How to have a good time

In case you were wondering, I've provided instructions.

1.   Have hubby leave his car at the office and take company car on out-of-state trip, though not really his choice.

2.   Have said car break down 4-1/2 hours from home.

3. Get up early for a parade. Drop kids off for a parade. Watch parade with fellow dance mom friends.

4.  Take tired kids, who have walked the entire parade, and drive them 4-1/2 hours to meet stranded hubby. (but stop halfway for a Starbucks since you haven't had one for months and you have a splitting headache)

5. Get instant buzz in addition to cool burning sensation in your ears from Starbucks because the obviously NEW girl dumped half the bottle of peppermint flavoring in your grande-size cup.  Totally makes your eyeballs bounce and ears feel 'light and fuzzy' while attempting to ignore the, "How much looooonger??' pleas from the back.

5.  Threaten child with mortal wounding if he gripes ONE more time that 'he's BORED'
5. a. Apologize to Monster child but let him know he will be walking home if he continues to be rude and obnoxious.
5. b. Turn Pandora radio on phone as loud as it will go, singing over child whining with your ears on fire because you are in no man's land radioville, and the scum of the earth thieves took your audio adapter to play tunes through the stereo!!

6.  Pick up uHaul car trailer and load PoS car that sounds like it's going to blow any second.  Monster Man beating on the driveway with a shovel makes less noise.  Have smallest child crawl through cracked open back door of POS car to roll up window that hubby climbed OUT of getting the car on the trailer.

7.  Begin long trip home towing enormous, heavy beast car. Listen warily to the gas being sucked out of your truck like a 6 year-old chugging a Capri Sun.

8.  Listen to Pandora Radio's Maroon5 station while it plays a song about how stupid a man is for cheating/losing his girl,  but don't change it because you really want hubby to feel like a schmuck...plus it's a good song.  Nobody make a move to change the station allowing the tense moment to fully bloom.  

9. Pull over an hour from home in the dark because after the last toll booth you notice the trailer lights are no longer on.
9.a. Pull off the highway using a ramp where the re-entry ramp has been closed and blockaded.
9.b. Spend 45 minutes in the dark in the middle of nowhere replacing trailer connection wires (thanking yourself for having a spare for own trailer) and digging through fuses under hood and in dash to replace three blown ones.
9.d.  Witness Hubby approach meltdown. Thankful kids are asleep at this point. Pat yourself on the back for having spare fuses hubby didn't know existed in the 'tub of tricks.'
9.c. Thank the good Lord for GPS on your phone & hubby decent w/ to get around blockaded re-entry and back to interstate through corn fields and abandoned factory ghost towns.

10. Arrive home and let kids go to bed w/o showers- nearing midnight. They're cranky, who cares.

11. Second Day:  Once again, hubby sends the son in and out of cracked-open rear car door to turn the key on and put the driver window down. Kid climbs out.  Husband climbs in window to start car and attempt to diagnose situation. Hubby back out.  Situation deemed terminal after removing belts and testing pulleys.  Husband BACK in and out window. Child back in to close window and slide out rear door.

12. Though hubby has previously used car haulers and various trailers, at this time, his attention moves to short straps on driver's side wheel coverings of trailer which allow the trailer fenders down for easy access into PoS car....no small child necessary.
a. Take a picture to capture the moment.
b. Rush inside to laugh your ass off and accidentally delete picture.

13. Go with hubby, truck, trailer and kids to  dealership near hubby's work because HIS car is still at work from previous week so you need to go there anyway.  Drop off trailer. Stop at hubby's work to drop him off and because kids want to visit.
13.a. Run into office hussy who has been in said hubby's pants, force a smile and enjoy her face going white when she suddenly realizes you are RIGHT behind hubby walking in the door.  Try not to scratch out her eyes when she baby talks to your kids.
13.b. Re-live previous tense moment of #8 x 100.
13.c.  Talk to her like nothing is wrong.  Hold back urge to hurl, scream obscenities and beat husband with nearest office chair.

14. Drive home in rain and hordes of construction traffic, cussing husband and hussy silently in your head.

15. Give in to the kids and stop for fast food on the way home...after a weekend like that, the oven blowing up would just be icing on the cake, so why risk it?

Now, wasn't THAT Fuuuunn?? 

A sight that makes a grown man cry

Well almost. Definitely has him sick to his stomach.

Imagine- fishing, slippery dock, wobbly chair, listening to the race on the Droid which is IN the chair pocket. Whole shebang goes ass over teakettle into lake.

Droid still in rice bed recovery 18 hours later with visible moisture under the screen.

Prognosis? Not favorable.

Poor guy.

by Ang, Posted via Blogaway app for Android

Ah, it has begun.

Time sure flies by!  Holidays are gone, we're in 2010, and the first semester of school will finish up this week.  Wasn't it just sunny afternoons on the swing and kids barefoot playing in the sprinkler...yesterday??  Blink and BOOM- six inches of snow and still piling up.  Aaacck. Great for the kids; they've had a blast sledding and playing in the snow most every day. Sucks for me- freezing temps and gloves, hats, snow boots...bah humbug.

With the new year underway, I have to get off my arse!! Literally and figuratively!! Many things around this house need to be dealt with and apparently they don't work on themselves. Darn. School materials are pretty much under control, but home papers, bills, etc, need a revamp. All that was formerly contained and under control at my desk when I was transcribing 10-12 hours a day. Since then, it's migrated into several hot spots around the house. It's NOT efficient. The piles of STUFF drives me insane. I have to get that taken care of. First project of the year. I have fluttered behind FlyLady for several years and one thing I didn't do was the Control Journal, as I was at my desk through the day, every day. Now, with homeschooling, dance most every night, and more visiting family...Flylady wins. I need to make my Control Journal and USE it. 

