Saturday, July 31, 2010

Fill in the Blank (Saturday)

What is your spouse’s best feature? Oh, that would have to be his eyes. He has the prettiest blue eyes.

Mild, Medium or Hot sauce? Medium to Hot - sadly in the midwest you can rarely find it hot enough.

What is the worst uniform you had to wear for a job? Probably the one when I worked at the movie theater.  Not that it was horrible, but no matter how much washing - you couldn't get the oil out of it - gross.

You have invisible powers… where is the first place you would go? I'm not sure - maybe some super-secret meeting of the minds - don't you wonder what happens in those?

What’s left on your “to do” list for this summer? Funny you should ask! I actually have a list of 101 things I need to work on :)
 
How would you fill in the blanks?

Thursday, July 29, 2010

The saddest sight in the whole world..

..is watching your kids leave for a long time :(

The girls left this morning for Arizona to spend some quality time with my parents.  But it was so heart breaking watching them board that plane all alone.
I was all prepared to let them go at the gate and then run to my car and bawl until I got to work, but NO...apparently Southwest makes you stay in the gate area until they're in the air.  I get the point, but it was so much worse to stand there and wait...and wait...and wait...
Grr...
Then you get to see them roll away and turn tail to you...ugh...

And then you wait and wait and wait while they're around the corner getting ready to get into the air and EVERY nightmare in the world runs through your head (what if the plane crashes on the runway RIGHT in front of me and then I'm a HORRIBLE mom because I'm not on that stupid plane with my kids burning up with them!!!!).  Ugh - like I said - EMOTIONAL! At least none of the worst happened and they took off just fine.  I also didn't get my bawling time because I had to immediately get on a conference call. 

How does my mom and other long-distance moms do it?!  ugh - heartbreaking.

I know they'll have fun and it'll be nice for Mr. S and I to have our FIRST night off from kids (and a whole week) without kids since our honeymoon.  - Guess we'll see if the marriage works on our own :)

What's a hard-mom-thing you've had to do?

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Growing Pains

I LOVE having daughters.  I loved getting to dress them all cute as babies.  I loved that I could totally re-live my childhood of princesses and Barbies through them.  I've love watching them turning into little women. 
The pain finally hit though this weekend.

I HAD TO BUY JRMSS HER FIRST REAL BRA!!!

Seeing her in that just hit me that - wait - this isn't my LITTLE GIRL anymore.  Where has the time gone?  I mean REALLY..where as it gone?!

 
So although she's not feeling the growing pains now...mom sure is.  I mean what's next?  Do I really HAVE to do "The Talk" now?  I remember when my mom gave it to me in THIRD grade - ugh - I was SO not ready to hear about all the gross women's bodies things and I was REALLY SO NOT READY to hear about my mom and dad having S-E-X - GROSS!  So, maybe I'm a bad mom that I've avoided it. Kids grow up SO fast - do I really have to push it THAT much faster?  Teaching her how to wear a real bra and how which colors have to go with which types of shirts - isn't that pretty mom-ish?  I never got that lesson (seriously - my first wedding dress I wore white and green underwear and since I knew NOTHING about how colors show through clothes - everyone could see them - ugh). I didn't get that lesson until I went to Victoria Secret when I was like 25 to get a bra fitting whan THAT was finally explained to me.

She's also starting to get some random blemishes, so we picked up some Noxema as well in the store this weekend.  I look back and I can't believe I was saying "when I was a teenager I used this..." or "this really helped when I had this blemish problem". HOW DID I GET SO OLD?!!

Of course I want to do the right thing and not let her find these things out the hard way or the wrong way.  I realize that VERY soon I need to have "The Talk", I'm just not sure how to approach it I guess.  I don't want to scar her like I was (sorry mom).  We have a pretty open relationship and we can talk about things, but this crosses a line I'm not sure I want to share. 

How were you given "The Talk" or how have you given it?

Monday, July 26, 2010

You know you live in a small town when...

