Billy called me on his way to work this morning to let me know the screen on his cell phone has died. He said it resembles a calculator screen after you have pushed on it. You know the rainbow effect? Not so helpful when you are trying to look up a phone number.
So today in true Lori form* I went to the Alltel website and looked at their phones. I found one that is 19.99 and comes with a $20 mail-in rebate. So in two days these should be arriving in our mailbox. (Of course I got one for me too. Who can pass up a free phone?)
*Lori form means free of course. :)
They were delish! The kids each had three or four. I made 45 rolls and today they are gone. I thought they were a little heavy/dense though. Is that from too much kneeding, not enough kneeding, too little rising? Anyone know?Thanks to Alison for emailing this to me. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time.
I don't feel sooooo good today..........
Forty kids (out of 300) were out of school yesterday with Influenza A. Please don't let that be what is wrong with me.
Have you all heard about the recalled Peanut Butter?
It is for Peter Pan and Great Value (the Walmart brand).
It has to have a code beginning with 2111 on the lid.
Guess who has a jar of this peanut butter?
Yup. We do.
You can send the lid to ConAgra and they will reimburse you for the peanut butter you have to throw away. Except it will probably cost a couple of dollars just to mail the lid.
You can find out all the details here.
I installed a new "girly" game on our computer for the kids to play. After it was all installed I started it up and entered my name. I played for about 15 minutes and then Cassie started to bug me because she wanted to play.
So I set up a new player for her. We entered her name and hit submit. It kept giving us an error that said "THIS IS AN INAPPROPRIATE USER NAME"
WTF????
So we tried Becca's name. It worked just fine. Megan and Marea's too.
So we tried Cassie's name again. Nope.
Finally after 30 tries and scrutinizing our typing I realized why the error kept popping up. Cassie's name contains a cuss word. Yup, we gave our daughter a name with ASS in it. Oy! And now of course she knows it and is quite happy to let anyone and everyone know it. There are also two other girls in her class with the same name. Guess who went to school and told them both about this newfound word? Oy!
Moral of the story: If you are going to name your daughter Cassandra use one s not two.
My little singing guy! He loves to sing and frequently just breaks out in song. I caught him on tape singing his made-up song yesterday. It is worth listening to. Be sure to wait for the big "throw your head back" moment near the end of the video. :)
Well, I survived the dentist appointment. Since it has been so long since I have been to the dentist I had to endure the entire regime again. I got full mouth x-rays, a cleaning, an exam, and a treatment plan. I have 15 cavities. Oy! I knew it would be quite a few since it has been several years since I last saw a dentist and I have bad teeth. I wasn't surprised but they were. So now I go back in April for the fillings but I get to be put under and so all 15 will be filled in one visit and I don't have to be awake for the torture.
I decided it is time to get my mouth "in order" and start visiting our dentist regularly. Our insurance covers 2 cleanings a year so I really have no excuse not to go except that I hate it. This new dentist was great though (or his staff was. I saw him for about 5 minutes.) and they were very careful with my sensitive teeth. They also gave me some prescription toothpaste (did you know they made such a thing?) that is high in flouride and good for sensitive teeth so hopefully we can strengthen my teeth and stop the cavities. The hygentist answered my 50 million questions happily so that was nice. They didn't make me feel stupid. She said I brush and floss correctly so I am doing all I can to prevent cavities (except getting regular cleanings).
So add this to my new goals in life: getting a clean mouth.
Oh, and did you know they are getting a new test for determining the number of cavity causing bacteria in your mouth? The dentist said as soon as they get it they want to test it out on me. I think he thinks there will be a lot of bacteria in there. LOL He said some people have a lot and some people don't. They don't really know why yet.
So all in all it wasn't bad. It could have been worse. No one said root canal, crown, extractions, etc. so that is good. Just some more fillings and I will be good to go. Now if I can just ignore the 2800.00 price tag.
Today I have an appointment I have been dreading for weeks. I slept about an hour last night, I think because I was so worried about going.
As I sit here reading blogs my stomach is in knots.
My appointment is for the dentist. And it is just for a cleaning and exam.
My hate for dentists started early in life. My Mom never made us brush our teeth. I don't think I even owned a toothbrush until I pestered my Mom to buy me one. By then I was 13 years old. The lack of brushing did some minor damage to my teeth. I had a few fillings at 13 but nothing major. I also have extremely sensitive teeth and it takes about an hour and 8 shots to make my mouth completely numb. Ask the dentist I saw two years ago. He made me come in an hour early to "get numb" so he could start drilling.
