My Piano is Here!

I've always wanted to learn how to play the piano. For my birthday last month my Mother and Father-in-law gave me the piano they've had in their basement. They brought it up this weekend and we had friends come over to help us move it upstairs. It's a beautiful piano. Maddox has been enjoying it!

Yucky House Update

We're making progress. The picture above is Shawn and my Dad working in the basement.

This is the kitchen. We've cleaned out all the garbage, gotten rid of the old, brown appliances, and ripped up all the flooring. There's a LOT of work left.

$356.76 Later...

I am forever regretful that I cancelled the doggy insurance we HAD on Duncan. This dog is expensive! $2000 worth of knee surgery and multiple trips to the vet for ingesting many miscellaneous not-so-good things, among other things. Well, last night he was up several times vomiting. I looked online and then thought it was because a certain toddler fed him raisins two days ago. Apparently raisins are TOXIC to dogs, please take note of this. So I called my Grandma at 6:30 this morning to come stay with Maddox, and I took Duncan to the vet as soon as they opened. (raisins can cause renal failure and/or death) An hour and a half, & $356.76 later, I now know Duncan "probably" has an ulcer. Maybe. Now I need to go to the store and get some Prilosec OTC to give him for the next 2 weeks, along with 3 other prescriptions. Also, I now have the pleasure of cooking for my dog. For the next 3 to 4 days he's supposed to eat Chicken Noodle Soup or a combination of 1/2 ground beef, 1/2 rice. Of course I can't just cook for Duncan and not Sophie, so I'll be cooking for two dogs. Doggy insurance would have been good.

And the winner is....

And now...the moment we've all been waiting for... the winner of my Dog Days of Summer Bloggy Giveaway...drumroll please...is Linda SS! Congratulations, I will be contacting you! Thanks to everyone else who stopped by my blog, join me again in the Fall when Rocks in My Dryer will host another Bloggy Giveaway!

There's still time!

There's still time to join in the fun of the Dog Days of Summer Bloggy Giveaway! There are over 400 particpating blogs! WOW! Check out all the links and leave a comment for your chance to win the prize. You can enter in as many as you want, or have time to enter! Click here for what I'm giving away. GOOD LUCK!

Serves me Right.

Maddox is obsessed with bikes. Now he already has a tricycle, but it's too big for him. He tries and tries to pedal and get going and all he really gets is frustrated. So we were at Target today and I saw this little tricycle. I put him on it and he started pedaling! Seriously! So I buy it, at full price, even though he already HAS a tricycle. I get it home and proceed to have people come from far and wide to see the new trick my sweet boy can do. I then relay the story on how this tricycle is just the perfect size and how he pedaled it in the store, etc. What does my son do? He pushed it from behind like it was his toy lawn mower. When I sat him on it he wouldn't pedal at all. Serves me right.

When does School Start?

If you don't already know I'm on the Executive Board for Maddox's Co-op Preschool. It's more meetings, more responsibility, more work in general, but I get a sneak peek at the upcoming school year and I am PSYCHED! The field trips sound so cool, and all the kids will have matching t-shirts, how cute! You will be hearing more as the school year approaches, not much longer now! I can't wait!

Who's the Adult?

A conversation we had at Mobius during our wait at the rocket launcher.

Shawn: It was so my turn.
Me: Seriously Shawn, they're kids, wait until they're done.
Shawn: They're taking a long time and I want to try out my rocket.
Me: I don't care, you can wait.

Dog Days of Summer Bloggy Giveaway!

Clarification: Just leave a comment by 8:00 am Friday morning and I'll randomly pick a name out of a hat, sometime before noon (whenever Maddox takes his morning nap).


The moment we've all been waiting for is here! For more information on what's going on click here. I will be giving away this set of 4 coasters, lovingly made by yours truly, shipping included. (I will only ship to the US, sorry) Just leave me a comment and I will pick the winner randomly on Friday, July 27th. This giveaway is open to everyone, whether you have a blog or not. Good luck!

Grosser Than Gross!

Head on over here to enter for YOUR chance to win a Dirt Devil KONE in the color of your choice! Here's MY Grosser Than Gross Story:

As you must know by now I'm the mother of a very active toddler. Said toddler has become very interested in removing his diaper. The other day he was running down the hall AND taking off his diaper at the same time, while this was underway a fairly large amount of poop fell out of the diaper onto the floor. I decided it was more important to clean up the baby. When I came back to clean up the floor, maybe 3 minutes later, I see Sophie (our black lab) finishing up eating the poop. YUCK! To make matters worse, a while later Sophie threw up in the living room and I can't imagine why she'd throw up! :) My whole morning was spent cleaning up. Beat THAT! (if you can)

Slow Cooking Thursday!

