Wednesday rant

First off...cancer sucks. I found out yesterday that a wonderful man I know lost his 6(plus) month battle with cancer. Cancer, you suck. How dare you take such a wonderful man with his bright blue eyes and wonderful laugh. I always knew when I saw him I'd hear that laugh. I didn't know him very well, just through work, but he was one of the good ones. I pray for his wife and family, he was so young only in his early 50's. Fuck you cancer.



Second, people who forget to pay their car payments are stupid. People who forget to pay their car payments and spend the money before they realize WHY they had extra money are a special kind of idiot. Ahem.......not that I would personally know anything about that...nope, not me.

Third, I freaking HATE the cold. HATE.IT. I don't know how people live where it's cold all the time. And really in the grand scheme of things, it wasn't that cold here. In the teens with wind chills in the -5 range. But still....I hate to be cold, I get a little (or a lot) whiney and bitchy when I get cold.

I think that's it for now. I'm sure I'll have more things to bitch about later but those are the main one right now.

Oh......Merry Christmas!! LOL

Winter is in the air

It's starting to feel like winter around here. It's been colder here the last few days, we've even had to light the fire place. When we bought this house we were both wishing it didn't have a fireplace, we never thought we would use it. But with propane getting up to $2.00 a gallon it's been a lifesaver! Dh had to go buy a new chainsaw this year and a log splitter. Yes, he HAD to LOL.

Never fear, he only cuts on dead trees! He hasn't had to cut any live trees down yet. I think he's been able to find enough trees on my dad's land so far. Dad has land with a creek running through it so lots of trees for around here. I'm sure to someone who lives somewhere other than the prairie it probably seems like we don't have trees, just shrubs LOL

What was I talking about???? Oh yeah, winter coming.

The time change has made it seem like winter too. It's pitch dark at 6:00 pm. I hate that part of it but when it's cold and dark it puts me in the mood to Christmas shop. I've actually started, I've got 2 gifts per kid. I'm not telling you what they are since I think sis knows the name of this blog and if I said what I got it would be the one time she would look! :)

Huh

Wow, I haven't blogged since...what sometime in July? I just have felt it lately. There are tons of things I could have written about:

Summer vacation! (awesome)

Sister turning 10! (unbelievable *sniff, sniff)

Me turning 37! (woah)

Brother turning 5! (again, unbelivable...my baby is 5!)

Dh turning 37! (again, woah)

School starting! (I have a 5th grader and a Pre-K'er)

Strep invading my house and almost resfuing to leave! (f*cker)

County fair! (ribbons for me and sister)

Sister joining 4-H! (She's excited, I'm confused)

Sister getting two parakeets! (Snowball is white, Tweety is green/yellow)

Brother's amazing progress in school! (He's an awesome counter...all the way to 30 sometimes)

Sister's 5th grade stress! (Mostly of her own making, but she's doing great. She's getting a B in math, woot!)

Other assorted mundane everyday stuff in the Happy Town household, but who wants to hear about all that? Anywhoo....trying to get my blog mojo back. We'll see I guess. I know all the interweb has been waiting impatiently for an update! LOL

I like to start early

Yesterday as I was making brother take his dreaded pink medicine (which in the past I believe he said tasted like ear wax) he tells me "thank you for ruining my life".

You are only 4 1/2 bud, I bet I can think of way worse things to do to you in the next 10-15 years. Look out.

Motherly reflections

Last night as I was sitting at my desk playing on the interweb my ds was laying on the loveseat next to me watching cartoons. I was surfing the web looking for something interesting when I suddenly noticed the snores coming from my right. Ds was asleep, laying flat on his stomach, his chubby cheek squished on the cushion, his arm hanging off the side of the loveseat. I waited a few minutes to see if he was asleep for the night...he was.

So with the skill that apparently all mothers possess, I picked him up while he was still asleep to carry him to his room across the hall. He breathed deep and burrowed his face in to my neck as we walked to his bed, me struggling to carry a floppy 48 pounds the last few steps and carefully lay him down and get him in his jammies still asleep. He helped me even though he never woke up, lifting his feet and his little butt as needed before he rolled over still asleep.

