Monday, December 31, 2007

New Year's Eve

I'll be ringing in the new year with a box of tissues and a cup of tea, most likely. Ugh. I don't feel good. Just a cold, but still no fun. We were going to try and have some friends over tonight, but I really would rather just snuggle up and go to sleep.

Chloe's birthday is in a week. Can you believe it? I sure can't. Where the heck have the last five years gone?! She's gonna have a great party. Thankfully, it won't be till weekend after her birthday so I have a bit of time to prepare, and there will probably only be three little girls here so it won't be overwhelming.

On the crafting front - I've finished the Leaf Lace scarf and also made a lace photo mat from the book my dad got me for Christmas. The photo mat was supposed to be for my sister in law, but I managed to twist it and screw it up so unless I can fix it, I'm gonna frog it. Grr. I hate when that happens. I need to weave in the ends on the scarf, and then I'll probably start a sweater for Cora with some yarn I've had for a few weeks now and have been very anxious to get started on.

There's really not much of interest to report. Just some quiet days lately, hanging around the house. andrew's back to work today, though he has tomorrow off too. I'm sure I'll blog more once he's back for a couple weeks. :-)

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Please let it just be a stage...

The tree is down, the toys are all put away, the thank you cards are written and ready to be mailed. Christmas is over. :::sigh::: And now it's time to get ready for my four year old to turn five. I'm so not ready for that. Where have the last five years gone?!

Speaking of the four year old - ugh! She's been so difficult lately. Every five minutes she's asking "Do you want to play with me?" I don't mind playing with her - I do, a lot. But she needs to learn to entertain herself a little bit more! She got all kinds of new things for Christmas, but she won't play with any of them alone. "I might get scared and be all alone," she says. And she's been whiny and kind of tantrum-prone lately too. It's driving me up the wall.

I'm trying to think back to when i was four years old, and what I did. I don't remember much. I do remember playing Barbies for hours on end, by myself in my room. I remember playing different things in the living room while my mom was ironing and watching General Hospital - the laundry basket was so much fun. Chloe has a laundry basket, and she does like it, but it doesn't hold her interest for long. I remember about the age of five, I'd sit in my room and read a dozen or so picture books at one time, or I'd listen to books on tape. I'd draw pictures and do stencils and markers and play-dough. I would do stuff by myself, and then just go and show my mom when I was finished. She didn't sit there with me the whole time. Occasionally she'd play Candy Land or Barbies with me, but it wasn't all the time. By the time I was seven years old, I could play Monopoly alone, with four versions of 'me' sitting around the board.

I just wish Chloe could do that! There's no good reason she can't, other than that she's so used to having someone play with her all the time that she just expects it constantly.

Andrew asked "Is it like this when I'm not home too? Chaotic and stressful? Does she always want someone to play with her all the time, or is it just when I'm here?" LOL Nope, it's all the time honey. I kind of vented to him last night. I feel bad - I don't want it to sound like I'm complaining. And I'm not. He vents about his job sometimes, it doesn't mean he wants to quit. But staying at home all the time sure does get frustrating! I told him I wish we had a few more kids already - and I wish that Chloe wasn't five years older. Then maybe she'd have siblings to play with instead of just being like an only child.

I think we need more play dates. :-P

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Yay for Christmas!

I love Christmas. I really do. I love giving people things, and I love getting new things. LOL

Overall, we had a wonderful and fun Christmas. Chloe, at almost 5 years old, makes it so much fun. Here are some of the better pics:








Yes, that is a playhouse. My mom got this playhouse for Chloe on the day after Thanksgiving. Andrew put it together a few weeks ago, and it's been covered with tarps in the back yard since then. She saw it - we told her it was a dog house for Izzy but that it wasn't finished yet. She never questioned it again. Once she saw that it was a play house, she came up with all kinds of ideas - it needs a heater, a fan, a stove and sink and table and chairs and a globe. LOL And we will be painting it pink as soon as the weather warms up enough for painting.

