Kids, Can't Live Without Them

     "There's nothing to eat in this whole house!" Always said dramatically for effect. If I only had a dollar for every time I've heard this in all my years as a mom, I would be one wealthy woman.
      And if I had a dollar for every diaper I've changed in my lifetime I could pay off the national debt, well, at least part of it.
     These are the things that as motherhood goes are universal. Just like hearing your teenage daughter complain about having nothing to wear when you can't see the carpet in her bedroom because it's buried under all the clothes she doesn't have.
     Or how about, "I can't wait until I'm eighteen and can move out of here and do whatever I want!"
     I love that one. And I can't help but laugh when I hear it. The closer they get to eighteen the more they seem to like being here, especially when they start figuring out how much rent is, and food, and cable and internet. Living for free at home starts looking pretty good.
     Kids, can't live without them, and I'm pretty sure, in my case, I won't ever get to.
     Have a great Tuesday everyone.

Happy Memorial Day

     Happy Memorial Day everyone. I know you're grateful for the day off and a chance to gather with friends and family. The bar-be-que is waiting and good times are to be had by all, but while you are preparing to live it up, lets take a minute to remember that there are those who aren't here with us today because of the sacrifice they have made. Our way of life was paid for with blood, sweat and sacrifice.
     As the centuries have passed you would think that we could find a better way to settle our differences than to make war on each other, but it doesn't seem like we're making any progress in that noble goal.
     So remember those long gone, say a prayer for them and those they left behind. And to the men and women who have paid the ultimate price I say, "You have fought the good fight, you have finished the race, you have kept the faith." Rest in peace. 
    

Big Plans!

     Here we are on the cusp of summer. What are your plans for vacation? I want to live vicariously through all of you as you go to Hawaii, and cruise to Alaska. Are you packing up the RV and traveling the country? Today's the day to shout it out.
     We are planning on heading to some of the beautiful national parks they have here in Utah and checking them out.
      What are your big plans?

Take Pride in Your Work

    I guess the economic downturn made it necessary for most printed news organizations to lay off their editors, because the news articles I read now have so many mistakes in them I sometimes have to read them two or even three times to try and figure out what they are trying to say. It's like reading something written by a child or a non-native English speaking person. Have you noticed this?
     I realize that mistakes happen, I make a lot of them, but these are people who make their living doing this. Have we gotten so busy that no one proof reads anymore? 
     I read most of my news off the internet now days and it's getting so bad I can't believe it. Next we're going to have, lol and imho inserted into news articles.
     And it's not just there that I have noticed this. I recently took an online class from another writer. The class had over one-hundred pages of notes that needed to be printed out. More often than not, the pages had errors on them. Not spelling errors, thank goodness for spell check, but sentence structure errors. I would have to read the sentences several times to understand the meaning.
     When you make your living with the written word you need to show it some respect. For a writer to send this out into the big bad world in such a state doesn't reflect well on her.
      I realize that most of us today just figure out what is trying to be said and move on, we don't have time to bemoan something so trivial, but where is the pride in a job well done? In professionalism? Are we lowering the bar for future generations to not reach the standards of our parents?
     I realize this isn't an earth shaking issue, but it bugs me. I feel better now that it is off my chest.

The Goodness of Mankind

     When disasters occur it restores my faith in humanity to see the people step forward to help in any way they can without thought of getting something back in return.
     The tornadoes in Oklahoma have been devastating, but in every news report you see the average Joe doing what needs to be done. I have seen folks digging through rubble with their bare hands. They are comforting each other in the face of total loss. People are helping their neighbors by taking in pets that have been traumatized by the storms and have no home. They are bringing in supplies where there is no power. Way to go.
     And for those who felt the need to loot homes and businesses that were damaged, all I can say is karma. It has a way of coming back to haunt you.
     Thoughts and prayers coming your way to all who have been touched by this trying time.

What's A Mother To Do?

