"And now,' cried Max, "let the wild rumpus start!'

This past weekend was one for the books at Casa de Chaos. On Friday night we witnessed the renewal of wedding vows by our closest friends. It was really quite touching, and the Barnacle was really enthusiastic about it. The woman sitting in front of us must have agreed with him, as she kept turning around to look at him with an eye borrowed from Hot Wheels 3. Mercifully, the Princess volunteered to take him down the hall, and we got to watch the end in silence. At that point I was wearing a variety of cereals that he had managed to leave behind, bless his wee heart. Did I mention he can now announce, "I poooooooo!", and is cutting four teeth? All at once?

Saturday we picked up speed as we ran errands, did chores and schtuff. Dropped the kids off at my in-laws who were taking them to a grange fair. Later in the day we went to a barbecue hosted by one of the gals from my Bible study. We had a lovely time but the sheer volume of small children in the back yard created quite the hullabaloo. Small people everywhere, with all variety of snack and drink and wreckage to pick up behind them.

Sunday was church and then home for the Princess' 9th birthday party. More wild shriekings, with lots of kids running around throwing water balloons at my brother and each other, jumping in and out of the pool with water guns, and all the grandparents hiding from the aquatic fun in the house. Much fanfare was beheld as she opened her gifts, including two new WebKinz and the brand new, just came out, 'Mom, can you believe it?!' CD of the Camp Rock soundtrack. I'm already hearing the songs in my sleep.

Have I mentioned how happy I was when Monday finally arrived?

Just Keep Swimming

Where did my blog list go?? It's there when I go to edit the template, but I can't see it on the page. I'm annoyed because that's how I go read other blogs. Foo.

Well I'm off to the camper in a few hours, and I'm only taking the Boy. The Princess is away at church camp until tomorrow and the Barnacle is staying home with the Man. It's the de-barnacling of the Barnacle you could say. It will be the first time that he and I are apart for more than a few hours, so we'll see how he does.

We have some new pets here, six little fish. I asked the Man what kind they are. "Cheap starter fish." he replied. They are teeny and greyish and that's the extent of our knowledge apparently. The Boy named them (not sure how the Princess was so gracious about this) and now they are called Nemo, The Boy, and Hot Wheels 1 through 4.

We had talked every once in a while about getting fish for the kids but nothing ever came of it. Then out of nowhere, the Man gleefully arrived home a week or so ago with a tank, rocks, filter, plants, fish food, plastic castle and so forth. We had new neighbors move in up the street and they put the whole kit and caboodle at the curb the first day. Guess they were tired of it or their fishies were lost in transit. Either way, we are shameless curb shoppers in this family, so home it came to be cleaned and refilled, much to the joy of our children. The only thing we needed to replace was the lid for the tank, as it was cracked.

The first night the fish were with us the Man and I were watching tv and I discovered something fantastic. The sound of the water falling into the tank from the filter could not be drowned out enough by the tv to prevent my body from constantly needing to pee. The Man promised to fix the lid or replace it. The next night the cracked lid was temporarily taped and in place and I could relax without any pressing bathroom needs. It was sometime later in our evening that we heard a loud noise come from the kitchen. The Man had just been walking into the room when one very wet and FREAKING OUT kitty came flying across the kitchen counter, crashed into the fridge and tore up the stairs. Apparently sitting his fat rump on the cracked lid was not a good idea, and he got a closer view than he had planned.

The fish won't talk about the incident but I have a feeling that Hot Wheels 3 is holding a grudge. He keeps giving the cat a fish-eye. (I know, worst pun ever, hahahaha)

This & That

ThrillScore.com - The husband of a gal in my Bible study is the creator of this web site. You can search or browse for all the roller coasters, thrill rides, family rides, and water rides you've ridden, and add them to your ride list. You can even search or browse by amusement park. Your score goes up as you add new rides that you've experienced, and you can win prizes as you reach certain milestones. Very fun for all you thrill seekers out there! I'll be waiting for you at the end with my funnel cake.


3-D Logic - This is a fun little game that you will either love or hate. It has 30 levels, but they don't necessarily get harder each time. They seem to throw in an easy one here and there just to keep you guessing.

The "Blog" of "Unnecessary” Quotation Marks - Misinterpreting bad punctuation since 2005

I've Been Tagged!

Tara at Deal Seeking Mom tagged me and in order to avoid housework this morning I will play along. Here are the rules when you get tagged:

1. Link back to the person who tagged you
2. Mention the rules on your blog
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours
4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they've been tagged.

