What the?

Let me just remind you it's almost May. What is going on?



Yeah, the video is really bad, but you get the idea. It was spur of the moment.

Karma and it's repercussions

I have never really believed in the concept of karma.

That is until now.

I suppose I didn't really understand the term in and of itself. Here is one definition I found:

• the effects of a person's actions that determine his destiny in his next incarnation

Then I had to figure out what the word incarnation meant:

• A period of time passed in a given bodily form or condition

Vocabulary isn't my forte - I reference Dictionary.com quite a bit.

So now that I know what karma entails, I strongly believe it has been applied to my last visit to Sam's Club.

Taylor was off to school and I had dropped Carson off at preschool so I decided to head to Sam's Club and take advantage of only toting around one child as opposed to three. I get there close to 9 am. Little did I realize the club doesn't open to general members until 1o am. Only the special business members get the perks of early shopping.

Well, I didn't come out all this way (25 minute drive) to sit around and wait an hour for my turn to shop, so I decided to make an attempt to pose as a business member. I walk in and in front of me walking in at the same time is a lady with a return. So the greeter is distracted with getting her a return sticker, but looks up at me as I am creeping into the store. It was a bit loud with the blowing vents and I believe she said, "Are you together?", but I took her words to be "Hi how are you?" (so I am fibbing a bit, sue me!) and I nod my head and smile as any person would do if asked how they were doing. All the time thinking to myself, "I am so going to get caught and have my Sam's Club member privileges taken away." Oh the humiliation of such a thing!

But I was in the door. It was the exit door, but I was in the door and away I went to do my shopping, you know, my "business" shopping. wink. wink.

I had a lot on my list as I had not been to The Club in months. My first repercussion of this whole karma thing came as I was getting our usual 4 gallons of milk. (Yes, we buy 4 gallons of milk at a time. 3 growing boys call for lots of dairy!) I grab one and the bottom starts spraying milk out all over the floor. I was surprised Luke didn't come over to it and start sucking it as if it were an extra-giant sized sippy cup. I didn't want to set it back down because it was leaking all over, and I couldn't find a worker around to help with the situation (plus I didn't want to get caught as an illegal business member). So my solution was to put the milk jug up-side-down between the door and the shelving. Surprisingly it stayed that way.

I finish up my shopping and notice there is a nice spread of cake, donuts, muffins, juice and coffee. Man, if this is how they treat their business members then sign me up. And yes, I treated Luke and myself to the free table of goodies. Who would pass up that opportunity? As I was selecting my donut, a shopper came up to the table as well and started chit chatting. She went on to talk about how these vendor treats and lunches really get to be a lot. Sure lady, I can't really relate, but I'm all about a free donut and coffee. Just smile and nod, that's all.

We sit down to not only eat, but try and kill a little time before I check out since it was just turning 10 am and the doors had opened to the peasant members oops I mean regular members. I figured if I went to check out right away and they looked at my card, they would know I couldn't have gotten all my shopping done in that short amount of time. I would have gotten caught for sure. So wasting time and eating carbs we did.

Not too bad of a Sam's experience I would say. But no, it doesn't end there. If only I was lucky enough to just have the milk episode. On to the 2nd repercussion.

Sunday night, my husband grilled the package of turkey tenderloin that I purchased from Sam's. He cut a piece off to test it and when he chewed it he felt something hard. He spit the piece out and look through it to find a small granule piece of glass. I kid you not. So that dinner was ruined.

And finally today I had yet another bad repercussion of the Sam's trip. (That's 3 if anyone's counting.) I had purchased a box of quesadillas of which I have bought in the past without any issues. Today when I bit into it, I felt something hard, long, and sharp. I immediately spit it out and look down to see a 1 inch long chicken bone. I could have easily choked on that. Scarier yet, one of my kids could have been the one to eat it and would have choked. Not good at all. Appetite lost? You bet.










I called Sam's today to let them know about the turkey and the quesadillas. I wonder if I am the only one to experience objects in their food. (I also wonder if I am the only idiot dumb enough to sneak in and not expect anything bad to happen.) I hope it was a rare case and no one else gets hurt, which is why I felt compelled to report it. And the good thing too is that I can get my money back. I won't be buying those products ever again. I'm no dummy. Well, sort of.

Overall, I have learned my lesson. And never again will I sneak into Sam's Club early.

I live in the land of pee

Boys pee too much.

What a nice opening sentence, don't you think?

