Friday, March 29, 2013

Brain Declutter: Sitting in the church parking lot...

*I will not be editing this so if it makes no sense don't be surprised...I am not sure why I type things like that because I rarely go back and edit what I type here on the fly any way...but it makes me feel better that you know I am not an idiot-I just didn't go back and proof read.  I am on a time crunch here people so don't judge me.  I am supposed to be grocery shopping...

*I didn't have time to go to the library, but I had to check my emails, so I am sitting in the church parking lot taking advantage of the free wi-fi...Is that wrong?  I have a key to get in thanks to my new calling (Primary president) but if I go in I will start organizing the closet or something and I am here to waste a few minutes checking emails and blogging...

*I finished reading The Host by Stephanie Meyer a couple of weeks ago.  I did this intending to see the movie when it came out, but I am willing to wait until it is on DVD.  It is a really loooooonnnnnggg book. Over 800 pages.  I am not afraid of a big book-don't get me wrong.  But this was one of those books that is way longer than it needs to be. Meyer should could  have cut out 200 of those pages easy.  I almost gave up reading it a couple of times because there are some parts that she takes forever to get through.  I am no quitter, so I finished reading it and it was pretty good. (Plus I always have to see how a book ends-even if I don't like it.)  I watched the trailer for the movie and it doesn't look that great.  I know that the movie is never exactly like the movie, but when you watch the trailer and there are obvious differences it can be disappointing...But since it wasn't my favorite book the movie may be better.  Who knows. 

*I am reading Leven Thumps right now because Jake is on the 2nd book and keeps telling me I have to read the first one.  So I am reading it and so far it is good.  What I really want to be reading (but am going to wait because I have a borrowed book from Nana and a book club book to read) is Insurgent by Veronica Roth.  I read the first book in what will be a trilogy (Divergent) in 24 hours because it was so good I couldn't stop reading.  It is a quick read and I loved it.  The only thing that stopped me from going right back to the library and checking it out was the fact that I read it for a book club and I didn't want to to be the one talking about things that happened in the 2nd book when other people hadn't read it yet...And yes that happened at the book club...I am also still trying to get through Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.  I have been reading it for months.  I am not a fan...at all...The beginning was intriguing but I am at a LONG and BORING part and have been for a long time...Which is why I read a little bit and set it down for a week and a half before reading it again...I am only 60% through it (I am reading it on my Kindle) and I can't keep my eyes off the % to see how much closer I am to the end.  Sorry if you like it but I am only finishing it because, as I said before, I am no quitter.  I have high hopes for an amazing ending that will make it all worth it.  If you have read it and it doesn't end well don't tell me because it will then take me a decade to finish it and I am really hoping to get it over with...

*I had an asthma attack the other night for the first time in years (I have to use my inhaler sometimes but not for a full fledged attack).  It scared me A LOT!  It took a while to be able to breath again and I thought I might have to go to the emergency room-but then I remembered how bad our insurance is and  waited it out.  I survived.  It was 2:15ish in the morning and I ended up sleeping sitting in a chair the rest of the night because I didn't want to sleep so soundly that I wouldn't wake up if I had another one.  Dumb I know because I am totally fine but it brought back old childhood fears of dying in my sleep because of an asthma attack that I didn't wake up from.  It is amazing how quickly old fears can come back.

*I wish I liked cooking more than I do.  I pretend I like it.  I am pretty good at it but it seems in many ways a huge waste of time.  I mean I could be sitting in the church parking lot blogging more if I didn't have to cook. :)  I wonder if people driving by wonder what I am doing...

*Jake and I just finished reading Story of the World: History for the Classical Child, Ancient Times-from the Earliest Nomads to the Last Roman Emperor  by Susan Wise Bauer and it was great.  Ancient history delivered in a refreshingly easy to read and story like fashion. We have the whole series and have started reading the second volume: From the Fall of Rome to the Rise of the Renaissance. If you are homeschooling and trying to tackle ancient history you should check it out.  It is written so little kiddos all the way up will enjoy it and learn a lot.  I feel like I am learning so much more than I did as a child while homeschooling Jake.  I am not kidding you when I tell you there are whole empires I swear I had never heard of before! 

