Me? Long-winded? Or is it long-typed?

Holy moses, I'm tired. :)

On Friday night, my in-laws came down to MD for the weekend. :) My father-in-law road his new motorcycle down to surprise Adam (he knew he was riding, but not that he bought a new Harley) so they were in father/son Harley heaven together. :)

Saturday we got up SUPER early! Had Fractured Prune donuts for breakfast (yum!!) and then headed down to DC. First stop was to check on tickets to Ford's Theater. Snatched up some free tix for an 11:00 tour. Headed over to Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum and had fun there snapping pics with famous fake people! Back to Ford's for our tour. Adisson was THRILLLLLED!! Adam even snapped his picture just feet away from where Lincoln was shot. I'll add that as soon as Adam gets the pics off of the card. Lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe where Pam and I shared an AMAZING burger that had caramelized onions and apples and lots of yummy goodness! Then we walked down to the American History museum. It wasn't too far of a walk (only 0.7 miles) but we had already spent hours walking. By the time we got there we were pretty tired. But we checked out the cool stuff. :) Then we drove by the Washington Monument on our way to Arlington Cemetery where we watched the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns. Pretty intense and amazing to see. Stopped at McDonald's on the way home for the boys' first Happy Meal in over a month! :)

Sunday, the big boys took their Harley's down to DC as part of Rolling Thunder and the Ride to the Wall. They had a great time being together, bikes and patriotism are the two things Bob and Adam have most in common. :) Pam and I took the boys to Cici's Pizza for lunch, went to see Kung Fu Panda 2 afterwards, then went to the mall to see the doggies and have ice cream. :) Memaw bought the boys a book each (Adisson's obsessed with Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Zander LOVES Toy Story books, and Jax got a book about the song Baby Beluga because we sing it together ---- minus him singing it). Met up with the hot, dirty, sunburned dudes at the house and had Famous Dave's for dinner. Yummolicious!

Monday they came over super early and I made breakfast before they hit the road. Then I wanted to sleep all day but we had things to do and I had errands to run before Adam left for Connecticut today. Got a few errands run, my fave shopping trip was to JoAnn's, of course.

This morning we got up at 5:00 so we could take Adam to the Amtrak station to leave for his two day trip to New Haven. Haven't heard from him, assuming he made it there ok. :)

Last night, I bought Jillian Michael's new workout DVD, Ripped in 30. O.M.G. I have a love/hate relationship with Jillian. I love that she works me so hard and I hate that she works me so hard. I swear and yell at her by the last half of the workout. I hope, hope, hope I can stick with this workout like I intend to. I'm sure I won't because I don't stick with anything. But I can't stand how much weight I've put on in the last 8 months due to my blood infusions. It's great to be healthy, it sucks to look exactly like your friend who is six months pregnant. I've only ever weighed what I do now when I'm halfway through a pregnancy. This isn't how I want to look and the only person that can change that is myself. I just lack the follow through. Here's to hoping I can fix that.

Ok, I've got to get upstairs. Working on my sewing machine tonight and I'm determined to fix it. We'll see if I don't break it more. :(

Sooooo tired. :( I hate days of utter and complete exhaustion.

We had a spectacular weekend. On Friday night, my friend Christine and her family came over. We hung out, had dinner, then C and I took off to go see a movie while the Daddies stayed home with the kids. Unfortunately, we didn't make it to the movie in time so we went to the mall and did a little shopping. I snagged some super cute goodies for my friend Robyn (expecting a girl later this year!!) and some stuff for the boys. We got home to find everything just fine with all the kids and our husbands playing xbox. :)

Saturday we had Adisson's soccer game. They lost, again. And horribly. But Adisson did a really good job and I'm super proud of how well he played! We then ran to Lowe's to pick up flowers for the flower bed out front. So TONS of flowers, several bags of mulch, and a HUGE bag of potting mix...we were on our way home. We spent allllll day working outside. I got my Earthbox planted with my peas and carrots. We got a flower pot planted with some seeds that Grandpa Gramps sent over. We planted tons of flowers and have tons of flowers left to plant. :)

Sunday, Adam started painting the game room/man cave/room where nothing belongs. He hates painting and was pretty fussy about having to do so. :) But it's our very last room to paint. We still have a few things we'd like to get painted (baseboards, garage, garage door, flower bed ties) but as far as rooms go, the game room is the last one to get done. I spent allllll day doing laundry. gross. But it's caught up.

