Another great weekend...

What a great weekend! Actually, it was a great long weekend. I left work about and hour early on Thursday to start my weekend. Thursday night Husband and I went to the Cheap Trick/Poison/Def Leppard concert…it was a pretty good concert. Never in my wildest teenage dreams did I ever think I’d go to a concert and see Every Rose Has It’s Thorn (Poison) and Pour Some Sugar on Me (Def Leppard) performed live. I was in 1980’s Rock and Roll heaven!
The kids and I spent time at the pool (one of our favorite activities) then spent the evening grilling out with friends. Saturday was pretty much spent inside because of gloomy weather, but it cleared up in time for another cook out. Unfortunately, Sunday was spent mostly in bed fending off a killer migraine.
The weekend was just about perfect. And I’ll admit, with the cooler than normal July, I’m really in the mood to go to the apple orchard…mmm…apple pie…apple butter…

Celebrate good times!!

Since November of 2006 my husband has been working nights. I know when I say ‘working nights’ you might be inclined to think that I mean he goes to work at 8 or 9pm. Yeah, not so much. Not for us at least. His normal routine would be to put Princess on the bus at 12:30pm and head to work, and then he’d be gone sometimes until 3am. So, for the last two and a half years I’ve been doing 99% of all the running, doctor appointments and field trips with the kids. Well, all that’s about to change. Yesterday when Husband got to work he was asked to join a conference call with his immediate supervisor and the head honcho…they offered him a new position…a promotion of sorts. As of today I get my husband back. He started at his new position this morning…he’ll be working from 9:00am to 5:00pm. He’s been wanting a change, professionally that is. This literally fell into his lap so he eagerly accepted. I’m sure that we’ll in for a major adjustment period but I think it’ll be well worth it to have some real family time again!!!

100%

I know I'm a mom. I'm not a SAHM, but I am a mom with a full time job, 3 children and a husband that works nights. So, as you can guess most of the parenting responsibilities fall to me. And that's fine. I get it. Being a mother is a thankless job...but does it have to be? Yesterday morning I was ready to run out the door to go to work when I remembered that all three kids needed lunch money. Since neither Husband nor I carry cash that meant checks had to be written. I am instantly annoyed...but I write the checks. As I'm writing the checks Teenager grumpily comes out of his room in nothing but his boxers (seriously dude, put some pants on) and turns the television down. Yep, that was the straw that broke the camel's back. I start in on him about how we (the little ones and I) have to listen to him playing FIFA 09 in his room with that not so mainstream music cd that GirlFriend made for you every single God forsaken day of the week so get your hands off MY television. This of course wakes Husband...who really should know after 11 years of marriage to just keep quiet and let me rant for a minute. I'm not even sure what he said but off I went on him with a "Here is your daughter's lunch money now do something with it because I'm going to work". Why didn't he just say "Ok, I'll take care of it"? Why did he say, "Why didn't you write the checks last night". Why didn't I write the checks last night??? What in the name of all things holy was he trying to do??? Make my head explode??? I spun around and said, possibly even shouted (at this point I have no idea), "Last night when? When I was making dinner? Or running Teenager to GirlFriend's house while I was making dinner because you were too busy watching a movie to be bothered? I know, how about writing the checks while I was cleaning the kitchen or doing laundry so YOU would have clean clothes to wear to work..." I stomped back to my bedroom to get my bag that I use for work shouting at the family as I went, "It's 100% me, 100% of the time with ZERO gratitude from all of you!!!" I made it to the door before I realized that I hadn't said goodbye to anyone so I turned around and gave the kids the "I'm still angry but I love you and I don't want to to walk out the door without saying goodbye" kisses and said "I love you, have a good day". Same for the Husband...then I slammed the door behind me and drove mach 3 all the way to work. You know those women that you hear about sometimes in the news? The storyline reads "Mother of 3 leaves husband and kids to start new life"...yeah, I used to wonder how in the hell a woman who has a husband and children can just walk away from it all. I used to think they were crazy...and maybe some are. But I bet that some of them are just like me...frstrated with being taken for granted, frustrated with the "it's mom's job" expectations. To all you husbands out there...say "thank you" once in a while. Tell your wife that you think she's still beautiful and offer to help out from time to time. And for you kids out there...clean your damn room without a temper tantrum.

