Yep, Still a Slacker

Dude, it's 11pm, and I'll do a seriously condensed version of my day, cause the less we linger on my slackerness, the better. It's just embarrassing.

8:56 am - Sue called me, and I pretended that I was already awake, 'cause I was up late again last night. Sue, you did a pretty good rant today. While I agree with the topic, I feel somehow chastised in the crossfire, pickin' up some butt-chewin' vibes off that one, I tell ya, 'cause I was useless today, too. But I exercised and snuggled kids a lot, so I guess I wasn't completely useless. And there was some minor web programming studying, so...
Anyway, got up, turned on the laptop, read email, etc., got up with the kids, bottle for Emma, milk for Connor, etc. Then I dressed for exercise, did my workout, 30 min. on my Gazelle, resistance #2, then took care of kids some more, felt all spunky because the weather has been warmer the past week, and there's only a few tiny patches of snow left in the front yard. So, I busted out the capris and sassy sandles, and fixed my hair. Then, because Gil was home sick with the flu today, I hurried over to the middle school to pay Dani's lunch money bill, sans little children.
12:00 pm - I made the mistake of putting down Emma for a nap, making lunch, and telling myself I could watch an episode of Supernatural while I had lunch. It's my current form of crack, I think, too addicting. It's half serious, half funny, really makes me laugh sometimes. And hey, it has two hot guys saving the world... that's all I'm going to say. The day fell apart after that. And here's the shorthand - all afternoon I was a slug. That's it, no detail needed, although I did a fun photo shoot with Foofie-Loo because she was 9 months old today. Must post that tomorrow.
6:00 pm - went upstairs, grilled some awesome homemade burgers (as opposed to grilled the frozen patties). Dude, some good summer times are comin'. Ran the video back to Smith's. Watched American Idol while I looked through the jewelry books I ordered off Amazon, that came in the mail today. They are luscious, and I better get my butt in gear if I'm going to have any money to play with at the end of next week. Aaarggghh!!!! Sue, you better call me tomorrow and kick my hiney. Anyway, hangin' with the kids, we read scriptures about 8:40 pm, picked up the tv room, got kids in bed, I finished looking through the jewelry books, deciding which ones to keep, and which ones to send back.
11 pm - check email and write my blog post really quick, or at least attempt to.

Food today - Quick list:
12 pm to 2pm - two pieces french toast (Gil begged me to make them, they are his favorite), then I ate my Malt-o-Meal w/ frozen fruit, then about a dozen pieces of Hershey's kisses, a big junkload of tortilla chips and fat-free cottage cheese, water
7 pm - an awesome grilled burger w/ cheese, and about 16 oz. raspberry soda pop, a regular bowl of choc cherry truffle ice cream.

End Post #35, 2009

I Was a Slug Today - Pooh

Sorry, kind of a boring post today, but you know, just trying to keep the habit going.

Time Log -

Okay, I was a TOTAL heathen last night. Stayed up until probably 2:30 am. Totally paid for it today, in loss of productivity. Monkeys.
7:30 am - Emma woke up, I gave her a bottle, she went back to sleep. I stayed up, and studied web programming some more.
9:00 am - Went back to bed. The older kids were up, so I let them be in charge. Emma was still asleep, so was Connor, who's always a slug in the morning.
10:00 am - Woken up by the sound of the garbage truck outside. Was our trash out?!! Yes, I ran and checked. Bless Zen for pulling our big trash can to the curb! I was a total heathen, and went back to bed.
11:05 am - Woke up, didn't have to look at the clock to know I was a lazy slug, so I made myself get up. Checked my email and the family blogs, and started my blog post for the day. Now, I'll throw on some exercise clothes, check in with the kids, and exercise at the rec center.
12:00 pm - finally left the house, went to the rec center. Elliptical for 30 min, level 5 6 & 7 resistance, crossramp 5, 2.33 miles, 353 calories, 3960 strides
12:55 back home - checked in with the kids, talked, ate breakfast, fed Emma & dressed her, I was a TOTAL slug, I watched some episodes of Supernatural. Having the whole season of a show on dvd is addicting, it's like a soap opera, it's hard to stop watching. Pretty much just watched my show, helped kids, and ate too muh food. Sigh...
4:25 pm - drove Gil to the movie theater to see a movie with his friends, realized I needed to hurry and pack some eBay orders to ship. Got that done in the nick of time before the post office closed at 5:00pm, walked in there at 4:59 pm. Yikes! Then I went to Smith's to get milk, came home put groceries away, helped kids. Connor is seriously developing into a pouter. He's developing a stereotypical middle-child syndrome of doing stuff to get some attention in a busy house-hold. He often smacks my arm to get my attention, or will even chuck a sipper at me, if he's not getting any response out of his Mom. Believe me, he gets in trouble for that, but I do kind of feel sorry for him. I know I don't respond fast enough sometimes because my head is in the clouds. He's mad at me today, because he got chewed out twice, but didn't get enough playtime from Mommie (because Mommie was a slug today), and says that I "fired" him, and this morning told me I "beat" him. Sigh... I definitely hurt his feelings. Poor guy. Anyway, after Smith's I also checked my email, updated my blog post, studied web programming some more.
6:30 pm - Gil called me to pick him up, I got distracted at my laptop, and he called me again, oops, we stopped & picked up slurpees, after we got home, I made dinner (easy nachos), put Emma in bed for the night at 7:30, we watched a movie I rented, City of Ember, it was okay, Emma woke up about half way through the movie, we picked up the tv room, me & Dani had a big blowup over something minor, boy do we need to go to bed, we read scriptures, and now I'm at the laptop
10:05 pm - finishing blog post, I think I'll just go to bed, and see if I can reset my brain for tomorrow. Some days just suck. I think it didn't help that I forgot my meds last night. I'm giggling right now, because that makes me sound crazy.