...kids at the community center just leave their bikes like this...
Even in the small town I lived in as a child we wouldn't have gotten away with this - let alone anywhere now in the 2000's.  Gotta love the small town (that and I was so distracted by the unlocked bikes that I left my car doors unlocked with my purse sitting on the front seat for anyone's taking while I took this picture and then went into the pool for about 10 minutes to collect kids) :P

What still surprises you about living in a small town or a big city?

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Ouch!

It's hard to see, but LMS's finger is BLACK and BLUE! 
Yesterday at Kid Care her finger was somehow rolled over by a HUGE roll of butcher clock paper.  Poor baby...
Last night when I tried to get her to ice it, all she did was whine and complain about how the ice hurt her.  This morning I took her into Kid Care and I played the "mom lie" card.  I "threatened" that if she didn't ice it - I was taking her to the Dr. tonight and having him drill a hole in her finger to release the pressure (this has happened before with Jr.Ms.S and TS2 - except they had the bruising on the nail side). I knew they wouldn't ACTUALLY drill into her finger, but she didn't.  Apparently she iced it good at Kid Care today and had it on ice even when I got home tonight.  She also pointed out how it didn't hurt at all to bend it or ice it :) It does look better today than yesterday or even this morning (for some reason they taped it when she went swimming - that's the white stuff).  
 
I still feel bad for her, but I'm also glad I pulled a "mom lie". 

What "mom" cards do you pull?

Sunday, July 18, 2010

What constitutes a bad week (and a half)?

It may not have been the worst week and a half ever in my life, but when you look back at all that you’ve been through, it just adds up.

Let’s start with July 7th (a week and a half ago). Mr. S’s grandmother passed away after battling cancer for only about 3 months. It came on hard and fast and although she’s in a better place and no longer in pain, it’s still hard for Mr. S’s mom and family. He’s been pretty estranged from that side of the family for years, so the memorial last Saturday was the first time a lot of his family had met LMS (the boys were at a wrestling camp and Jr.Ms.S was at her swimming district meet – Mr. S thought it was more important for them to do that). From the stories I heard about her, she will be a very missed woman. And now today we found out that Mr.S’s grandfather isn’t doing very well now – I guess after 65+ years – you really can’t do without the other.

(grandparents are in the center sitting down)

On July 8th, I took flowers and card to my sister for her birthday. As I was walking into the office building I missed one TINY little stair right before the door (how did I make it up the freaking 20 large ones before that?) and fell hitting my knees SUPER hard, the flowers went FLYING, and I had to walk into the building with blood running down my knees. Ugh, at least HOPEFULLY no one saw me do it – what a klutz I am. The bad thing is that my knees are STILL bruised and now I’m suffering a lot of pain in one when I stand too long (hopefully I didn’t tear something in my knee like someone suggested). (by the way sissy - sorry I didn't do a birthday blog post - I'm so bad and behind - I'm sorry).
Happy Birthday Sissy!!

Last Sunday Mr. S and I fought about PB sandwiches - yeah - that was the stupidest fight of the century.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Fill in the Blank Friday

You know the drill....fill 'em in...

1. My favorite thing about this week has been having a completely lazy Monday with Mr. S and the girls.  There is hardly a day that goes by when I don't work and I was able to COMPLETELY take the day off. I also am really happy I took a long lunch yesterday and focused on ME - that doesn't happen very often.

2. The weather this week has been it was nice early this week, but now it's just gross and humid :P

3. The last (interesting) item I received in the mail was probabaly a check from some class action suit against Yahoo.  $40 bucks is great when you're not expecting it :)

4. The last movie I saw was Brooklyn's Finest technically - although I worked through most of it - so don't ask me what it was about :P

5. If I could be doing anything I felt like today I would probably work some, go groccery shopping, relax with Mr. S, and take the girls to one of the movies I've been promising them.

6. As a teenager I was - I'm not sure, but I bet my sister and brother could fill in this one for me :) (be nice)

7. I wish I could trade lives for the day with one of our cats - what a life: lay around, eat, play with a stupid fuzz ball, sleep, eat....

How would you fill in the blanks?