Cora's sitting next to me in her bouncer watching her new Baby Einstein DVD - Chloe likes it as much as the baby does. Andrew got all kinds of hunting and camo gear - everything I bought him was something my dad suggested. He seemed pretty happy.

My wonderful husband gave me a pair of sapphire earrings that match his wedding ring - they're so beautiful. And the robe that I'm wearing right now - one from bath & body works, it feels like I'm wearing a plush blanket. I love it. :o) I'm on this sign kick right now - all the cool signs with fun sayings you see everywhere. He got me one that says "life's a dance, you learn as you go" and "To have and to hold". I love them. And we mustn't forget the wine - that was his gift to us. LOL A case of wine from my personal favorite local winery, plus two extra bottles of their Sangiovese, the best wine I've ever tasted.

And then after we had Christmas at our house, we went to my parents' house where there were just as many presents to open all over again. My dad gave me a scrapbooking kit that's got all kinds of cool stuff in it, and Handknit Holidays, a knitting pattern book with some awesome patterns in it. He picked them out all by himself - he doesn't do that often. I was very touched. It shows he knows me better than he used to! Cora got lots of clothes from different relatives, she ought to be a very well dressed baby (as if she's not already.) Chloe got some more Littlest Pet Shop, and plenty of other things to entertain her.

All this stuff! We're very spoiled. :o)

Here's hoping that all of my readers had a wonderful Christmas as well!

Monday, December 24, 2007

The crazy neighbor woman

A couple of days ago, the dog from the house kind of diagonally behind us got into our next door neighbor's yard. It does it fairly often. So the next door neighbor called animal control, because while it was in her yard it destroyed one of her cats. While animal control was out there, I went to see which dog they were taking, and ended up filling out my own report since that dog has caused problems before, and torments my dog through the fence, and tries to knock our fence down. The dog in question is a white boxer, and none too friendly.

So yesterday I stepped out the back door, was standing on the stoop throwing Izzy's toy for her, when the crazy neighbor lady that was the owner of the dog in question came out into her yard. (Our houses sort of back up to the ones on the street south of us. She could see me over our fence since I was standing on the stoop.) She started waving her middle finger in the air. Then she decided that wasn't enough so she started screaming all kind of wonderful obscenities at me - God d*** you and your whole household. I hope you die, and your children too. You're all going to hell. You tell lies, dog hater.

I wish I could describe the way she was screaming. It was sort of like low, gutteral noises, kind of like the ones Chloe makes when she's roaring like a lion. It was really kind of scary. I didn't say a word, just went back inside and called my dog who was growling like mad through a crack in the fence. Then I realized they were standing at their back window watching me as I paced through the house holding Cora. It was rather creepy.

So I called the police. When he came I told him "This seems sort of ridiculous, but that lady just scared the heck out of me." I told him what happened. He went over to her house and was there for a long time - nearly an hour. When he came back he told me, "She's definitely crazy." He said she was emotionally unstable. He said he might advise us to get a restraining order and not to go into our backyard or to let our dog in the back yard. Awesome. So now our poor dog is cooped up in the house and can't go out and run. :-(

My neighbor next door called to see what was going on. I told her the story. She came over with a can of mace and helped me move stuff so I could close the blinds in the living room. Good neighbors are nice to have.

Now I'm afraid for my poor dog's life - I wouldn't put it past them to throw some poisoned meat or something into our yard. I'm afraid to let my kid go out and play for fear she'll hear words no four year old ought to hear. And I'm thoroughly annoyed that we even have to deal with this. Stupid crazy lady.

And then, just to make the evening that much better, we ended up going to Andrew's parents' house last night. They always insist that we come out at night, when his dad is home. I understand his dad wanting to see the baby, but why couldn't they come here? Ugh! So Cora screamed the whole way there - it's a 30 minute drive; she screamed the whole time we were there, almost an hour; and then she finally cried herself to sleep on the drive home. It was terrible. Poor baby just wouldn't calm down. It was her sleepy time, and she was mad that she was awake and being strapped into the car, and it just wasn't good.

Yeah. So it was just a swell night last night.

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Time spent waiting

The average person spends at least 3 years of their life waiting. That ends up being about 62 minutes a day in a 70 year life.