Meet Sam

Everybody, this is Sam. Sam, this is everybody. Yep, that's right! We have a new addition to the family. I'm no great lover of animals...for the most part I can do without them. My neighbor, Nurse, has a really awesome dog so whenever I thought about getting a pet, I'd just go over there and give the Rude Dog some love. Problem solved!
About two weeks ago Husband told me that he was thinking about getting our offspring a dog for Christmas. Part of me was excited and another part me of was saying "HELL TO THE NO!!". I thought about it for a week and became accustomed to the idea of having a dog. This past weekend Husband and I took the kids (Bear and Princess only because Teenager was at wrestling) to PetSmart. The local animal shelters bring their animals to PetSmart on the weekends to try and adopt them out. There were puppies everywhere! We decided to take "Sheba" out of her crate to play with her for a little while. I think we spent about an hour with her. When Husband made mention that it was time to go home (without a dog) my heart broke instantly. There was no way I could let that sweet puppy go back in that crate and go back to the shelter. So, we named her Samantha and brought her home. She is a 5 month old boxer/golden retriever. She's built like a golden, but has the face of a boxer. Sam is the sweetest puppy. She's almost potty trained and only barks when someone knocks at the door. I've been told by several people that Sam is the perfect mix of breeds for our family. I guess only time will tell.
We're going through the normal puppy drama...pooping in the house, peeing in the house, trying to establish who the pack leader is....but overall, she's great. I couldn't be happier that she's with us...

I hate Halloween

I hate Halloween...and I have no reservations about saying that. But, as we do every year, we bought a costume for Bear (who was a Jedi). Princess she wanted to be well, a princess! She has 5 princess dresses in her closet to choose from so I really wasn't feeling the need to purchase another dress for her. When it was time to get ready, I told her "go find one your dresses to wear". To my surprise, she came out in the witch costume she wore 3 years ago. I'm pretty sure she hasn't gotten any wider in three years, just taller. The costume fit her really well...so why not let her wear it. Off we went...all of the usual suspects in tow. We had Indiana Jones, a Werewolf, a whoopee cushion, a Jedi, a pirate, a witch, 2 devils and an ninja. Good times ahead indeed. This year we only managed to lose one child, and as luck would have it, it was one of mine. Princess wandered off from the group...turns out she was two houses ahead of the rest of the children. Pedophiles are one reason I hate Halloween...children running amok is another.

The Orchard

I finally found the MIA sync cable...why it was hiding in the coat closet I'll never know. Anyway, On October 26th, I decided that it was a day for family fun. It's not easy to get everyone on the same page, Teenager would rather hand out with GirlFriend than his siblings, Husband is grumpy, I'm tired and the little ones are hell on wheels. Regardless, it was a family day and I didn't care if it got bloody...we were going to have fun. So, we went to the apple orchard. We were sort of disappointed that all the apples were either on the ground or in bins located at the front of the orchard where the store is. And when I say "all the apples", I mean ALL the apples. There was not a single apple to be found on the trees. Rather than head home, the offspring and I jumped in the bed of the truck and Husband drove us around the orchard for about 30 minutes. I know what you're thinking, driving around the orchard doesn't sound like fun. But it was, there are hills, winding roads and a beautiful lake. We had a blast. We took a little break at the lake to enjoy the scenery and stretch our (my) legs. I took advantage of everyone's good mood to snap a couple of pictures...
This first picture might actually make it in to the christmas cards, and for those of you who do not believe me...I have full intentions of actually sending out the cards this year. :D We'll see though. ;)

This is a picture by the lake. In hindsight, I wish I would have taken this picture from the top of one of the hills; you get the idea though.

