariel knowing.  She spent the day at her Grandmother's.  I'm so lucky to have had my sister help because she is a CRAZY PAINTING MANIAC.  Then, after we got all the furniture moved back into Ariel's room, rather than sitting and waiting for Ariel to come home...SHE CONTINUED TO CLEAN!  AND DUST!  AND ORGANIZE DVD's!  I could have kissed and hugged her all night long, but she wouldn't have liked it, I just know it.   Especially since, well, let's just say I wasn't smelling too pretty.

Before

After

Before (I had already began peeling the wallpaper before taking the picture)

After

So, there you have it.  Lots of pink paint.  And a very happy girl.  And because I can't leave anything alone, I began stenciling this flowery, hearty, starry, ribbony thing on the top of one of the light pink walls using the darker pink paint used on one of the walls, the only problem is that is looks like I taped a stencil on the wall and then painted with a blindfold on, I'm not a good "stippler" apparently, which I can accept.  I had just decided to paint over it when Ariel walked in and almost passed out by it's "loveliness" and where I think it's an eyesore, with each new section I do, she passes out a little bit more because she loves it SO! MUCH!  So, it's her room and she loves it and isn't that the point?

Oh and it was heartbreaking to take down her baby border and to paint over the paint we picked for her when she was just a baby.  Heartbreaking.  I wasn't expecting it until I took a cross off of her wall that read "God Bless Baby" and it made my heart ache just a little bit.  But He sure has blessed her, and all of us.

It was an accident

         I'm pretty sure the devil wears a bunny suit.

Apparently I thought the goal of Easter was to end the day LOOKING like an Easter egg.

And I don't mean getting a dressed up in pastels and big hats and crap.  I mean because I ate more yesterday than I have in a long, long time.  And the sad thing?  I wish I had shoved more chocolate and caramel and peanut butter into my mouth, instead, I was filling myself up with turkey, rolls, cakes, cheesecake, green bean casseroles and potato salad.  How ridiculous is it that in one day I had two pieces of cake and a slice of cheesecake??  Did I learn nothing at my Weight Watcher meetings?  Don't make celebrations about food, they tell you.  Find an activity besides eating, they say.  Apparently, I was confused because eating was my activity. 

Either way, we had a wonderful day.  Brian left for church at 8:25AM, 25 minutes before us, so he could save us a seat.  (last year we sat on the floor)  I ran around trying to finish getting myself ready, getting the kids ready, brushing their teeth and sprinting out the door.  Except things don't always go as planned, now do they? 

Just as I was about to put Ariel's tights on, she tells me she has to go #2.  Wasn't exactly part of MY plan, but what are you going to do?  Then she gets dressed, heavy winter coats are on, Racecar gets into his carseat and he tells me he has to go potty.  He runs into the house while I buckle Ariel up.   I go back into the house to check on Racecar, he's in the living room, coat still on and the arm of his coat is soaking wet.  With what?  I have no idea.  So, I pull the coat off and wash his hand and arm and I have to put a jacket on him, because, well...he only has one winter coat, of course!  (30 degrees, folks)  We get into the car and I look into the mirror I have a sweat mustache.  I am so hot.

We were late, poor Brian is saving a four foot section of a pew in a church where there are easily 100 people standing and trying to find seat.  Between the four of us and our coats, we had no room, the kids literally sat on our coats.  Then we had an unfortunate incident with holy water, that I'm not going to get into, but let's just say...we were soaking wet.  So, that was our holy experience for the day and it was fine and good and memorable and where's my chocolate?

But the family time was glorious.   At Brian's parents house we played a game that Brian and I had purchased for my sister-in-law and her husband for Christmas called "Quelf."  We had never played it before buying it for them, but we heard it was a fun game, so we bought it for them.  Well, we were right on because that game is soooo FUN.  Strange? yes.  Different?  totally.  But hysterical.  Check out the reviews, not a single hater!  (Lynette, you and Jason are coming over to play it after bedtime someday, m'kay??)

Then we went to my parent's house where the laughter was just as plentiful.  We sat and talked and ate and searched for many, many eggs.  There were moments, through the laughter where I realized the people we were conversing with and enjoying so much are now teenagers, these kids who, I swear, I was just holding in my arms or trying to entertain by acting like a clown.  But here they were, old and hilarious.  And it wasn't too far in my mind that before I know it, my kids will be that old, too.  They won't be climbing onto my lap wanting "uppy" or smashing hard boiled eggs, they will someday care that their tights are dirty and their shoes are scuffed and their Spiderman underwear is showing.

