This is sooo COOL!!!

Check out what Danielle Bean is up to! What a great idea!!! A charity raffle for St. Gianna's Maternity Home near Fargo, ND. She's raised lots of money so far...

Being technologically behind, I don't know how to link in the post, but go to my link for Danielle Bean, and you'll find plenty more info there!

Dress update...

So, the girls and I went to a doctor's appointment with my MIL up in the city, and naturally we went shopping afterwards. I tried on all sorts of outfits at Kohls, and most of them were horrible, but I did find one dress that I really liked! It was black and white, and is very similar in style to the dress I bought this winter (which is black, white and red) and the price tag read $54...so, I thought that was a little pricey, and I was sad and about to put it back when I passed a price checker thing...the dress was on clearance for $16.20!!! So, cool!

I looked around some more and found the dress in two shades of blue, and even found it in my size. So, I ended up getting the dress in blue...and I thought with that good of a deal, maybe I'd buy a necklace to go with it...just costume jewelery, nothing that fancy. I found two great necklaces that I really liked with it, and since they were buy one get one half off, I got both...the sick part? The two necklaces together cost more than double the cost of the dress!

Also, I finally got a couple of doormats for the house, and got hubby two new shirts and ties (we can BOTH look classy for the upcoming wedding! Woo hoo!!!) And grandma of course got the girls some clothes (Charlotte cute part dress onesies, and Eva a t-shirt and two sets of PJs...she has a pajama fetish...) and Eva a little sports set (with a football, 2 baseballs, a soccer ball, a bat, and a glove) with Dora all over them, so Eva has some great outdoor toys to go with our great weather!

Our First Homeschooling Project!

So, on Sunday after church and lunch, we decided to go to the hardware store to price pavers, etc. for our landscaping woes (I am adamant that this year we WILL have a sidewalk to the front door rather than old boards placed over the dirt where said pavers will go!)

So, Eva pipes up that we need to get a birdhouse. No idea where this comes from...as I really don't like birds very much...they are noisy when I try to nap and they poop all over my car...(okay, likely this is some genetic thing from my mother that SKIPPED a generation!) So, I ended up talking her into a bird feeder, because I see no purpose for bird houses (isn't that what trees are for?)

At first I thought we might get something decorative to class up our yard, but after discovering that birdhouses start in the $20 range and go UP from there (to feed birds...I just don't get it!!!) we decided to instead go with the early homeschooler's model. A kit that had a base and suction cups that you attach a platic bottle to (20 oz soda bottle is what we used!) and fill up with bird seed. So, Eva and I put together the bird feeder, and she has been enjoying watching the birds come eat at the feeder.

So, as a Future Homeschooler of America, I diligently went on line to Paperback Swap and found children's books about birds. So, Eva will be getting a field guide to 24 common bird species in the mail before too long. I'm thinking that unschooling during preschool may be the way to go!

Another one that doesn't surprise me!

Your Dominant Intelligence is Musical Intelligence

Every part of your life has a beat, and you're often tapping your fingers or toes. You enjoy sounds of all types, but you also find sound can distract you at the wrong time. You are probably a gifted musician of some sort - even if you haven't realized it. Also a music lover, you tend to appreciate artists of all kinds. You would make a great musician, disc jockey, singer, or composer.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

Okay, so we all know that I'm not normal...

You Are 30% Normal

You sure do march to your own beat... But you're so weird, people wonder if it's a beat at all You think on a totally different wavelength And it's often a chore to get people to understand you

How Normal Are You?

...but this particular quiz asked me for my views on spanking and living together before marriage, among other things that really didn't make me think one answer was normal and the other was not...oh yeah...and if I'm 30% normal and 60% weird...what's the other 10%????

Dress rant...

Okay, continuing my theme of ranting about clothing...today's topic is dresses.

So, in two weekends we are going to the wedding of a college friend who may be the world's most fashionable person...(okay, maybe I shouldn't go that far...but she is the most fashionable person either one of us knows!) Hubby is going to be a reader at the wedding, and I am having the dilemma of what I should wear...

You see, the last dress I bought was for Charlotte's baptism...I love the dress, but since I bought it to wear in DECEMBER...I'm thinking it might not work for a summer wedding. The last dress I bought before that was for my SILs wedding (and really, I just don't like the dress that much...a little more matronly than I want to look!) which was also in DECEMBER the year before...