I also need to get back on track with de-cluttering this house. If you follow FlyLady, you know what a super fling boogie is. I did one today and WOW!! Why did I stop doing those??  What a difference and makes you feel GREAT to have a room more clean by tossing that junk!  I think I need to do that every day for a month!  I also did get several things listed on eBay.  Jewelry business has been a bit slow lately.  I need the income and I love to eBay! Woohoo!  Hopefully I can make a few bucks until I can get some more jewelry shows on the books.

With that, I'm calling it a night.  Mr. FixIt is snoring in the COD beside me...he's been there since he got home from work. Literally crashed. He didn't even eat dinner.  He can stay in the chair because I'm not waking him up! I already have the mattress pad warming up the bed- hehe. Mine! All MINE!! 

Hodge podge

Monster Man has been on a roll lately, evident in his assortment of Good and Not Good evening tally marks of the renewed behavior chart. For N days (not good) he has to go to bed early, no evening treat or special event the next day. Thankfully, by the third week of the resurrected behavior chart, he's had more G days, but the N days-wow. Insane. In attempts to have a 'G day,' Monster Man shocked me one morning by being up early, WITH his school books open and working! The boy had six school books open to the correct pages in the den floor, moving from one to the next. He did have the TV on, which is a no-no during school time, but as he was doing work without me threatening him within an inch of his life nagging and being mean mom/teacher, I let him go and redirected him to the table after break. On the negative, he was a pistol Saturday morning! AAARRGGHHH!! I held off strangling him in front of his dance team buddies- four N's (not good) on his behavior board in two hours. He went directly to his room until lunch was ready. That afternoon and evening was much improved. Sunday night, he drew a picture for me on his way to bed. Literally, grabbed the paper from the school shelf and pencil from the table, sitting down to draw on the living room floor in the path to the stairs. Two little stick people, one slightly taller than the other, holding hands with a heart above them. He brought it to me, "This is me and you because I love you Mom. I'm gonna have a G day tomorrow!" Just melted me. Little fart.
The kicker- this morning after the first round of school work, he announced he was going to the basement to play trains. Our basement is the equivalent of a ToysRUs that upchucked the Thomas Train and Play-doh sections in the plastic food aisle. Throw in a few huge Rubbermaid tubs, toy boxes, misc DVDs racking up my overdue tab from the Library. Cleaning the basement usually means several pick up race games which gets about half of it, then a second and sometimes third cleaning session of fussing, growling and frustration. Today, after hearing nothing but whistling, tracks being moved and singing, I was summoned to come look. Lo and behold, the basement floor was clean with the exception of a very interestingly and well-put together train track!! WOW- I was shocked and Monster Man was beaming!
Color the day a victory! Whew.


I talked to Mr. FixIt tonight from more than halfway round the world. He sounded tired and he's only been gone three days. He's been from meeting, to dinner, to presentation, getting very little sleep, to meeting...GOOD. They're keeping him busy! HA! Hehehe. He'll probably feel bad when he finds out I did leaves again today- until he realizes working on the yard consisted of me burning about a half tank out of the mower, mulching and bagging it! Woohoo! He knows better than to leave yard toys and power tools behind. I'll use them!

Very thankful for the recent beautiful days- awesome!! Took advantage of the not-yet-gloomy mornings to take down and wash curtains and windows in the living and dining rooms over the weekend. YUK- they seriously needed it! I gave the LR and DR a good dusting and B helped vac. The den is next on the list. I've had the house open as much as I can, at least until evening. Not sure smacked motivation into me, but over this gorgeous weekend, the kids and I also stripped/swapped all the bedding and ran about 3 bazillion loads of laundry. Somebody'd better check my temp- I must be feverish.

Shoulda cont'd & Life

(Keep in mind, this was written in early summer. Time to get it out!)

Originally, I didn't care who knew the details of me kicking out Mr. FixIt and our separation, but something has kept me from finishing a post about it. Maybe as much as I was pissed off, hurt and wanted to inform the world, the fight in my heart that I still love him made me hold off. I don't have the foggiest clue WHY as much as he's crapped on my love and trust, not to mention my self-esteem, my thoughts and well, me. I can't even explain why'd I'd still SPEAK to him!! Glutton for punishment I guess. Or way too forgiving and plain stupid. Take your pick! :-D So to sum it up: Cheating, lying, denial- repeat many episodes for many years. Now for the second half of Days of My Life... Ugh.

For years the cheating occurred when he was traveling, or when I was out of town. One example: I drove my baby 11 hours by myself through crappy weather from SC to OH to be with family on Easter and 5 minutes after I was gone he was arranging a meeting online. I called him on that one before Monster Man was even a thought. He denied anything going on, but I had the adult forum chat room proof. Proof he was online chatting up people and making dates, meeting people. He still denied it. I was crushed, a total wreck, though I never told anyone. Figured it was my fault. I shouldn't have left for the holiday without him ( he HAD to work.) I couldn't let my family and friends think bad of him, so I kept quiet. Then after another year or so, time had smoothed it over a bit when more evidence popped up. Letters. Cards. Emails. Calls to MY house. More denial. More disassociation. I just felt more guilt and low. Not long after this was when I figured out- it wasn't me. I'd done everything I possibly could to avoid giving him a reason to look elsewhere for ANYTHING. I'd busted my ass, taken care of house/kids/dogs/yard while he was out of town for days/weeks/months on end, made sure I gave plenty of bedroom time- even when sick or dead on my feet, I always tried to be positive, I didn't nag for him to do things, I didn't yell or fuss at him. If he was frustrated I gave him space. If he needed some time on his own for hunting or cars or motorcycle rides, I never complained- even when he was gone all week working, come home Friday night and then leave 4 am Saturday for a weekend of hunting. Yes, he did hunt- that one was not a cover, but it WAS an escape. Funny part was my BIL and his best friend, whom he spent all these weekends with getting hunting property ready and hunting all fall and winter, had NO clue any of this had happened. He was seriously shocked. Mr. FixIt was indeed VERY secret in his 'other life.'


