The post about nothing...

I’ve been up since 3:30am and what do I do?  Read blogs all morning and now that the sun is shining its beautiful face; I’m kicking myself in the butt.  I was so not productive.  Not that reading blogs isn’t productive.  I learn a lot and the people are awesome.
  
I’m a bit behind on my challenge.  Challenge, what challenge?  A 21 day organizing challenge because this house has too much stuff!  But I don’t have the energy for that right now.  Speaking of challenges, I never posted about my 90 day challenge from last year.  Want to know why?  I haven’t started it yet.  Procrastinator.  I know, judge if you will. 

Wait, I’m a bit behind on everything.  This week has been a big blur.  The Mister has been off since Tuesday and to be honest, his presence is messing up my rotation.  What a bittersweet feeling I have when he has unexpected days off.  I love it because he’s home and the Radicals are super stoked but at the same time, I can’t stand it.  My day week has been totally thrown off.  All of a sudden I have no motivation to do what needs to be done.  Or when I do have the motivation, he has other plans that so do not go well with my plan.  I don’t know how to describe what I’m feeling.  I’m sure I’m just yapping away right now but I can’t help it.  I feel blank; like all the “plans” I had for this week went out the window.  And when I try to think of what those “plans” were, I got nada.  Seriously, when my days are thrown off, my mind turns to mush. 

I’ve been practicing the “my cup is half full” approach and I can kind of see the change.  Anyway, where was I going with this?  Oh yes, since The Mister has been home all week, he’s been outside working on his boat and of course the Radicals want to follow.  And right now I feel they are not old enough to be out there unattended so it is my duty to “play” outside with them.  Ugh.  This week is a busy “work” week and amongst all the other things that need to be done, my plan for playing outside was supposed to be slim. 

Anyway, haha!  What was my point?  See, I’m so scatter-brained that I keep rambling off…where was I?  Think Jenn…oh, no little time for playing outside and a mushy mind.  So since we’ve been in the yard all week I was thinking that I could work after the Radicals went to bed but that never happened.  This is the time I wish I had a laptop so I could take my work outside with me.  Note to self: need laptop asap.  And as for my mushy mind, I tend to have my “oh, I remember what I was supposed to do!” moment when I’m outside and by the time I get inside the house, I forget again.  I know I’m so lame but it happens.  Don’t’ hate me for it.  Can I still use “I have mommy brain” as an excuse? 

Back to this morning, I’ve been awake since 3:30am.  The Radicals kept getting up and after the millionth time I figured I would just stay up.  Before y’all think I’m nuts, I have good reasons: 1) I was getting more tired because every time I would drift back into lala land, one of them would get up and that was just kill fight already.  But of course, as soon as I’m wide awake, nobody decides to get up.  Typical.  And 2) I thought it would be a grand idea to get as much work in before the Radicals got up because once again, the Mister has a day off and we’ll be outside all day long.  I still need to do laundry and pack because we are going home-home for the weekend!  Can I get a woo-hoo?!  But I’m not ready and to my mother (if you’re reading this which I’m sure you’re probably not because you’re too busy working),  my work is not complete, therefore you will not be receiving it when I get home.

Whew, I needed to get that off of my chest.  Sometimes I feel that if I let it out, I can move forward with a fresh view.

That was my vent session for today the week.  Oh, did I tell you that I picked up some Lilikoi butter at the farmer’s market last week?  If I ruled the world, I would eat that and only that for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  On toast of course.  Y’all didn’t think I would just eat spoon-fulls of butter did you?



Have a happy day after hump day!!

jenn

OCD: Socks

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Every time I fold or match socks, I think of my dear ‘ol friend Roch.  This girl has the weirdest thing about socks.

We talk every weekend in the wee hours of the morning to catch up on life and one morning she was complaining about attacking her two baskets of socks.  “I don’t understand” I said to her.  And she’s all “well, I just don’t have the energy to do these socks.”  And I’m all “I still don’t understand, please enlighten me.”

Turns out she really does have OCD when it comes to socks.  First, she lets them sit in the basket because she cringes while thinking of them.  Then, she has to mentally prepare herself and find the motivation to grab the basket and tackle the job.  If she comes across a dingy sock, she needs to go through every.single.sock in the darn basket to find the sock that has the exact same dinginess.  Is that possible?  Can two socks that go on different feet have the exact same marks or dinginess?  I mean, I can see if socks get worn out but she really takes it a step further.  She lines up all the socks on her bed and goes through every one to make sure they match have the same marks.  Really?  OMG, I almost fell out of my chair dying of laughter when she told me this.  “You gotta be shit-ing me!” I said to her.  And she’s all “No, I’m serious!” 