My Unspectacular Quirks
1. I can do this weird flippy thing with my left thumb. It's like a double joint effect of some kind that people see and say, "Ewww..."
2. Since Tara confessed her love for NKOTB, I will admit that I still have my Hanson CD. And I still love it. So there!
3. I do not like water ice or frozen slushy drinks of any kind. I find them weird and they hurt my teeth.
4. I hate Starbucks. (Although I don't think it's a quirk, I'm sure the Starbucks fans all just gasped.)
5. I can draw on my face with my (gold) wedding ring. If you're a woman reading this, odds are that you can do it too. Odds are also that you are now going to the bathroom to try.
6. I'm a huge Garth Brooks fan and have every single album he has ever made, including the box sets. I guess that's not so quirky? But I do have a pencil drawn portrait of him hanging in my office, so maybe that is.

Trish at Beneath the Couch Cushions
Amy at Life with My Boys
Kat at ScaredyKaterpillarsNoMore
Stephani at her Cake Blog
Shannon at Run the Earth, Watch the Sky
Jenn at Ivy Six Pack

The Infamous Driveway Incident

Tara mentioned the Driveway Incident and because I delight in embarrassing my children, here's the story!
When I was expecting the Boy I joined a message board for moms due in March of 2002. We all became very close, and are still in touch today in fact. We coordinated some trips so some of us were able to meet in person after our babies were born. This was the first time that me, Kimmy and Tara were meeting in person and it was a really great time.
I was potty-training my nearly 3 year old Princess at that time. I had told her that if she had an emergency and was outside, that it was ok to pee in the yard. The adults were all sitting on the front porch while the Princess and Kimmy's daughter ran around together. Somehow, the 'emergency' part did not seem to register with her, and every time I turned around, she was peeing in the grass or the driveway. I'm sure there were several stern talks about the use of the potty indoors but they fell on deaf toddler ears.
This issue faded from my mind however, as I was gabbing with my fellow March moms and taking care of the Boy. So I didn't immediately react when the Princess dropped trou in the middle of the white stone driveway. I groaned and said something to the Man about her peeing outside yet again. At which point Tara said, "Umm... I don't think she's peeing."
That's right. My blonde-haired, blue-eyed, cherubic little Princess turned red-faced and grunting as she pooped in the driveway of a woman I had just met. I didn't know whether to die from embarrassment or laughter. Thankfully the Man went and cleaned it up. He didn't seem to mind until he noticed that I was taking pictures. He'll thank me someday though, when I whip out those pictures on Prom Night.

A fear of commitment perhaps?

I knew it would happen. I'm already so over the title of the blog. Feh. (No, it's not a word. Say it out loud for yourself, and draw out the H and you will get the feeling I'm trying to convey here.) I will leave it alone for now, but I can't promise anything. I get tired of things very quickly; not sure why? I like change I suppose.
Life is good but not very bloggy lately. And by bloggy I just mean that my kids haven't really done anything amusing or illegal for me to write about. My daughter did humble me recently however. The other day she was telling me that she wanted something from the fridge but couldn't find it. I said 'Oh it's in bottom drawer,' and I opened it up, bent down and picked it out. She then said, 'I can't believe you can bend like that!' I could feel something bad coming but felt obliged to ask anyway, 'What do you mean, why shouldn't I be able to bend like that?' She raised an eyebrow and replied, 'Because you're old!' To which I replied, 'DUDE I'M 34, I AM NOT OLD!'
I nearly forgot... The Boy 'lost' his first tooth over the weekend. It's the second tooth to leave his mouth, but the first one to come out naturally. The first one he knocked out last year when he tipped himself unceremoniously out of a toybox and face-first into a chair. Now he has a splendid gap in his mouth, as the second tooth was directly below the gap from the first one. The Man pointed out that he can now fit a drinking straw in through his teeth. So now we must do this at every meal, until we giggle ourselves senseless and snort milk from our wee nose. It makes family meals more interesting, no doubt.

Crazy Hormonal Lady

So apparently I am having some sort of berserk hormonal crisis? As I said a few days ago, I recently weaned my youngest child. I didn't go through any kind of crazy changes with my previous baby, so I'm not sure what the deal is this time around. But I've been super weepy and ridiculous. It's not endearing. It's also an easy road from there to STEW. My ability to stew is legendary in our house, as I pile on the issues and insist on being upset about every single thing in the universe that bothers me at one time. But after 36 hours of this I finally got smart and asked for help. I talked to the Man, who consoled me. I knew I wouldn't be able to talk to my sponsor since she would be at work, so I wrote her a long blathery email instead to at least let her know what was going on with me. I have a long history of not asking for help, and assuming that no one would want to help me, or that I 'need' to do things on my own. So I have to force myself to do these things.

