Owner: LaLaGirl - Twinfinite Chaos URL:http://lalagirl.org Join Date: Fri, 30 Mar 2007 16:29:54 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: I'm a stay-at-home mommy of five kids - a teenager, and 2 sets of preschool-age twins. (Eeek!) Life is crazy, but we love it. Site statistics:Click here
Dear Sister. 2007-04-20 22:43:04 Mom called yesterday, asking me if I’d heard from you. I’m not sure what’s wrong with her phone, but evidently she bought the model that doesn’t call Oklahoma, so I guess that’s why she called ME instead of you. She said she and dad really enjoyed the time they spent with you while you were at their place, and now she’s thinking about you more than ever, hoping everything’s going okay and that you and the mister are doing all right and that your “other” family isn’t running you ragged. And since I am apparently the mom/Kim interpreter, I thought I’d pass that message along.
Have a super weekend!
Love,
Lolly
P.S. I miss you!!
Interesting business opportunity. 2007-04-20 21:43:39 I know I’ve mentioned before how many interesting new franchise opportunities I’ve come across lately. I saw so many entrepreneurs at that home and garden show we went to a month or so ago, I keep thinking about what it would be like to start a business. (Actually? I don’t think it’s feasible at this point in our lives. We barely have time to take care of five kids and shower every day. But something to think about for the future.) I chatted with a guy at that show who started a painting business - he just bought into a franchise; said he was tired of the corporate world and ready to try something different. I think that’s pretty cool!
I just came across another cool opportunity I never would have thought about: airbrush tattoos. Have you seen those booths at street fairs and all that? This is what that is - you buy the setup, which includes the equipment and signage and promotional stuff, and then just find people who want ink sprayed onto their bodies,
So. Tired. 2007-04-20 21:30:09 I don’t know what the deal is with Lexi, but lately she’s been waking up every night - like, 2 to 3 times - crying because she’s either out of water or she wants to be covered up. It’s driving me crazy! I hate her to go thirsty, and it worries me when she’s crying because she’s so thirsty, so I always quickly fetch her a refill for her sippy cup. I think she’s got me trained now, like one of her staff. And it bugs me that she can’t just pull up her OWN blanket! Jeez, what is she, two? Oh, yeah. She is two.
So I’ve had bizarre dreams the past couple of nights, because you know how you end up sleeping not-so-restfully when you keep getting awakened, and it carries over into your dreams? I thought I’d sleep great last night, since I had two big margaritas and all, but I went to bed with a headache, worried about going to court today, and worried for Paul taking his exam today, and worried that we’d all oversleep and the wo
What’s my name again? 2007-04-20 21:19:22 Some friends of mine were talking about wedding rings the other day. If you’re married, does your husband wear his wedding ring? I know it’s a huge big deal for some couples, and doesn’t matter much at all to other couples. We’re more of the “doesn’t really matter” variety. Paul is not into wearing jewelry at all, and he really didn’t like having a ring on his hand. I made sure to take lots of pictures in the days after our wedding so that I’d have a few snapshots showing Paul in his wedding ring, because I just knew he’d be ditching it soon after, and he did! I know a lot of women would be really bothered by that, but I honestly don’t care. I’m not going to force him to wear something he’s not comfortable in. And who knows, maybe one day he’ll get used to it and find a ring he really loves or something, and he’ll be into it then.
My father-in-law is a different story altogether. He wears his wed
Eeeeek! 2007-04-20 15:17:37 In half an hour, Christy and Erin are coming over to watch my kids for me (yay!!) so I can go to court to fight my ticket. I’m so scared! I feel like such a hardened criminal! Paul keeps quizzing me on what I’m going to say. I hope it goes okay. I’ll let you know.
Last night, I met them, along with four of our other friends, for dinner and margaritas and it was so much fun! It’d been forever since I’d been out with girlfriends. We ditched coffee night this time in favor of drinking. Hehe!
P.S. Think happy thoughts for Paul as he takes the PE exam today!
Money and family. 2007-04-20 15:15:17 Last night at dinner, one of my girlfriends was telling us about her husband’s side of the family, and how different they all are from her family. She mentioned that they will all just show up without calling, or expect her to welcome with open arms strangers (like friends of her parents) into her home to spend the night. We were giggling about people who stop by without calling - I just think it’s so weird and crazy, in this day where everyone and their dog has a cell phone. Call first! Call while you’re on your way, at least, so I can put on a bra! Hehe!