As I was walking out of his room I thought back to the times over the last 4 1/2 years that I've picked him up after he fell asleep somewhere besides bed. When he was a tiny baby his weight was like a feather and I could cradle him in one arm. His little baby face fitting perfectly in the crook of my neck, a little slobber to mark me as a mom on my shoulder. Now when I pick him up his face still fits my neck perfectly but now his feet hang past my waist. It won't be much longer and he'll be too big to pick up at all...like his sister.

I remember when I grew up and was too big for my dad to carry to bed. I was heartbroken when that happened but it's nothing compared to the heartbreak of realizing soon I won't be able to carry MY babies to bed.

Oklahoma Traffic Jam

As my two readers know I don't live in town, I live in the country. And I am so glad I do! But occasionally we will have a traffic jam and have to wait a while for the road to clear. Saturday afternoon I experienced a traffic jam, the first in a while I will admit. I was going to town because we were having a birthday party for my dad (who turned 70!!!) and I was out of salt! Can you imagine being out of salt??

I was headed for town and could see something in the road up ahead. When I got to the spot it looked like this.....




Then it got bad and looked like this....




And finally they decided to move on and it looked like this out my side window.....



Those are my dad's calves that had got out. If you look closely in the distance there is a little white metal building..that's my dad's airstrip. Yes, my dad owns an airstrip LOL It's a grass runway but small planes do land there occasionally.

How is this for weird?

I was driving home from work today and noticed a car pulled off the road with a group of what looked like kids standing around it. As I was driving by (going about 55) it looked like a young teenaged girl laying on the ground behind the car! As I drove on I got to thinking more about it and realized that couldn't be good.

I turned around while I was contemplating calling 911 and drove back to the spot. While I was getting close I noticed a tow truck there and the car was pulling out in to the road. I guess no one had been ran over?!

I'm glad I turned around, it was making me sick to my stomach thinking that I might have driven by a bad accident and not stoppped to see what was going on.

Wierd. And it took me a while to get over that.

Mostly dry

Last night we were out of pull-ups. Brother has never managed to stay dry during the night but last night we had no choice. It was late, we were out of pull-ups and I wasn't going to drive a 40 mile round trip to get some from Wal-mart. So I loaded up his bed with towels, promised him he could come get me and I'd go to the bathroom with him, left the bathroom light on and put 2 pair of underware on him.

He came and got me at 2:00, 3:30 and 3:36 LOL and he was dry every time. I woke him up late this morning because I got up late. He was wet when I went to wake him up but I kind of feel it was somewhat my fault for letting him sleep later than usual. I told him I was super proud of him for coming to get me though.

We will get there I'm sure. No more pull-ups!!!

And in other mostly dry news.........it didn't rain last night! The first night in about a week it didn't rain. We are no where near as wet as the poor people in Iowa and no where near a river anyway so no flooding but harvest is put on hold until the ground dries up. My dad tried to cut Sunday but he got stuck and it's rained everyday since then at least once a day, sometimes more. I hate to gripe too much because one day it will quit raining and not start again but dang it!! it needs to stop for at least a week or two.

Harvest is here!

Harvest started today!! Woot! Brother was beyond thrilled, he told my mom "this is the BEST day of my life! Papa is cutting wheat.....it's awesome!" LOL I happened to be at my mom's for a few minutes today and saw Brother on the combine with my dad so I snapped a few pictures, here's my favorite. No the cobmine is NOT running LOL He's not driving!

I think I shouldn't quit my day job

Dh and brother both really needed hair cuts recently, but our hair cutter lady was on vacation and she hasn't called me back yet, so they were both looking kind of shaggy.

I had the brilliant idea that I could buy some trimmers and cut it my self! Save time and money, right? The trimmer set was $25 so that would pay for itself in just a few uses.

So night before last we took the plunge! I cut dh's hair then brothers hair. Dh's doesn't look too bad, it's not as short as he would have liked but I was a little nervous since it was my first time and all. I think I will be better next time.

Brother also doesn't look too bad, but I did something wrong with the front of his hair. I can't figure out exactly what is wrong but it just doesn't look right. Oh, and please don't look too closely at his ears......one side of his hair is shorter than the other above his ears! LOL

Oh, well, at least it's summer and no one cares, right. And more importantly......it's not MY hair!!

Ocean

There is an ocean on the prairie,
a sea of green with a barbed-wire shore.

