Sunday, September 30, 2007

Oh, It's Sunday...Again

Since I was a kid, probably closer to a teenager, I've always had a dislike for Sundays. It was a day when everyone was home and there was always bickering. (my parents were in the middle of a separation/divorce) It seems I have passed on my dislike of Sundays to my children. I learned of this today when my eldest son chimed in with "I hate Sundays"! Truth be told, they usually are stressful because everyone is home and there is always much chaos and bickering. Add the fact that I am exhausted from working the night before, and it truly is a recipe for disaster.

So, today, I have really tried to hold myself together. I even went to church for the first time in (whispering ) months. Afterward, we lugged the kids to Target to look at the fire pits they have on sale. We walked out with a fire pit and 7 chairs to sit around the fire, a bag of marshmallows, and some very excited kids. We spent money we don't have, but I think the memories that will result from our family gathered together around a flickering fire with our roasting sticks and marshmallows, far surpasses that worry.

Here's to making good memories and changing the 'I hate Sundays' for all :)

Saturday, September 29, 2007

The Waiting Game

I hate waiting. Did I state that clearly enough? I. hate. it. And when I am waiting on something so nerve-wracking as a job offer for R, it's awful. I am clinging so tightly to my tiny mustard seed of faith that if I hold it any tighter, I may crush it. Or maybe it would start to sprout?


Another interview gone by today. Another shaking of hands across the table. Another, "We'll be in touch". Good Lord, just fill our cup! I keep trying to figure out what the Lord is trying to teach me/us during this constant uphill battle, but it just doesn't come to me. Maybe I'm looking too hard and in all the wrong places.


Believe me I am trying to 'just let go and let God', but I am such an utter control freak that it is almost impossible for me to do that. I just have to come to grips with the fact that I cannot control God's will for our lives and I cannot move the mountains that I have been trying to move!

So, now we wait. And wait some more. I know that eventually we'll know and understand 'the plan'.

Friday, September 28, 2007

It's a HAPPY Meal Kid, Be HAPPY!

Last night I heard those words. They came from me, not surprisingly. There's always a story to go with it...

It all started with E telling one of his brothers to "shut up". I had already told him ninety nine times not to say that again. So, when he said it for the 100th time, I sprung into action. (yes, I know I should have done that after the 2nd time)

I blurted out to him "You're GROUNDED"! From what, I still wasn't sure. I was ready to even ground him from eating. He immediately blasted back with "I am NOT grounded" and then came the throwing around of inanimate objects and total chaos ensued. (as usual) He was so upset and so angry that he refused to get ready to go to his soccer game. He flung his attitude and his cleats all over the place. I flung a shoe at him. ( it was only a baby shoe ) He shot up to his room and started throwing his stuff down the staircase....a book, a clock...you know, stuff. I got a few verbal lashings with " I HATE you Mom" too. In my anger, um, angst, I flew up the stairs, ran over to him to give him a piece of my mind, and was stopped in my tracks. A shelf from the bookcase he was perched atop, fell and landed on the tops of both of my feet. I swear I saw stars... It ended there. I think he was so shocked from what happened, that he feared for his life. I knew that it wasn't his fault the shelf fell on my feet, but he didn't!

Anyhow, after much flailing and wailing, (from the kid) he finally managed to get on his soccer gear to go to his much protested game. We drive all the way across town with a van load of kids and guess what? No game. I had forgotten that this was the week that there was only one game. On Tuesday. We didn't discover this until we trekked all the way down to the far left side of the soccer field because we saw his teams' bright yellow shirts. Turns out the team we headed towards was a team of girls in bright yellow shirts. All in all, the kid got what he wanted...not to play soccer!

By now, there's the question about the Happy Meal comment, I'm sure... I'll try to make it short. We had $20 bucks from an insurance refund, so we decided to take the kids out to eat. They wanted pizza. We headed to a new place called NYPD Pizza... it was a no go. There was only about 12 seats in the whole joint and there were only 4 not already occupied. There are 7 of us...you do the math. We leave, amidst a flurry of protests from our little people. As we are driving I told the kids to decide between a Happy Meal or getting a pizza to take home and eat there. Well, since things are never easy with this crowd, 4 of the kids wanted a Happy Meal and 1 wanted pizza. We ended up going home. With nothing. Both R and I were ready to jump out of the van it was so loud in there. My ears are still ringing. And the kids had Kix cereal for dinner.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

You Know It's Going To Be A Bad Day When...