Then my next newest dress is one that I bought before we last went to the Midwest Catholic Family Conference (which we will be attending again this year)...unfortunately, the last time we went was in 2002...the other two dresses that I have in my wardrobe were bought for me by my mom...probably in 1999 or 2000...

So, I went to every website I could think of that might sell plus sized women's clothing, and looked at every dress option...I found two "maybe" dresses...

The problem I seem to have is that dresses either scream "look at me!!! I'm a skank ho!!!" (and a FAT skank ho at that!) or "excuse me, I am on lunch break from my business casual office job."

Whatever happened to nice dresses for church or whatever?? I don't want to look like I'm in my 50s (my Catechism class this year guessed that I was almost 40...I'll be celebrating 28 this summer!) but I don't want to look like I'm trying to pick up Johns (with very bad eyesight and a thing for fat chicks, of course!)


So, still trying to figure out what to wear to above mentioned wedding...

Should I be worried about the 8%???

You Are 8% Sociopath

You're empathetic, loyal, and introspective. In other words, there's no way you're a sociopath... but you can spot one pretty easily!

Are You A Sociopath?

The GRE thought so too!

You Are Incredibly Logical

Move over Spock - you're the new master of logic You think rationally, clearly, and quickly. A seasoned problem solver, your mind is like a computer!

How Logical Are You?

MWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Okay, the evil laugh is because I no longer have to deal with html on blogger!!! Best new feature ever!!! I hated adding links because I had to wade through all sorts of mumbo jumbo that I don't understand to put them in...but now, I just click a button, and it walks me through step by step. I really did need blogger for idiots!

I'm too tired to come up with a title, so this will have to do...

So, I've been a slacker in terms of blogging recently...but this time I have a good excuse! (Just kidding...I don't need an excuse to be a slacker, it's second nature to me!)

Hubby and I have started the South Beach Diet...though I hate to use the word diet...basically it is more like we've stopped eating our usual menu of excessive amounts of carbs. Instead, I've been making excessive amounts of salads...slightly more work than my normal "cooking" but at least it keeps the kitchen cool!

We are currently in the second week of phase 1 (which is the most restrictive part of the diet) and next week we get to start adding back in grains and fruits, which I am actually a little bit nervous about...

Other than that, not much going on! Some family get togethers, lots of housework to catch up on, trying to get Charlotte out of our bed (so far we've managed one night in the cosleeper...with any luck in a few months she'll be ready to move in with Eva!) Interviews are done for the new clerk at the post office, but no word on who the job is being offered to (still in the background check/reference stage, I'm guessing) so it may be a while before hubby isn't working so much overtime, but I'm not complaining, because we are down to the last $1020 on hubby's student loan, and after that, the only debt we will owe is our mortgage! Woo hoo!!!

This REALLY shouldn't suprise anyone!

Weird Al Shares Your Taste in Music

See his whole playlist here (iTunes required)

Which Musician (or Group) Shares Your Taste in Music?

"There is no emoticon for what I'm feeling!"

Your Emoticon Is Laughing

You've got a wicked sense of humor. You're everyone's favorite IM buddy... at least today!

What Emoticon Best Represents You Right Now?

Only 60%???

You Are 60% Weird

You're so weird, you think you're *totally* normal. Right? But you wig out even the biggest of circus freaks!

How Weird Are You?

I HATE insurance companies...

Okay, so I REALLY try not to use the word hate when I really mean "strongly dislike", etc...but today I am really HATING ours!!!

Now, on the plus side...we are insured and nine times out of ten they pay claims with no difficulties...

On the minus side...if they don't pay a claim, it is a pain in the you-know-what to get them to review it...

Today I talked to some guy named Michael (since he shares a name with approximately 25% of the American male population, I feel no guilt in posting his name!) NOT HELPFUL AT ALL! See, this is a claim that we had for Charlie when we took her into the ER at the ADVICE OF THE 24 HOUR NURSE LINE THAT THE INSURANCE COMPANY HAS FOR US TO USE!!!! Fortunately, she was fine...so, it got coded as something that the insurance didn't like. The visit was in DECEMBER of 06...