Wind making waves roll and swell
and when the wind is calm you think
you could walk on water.

Watching the sea turn from green to gold.
Waiting for the day when the ocean can be cut
for grain to feed the world.

The ocean is drained to brown,
then replenished and we wait for it to grow and
be green once more.

Memories

Flowers growing beside the road
at an abandoned homestead.
Bright purple flags waving
in the Oklahoma wind,
showing that once
love lived there.

The sight takes me back to
childhood.

To my grandma’s house where
she always had flags growing. I can
imagine the scent and I’m instantly at her
house. Swinging in the wooden swing.
Gathering eggs, reading the funny papers
with granddad. The sight of his dirty fingernails
after a hard days work. His denim overalls.

Grandma’s kitchen. The cookie jar that now sits
at my parents house. The ceramic pig that now lives in
my kitchen windowsill. My only physical link to
that time.

But the smell of of an iris always takes me back.

Alternative

Sometimes a mom has to be creative, right? After we painted Sister's room it became apparent that her room was much darker at night than it had been. Before the painting her room was solid off-white walls, so at night it was not so dark. After, however, with the dark red and taupe walls once the lights were out it was DARK.

When sister was little she had to have a nightlight or two. Or you could say it was bright enough to read a book in her room at night. But now that she is a grown up 9 year old she has no need of a nightlight. Until now. That first night I realized how dark her room was and asked if she needed a nightlight. She replied in a small voice "no, I'm fine" So I said it was ok I could get her one. Ok, she quickly replied.

So I put one up in her bathroom so it wouldn't be directly in her room but still give enough light so it wouldn't seem she was sleeping in a black hole.

Last night I said, oh! I forgot to turn on your nightlight! She says...don't say nightlight, nightlights are for babies. So I said ok, I'll turn on your Darkness Elimination System (patent pending). And that was ok with her.

So...my daughter is NOT a baby. She does NOT sleep with a nightlight. She sleeps with a Darkness Elimination System. (patent pending)

My new favorite

We have been working on sister's room. And by saying "we" I really mean "dh has been working and I have been watching". Ever since the disaster of the red paint I haven't painted a molecule of paint in her room. Dh worked so hard getting her room remodel done and it looks FREAKING gorgeous! I love it! It's my new favorite room, I told her we were going to move her out and move our bed in there. So here it is in all it's awesomeness. Dh painted both colors (before it was just plain off white walls) put up the chair rail and baseboards and trimmed out the windows. My mom made the curtains out of the pillow shams that came with the bedding set. Again, I did nothing. Oh and in case you can't tell, sister is just a wee bit obsessed with horses.

Arrrrrrrrgh!!

What a fun day this is shaping out to be. It's not even 7:30 yet and I'm already ready to crawl in a hole and never come out.

Woke up to 2 wet beds which pisses me off like nothing else can. It just sends fire through my veins, I want to scream and cry.

Then I spent $20 on new pants for brother yesterday and of course he fricking refuses to wear them!! They are nylon wind pants and he doesn't like the noise they make. They "annoy people when they make that noise". He'd rather wear his old disgusting pants with holes in them. Every fricking pair of pants he owns has a fricking hole in them. Oh and top it off the store has a return for store credit or exchange only policy!! I should have known better than to buy those damn fricking pants.

I swear I want to break something today.

Life Lessons Volume 2

More little nuggets of knowledge I have learned over the past week or so. An abbreviated version this time.

The first lesson is two-fold.

If you are painting your daughters room barn red, first of all don't under any circumstance hold the small container of paint in your hand and attempt to dip the brush in it. You WILL drop it. On the drop cloth that is being used to cover the floor. Which brings us to our second lesson.....

Red paint will soak through the drop cloth and get on the light taupe carpet in your daughters room. This will also be the time you discover your husband can run very fast to the kitchen to get the carpet cleaner. Resolve gets red paint out of carpet if applied immediately, by the way.

Third lesson.

If you are marinating an 11lb. brisket and realize your pan is too small and the meat needs to be transferred to a bigger pan, make sure you have a GOOD grip on said meat. If you don't you will drop the meat in the marinade. Splattering yourself, your husband and the kitchen in the process. Don't wear your favorite T-shirt from Hawaii while moving said meat.