After all the complaining and the "I don't wanna go" pleas for mercy...we had a wonderful time. It's not often...but it's quality versus quantity.

I just realized...

I was reading a post on one of my favorite blogs, I was giggling to myself because I also have purchases sent to me at work. I do this to keep nosy children (and the occasionally nosy Husband) from opening the box. Then I realized something...I'm the first one to leave in the morning (somewhere around 6am) and the last one to get home in the evening (Husband doesn't count on this one because he works nights and gets home whenever). When did that happen?? When did my life get so turned around that my children are not even up for school before I leave and they're home from school by the time I get home. What a crazy realization...I work an adjusted schedule so I can get to work early enough so I can get home early enough to take the boys to practices and games. Thanks life for smacking squarely between the eyes today.

The Teenager Is Away For The Weekend

So, Teenager came to me a couple of weeks ago asking if he could go to Cedar Point this weekend with his friend. I was apprehensive, afterall, it's 6 hours away now (versus the 45 minutes away it used to be) and I had never met the friend he was going with. BUT, I have all the faith and confidence in my son to do the right thing. Anyway, the other day he told me after I agreed to let him go, that his friend's parents were not going to go on the trip but his friend's sister was going to be driving them. I'm sure you can all imagine my immediate response. After a long discussion about it, I decided that I would let him go. The sister is 19 years old, and so were her 3 friends that are also on the trip. I was even more apprehensive about the trip after finding out that it was literally going to be a trip, 6 teenagers, 6 hours on the road, amusement park, two night stay and 6 hours back...and not one parent was going. At the same time I had a really difficult time saying no to Teenager. He is incredibly deserving of the trip...so I let him go. I know what you're thinking...but, I met the girls that are going on the trip as well as the friend...all made a very good impression and seem to have their heads screwed on correctly. I told Teenager to have a good time, act responsibly and not to make me regret letting him go on the trip. I resisted the overwhelming urge to text him all day long. I sent him a text just a little while ago because I knew the amusement park would be close to closing. Below is the conversation:

ME: Having fun???

Teenager: Ya. We're leaving Cedar Point right now for today. We had a lot of fun. And I got pooped on by a freaking bird. LOL

ME: LMAO!!! Karma son. Karma What were you doing wrong? LOL

Teenager: Walking under it I guess? LOL!

ME: Nice Grace, really nice. :D I'm so blogging this conversation tomorrow.

Teenager: Nice to know! LOL. We are gonna get up early 2morrow to ride the Maverick.

ME: Cool! Have fun!

Teenager: We'll try! LOL

Teenager is such a great kid. Seriously, he's awesome. I just think it is positively hilarious that he was pooped on by a bird. I'm sure when he gets home tomorrow he'll wake me up and talk my ear off about the weekend. I'm looking forward to it...I'll be tired as hell on monday morning, but I miss Teenager and can't wait to hear all about the weekend.

The Joys of Motherhood...

I'm sure everyone out thre who has children knows the joys of parenting. Children can bring such joy into your life...a smile from your little one can erase of the stress of the day. Of course they can also add to the stress of the day. I called off work today because I feel like death on a cracker. Of course being a mother doesn't mean you actually take a day off just because you called off work. The "little ones" wanted lunch and as their dutiful mother I obliged. I was in the kitchen when I saw something poking out from underneath the oven. I bent down to find an empty Gogurt tube...after further inspection I found no less than 15 (Yes, count them...15) empty yogurt tubes under the oven. I call the youngest of my two children into the kitchen for an explination. Osito as if on cue, began the endless "Mom, I swear I didn't do it" speach. Princess merely stood there with a stunned "I hope mom doesn't figure out it was me" look on her face. I looked at her and said "Princess, why did I find yogurt trash under the stove?" to which she responded by crying and running out of the room. Guilty as charged in my book. So, I cleaned up the mess and had a talk with my little angel about putting things under the stove. I'm just terrified to see what she's stuck under the fridge!