No hidden catch, no strings attached

I'm having trouble coming up with good titles, so today I pulled from song lyrics. Today's title is from Depeche Mode's Free Love.

I couldn't think of anything good to say yesterday. Weird, huh?

I should have posted about the pizza we had Tuesday night. OHMIGOD it was SO good. Domino's pizza and breadsticks. I could have eaten it until it was coming out of my ears. I have no idea how much I ate but I did restrain myself from eating more once I decided that I was done.

On Saturday, I got frustrated and pulled the chain on the living room ceiling fan right out of the mechanism. Oops. I tried to fix it myself to no avail. I reluctantly told Micah and he tried to fix it. No go. I was so afraid that we'd have to buy a new fan. Nope. We were able to get a repair kit at Home Depot and I'm happy to report that the fan is now fixed. Whew.

Anyone ever tried to tidy up after a 4yr old and a 15 month old while they're still awake? It's utterly pointless. I put something away, they pull something else out. I put that away, they pull out the original thing. ACK!!! Go to bed!!!!

We've been putting Hannah to bed in Goodnights instead of diapers, giving her the option to go to the bathroom on her own in the middle of the night. Well, once she's in bed, she gets up 4 times to go. Last night I went to check on her and found her standing there staring at the toilet. "HANNAH RENEE!!!! Go to bed!!"

I have something itchy on my arm that might be poison ivy but I have no idea where it came from. It showed up yesterday and I really haven't been outside - except for to and from the car - in almost a week. I won't scratch, I won't scratch, I won't scratch.

I haven't been outside because the humidity has been obscene this week. You can feel the air around you. It's supposed to be glorious this weekend and I, of course, have no plans. Of course, after last weekend's non-stop pace, that might be a nice treat.

I hate when that happens

RE title: Hannah said that yesterdy about her wedgie.

I didn't get home until 6:30 last night. That pretty much killed the idea of the gym (sorry Laina). I don't like getting home that late. I stayed a little late at work and then the traffic was terrible. The worst part was, when I got home, no one seemed to care. :( Hannah looked happy, as did Evan, but he only let me hold him for a nanosecond and she couldn't be bothered. I stared at the three of them as they watched The Incredibles and then I turned and went upstairs to eat dinner. It did make me feel a little better to hear Evan crying when he realized I wasn't there anymore.

That's about as exciting as yesterday got.

Here at work, I'm training someone to be my backup when I'm not here. What I do is fairly important (post Medicare coverage decisions to the web) and it can't wait if I'm not here. The best way to train him is to let him post things, with me here, as they come down. Well, then, what am I supposed to do?!?!?! I'm bored to tears. Everytime I get something, he calls me asking me about it. I want to say, can I post something, please? I know he's got to get the hang of it, but for Pete's sake, it's my job. Yeesh. Whew. I feel better now.


Here are some pics from Friday's field trip.

The ball park:







Hannah in a party suite:

The story of my life...in a way

The field trip went well. Very interesting. As predicted, the adults liked it more than the kids. We learned about the history of the land, saw the bullpens, the club seats and sky boxes, the press box. In the press box, there are holes in the wall from foul balls. Wow. 2 laptops have gone to meet their maker in the press box. The center director convinced the Oriole Bird (mascot) to come talk to the kids. That was cool.

After the trip, Hannah easily went to school with her friends. Yippee!!! I went home, had lunch, worked on flea market stuff, sorted laundry and went to Target. I had every intention of going to the gym but I just ran out of time.

Saturday I had a family bridal shower. And the time I had to leave didn't mesh with the time Micah could get home from work, so I had my dad make up the difference. When I got home, we took the kids out to eat, washed em up, and settled em down because we had to load the car(s) for the flea market! Yae! We got a table!

We filled both SUVs with all of our wares. Aunt Cindy came to watch the kids Sunday morning and off we went. We had one sale while we were still setting up. After 6 hours in the baking sun, we made about $240. We're on the list for July 17. In the meantime, we'll be looking through the house for more stuff!

After the sale, we went home, unloaded, got cleaned up and met Cindy and the kids for dinner. We were pooped - both in bed by 8:30. And, of course, last night was the night that no one slept well. Evan kept crying for unknown reasons. I tossed and turned. Hannah fell out of bed. Sigh. We're both pooped again!

I've decided that at this point, there is no making up for lost sleep. It would be impossible.

