I saw this thing on pintrest.....

So, firstly to Kim and Jeane, thank you for getting me hooked on Pintrest. And to the rest of the family, I'm sorry about the addiction.
My aunt mentioned the other day in a conversation that there should be some way to mark off what you followed through in creating with instructions on Pintrest.
Well, I thought that my blog would be a great place for me to do this.
So, we'll start with the first item.



This was a link to a blog with ideas for traveling with kids. Most of them were a little outdated for the monkeybutt. But this cover image was great. I just so happened to have a basket like this in the attic. I dug it out when we were going on a road trip. It was perfect for her. Kept it all neat and contained.

I used this idea for a party we had. Word of advice..... don't used water balloons. They popped too easily. Also, you may want to do this a week ahead as they didn't freeze real well.

This was also from the party. Mom took it a step further and put papercup liners in each spot. It made for really easy clean up.

I've tried this chip fold over and over. But I have not gotten it to work. Oh, well.

This one did work like a charm. I will admit that my burners were too big for the bags. So, next time I'm thinking I'll grab a few extra produce bags from the grocery store and voila!

This one was perfect. It worked like a charm and my headphones do not tangle as often in my purse. Plus I know which ones are mine.

I think that's enough to start with.
Let me know what you have done and what you want to try.

The Money Pit

I've heard a million times over that no matter how you bought your house it's never done. Well, isn't that the truth. After about a year, we are most of the way done with the front porch. I have about 3 hours worth of painting to do on the outside of the house and that is done.
But.... the next project was going to be either the living room or dining room. The only two rooms we really haven't done much to other than throw up some paint.
But wait.... you didn't think it was going to be that easy now did you? Of course not. We had the parents and the in laws over this weekend for just a get together. As I am washing dishes that won't fit in my dishwasher, the part of the sink that goes from the drain to the bottom of the sink let's go.... flooding the kitchen. AS I am taking out the things under the sink to soak up the water I realize the cabinet is not just wet, but done. Can't hold up a box of pasta done. I have another one that has gotten wet from leaking plumbing that is on it's last legs too.
So...... we have to work on the kitchen.
Brian can't handle this. He grew up in a tract house that was brand new and there was never more work than a repair to a hole in the wall or a paint job. Not the way I grew up. With sawdust in my hair and sheet rock dust in my nose..... and I wouldn't have it any other way.
So, who is coming to help us? Donations from the money tree are always nice.

By the way.... my baby? You know the little peanut I gave birth too? She went to the doctor today for her annual physical. She's 5'1'', 118lbs at 11 years old. Where did my baby go?

Hormones Suck!!

Okay, so I can be an emotional person. But not really in the sense that I cry all the time. But since May when I lost the "girl parts" my hormones have been funky to say the least. I am a mess. I want to cry all the time. What really sucks is that my hormone levels have always been a bit messed up, so where most women would cry once a month at the Hallmark commercial, I didn't. It seemed fairly natural to me. But now...
I was just watching TV and the required commercial for Christmas where some child just makes it home for the holidays after a long absence... you know the one. But now I need the Kleenex...
This sucks!