She was also mentioning how bizarre it is to her that her husband’s parents give her husband’s siblings money all the time. She said they established a rule early on in their marriage that they just don’t lend money to family and put the word out, so people wouldn’t hit them up. Again, that is just bizarre to me, when people use their families as a bank. I can totally see doing it in an emerg Read more:Money
Annoying! 2007-04-20 00:01:42 I have a feeling the administration at Pablo’s school is beginning to see me as one of those parents. I already made a stink over there several times when we had three feet of snow on the ground. The grounds crew couldn’t be bothered to cut out any openings from the street to the sidewalk, so even though the sidewalks were clear, you couldn’t get to them because there were walls of snow lining the sidewalks. I didn’t feel like it was all that safe for me to walk through the street, trying to hang onto my autistic son, while distracted parents dropped their kids off drive six inches away from us, so I brought it up to the school. Several times. And then took pictures, had them printed, and talked to the groundskeeper. Finally, about a week before the snow melted, they chipped out a couple of areas for us to step up on the sidewalk from the street. I got sick of waiting around for them to do anything about it, though, and I just started parking in the bus lane. I& Read more:Annoying
Free is always good! 2007-04-19 20:40:19 I think I mentioned the other day how we used a free antivirus program instead of one of the bigger names. We’re cheap like that! If I can find something that works well and I don’t have to part with my hard earned cash, well, I’m all over it. And actually, it looks like Google is now pushing Norton as a free Antivirus with the Googlepack, and you can also download it from this freebie site: FreeAntivirusInfo.com. You can also find free samples there. I guess all this stuff is already out there for the taking, but it’s nice to stumble across a place that has it all organized for you and presented all nice and neat!
Read more:always
Stupid wind! 2007-04-18 19:26:17 I’m so annoyed - we had this crazy 50mph wind out here a yesterday, and I didn’t realize I had left one of the windows open just a crack. Now, my pretty white faux wood window blinds are completely caked with gritty, gray dirt. I’m having trouble figuring out how to get them clean, because it doesn’t want to just come off with a light dusting or blowing of air, and I’m afraid if I try to clean it with a moist cloth or something, it’s going to moosh the dirt into the wood grain grooves and completely stain it.
How DO you clean faux wood blinds, anyway? I mean, they’re not WOOD wood, so you can get them wet a little bit, right? Aren’t they basically just…fancy plastic? I’m going to try vacuuming them with the brush tool on my vacuum, and then see where I need to go from there.
Read more:Stupid
Wake up!! 2007-04-18 06:16:30 I keep thinking I need to look into some kind of Energy Supplement to help me get through my days. Actually, I’m thinking, why didn’t I think about that about three-and-a-half years ago when my big twins were born? Or two years ago when my little twins were born? Or anytime in between? I have no idea.
I was actually thinking more along the lines of vitamins, but now I’m seeing that you can buy supplements that are basically, like, drinking a Red Bull except without the buzz that goes along with it. Oh, wait, you mean you’re just supposed to DRINK the Red Bull and not mix it with Jagermeister? My bad.
Maybe I should just stick with coffee for now?
Stolen content. 2007-04-21 22:37:44 Actually, not the content, just the concept. I was checking out my favorite Misty’s Saturday Sundries post and thought, what a good idea. I should do that every week. Not that I’m a stranger to the bulleted list style of posting, as I’m sure you know! I’m just inspired by her cutesy name and graphic for it. She always has cutesy little relevant graphics for the stuff she posts! I want to be all creative like that. Anyway. Here goes.
- I was watching Medium the other night, and Joe mentioned to someone that he and Allison had been married 14 years. And I was thinking, fourteen years, damn! That’s a long time. You see people with teens or preteens and think, wow, they’ve been together a long time. Fourteen years! I hope when Paul and I have been married for fourteen years, we’re still all in love with each other and joke around all the time and actually enjoy spending time together. So then it occurred to me, after thinking about all that stuff,
Save some money, honey. 2007-04-21 16:58:39 Do you notice that you always see the best sales on stuff when you don’t have money to spend?? Isn’t that annoying? It seems like everywhere I go lately, everyone’s having some big spring blowout sale. When my sister and brother were here, we went over to Penney’s with my mom so we could use her discount. My sister bought an outfit for my nephew’s birthday, which was on Easter. My brother bought new jeans, shirts, shoes…lots of stuff he said he couldn’t find at those prices up in Gillette. And I got…NOTHING! Not even a pair of cute socks. Wahhhh.