That seems like a really low estimate.

I spend all day waiting for my husband to get home. I spend about 30 minutes most days waiting for my perpetually late ex-husband to show up with my daughter. I wait in grocery store lines. I wait at red lights. I wait for the mail man. I wait for Chloe to get dressed, to go to the bathroom, to eat her dinner. I wait for the baby to wake up. I wait for the baby to go to sleep. I wait for paint to dry, or glue to dry. I wait in stores to check out. I wait for dinner to cook.

I think nearly all of my life is spent waiting, in one way or another. Isn't that terrible?

And waiting makes me irritable.

=======================================

Today is Sunday. Andrew is working yet again. The only good part of that is that it might get us out of going to his parents' house this evening if he's out late. I'll spend a good portion of the day at my parents' house, having breakfast and just hanging out.

I need to get another ball of yarn for my Monkey socks. I have about 20 flippin' rows left of knitting, and I'm out of yarn. Oooh, that irks me! I made these socks to use up the taupe Paton's Grace I had. Now I'll be left with about the same amount when the socks are finished. How annoying! In the meantime, I've started the "leafy lace scarf" out of a silk/wool blend for my sister in law. It's pretty. I hope she likes it.

Have I gone off about my ex mother in law and Santa yet? Forgive me if this is a repeat vent, I'm so mad about it! Chloe told me the other day, "Santa isn't coming to our house." I asked her what on earth she meant and she said "Santa goes to Silver Grammy's house. She told me." Silver Grammy is Mark's mother - the psychotic drunken bitch. (ahem. Please pardon the language.) She told my daughter that Santa Claus will not come to our house, but that he will come to her house the night BEFORE Christmas Eve. Why the hell would she tell my little girl that, other than to try to take away Christmas from us?

So I told her the truth. I said, "Honey, Silver Grammy is just crazy. Santa won't go to her house. She's just an old lady, and Santa only visits kids and their homes. And this is your home." And then I reiterated the crazy part. She said that she has a stocking at her grandmother's house that Santa will fill. I said, "no, honey. She's going to put things in that stocking. Santa is too busy the night before Christmas Eve, he won't go anywhere until Christmas Eve. Your grammy just doesn't know what she's talking about."

:oX

That woman makes me crazy. I go from the psychotic drunken mother in law that needs a little bit of religion in her life to the psychotically religious mother in law who could stand to have a drink or two.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

It's Saturday already!

Going to the Nutcracker turned out to be a wonderful idea. Chloe really enjoyed it. She kept asking "Where's the fairy?" :o) It was a great performance, a little different from the traditional ballet, but we all enjoyed it. Cora sat quietly through the whole thing - not one little peep out of her. She has gone from a rather difficult baby to the easiest baby in the whole world. She just likes attention and company, and gets bored rather easily.

After the Nutcracker we drove through a couple neighborhoods looking at Christmas lights. We let the girls sit up in the front seat with us while we were going about 5 miles an hour, and they both seemed pretty happy about it.

I love all the fun things there are to do around the holidays.

===========================================

So Andrew has worked so much the past week we've hardly seen him. Last night was the first time all week we actually spent any time together. In the first 48 hours of the week, he worked 42 of them. It didn't get much better all week. He's supposed to have 10 hours off between shifts, but he hasn't always been getting that. It's frustrating not to have him around more. But come Monday, he'll be off for a week, so we'll enjoy that. I like that he ended up with Christmas week off. We'll have all kinds of fun new toys to put together and play with, and he'll get to help!

============================================

Crafty stuff - I'm almost finished with the second Monkey sock. I'm so terrible about finishing the second sock or mitten when I make them. I already have several projects lined up after the socks are done - a lace scarf for my sister in law, a couple of baby sweaters for babies that are coming, a cardigan for my own baby, one for the bigger baby, and then I'd like to do another big project, a sweater for myself or something. Should keep me busy through February at least.