Monday, July 5, 2010

Why living in a small town still amazes me

My mom grew up in a very small town in California.  The three of us kids and even my dad would make fun of her for this - we were city people and sometimes her "view" of the world just didn't jive with the way things really were in a large metropolitan area in Arizona. I was born in a small town in Southern Arizona and each year for the Fourth of July we'd visit my grandma there, go to the soap box derby races down the mountain, eat ice cream, watch the parade that went down main street and then watched the fireworks on her patio.  That was my "small town" experience growning up. 

Since I've moved to the midwest, I've learned about what we missed out on in my child-hood: everyone has FIREWORKS!  Our towns really sound like some kind of revolutionary war is going on.  How small was my bubble that I didn't know about this?!  In AZ no one is allowed to have fireworks due to the fire danger (even the professional ones set pretty bad fires).

The past few years with Mr. S we've gone to Lake Okoboji for the Fourth.  It's been such a fun experience and the kids have started recognizing it as a "tradition" for us (we need more traditions - it's hard with all the back and forth though with the boys).  This year because of our insane schedules, lack of money and because Crazy is stupid and wouldn't let us have the boys longer than just the Fourth (it's HER week), we ended up just staying home for the holiday.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Happy Independance Day

I hope everyone has a great Fourth of July!  I'm so thankful to live in a country with the freedoms I have and most of all I'm thankful for those people that protect my freedoms.

Especially my little brother, part of the newest Navy Class...
May 2010 - Swearing in
June 2010 - Graduation from Navy Bootcamp


Reunited with his family

So, So proud of you little brother! Now when can I come to S. Carolina?

Happy 4th!

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Quick Update

Sorry I've been MIA for the past couple of months.  I'm really looking forward to life slowing down soon - at least for a little while.  Here's our week:

1) We had two swim meets this week. JrMsS is doing a lot better.  We've also found a way to "bribe" her to do better.  When she was hungry before one of her heats, Mr. S told her she could have a cheeseburger if she came in 3rd or better.  That kid got out there and swam the most perfect breast stroke I've ever seen and got 2nd place!  Her coach was laughing SO HARD when she did that (she knew about our deal with her and of course she was SUPER proud of her too).  It's amazing what a cheeseburger can motivate.

2) Speaking of cheeseburgers, do you know how many cheeseburgers and tacos it takes to feed all of my kids at swim meets?  12 cheeseburgers and 18 tacos!! (Seriously we don't eat fast food this often on a normal basis)

3) If you haven't already read my other post, I had my first solo project this week.  It's the first new project our section has gotten since I started and my boss let me go loose on it.  The bad this was I only had about a day to design the website and then I had MAJOR problems with the hosting company.  It all worked out in the end, but I was SO emotionally spent and SO exhausted Wednesday - instead of going to the other job, I called in, picked up chinese and the girls, opened a bottle of wine and had movie night.  I was A LOT better then next day.

4) Speaking of the other job, I did go in last night for a whole whooping THREE tables.  Ugh - at least they all tipped pretty well and I was home by 7 pm.

5) Thursday night after the swim meet we went over to Mr. S's aunts house and celebrated his grandfather's birthday with cake, ice cream and fireworks.  We had a lot of fun Aunt R and happy birthday grandpa!

6) Since it had been such a long week, we had a super late night Thursday night and I didn't see the point of driving all the way into work when so many people would be out or leaving super early, I decided not to go into work.  We slept in (the kids were kind of freaking out being out of the norm and all), I worked remotely on my couch, I even took a nap yesterday afternoon.  It was a good day.

7) Yesterday was my Nana's birthday, I wish I would have been more on the ball and sent you something other than just an amazon card like usual, but hopefully you find something you really want.  I hope you had a really wonderful day!

8) Speaking of work, I won another department award.  I don't know for what yet, but I got an email yesterday asking me which prize I wanted: Movie tickets, Round of Golf, Omaha Steaks, or money to Large Engineering Company store.  Hmm....so hard to choose....