So, for now, I'll try not to scowl at the grass stains, because soon I won't be seeing those any longer.  You know, in like 15 years.

(p.s.  still sick...going to doctor today.) 

The only picture with Ariel and Racecar together, their cousin is in the center.

Randomly Random

First of all.

BOO.  SANJAYA.  BOO.
Your hair is big, (unless you use a flat iron) your body so lean.
When you sing, I cover my ears
and close my eyes.
please go. 
please stop pumping your hair up and please stop acting like a DILL HOLE when you are ACTUALLY NOT VOTED OFF. 

Did you know that if Sanjaya gets through just one more week he gets to tour with the top 10 the following year? 

Second of all.  Bleach.  You are so good, but oh so bad.  Bleach, you stupid bleach, you ruined one of my favorite shirts.  A shirt that I wear, all the time, when I'm trying to dress up my jeans.  Lucky for you, I have The World's Greatest Husband and when I showed it to him, he looked so sad and said that it's so cute on me and that we'll go buy another one.  Good guy.

Oh and Target, you ingrate, last night I bought a Disney Princess doll and a few other items.  My total seemed a little lean, after driving away from Target and as I was walking into Pier One, I examined the receipt and saw that you didn't charge me the 10 bucks for the doll.  I went back because, well, KARMA, y'all, and you didn't say, "WOW!" or "Thank you for not stealing!" or "You rock my world!"  NOPE, in fact, you tried to scan the bar code on the doll and the smart register told you that it wasn't a valid code and you know what you told me, Target?  You told me you couldn't sell me that doll!!  Can you believe you said that?  When I pointed out that five minutes ago I was in my car with the doll without having paid for it, it seemed a little odd that when I came back in to PAY for it, it was then that I couldn't have it, well, you actually looked into it and let me buy it.  Thanks.

And that doll, Target?  Means more to me than you will ever know.

*Sanjaya caricature courtesy of Vote for the Worst.com

The Supreme Vacation

We returned from our trip to Florida last night.

And I really want to talk about the total and complete sunshine.  The warm temperatures that ranged from 75-87 degrees.  The Flip Flops.  The Capris.  Swimsuits.  The abundance of swimming pools.  The tall, glorious palm trees.  The wine.  Going to Disney for the first time.  Mickey Mouse.  Donald Duck.  Princesses.  Walking around barefoot outside.    The screened in porch.  The landscaping.  The relaxing. 

But I can't.  Not, yet.  I really have the desire to complain.   Because so much went wrong.  So. Much.  And although I don't think it's healthy to dwell in the negative, I can't ignore it.  And I'm not dwelling, I'm just sayin'.  So many things just plain ol' sucked and I'm going to tell you about it.  Hope you don't mind.  Feel free to close your browser now and check back in tomorrow. 

How about a list?  Would that be okay with you?  Great!