I recently got my invitation to Ravelry. It's the coolest flippin' site on the internet! Well, it is if you knit or crochet. I'm totally sucked in and fascinated with it. If any of you out there are knitters or crocheters, go join! it takes awhile to get added since they're still in Beta and ramping up their bandwidth, but it's worth the wait. Check out my ravelry page here: http://www.ravelry.com/people/itdoesntsck2bme

I guess that's about all I'll write for now. Gosh, I feel so behind, there's so much I want to talk about from the last couple weeks!

Friday, December 21, 2007

I have Blogger back!

For whatever reason, my computer decided I shouldn't be allowed to have Blogger for awhile. Andrew fixed it though, so I'm back. :o)

I'm not even gonna bother trying to back-blog. We'll just start with today.

We went this morning to drop off some little goodies to some of Chloe's friends. I picked up these little Foamies craft kits at Michael's for .50 each on sale. They make little 3-D Christmas decorations. Chloe and I each did one, then put one in each gift bag with a few cookies and gave them out to her friends. It made her happy to give them gifts, and her friends were happy to get something. It was cute.

After that Chloe had a play date with Elizabeth, then we came home and took a nap, all three of us. We're going out tonight to see the Nutracker production by the college and then to drive around and look at Christmas lights, so we're guaranteed to be up pretty late. I thought a nap would do Chloe good so she doesn't get all crabby later.

I totally spaced dinner this morning - oops. Not sure what we'll have. Maybe I can convince my husband to take us out. :o) LOL

And there goes the baby fussing already. Guess I'll have to cut this short. More tomorrow!

Thursday, December 13, 2007

A really long survey

Entire Life Quiz



TAKE THIS SURVEY!


Answer YES or NO only!


Drank so much you threw up? Only a few times
Had feelings for someone who didn't have them back? Yeah, but not in my adult life
Been arrested? Yup.
Gone on a blind date? Nope
Skipped school? haha, yeah, lots
Seen someone die? Yes. One of the most profound moments in my life
Been to Canada? Nope
Been to Florida? Yep
Been to Mexico? Nope
Been in a helicopter? No
Been on a plane? Yes
Jumped out of a plane? Yes! I wanna do it again!
Been lost? Once, when mapquest's directions were wrong
Gone to Washington ,DC? Yup. It creeped me out. Big cities have that effect on me.
Swam in the ocean? Yes - but not for a long time
Felt like dying? Oh goodness, yes
Cried yourself to sleep? Yup
Played cops and robbers? I think so, but not lately
Recently colored with crayons? Oh yes. Thank heavens for small children
Sang karaoke? Regularly!
Paid for a meal with only coins? In my early days on my own. yeah
Done something you told yourself you wouldn't? I got divorced. And I'm glad I did.
Made prank phone calls? Years and years ago
TP'd someone's house? I don't think so
Keyed someone's car? Heavens no. That's just mean.
Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose? Pepsi. It burns.
Laughed until liquid came out the other end? Pleading the fifth...
Caught a snowflake on your tongue? Of course!
Danced in the rain? Got one better - danced naked in the rain. :o)
Written a letter to Santa Claus? Once upon a time
Been kissed under the mistletoe? Many times - but most often by a little girl.
Watched the sun rise with someone you care about? Yep
Blown bubbles? Often
Made a bonfire on the beach/river bank? Nope
Crashed a party? Yep
Shot a gun? Oh yes. Good fun. :o)
Gone roller-skating? Yup, but not for years
Gone Ice-skating? Yep, and wanna go again.
Jumped off a bridge? I was too chicken...
Called in sick when you weren't? LOL Who hasn't?
Been so mad you laughed? Yep
Been so happy you cried? The moment Cora was born, and when I was married - the second time
Felt bad for someone you didn't like? Sure
Rocked out, lip syncing a song while no one was around? I don't lip sync. I sing at the top of my lungs. And I don't care who is around.
Still dream about what you'll do when you grow up?? Yep, all the time


Random Questions:


Any nicknames? Jules, Momma
Mother's Name: Cheryl
What is your favorite non alcoholic drink? Coffee
Tattoos? Nope
Body piercing? My lip, though I forget it's there
How much do you love your job? I'm a mom. I would never change that.
Birthplace? Apple Valley, CA
Favorite Animal? Three toed sloth
Favorite Color? Brown
Favorite Season? The first two weeks of Spring
Favorite type of music: Country
Something you couldn't live without? My husband and kids
Favorite vacation spot? I have lots. Kansas. Rifle Falls. Ouray/Silverton
Ever been to Africa? No. But my dad has and I'm jealous.
Ever eaten cookies for dinner? No, but I have with ice cream.
Ever been on TV? Yeah
Ever steal any traffic signs? LOL Yep! Was just thinking about that the other day.
Ever been in a car accident? Yes, but only minor ones
Was it your fault? Nope
Were you hurt? Nope
Salad dressing? Honey mustard or ras. viniagrette
Any Animals? Izzy - the 90 lb black lab
Favorite number? 13
Favorite Movie? The Notebook
Favorite Holiday? Christmas
Favorite alcoholic drink? Lately - red wine. Or microbrewed beer.
Favorite Food? Anything Mexican
Favorite day of the week? Sunday
Favorite brand of body soap? Dial
Favorite TV shows? None
Favorite toothpaste? Whatever is cheap
What do you do to relax? Knit... but I don't really relax.
What message do you send to friends reading this now? Umm.. I dunno
How do you see yourself in 10 years? hopefully mildly crazy with six children keeping me busy with the wonderful husband I have now.
What do you do when you are bored? knit, make stuff, bake, make the baby smile...
Furthest Place you will send this message? I dunno
Who will respond the fastest? I dunno

CLICK HERE TO TAKE THIS SURVEY!

More surveys @ MySpaceBulletins.com

I'm such a spazz

So, I was talking to a friend of mine tonight on the phone. I asked if she had Myspace. She tells me "I'm on your friends list." WTF? And lo and behold, there she was, her two adorable daughters smiling away at me from her profile page - on my friends list. Jesus, I feel so lame. I added her, but have absolutely no recollection of it.

So I took a little trip through my friends list. There are a handful of people that I'm not really sure who they are. There was a picture of a lady I've 'known' (online) for years but have never 'seen'. I attribute my cooking ability to her, in part. I really should pay more attention.
==

So today was my first Thursday on my own in weeks. It was actually pretty great. I got my floors mopped, organized the girls' closet and dressers, cleaned up my computer desk - a perpetual disaster area, wrote and mailed some Christmas cards, got the windshield on the truck fixed, hung out with my mother... twice. I had a rather productive day. Oh! And I watched a movie. :o) I watched The Preacher's Wife on VOD. It was cute. I don't usually watch movies or TV during the day - okay, I never watch TV. But Andrew and I sometimes watch movies together at night. I felt like a renegade though, watching a whole movie during the day when I could have been doing something else. :::gasp::: Granted, I watched it in segments, regularly interrupted by the baby, the dog, the phone, etc. But hey, it was fun anyway!

I have creative block. Kind of like writer's block, only there is no creativity left. I can no longer create scrapbook pages. I can't imagine anything cool to knit. I'm knitting a sock. A sock that follows a pattern, without any straying from said pattern. This very, very rarely happens. I don't like it at all. Sadly, the creativity is also gone from 'school', and Chloe is now doing workbooks because I can't think of anything fun to do. Our gingerbread cookies all looked the same because I had no creativity with which to decorate them. My creativity has up and vanished. I wish it would come back, I miss it dreadfully.

We're going bowling tomorrow with the above mentioned friend (the one I forgot about adding to my myspace. @@) I'm a dork, but I'm totally excited. We're getting out of the house, and we're gonna do something FUN! Weeeee! I need that. Chloe needs that.

I'm gonna go. I need to bathe my baby, and probably knit some more ob the supremely boring Sock.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Back in the swing

It's been so long since Andrew was at work I've kind of forgotten what my normal day is like!

Since my daughter is now a dance school drop out, we don't have ballet on Mondays anymore. I'll have to find something else fun to do. Maybe we'll try and get together with a friend to play this afternoon.