And it’s not just in the “real” stores, it’s online too! I was checking out MyCoupons.com and found 20% off at Old Navy, 25% off at JC Penney, and $10 off a $30 order at Children’s Place. They sure make it easy to want to spend money I don’t have! This site has five pages of coupon codes for all kinds of different places - not just obscure sites I’ve ne Read more:honey
Music Tuesday. 2007-04-24 08:39:50
I forgot to post a song yesterday for Music
Monday, so I decided to tie it in with my 7-YEAR BLOGGING ANNIVERSARY, which happens to be TODAY. Yes, I started blogging, way back on what became lalablog.com, on April 24, 2000. I’m almost glad those blog entries are no longer online - I was reading through some of them on my hard drive a month or two ago, and holy crap! Some of them were so depressing, I’m surprised I never inspired anyone to write bad poetry.
Yay for better days, better husbands, and a better outlook altogether. And here’s a song for you!
Sprites - I Started A Blog Nobody Read.mp3
Right click and save, pretty please!
Read more:Tuesday
Eric Schiffer - the next Bronson? 2007-04-24 07:10:45 I think I mentioned earlier today that my computer was being wonky and I had to run that disk cleanup utility thingy during the kids’ naptime, right? It threw off my whole vibe! So instead of sitting here, wasting time, I was downstairs on the sofa, wasting time channel surfing. Man, daytime TV sucks! But you know what you can always watch on boring days? Cheesy old movies on cable! I actually love those movies from the 60s and 70s, particularly the old Spaghetti Westerns with Clint Eastwood and the funky movies like Coffy and Foxy Brown where Pam Grier got her start. My absolute favorites, though, are the crazy shoot-em-up cop movies, like the ones with Charles Bronson
.
I know most of you know I grew up in LaJunta, Colorado - just ten miles down the road from Rocky Ford, Colorado, Watermelon and Cantaloupe Capital of the World! Charles Bronson did this crazy movie in the 70s called “Mr. Majestik” about a melon farmer turned vigilante - every time that movie came on Read more:Schiffer
Must see TV. 2007-04-24 06:58:47 Well, did you watch it?? I’m talking about HEROES, of course! We’ve only been waiting a month and a half for it to come back on! What a super episode it was! Sort of annoying though, because you know how this series goes: they wrapped up a whole bunch of crazy stuff tonight, and for the next two episodes they’ll drag things out forever. Oooh, and I was SO happy when Peter bitchslapped Silar! HATE that guy!
And did you watch that new show Wedding Crashers? I thought it was so funny! Cruel, but funny. I actually felt really sorry for some of the people they were pranking, particularly the guy who was made to think he ruined the wedding gown. I think that guy had to actually spend a whole day or two agonizing over it and feeling horrible guilt! All in good fun, though, right? And I loved the guy hitting on the old grandma! She seemed into it, too!
Paul pointed out that it’s the kind of show that can only last one season, though - in the future, whenever things go w
Credit Cards. 2007-04-24 06:52:49 I picked up the mail this morning for the first time since Thursday, and my mailbox was so stuffed! I got three magazines (whee! Love the end of the month!) and Paul and I both got credit card balance transfer offers. I never even open those. Paul comes home and looks through the mail and takes all of that stuff. I don’t handle any of it, and I actually really like it that way! I always hated having to deal with paying bills and double checking the bank statement and all that. Luckily for me, Mr. Anal Enginerd Husband couldn’t live with the idea of anyone but him handling the finances, so it all works out hunky dory.
You know what I just realized, though? I had no idea how many different types of credit cards are out there! Paul and I use one main card all the time because it earns reward points - that’s actually how I visited Colleen last summer - cashed in my points for airfare! I was just checking out this neatly compiled list of the Best Credit Cards
out there. W Read more:Credit Cards
::pulls hair out; runs around screaming:: 2007-04-23 22:59:26 My kids are driving me insane. IN. SANE. Thank GOD they’re all “napping” right now. Why is that in quotes? Because two of them are napping, and two of them are jumping up and down in their beds, having a screaming
contest. Y’know, just for the hell of it. And prior to naptime, we had twenty minutes of playing in the backyard, with about fifteen minutes of bickering over the Little Tikes cars and the swings. Children, please! You’re driving mommy to drink!! It’s only MONDAY, FFS. We can’t be having this sort of exasperating behavior until at LEAST Thursday.
I’m all thrown off anyway, because my computer’s acting wonky, and I had to sit down at Paul’s computer instead - without all my stored passwords and bookmarks; gahhh! I need to get up and run around and get some stuff done. My children may be insane little hellions, but at least we’ll be living in a clean house.