These pork chops are super easy and delicious! Check out the host of Slow Cooking Thursday @ http://familycorner.blogspot.com/ for a Chinese Sweet & Sour Chicken recipe and links to many others!

Sweet and Spicy Pork Chops

Serves: 4

4 Thick Pork Chops, boneless

1 Packet taco seasoning

1 Jar (18 oz) Apricot or Peach Preserves

1 Jar (24 oz) Salsa

Please note: The temperature of the salsa/taco seasoning (mild, hot, etc.) WILL affect how spicy the pork chops will be!

Dredge the pork chops in the taco seasoning and brown. Toss the chops into the crock pot and cover with the salsa and preserves and cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours. Serve with Rice. Enjoy!

Rainy Day

Thunderstorms last night and this morning made the temperature cooler, thank God! It's still raining out and a little too hard to go outside. This is the activity of the day: Rainy Day Reading Fort! Works great, even the dogs have tried it out! I never thought I'd say this, but I'm tired of reading, time for Mad Chase of the Poppers! (my finger is almost fully recovered, hopefully we can refrain from getting any more injuries)

Ouch!

I'm in agony. Well, maybe agony is a strong word, but I am in pain. Maddox and I were playing a grand new game, I call it mad chase of the poppers. We take turns chasing each other around the house pushing these "poppers", it's noisy, sweaty, and great fun. Bending over to push these poppers is good exercise but I can only take so much, then I must fall to the ground and take a breather. (If I'm laying flat on the floor Maddox will give me about 30 seconds rest before he starts shoving a "popper" in my face to have another go. Otherwise I get no break from the fun.) After a couple of these time-outs Maddox decided that launching himself into the air and landing on my stomach was an equally effective method of getting me moving again. Thus, we finally get to the title of this post. Maddox, too excited to contain himself, launched himself a few feet short of my stomach. He did a belly flop onto the floor and in an attempt to "save" him, please keep in mind that I was laying flat on the floor, somehow only succeeded in jamming a finger into his head. HE is just fine, peachy keen in fact. My finger, however, is twice the size it should be. I'm blaming the whole thing on the "poppers", I wouldn't recommend owning one (or two, like us). So here I am still traumatized and in pain from the experience and guess what game Maddox requested first thing this morning?

Reunion

So my 10 year high school reunion is next month. I've decided I'm not going, I think. I wasn't anywhere near popular and high school is not a time you could pay me to revisit. I'll admit I'm a little curious about a couple of people, but not enough to go. Plus, I don't need any added pressure to lose weight, not that it helps anyway. And has anyone ever noticed that all reunions are made up of lame activities and are really expensive? Another strike against going...

Yucky House....

So we got in to see the house...finally. I had to postpone the inspector until we can clear out all the garbage so he can see what he's inspecting. It brings new meaning to the word "nasty". Why do all this extra work, you ask? $$$$$$$$, the world's greatest motivator. Don't believe me about all the nasty? Check out the pics below.

Yucky House....

This is in a bedroom. Note all the food garbage, YUCK!

(This is NOT MY house, this is the house we are in the process of flipping)

Yucky House....

This is one of the bedrooms. How many ways can I say Yuck?
(This is NOT MY house, this is the house we're in the process of flipping)

Yucky House....

This is the living room. Please note the numerous nasty cobwebs. Everyone knows that the first time "something" falls or crawls on me I'm out, at least until all the nasty is out.
(This is NOT MY house, this is the house we're in the process of flipping)

Yucky House....

This is the kitchen.
You're looking at the stove.
(This is NOT MY house, this is the house we're in the process of flipping)

Works for Me Wednesday

Recently I've been checking out a blog where every Wednesday she posts a new helpful tip or idea. So I decided to get in the spirit and post a tip of my own.

Toddler Vitamin

My toddler is lactose intolerant, and going through the typical picky eater phase and I'm concerned that he's getting enough good things to eat. Before he had enough teeth to chew the gummy vitamins I would use chewable vitamins. The trick is to buy a pill crusher from the dollar store to crush the vitamin and then disguise it in applesauce, or soy yogurt, or something like that. He hardly realized that he was getting a vitamin, and I feel a little better on the days when he hardly eats anything. For more great tips check out the blog that hosts Works-for-Me-Wednesday at: http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/shannon/

Life with a Monkey...