My youngest son Luke is about to turn 3 on May 5th - my little Cinco de Mayo baby boy. And he still is not completely potty trained, which I know is mostly my fault. I have decided that pull-ups are a joke and a waste of money. He has been in pull ups for far too long and I refuse to buy them any longer. Therefore, we are onto underwear. He could care less if he sits in pee soaked undies. But the thing is that if I sit him on the potty he will go even if he just pissed his pants 5 minutes ago. He's like the energizer bunny with a leaky faucet. He just keeps going and going and going....................

It is driving me crazy!

Add to it the crap factor and we're having a grand ol' time. I don't know how people do the whole cloth diaper thing. No way. I have tossed a fair share of undies in the trash already. At this rate, pull-ups might be more cost effective.

Now my middle son Carson, who is 5, has issues during the night. I don't know if he's just too scared to get up in the middle of the night to relieve himself or he's just too lazy or maybe he is sleeping so soundly he doesn't even notice. But more times than not he wakes up with damp undies. I am constantly doing loads of sheets.

I am frustrated, can you tell?

If I hear, "Mommy, I'm wet" one more time I am going to scream.

Cover your ears.

Before and After

We recently changed the color of our kitchen from orange to sage.
What do you like better?















We also painted the boys bedrooms from a denim blue to a neutral beige.
Which one do you prefer?















We are hoping these changes will spur some interest in our house which is currently on the market.







Oh yeah, one more before and after.



Do you see what I had done? (click on the picture to enlarge it) I am loving it!

Egg-cellent!

I think today is going to be my lucky day.

This morning I was preparing my breakfast of scrambled eggs and the first one I cracked open had a double yolk. In the picture it is the two little yolks on the right side. I have never experienced this before and it startled me for a moment. I researched it online and found that it is fairly rare to find a double yolk in an egg. Also, some consider it good luck. Here are some other facts about eggs. And here are a few facts that I found interesting:

• Eggs are placed in their cartons large end up to keep the air cell in place and the yolk centered.
• To tell if an egg is raw or hard-cooked, spin it! If the egg spins easily, it is hard-cooked but if it wobbles, it is raw.
• The entire month of May has been declared "National Egg Month".

Consider yourself eggformed. (Yes, that was a bad one - corny is my middle name!)

I'm going to be sore tomorrow

I can just feel it. Not only because yesterday I rode my bike around the neighborhood with the boys, and today I ran 5 miles outside on a route with a ton of hills. Plus I spent a lot of time outside doing yard work with hubby. It was such a beautiful spring day that I had to take full advantage of it.

We patched bleached out dead grass spots - thanks a bunch for that extra chore Sasha dog. We mulched around some trees, mowed, trimmed, and I pulled countless weeds, primarily dandelion weeds. Even though we fertilized two weeks ago our yard is still full of them. I was bent over yanking those puppies out with my sticker-bush-puller-outer tool for over an hour and there are still many many more that need to get removed. So much for the useless bag of fertilizer.

For all the hard work today, I have rewarded myself with a fresh home-made batch of warm, gooey, soft chocolate chip cookies. It's okay, I'm drooling too.

So much for the exercise.

It's just hair

Do you ever just want to shake someone and say "Why? Why do you do that with your hair? It looks ridiculous and does nothing for you." And then politely give them the name and number of your stylist. I do this in my head every once in awhile.

Then there are others that I just have to stare and try and figure out how they get their hair to look so perfect and styled. I wonder how long it takes them to get ready in the morning and also wonder if they are happy with their style.

It seems like the people with ridiculous looking hair styles don't care what they look like and are content with themselves, but the ones who have the nice up kept style always complain or want to do something different and are never satisfied.

Where do I fit in? Some days I can be both. Especially if you catch me when I first wake up in the morning. One would wonder if I had just gotten an electric shock. And with my newly acquired bangs, it adds even more dimension to the madness. But then there are days that I think I am really working my look.

Why do I fret about my hair? It's just hair. I should be happy I even have any. Which reminds me I need to watch what I say when I do talk to someone about their hair.

A few weeks ago at church I saw a lady who I see every once in awhile, but never talk to when I drop Carson off in his class. I noticed she had gotten her hair cut pretty drastic and the style looked so good on her. I felt compelled to tell her how much I loved her new style. And it seemed like she appreciated the compliment. A month later I see her and she has her head wrapped and was wearing a hat. I come to find out she has lost her hair due to cancer treatments. I wanted to put my foot in my mouth for even saying anything to her about her hair that I am sure she knew she was getting ready to lose.

Here, let me just add some more salt to your wound. I had good intentions, but really, really bad timing. Story of my life.

Oboy Obaby Obama - Wordless Wednesday

Did you find all three?

For more Wordless Wednesday participants click here.

Should I do it?

That is what I have been asking myself for quite awhile now.

Should I do it or shouldn't I do it?