I couldn’t believe it.  Props to her for having patience with socks!  So, every time I fold socks I can’t help but to think of her.  And although I’m not as anal as her, I find myself double checking the dinginess.  Thanks Roch!  She cracks me up!

Happy Monday!

jenn

It's the little things...

Happy Friday, Lovelies!  I was going to link up with Lindsay today to share the little things that made me smile this week but I’m having technical linking issues.  So I’ll post it anyway until I figure it out.

The ocean is The Mister’s playground.  He’s always fishing or diving.  I’m pretty sure if he had it his way, he’d live in the ocean.  He went lobster diving last night and it made me smile when I heard the excitement in his voice about his biggest catch to date.  Did I mention that it was 2am and he just had to wake me up to tell me?

I can’t get over the size of this one!  Why go to Red Lobster when y’all can come to my house?!  BYOB though…haha!

This little piece of paper will get me a 24 pack of toilet paper for $1.99!  Or maybe it’s 12; either way $1.99 is a deal!

We got this tree about a year ago and lookie what decided to make an appearance.  I didn’t expect to get anything since it was a baby tree but I was absolutely amazed at how full the flower was.

What made you smile this week? 

Hooray for Fridays!

jenn

Lately...



Don’t mind my hideous pink carpet.  It was the trend back in the day ‘cause our house is not the only one with pink carpet!





yes, those big red boxes are my Christmas tree and décor.  I’m having a hard time putting them away.  If I ruled the world, I’d never take my decorations down.


This has been life in our household.  It has been chaos.  I don’t normally let it come to this but lately I’ve been shrugging it off.  That’s life and sometimes I need to let it go.  I look at this and think to myself how this needs to be cleaned pronto but lately I’d rather spend time with the radicals. 

Hearing “mom, can we read a book?” or “mom, come build a castle with us!” or “mom, can you troll my mote?”  Which translates to “mom, can you find my remote?” warms my heart.  Time has been going by so fast that I want to cherish these moments turning the “trolling his mote” into some kind of adventure.  I want to be present, mentally, as my little radicals are growing up.  I’ve wasted so much time in the past worrying about my to-do lists and planning ahead that I forgot to live in the moment.

Other than letting the mess go and spending some QT with the radicals, I’ve been working.  I have the pleasure of being a SAHM and working from home. 

It’s an eye-sore isn’t it?!  I know I need to get organized and I do have a hard time working in these conditions but for now, it’ll have to do. 

Oh and laundry, it never ends.  Although they still need to be folded and put away, at least they’re clean right?



Yep, that would be crayon on the wall behind him…


As long as the laundry is clean, my radicals are fed and bathed, and my attention is all theirs, everything else can wait for now. 

Life is good.

jenn

Am I doomed?

To be the only person on this Earth who will not get married?  It was never an issue before and if I remember correctly, I would always say that I’d never get married.  When people would ask me why, I’d be a smart-ass and say “because I like having one foot out the door”.  Well Jenn, now you can take that foot and eat it!  Great, I put myself in this position huh? 

Its funny how in 5 months, my thinking changed.  In my very first post I said I was fine with the whole boyfriend/girlfriend thing but in all honesty, I don’t feel that way anymore.  Now that I’ve/we’ve grown I have a change of heart and it’s something that’s constantly on my mind. 

All sorts of unpleasant things run through my mind when he says we don’t need to get married.  Questions like “am I not the person for him?” or “does he have plans on leaving me for a younger, beautiful female?” or “what am I doing wrong?” 

He tells me I’m crazy, to stop thinking that way, and that people get married only to get divorced.  What?  That doesn’t even make sense. He goes on and on about all these couples (friends of ours) who get married then divorced.  He has a whole list of couples and when I think of another couple he’s all “they’re having problems and are about to get divorced.”  Always an answer for everything huh?

He says marriage only ruins things and why fix something (our relationship) when it’s not broken?  That doesn’t make sense either.  He thinks that I’ll leave him once we get married.  Wait a minute, I’m the one who wants to get married and when it finally happens, I’m going to leave you?  Okay, that totally does not make sense. 

He says people in the relationship change when they’re married.  Like how?  An alien will take over my body once we tie the knot?  We’re coming up on being together for 8 years.  8 years.  I think after 8 years I’d have a hard time changing.  We’ve been to the doors of hell and back.  What could possibly come our way that we couldn’t overcome?  I’ve given my all, my whole heart, I’ve put up with crap that most people would walk away from, I know that a relationship is a two-way street.  I feel like I’ve proved myself to handle whatever bumps we encounter.  I don’t know.  Maybe we need to actually go into hell. 