It's already turning out to be one of those days. You know, the kind of day where nothing goes right. It started even before I lugged myself out of bed. I woke up around 3am, 3:35am, 4:15am...you get the picture. I now have an ache in my neck comparable to the time I had spinal meningitis. Thankfully, I don't have the raging fever and stabbing pain in my eyes and head like I had then...so I think the 3 ibuprofen tablets I took should do the trick. Hopefully no need for a spinal tap, (or 4, like I was lucky enough to have) IV antibiotics or narcotic pain killers. (although those might be kind of nice) I'm just chalking it up to a less than stellar night's sleep.

The rest of the morning didn't go very smoothly either. The kids seemed to all wake up in cranky mode. The whining and crying over every little thing certainly didn't help matters here any. And then there's the fact that the dog went missing...

Is it too early for a nice stiff drink?

Thankfully, and I do mean this with all of the love in the world, I only have ONE child at home today. The rest are at the place that I love so very much....school! Maybe I'll take a nap or 2. Or maybe I'll go shopping. Or....nah, I suppose I'll do pretty much what I do everyday. I'll read 'How Does A Dinosaur Say Goodnight?' on the couch with a snugly (albeit demanding) toddler about 25 times, wash dishes, do a few (dozen) loads of laundry, sweep, vacuum, clean pee off of toilet seats ( 4 boys, remember?) and...again, you get the point. I love my life, really I do. I wouldn't change it (other than I would like to have a 'do-over') for the world. I have been truly blessed even though some days it's hard to see through the thick clouds, but I always know there is a silver lining :)


* It's been 10 hours or so since I wrote all of that above...and lo and behold, it was actually a pretty good day! I sat and read the dinosaur book to my little one like I suspected I might, but all in all it was a good day. I made it out to Target, the bank, the carwash. I even survived the ache in my neck. *

Like I said, there's always a silver lining.

Monday, September 24, 2007

You Wanna Be What?

I had a very comical conversation with my eldest son today, only he didn't know it was comical,which made it even more funny! It went like this...

"Hey Mom, there are a few things I want to be when I grow up".
"Oh yeah, what do you want to be"?
"Well, I either want to be a pilot in the Air Force, a police officer or a chef".
(Admittedly, I am very against my sons going into any branch of the military, because I am selfish and I don't want my babies killed in a war) So I replied with this:
"I think you should scratch off being a pilot in the Air Force, you could get hurt and I don't want you to get hurt. Maybe you should be a veterinarian or something like that. You'd be good at that"!
My sons proceeds to look at me like I have 2 heads,and he replies with " You think I'd be good at eating vegetables "?
My snicker turned into some downright belly laughs at this point. He so pointedly asks me what was so funny and why would I think he'd be good at eating vegetables when he hates vegetables,and what kind of job would that be anyway? Can one get paid just for eating vegetables?
So, I had to fill him in on the difference between a veterinarian and a vegetarian. That was fun, and he now thinks he might make a good doctor for animals. He also reminded me how much he likes meat.


Anyhow, today began the first of a couple of visits to the dentist for my now enlightened child. He had to endure having 4 fillings and a tooth extracted, and, he tells me, the 'knock out gas' didn't work. He thought that he would be put to sleep for the procedure and was very dismayed when he found out that would not be the case. At least he was already numbed up and ready when the dentist broke the bad news. I however, had to hear about it in sentences broken up by some very dramatic sobs all the way home. And just think, he gets to do it all again in 2 weeks on the other side of his mouth. I can't wait. (yeah right)

I'd better run. I told the numb-lipped child that I had to wrap him in a towel and sit on him to brush his teeth like I do with his baby brother, as he seems to not want to do such a bang up job of it himself. Oy!

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Goofy Girl


Now here's a smile that makes me want to smile back :)
Sometimes it's a lighthearted child that makes me realize that maybe life isn't as bad as I think. My sweet little princess is still smiling like a....well actually, I'm not sure like what, but even when her day was tough because she was fighting a fever, she still found a way to smile. And smile big.
Instead of going into a bunch of mumbo jumbo about how we all need to look for a brigher side, I'm just going to leave it at that.
Her smile says it all...