1.  We learned last Saturday that our Sunday morning flight to Orlando was cancelled due to weather.  Our beautiful nonstop flight to Florida.  We booked another flight.
2.  That flight was cancelled, too.
3.  We scheduled another flight that was scheduled to leave Monday morning, with a stop.
4.  I fell asleep at 3am and woke up at 4:44am.  We get to the airport, Monday morning after hearing reports that O'Hare is very busy, expect delays, etc etc etc.  (not to mention the 2 hours it took to drive there, rather than the one hour it should have taken.)  Once there, we walked past a huge line, that we learned was our line.  We walked back to the back of the line, looked at eachother and thought "there is NO WAY we will make this flight."  P.S.  Racecar refused to walk because he's scared of any elevators or escalators or trams or trains.  He even hears them...he freaks out.  Irritating, I know.
5.  While in line, we had 2 kids, 2 car seats, 2 pieces of kids luggage, 3 pieces of huge luggage, 3 carry ons and a purse.
6.  While in line, I realize Brian accidently brought a huge piece of luggage that was actually empty.  He thought I had packed it.  Could be funny.  But it wasn't.  At all.  (nobody's fault, I know)  Okay, it wasn't empty, it had two more pieces of luggage inside of it.  (hence the reason why Brian thought it was packed.)  Don't laugh, it's not funny.
7.  Plane is running late, no explanation.  We board the plane and Racecar freaks out.  Screaming, sweating, crying.  OMG.  It was a nightmare.  I mean, he's three.  GIVE ME A BREAK.  He won't sit in his seat.  Brian and I looked at eachother and were like "OMG, what are we going to do?"  I honestly thought I was going to get off of the plane.  Brian thought we would be kicked off, especially after reading this article.  The only thing the attendants did was tell us that he must be in a seat belt when the plane moves.  Thanks for helpin'!  He calmed down when we moved and I distracted him with the bigger planes outside.  After that, he was great.
8.  Had a good layover in Charlotte, except the kids were hyper, running all over the place, Racecar acted like a dog and was licking the floor. 
9.  Took off from Charlotte, Racecar slept, life was good. 
10.  Landed in Florida and for the next day and a half, it was a great trip!
11.  Tuesday night, after the most glorious vacation day ever...Ariel threw up after 11pm.  Her first time ever throwing up.  We blamed everything from swallowing chlorine, to eating too much.  But then she did it again and again and again and again.  Our longest stretch of sleep was just over an hour.  Poor girl.
12.  I started feeling yucky, but blamed it on the large amount of vomit I had been exposed to over the past 10 hours.  She finally stopped throwing up at noon on Wednesday and then the diarrhea began. 
13.  Her bootie started to hurt, naturally, she didn't want to take the medicine and she was tired.  She only wanted Mommy.  Again...naturally.
14.  Wednesday night, we decided to book (i.e. buy) a different flight out of Florida since we had already purchased our tickets for Disney.  We were scheduled to depart Thursday afternoon, but now we were leaving Saturday morning.
15.  Thursday, early afternoon, after a good sleep, we went to DisneyWorld.  I still hadn't gotten sick, but still felt bad.  Sour stomach or something, I couldn't really eat.  For dinner Wednesday night I had a dinner roll at 10pm. 
16.  Had a good time at Disney, Ariel perked up alot, she rode on tons of rides, (the girl has no fear.) and we had cheeseburgers for lunch.
17.  By the end of the day, the kids were wiped out after the 8 o'clock light parade, they were sitting in the stroller together, happily.  I got out my camera, went to take a picture and Racecar had thrown up all over himself...and Ariel.
18.  He threw up again.
19.  Luckily, I had brought a spare pair of undies and shorts.  We changed him and I cleaned up the stroller with spare pull up I had brought, Brian cleaned up what he could with diaper wipes.  We made it to the car, in record time, and Racecar threw up again.
20.  Got home.  My diarrhea started immediately, Ariel continued to have it and Racecar continued to throw up.  All I wanted to do was vomit.  (is this TMI?)
21.  Brian got sick.  LUCKILY, Brian's mom slept with Racecar in the living room, so Brian and I could be sick and sleep.  Racecar's last bout of throw up was at 4am.  I did finally do it myself a few times, the final time being at 2:30am.
22.  Spent the day Friday trying to keep things down, trying to drink coffee.  (again, Brian's parents helped SO much.  I don't know what we would have done with out them.  Somehow, they didn't get sick.  THANK GOD.)  Ariel continued to have bouts of diarrhea. 
23.  We slept good Friday night, woke up, hit the road by 8 am.  Flights were on time.  They even had CURBSIDE CHECK-IN.  HOORAY!  GO ORLANDO AIRPORT!  (oh, I guess this didn't deserve a number, did it?)
24.  The kids were awesome.  We flew to Philly.  Landed, didn't switch plans, ran and ate a fast piece of pizza.  Boarded back on the plane for the last time---I said to Brian "this is going to be a difficult flight, the kids are losing interest, they're tired and our laptop batteries are dying."  The flight was on time!  Finally.  We head towards the runaway and stopped.  For one hour.  n.i.g.h.t.m.a.r.e.
25.  Landed in Chicago.  Both the kids were done.  Exhausted.  They both wanted to be held because their legs hurt.  Anna had just whined for a solid 3 hours.  Where are the margaritas????
26.  Picked up our luggage, all of it.  Tons of it.  Walked to an elevator (remember, Racecar needs to be held) and it was broken.  Had to take an escalator with 2 kids, 2 car seats, 2 pieces of kids luggage, 3 pieces of huge luggage, 3 carry ons and a purse.  Ariel fell, she was fine. 
27.  Took 2 more escalators, then a 15 minute tram, while I held Racecar, (38 pounds) then we get to the parking lot.  Paid SEVENTY EIGHT dollars in parking.

I guess it's not that bad.  Now, I'm sure I could make a list just as long of the good things, and maybe I will.  During the week, I tried my hardest to find the silver lining every day.  And sometimes it worked. (I can assure you, THERE ARE A LOT OF SILVER LININGS!)

I did lose over five pounds.  And we put the kids to bed at 8pm last night.  So, we caught up on Idol!  TWO SILVER LININGS RIGHT THERE!!