Today was a wasted day. I seem to have at least one a week. I was too exhausted to get much done. I'm also tired of the boys whining and complaining about dinner (all of them) so it's getting more and more difficult to get excited to cook dinner for a bunch of people that just complain.

Anyway, we have school stuff to work on tomorrow. The boys have dentist appointments on Wednesday and then Christine invited us to come over to her house afterwards so that's our plan for the next few days.

Off to clean up before I go to bed.

Who let the CAT in? Who, who, who?

So today we've been testing. Adisson's taking his first California Achievement Test. It's not required until next year but I'm interested in seeing how well he does and since he's not used to testing (we don't do tests around here because I don't need him to prove mastery of a subject. We don't move on until there's mastery of a subject.) I wanted him to have a year of practice until it's required.

So far he's doing really well. I'll send the test off when he's done so it can be scored. Scored just means we'll find out how well he's done compared to other second graders that have taken the test, we don't actually get a "score" of how many he had correct. Fortunately, I am as smart as a second grader and I can grade the test myself to see how many he has correct.

And for the first time today, Zander and I did a Before Five in a Row book, Caps for Sale. That's almost embarrassing to admit because we should have been doing them for the past few years. But it went splendidly well and I'm hopeful that we can get through the whole Before book by the time school starts in the fall and Zander may be ready for some early Five in a Row books. That's weird to think about....Adi started doing Five in a Row when Zander was a tiny little baby!! :)

Jax has been more than a handful today, for the past two days actually. God bless his tiny little gums for being so sore and because he teethes more than all the children of the world combined. :) He's in a better mood now that Daddy is home, though.

Gotta get back to test proctoring. Only a few more questions to go. :)

So my cleaning schedule hasn't been going well. :( But I still feel as though I'm working hard to clean the house for the right reasons. I've had people over three different times in the past week (something I'd rarely do because of the constant chaos). I'm trying to change myself and I do feel a difference, I'm just not sure if Adam sees a difference.

Lately, I've also been dealing with incredible fatigue. I'm so blessed that my treatments have made me healthier than I've ever been in my life. I've had one sinus infection this year and trust me, by the middle of May in my PT (prior to treatment) days, I would have been sick repeatedly, several doctor visits, several rounds of antibiotics. So I'm very grateful that those days are behind me. I do continue to struggle with exhaustion. Some days I feel like I'm slogging through a giant mud puddle and my feet keep getting stuck. The energy is sucked away and I'm just trying to make it through the day. I hate that feeling. It's nearly crippling.

My eight year old has been testing me on what feels like a constant basis. Goodness, that child seems to try my patience at the drop of a hat. It worries me that this is just a glimpse into my future of life with a teenager. The middle one isn't driving me too crazy and then I have the littlest doing every. single. thing. he can to get into trouble. He's not allowed to touch the tv and I swear he turns that thing off 20+ times a day while the boys are trying to play a video game or we're watching tv. Turns it off, I turn it back on, turns it off, I turn it back on. Cycle repeats. :) Loooooove that fun toddler stage!

On a more serious note, I guess I'm realizing what it means when a friendship has run its course. I feel like I've lost a super close friend, someone I felt was very important to me, and that it's only affecting me. It hurts to be rejected and it makes me sad. I hate that I spend so much time trying to do something to fix it, and the effort isn't reciprocated. :( Turns out that relationships with girls are difficult long past high school.

Well, I have tonnnns to get done today so I've got to put down the computer. If only I could tear myself away from Pinterest. :)

I'm a National Consumer Panelist, for real! :)

Again, off track. :( Yesterday was a treatment day for me and that's an entire day that I don't get ANYTHING done. I spend the morning just trying to do something productive, the afternoon at the clinic, and the evening laying in bed wishing it was the next day.