Wow... it's sucks to be a woman

Okay, so here it is. It sucks to be a woman. There are some cool things, granted. Changing your hair color without getting weird looks, heels, make up, jewlery.... but there is a lot that sucks.
A little over two weeks ago I had a hysterecotmy. Yeah, there are a lot of things that sucks about it. For sure, I will never bear another child. My body is changing... again... but more on that in a moment. But when I got sick 7 years ago I knew that I was never going to have another child. I dealt with that then. I have been worried up until now that I could have an egtopic pregancy. But that's not something to worry about now. But it's really weird to think that everything is over for me as a virile woman. It's all gone. Just as Emily is beginning her "journey" into womanhood.
7 years ago I got sick. I had a 9 month period. That's right. 9 months almost straight. It sucked. I had an ablation (scarring or the uterine lining). No more period. There was a 20% chance I would get one back.... but never. So as far as Emily can remember, she's never been in a house where mommy had to deal with a monthly "gift". So this is not only something we haven't even begun to discuss, but it's going to be hard to explain why mommy doesn't have to deal with it.
So, the up side to this hysterectomy is that for sure, no more periods. No more worry about egtopic pregancies. The down sides have started. After my ablation, I had a few short weeks of dealing with night sweats. Nothing really. But now.... well,.... the night sweats are back with vengence. Then there is the emotions. Okay, so I have mood swings. Women do. Deal with it. But I was never one to cry at the Hallmark commercial. Never did. But now... a happy ending on House and I'm reaching for the Kleneex. Combine this with the fact I have no patience.... and Emily's newly surging hormones and 9 year old additute.... bad combo.
But we haven't even begun to talk about the hot flashes. I go from goose bump freezing from the anesthsia to oh my dear God, who opened the door to hell!? It's terrible. I have a couple of really lovely hand fans like Scarelet used in my desk at work my boss brought back from his honeymoon in Bali. They're great. I use them all the time.
So this weekend, I decided I needed some from home. I searched all over and I found one at the local "oriental" dollar store. I bought 2 for me and 1 for Em. I know better. So, she had over heard me saying I was having a hot flash. She now gets "sweaty flashes". It was so funny.
But, the funniest thing with all this was Em and I were standing in line at the pharmacy. There was a box of tampons on the end cap. It was box with drawings of athlectic women on it. Em turns to me and says "Mom, I need these. It shows women who exercise. I exercise. I need them" (mean while she can't read the box and doesn't know what they are).
I gently explain that she doesn't need them, they are for teenagers and mommies and that we will talk about it when she is a teenager. Of course it then comes to well, what are they.... something you need when you are teenager. We will talk about it again when you are 16. Not in the pharmacy and not again. Then I changed the subject.
It was funny.

Wow, it's been a while

I have to be the first to admit, that it's been a while since I blogged. Since joining Crackbook, I mean Facebook, there doesn't seem to be as much need to blog anymore, as I can publish a lot faster and a few little things here and there.
Things have been busy with us. Working on the house, I know, I know who isn't. Spring has sprung and well, Em's starting to turn into a big girl. She's growing on me with leaps and bounds.
She's doing very very well in school. Every moment of fighting to get her into The Center for Spectrum Services. She can read when she wants too. Her focus has improved dramatically. It's been a rough road and there is starting to be a light at the end of the tunnel. I know it will be a long long road still to travel, but.....
It's also been a bitch to get old. My knees are getting worse and it might be worse now rather than when I was 100lbs heavier because of all the hormones we are trying. No we are not trying to get pregnant. I've been sick again and we tried hormone therapy... which didn't work. I have to go see the doc in a few weeks to see and talk about possible removal of all the defective parts.
Other than that, nothing is really all that exciting to talk about. We work/school, eat and sleep, although the weather is finally nice enought to talk about pulling out the camper and hitting the road! Yeah! Can't wait for that!
So, I'll sign off for now with a story. Last week was Spring Break. Emily spent most of the week with my father. They were driving down a road that we never go down. We have no reason too. She saw a sign that read Golden Hill Health Care Center. She said "Golden Hill. That's where Mrs. B's mommy lives". My father asks her how she knew that. "I read it." "Then why don't you read books with Mommy or Nana?" "I'll read when I damn well want too!" (Little snot... huh?)

Christmas Eve

Well, here it is. Christmas Eve already. Hard to believe it's been a year already. It's been a hard day so far and I still am at work.
I have this philosophy. Christmas really is for the children and it will be what you make it. I really miss George and there have been several moments through out the year that I have said or almost said George would like this or I need to tell George. I know that George looks down on us and has sent us a few messages from the beyond.
But it's also been a good year in other respects. Brian has flown past his one year marker and is still cancer free! Even though we lost Grandfather this summer, it brought all us kids together for the first time about 11 years! All of us in the same room! It was wonderful. Emily finally got into the school that I have been fighting to get her into since she was ready for Kindergarten and is doing so well!
Work is busy, as we are still growing by leaps and bounds and there is always so much to do!
But there are other things this year that haven't been so good. Things that I don't want to dwell on, but I have to remember to take the bad with the good.
I wish every one a very Merry Christmas and have a very Happy New Year full of blessings!

Update

I haven't posted in forever. I know... I've been slacking. But in my defense, Em went back to school and I have been dealing with a lot getting the house ready for her first communion. It was a great day.... What the hell was I thinking? Having 40 people here was great but it was crazy. It was busy. We hadn't done some of the little things around the house in years, painting the woodwork, etc. We redid the bathroom. That took 2 weekends. Plus the yard. Getting everything picked up and planning the food. Cooking. And of course it was the day after Halloween!
I'll send some pics soon.