*World record for me!  Aaron had a head cold that Jake caught.  It turned into a full blown cold for Jake, he still has that lingering cough, but he is feeling better (he totally milked it for an extra couple of days).  I am sure he had it worse than Aaron because he was at a friends b-day party and they (a couple of them at least...Jake being 1 of them) were in the hot tub and decided to jump into the pool...and it was in the 40's...and it is March so no sun has been warming the water up...and the pool isn't heated.  Yes, they were being chaperoned and were warned it was not the brightest thing to do but boys don't hear that part of conversations (think Charlie Browns teacher when boys are given warnings).  I hold no ill will to his mom's friend.  She is a saint for having 7 boys ages 9-11 at her house at one time...let me repeat: they are boys...Homeschooled boys to be exact so they have a way of turning anything into a science experiment!   I have to admit I would have done it too.  He gets his love for water from me.  If we see it-we must get in it.  He said he only did it once because it was so cold.  That makes sense.  But back to the world record: I DID NOT GET IT.  Knock on wood-not that I believe in that stuff...but just to be safe...Score one for me!

*Freeze dried strawberries are my new favorite thing in the world to eat.  I ordered 2 #10 cans for food storage and I wish I bought about 98 more because I could sit and eat them like a bag of chips.  They are heavenly....

*I have been having migraine headaches lately.  Not fun.  Excedrin Migraine works pretty well though, so try it if you get a bad headache.  I think the only extra ingredient from regular Excedrin  is caffeine.  Maybe I should just take Tylenol and wash it down with Dr. Pepper. I love Dr. Pepper...

*Jake was so thrilled to have gone roller skating for the first 2 times last week.  He says he loves it!  Not sure why because the first time he did not let go of the wall and fell down a million times.  The second time was at the b-day party (see what I mean by saying the mom is a saint?  She took all those boys roller skating too!) and there were no walls to hold on to so I am sure it was a really entertaining for onlookers.  He ended up falling while getting a drink and scraping his forearm.  This was at like 8 o'clock at night (I was supposed to pick him up @ 8:30-it was a slumber party but Jake wasn't staying the night) and they had been playing hard all day (we had an Easter egg hunt/memory review with our co-op that morning and they went straight to the party after that) so with that fall he was ready to call it a day.  I went to pick him up and he already had a huge swollen bruise on it.  So again, not sure why he loves roller skating but whatever!

*Okay I really need to stop now...There are a million other things I could declutter from my brain but the groceries won't buy themselves...

Monday, March 11, 2013

Stranger things have happened....