Now?? After being gone for about 6 weeks, I asked Mr. FixIt to move back home...with condition that 1. Therapy continues. 2. Progress he/we are making will continue. He's gotten enough free passes so I'm not putting up with, "ok I can quit fixing it, I'm back home." If something bothers one of us, we have to discuss it. The therapist put it this way. We had so much time apart in the beginning, that's how we dealt with difficult times- apart, so we never really learned to discuss them. Tough times including his acting on his impulsive drive, constant need for attention

Also 'house' duties are being more evenly divvyed up. I am horrible at asking for help, because dangit, I can just do it myself!! I HAVE had to do it all myself for years. (not because he won't but from him being gone) He never hesitates to do anything I ask and often will load/unload dishwasher, even swap or fold laundry once in a blue moon on his own. He does cook quite often. Too often the 'man eyes' that don't see the stuff on the floor, glasses by the chair, odds-n-ends piling up in various corners and counters that get my blood boiling as it piles up and makes me crazy to get it all taken care of. Well, we discussed this and he admits he is horrible at noticing 'things' that need done. So he will try to notice what needs done around the house and help in more, and I will speak up when he doesn't! So far I have tried, though hard to do this after biting your tongue for years on end. I can be a tad stubborn too.

There are still many things I need him to admit to me, in detail. After tossing him out, he confirmed several of the events and meetings I'd suspected from years ago, previously denied. Though he's afraid divulging details will be too painful to me-- not knowing is far worse. I can't get him to understand that. He says details are painful to admit- tough caca dude. Should have thought of that before! So events I know, all the details of such events I don't yet. I want the when, where, what, etc. His therapist says the details won't make a difference, but to me it does. It may not do him good to hash it back out- too freakin' bad. He spent too many years of our life doing what he wanted. Time to MAN UP and confess. I want to know. I need to know. No matter how horrible or hard to hear. My brain has all sorts of ideas of what COULD have happened. I have a pretty vivid and creative imagination! The details are pretty ugly as I think they might have occurred. What he finally did admit to, though pathetic and repulsive, have been more tame and less occurring than I'd imagined. A few meetings here and there over several months' time, when my brain was stuck on daily/weekly trysts. Of course since he'd denied any wrongdoing for years, what was I to think?? I always had that 'gut' feeling on and off and according to those, I knew WHEN the infidelity struck, so far what he has admitted- I was right. I was always afraid to push the issue farther than just asking. He'd deny. I'd fold but knowing I wasn't getting the truth but terrified to continue; the 'truth' might be he didn't want me or love me and he'd leave. I'd grown up with Dad always telling me, that's not good enough, you CAN do better. I felt like I was still stuck I the same rut. I just wasn't good enough for him to love me, just me. I had to keep trying- it must be my fault. Those thoughts compiled in my brain and kept getting heavier and harder to get out from under after so many years. Again- my fault, right? I should be able to shake this off- right?

At least that's what I talked myself into for so long. Shaking it off, moving on. Whatever finally snapped in my head and decent medication later- I KNOW it's not just me. I might be submissive and avoid confrontation at all costs but years of trying to please him and sacrificing myself contributed to that mindset. He made me that way. (My father has to take a good chunk of that blame also.) Now I understand it.


His other life is out in the open now and no longer secret. He's even told people at work about it, which completely shocked me. He's talked to our neighbors and my family. He does seem serious about getting better, though the therapy, talking to me and not hiding things. I hope so. 'bout dang time!!

Elwood

One goofy story deserves another so I might as well tell you an Elwood tale, Jake's brother (seriously) our other kitty.

When the weather first turned cold, you know that NE Ohio cold where you need the heat for a week then ~shock~ you need to go back to AC for a week, then bitter cold the next day?? Yeah, that weather... well, it was a Saturday morning, drizzly rain and just a bit chilly outside. It was just before 8 o'clock, and as we were getting dressed I heard Elwood give his "I'm STARVING!!" meow, which is a horrible drawn out cry that he usually gives from the basement or top of the basement stairs. The cat food is in the basement, accessed by a kitty door, safe from the dog. I said to Mr. FixIt, "He must really be starving. I can hear him all the way up here from the basement!" It was a far off, muted meow but definitely Elwood. Mr. FixIt replies, "He did that at 4:30 this morning, a couple times. Woke me up, and I told him to 'Knock it Off!! You're not going to starve to death by morning!" We laughed at our gluttonous kitty, he's ALWAYS starving. His bottomless pit rivals Monster Man's. Finishing up, quick brush through my hair and flip it up into a clip, I hear Elwood cry again, "I'm comin', I'm comin'! Jeesh!" and as I turn to head out of the room, I see a shadow in the window. OMG it's Elwood. OUTSIDE!! He on his hind legs on the roof, paws up on the window meowing to "LET ME IN!!" He never was in the basement! Our bedroom is second floor, over the garage and den, set back a bit, so there is garage roof visible/accessible from outside our window.