Also, soy sauce and liquid smoke make for an interesting smell when splattered on your kitchen floor and dishwasher.

The end. Use this knowledge for good.

Summertime memories

Riding my bike to "the silver gate" and back. Coasting down the big hill and struggling to make it back up that same hill on the way home.

Riding to grandma's house. Helping granddad gather the eggs. Playing with the baby chicks. Plucking chickens. Picking cherries off the cherry tree then pitting them in grandma's kitchen.

Wheat turning from green to gold. Waiting for harvest. Going with mom to take dad his four o'clock snack in the field. Playing in the wheat truck in a mountain of wheat. Going to my aunt and uncles for their harvest.

Dad burning the fields after harvest. Dad and my brother coming home black with smoke and soot.

Sweltering Oklahoma heat and how wonderful it felt to come inside an air conditioned house after playing outside.

Sweltering in my bedroom at night with just a fan. No air conditioning upstairs (or heat in the winter).

Endless summer days when I could just be a kid. Perfection.

Get along little doggie

This here's the rootin'est, tootin'est, meanest varmit in the west. If you happen to see him be careful!!! He's armed and could be dangerous.

Would he miss me?

Sometimes I wonder. If I was gone would he miss me?

Not the me who takes care of the kids, buys the groceries, goes to the bank, pays the bills.

But what about the me who asks for foot rubs I never get, the me who takes 3 hours baths Saturday night, who spends too much time in the bathroom, the me who rubs his back when I walk by, who asks how his day was.

I know he would miss the first me, but what about the second me? Lately, I really don't know if he would miss me at all.

A mom, a broom and a song

A few days ago my Happy Town family went down to the local mega home improvement warehouse. My daughter spawn and I were looking at brooms and our son spawn and the husband were looking at lumber.

As I was checking each broom, imagining sweeping my beautiful with each one, deciding which bristles were the softest and least likely to scratch my beautiful new floor IT happened.

It, you ask? The speakers that were pumping in easy listening music to buy your shingles by came one with THE SONG. The perfect song. "My Girl". I was with my girl.

Yes, you can guess what happened next. A mom and her tween daughter. A broom and a song. My lovely daughter, my love, MY GIRL got a serenade from her mom in the middle of the broom isle. And she couldn't have been more embarrassed if I tried. I admit I got a strange look or two from the young mother on the other end of the isle, but heck, she only had a tiny baby. She'll get it in about 9 years when she's in the broom isle and "My Girl" comes on.

What is a mom to do? It's like an unwritten mom rule.....you HAVE to embarrass you kids, right???

Nothing you can do cuz I'm stuck like glue to my girl, nothing you can say can tear me away from my girl......my GIRRRRRRRRRLLLL, my girl.

Aw, fun times!! I hope it's a memory she can pull out and laugh about when she's grown and I'm old and gray. I hope I can look back and laugh when I'm old and gray, I hope I never forget all the fun times I have with My Girl.

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen things that are irritating me today.

1. Sister is still sick with the stomach bug she's had since Monday night.

2. Brother didn't have any clean jeans to wear to pre-school today. (my fault, forgot to do laundry)

3. Flat tire. GAAH!

4. Driving my mom's car. It's a fine car. A wonderful car, but it's not mine.

5. Brother is late for school due to flat tire.

6. My bank balance is lower than I was expecting.

7. My boss didn't sign my paycheck until after I got back from lunch.

8. The county was grading my road today. I had to drive on freshly graded road and I HATE that, I'm always worried I will get a flat tire, plus the stupid hump of dirt in the middle of the road.

9. My neighbor was checking on her cows today. She had her vehicle stopped in the middle of the road and didn't know I was behind her. I snuck around her....then she pulls over to the side.

10. I left my sunglasses in my car which is at my mom's house.

11. People who drive under the speed limit when the road is too curvy to pass.

12. Too much ketchup on my cheeseburger for lunch.

13. Paul Harvey's voice.

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It's done!! mostly

We decided when we bought this house that we didn't like the carpet in the dining room area. The floor plan is open from the living room to the dining room and it had carpet throughout with no real dividing line between the two spaces.