9) I guess I haven't updated you on our newest future trip to the ER device Mr. S has put up.  For SOME reason, he has it in his head that the kids need a climbing rope for building muscles.  He picked up rope and a 2x4 on Saturday and wanted to put it at the top of our garage!  Ugh! I talked him out of destroying the siding and facia, as well as the danger of the kids climbing that high over the concrete and ended up talking him into a lower spot under the deck.  Of course as soon as Jr.Mr.S got here Sunday, he just HAD to eventually make it to the top, so Mr. S is CONVINCED we need a higher one.  Now he has another one tied to a beam inside the garage, but I know it's only going to be days and I'll have to fight him off destroying the house again.  Either that or the kids will continue to use it as a rope swing like they do behind his back and as they launch themselves from the side of the house down to the patio, we'll have an ER visit.  Seriously?  How long is a climbing rope going to be a "fun" thing before they completely ignore it?  TS2 is already asking for a tire to be attached so they can swing instead.  Guess we'll see who's right...we all know it's going to be me, right?

That's our week pretty much - just another BUSY, work-filled, running all over Iowa week.  At least we have the long weekend ahead.

Happy 4th of July!!

Bad Review

Since this is an anonymous blog (at least to the people that don’t know us in person) I normally would not just call out a bad company by name. This company was SO BAD - I’m going to break my rule…

Dear MyDomain.com,

YOU SUCK!!! I had my very first solo project start on Monday with a new government client. You made me look VERY incompetent and that REALLY pisses me off. Yes you had the best deal for monthly web hosting (until I found out my normal host will prorate your yearly subscription if you cancel early - ugh) and your domain name purchases were “reasonable”, but you were SO NOT WORTH the hassle and stress I went through this week, paying for a full year (which I found out I don’t have to now) and just writing off the extra money myself would have been SO MUCH BETTER!

When my client emailed me on Tuesday about being blocked completely from the site, my whole week went into upheaval. Why couldn’t they view my site you ask? Because for some reason this branch of the federal government completely blocks porn and those that host it (yeah I’m talking about you SEC – learn from this branch please). I tried ALL NIGHT Tuesday to make it right for my client through you. You have a ridiculous way for setting up the hosting, why the heck does it take 40 million steps to finally get to the point of being able to push the page?

On Wednesday I was EXHAUSTED and emotionally spent. I called you first that morning and tried to get “customer support”. You “claimed” I loaded my pages and content to the wrong folder and “helped” me transfer them to the correct one. However you hung up before I could see my site go live. By mid-morning the site still said it was Under Construction and my client informed me it would basically take an act of God to get permission to the site anyway. I called your “customer support” back and got pretty much the second worst tech ever (the first was your earlier tech that didn’t stay on the phone to make sure it was right for me). I explained my problem, asked for the transfer to another hosting company and an explanation of why my page was not up (I AM an experienced web designer – I know when they’re not working). He refused stating it takes 60 days (no it doesn’t – it’s only 30 with a new domain, but CAN be pushed through when needed – I’ve gotten hosting companies to do it before). Then he told me it could take UP TO 24 hours for my site to be live on the internet. WHAT!?!? I asked to speak to a supervisor and he refused saying no one else would tell me any differently. I don’t know what kind of INTERNET company you’re running, but in my world – everything is instant, just like the INTERNET. The “face” of your company was rude and incompetent. Yes, he may not have deserved me yelling at him (which my cube mates LOVED – I got all kinds of IMs about how I should rake them some more), but your service and your customer service SUCKS!

And how can you send me a support email on FRIDAY in response to my asking for help on TUESDAY and say it’s resolved?! MY SITE IS STILL NOT UP!!!!!

Thank God my client was understanding and we were able to change the domain name (since you think you have some kind of ownership of it – and it’s better now too I might add). When I went to my normal hosting company and they informed me that monthly billing was allowed (sort of), I had the account set up, domain purchased, hosting started and my site loaded all in 5 minutes. Did you hear me MyDomain.com – FIVE MINUTES!!! You wasted HOURS of MY time and my clients MONEY!!  Ans now my client can see the site they purchased and paid for, unlike yours.

So, MyDomain.com, since you have a bad hosting company and even worse customer service, I’m calling you out for the world to know. And guess what? They’ll be able to find out about this within MINUTES of my posting, because that’s the way the REAL internet works.

MOST Disgruntled,

Snowflake