I have called the insurance company AT LEAST once a month over this...I have also called the hospital at least once a month (and their billing office, and the clinic, and the medical records department, etc.) LAST MONTH the hospital told me they had sent out the information requested, so when I got a paper in the mail stating that the insurance company needed the information that was already sent to them, I called in.

Michael informed me that the information that "they" sent in was for the wrong date in October...then he got mad that I wasn't understanding what he meant since Charlotte was born in November. It was a claim for ME from a different HOSPITAL, in a different CITY, with a different BILLING OFFICE, etc. etc. etc...then he treated me like crap because I didn't have the account numbers from the hospital bills (which I have only recieved one of...) and the phone number from that paper, and instead tried to give him the hospital phone number (it is a small hospital...it has ONE main phone number...) Finally, I talked to someone higher up who was at least as unhelpful...

Then I called the hospital, and they read me back everything that had been done (every mailing, every time I called, every time they called the insurance company, etc.) and told me that they were sending out the information again tomorrow...

So, my insurance company likes to pass the buck all the time...

Nothing makes me quite as crazy as people who won't take responsiblity for their own organization's screw ups!

Movies are a wonderful thing...

So, last night I was just at wits end. You see, we had made a family trip to Colorado Springs (which is quite long enough of a drive, thank you very much) because hubby ended up having training in a small town near there (they had moved the one that was closer, but the phone service was out in our town because someone had accidentally cut a fiberoptic cable south of town, and so they didn't get the call that it was that day rather than the next!) Anyhow, that kept us out past midnight after all was said and done on Wednesday. Thursday I had bible study in the evening, and we decided to watch our movie from netflix afterwards, so we were up late then...Friday, the girls went on a napping strike, so I got no rest then. So, last night I had hubby take the girls up to the theatre to watch "Firehouse Dog" (Eva LOVED it...she has a thing about dogs...) and I got to stay home and work on OUR scrapbook for a change. So, I got Eva coming home from the hospital through Eva's baptism...(okay, so it was only about 6 weeks of her life...but still...it's an accomplishment when you are as behind as I am!)

Both kids are still free at the movie, so it wasn't even that expensive to get them out of my hair...I'm going to have to do that more often!

Why Men Suck...

Okay, I guess more fairly, I should title this post "why the traditional distribution of labor within the family sucks!" As I sit here with my appliances all going (Thank the Lord for my appliances, or my mechanical slaves, as I call them!) I've been thinking about accomplishments. Do you ever get the feeling that you are always busy, but never actually accomplish anything? Take dishes, cooking and laundry, for instance...You wash all the dishes...then it is time to feed the family a meal, so you have to cook, when you are done cooking, you have more dishes to wash...then you have to cook another meal, ad nauseum! Same with laundry...you get up in the morning, you get dressed, you get the kids dressed, you go about your routine of cooking and doing dishes, and at the end of the day, you get undressed and into PJs, then you have to wash the laundry...and as if clothing weren't enough, there are sheets and towels and blankets and burp cloths and diapers to wash, too!

A while back our washing machine was broken (right in the middle of potty training! Yikes!!!) and the repair guy couldn't get here for four days. I just let the laundry pile up (except for the load that was in the washer when it quit working...I took those up to my MILs house when we visited to rewash and dry...) and after it was fixed, I did a ton of loads of laundry...it was almost like accomplishing something...In fact, I feel much more of a sense of accomplishment if I let my house become a pigsty and THEN clean it all up!

So, yesterday we did some work around the house. I cooked three meals, did dishes, did some laundry, played with the kiddos and used our Hoover Floormate on the tile floor in our kitchen. Today, I have more meals to cook, more dishes to do, more laundry to wash and dry and fold and put away, and of course, the kids to take care of. Yesterday, hubby worked on staining the cabinet doors for our kitchen and laundry room. Every door now has at least one side stained...and today, they are still stained!!! He also dug up a lilac bush in our front yard that was mostly dead...yes, a lot of hard work...but guess what he doesn't have to do again! (To be fair to hubby, his days at work are a lot like my days at home...he does the same things over and over again 6 days a week...)

Okay, enough whining (for now)...maybe I'll go try to accomplish something!

We celebrated Mother's Day a week early...