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Blankity, Blank, Blank, Blank

Blank. That's how my heart/mind/body feels today. I don't know exactly where I expend all of my energy, but I am so wiped out. Okay, maybe I do know where I expend my energy. (I'm the mom of 5...6 if you count my husband, and that's enough to bring any woman to her knees) I can't figure out though, why I feel so emotionally, physically and spiritually drained. Shouldn't a good nights sleep take care of that? Nah, I suppose if that were the case, there wouldn't be so many frazzled moms out there, right?



I, however, don't want to BE a frazzled mom. I want to be a calm, cool and collected mom. The mom that everyone wants to be, but isn't. I want to be full of ideas and energy and I want to always have the right answer or solution to every problem that life throws our way. I want to be the cookie baking, bread kneading, book reading, ever patient mom, you know, the mom of every kids' dream? Since I can't ever live up to the picture that I have in my mind's eye about being a mom, I have to resign myself to just do the best that I can with what I've got, and hope that the Lord will cover the rest of the things that I fall so very short of.

I am listening to the lively chatter and some bickering of the kids upstairs...they've just returned home from school with tales to tell, and wow, do they all want to talk at the same time. Each day, on the ride home from school, I get a dizzying account of the adventures and mishaps that were had in their little worlds. They all speak at not only the same time, but at super warp speed as if trying to get in their allotted quota of words for the day. I just try and take it all in without having my head explode with information overload because that would be messy and probably a little bit disturbing too! Sometimes, I just tune it all out, but keep nodding my head to make them think I am still listening.

I'm going to sign off for now, apparently, the kids still have some words to be spoken today...


Tuesday, September 18, 2007

It Might As Well Be A Million

I went in smiling, but I left with a scowl I'm sure. Granted, I was hit with a 'treatment plan' cost of nearly one thousand dollars for the now clean and sparkly smirk on the face of my eldest child. I thought I had been pounding into this child's head since the last time we had a dental visit and he had to have 4 cavities filled, that his brushing needed some vast improvement. Guess I didn't pound hard enough. So, come Monday, we start a series of visits to get eight (yes that's 8!) fillings, a cap, 2 extractions, a spacer and 4 sealants. I think the dentist was nervous that I was going to faint when I stumbled back into my chair after the initial shock :)

Like I said, it might as well be a million! (dollars, that is) Luckily, insurance will take some of the sting out of the bill, just think of what I could do with that money....2-3 weeks of groceries, 10 tanks of gas, 3 car payments and... oh, nevermind, it's too depressing to think about!

Either I was really tired this morning, or somebody swapped out my black eyeliner with a magenta colored pencil with a broken tip. Thankfully, I was awake enough to notice the change before I ripped apart my eyelid! It really was that kind of day... nothing seemed to flow the way it should. Including my eyeliner.

Between the bad news from the dentist, my missing make-up, a tantrum the size of Texas from a child who wanted everything but nothing made her happy, and burning the first dozen of 7 dozen cookies....it has to be brighter in the morning, right?


I'm going to sign off to fold my 5th load of laundry and search for that eyeliner... Oh, and I think I'll put to bed the sweet little cherub that is asleep sitting up on the couch.



Sunday, September 16, 2007

A Missed Kiss

Not a Sunday (or any day, for that matter) has gone by in a long time where R and I haven't had a marital spat. Today was a doozy... Apparently, he gets stressed out trying to keep the kids somewhat quiet when I try to catch a little sleep after I get off of work on Sunday mornings. I layed down for a bit today but I still heard all sorts of commotion, including this:

(After I hear the pounding of feet on the stairs and the bursting through the bedroom door)...

Kid: "Mom"?
Kid: "Mom, are you sleeping"?
Me: "Hmmmmm...what, what is it"?
Kid: "I'm only having a Coke Zero because Dad said I could, okay"? That statement was followed by child exiting bedroom at lightening speed, before I even had a chance to respond.

Not wanting anything important, I'm not sure why they feel the need to 'see if I'm awake' or to tell me that Dad said they could have a soda...?