I haven't really been doing much holiday stuff - I'm not as into it this year as I usually am. I haven't even baked any Christmas cookies. I think we definitely need to make some snowball cookies today. Usually I bake 6 or 8 different kinds of cookies in huge batches and then give them out to our friends. Not sure if that'll happen yet this year.

I have pretty much finished all the Christmas shopping though, aside from maybe another thing or two for Andrew. And I would kind of like to make the girls outfits - I haven't touched my sewing machine in weeks, poor thing is probably feeling terribly neglected.

I also have three sling orders - every time we leave the house, people comment on the sling. I should've started making them when people first asked, I'd have sold probably a dozen or so by now. But now I've decided to go ahead and make them, they're so easy, and babies need to be held like that more often. So I need to order some rings and then pick out a few fabrics.

As for knitting, all I've done lately is two diaper covers. I still haven't finished the first Monkey sock, I think I'll try and get those done now. Except I'd also like to knit Chloe a stuffed kitten, as she keeps asking for one. :o)

Uh oh, sounds like the baby's up, I better go. I guess I'll write more later, or tomorrow!

Sunday, December 9, 2007

2007 Holiday Pics






Note to self: Never bother trying to get two kids smiling in the same picture. Heck, or even looking at the camera at the same time!

Also, never wear glasses when pictures are being taken. Ugh. I think we might re-take some without my glasses, all the pictures had the worse glare!

I'm gonna take some more of Cora by herself too. She was kind of fed up by the time we got done with everything.

The Denver Zoo

And here are some pictures of the animals we saw at the zoo. It was the perfect day for the zoo - cool, but not cold, and very quiet since it was a Monday and apparently not a popular day for zoo goers. We really enjoyed it.

A couple highlights of the zoo -

We saw hyenas fight. I mean like really fight. One was all bloody, and it looked like the other two were trying to rip it's ear off. The poor hyena was howling like nothing I've ever heard before, and kids and parents were all screaming and panicking. It was insane. Chloe's still talking about it like it was the only thing she saw the whole day.

We watched a monkey masturbate. No, seriously, he really was. We were watching the little baby monkey nursing and playing with his mama, and a couple other monkeys were jumping around and being cute. And then I noticed the daddy monkey, and he was sittin' there whackin' it! It was rather hilarious. I was too shocked to get a photo, and now I'm mad at myself for that. LOL

Anyhow, here are the pics I did manage to get. I've noticed I don't take nearly as many pictures of Cora. Poor baby. It's not that she's neglected, it's that she's always just kinda sitting there in the sling, and there are only so many pictures to take of a baby in a sling before they get kinda old. :-P



This is one pic that Cora did get in - see her reflection? I thought that was kind of neat.




The Children's Museum in Denver

Andrew's been off for two and a half weeks, hence my lack of blogging. But he's going back to work tomorrow, and is in bed early tonight, so I'm gonna try to catch up on some picture posting.

Last Monday we took off to Denver for a couple days. We spent a day at the zoo and a day at the Children's Museum. It really was a lot of fun.

There was SO much to do at the museum. There was a real fire engine with working lights and sirens, plus fire coats and hats to dress up in and a fire hose to play with. There was a 'little kids area' that even had a little play area for babies Cora's age, on up to age 4. There was a place where they could dress up like squirrels, bunnies, or beetles and then play in an area where everything was larger than life - it looked like it would to a small animal or bug. There was a kid-sized grocery store, complete with shopping carts and produce, and then a restaurant to practice 'cooking' in. There was a kid-sized basketball court and gym area, there was an open art studio with paints, stamps, markers, all kinds of good stuff. There was a puppet theater, a dance studio with dress up costumes and ballet props. There was a 'factory' where they used recycled items (egg cartons, mac & cheese boxes, yogurt lids, etc.) to build things. Chloe and Andrew (okay, mostly Andrew) built a tractor out of all recycled parts. There was also a vet office, where she got to dress up like a vet and take care of stuffed animals.

It was a totally cool adventure. I hope we go back to visit every year or so till the kids are too old - it was basically like the ultimate play place.