Another thing he says is “we’re common law already and marriage is just a piece of paper.”  I don’t do common law.  I don’t like it when people call him my husband because it’s “common law”.  I don’t like it when my parents introduce him as their “son in-law”.  Don’t call him something he’s not.  It’s just another one of my weird things. 

Oh, I give up.  I’m done talking about this subject.  I don’t want to force him into it; what fun would that be?  It is what it is and I’ll have to accept it. 

The End.

jenn

PS.  Even though I’m done talking about this, feedback from you married folk would be nice.  You know, just to broaden my horizon.  I feel that I may be looking at this the wrong way.  Thank you.

Is there something in the air?

Don’t let this picture fool you…

Because they have not been so cute lately.  It seems like they are becoming more and more rotten as the days go on.  Lately, taking them out in public has been difficult.  I don’t know where this came from.  They were fine before but now, I dread it. This is all new to me and dealing with their attitude is the pits. 

They are total beeshes!

Since when did they think they can get something every time we go to the store?  And since when did they think that they can start whining and screaming when they don’t get something?  This is what’s been happening lately and when this shiz goes down, I start to have hot flashes and all I want to do is beat spank them.  But we are in public and some people around me feel the need to look at me in disbelief and shake their head.  It’s one of those “damn if you do, damn if you don’t” kind of things.  You scold/spank them and people do the head shaking or say “they’re just kids!” or if you don’t do any form of discipline then you get the looks like “control your kids!” 

But I find that spanking them only makes it worse so instead of spanking them I will tell them, in my firmest tone possible, that we are here to get only the things we need and the way they are acting is inappropriate behavior.  Then I make a mad dash for the items I need and we are rapidly out of there.  I’m finding that this approach is slowly working and the whines and screaming are stopping faster.

I hope this is just a phase and it will go away pronto because this new form that they both took on is wigging me out.  Any other mamas out there have or had the same issue?  Is this normal for a 2 and 3 year old?  Or, is it the store’s air that makes them transform into something of a different kind (haha!)

jenn

Manners...ever heard of them?

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Or maybe it’s called common courtesy?  I don’t know but either way, some people need to learn it.  I’ve never came across so much people who don’t have manners or, um, common courtesy.  I’m not sure if y’all are going to agree with me.  This is just my opinion and feelings.

When I go into a store or an office and there’s someone walking in behind me or coming out, I hold the door open.  That’s just how I was raised.  That’s what I know.  But I’ve been seeing less of this and I’ve had one too many doors in my face that I want to scream. And most of these people are males! I mean, seriously?!  Did you not see me right behind you?  Oh no, I know you saw me because you looked back at me while walking in.  Would holding the door take up that much of your time?  I mean, we’re talking a millisecond.  Whatever.  Thanks a lot!

Or, another situation is when I’m coming out and the person (again, most times a male) coming in thinks I’m holding the door open for them.  Try let me get out of the door first and then I’ll be glad to hold the door open for you.  Or when I do hold the door open, the person either looks at me like I’m strange (ever heard of the phrase ‘thank you’?) or walks out like they’re the king or queen of Hawaii.  Like holding the door open for them is my job and I should be honored to be in their presence.  Pssht!  I’ll be happy to slam this door in yo’ face and knock some sense back into you because you are so not the king or queen of Hawaii!  Okay sorry, I wouldn’t say that but sometimes I think it. 

It’s just that this really bothers me.  I know I need to get over it. But before I get over it, here’s another example: Just the other day I was coming out of the doctor’s office with my radicals in tow when there was a couple coming in.  I could’ve been rude and acted like I didn’t see them so they had to move but I’m not rude like that.  So we move to the side and wait.  They can see us. His wife walks in.  He walks in.  The door closes and he looks back at me and then looks at the door.  I shit you not.  Again, seriously?!  I’m not saying that I need special treatment because I have kids.  But when I see someone with their hands full (of whatever it may be), I’m quick to hold the door open for them.   

It’s come to a point where I think I need anger management for this.  And you better believe that when my radicals get older and I see them do sh*t like that, they’ll get a slap in the head. Damn straight.  Or maybe I should take another look at my goals and practice some ‘patience’.  Does anyone else agree on the holding the door open thing?  Or do you disagree?  Feel free to share your take on it because I think I’m going nuts!

Until then,

jenn

Christmas Run-Down.

I know, I know.  Christmas was sooo last year but I need to post this because this past Christmas was…well, special.  Don’t get me wrong, every Christmas is special but this past one was extra special.  It was the first year that my little family and I celebrated at ‘home’, by ourselves. 

In the past we would go home-home; to my hometown to spend it with my parents and brothers.  But this year was different. 