Nothing like a job well done

Got my ass to the gym yesterday - thank you for the kick, Laina! Who knew I'd like working out so much.

The in-laws visited yesterday. On time. Wow. I was amazed. MIL didn't like Evan's new do. Oh well. I knew she wouldn't.

I got some more stuff ready for the flea market. I pulled out a wedding gift Cuisinart that we've never even taken out of the box (got married in 1997) and stuck a $15 tag on it. Micah pointed to something I'd marked $10 and said, I'd go for 5 on that. I said, I can always go down, can't go back up. Good point, he said.

Since Mr. Terminix walked off with our $1700, we haven't seen any more termites. Might have been worth it after all. Part of the treatment is these capsules all around my house. Like automatic sprinklers.

Hannah's class is taking a field trip to Oriole Park at Camden Yards tomorrow. For those who don't know, that's the baseball stadium here in Baltimore. I can't wait. We go behind the scenes and everything. It's a short trip and I'm hoping that I can convince Hannah to stay at school and I'll go off on my own when we return. It might just work. I have a shower gift to buy, flea market junk to gather, and working out to do (earn those points!)

The bathroom door and Evan's door were very squeaky. I kept telling Micah that they needed to be oiled. Finally, I grabbed the can of WD40, or as my coworker called it, DW20, and oiled the hinges myself. I said to Micah, call me Handy Sandy! It really doesn't take much to impress me.

Best laid plans...

My car didn't go in today. I got in Micah's car this morning, started it up and saw that he had 1/4 tank of gas. That meant I'd need gas. No time for that this morning. Not to mention, his car takes more gas than mine. Let him fill it up. So I grabbed my sunglasses and parking permit and decided that my car could wait another week for a check up. I couldn't help but grin as I started my car and saw my 1/2 tank of gas.

The Terminix guy came today and left $1700 richer. Yikes! He said we have a serious problem. Great. They'll be back later today to start killing the little bastards. We also have carpenter ants which eat the termites but also the wood. Yippeee!!!

I had every intention of going to the gym last night but got caught up in all the things I wanted to do at home. As it was, I ending up being in charge of the kids while Micah killed termites. Told you he was obsessed. I'm going right after work, I swear.

Hannah asked me last night why I didn't bring her hula skirt. For the love of Pete! Dottie, didn't you say they forget? LOL!

Live well, blog often

I still have the cold, but I'm popping massive amounts of Vitamin C trying to get rid of it. I don't really feel bad, it's just annoying. My sense of taste is suffering which could be a good thing.

Today was Sprinkler Day for Hannah's class. I forgot. I wondered why her friend Kimmie was wearing a bathing suit and a hula skirt. But hey, Hannah was wearing a crown. Then Greg comes in with a bathing suit and swim shoes. Something dings in my head that Sprinkler Days will be Tuesday, beginning on June 21. I say to a teacher, It's Sprinkler Day, isn't it? She nods. Crap. I decide that rather than deny Hannah or have her do it in her undies, I'll run home and get her stuff. It's only 2 miles and I have a flexible schedule. I come back with her stuff and she wants me to put it on her. I'm like, I really have to go now. Then she asks about her hula skirt. I tell her I didn't know she wanted it. She starts begging me to get it. I say no. She starts crying. There goes my Mother of the Year award. So close.

Micah is on a termite rampage. He's been doing a lot of research and is obsessed with killing these bugs. Terminix is coming tomorrow but he's too far gone at this point. He found the entry point - the front door. Come on in! He created a barrier of spray on the floor. Yesterday he had the door open to attract them to the light, drawing them into the spray. I think he was counting the bodies.

Evan got a hair cut over the weekend. Serious haircut. Really, we didn't mean for it to be that short. People at school yesterday were wondering who the new kid was. LOL!

My car needs an oil change and a serious checkup. It's making some weird noises. One of the noises, I've been told, is a CR-V characteristic. Still don't like it. Hopefully Micah can take it in before he falls in love with the Terminix man. I'm not ready for a new car. The car, yes, the payments, no.

I'm here until 5 and I've got a cold but somehow, all is right with the world.

Sniff sniff

I have a little cold. Thanks to my drool machine, germ magnet, aka Evan. Good thing he's cute.

Very good weekend. The weather was great.

Saturday I took Hannah to my friend Cindy's daughter's recital. Hannah loves Meghann and Aunt Cindy and loves dancing. She had a good time.

Saturday evening we went to Outback for dinner (YUM) and got Micah some shirts for Father's Day.