Anyway, let me get back to my original point. When I finally meandered down to the basement to see what was going on, I could see right away that R was in his 'mood'. I could tell this because he had the tell tale flow of steam spouting out from the top of his head, and his face was all wrinkled in anger. The comments from both of us just started to fly and they didn't stop. Finally I said we needed to get the kids out of the house and go and do something fun. We decided on getting ice cream and then going to the park. The ride to BJ's for the treat was icy cold. If looks could kill, the kids would all be orphans. While we were sitting in the car eating our ice cream, I felt like maybe I should break through the ice and try to mend the relationship. I took off my sunglasses, lightly brushed him on the arm and told him I was sorry. Then I puckered up, leaned in, and closed my eyes. He leaned in too, but instead of the passionate, affectionate kiss I was expecting, he purposefully avoided my lips and gave me only a peck on the cheek. Immediately, I was offended and told him so by quickly replacing my sunglasses on my face and turning away from him. My feelings of any sort of reconciliation faded away in an instant. I clammed up and tears sprang to my eyes and the icy-cold once again permeated the air. We rode in silence (meaning R and I, the kids were loud lunatics) to the park. Once we were there, I avoided him like the plague.

Fast forward about 7 hours later...he finally 'apologizes' for letting the argument/silence go on for so long. To me, his apology was not sincere and I told him so. He didn't argue about it or tell me that he was sincere, and that speaks volumes. Ugh. Another wasted day.

I am getting ready to go back to work in a half hour, so I'm signing off.... Maybe I'll have something better to write about tomorrow :)

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Head Spinning Adventures

That's what this ride our family is on right now feels like. A head spinning-nauseating-I-can't-wait-til-it-stops-and-we-can-get-off, ride. I suppose if I could dig out my mustard seed of faith that I know I put somewhere, we might be in better shape! It's so hard to just wait and trust, and trust and wait. Waiting has never been my strong point. Ever. I don't even like to wait for my instant pudding to set before I eat it! So, waiting and watching for what the Lord has planned for us makes me wiggle in my seat. A little uncertainty never hurt anybody, right?

Onto bigger and better things...

We now have a shoe on our roof. Seems C and a friend were playing 'football' with C's shoe, and somehow the shoe now resides on the roof. Too bad it's a new shoe and it is on a part of the roof that we can't get to without a very tall ladder. A tall ladder that we don't have. At least now when I am giving directions to my house, I have a great visual...."When you find our street, just look up for the shoe, then you'll know you've found the right house"! Seriously, our house isn't hard to find. Just follow the trail of toys, scooters, skateboards, bikes, helmets and balls, and you're there. And just yesterday,we had our own 'flag' waving in the yard, the long (as in the hundreds of feet) black stringy stuff hanging from the trees (and the neighbor's satellite dish) turned out to be the ink strip from an old typewriter that the boys dismanted with hammers in the driveway. That was fun to clean up :)

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Wacky Wednesday

The day started out rough. Most days start out a little on the rough side, so why should today be any different? I had to bite my tongue until it practically bled in order to prevent the verbal lashing that SO wanted to be had. I'll admit, I did let a few things fly, but I controlled the monster from completely appearing. My monster is the most impatient monster around! That is one thing that I really don't like in myself.

I suppose I should be more impervious (not allowing anything to pass through; unaffected; impossible to influence ) to the daily rude noises, grumbling, sass and discontent from the kiddos, but heck if I know how to do that! I felt like I was in the middle of an outright war this morning.


If I were to sit back and really take it all in with a light heart , instead of letting it get under my skin, I'm sure that I would find most of if quite amusing. Think about it, the constant fart noises that E makes with his mouth, the wayward comments aimed to sting the opposing kid, and the occasional flying fist to the chest of a sibling is funny, right? Yeah, right. This MUST be what life is supposed to be like in large families? Really, somebody tell me that this is normal! I know that fighting between brothers and sisters has gone on since Cane and Able, but...

Still no word on the job interview. Still waiting on those pins, needles, knives and hot coals. I suppose I could take comfort in the 'no news is good news' stance, but somehow for this particular situation, I don't think that applies.

Another kiddo has come down with the crud. Little S woke up covered in snot and sneezing his cute little head off. Last night though, I actually thought that we had yet another mutating virus in the house as 2 of the kids were complaining of headaches. Also, E went directly to bed after we got home from soccer, and if you know this kid, that is NOT normal. He stays up way too late most nights reading books and drawing super-hero cartoons, so for him to conk out without any sort of protesting had me worried! Luckily he woke up fine (in health, not in attitude as usual ) this morning.

Okay, I've rambled enough for now...gotta go tackle the dust bunnies under the beds!