Now, as I am getting older, the damage from my childhood is more apparent. I have had many many fillings in the last few years. I am sure I will have many to do after the dentist examines my teeth today. I finally found a dentist who does sedation dentistry (i.e. he drugs you so you aren't awake during the procedures). I am excited about that part. I can get everything fixed in ONE visit and not have to remember a thing.
Why didn't God make it so our teeth are constantly growing? Why?
Something very disturbing is happening to me.
For the last 31 years of my life, I have shopped and loved it. I have spent every nickel, dime, and penny with wild abandon and glee.
But in the last year I have been trying really hard to curb our shopping and trying to save for retirement, a rainy day, an emergency, or even for tomorrow. It hasn't been easy but we are taking baby steps.
And now, shopping is soooo depressing to me. I see the balance of our account drop with each check I write and it makes me angry. I don't want to lose that money. It has gotten to the point where I am not buying things we need, like cat litter, because I don't want to spend the money.
Yesterday I went and bought all the stuff I have avoided buying for the last month because we absolutely had to have it (things like laundry detergent, cat litter, toilet paper, etc.) and it hurt. I have to go back today to get birthday presents for Marea and I don't want to.
I think I liked it better when I could shop with wild abandon. This growing up thing...it sucks!
If I was rooting for any team at the superbowl than I surely would have put up this picture after the game...
Thanks to Cute Overload for giving us this adorable picture!
but since I didn't even know who was playing, I will put it up just for fun. ;0)
I love the tongue sticking out as if to say Pbbbbblllltttttt!
On the way home from preschool Mr. Bill says to me, "Mom, don't call me Billy anymore!"
Me: "Why not?"
MB: "Because now my name is Max. You can call me Max."
Me: "Don't you think that will confuse Max, our dog?"
MB: "Well trees are all called tree and they don't get confused."
Me: "Well....no...."
MB: "You know why they don't get confused?"
Me: "Why?"
MB: "Because they can't talk."
Last night I about pulled my hair out after wanting to drag the kids out the door by theirs.
What is it about Mondays? My kids come home from school totally and completely unable to interact with each other without yelling, fighting, bickering, and name-calling.
My kids are not normally like this. They are all pretty easy-going, happy, laid back kids. They almost never fight with each other. But Mondays are an entirely different story.
Last night I was subjected to Becca trying to dominate the games and barking rules. Of course this caused every kid younger than her to melt into a whiny pile of mush. And then Megan whipped out her vicious streak and started taunting her brother. He responded by screaming at the top of his lungs (something he learned very young). And then Cassie, she has issues. Her stomach hurts (back to doctor on Friday) and we don't know why. She is having headaches that are making her stop playing and lay down. So she spent all night whining and complaining because her siblings wouldn't be quiet. And she wouldn't go lay down in her room because she wanted to be by me. And Marea was, well Marea. She spent a lot of the night in time-in.
And of course my husband had to work late because he was late getting to work because his car wouldn't start so I was left to deal with the screaming mass of kids all on my own.
At least today is Tuesday. Life should be more smiley today. Right?
It has been below zero (F) for the last week here in South Dakota. We have been freezing our patooties off.
Last week Billy's car complained quite a bit when he would try to start it. I really couldn't argue because if I was left sitting outside in -20F weather for over 10 hours, I would be rather obstinate about starting too.
So today when he went out to start his car (today it is only -6F), it refused. He tried hooking it up to my van to jump it but it was not going to cooperate. No way.
As Billy and I are trying to figure out how to get a new battery at 7:30 in the morning in our itty bitty town, someone knocks on our door. It is the neighbor just two houses down. He tells Billy they should push the car (it is a chevy metro, think itty bitty car) down to his garage. He has a heated garage and a battery charger. 15 minutes later Billy is back with a fully functional car.
I love my neighbors!
Mr. Bill throughly enjoys playing on my laptop on days when he doesn't have school.
This afternoon after his fourth hour of playing games on the internet I decided I needed a turn. Afterall, my email isn't going to check itself.
I got him a snack of applesauce and hot chocolate and set it on the coffee table. At our house food is not allowed near the laptop so I knew I could get it away from him that way. :)
As he sat down to his snack he said, "Okay Mom. You can have a turn. But when I am done, your done."
Damn!
Well, my SIL had court yesterday.
Right now the judge wants to go for reuinification. The social worker still wants to go for termination. The kid's lawyer wants the kids to be tested to see how attached they are (they are showing some attachment issues). If they pass the test they stay in foster care for up to another six months so they can work towards reuinification. If they fail the test than they go up for termination. My SIL has a whole list of things she must do in the next few weeks to get her life on the right track.
So we are on a wait and see.
Of course we haven't even totally decided if we would take the two boys if it came down to that but I think we are leaning that way.
We will know more in March when the first 6 months are up.