Yesterday we went to breakfast with my dad for father's day. Then we chilled out around the house and went grocery shopping and out to eat.

I had 2 dreams over the weekend that I was kidnapped/being held hostage. What does that mean? In one of the dreams, my captor was an old friend who threatened to kill himself if we escaped. The other captor was a stranger. Wish I still had that dream dictionary....

We have termites. Oh joy. We've probably had them for a while. We've been seeing the "ants" for maybe 2 years and I've said to Micah before, could they be termites? Oh, no, they're not termites. Be getting that taken care of pretty soon.

Achooo. God bless me.

It's a lovely, lovely day

We had a great time on our date on Wednesday. The Titanic exhibit was cool. And it was nice to see it in peace and quiet.

That afternoon, Hannah had a Dr's appt. I promised her an ice cream cone if she did really well. We went to McDonald's and their machine was broken. I said to the girl, I promised an ice cream, I have to deliver. We went across the street to Carvel for an ice cream for one very brave little girl.

Yesterday was the office picnic. It was in a pavilion right next to a HUGE playground. I was almost sorry I didn't bring the kids. If I had, I would have spent my entire afternoon there. Almost sorry....

Today was Committee lunch. We won nothing at Keno. Absolutely nothing. Damn. We suck. We still had a good time. We always have a good time.

Ok, this weekend, I will get stuff ready for the flea market. I have to. If we get the table, it's next week. I hope we get the table. I've got a sitter lined up and everything.

It's a beautiful day here, by the way. Slightly warm, sunny, and breezy. Ah.

Brainwashed

Last night I was coming up with all sorts of things to blog about today. And now they're gone. Washed away. [sigh] When did it come to this?

Micah offered up some lovin' last night but I didn't like him very much so I turned him down. He'd been giving me a hard time about some late bills. We're talking days late. I didn't bounce any checks, I didn't neglect them, I just sent them out a day later than I should. They were actually in the box on time but sans stamps. Whoops. So, anyway, he kept harping on this calling me late girl, procrastinator, etc. Real romantic, right? I was actually interested but not with him. LOL!

I got all the bills squared away today, with no late fees. Good. Leave me alone, Micah! (he reads this, by the way) Hey wait, he got a ticket!

I've got a date! Ok, it's with Micah, but it's still an adult day with no kids. We're going to Baltimore's Inner Harbor tomorrow to the Maryland Science Center. The Titanic artifact exhibit is there. We decided we'd do that without the kids to avoid hearing I'm done, Can we go now, Where are we going to eat.

Off tomorrow, office picnic on Thursday, Friday is payday. It's shaping up to be a very good week.

A good time was had by all

Let's see. What did I do this weekend? I didn't get anything ready for the potential flea market. That task seemed too daunting. I did laundry and cleaned out some of the kids drawers which somehow led to cleaning out the medicine cabinet. We also attended 2 cookouts which saved us some $$ since we usually eat out all weekend. Saving the $$ was good since Micah got a ticket on Saturday morning to the tune of $75. He's lucky it wasn't more since he called the cop an a-hole as he walked away. I told him, if you ever get arrested for something like that, do NOT call me. I won't come.

My step-sister from Arkansas was at the cookout yesterday. She's not actually from Arkansas but that's where she currently resides. That was cool since her kids are the same age as mine. They got to run around and play together and we didn't have to entertain them.

It was hot too. Oh boy, it was hot. Hot today too, although I haven't been outside since this morning. I'll take Micah's word for it. I stopped even bringing my tenners to work because I know a walk just isn't going to happen. I could feel my pants getting damp from the humidity just walking in from the parking lot at 8 am. Get your minds out of the gutter, I said HUMIDITY.

Cooler weather is due in on Thursday. Let's hope.

Ok, so I'm a nerd

I found out at lunch today that if you have a blog, you're a nerd. Ok, big deal. I can deal with being a nerd. I'm 32, a mother of 2, my own place, my own car, a good job. Nerd, I can handle.

I had steamed shrimp for lunch today and managed to spray my shirt while peeling them. Why didn't I think of that and tuck a napkin into my shirt? Yeesh.

We won $4 at Keno today. Not much, but better than nothing. The nachos and cheese were perfect today. For the 10 of us, we had 4 plates. Besides the regular group, we were joined by Cindy's kids, Justin & Meghann. We let them pick Keno numbers. Does that count as corruption of a minor? Justin's not a minor, but Meghann is.