But with 2 kids and a messy mom who is always dropping and spilling stuff we just can't have carpet in the dining room. So a few weekends ago we decided to put in laminate flooring. And it's done! Except for finishing the carpet where we had to cut it. Someone dh works with is supposed to come out this weekend to finish that.

So without further ado here is the finished product.......



I think dh did a fantastic job, especially since he had never done this before. Of course he couldn't have done it without my superior standing skills. I had to stand on the boards as he put the next row in place to keep it from shifting, so basically it was all me. That's right, just call me if you need someone to stand on a board and I'll be there.

Life Lessons

Things I learned this past week:

1. If you are craving biscuits and gravy...go with your initial thought and use regular milk to make the gravy. Don't try the recipe on the box of sausage that calls for evaporated milk. (YUCK)

2. If you do decide to try the evaporated milk and find a can in your cabinet, always, always check the expiration date before pouring it in your perfect batch of grease/flour. If the evaporated milk is chunky coming out of the can and the date is 2 years past expiration....don't use it.

3. If you are standing in the bathroom putting extra rolls of toilet paper in the cabinet over the toilet always, always close the lid on the toilet first. Don't wait until you have dropped a brand new roll of toilet paper IN the toilet before deciding to close the lid.

4. If you find a super bargain on the Internet (thanks to Stefanie the bargain hunter!) make sure it's actually what you want. If you are needing a printer, make sure it's a printer, not a fax/phone/copier before you go ahead and order it.

5. Don't wait until your daughter is getting ready for school to determine she has NO clean underwear anywhere in the entire house. Maybe you might want to check the pantie situation the night before.

6. If there is ice in the forecast, you might want to go ahead and clear a spot in the barn to park your car or you will end up outside scraping ice off your car in the freezing wind and breaking your ice scraper in the process. Don't be stupid! You have a barn/shed to park in.....use it!

That is all. For now.

Homework

I'm attempting to start teaching Brother how to write and how to hold a pencil in anticipation of him starting pre-K next school year. He's really interested and wants to do his "homework" when Sissy does hers.

So I went online and printed some worksheets, went to the store and bought him a binder and some pencils. We've been doing one or two sheets every evening and I can alreay see problems when he gets older! It's just tracing lines right now. We've done horizontal lines, slanted lines and vertical lines. But if he can't do it exactly right on the dot perfect everytime he has a mini meltdown! I have no idea where he gets that from? Maybe it's just his age? No one else in the family is a perfectionist like that, so I hope it's just a phase. Things might not go so well when he actually gets to school if he stays like that.

Please tell me it's a phase.

Angel of Mercy

So. Yesterday my co-worker and I decided to give blood at the local blood drive. I hadn't given blood for over 15 years as the last time I tried to give it was not such a great experience. I got super lighteaded, had to lay down (with my feet up!) and I think they even stopped the donation before my bag was full.

But I figured what the heck! I'm older and wiser now, I can handle this. So we went over our lunch hour to donate. We each got out lovely stickers saying "Be nice to me I gave blood today" as well as a first time donater sticker. She got a little pin but I didn't :( I think the lady just forgot to give me one...oh well, I'm sure I'll survive.

So we are reading the required information and it says if you are allergic to iodine to let them know. I'm so glad I actually read that as I'm allergic to betadine so they used an alternate disinfectant on me.

The helper lady that was giving me my mini-physical takes my pulse and says "Oh Kim! Your pulse is 110!!!" My pulse is always high but she was freaking out about it. She took my blood pressure and then my pulse again. Blood pressure was normal, pulse was 94. It was Ok but she was still worried.

So I finally get up on the chair to donate feeling very proud of my self for donating the gift of life. The nurse sticks the needle in my arm. Have you ever seen the needle they use for blood donation? It's about the size of a toothpick so the blood cells don't get broken. Yikes.

So again, I'm up there feeling the warm glow of my halo shining bright above my head for my generous donation of a pint of my life giving blood when the lady at the door says "Attention everyone Suzie Public* is getting her 11 gallon pin today" Applause follows this announcement and maybe even a cheer or two.

ELEVEN GALLONS of blood this lady has donated! You can give every 8 weeks so if I'm doing my math right it took her 13.5 years to give that much blood. Wow!

*Names have been changed due to the faulty memory of the storyteller

This post brought to you by the letter "B"

Brother has really gotten in to rhyming lately. He wants to rhyme words all the time. So I'll just throw a word out here and there.