Truer words can not be spoken.  We are moving...again.  Long story a little shorter:  We were waiting to buy a house in shot sale and then foreclosure-we gave up.  Then we were waiting to rent an adorable house from Aaron's parents but the family who lives in it had their plans change and didn't move out...so we gave up waiting and signed a month to month contract on the house we moved into not even 2 1/2 months ago because it was time to move on with life.  Now the family in the adorable little rental my in laws own are moving the beginning of April...so we are too... into it I mean.  The rent will be a lot less money and we can really treat it like it is our home.  We can paint.  We can hang things on the wall.  We can not have to wonder what is lurking in the the carpet-because there is none!  The carpet in the house we are renting now looks okay and was cleaned before we moved in but it still grosses me out.  I had to use a lot of Febreze and candles to make the house smell not so yucky when we moved in...and I continue to use Febreze and candles to keep it smelling good.  I am told I smell things that apparently other people don't and that I obsess over it slightly, but the stink is there-trust me.   The adorable house is all hardwoods and tile. !!!  That is a complete and utter dream come true for the germaphob in me...and for the " loves character in a house" person in me.  And it has a fire place.  And the master bedroom has a 1/2 bath. :)  That one gets a smiley face because I don't like to share my bathroom with lots of people.  And a fenced in backyard.  And a family room AND a living room.  And I am excited for Jake (he is allergic to one thing: dust/dust mites...carpets aren't his friend.) will not have a stuffy nose every time we are at the house.  And I am excited that I will be able to breath better-even if it is just psychologically, because I won't have to wonder about the mold in the the hallway ceiling of the house we are currently living in.  And I realize sentences shouldn't start with "and" but there are a lot of "and's" to be happy about with this move.  I am really excited because we can live in the adorable house happily forever if we want to.  I am sure it won't be that long but I know it will be much longer than we have been living in our current residence. :)  I am also taking this opportunity to psych myself up about this move, because although I am truly excited about moving into the adorable house, I am not so psyched about the actual moving part...at all.  The reason being: we just moved...2 1/2 months ago.  I am not gathering boxes and packing.  We are going to move a room at a time with Rubbermaid's and unpack as we go.  We are even going to paint before we move in.  I have the colors all picked out.  I am sure Aaron will veto some of them because his love of turquoise is not as strong as mine is but that is okay.  Stranger things have happened....

Friday, March 1, 2013

Brain Declutter: Good things and Stupid people

*I take a lot less pictures when I am not blogging.  That is not a good thing.  Memories are slipping through my fingers with out so much as a click of my little Canon Power Shot.  Not good.  I need to work on that.  I mean I still take a ton of pictures...just not as much as before.  Maybe that is a good things...

*As of yesterday:  Jake is officially 11 1/2.  I am old and 1/2.  I am skipping my birthday this year again.  I will remain 36 until next year and then I will turn 38.  So, I am not really skipping it.  I am just skipping 37.  I dislike the number 37 even more than I disliked 35.

*After running errands the other day I stopped by Little Caesar's to pick up a $5 pizza for dinner.  The girl behind the counter meant to type in $5.40 but some how hit $.50 when she was running my debit card.  She apologized and said she would have to swipe it again for the remainder.  She reached for the calculator...Yep.  She reached for a calculator and started punching in numbers...taking much longer than it should have...So, I said, "It is $4.90."....Pause.  Doesn't even look up. No response.  Click click on the calculator some more...and then she finally swipes the card again for $4.90.  WOW....Just wow. 

*We got a microwave. :)We have a air popper but sometimes we just want the convenience of microwave popcorn.  And leftovers taste so much better warmed up.  Not to mention if it is 3:30 and I haven't even thought of taking something out of the freezer for dinner, the microwave is a life saver.  Life is good in the hood with a microwave. :)

*I am loving the new phrase I keep hearing when I watch the news: "low information voters".  That is a really nice way of saying stupid people.  People that actually believe the things that the President says when he speaks with out doing any research to find out if it is the truth or a lie.  Sequestration. 2013- Obama says it is a horrible idea and the world is yet again coming to an end as we know it today because of the Republicans. Rewind... August 2, 2011:he signed it and praised it.  But all the "low imformation voters" listen to is Obama  now.  Stupid people.  Thank you for being idiots.  Also, I, once and for all, want to say: Obama is not our first black President.  Did he get none of his DNA from his mother?!?  He is our first bi-racial president-which by the way-is still pretty monumental.  I just had to say that because it bugs me just a little bit. 

*I miss having the internet much less than I thought I would. (We are at the library) I am sure once we have it again I will love it but right now using the internet means weeding through 100+  emails a couple times a week and realizing that I am deleting probably around 92% of them....with out even opening them I know I can just delete them.  I was also completely addicted to Pinterest when I had access to it everyday...a couple times a day...Now I don't even miss it now.  That is a good thing.  Am I going to go right now and check it out?  Yes.  Will I waste tons of time pinning every other thing I see.  Not so much.  That is progress people.