This is what I am contemplating doing and have been for the past few years. Look closely.


No, I don't want to try out for American Idol or be a singer like Kelly Clarkson.

But, I do want a tiny nose stud like hers. My soon-to-be sister-in-law has one and it's very attractive. I've seen other women with them and they catch my eye.

I think they are very sexy and feminine. But I have many questions that I need to figure out the answers to before I make this decision. Such as:

• Is my nose too big (nostril opening) to where it would look awkward?
  
• How much pain should I expect? (I have a pretty good pain tolerance so I'm not too concerned, but would like to know what it's like)
• What chances are there for infection?
• Will I still be able to blow/pick my nose normally? (important things here!)
• Does it get in the way much?
  
• Does it matter which side to have it on? (remember back in the 80's if you had your right ear pierced and you were a guy it symbolized you were gay or something like that) I don't want to give any mixed signals or anything.
• What if I do it and decide down the road I no longer want it, how will the scar look? (not that I am concerned with scars since my body is full of them, what's one more to add to the collection?)
• Will I embarrass my 1o year old son if I get one? (not that I really care, but just curious, guess I'll have to ask him myself)
• Or better yet, will my 10 year old son want to get a piercing of his own?!?!? AGH! I'm SO not ready for that yet.
• Am I too old for this?
  

I told my husband what I have been contemplating and was expecting him to completely roll his eyes with disapproval. Instead he says, "Let's go tomorrow."

Huh! Seriously?

That's crazy. But I suppose it's good that he would approve if I were to go through with it.

So, do any of you have any suggestions for me? I would love your comments to this pressing issue of mine.

April 4th - A special day

I receive a call this morning from my parents and this is what I hear on the other end of the line, to the tune of the Lone Ranger (or more specifically The William Tell Overture), "Happy Anniversary, Happy Anniversary, Happy Anniversary, Happy Anniversary."

Today marks my husband and I's 10 year wedding anniversary. Shocking!

I think back to that day and a flood of memories come to me. We were so young and so happy. We didn't have much, but we didn't know any better. We had each other and our little boy Taylor. Life was peachy. And still is 10 years later.

Today my hubby took me out to lunch to celebrate. Alone. Just the two of us. It was relaxing to spend some peaceful quality time focused on each other, that is until the hostess tripped on her pants and starting repeating the word Jesus. Other than that it really was lovely.


And to top it all off I received this beautiful necklace. It represents the union of two circles into one and the three stones represent the past, present and future. It's beautiful and so symbolic. My man's got some good taste!

What's that? You ask what I got him? Well, the cool wife that I am, we will be seeing our favorite comedian, Mr. Jim Gaffigan this summer in the 3rd row with a VIP package. Yes, it's awesome.

Today is also a special day because my incredible mother-in-law celebrates a milestone birthday. One would never guess she is a grandmother. Many times people have thought that my boys were her kids, not grandchildren. And also some people have thought that she is my sister. I just hope I look as amazing and age as graceful as she does. Happy birthday Maga Becky!



















And to add one more reason that this day is so special - I am going to have a new sister-in-law. At midnight my brother-in-law, Chad, proposed to his girlfriend and she accepted. So much excitement in one day! Whew!

I leave you with a picture of us as a young married couple then and an old married couple now. (Try not to laugh!) How times have changed!

The Negatives & Positives

I've been thinking about doing this post for quite awhile. So for the past few days I have been compiling a list which contains 20 of my "pet peeves" or things that irritate me. We all have our quirks and dislikes.

I didn't want this post to be focused completely on the negative, so I have challenged myself to find the positive opposite and write something that I do like, you know reverse it. I have been attempting to read a book called The Kazdin Method for Parenting the Defiant Child. This is where the idea of positive opposites came about. It makes so much sense, but is really hard to start thinking and acting in that manner. I am a work in progress.

Enjoy the list and I challenge and encourage you to do the same. I may have to start tagging people on this one.

1) Pet Peeve
metal hangers (you know the ones that you get from the dry cleaners)
Positive
a well organized closet particularly with the shirts arranged by color (OCD!)

2) Pet Peeve
when a new garbage bag has air pockets around the sides (do you know what I'm talking about?)
Positive
someone other than myself changing the garbage

3) Pet Peeve
toilet paper and paper towel rolls being put on backwards
Positive
never running out of paper products

4) Pet Peeve
the toilet seat being left in the up position and "drips" being left on the seat that should have been lifted up (can you tell I live in a house with all boys?)
Positive
having indoor plumbing that works

5) Pet Peeve
recyclables being thrown in the regular garbage
Positive
deep cleaning and throwing out (or giving away) unnecessary or excessive items (I am so not a pack rat!)