Mr. FixIt and I look at each other and crack up, "You said you heard him at 4:30?!"
"Uh, yeah."
"So he's probably been out there on the roof in the wind and rain since then?"
"Uh, yeah. Stupid cat."
Both of us crack up hysterically as I opened the window and let my poor nitwit cat back in to warmth.
Elwood didn't appear to be any worse for wear. A little cold and wet, but he was fine. He followed my downstairs to fresh food and a big drink of water. Apparently screaming outside for 4 hours makes you thirsty. whoops.

We never did figure out how he got on the roof, but he hasn't been found up there since. Lesson learned...the cold, rainy, lonely way. Poor kitty.

Time?? Ha!

The past month around here has been a five-ring circus...

I truly intended to finish the "Shoulda" post and I have just been BUSY, but the gist of that post was, I did the most difficult thing of my life and made Mr. FixIt move out. More details forthcoming, but yes, I do honestly love him and I don't doubt he loves me-just some serious issues need worked out. He has still been around for the kids/weekend days/school and dance functions/etc. Though this situation is much more stressful for him than me (too bad), I am doing fine! On top of THAT fuss, in the past several weeks...HOLD THAT THOUGHT!

Ok, I'm back- I had to go log B's last few lessons that are DUE to be logged TODAY. Yes, today the 12th and it's now 12:08 in the morning on the 13th- CRAP!

See what life has been like?? Jeesh! Not boring, lol. Anywhoo, back to that list of STUFF that has made my cup overfloweth recently:

-Tossed husband. CHECK
(issues on the mend now, but that thought cracked me up, couldn't resist- hehe)

-Dance recital week-two nights of rehearsals and two recitals. T several numbers and B one number. Mom stayed with us for a few nights as a bonus to chaos. CHECK.

-Switched from TW-piece of doodoo-Cable and started DSL. CHECK!

-Workhorse Dell brought back from the dead after near a week of attempts and more than my quota of heavy cussing. CHECK! (due to P-O-S TWCable)

-Shoveled three layers out of the PIT/office, revealing the next 8 or 10 to be removed! CHECK!

-Worked like feinds to catch up three weeks of school lessons completed and attendance not logged due to lack of internet due to POS cable and down network due to crashing Dell due to POS cable!! AAARRRRGGHHH!! CHECK.

-Friend and Premier mom from SC arrived, stayed a few days (too SHORT!) to help train me in the jewelry business. CHECK.

-Near-blind, scared of his own shadow old Benny boy is on calendar to be put to sleep next week and presently in quaranteen. CHECK. (yes, he bit someone...not a good day)

-I discovered yesterday that our yearly Alex's Lemonade Stand to raise funds for Pediatric Cancer Research is THIS weekend, not next month!! So last night and this morning were spent getting cookies, 4 gallons of lemonade and materials ready for an afternoon stand TODAY! Phew! CHECK.

To end on a positive note :-D
*Husband is seeing a counselor to help deal with issues (more later) and has become a new man, an open, willing-to-show emotion man- I'm in SHOCK, but loving it!! If he keeps it up, he may be back home before too much longer.
* DSL is running great and near speeds of the cable even though it is supposed to be 10 times slower.
*I had a great visit with Ms. K, my Premier mom and learned a LOT this week!!
*The little girl Ben bit will be ok, thank the Lord!
*The kids raised $45+ during their 4-hour lemonade stand today! Woohoo!! They will set it up again for Sunday afternoon. Google 'Alex's Lemonade Stand' for more details.
*I just submitted an order to Premier for my training show held earlier this week!! My official 'first' show is tomorrow!!

That about wraps it up. Now I need to get my arse into bed so tomorow I can be prepared for some family visiting and to dazzle some gals into earning themselves some free jewelry!!

Mr. FixIt

Here's a chance to see how well you really know your husband. Cut, paste and fill in the answers, then forward . . . shoot, you know what to do. The real challenge is to send it to your husband to see how right you really are.
Of course my thought is "if I didn't know him, I'd not have married him," but anywho... have another survey! :-D

1. He's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen? History channel or Discovery

2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad? Ranch

3. What's one food he doesn't like? Sausage patties (links are good)

4. You go out to eat and have a drink. What does he order? Water or beer or both

5. Where did he go to high school? Crooksville HS

6. What size shoe does he wear? 10

7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be? I want to say useless junk/spare parts/extra pieces to various cars/machines/tools, but I'll say guns.

8. What is his favorite type of sandwich? Turkey with lots of veggies

9. What would this person eat every day if he could? pizza or homemade popcorn

10. What is his favorite cereal? Reese Puffs

11. What would he never wear? A skirt?? I dunno?

12. What is his favorite sports team? Penn State

13. Who did he vote for? Same person I did.

14. Who is his best friend? neighbor and my BIL

15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do? Probably snore. Fix chili that kills his stomach. Put my cold feet on him. Keeping a trillion critters. The list goes on-

16. What is his heritage? English and a little German back there

17. You make him a cake for his birthday; what kind? Cheese cake

18. Did he play sports in high school? yes

19. What could he spend hours doing? playing bubble breaker on his phone

20. What is one unique talent he has? He can sing, really well, but he doesn't very often. He can belt out a Keith Whitley song (most any of them) on his own and I'm a blubbering, sobbing puddle on the floor.

I'm not sending this to Mr. FixIt to check. I've known him since the 6th grade...I think I got it.