The mister’s brother and SIL and their kiddos were supposed to come but things happened and they didn’t come.  Although I was kind of sad, I told myself all would be okay because even though we’re not going home-home, this would be our first Christmas with just ‘us’.  Cheers to new memories and traditions! 

It was so peaceful and awesome to not have to load up all our crap and make the 3 hour drive.  It was awesome to wake up in my own bed.  It was so awesome to have the radicals open up their presents in our own living room.  So awesome to be ‘home’ and not have to stress about anything.

Besides that, it was the first year making Christmas dinner by myself.  The first year making my own turkey.  I was so overwhelmed with paranoia it took me forever to get started.  I was mostly overwhelmed with the thought of giving everyone food poisoning.  When I first started my dad was all “don’t forget to take the bag and neck bone (I’m not sure if that’s what he called it…) out and boil all the contents in the bag and the neck (?) for a few hours in a separate pot.” 

Okay, sounds easy enough.  I go to reach in the turkey and no bag.  I tell the mister about the supposed bag and he’s all “well maybe his turkey is different and ours doesn’t have a bag?”  Fine.  Enough with searching for the bag.  I proceed to make the stuffing and start to stuff the turkey.  I’m thinking to myself how much of a good job I’m doing as I’m still stuffing away.  I’m almost done stuffing when I remembered that dad said I could stuff the front of the bird. 

Low and behold, what do I find?  The darn bag!  I took a big sigh of relief and thanked God that I found it because the turkey would have been totally ruined! 

So, that was my first turkey making experience and it was quite fun despite my paranoia.  Now I can see why my dad is so over making holiday dinners; I was in the kitchen all.day.long!  But, the turkey was delish and no one got food poisoning!  I was so excited that I called my dad and told him I was the best turkey maker ever.  His response: “GREAT!  Now it’s all you for Thanksgiving next year!” 

I would like to show a picture of my beloved turkey but I totally forgot to take some.  I have a before it went in the oven shot but I don’t want to gross you out with a picture of a raw turkey.  But here are some pictures of the radicals’ present they got from their Ama and Papa.

Happy Friday!

jenn

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, friends!  I hope y’all had an awesome holiday with family and friends.  I know I’m late with this post but I brought in the New Year with vomit and diarrhea (sorry for being gross).  My poor family were sick as dogs and I barely got any sleep because I was paranoid that the radicals would choke on their own vomit (sorry again).  Anyway, it’s the weirdest thing because they got better but now it’s back to the same thing.  To the doc we go…

But first I just want to say that 2011 was a great year for my little family and me.  Here’s a little rundown on some of the things that happened:

` I survived 2011 Merrie Monarch week!  Can I get a woo-hoo?!

` Radical #1 turned 3 and radical #2 turned 2 (yikes!)

` The mister and I celebrated 7 years together

` We took our first family trip (even if it was only to kona)

` The doors of communication has been opened (this is huge)

` Radical #1 lost his front tooth

` Radical #1 landed in the ER

` We re-did our kitchen (another huge one)

` We survived financially

` I started a blog

` I did my very first blogger swap

` I went back to school

` I’ve found myself and I’m continuing to grow

` Radical #1 was finally potty-trained

` I made my very first holiday meal/turkey for Christmas

Although no big things happened in 2011 I’m still thankful and blessed that we’ve grown (together and individually) and we’ll continue to grow and make new memories. 

I’m not too big on ‘resolutions’; I think the word is so intimidating.  Instead of ‘resolutions’ I’ll just call them goals.  Some of my goals for 2012…

` Patience.  I seriously need to have more patience.  I bother myself that I get “bent out of shape” over things (small and big).

` Get out there and make some friends.  I have friends.  We just don’t live in the same town.  I’ve lived here for 7 years now and I still haven’t made friends.  Okay wait, I’ve made friends with the mister’s friend’s girlfriends but it’s not like we talk to each other or hang out.  To be honest, I’m a bit intimidated by the people here but this year I’m going to get out of my comfort zone.

` Do more with the radicals.  Get them out, take them on adventures, read more, do more projects and activities.  Right now I do just enough and I feel like a terrible mom but this year that’ll change.

` Time management.  I’m horrible with time management.  Horrible.  It’s like I’m living in a fantasy land that has 48 hour days when in reality it’s only 24.  Yes, I get that.  With being a SAHM, school, and work this goal is a must.  This should have been at the top of the list…

` Let it go!  I’m a control freak and when things don’t go my way or happen the way I planned, I get “bent out of shape”.  I guess this and patience go hand in hand?  I also need to remember that it’s okay to let the laundry and dishes go sometimes.

That’s about it.  Not too big of a list and I think it’s do-able.  I can’t wait to see what 2012 has in store for us!  Wishing everyone a year full of love and happiness!

Peace out!

jenn