Mostly due to the fact that hubby has three cousins graduating from high school on Mother's Day. So, hubby and Eva went out this morning to get some supplies for our never ending cabinet project, and they got my present while they were out. I am very excited about it (which probably means that I am a massive dork!) because instead of being fifteen years out of date, technologically, we are now only about five! (I figure if you can find it in our town, it has to be at least five years behind the times!)

We have two stereos in our house (I use the term loosely, of course!) one in our bedroom which is the small one that I got in high school with one tape deck, a CD player, and a AM/FM radio. All parts still function (except the tape deck can be a little finicky at times. Our other stereo was hubby's from high school. It is an old school boombox! Detachable speakers, CD player, dual tape deck with high speed dubbing, AM/FM radio with the capability to program radio stations...the problem is that the CD player on it doesn't work, and we live far enough out in the boonies to not have very good reception for any radio stations (we used to have Sirius Satalite Radio, but didn't use it enough for it to be worth it...)

Okay, total tangent here, but this is too cute not to tell...I went outside to tell the family that supper is almost ready, and Eva is singing "Father Abraham" to an earthworm her daddy found for her...Back to the original post...

So, obviously they got me a new stereo...and this one doesn't take up half my bookshelf! It only takes up one shelf. It has a CD player, AM/FM radio (no programable features, but we don't really need it, and best of all, I can hook my IPod up to it and we can all listen!

Hubby claimed the old boombox for the garage, but at least it is no longer in the house! Besides, all he wants out there is something that can pick up AM radio for sporting events while he is working out there!

I hate freecycle...

I may be the only person on the planet...and maybe it's just my local freecycle that sucks (but I'm guessing there are many other sucky ones, too!)

I have been on the local freecycle group for over a year (maybe closer to two) and I finally unsubscribed from it...I have made exactly two requests (one for empty beer bottles, the other for empty baby food jars) making it clear that I would be willing to travel to pick stuff up...

I have also made at least two offers (if I've made any more, they were just never responded to...) one was a bunch of pen refills that I had left over from grad school, which after about two weeks of no response, I threw them out. Naturally, about two weeks after that, someone responded that they would be interested in the pen refills if I still had them...

Second one was last week or so...I have over a dozen clean, unused cloth diapers (6 cheapy prefolds and over a dozen flats) and I don't have any use for them (as I have 3 dozen of two different sizes of good prefolds, and probably 2 dozen or more flats that I use for burp rags...) So, I offered them, and was very excited when someone said that she was interested...I e-mailed her back privately with my phone number telling her to give me a call to figure out a time she could pick them up. I also told her that we town we live in, and that we are in the city itself. Our city is in the county that the freecycle group is supposed to be for...

She e-mailed back that she was located in another city in the next county over (at least an hour drive away) and asked if we ever came to that town, and asked if we might be able to drop them off there...

I e-mailed back that we do occasionally go through that town, but that we had no plans to do so in the near future...she has never e-mailed me back...

So, apparently, I can't get anyone to even save their trash (or recyclables) for me, but people want me to DELIVER items to them in a different COUNTY???

Grrrr.....

Whew!!! Can't imagine what my mom would say if I failed..

You Passed 8th Grade Science

Congratulations, you got 6/8 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Science?

Just enough blogging...

Okay, I have to admit, I started this blog only after becoming addicted to reading blogs. At one point, I think I visited about a dozen blogs a day...now I am down to three. (The second kid definately contributed to that!) But honestly, there are lots of great bloggers out there, but there are two types that I just can't stand anymore. People who blog too much, or people who blog too little...

On the "people who blog too much" list include Amy Wellborn (whom I love to read, but since she posts a zillion things a week, I just can't handle keeping up!) and the Heart, Mind and Strength blog, which because it has half a dozen people who blog on it, just is information overload as well...

Then there are the ones that you visit, and they don't update for weeks at a time (like me for instance!) and by the time they have updated, you have visited their site a dozen times looking for more thoughts...

I think it is pretty hard to reach a happy medium in blogging...I understand the urge to put everything you find interesting on a blog...and I understand the not having time to regularly update a blog...but it is sad when only 2 of my original 12 or so blogs fit my new expectations (the 3rd I found just a couple of months ago...very funny stuff at Ask Sister Mary Martha!)