Boat drinks

Oh yeah, that's a Buffett-style house pina colada with dark rum floating on the top.

Yes, it was really yummy!

Mr. FixIt arrived home from Puerto Rico, WITH fresh and special reserve Bacardi in tow-YES, and promptly took us all to one of my fav places for an early birthday celebration. Cheeseburger in Paradise. Awesome food. Not too expensive either.

On the way, I found a birthday bonus:

SONIC!!

"OMG- SONIC!! OVER THERE!!" I yelled when I saw it on our way to Cheeseburger in Paradise and Mr. FixIt said, "Uh oh. Do we need to change dinner plans??" No, no. I'll try to contain myself. The kids were as estatic as I was jumping up and down near busting their seat belts-woohoo!! Told Mr. FixIt I'd restrain myself and force myself to pass it by, since I'd been looking forward to a boat drinks outing with some crab and spinach dip appetitzer for weeks, so I wasn't going to change now...but man was it tempting! Sonic! It's here! Woohoo!!! No more torture from Mon and my sister--hehehe. I have my own sonic nearby!! They text me every time they visit Sonic near their homes just to rub it in so of course as we passed it by, I texted them the good news!! I can't wait for a Sonic #1 and some tater tots!!

You know it's cold when...

...sodas IN the fridge inside the sunporch explode!

In the fridge. In an enclosed sunporch. Soda slush frozen to all sides and every shelf in the fridge. Nice. Soda was apparently the size of a 15-pound watermelon.

Mr. FixIt brought in a can in that looked like it had been shot with a 12-gauge and said, "Exploding soda! Thankfully the beer is OK!!" So he brings in the few remaining sodas and puts them on the kitchen counter. Where they sit like ticking little bombs until they thaw a little.

God, I LOVE winter. I'm taking back my last post.

I blew it

Man--so much for Nablopomo- totally blew it yesterday! Can't expect my brain to work when my body is in complete and utter shock of below zero temps can you?? I DID shovel the drive FOUR times yesterday between dance classes, lessons, feeding the hooligans and beating my husband because he hasn't put the dang snow blade on the tractor yet. WHICH I would have attempted myself IF I could have gotten the tractor out of the building and to the slightly warmer garage, but no. Tried to crank it before the real snow was scheduled to hit last week...it's dead. Physical labor stuff I'll do, batteries and electricity I DON'T. So it will sit there with a dead battery until he drags the battery charger down there--have fun dear! Until then I'm only shoveling my side of the driveway...gotta keep it clear for my kids, right?? :-D hehehe

Fire in the Hole!

*SPOILER- Gross out potential below!*

The New Year normally equates change for most of us, but some things never do...like the world-famous 7-alarm chili Monica and I make. Ok, only three or four households know its existence, but it's good DANG chili! After all the holiday feasts and treats why not start the year with a BANG of some chili?! We're all stuffed and puffed anyway, right? Calls for a good gastric clean out and a fantastic bowl of chili is just the answer! It tastes a lot better than that nasty jug of pseudo juice* the doctor would give you and works much faster! Proof being Mon is probably running for a bathroom right now just reading this intro...sorry, Mon. WARNING-Double check you are NOT nearly out of TP before you attempt to make chili!

It's really easy- brown some ground turkey, add some onions, lots of chili powder, sometimes a handful of diced green peppers, some cayanne thrown in for good measure, couple cans of Bush's best chili beans, dark kidney beans, pinto beans, large tom sauce, some beef broth, a spash of milk (makes it creamy and cuts down on the heartburn..really, it does... tablespoon of sugar because Grandma T says so, more chili powder and you have Y-U-M in just an hour! Let it simmer a bit longer to fill the entire house up with gut-ripping chili-tastic smell! Watch the family appear instantly in the kitchen, bowls and spoons in hand, drooling like no food has crossed their lips for six months.
--There goes Mon to the bathroom again.

This time I added some leftover deer loin Mr. FixIt had cooked a few days ago, ripped it into small chunks. Very tender, very yummy!
--Mon runs again to the bathroom at this point because she doesn't like venison, lol.

Fill your bowl, grab a handful of Fritos to dip with or a fresh baked chunk of cornbread and woohooo!! Let the burn begin!! Even Mr. FixIt can usually only handle one large bowl. You'll need some napkins and be forewarned that belching could be hazardous to those around you. All candles and open flames should be extinguished!

During this evening's chili fest, Monster Man excused himself from the table, bowl of chili not even half gone, "I think I need to go..." Works like a CHARM, did I not tell you?! The poor boy darts for the bathroom, both hands on his lower cheeks, shouting, "My bottom's gonna 'splode!!" Thankfully he made it just in time. Whew! Not long after we finished, Mr. FixIt's innards had marinated long enough to force the rest of us out of the den, running for gas masks and Oust spray. ~GAG~ Yes, this chili is worth running around the house with kleenex stuffed up your nose for a few post-dinner hours until the stench clears. Really.

Moral of the story is, no matter the stomach pain, trips to the bathroom, or cans of Oust spray we go through, "chili night" will alwasy be part of this family. I don't expect that to EVER change.


*I do honestly know the real name/s for "pseudo juice" but they didn't have quite the same ring in that sentence. :-D

Christmas?! What? Where?!

Whew! This has been a whirlwind of a week as I'm sure it has for everyone- Christmas isn't supposed to be over that fast; it just isn't fair!
So here are some tidbits:

Kids went to work with Mr. FixIt on Tuesday and I did some shopping for a few last-minute items and wrapped a bunch of stuff. Mission accomplished!! One item of the Race to Christmas arrived-Mr. FixIt's Sansa Fuze!