Web content, fresh and hot! 2007-04-23 22:45:02 Hey, guess what? Tomorrow is my blogging anniversary. I started blogging on April 24, 2000. Yep! SEVEN years ago. Isn’t that crazy? The face of blogging has changed so much over the years, too. Back in the day, you didn’t hear about “Mommy Bloggers.” People were just, y’know…bloggers. There weren’t really a whole lot of niche blogs around then, either - most blogs were basically of an assortment of links and anecdotes and pictures and personal ramblings - the only thing making each one unique was the author’s personal flair. And no one ever even thought about using their blog to make money via sponsored content! Boy, times have sure changed, huh?
Now I keep hearing about seo article services, which provide legitimate, relevant content for sites, including niche blogs, to up their search engine rankings. Although it’s considered an unethical practice, plenty of site owners place useless content on their sites - full of the right ke Read more:fresh
, Web content
Monday, Monday. 2007-04-23 20:12:29 I was just chatting with the dad of the other speech therapy pupil Mallory has class with on Monday
s - he was asking me if I planned to put Mallory anywhere for the summer. For her speech therapy needs, I guess. I told him I hadn’t really considered it, but I was more worried about Pablo being off for the summer than Mallory - in my opinion, she really doesn’t need to be in speech therapy, but she enjoys going to “school” so much that I don’t mind taking her at all. I can’t believe these kids get out of school in just a little over a month! This year has really sort of flown by.
I’m still gathering up all of Pablo & Mallory’s info for their preschool registration. I really just need to track down copies of Pablo’s birth certificate and shot records, which I have filed away - somewhere - and get Mallory’s pediatrician to fill out a form outlining the results of her last physical. That will be more of a pain to get filled ou
Self tanners. 2007-04-23 16:10:19 We were just talking on a message board last night about tanning, and how people just so often look better with a tan. After all tanned fat is more attractive than white fat, right? I’m such a big chicken about tanning beds, though - I try not to expose myself to the sun, so why would I intentionally bake myself in a big UV oven? These Self Tan Kits are more my style. I’m not sure if I’m crafty and clever enough to apply spray-on tan to myself without looking like a streaky mess, but I wouldn’t mind checking it out to see. Tan skin, no cancer: yay!
Goin’ Sailin’ 2007-04-28 04:33:52 Soooo…we figured out something to do today! I called RaeJean to see if she wanted to hang out, but she was already busy. So I went garage-saling with my kids. Woohoo! They were so good. I don’t know why they always do so well when we go garage-saling, but freak out just driving to Target. Makes no sense!! We drove around for hours, checked out half a dozen sales, had some McD’s cheeseburgers in the car, stopped at Grandma’s house to go peepee and have ice water and crackers (she wasn’t home) and got home in the late afternoon, in time to take a short nap. It was a nice afternoon.
And I spent around $20 and got a neat Big Bird talking doll thing for Pablo, a baby doll, two “bigger” dolls (similar to American Girl dolls), a couple of other dolls…two pairs of pants for Pablo, a couple of Bob the Builder pillow cases, and a little Barbie bakery thing for Kayley to play with her Bratz dolls with. (Don’t tell anyone she still plays with
Electric Ladyland. 2007-04-28 04:26:20 Have you ever been watching late night TV and seen commercials for The Bedazzler? And the commercials are always showing that chick Tana from The Apprentice? Man, what a sellout! Anyway, you know how she’s talking about duplicating the look of jeans that cost hundreds of dollars? I’ve always thought, where in the world do you buy jeans that cost hundreds of dollars? Guess what? I found them! Check out Kippys Jeans - a little fancier than the stuff in the Bedazzler commercials, natch.
Electric
Ladyland has lots of cool things that I will never be able to afford or fit my fat booty into. However, I could probably afford, AND fit into the cute Disney Couture jewelry. And actually, if anyone would like to get me a little “We love you, LaLa!” present, I think this Silver Crystal Covered Star Necklace is adorable.
GREAT parenting, there. 2007-04-27 19:25:32 I’m going to admit something that makes me so ashamed!!
My sweetest, littlest baby, little Nikki, has a new favorite word. Every time she falls or drops something or bumps her head, she says, “God dammit!” I feel SO horrible that my potty mouth has rubbed off on my little baby girl! Every time she says it, I cringe. The guilt is like a knife in my heart! I’m trying hard not to even acknowledge it, but to just say, “Ooopsie!” or “Awwww, man!” when she says it, so she’ll hopefully pick up on something else to say instead. And, obviously, I’m trying to clean up what I say!