Hey brother what rhymes with......coat? He answers boat!

What rhymes with car? Bar!

What rhymes with dad? Bad!

What rhymes with house? Bouse!

What rhymes with kiss? Biss!

See the pattern here!? LOL Every word he picks starts with "B". And if you give him a B word to start with he just looks like the gears in his brain are going to blow.

Although, yesterday he finally got a word that didn't start with B, so I think he's starting to really get it! I just love watching my kids learning and figuring stuff out.

Are you Superstitious?

I was thinking about this today for some reason. Superstitions and all the crazy stuff people will do if they are.

Am I superstitious? My first instinct is to say NO WAY! But I thinking about it I realize I am after all. I don't do the "knock on wood" or throwing the salt over my shoulder stuff. Which shoulder is it anyway? And why throw it over your shoulder? But I guess I do have my own quirks.

For example:

If I have something at work that could possibly become a problem I won't throw any notes away that I might have about it. Sometimes I keep files out for weeks thinking if I put them away I'll jinx it for sure.

When dh's dad died I was wearing jeans, a red sweatshirt, white socks and tennis shoes. I would never wear that exact same outfit again, it just seemed too much like tempting fate or something I guess.

If I have something that is a potential problem, I make sure and not vary my routine on the day I have to face it. Especially my driving. If I have a possible crisis at work I will usually make sure I drive to work the exact same way as I do every other day.

What about you? Anything you do or won't do that would be considered superstitious?

My MIL's brother once backed up an entire city block because a black cat walked out in front of his car! Crazy!

*ok, re-reading my post, I don't sound superstitious so much as just sounding like a freak! LOL

Friday Photo

Here's a picture of my church for my Friday Photo. My church was founded in 1897, so it's 110 years old! I love my church.


Here's a picture of my church for my Friday Photo

Thirteen things about......me!

Thirteen Things about ME!


I realized I haven't done an "introductory" post about me on the few Thursday Thirteen posts I've done.

1. My name is Kim

2. I live in Oklahoma, just 3/4 of a mile from where I grew up.

3. I am left-handed.

4. I have had the same job for 15 years.

5. I've been married for 16 years (17 in March)

6. I am the janitor at my church and also teach Sunday School. And about to become the president of our woman's group.

7. I am on the school board at my dd's school.

8. I have 2 kids, a girl and a boy.

9. I love to read celebrity gossip blogs.

10. I loathe doing dishes with the intensity of 1,000 suns. And it shows. Don't drop by unexpectedly, please.

11. I hate being cold. I get bitchy and whiny when I get cold. It's not pretty.

12. I love to read.

13. I put stuff off way too much. Instead of dealing with stuff right away, I stew and worry about for days if not weeks.

So, there you go!! 13 things about little ol' me.


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Sigh

You know you are boring when you get excited about..........

new toilets. and a screen door.

We got 3 new toilets for our house recently. Our other ones wouldn't flush right, turns out the part the paper went down wasn't glazed. So we got new ones.

And our new house didn't come with a screen door so we got one and dh put it on. We were both thrilled.

What have we become?

Ok, I'm in too!

I guess it's my turn to write a "Happy New Year" post to all my friends that live in my computer.

I can't help but feel hopeful about 2008! 2007 was great to me on a personal level but horrible at work. Not because of anything that happened to me, it was just such a disaster year for the whole state (farmers), it was a busy and stressful year for everyone.

2008 is the year I get my act together! Like I said on Terri's blog, I want to get more grown up about my money. I am an adult and it's time I started acting like one!

*says the person who charged a chair and love seat yesterday! But they were on sale! and a year of no payment and no interest! And we will get them paid off before the year is up! Promise!

Whoa, got a little distracted on that point didn't I??

Anyway, I want to wish all my friends a very happy, healthy and satisfying new year.

If 2007 was not the best for you, I hope 2008 is better.
If 2007 was great for you, I hope 2008 is fantastic.
If you were hurting in 2007, I hope 2008 brings healing to you.
If you suffered a loss in 2007, I hope 2008 brings you the ability to smile again through the tears, happy memories instead of sad.
If you were struggling in 2007, I hope 2008 brings you peace.

Happy New Year!