I'll be doing laundry this weekend and hopefully gathering stuff for the flea market. Get this, we won't know for sure until as late as 11 pm the night before if we've got a space or not. What's up with that?

We've also got 2 cookouts to go to and the usual host of errands. Hopefully everything will get done.

Did I mention that I'm a nerd?

Tagged yet again!

10 years ago, I....
1. Had just graduated from college
2. Had just bought my first new car
3. Was planning my cohabitation with Micah

5 years ago, I....
1. Was trying to get pregnant
2. Had just taken a "last hurrah" trip to FLA
3. Did the Breast Cancer 3 Day

Today I ....
1. Tried to let Evan walk into daycare (HAHAHA)
2. Attended 2 meetings
3. Skipped a training

Tomorrow, I will....
1. Stop at the bank on the way to work
2. Have lunch with the committee and eat something different
3. Go to Target for assorted gifts and Diaper Genie refills

3 Snacks I Enjoy:
1. Snyder's buffalo wing pretzels
2. cheese popcorn
3. chips & salsa

5 Songs I know all the words to, even with out the Music:
1. REM - You Are The Everything
2. Most
3. Depeche
4. Mode
5. Songs

5 Things I would do with $100,000,000:
1. Buy a House
2. Take all of my family and friends on a cruise
3. Renovate our daycare center in Hannah & Evan's names
4. Pay off Mom's house
5. Buy my dad a house

Top 5 Locations I'd run away to:
1. Ocean City, MD (I'm a simple girl)
2. North Carolina
3. Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina (that's where my Jenny is)
4.
5.
(Like I said, I'm a simple girl!)

5 Bad habits I have:
1. Road rage
2. Procrastinating
3. Fretting
4.
5.
(Hmm, I must be perfect)

5 Things I like Doing:
1. Hanging with the kids
2. Hanging with the girls
3. Shopping (Usually goes with #2)
4. Working out
5. Reading

5 Things I would Never Wear:
1. Short shorts
2. Mesh
3. belly shirts [shudder]
4. cat suit [shudder again]
5. sweatpants to work

TV Shows I like:
1. CSI
2. ER
3. Family Plots
4. Airline
5. Survivor

5 Movies I like:
1. Shawshank Redemption
2. Wedding Singer
3. Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood
4. Steel Magnolias
5. Pretty In Pink

5 famous people I would like to meet:
1. Robin Williams
2. Dr. Phil
3. Chris Noth (although I might faint if I did)
4. Oprah
5. John Travolta (heard he's really, really nice)

5 Biggest Joys at the Moment:
1. My kids
2. Bryer's low fat ice cream
3. My clothes fitting better
4. Reading
5. My friends

Wow, that took a while.

Dottie - TAG! You're it!

Speechless no more

I didn't blog yesterday because I didn't have anything to say. Imagine that.

I just had someone call me by my last name. Again. That makes 4 people in my married life to confuse my last name for my first. For those of you who don't know, it ends in the sound "eena". Ok, that I can see, but do you think my last name is Elaine? Oy. My boss gets the biggest kick out of it.

I'm supposed to be in a training class. Oops, I guess I forgot. But it wasn't on my Email calendar...

I'm not finding anything to say...again. What's up with that? When I was a kid my mom used to bet me that I couldn't stay quiet for 5 minutes. I lost everytime.

Pomp and circumstance

My mom graduated from college yesterday. Finally. It only took her 10+ yrs. The whole family came out to watch. Evan only lasted about 10 minutes before Micah hauled him out of there. I was left with Alexis Trebek, aka Hannah, who asked me questions every 30 seconds. Where's Nana, Are we done yet, Can I have a snack, Can I sit on your lap, Can Nana come sit with us. I told Micah he had it easy.

We've decided we're going to take all of our cr- I mean stuff to a flea market. I'm really excited. Hopefully with the $$ we make, we can rent a minivan for vacation. We've got 2 SUVs - one compact, one mid-size. We usually take the midsize, and everything fits but it would be nice to not have to worry about it. Also, my mom will be with us for the 2 weeks and I'm sure she'd appreciate not having to ride in the cargo area or squeezed between the carseats. We've done some research and to rent a van would cost upwards of $600 for 2 weeks. Add that to the condo rental and our little beach vacation could cost us over $2000 and we haven't even eaten yet! Luckily, I was able to talk the daycare owner into giving us a discount for the missed weeks without really even trying.