Christmas Eve day was a bit nutty with kids anxious for night to arrive. A beautiful arrangement of white and red Christmas tulips were delivered ~coincidentally, a hem~ as Mr. FixIt walked out the door with Monster Man for an "errand." I almost cried. Joking around that morning, I'd called him a shithead, and even though it was in joking and he knew it...and he DID deserve it, lol, I texted him to apologize. Items 2, 3 and 4 of aforementioned race arrived via USPS- WHEW!! We made some Christmas cookies that evening and checked the NORAD Santa Tracker online during commercials of the Christmas Story movie on TBS Christmas Eve...kids were running off to bed just before 10 pm as Santa was visiting Argentina and heading north! Man I love Santa Tracker! :-D

Kids did NOT sleep in Christmas morning. Yes, my kids are weird and most Christmas mornings they are not out of bed until Mr. FixIt has already made breakfast sausage croissants for he and I to enjoy with some java before the kids stumble upon Christmas morning excitement. This year, both kids were in our room at 6, cajoling us out of bed and down the stairs. I wish I'd had the camera or camcorder ready because Monster Man was hysterical, squealing with delight and announcing what he was finding around the tree. "I got a Hot Wheels Shark Park!! YEEESSSS! I got a Shark Park!!" Repeat that screaming phrase for every Santa item under the tree, lol. The rest of Christmas Day was very relaxing with movies, games, naps and yummy ham for dinner Mr. FixIt made. Mashed potatoes and noodles of course were present. Mr. FixIt was shocked and very excited about his mp3 player! Yes!

Friday started off with me outside doing the lovely chore of poop scoop duty when Monster Man comes running out to me in 20-degree weather in only his PJs and snow boots on saying, "That thing on the wall upstairs is going BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!" WHAT??!! Off I run back to the house, dogs chasing me trying to knock me down thinking I'm playing- nice. My kids are gonna die some horrible death because the 60-pound pup has me pinned in the yard and the grouchy old dog won't let her up off of me because he wants to protect me from her! Jeesh!!! I get the dogs to back off so I can get in the house while I'm grilling Monster Man about smoke, flames, etc, to which he thankfully denies. It wasn't the smoke alarm but the carbon monoxide detector screaming- SHIT! I drug the thankfully still breathing Miss B out of bed who did NOT hear the alarm, started to open up the house, then run to inspect the basement. Furnace was running (only 2 years old) and I just ran past the vents on the side of the house and noticed normal steam/air so it was venting properly, but I clicked it off just in case. Hot water tank not running- check. Dryer not on- check. Neither fireplace or wood burning stove had been used for almost a week. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is going on??? (Thanks, Mon, I stil love that!) The battery had just been changed in the detector but just in case, I swapped it with another one and it's still wailing...until I walk by the open front door where fresh air is moving in and it quits squalling. NOT cool! Call Mr. FixIt to explain the situation while kids are getting dressed "on the double." Send kids to the truck, close house back up, toss dogs outside, run to hardware store to buy two new CO detectors (for $60 bucks), get those bad boys home and working- both gave the "all clear." YAY!! Whew! Apparently 5-year warranty on a CO detector means nothing. Mr. FixIt and I considered the one screaming at me, though only two years old, toast.
The rest of Friday morning was spent scrambling like a mad person to somewhat straighten "Christmas" that was strung throughout the downstairs, vac the house, fold some laundry and B helped me clean bathrooms and mop. Mr. FixIt came home early from work and fixed the chain gang starving kids some lunch. His family arrived just after 2 as I had just finished a shower and was slapping some makeup on. By the skin of my teeth as usual, I know no other way!!

Mr. FixIt's family brought a family gift for us all- Wii!! Woohoo!! I'm still amazed at the stuff this little box can do. I'll post more on that later. So a hysterical afternoon was had by all as "Wii" (sorry couldn't resist) played and cracked up over sports games, only stopping to eat dinner. What fun!!

Saturday Mr. FixIt went hunting for the weekend. Neighbor kids came over and back and forth, playing most all day, mostly with the Wii, until we Moms declared something had to be done for dinner, and it was time for all to go home. Oh and the temp outside was 65....SIXTY-FIVE?? No complaints from me!!

Well, the temps are back to normal figid levels now. The kids are still happily playing with Christmas gifts while I have the wearable items working through the washer and dryer right now. Mr. FixIt came home last night with another nice big doe to process, so we'll be doing that tonight.

Wow--that recap ended up being pretty long in the tooth, hehehe. Hope your holiday was just a crazy and eventful..well without the carbon monoxide scare! :-D

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Frigid. Chill-to-the-bone cold. Freeze the snot while it's still IN your nose cold--MAN!! As I drove home last night from my grandparents' 60th anniversary open house, the outside temp on the truck display started at 13 and dropped steadily as I came closer to home reaching down to 1....ONE degree as we headed down our road. The wind was just wicked- blowing people all over the place along our way home. Thankfully it was late Sunday and not many trucks on the road- nothing like a 20-ton 18-wheeler leaning over and sliding your way! As I pulled into our driveway, our inflatable Santa in the front yard was dancing wildly, occasionally doing the limbo, like a holiday punching bag being repeatedly knocked down then bouncing back up for another chance. He was losing that battle. I told the kids to bundle back up well, gather their things and when I opened the truck door, WHAMMO! That icy blast was a bundle of sharp knives stabbing clear through me. I might as well not even had a coat on!
Fireplace! Hot chocolate- STAT!
I was fighting to keep feeling in my fingers and not lose my grip on purse/bags/hat, cussing NE Ohio weather and making mental note to kick Mr. FixIt in the shins and as if on cue, here he comes out to help me get the kids. In shorts. SHORTS!! Are you nuts??!! It's -15 below with the windchill out here and you're in comfy shorts?!? I had folded 4 loads of laundry before I left, it wasn't like he didn't have comfy pants or a pair of jeans to throw on. He did have a coat on at least, and I appreciate the help in getting the kids, but jeesh man!
Now my neighbors have proof- I'm not the only one who's missing a few marbles in this house. :-D

Beaming!