On a good note, my lovely friend, Teal came over to visit yesterday morning to swap coupons with me. It's such a blessing to have such great friends. I met Teal about six months ago or so but it's been in the last few months that we've gotten to spend more time together and I just really think she's a great person and friend. I'm so fortunate to have the great friends I have here in Frederick. I have met several of my new friends through my friend Marissa. I'm so thankful for 'Rissa and her social butterfly-ness that has introduced me to some *wonderful* girls.

Today I managed to go to the library to return books and get some new ones. Adi went with and was allowed to pick out some new ones. He got two chapter books, another one I convinced him to get, and then FOUR books about Abe Lincoln. He's a teensy bit obsessed. :) We then stopped over a super cute clothing store downtown and there.....I applied for a job. Totally weird. I haven't worked in FOREVER, but I love the store and she mentioned on facebook that she was looking for someone to make jewelry. It's a long shot, but I gave it a shot. I'm pretty sure I'll be telling you a week from now that it didn't work out for me, but I didn't want to ignore the opportunity to see if this could actually happen.

Then ran to Giant Eagle. Not a huge savings day today, but I scored some super great bargains and saved 50% of my bill. I'm not sure how much higher, if any, food costs are here in Frederick, compared to the national average. But according to the chart I found (about 18 months outdated) we are between the "thrifty" and "low-cost" spending for our family of five each month in groceries. Just food alone, I know we're thrifty, but I included HBA goods, also. Happy to save us some money, that's for sure.

And tonight for the first time, I used my NCP scanner to scan my purchases. :) Adisson really wanted to scan more of the food, but I told him I needed to figure it out first. I'm sure I'll tire of it soon enough and he'll be the designated scanner. :)

Anyway, I guess that's enough of my weird rambling thoughts for now. I'm glad it's just a few people that I know and love that read this jumbled mess of nonsense. :)

Back on track, woot.

I did manage to get a few things done today, though Adam is frustrated that I didn't get enough done for him to continue spraying the bug killer around the house. I hate bugs. grossssss nasty bugs. And we have some issues. Ants, lots and lots of ants. Spiders. A few other various bugs. But it's the ants....and the spiders. And let me tell you, Zander has some VERY intense feelings about bugs. HE HATES BUGS! Screams, yells, runs, and sometimes cries. So I'm also disappointed that Adam wasn't able to continue spraying bug killer.

I did get caught back up on my 31 Days to Clean challenge. Woooot. :)

Depending on how early we get things done tomorrow, Adisson *might* take his practice test for his standardized testing that he'll do later this month. But I doubt that happens. We have lots to do tomorrow and I have treatment tomorrow afternoon. AND Adi has soccer practice tomorrow night. I'll likely keep the little guys home with me and Adam and Adisson will go to practice. I think I can handle the little boys for an hour or so while the big boys are off kicking the ball around. :) But I'd rather try to handle them here instead of running around the soccer field.

My friend, Teal, is coming over tomorrow morning to coupon swap with me. I've got lots for her to go through and she's got lots for me to go through. And then I'm going to take what we have leftover and send them overseas. I've never done that before and I don't know why. I'm a big supporter of military families!! :) Plus, I'm excited to see Teal and the boys will go nuts. :)

Ok, off to pick up kids that fell asleep hanging out with Dad and are scattered around the living room. :) There are lots of reasons I love homeschooling (literally, A LOT!!!) but I really love our flexibility. Stay up a little late, sleep in a little longer, read books in our pajamas. This truly is the good life. :)

Where's that money tree again?