Now, if I can just Paul to start saying “Mother Hubbard” instead…
Friday! 2007-04-27 17:13:18 I know I say this almost every week, but: holy cats - I can’t believe it’s Friday
already! I wasted an entire day this week doing nothing - the day we had all the cold and snow and I stayed in my pajamas all day. It sure was nice, though, sitting around with the girls, watching Caillou and reading books and stuff. Love days like that! Our weekend is supposed to be gorgeous - temps in the 80s for the first time since last year - and I predict we’ll be spending a whole lot of time in the backyard. I asked Paul last night if we could put the trampoline back up and he said he would, so the kids will be tickled about that. Kayley’s going to her little dance tonight and then spending the night at her best friend’s house, so her weekend’s going to start out pretty fun, too!
Paul wants to have a garage sale, and I am praying that he decides to have it at his brother’s house instead of over here. I absolutely hate having garage sales. LOVE shopping at t
I’m sorry, mom!! 2007-04-27 16:56:04 So, after I wrote that post last night about growing up in a small town and getting into mischief with my best friend, I laid awake thinking about all the stupid things we did that we thought were SO cool, which were actually so dangerous. Things like, lying to our parents about spending the night at each other’s houses and staying out all night at a party - befriending strangers in the park, lying in the grass smoking weed - getting into cars with complete strangers, just so we could “cruise”…and hell, I’m sure if RaeJean and I put our heads together, we could come up with a pretty extensive list of things we did where we clearly had luck on our side.
I have to remind myself that it’s normal for teenagers to do stupid things, and I think that’s the only thing that’s going to help me get through Kayley’s teen years and stay partially sane! Kayley’s a good girl, and she makes good decisions a lot of the time. She’s aware Read more:sorry
I feel old. 2007-04-27 06:27:11 You know, my best friend RaeJean and I have been friends since 4th grade, and I vividly remember us going to dances in 7th and 8th grade. I remember us practicing our “moves” in front of the mirror in my bedroom. We had this whole dance we did to that Whodini song, The Freaks Come Out at Night. We also had these ridiculous outfits we used to wear for dances - usually black tight pants with gigantic shiny shirts - with big shoulder pads - and double-wrapped belts. Oh, and loooong strings of plastic beads, usually worn with a knot tied in the middle. All this with black flats. Hehe! I remember one year for the Christmas dance, my mom bought us matching outfits - which we LOVED. They were black pants, with red sweatshirts with scottie dogs on them. WTH?? We loved those outfits! We wore them with matching plastic “pearl” necklaces. Oy. I do believe that was the dance where I danced with my big crush, Luis - man, I had it bad for him in 8th grade!
I remember those ti
More messes. 2007-04-27 06:15:55 I just tucked Kayley into bed a little while ago, and just about tripped over a huge baggie of beads she got from my friend Heather, who is closing up her beaded jewelry business - of course, Kayley has to leave that stuff right in the middle of the floor! This recent acquisition has increased her bead inventory about tenfold. I really need to help her get a system to get all her stuff organized. Keeping it all in a big baggie ain’t gonna work! I was thinking about trying a fishing tackle box or something similar - something with lots of compartments she can use to organize her stuff, but still be able to transport from here to her dad’s house and back. Do they make special bead boxes like that?
It’s all about the booty today. 2007-04-27 01:26:02 I’m sure you’re sick to death of hearing all about my diet and how I keep swinging back and forth between eating great and eating like total garbage. I’m trying really, really hard to find the happy medium there. It’s so hard. I know that when I eat better, I feel better - but it’s not just the eating - it’s the moving, and it’s the remembering to take my medicine every day, and it’s sitting out in the sunshine and making time for myself to read a book now and then. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You’ve heard it all before, right? You know what I’ve never considered, though? Cleansing my body from the inside out!
I was just reading about this Colon Cleanser, and actually, trying not to snicker just seeing the words “colon” and “cleanser” together, and it actually looks like it might really be a nifty thing. You know, the whole “getting rid of the toxins from your body naturally” thing. Maybe not the &ld Read more:booty
Huh? 2007-04-27 00:54:49 Did you know today is Take Your Child to Work Day? Yeah. Me neither. Well, not until Kayley brought it up this morning. She asked if she could go to work with Paul, so he finished up a bunch of projects this morning and then went to her school to pick her up at around 1:30. They let him take her, no questions asked! I mean, he is her stepfather, but they don’t know that. As far as I know, his name isn’t listed anywhere on her info. And they didn’t even ask him for ID! Okay, so why is Kayley required to wear photo ID on a lanyard around her neck at all times when she is on school property? Just who are they trying to protect our children from, other middle school aged kids posing as students there?
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