Don't they look as proud as punch?? Mr. FixIt got this 9-point the first day of deer gun season in the evening. Yes, it was the first day, but he'd seen 16 deer so far that day and this buck was chasing a group of 6. Nice shot. Nice big deer. LOTS of meat!! He's already had a couple processed this year during bow season so we have a good bit of burger, but he does like to butcher some himself for roasts, steaks and stew meat. And of course the loin--oh man, first thing he pulled out, the backstraps- some season-all and cooked them in the cast iron skillet. OH MAN!! is that yuu-uummy!! Can't get a more juicy, flavorful steak than that! Ok, those who don't eat venison I'll quit making you sick. :-D B posed in this pic with him just because she was happy her daddy got a buck. She's been so worried, wanting him to get a nice buck, lol. She was with him in bow season and helped him get a very nice-sized doe a few weeks before. She jkept watch, picked out the doe, told her dad where to aim and when to release the bow. He nailed it so she helped drag it out of the woods. She can be a girly girl at times and knows how to turn on the drama, but she is definitely a hunter which makes Mr. Fix It, even more proud! She's talking about taking a gun safety course in the spring. I'm sure my mother will have fits, but she's about the age I was when I took a gun class and shot a 12-gauge for the first time. Adding fuel to this fire is the fact that our nieces, B's age and a year younger, both went gun hunting this year- one got a doe and her sister "gave one a haircut" lol. So B definitely wants to keep up with her cousins. I know in some families the guys are hunting crazy but I think our girls can give them a run for their deer. :-D Hey, I wonder if hunting with guns will scare off potential boyfriendsin the future or make them more attracted??? Maybe we can work on intimidating those boys and keeping them away....FAR away!!

Turkey Lurkey Day

First off, I'm poufed. We ate 5 hours ago and I still feel as if I could 'splode at any second. I was so full, I even took a nap after dinner, but that may have been in part due to my glass of wine with dinner. Hehehe. Thinking back to my not completely full plate, I really didn't overdo it toooo much...well except on the pre-dinner juicy turkey samples as Mr. Fixit was pulling it off the bones. No knives- it falls off and apart. He is the roaster master and makes a damn fine turkey! He preps it the night before, gets up at 5 am to start cooking- with no complaints. In fact I don't even ask, that's just his job. He takes care of anything turkey related. I just steal some of the awesome broth to fix my noodles and dressing. :-D I don't mind making the potatoes, noodles and green beans. Dressing is really easy as well. Yesterday I made 'doubled' eggs, as Monster Man calls them and he helped, and a peach pie as well as a homemade-from- scratch pumpkin pie. No canned stuff. Real pumpkin cleaned of strings and seeds, cooked, peeled, drained and squeezed of water then pureed. Voila- Canned pumpkin the hard way! Needless to say, now that I've tried it the Suzy Homemaker way, I have a new appreciation of canned pumpkin and will not ever feel guilty using a Libby's can again. The kids did help and they enjoyed getting their hands into pumpkins one more time. I turned out really well. I even tried a bite, and I don't like pumpkin pie. Not too shabby! It had my pie crust so I had to at least try it! I could just eat pie crust-ugh pastry weakness!! After I had done those Monica called me to tell about pumpkin cheesecake from the Hershey cookbook (she had bought me years ago) she was trying. I had some pumpkin left over so debated making her suggestiong but ended up going with the Creamy Peanut Butter Chip Cheesecake with chocolate graham crust due to overwhelming majority vote of Mr. FixIt and the young-uns. I'm not a huge fan of peanut butter baked things (thanks Mom- the thought/smell of her peanut butter pie still makes me gag 25 years later) so I tried a spoonful of unbaked cheesecake batter before I added the PB chips- YUMM!

So dinner is done, kitchen is now cleaned, kids are bathed and I'm scouring through blogs while sitting here by a roaring toasty fire. Aaaahhhh. I'm going to have to give up my warm spot before too long and head for bed. I'll be one of those crazy people at Kohl's at 4 am. Hehehe! I can't wait! Then over to Target at 6! I love crowds but I was never one to shop on Black Friday. Not until my sister and I went last year and we had a blast! We even called our mom at 4:30 to wake her up and ask questions-ha! We ended up not going to my sister's this year, but I'm still heading out the door at 3:45 tomorrow morning! I have my ads and coupons ready to go! Mr. FixIt heads out to deer hunt weekend after weekend, gone all day or all weekend for months so this is MY day. My turn to head out sans kids for the day, or at least the morning then I'm gonna come home and crash for a few hours before anyone has a chance to think I'm back on the job. Mom's day off aka Black Friday here I come!!

Hope you all had a wonderful turkey day!

Beautiful chill

So much for getting back to blogging! I think that was two weeks ago!