6) Pet Peeve
junk mail solicitations specifically for credit card offers
Positive
feeling good as I'm recycling the unwanted junk

7) Pet Peeve
"Happy Meal" toys (they are evil pieces of junk)
Positive
seeing my boys play with and enjoy their quality toys I actually paid money for

8) Pet Peeve
people who don't have a clue as to what they are doing in group exercise class and are a danger to others
Positive
people who make the effort to do something good and healthy for themselves

9) Pet Peeve
driving behind and smelling a bus or truck that uses diesel gas
Positive
grateful I don't have to buy diesel

10) Pet Peeve
having a dirty windshield
Positive
using Rain-X and having new wiper blades

11) Pet Peeve
those who block the aisles in a grocery store and continue to stand there reading the labels - it's not a bookstore people!
Positive
shopping mid-morning early in the week when the store is not busy

12) Pet Peeve
spouses alarm clock going off and the snooze button being pushed repeatedly for the next 36 minutes
Positive
having hubby home

13) Pet Peeve
people who swear excessively (especially when children are present)
Positive
being thanked and feeling appreciated and doing the same for others

14) Pet Peeve
public displays of affection
Positive
private displays - intimacy without the worry of the kids interrupting

15) Pet Peeve
being referred to as Lynn, my name is Lynette (or you can call me Nette or Nettie for short)
Positive
at least I'm not being called vulgar names (or am I and I just don't know about it?)

16) Pet Peeve
the ends of a pillowcase being put towards the middle of the bed as opposed to the outside (the correct way)
Positive
having a husband who makes the bed (even if the pillows are the wrong way)

17) Pet Peeve
telemarketers and door-to-door sales people
Positive
when friends or family call to talk and when a neighbor stops by to say hello

18) Pet Peeve
when people type in all CAPS - STOP YELLING AT ME!
Positive
receiving emails from friends and family (regardless of punctuation and spelling)

19) Pet Peeve
people who tailgate
Positive
wide open roads, no traffic, polite drivers

20) Pet Peeve
lurkers who read my blog but do not comment (you know who you are!)
Positive
people who actually take the time to read my blog - I thank you! And now is your chance. Stop in, click the comment link, say hello, introduce yourselves, don't be shy. I'd love to hear from you and where you're from.

Wordless Wednesday

Having some fun with camera settings.

For more Wordless Wednesday participants click here.

Happy April 1st

Yes, finally - April is here. That means spring like weather should be popping up any day now.

And it also means that today is April Fools day.

When I was a kid my mother would always get me. And it was usually something simple like I had a hole in my shirt or a stain or there was a spider right by me. And she would do it with this really convincing look on her face and tone in her voice. I guess all those days of being in drama club and being cast in plays have paid off.

Well, I have been known to continue the tradition of fooling my family. In the years past I did a mean trick to my husband. He plays guitar and I found a realistic looking rubber snake that I placed inside the guitar case. I was able to plan the trick,but actually getting it to work was another story. That day I said to Jason, "Aren't you going to play your guitar?" And he looked at me like I had worms coming out of my ears. He said, "You never ask me if I am going to play my guitar, what is going on?" See, he knew I was up to something. He goes and opens the case and nonchalantly looks at the snake. Yeah, so it wasn't that much of a surprise. I think if I wouldn't have given a hint I could have scared the pants off him.

Today I have noticed a few tricks that I am not sure which boy is the culprit. There was a dirty sock in my medicine cabinet, a pair of underwear in the refrigerator and a small rubber basketball floating in the toilet. Tricky, tricky little boys!

But I have been able to get my boys. This morning was no exception. My oldest son, Taylor usually sets his own alarm and gets up on his own in the morning for school. This week since we just came off spring break he has not been getting up. So this morning I thought what better time to teach him a lesson and pull a practical joke on him. I walk into his room at about 7:20 and he is still sleeping, so I shake him and say in a very urgent voice, "Taylor, it's 8:15!"

Now that is a way to get a kid up and out of bed. He sat right up with a look of panic on his face. And I just stood there smiling - "April Fools!" It was a good thing I ran out of the room as fast as I could. He wasn't very happy. I am afraid of the payback that I know I have coming to me.

I remember once when I was a kid my friend Amanda and I decided to play a trick on her parents. While they were gone we "trashed" their living room, tipping over furniture and making it look like someone had robbed them. We even set up a video camera and hid. Looking back it was pretty cruel, but the look on her dad's face was unforgettable. I think it was the first time I had ever heard him swear. And I know he will never let us forget it.

So, did you pull any pranks today or did anyone get you? Or what has been a memorable prank that you were able to accomplish in the past? I'd love to hear about it.