I don't feel that we live that extravagantly. We did just move into a much larger house than we were living in (and it has cost us A LOT of money), but otherwise, nothing big and fancy going on here. I clip coupons to save money on food. We never have to fill our vehicles up with gas more than twice per month (sometimes less). I've cut eating dinner out of our current budget. I buy secondhand clothes and household items. We do have some extras (cable tv, high speed internet, netflix, cell phone data plans) but again, nothing outrageous. So why does it feel like making ends meet is as good as it's going to get? And if gas prices continue to rise, our trips to Ohio are going to be drastically reduced. I'd work if I thought that would help. Adam travels so much for work and sometimes on just a few days notice (and then he's gone for several weeks), so me working seems less likely to help, especially since a part time job wouldn't pay me enough to cover a sitter when Adam's not home.

It's just aggravating.

31 Days to What Now??

UGHHHH! I'm the worst ever at this challenge, btw. :) Thursday I felt like crap. I have days where the exhaustion is just overwhelming. Like I'm wearing 20 pound weights on each appendage. I try hard to remember that I am a sick person. That even though I feel ok, I deal with an incurable blood disease that has various effects on my body. Anyway....

Friday we did extra school work.

So Thursday and Friday didn't get done (re: the challenge). And I didn't get caught up over the weekend because yesterday I was SUPER busy (more on that in a minute) and today was Mother's Day. No work for me. :)

Tomorrow is a new day. A day when things will get done. I'm a work in progress. I feel I'm making some progress and trying harder. I hope my boys see that, too.

So yesterday. We did so much! Adi had a soccer game (at 8:30 AM! On Saturday! Good gravy!) that we were super late for thanks to traffic delays due to a half marathon being run through downtown. Then we stopped by Goodwill to see if my sewing machine cabinet was still there....it was....but it was sold. Darn. Then to Home Depot. The boys made cute little flower planters (for meee, for Mother's Day!). Took all the boys home. Met up with my friends at the fairgrounds (where I was late because traffic was being rerouted because of that dang marathon!) for a kids consignment sale. Super scored some major necessities. Got Adi six pairs of shorts and some play shoes. Zan got some great sandals (look almost new!) and Jax snagged a a pair of super cute, brand new Robeez (that's shoes if you aren't hip to the toddler slang).

Then we went to an antique barn sale. Super neat, super inspiring, super overpriced. There will come a day when I'll pay $80 for a chalkboard with a pretty wood frame around it. That day will come the same day I spread the news that we're expecting again. (psssst: neither of those days will ever come.) But I did leave there with an amazing dictionary from 1932 to use for a few projects and more ideas than my head can process.

Then I stopped by Goodwill again. It's half off weekend and I was so inspired from the tag sale I wanted to find things to redo. Picked up a few things, came home. Exhausted. :)

Today was lovely. Got my planters from my boys (they painted them yesterday while I was gone) and super cute handmade cards. Got a lovely gift from my husband. :) Cleaned and organized Adam's game room. Hopefully he'll be able to use it as his man cave soon. :) Ran a few errands with my oldest guy. We picked up some fried chicken from Giant Eagle (uhhhh, ok, so here's the deal. We didn't count that as having dinner out because we bought it from GE and because it's Mother's Day and I wasn't cooking. So we're still on track for not eating out for the month of May. :) Besides, my idea, my rules apply.) and some CAKE!! So we had a great evening.

Now it's late and this post is so long you've likely fallen asleep (wake up, Jessie Poo!!). But that's what my weekend held. Being super busy. So tomorrow I'll be super busy at home catching up on my schedule and cleaning bedrooms. :)

Happy Mother's Day!

Lots to do today, super busy day tomorrow.

Yesterday wasn't as productive as I had hoped. I'm definitely hoping today yields way more results. We have a pretty busy weekend in store and I'd rather start off with a clean(-ish) house. Tonight we are going to bike night at the Harley dealer and apparently Adam signed us up for some dealership tour. Not exactly sure what it is or why we're doing it, but whatever.