     I know how the end of the world is going to happen! We are going to be smothered in all the paperwork that collects in our homes and no one will survive. Eons from now they will think it's some odd burial custom to fill the inside of our homes with papers and leave the bodies inside to mummify.
     Okay, maybe not, but it feels like that sometimes. I swear to you I am constantly throwing away piles of paper and yet, when I look around my house I have stacks of stuff everywhere. It doesn't help that I can't make the toss or save decision on every thing because I have adult children living here and they get tons of stuff. I set it aside and when they get a chance they go through it. It's the "when they get the chance," that drives me crazy.
     I have one son, who I will hand a stack of mail, magazines included, who will, an hour later, get up and walk away and leave all his stuff right on the couch where he was sitting. Yes, you know who you are.
     I also have to sort through bills, ads, coupons, newsletters, boy scout stuff, soccer mailings, and tons of other junk. There are times when I just don't want to have to decide whether or not I should toss or save. Talk about pressure.
    And to make matter worse, my hubby's idea of helping to pick up the family room is to pile all the junk on the desk in the kitchen. Yes, I get dirty socks, cleats, sweaty basketball jerseys, unfinished homework, candy wrappers, and all kinds of stuff balancing precariously on what is supposed to be a work surface in my kitchen. So underneath all of that is the mind-boggling stacks of paperwork.
     I don't want to do it anymore. I don't want to be the one that has to make all the tough decisions, like whether or not to throw away my son's Indian Report, even though the dog chewed it up, and have my son look at me like I am the worst mother ever. "Don't you want to keep this forever?" Sad face along with it.
     I want to say, "No, I don't want to keep it forever! It's done! It's over! Move on with your life!
     But instead I put the chewed up Indian Report on the shelf in his closet to gather dust for years until one day when he is not here and I can toss it. What's a mother to do?

Here It Comes

     Every year at this time I feel stressed, excited, and a lot of anticipation.
     The stress comes from so many activities in a short amount of time. We have soccer, baseball, basketball and the end of the year school activities. With all the practices and preparing that go with it. And then you throw in the grandkids stuff, dance recitals, their sports, which we like to watch if we get the chance, and it's a busy time.
     It's an exciting time because we are having warmer weather, and everything is blooming and it just gives off an energy all around. There are flowers and veggies to plant and places to go and things to do. It seems there is a lot of planning going on this time of year.
      Of course, the kids are having major anticipation about their summer vacation. We don't get to take long vacations due to family commitments and the hubby's job, but we try to do fun things with the kids. Movies, pool time, hiking, bar-b-ques, we've even done over-night camping trips. We look forward to staying up later and sleeping in, no homework.
      I always have this image of what it's going to be like and it never becomes a reality, but still every year at this time I think about how great summer time is going to be.
      This year is going to be very different because our elementary school is going to a year round schedule. Our youngest will only have about six weeks before he has to go back to school. This is going to change summer for us greatly. Wish me luck as we once more head into the unknown. :)

What Lies Ahead

     I have felt for the last year that I needed to add to my food storage due to the trying times we are facing. "What trying times are those?" you ask. I wish I could give you a good answer besides, "I just have this sinking feeling the the recession of 2008 wasn't the last we've heard of financial crisis."
     How can our government operate under such straining debt without there being some kind of tipping point? All of us know you can't spend more than you earn without there being serious repercussions, but apparently the politicians live in a different world.
     I wish we could all live in that world where we can have everything we want with someone else paying the bills, but unfortunately we don't, and I think they are going to be surprised when the house of cards comes tumbling down.
     Many are saying we are going to have a huge spike in inflation and that scares me. It's already hard enough to make ends meet for most of us these days. If food, gas, utilities and other daily expenses goes up 50, 75, or 100% what then.
     I don't know, but I do know that I don't want my family to go hungry, so for now, little by little, I will keep trying to stock the pantry with more and more.

Mental-Mutants

     Today's topic is serious and stomach-turning, just to warn you.
     I am so sick of reading and hearing about young moms who leave their babies with boyfriends (who aren't the baby-daddy) only to have the beast beat the child. It seems this usually happens when the mom goes off to work and the beast is sitting on the couch watching tv or gaming. I can't stand it anymore. I want these people to get more than jail. Jail is too good for them.
     And it really irritates me that the moms get off because they weren't there. I don't believe for a minute that the guy just went off and there were no signs of abuse or neglect before hand. You can't hide that kind of evil for long.
    Wake up mother's! It's your job to protect your kids. Don't leave them with someone you aren't 100% sure will love them and take care of them kindly. What is wrong with these people? The mental-mutants seem to be everywhere. You can't pick up a newspaper or look at MSN news without seeing headlines about abused kids. It makes me so angry. Where were the grandparents? Where were the neighbors? Where was CPS? And how many times have we heard that the kids were taken away only to be given back? What is up with that? There are times in life when you shouldn't get a second chance.
    