It's official...I can no longer keep up with Maddox. He's running, climbing, and just overall too smart. Here are some pictures of his latest trick. I realize that he should no be doing this, these pictures were purely for the sake of documentation as many people did not believe me when I told them. (I did not put him there either, he got up there himself)

House Flipping

We're about to embark on a grand adventure...flipping a house. So far it's been a trial. This lady is filthy, lazy, and extremely hard to pin down. This make things difficult when you have 15 days to get the house inspected and do a title search before closing the deal. She does not do anything in a timely manner. It gets inspected today so we hope everything will come out OK. Barring any structural damage we're prepared for the worst and ready to get at it. I estimate two weekends just to haul out all the filth. (If the inspection goes well I'm going to go buy several boxes of rubber gloves today in preparation) I hope the home inspector will be able to see what he needs to see!

65 Things About Me...

OK folks, here it is.

65 things…

1. I hate laundry, I know it’s easy, I still hate it.
2. I love any kind of cake.
3. I hate every kind of pie.
4. I didn’t learn how to drive a manual transmission until college.
5. I used to smoke pot.
6. I hate wine. I know it’s considered classy to drink wine, but I think it tastes like ass.
7. I am addicted to the TV show Bones.
8. I hate the word “turd”. It’s disgusting.
9. I love fruit, especially if it’s in a Fruit Salad, with cool whip. YUM!
10. I check my e-mail several times daily just in case someone has something to say to me.
11. I would love to get a pedicure but I think my feet are too ugly.
12. I think the word “panties” is stupid.
13. I used to play the flute and saxophone (not very well) in high school.
14. I went to band camp, but nothing exciting happened there.
15. I’m terrified of coyotes.
16. I get carsick now. I never used to.
17. I think the cost of health care is outrageous.
18. So are gas prices. It makes me sick!
19. Sometimes I wish I had a job. (Not that taking care of Maddox is easy)
20. I wish I had a bigger house.
21. Even though I would love to move to a bigger house, the thought of leaving my house now makes me sad.
22. I think walnuts are gross.
23. My Dad calls me Cuddles.
24. I have a squished penny from every place I’ve ever traveled. (Actually multiple pennies)
25. I can be overly critical.
26. I wish I were skinny, but can’t stop eating.
27. I don’t have a favorite color, I like all colors.
28. I sit on the fence on many issues. I find it hard to take a definitive stand.
29. I’m really good at seeing both sides of an argument, as long as they’re not my arguments.
30. I can hold a grudge, but wish that I wouldn’t.
31. I used to want to be a kindergarten teacher.
32. I used to have a roommate in college who was a gay, drag queen, from Madagascar.
33. I want to get another tattoo but I can’t decide on what I want, so I’ll wait.
34. I didn’t know how to cook until I met Shawn.
35. Now I’m actually starting to like cooking.
36. I’ve always wanted to learn how to play the piano.
37. I want to go somewhere in Europe before I die.
38. I’m also afraid of sharks.
39. I WILL go back to Hawaii someday to boogie board. I rock at it!
40. We haven’t sailed our sailboat in three years, it’s sad.
41. I would love to volunteer, but I honestly can’t find the time right now.
42. I like bowling, hate the shoes.
43. Mountain Dew has so much caffeine it actually makes me sick. I used to drink it all the time in high school, I must be getting old.
44. I can change all four tires on a car faster than a lot of men.
45. After being pregnant my feet have never returned to their former size. I honestly thought they would.
46. I never watch the news.
47. Subsequently, I never really know what’s going on in the world. I’m ok with that.
48. I’m a crazy list maker; I have a list for everything.
49. I often forget to reference the lists I so painstakingly compile.
50. I can only drink coffee if it’s in latte or mocha form, and only hot, but then I LOVE it!
51. I’m secretly sorry that one of my dog’s names is Sophie, because that is such an adorable name for a little girl. That is, supposing I was having another baby, and that it was a girl.
52. I think people who have multiple stuffed animals in the back window of their car are ridiculous. I apologize if this applies to you.
53. When a guy has a head that’s been shaved bald (Vin Diesel Chris Daughtry, etc.), I think it’s outrageously sexy. But it’s probably a lot of upkeep.
54. I don’t balance the checkbook in my household.
55. I love to quilt, even though I know it’s an “old lady” thing.
56. I’m obsessed with buying fabric. I have fabric for more projects than I could make in a year.
57. I’ve saved every quilting magazine I’ve ever gotten. When I’m old I’ll be set.
58. I once ate an entire half gallon of ice cream. Gross.
59. Potato skins are my favorite appetizer. (Chips and Salsa are a given)
60. I hate Dr. Pepper.
61. My all-time favorite movie is Dirty Dancing.
62. Video games are so not a waste of time or money, contrary to popular belief.
63. I wish I had a Wii. I wouldn’t throw MY controller through the TV.
64. My favorite invention would have to be Clorox wipes.
65. I’ve wanted to get my nose pierced forever, and finally did!