Tomorrow will be a hectic mess of a day. Adisson has to be at soccer game BY 8:15...yep that's AM. Afterwards we're stopping by Goodwill. This weekend is half off the whole store and there's a sewing machine and cabinet that I *REALLY* want to have. It didn't have a price tag on it when I saw it last weekend so I'm not sure how much it is originally, but half off sounds even better. :) I went to Goodwill last Sunday so it's going to be a miracle if it's still there tomorrow. But I'm hoping. I'm not sure I'll be able to pick it up, I might have to pay for it and wait until later when Adam can get it. He can't go to Goodwill with us after the game because he has to get to Jui Jitsu class right after the game. Then after Goodwill, I'm taking the boys to Home Depot to build. It's a really cute tulip planter tomorrow.

After we're done at Home Depot, Adam should be about done at class. We'll all get back to the house. I'm going to lunch and shopping with my friends. We're hitting up this awesome looking tag sale to see what it's like. After we finish up shopping, I think my family and I are going to head downtown to walk around for First Saturday. All in all, a ton going on and I can't wait!! :)

Ok, so I need to be cleaning. Lots to do today. :) Oh and a super big "HI!!" to one of my most favorite people, Jessssie Poo, for stopping by my blog to read about my mundane life. :) Jess is super awesome and I totally wish we could hang out way more often. Love ya and your wonderful kids!! :)

I lied. I'm a big fat liar. I didn't clean my fridge yesterday because I'm lazy. It needed done, I didn't do it and then said it didn't need cleaned. Truthfully, it wasn't bad and didn't take me long. Nothing sticky or slimy so just a quick wipedown was necessary. But today I did it. Along with my Day Three challenge.

Today I also asked my family members what I could do to show them I love them by caring for our home. My husband told me that he'd like for "technology" to be a reward and not a priority. He says I spend too much time on the computer (guilty as charged), watching tv (I could watch less), and talking on the phone (uhhhh, not sure how I'll give that up). He would like for me to focus more on the necessary tasks and use Facebook (my guiltiest pleasure) as my reward for being diligent. Zander told me that I could show him I love him with just one word...."Clean." Sobering message from my preschooler. Adisson would like for me to set up a responsibilities and rewards chart for him. He'd really like to be earning money by helping out around the house. He proved that by doing several extra chores tonight without being asked. When I asked Jax what I could do he said "Dad".....I'll leave that alone. :)

I know my family wants me to be a better housekeeper and it's not that I *don't* want to be, I just lack the motivation to be one. I didn't have a housekeeping role model. I didn't learn how to do that. So now I'm trying to learn. But you know what they say about teaching an old dog new tricks. But Sarah Mae says if you're breathing there's still time to change.

And I sure am trying.

It's Ikea time baby!!

So I didn't necessarily do my Martha challenge today. I was supposed to clean out my fridge and freezer. I didn't do that today because it's not really dirty. We just moved here recently and the house was professionally cleaned before we got here. And I wipe down the fridge each time I buy a big buncha groceries. I will go in there and get a few things rearranged, but there just isn't much for me to do. I'm antsy to get to my Six List (I read ahead!!)!!!

We didn't eat dinner out tonight. And I worked out this evening...double score for me. I will say that I sincerely doubt we'll go the whole month without having dinner out of the house. I will be SHOCKED if it happens. :) And I'm not sure what my realistic exercising goal is. I know I can't say that I'll work out everyday, because I'm just setting myself up to fail...big time. Ideally, I'd like to work out five times a week. I'm not doing anything too hardcore. 30 minutes of accelerated pilates and 20 minutes of belly and thigh busting cardio. I alternate between the two. It's a start and that's what's important to me.

We're heading to ikea tomorrow with some lovely friends of mine. I am definitely having friend issues right now that I can't discuss because it will take a ton of time to spill out and I'm not sure if this is the right time (though I feel like this is a great place since it's my blog that no one else but Tiffany reads). I just feel like though I can be taken as a pretty cranky person, I'm really kind of a nice person. I'm insanely loyal to my true friends. I'm pretty fun to be around. I'm caring and thoughtful. I'm crazy when I'm angry and my sense of humor can be pretty dry and mistaken for more of an attitude than I intended, but still not a horrible person. Just sometimes wonder why people don't consider my feelings. But anyway, I have super great friends that love me and I know they do. While I'm sad about some relationships, I can't tell you how truly blessed I am to have the friendships I do. Old friendships, new friendships, just down the road friendships, across hundreds of miles friendships, super close, tighter than sisters friendships, down for a good time friendships. I'm thankful and grateful.