In the meantime, I thought about everything I have in my 'kit'. Alcoholics have a kit, you get it in your welcome packet at orientation. Ok, so that's a lie, but that doesn't make it less effective.
(I know, I'm wondering why they used a Disney font for this graphic too. How odd.)
What we have are things that we can do to get through life's curve balls. The number one thing that will help an alcoholic get through a hard day or a craving is to go help another alcoholic. That's why service is so key to our recovery. I didn't have anyone I could go help today however, so I thought about the list of people I still have to make amends to. I've been dragging my feet about making amends, mostly because I know many of the ones I have left to do will be painful. I knew that I needed to just go for it though, so I wrote an email to an old friend, asking her to call me.
I wrote out a list of things I needed to apologize for, times that I was a horrible friend, things I said and did. By the time she called my stomach was in a knot, but I was ready with my list. We talked for a while, catching up, before I got up my courage to tell her why I had wanted to talk to her. I started talking and just went on and on, afraid of stopping for fear of losing my gumption. She very gently stopped me at some point though, and said that it was ok; that she knew I needed to do this for my recovery but that she did not need an apology. I'm getting all vaclempt thinking about it now. We had a really good conversation. We have both missed our friendship and I'm having her over for dinner very soon. I feel really blessed to have this chance to start fresh. And I am thankful for a program of recovery that gives me a clear way to straighten out my own head, by making amends for who I used to be, and always working to become a better person.

On another note, tomorrow the Man and I are going to say our goodbyes to a dear man who is dying of cancer. He's a lovely gentleman that we go to church with, and it's so heartbreaking to let him go. So maybe my tears this week aren't all about my hormones, or my youngest child leaving babyhood. First Thessalonians 4:13 tells us not to be sorrowful like those who have no hope, for we know where we are going. I am very grieved, but I know that he will soon be free from pain and suffering, and amongst my own sorrow, I can be truly happy for him.

This & That

Picnik.com - "Picnik makes your photos fabulous with easy to use yet powerful editing tools. Tweak to your heart’s content, then get creative with oodles of effects, fonts, shapes, and frames."
This is an excellent free photo editing web site. It has TONS of creative photo options. You can try it out without registering. If you decide to join, it doesn't cost a thing. Here's an old pic of the Boy that I did a little editing to. Nothing major, just black & white and then softened the edges, but it gives it such a sweet dreamy quality...

I seriously love this site so much that I'm not done talking about it! And it's the only thing I'm listing in this post of This & That!

Ok, so amongst it's many effect options, it has one called Cinema Scope that gives your photos a movie quality. You can add text, frames or clip art too. (Click the pic to see it full size - you can see the photo effect better that way.)

Random Things

Some random things I think about that don't fit into any category... and for some reason I think other people need to know them.

The tragic death of Bob Crane bothers me. I grew up watching Hogan's Heroes. His murder was mysterious and haunting. Did he die as a result of the tawdry life he led? And why should this bother me? It's much like the death of Phil Hartman at the hands of his own wife. I was gobsmacked when that happened, and I wasn't even a fan. It was just so shocking.

I only eat blueberries fresh. Baked into anything they taste fake to me.

I have a weird squinky toe. It tucks under the others a bit. I could recognize each of my children as newborns only by their feet, as they each have that same toe.

The rhododendron that replaced last year's dead rhododendron is now also dying. I think the yard is rebelling in that spot.

Trader Joe's raspberry tea is fantastic.

New Banner & The Princess's Orthodontic Journey

I finally got around to making the new banner. I'm pretty sure I will be unhappy with it within an hour but right now all is delightful.
I took the Princess today to get a prescription from our family doctor for Valium. After many unhappy visits to the orthodontist, I'm finally giving in to my 'last resort'. She just can't seem to cope with them doing work in her mouth, and given the extent of the work she needs done, it just makes sense at this point to get her something that will help her relax about it. She has to have an RPE put in and eventually braces, and she was barely able to cope with them using cheek retractors to hold her mouth open for pictures. She was supposed to start this process a year ago but after a total core meltdown in the chair we gave up. I'm not only resorting to pharmaceutical help for her, I'm also bribing her and blackmailing her. If she does well after each visit she will get to pick out the ice cream treat of her liking. And if she does not get this work done, she will not be allowed to go to camp with her church friends. I hate to hold that over her but don't really see any choice at this point. I feel badly for the poor kid but at the same time I wish she would just get over it? (BAD BAD MAMA) I don't know how she got so delicate, it's certainly not from my sturdy side of the family.
Not too much else going on here to blog about. I got out my bike to start riding again but only got one ride in before the blessed heat wave began. I weaned the Barnacle last week which was very bittersweet for me. The Man is working a lot, summer is hot and sticky, the days are long and filled with bickering children, and I am in love with the life that I have been given. When we all cuddle up on the couch to read together each night I have my whole world in my lap, and nothing else could be as sweet.