Four field trips down, two more to go (all in three weeks!) and things may start to settle down here a little. School is going well. Mr. FixIt is at his second home this time of year, the woods, and got a doe yesterday so he's happy. Pup is getting HUGE! The kids are learning how to handle a "big dog" and what not to do so they can control her and she will listen. They have to learn now, so does she! She's not even four months old and she's passing 30 pounds quickly...she'll be a moose before long so training is in full swing with her. Kids too! Ha!

The leaves are beautiful right now, though it's daarned cold right now and supposed to dip to upper 30s for high tomorrow and Tuesday with SNOW flurries starting early morning. YUK! So fall is beautiful here as long as you are looking from inside! ha! Now having said that I need to go out in the cold day and blow leaves before the rain- which will turn to snow- hits tonight and makes our yard a sloppy mess. Blowing leaves is typically Mr. FixIt's job but since he's in the woods and helping my BIL with some remodeling, he won't be in time to do any before the wet stuff hits, and it will piss me off to be in the house looking out at a sloppy yard for the next week, not to mention taking pup out to potty and breaking my neck on a yard full of slippery leaves...so I guess I'll go do it myself. Housework be damned, I'm gonna play with the leaf blower! hehehe!

I downloaded a bunch of pics finally and am getting them uploaded to Flickr so I can stream them here. Or I hope. May take me a month to get that far, so don't hold your breath!

It's official!

I'm a ChaCha Guide!

I really think this will be fun, maybe a tad stressful, since you are under a time clock to answer each question, but fun nonetheless. I love looking up stuff, might as well get paid for it. Mon has already called me, "Are you near your computer?" just because of that post. Ha ha. Funny girl. Mr. FixIt keeps buzzing around the house saying, "cha cha-CHA!" Nerd.

Anywho, I need to get my arse in gear so I can get a few hours of work done answering questions of the masses while the kids are occupied with a movie. They are watching "The Mask" with Jim Carrey for the 387th time.

Peek into the Monique mind

Wow what a day! Trying to catch up with all the bloggy friends and read so many blogs I think my eyeballs will shrivel in my sleep later!! Though the last one I read revived me a bit. OH MAN! Near fell out of my chair! I will have to one-up the chocolate and Rolos fiasco with another chocolate milk incident involving the (at the time) soon-to-be Mr. FixIt's Santa boxers, but for right now go enjoy the above tale from Monica's point of view.

She did neglect to mention naked trolls and climbing in windows at 4 am, but those fun times are blog fodder for another day! :-D

For a clue into the chocolate milk and Santa boxers story...Mr. FixIt never did wear those boxers after he found out what we did to them...

The Thanks

Earlier this week, Mr. FixIt had a very terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Yeah, just like the book. He had gone to work but debated to come home early all day. When I returned home after dropping B off for her early afternoon dance class, he was home, already in the chair, covered up with his quilt and "out of it." Earlier in the day he had requested grilled cheese, so before I left I'd started a pot of chicken soup to go with that. I know he was not well because as the smell of grilled cheese filled the house he was still in the COD (chair of death); not being his normal cheese vulture self trying to dive on the first one done. In fact, he was snoring. (I should have smacked him for insulting my awesome grilled cheese that way) I actually had to wake him up to eat! I still had to run back to the dance studio to pick up B....which he normally would have done. Upon our return, his plate and bowl were empty but he was snoring again. Wow. He really must be sick! The kids have another bowl of soup, and I clean up a few things...he's still snoring. I figured I'd start cycling kids through quick showers so if he did wake up and want to go to bed, the upstairs would be fairly quiet. Ironed a few shirts for him for the week (which he usually does since I only iron in the midst of a sewing project) and the kids help put away some laundry before/after showers. By this time Mr. Fix has been home 4 hours and is still cuttin' down a forest in the den. Hmmm. I did check a few times to make sure he was actually breathing. :-D (and no Monica, I did not pinch of his nose and wait for him to GASP! LOL)

Now it's bedtime for the kiddos and I'm about whipped but they have decided to gang up on me and after teeth brushing, they both jump in my bed. So I jump in with them and then about half to sleep think better of it...if he actually does make it up the stairs tonight, he will not be in any shape to get kids out and to their own beds, and I really, really don't want to wake up and do it either. Since they weren't yet asleep, I convince them to move over to B's room (full bed). I woke up steaming in the middle of the two sweaty kiddos about 11 pm...phew! No sign of Mr. FixIt upstairs. Now this man rarely sleeps more than six hours for various reasons, and at this point, he's going on seven hours in one heap. He's still in the COD, and even in my half-sleep state I'm shocked.

Sometime between me falling asleep after that and the alarm going off at 5:30 he had stumbled upstairs. He woke me up saying he felt a little better and thanks for the ironed shirt and tie I set out the night before. ~NP man, be quiet so I can continue my ZZZZZZZZZs, and we'll call it square (wink)~. He heads to work and I head back to dreamland.

Later that morning, like normal waking hour, I boot up my puter as I slug my java and I find this in my inbox:

"I know that my new job has placed some more stress on both of us, but I really do enjoy it. Having you home and not stressed so much by work is the only way that I could continue this job effectively. Cases like last night with me being sick are the perfect example. You cared for me, the kids, and everything else like usual. I am a lucky man to have you as my wife, but even more as my friend. There are never enough words to tell you how I feel and I know that I don't show it near enough either so I thought a little line or two would help. I love you Angela.

ps. Nice choice of clothes

Love,

M"



Jeesh-Ok, PASS me a kleenex!!

I didn't do all that so I could be crying in my coffee, man. Glad to be appreciated, but give a girl forewarning!!

Did I mention I really love that man?? Even when he makes me kick and cuss and want to strangle him for silly things, I do love him :-D