Now off to browse through my most fave catalog......time to pick out some goodies!!

Weekly Menu (noooo dining out!!)

Just needed a place to write it down, don't think it will always be here, but anyway. My menu for the week:

Monday

Lunch: Baked Spaghetti, garlic bread, salad

Dinner: Grilled Steak, corn on the cob, baked potatoes

Tuesday

Lunch: Chicken and Rice

Dinner: Meatball subs, chips, baby carrots

Wednesday

Lunch: Sandwiches, fresh fruit
Dinner: Slow Cooked BBQ Pork Sandwiches, cole slaw

Thursday

Lunch: Sandwiches, fruit and veggies

Dinner: Baked Chicken, peas, baked macaroni and cheese

Friday

Lunch: Tuna Noodle Casserole, peas, applesauce

Dinner: Mini Meatloaves, mashed potatoes, mixed veggies

Saturday

Lunch: Sandwiches, fresh fruit

Dinner: BBQ Wings, baked beans, chips

*On days we have sandwiches for lunch, we also eat any leftovers in the fridge. Adam is my own food vacuum. :)

Day One of the Cleaning Challenge....check!

So I read my first day of 31 Days to Clean. I really like how the heart of the book is knowing your own heart and *why* you want to have a clean home. Like Sarah Mae says, it's more than just "keeping the roaches away." :) I'm supposed to write down why it's important to me to have a clean home. So here's why.

Ok, so there's so many reasons that it's hard to put them in a way that doesn't sound like a hot, jumbled mess of words and ideas. I'll try.

For my boys. I want my kids to have a clean, uncluttered home in which they can learn well, play well, live well, and *be* well. They can't play in a room that's a mess with toys, trash, clothes, games, and books. There's nowhere to play. I can tell right away if there's a clean space for them to play because they are quiet (errrr, sorta) and playing together. We can't learn in our school room if it's unorganized and chaotic (which it totally is right now. And I hate that.) We can be healthy and well if the house is a mess. And I want them to be proud of their home. I want them to be able to welcome people in with no hesitation. Shoot, I want to do that, too. You know, I'll turn on Hoarders and see these kids who can't have anyone over, ever, because the house they live in is so deplorable. My house has never looked that way, but I don't ever want my boys to feel like they can't invite people over because they are ashamed of our home.

For my husband. My mother-in-law is a VERY tidy and neat person. She and I have very distinct differences when it comes to our housekeeping. We love one another regardless, so that's a blessing. :) But it's very difficult for Adam to be at peace in our home because he was raised in a MUCH tidier environment. Cleaning is not something I enjoy. I don't love to clean, I don't like to clean, most days I'd rather not clean a single thing. It's a CONSTANT battle. I wish Adam knew how much I struggle with it. I mean he knows because the house isn't as clean as he'd like, but it's very much an internal battle. I wish I did LOVE to clean, this whole process would be much easier. :) He's unhappy, so I'm unhappy.

For myself. I don't want to be the wife and mom that can't keep a clean house. It's embarrassing and depressing.

Ok, so there are my reasons. I want to have a clean home for the people that live in it. We all deserve it and I need to put in the work to make our home the best it can be.

Bring on Day 2!! (I say that now, but I looked ahead and tomorrow I'm cleaning out the fridge. Ugh. :)

Day one: No dining out and I did my first workout (well, not ever, but in awhile.) Pretty stoked about both. No cheeseburgers taking up residence in my well defined muffin top and legs that feel like spaghetti noodles. :) Proud of myself for both things. Cleaning challenge starts tomorrow.

Oh and heard the news regarding Osama bin Laden. It's about time he was found and dealt with accordingly. It's been a long time coming, a day many weren't sure would come, but it has and he's dead. :)