The kid kept sleeping and sleeping....

Usually I'd do a freakin' happy dance but I had places to go and things to do. I left him alone to sleep and was an hour late, oh well.

Big Boy...Already

So Maddox has gotten SO big! He's not quite a year and a half and has starting wearing 3T in clothes and a size 7 shoe. The doctor says he's the size of a two year old. As a result many of his toys are no longer fun for him and none of his clothes fit. So I had a major room overhaul yesterday, and a sort of awakening. Many, many things are going to Others Mothers (2nd hand children's store) today, but I'm a little sad. All the toys he used to play with and the little outfits he used to wear reminded me of what he was like a few months ago. (I kept my favorites) Alas, I can't keep everything just in case I have another baby. And the really scary part is that I'm no longer sure that I don't want to have anymore babies. Shawn wants another baby, hence why we kept some stuff, but I've been pretty adamant about being done. Now I'm waffling. Someone I know just had a baby, who is SO cute, and that got me thinking. And getting rid of Maddox's old stuff got me thinking.... I'm not ready to go out and get knocked up again, but maybe I'll hold off on getting the ol' tubes tied just yet.

My Ass

So, many people will not agree with this, but I have begun taking diet pills. I had a college roommate that I had a pact with, if one of us ever got too fat (exactly how fat is too fat?) we would politely say "Drop the Twinkie". Well, my friends, I am officially 5 lbs. past being too fat. I too would have been appalled at the mention of diet pills a while back, but I'm desperate. Losing weight with a toddler is not easy, at least for me. I also have notoriously bad eating habits. (enough with the excuses) These pills, which are herbal and supposedly all natural, are just temporary to give me a much needed boost on the weight lose/lifestyle change to ensue. I wonder how many people started out saying that the pills were just temporary? I, however, mean it. You'll probably be hearing more about this in the coming weeks/months as my ass hopefully shrinks.

Hmmmmmm....

OK, so I'm kind of glad no one reads my blog, my last post was a little harsh. Too late to take it back, I'm over it. So we (Shawn and I) mowed lawns tonight (my grandma's and great grandpa's) and I hated it (Like THIS is a news flash). I didn't hate the exercise part of mowing, we all know I could REALLY use the exercise. I hated the heat, I have too much padding on my body to enjoy hot weather, and I hated the fact that I've now discovered that I am allergic to grass. So now I feel like crap.

So in a nutshell last night's post was a little whiny and a little harsh, and tonight's post was really pretty boring, but at least I'm posting everyday. How many people can say THAT?! Oh wait, I forgot that no one reads this...

Excuse me...I take offense...

Ok, so a person I know from high school has a blog, no big deal, that I've been following, and recently she wrote something that so deeply offended me I felt I should post about it. Not that anyone actually reads this, but hey. Here is one of the questions she was asked to answer:

7.) What's the most nerve-racking "close call" you've ever had?

Here is her response:

I dated a guy 5 years my senior in high school for 2 and a half years. When I was approaching the end of my senior year, we started talking about getting married once I graduated. The plan was for me to go to the community college and become some sort of medical tech, and then we'd start having lots and lots of babies. The mere thought of a) being married to him and b) never having gone to college, both scare the begeesis out of me now. I'd be an uneducated stay-at-home mom with a house full of kids, probably living in Spokane. Oui. I'm so glad I dumped his sorry self and lived my life. Had I not, I'd have never met Bryan, and really, the thought of not being married to Bryan scares me more than anything else.

I took the liberty of highlighting the part I found so offensive. I probably took offense because she was describing my life and practically spitting on it. I may not have a degree but I don't consider myself uneducated, yet to listen to her talk not having a degree goes hand in hand with being stupid, or lacking good sense and goals. Maybe I'm reading too much into what she said, maybe she was overly hormonal due to being pregnant, maybe she was making a personal slam at me, who knows. I do know that it is still very upsetting to me. I do live in Spokane, but I CHOSE to move back here, it isn't that crappy of a place, no worse than many places a person could choose to live. I am also a stay-at-home mom to my sweet little boy, what is so bad about that? I CHOOSE to spend all my time and energy on my son, and in return we have to make a few sacrifices, but that was our CHOICE. I don't feel sorry for myself. It was her blog and she is more than entitled to her opinion, it just hurt my feelings that someone was describing my life and couldn't imagine anything more terrible.