I took a walk today at lunch. It's hot and humid today, so I forced myself to walk slowly. I really had to concentrate on walking slow. The heat and humidity forced many other walkers to stay inside today. Good. They get on my nerves. Some of them are so rude. It's a path wide enough for two people. Now, if I'm coming from one direction and there are two people coming in the other direction, wouldn't you think that one of them should step out of the way so I can pass? NO! Some of them will almost force me off the path. Grrr. That makes me nuts. Why should I have to walk on the grass? Do you absolutely HAVE to walk next to your friend for every second of your walk? Yeesh.

Micah called me earlier and told me that the movie The Breakfast Club was made 20 yrs ago. Why's he gotta be like that? Where is all the love?

The Committee

I go to lunch on Fridays with the best group of people. We call ourselves the Committee. There's me, Cindy, Mary Linda, Bill, Mark, Tom, Steve, Rick and Randy. Every week, we go to the same place and usually order the same thing as the week before, while playing Keno.

I look forward to Friday lunches all week. I love my committee.

Today, it started with every one of us slipping on the floor when we walked in the door. It's raining and apparently the rain reacted badly with the tile and the floor was very slippery. Then Steve takes Cindy's purse and Mark slips a salk shaker into it without her noticing. We can't play Keno because the machine's broken, but we've got our nachos & cheese so we're happy. We don't usually win anyway. The boys won $2500 4 yrs ago.

Now I'm stuffed. Cindy just emailed everyone to thank the culprit for the salt shaker. Over the years, Cindy has gathered quite a collection of salt & pepper shakers.

I was watching a Lifetime movie once and there was a group of friends who called themselves "The Crew". I said to myself, what group of people actually names themselves? Losers. And then I remembered....

I've been tagged!

Good thing I read your blog, huh, Laina!

1. Blogger that you most want to meet in person? Not to be a biter, but I'm going to have to say Laina or Dottie. I've "known" you gals for a while now
2. Blogger who makes you laugh the most? Probably Melissa although I love Christina's title (I woke up for this)
3. Blogger whose template(skin) is the coolest? Dottie's. It matches her perfectly
4. Blogger you can't wait to read a new entry from? I'd have to say Laina

Tag, YOU'RE it - whoever you are!

I'll be back later with a real update.

The day before the $$

Jewl said I seemed sad yesterday. Not sad, really, just pensive and NOT looking forward to the outlaw visit.

It wasn't so bad, really. Except that they were at least 1/2 hour early, but we expected that.

I have to call the IT service desk at work for a problem with the database that I maintain. For those of you who don't know, I'm a Federal worker computer nerd. I despise calling the IT service desk. They never know what I'm talking about. I had to have a snack first and I just might wait until the morning.

Speaking of my snack...I had some mini bags of popcorn in my desk. I decided I'd have one of those. Since I'm trying to lose weight, I decided to check the calorie/fat contents. Unpopped, each bag has 110 calories and 2 grams of fat. Popped, each bag has 15 calories and 0 grams of fat. Where in the hell did 95 calories and 2 grams of fat go? I had to read it several times to make sure I was reading right. I must have 95 calories hovering over my desk, unless I left them behind in the microwave.

When the outlaws came over last night, they brought Hannah's new bed. (See Maiden Voyage) We stuck it in the basement to wait for us to be ready to assemble. I went down last night to feed the kitties and I kicked the bedframe. Not intentionally. I swear I stopped breathing for a minute. It still hurts.

Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday and payday. Wooohooo!

My wandering mind

I took a walk at lunch. My path takes me around the edge of our campus, most of it bordering the parking lot. It's amazing to see how many people park within inches of the car next to them. I often wonder how they'll get in or how they got out.

As I was walking, I caught a whiff of Vanilla 'Roma air freshener. Reminds me of the VW days. The days when Micah was obsessed with VWs and all that that implies. My weekends were VW-filled: car shows, riding around with other VWs, watching him and his buddies fix their cars...

I took a walk mostly because one of my coworkers was bitching on the phone to someone. Not loud enough for me to decipher, but loud enough to be annoying. I had to get out. And of course, when I came back, she was still at it.

The in-laws are coming today. Haven't I been punished enough? At least they'll be on my turf. That always makes it easier.

Miss Hannah fell on the playground last night. Scratched her face up pretty good. Poor kid. She had her mouth open when she fell and got a mouth full of dirt. That'll teach her to open her mouth.