UPDATE: He didn't get it. (the job, that is) I had a good cry and am moving on... Our ship is half-sunk I'm afraid :(

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Let The Season Begin (the sick season, that is)

Yup, it's here. 'Sick season' as we call it around our house. The time between September and April always brings a slew of viruses. So far, just scratchy throats, sniffles and sneezes is all we've got, but it's early in the 'season' yet! I'm bracing myself :)

R had his interview today for the gov't contract job. I was on pins and needles until he called me to let me know he had finished. Now, I'm not only on pins and needles, but on knives and burning coals too. He seems to think it went 'very well', so that gives me some hope. A decision should come down in the next couple of days. I hate the waiting. I'd much prefer to not be held in the dark for any amount of time, but that is just the control-freak nature of mine baring it's gnarly teeth. I have to remind myself that it's all in God's time, not mine. And I can't control the outcome anyway!

Our newest addition of the fluffy-type (aka Abbey) seems to have adjusted well. She has taken to burying herself under piles of laundry and hiding out. I think she's trying to avoid having G pick her up and carry her around like a sack of potatoes. Can't say as I blame her. I think I'd hide too! G's idea of fun is to wrap Abbey in a baby blanket and carry her around on her shoulder, while trying her very best not to squeeze her until her eyes pop out. So far, so good.

Well, I have to disinfect the keyboard before G plays her computer game as I have sneezed all over it about 4 times now. Achoo!

Monday, September 10, 2007

A New Addition To Our Family!

Now before you (yes, you mom!) have a heart attack, no, I am NOT pregnant. Really.

We do however, have a cute, cuddly addition to our household. And why not? We're already broke, it's already chaotic, so what's one more?



And here she is... Little Miss Abbey!




I know she looks a little grumpy, but I promise, she is so sweet! She is a fully grown toy schnauzer that we adopted from Dreampower, an animal rescue organization. I took the kids to the animal fair on Saturday, just to look, and low and behold we now own this sweetie. It was her eyes...they called to me from across the room! Those adorable puppy eyes will get you every time.


Anyway, those of you that know me and read this blog, can resume breathing now that you know we're not adding an addition of the human kind.


Not much else going on...just waiting on interviews for R and hopefully some movement in the right direction.


We can only go up from here, right? Right??

Sunday, September 9, 2007

This Is The Day That Never Ends

I can't shake that song in my head. You know, the one that goes "This is the song that never ends, because it goes on and on my friend"...... Only instead of a song never ending, it's my day that doesn't seem to end. It's 8:30pm and I feel like I have been up for 600 million hours, but in reality, it's only been 36, minus the hour and a half that I spent in bed this morning trying to keep my eyes closed while the kids came wandering in and out wanting everything on God's green earth. Between grocery shopping, dishes, laundry, cleaning, diaper changing, cleaning, meal making and cleaning, (notice a theme here?) I am well spent. I just want to go to bed, but I almost forgot that I have to go back to work at 11:30. Oi.

Signing off in record time tonight. I am tired and blah.

Saturday, September 8, 2007

Where Oh Where Has My Baby Gone?

My sweet, compliant, cuddly and cute-as-a-bug little one has taken to screaming at the tippy top of his lungs in a pitch so high it can be heard as far as Pikes Peak. The top of Pikes Peak. The top of Pikes Peak in a wild, howling wind storm, in fact. Yes, it's that loud. For example, yesterday in Target, he let loose with that fantastic wail 4 separate times. I swear anyone within a 100 mile radius was wincing, especially my fellow shoppers in Target. I am now half-deaf in my right ear as a result as well. My only relief was that 4 strangers saw my plight and stopped to talk him down from his overwhelming (to him) ordeal. Thank Goodness for nice grandmotherly types with bright red lipstick and penciled on eyebrows. They managed to quiet him down for at least 15 seconds at a time.

My little guy has also taken to calling me "MEANIE" with perfect enunciation. His timing is such that when he says that, I know it's meant for me. All I did the first time he called me that was take the foot long serrated bread knife that he had worked SO hard to get, away from him. How dare I do that. I must be a meanie. Seriously, every time he says it, I have to stifle my laughter. However disrespectful it may be, it's SO cute coming out of his pouty little mouth in his little baby voice.

I am hanging onto his babyhood while I can...it's fleeting. He's turning into a little boy right before my eyes. He's fast approaching his 2nd birthday, and that I can hardly believe is true. Sometimes the days go by slow, but the years seem to fly by!

Moving on past my sappiness....