Lawn-Mowing Season and Snow-Shoveling Season

     I have decided that there really are only two seasons here in Utah, despite the all the talk about there being four of them. There's snow-shoveling season and lawn-mowing season. We just ended one and now it's time to start the other.
     I bought a bunch of strawberry plants and six tomato plants that I've needed to get in the ground for two weeks now and it hasn't happened (which is a good thing since we had a hard freeze warning) and now the hubs wants to go and buy a bunch of flowers to plant in the yard. I'm not too excited about that. I'm tired just thinking about it.
     And you know what is going through my head right now? Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

I Know We Are Weird But...

     Did you hear the rain last night? Did you? It was wonderful, beautiful, perfect and all the other words like that. I love rain. I love snow. I love weather. I know my kids, the ones who actually read this blog, will be rolling their eyes at that. They like to make fun of me because I'm weird.
     Of course, they make fun of me a lot because that's what a family does. And that's okay, we accept each others weirdness, we embrace each others weirdness. For instance we had a whole family discussion on whether you bunch, or roll, or fold your TP while you are preparing to...you know. We had people demonstrating their technique and trying to convince each other of the superior benefits of their way.
    I don't think anyone was convinced to change their ways but a good time was had by all.
    There is one thing the whole family agrees on, we always have and we always will, the toilet paper hangs over the roll. The is in cement. It's in our DNA forever and ever, Amen. 
     

Crusty Sock Duty

     As a mother, there are things you do that you just would not do unless you truly loved your children as much as you do. Things like cleaning up their vomit, changing diapers that make you gag, wiping the snotty green and gooey nose for days at a time when they have a cold.
     Luckily, I have passed these stages and my kids can pretty much take care of themselves at least physically.
     For my younger two boys I still do their laundry however, and that is a problem. You see my boys are twelve and nine and they are in the midst of the stinky sock stage. EEEWWWWEEE! 
     I come across these disgusting socks as I am loading the washing machine. They are little balls of crusty sweat and bacteria. That is NOT a good combination, I assure you. I have to confess that there have been times when I just couldn't bring myself to unball the sock and I have washed them as they were. The problem with that is they come out of the dryer just as gross as they went in. So most of the time I cowboy up and unroll them. (This is where the love and devotion come in. If I didn't love them this much, I wouldn't touch something akin to roadkill.)
     Apparently our dog loves the boys too, because he likes to take their socks and roll around on them, nap on them and collect them, but that is another blog altogether. Have a great day everyone.
    

We Rock!

     It has been one week since my daughter got the keys to her new house. In that week we have scrubbed every wall. We have painted and repainted. New appliances have been delivered. New carpet has been installed. New drawers in the kitchen have been ordered and should be here in two weeks. (They took all the kitchen drawers.) I guess actually emptying them into a box was too much for them. And though we still have a few things to touch up and a broken window to repair we are on the downhill slide.
     Now we just have to do the actual moving in. We are all beyond tired and looking forward to the finish line, but we won't be happy until we are done and can survey a job well done.
     I have discovered how much our family can do when we work together and how well we work together. Try to imagine this, we have had six of us doing most of the work. Between them, five of them have children eight and under. I still have three kids that are underage, so that makes eleven kids. We have ten different sports being played, one in pre-school, a kindergartener, four of them are two and under, dance class and a job.
     Trying to juggle all of the logistics and doing the work was an example of multi-tasking that would make NASA proud.
     Still we have persevered and we are almost there. It's a wonder what one family can do when they are there for each other. We rock, if I do say so myself. 

The Eternal Search for Something to Eat for Dinner

     My mom went back to work when I was thirteen. I would get out of school, walk by the elementary school, pick up my little sisters and we'd walk home together. I would get them a snack and make sure they started their homework. Later on I would start whatever dinner my mom left out for the family. By the time she got home it was usually close to done. Because of this I feel like I have been making dinner all of my life.
      Perhaps this is why, at times, I am sick of my own cooking and need to find new recipes to add some variety to my culinary life. When I find a good one and it's quick and easy I feel like I have hit the lottery.       
     Lately I have been lucky and have found several new recipes to add to the rotation. Oh, we still save nights every month for the favorites like tacos, and steak, but Chili Verde and Tortellini Soup are now going to be regulars.
     Cooking for sixteen people every night pretty much insures that someone won't like something. I have one that's pretty much a vegetarian. Another one who takes two bites and then won't eat any more. One with stomach issues. Another who won't eat anything that isn't coated with sugar. And there is always someone on a  diet. When I find a meal that the majority enjoy, it's a keeper.