R had an interview on Thursday for an HR position in a large company. It's a government contract job, so I imagine the benefits could be good. Friday, he got a call back from them wanting to do a second interview as he was one of the top 3 candidates out of 7! So, he'll have his second interview this Tuesday at 9am and they will make a decision by Wednesday. I am SO hoping that this is finally a break in the dark clouds of our lives as of late. The pay comes close to what he was making at the pharmaceutical company, so that will put us on the way to getting back on track. He's also applying at several restaurants around our house for a second job to recoup some of the difference. I'll have to keep working so we can make ends meet, but I will be relieved when he has a stable paycheck coming in. Living on commission only is for the birds I tell ya. For the birds!

Well, as usual, I've got a mountain of laundry to tackle and some very restless children, so I am going to hand over the computer mouse to little G who has been waiting very patiently for her turn to 'play'.

Monday, September 3, 2007

Of Mountains And Molehills

I don't know about all kids, but mine for sure make mountains out of molehills. My children for some reason resort to screaming like they are having their fingers twisted off for even the most minor of infractions. Sad but true, I find myself doing the same thing...not screaming wildly, but sending down harsh consequences for things that are pretty trivial. For instance, G peed her pants (again. it's a 2-3 times daily occurrence) and I grounded her for the rest of her life from playing with the neighbor girl. You'd have thought that by hearing her blood-curdling screams that I had done much worse. And when she (or the boys) scream, I get mad. When I get mad, I yell. When I yell, they scream. It's a viscous cycle!

I finally got my van back today. R loaned it to a guy he works with as his van broke down. Boy, am I ever glad to see our beat up old van again. I've been shoving 5 kids into an even more beat up Montero for 2 weeks! We must look like the circus has come to town when everyone piles out...out comes 1, 2 and 3...one more, oh and wait, yet another! Really, I'll miss hearing the piercing screams of the child whose abdomen gets used as leverage for another child's foot as they attempt to climb into the 3rd row. Really.

I'm going to cut it short tonight...I am tired and I need to make some lemon pudding to devour before I start my diet (again) tomorrow.

Sunday, September 2, 2007

Hello? Is This Thing On?


There are days when I wonder if my mom-microphone is really connected to it's power source. Days like today, for example. I have a sore throat from having to repeat myself (loudly) so many times. Things like "Stop jumping off the couch" and "If you hit your brother in the head with that rolling pin again"... Ugh. It's days like these that I swear I wonder how it's possible that I have not had a stroke. Or at least how I still can call myself sane.

Since I was at work this morning until 7am, R bundled up the kids and hauled them down to the park to watch the hot air balloons lift off. Unfortunately, they arrived just as the last balloon was floating up, up and away. I'm sure glad I wasn't there to hear the moans and groans of the very disappointed children. So, in an effort to save the day, we took the kids to Gunther Toody's for breakfast. At least we tried to take them for breakfast anyway. Since we were in separate cars, I went ahead of time with the hopes of acquiring a table. A nice gentleman greeted me at the door, smiling brightly. He said "Good morning! Table for one"? I smiled back and said, "No, actually I need a table for 7". Needless to say, his smile faded quickly and he scribbled my name on list, and mentioned that we may not get to sit together and would that be okay? Uh sure, whatever. Just feed me, I am hungry and tired and in need of coffee. Strong coffee. With lots of sugar.

I sit on the shiny bench and wait. And wait. And wait some more. Finally, the front doors burst open and in run my children. I greet them and then look around for R....he walks in some 5 minutes later. (no, not really, it just seemed like it as I had that hungry/tired thing going on) Anyway, after C almost tips over a pinball machine to retrieve the gumball that was 'stuck' inside, J almost trips up a waitress with her arms full of plates of food, Little G and S deciding to play Ring around the Rosey, and C (again) practically jumps on someones table to catch a wayward floating balloon, we decide that it would probably be much better to just go home and eat Fruit Loops, and we run out the door.

In an attempt to reduce our income need, we have started the process of selling our home. It's being looked at by one of those "We Buy Ugly Houses" investors. No, the house isn't ugly, it's just our circumstances that are not so pretty right now. So, if we get the offer we want, we'll be moving. We'll have to rent in order to get the size house (well, almost...) we need and not have an overwhelming mortgage payment. We've always owned our homes (all 2 of them), so renting is something kind of scary! It's disheartening to have it go this far, but there really is nothing on the horizon that gives us any hope of things getting better anytime soon.

I'm going to sign off as I have a very cranky toddler demanding to watch Warryboy. Again.