Okay, I know these blog posts are getting too long, but I've got to do a little intervention on myself for a few weeks, until I can get back into the groove of eating healthy. Summer is just around the corner, and there are too many cute summer clothes in a size 16, even 14, just waiting for me out there. I have to get ready. So, here's my food intake for the day. I'm not going so far as to measure and weigh things (as if I had all the time in the universe), but it gives me a good idea of the types of foods I'm eating and when -
11 to 1 pm - about 24 oz. water
1 pm to 3 pm - bowl of Strawberry Awake cereal (generic Total w/dried strawberries) w/2% milk (1% all gone), then two dinner roll sandwiches (1 thin-slice ham & 1 provolone slice cheese, Miracle Whip), 5 E.T. Munchies cookies, shared a fat-free pudding w/Emma, 1 apple (yep, I pigged out)
(totally ate about 1/3 box oatmeal choc chip ice cream last night, soooo good, and I almost bought another box at Smith's today, but I resisted)
7:30 pm - regular plate of nachos (tortilla chips, turkey chili, cojack cheese), 12 oz. slurpee, about four or five chips of Dani's left over
10:00 pm - planning on drinking lots of water before bed.

End Post #34, 2009

Every Girl Needs Her Own Space

I'm going to shorthand the daily log a lot tonight. It's nearly midnight, and I just can't spend the time on this that I usually do, but I'll do what I can.

Time Log -

Confession - I probably stayed up past one last night watched more episodes of Supernatural than I should have. But, I did get my Sunday nap, so I'm good.
7:00 am - wake up, get in the shower, we all got ready for church, fixed Zen's pants
9:00 am - at church, we pulled into the parking lot, and it seemed like half the cars weren't there. Three-day weekend for the kids is all we could think of. Yeah, I've got all the heathens home tomorrow. I don't know if that's a good thing, or bad thing, productivity-wise. I'll probably exercise at the rec center tomorrow.
Church was good, it usually is, but it went fast today, for some reason, I think because I was glad to be there. Being where you're supposed to be, doing the right thing, letting yourself feel love for the members of your ward, it's a good feeling.
12:10 pm - home, everyone emfh for lunch. I looked at things on my computer. Good to see you on the blog, Katie! Man, I should check the family blogs before I go to bed. Got Emma & Connor changed out of their church clothes, hung out with the kids, fed Emma, all that sort of post-church thing. I looked up Pres. Monson's talk for next week, when I've got to teach the Relief Society lesson. The talk is from last Conference, called "Finding Joy Along the Way." It's a whole "stop and smell the roses" kind of thing, appreciate your family, feel gratitude for your blessings everyday. I'm actually looking forward to teaching it. I can't believe it. Usually, the idea of teaching fills me with dread. A lot of lessons are "get your act together, already" kind of things. Not that we don't need it, boy do we need it. But sometimes, you can let it get to you, take away a negative feeling of, "I'm not worthy" or "I'm not good enough, why bother?" If you're in a bad place emotionally, church can be a hard thing to swallow, because sometimes you're not strong enough for a chewing-out, and you'd rather have a pick-me-up. So, I get to have a "Rah-rah-rah-let's-go-team" kind of lesson next Sunday. I think I'll talk about my bout with depression, and form it in my mind like I'm talking to myself three years ago, what would I say that would be helpful. I think it's going to be good. You know how everyone usually makes bookmarks, or has a cool object lesson, or something. My plan is to use up these buckets of paper scraps I've got stashed away, and diecut a monkey-load of cards people can glue together real quick, and give notes to someone. You know, a way to make a connection maybe they haven't made in a while, or something.
1:45 pm - Nap time, baby. And it was good. Man, I love having older kids with these babies. I get to take naps sometimes, go shopping by myself, where if they were all close together, I wouldn't get to do that.
4:00 pm - Home teacher came by (yes, by appointment), dragged myself out of bed
4:40 pm - went to choir practice, lovin' choir. Sometimes, when I've been away from ward choir for a while, getting back into it seems like such a drag, a sacrifice of time I don't want to make. But I feel like I've been blessed with a good singing voice, and that I have an obligation to share it. Not that I'm the greatest singer or anything, but it's good enough for ward choir, and I do a good job, so it's my way of showing Heavenly Father my appreciation for the joy I feel when I sing, for the joy of all kinds of music.
5:30 pm - back home, start making dinner. Made individual plates of red enchiliadas, got to remember to put more sauce on them next time, but still, they were good:


The rest of the night (here's the shorthand, I guess) - looked up templates, talked to Zen, who went to bed early because he's got a 2am yard call. We read scriptures with him about 7:30, when he was going to bed. We all gathered on our bed with him, but all the kids were so rowdy, jumping and wrestling. I don't know, it reminds me of the John Denver song, "Grandma's Featherbed." I looked at more website templates, trying to get some of the things working. I used the excuse it was for redesigning my blog (that's okay on Sunday, right?), which is true, but it will also benefit my business, too. Hey, if anyone needs a website template, I'm licensed to do website projects with this stuff for up to 50 clients/projects. You can take a look at www.dreamtemplate.com. And yes, Sue, I paid real money for the privelege. Jeez, the money police. You're no fun!

Lastly, here are some pics of Dani, in her new little workspace in her bedroom. I talked about it yesterday, but forgot to take pics, so I made up for that today:

A view from her bed - Dani and her own little space, with a stack of supplies right at hand.

Dani, braiding bracelets.

Somehow, I think Granddad would be proud, even if it looks a little girly.

Connor busted up our picture session by jumping on the bed, and then Dani joined him. One word - "Joy!"

Crud, that wasn't a short post at all was it? Oh, well.

End Post #33, 2009

Sometimes Home Improvements Are Just Stupid

Time Log -
12:45 am - turned off the light, and went to bed
6:10 am - Emma woke up, gave her a bottle, & put us both back to bed
8:30 am - woke up, thought about my day, got up & dressed to go to the rec center, started my time log blog post for the day, helped the kids
9:15 am - got to the rec center, did my workout on the elliptical today, 30 min., 2.36 miles (I think), 3880 strides, 336 calories, crossramp level 1, did resistance 5 for a while, then resistance 7.
10:00 am - back home, Foofie was still asleep, decided she needed to wake up, so we opened her door, helped kids, I changed & dressed her, fed her, ate breakfast, played with Connor, started & switched some laundry ("Saturday is a Special Day..."), studied programming on my laptop, put my foot down hard on Dani, who wanted to go shopping for new clothes. Apparently, the stuff we bought three or four months ago doesn't "look good" on her anymore, and she only wears about three different outfits these days. While she washes them frequently, I'm surprised she hasn't complained about being mocked at school for wearing the same thing all the time. She moped around excessively, begging to have some of my craft supplies, so I decided to do something nice for her, and I helped Dani set up a card table in her room so she could have a crafting space of her own. She learned how to braid friendship bracelets this week at Activity Days, so she set to work on that project.
12:00 pm - put Emma down for a nap, more laptop, laundry
12:30 pm - showered, dressed, got Connor ready to go to a Barnyard birthday party, where the kids were invited to wear cowboy boots:

No cowboy boots, but this did pretty well. This was something I picked up at the Factory Outlet Mall in Park City at our last Girl's Weekend. It was on clearance, and I bought it, thinking it would be great for playclothes, or a Halloween costume.

1:10 pm - got to the party, stayed for a while, then I went to Home Depot. I had this bright idea that I was going to install a hose with some kind of sprayer attachment for our shower, so it would be way easier to clean the shower. I bought the right attachment for $19, then went home to install it. It was supposed to be EASY. Just unscrew the showerhead, screw on the adapter, then screw the showerhead back on. Wah-lah! But no, I BROKE the shower head trying to get it off because I turned it too hard the wrong way, and because it was plastic, it snapped in half. Aaarrgghhhh!!! !*@#*#^% Monkeys! I took the pieces back to Home Depot, hoping to salvage it. Home Depot plumbing specialist said I could try this epoxy stuff, but it was going to be iffy. Bought it, then went to get Connor.
2:45 pm - I picked up Connor from the party, and went home to apply the epoxy. It's like playdough, you mush the two colors together, and press it on the broken parts. It set up fast. The adapter piece that came with my hose kit was too short on the end for the showerhead, so while the epoxy set up, I went back to Home Depot to get something that would extend the length of the 1/2" male-end pipe fitting coming off the adapter. Connor had lots of fun riding the trolley cart around Home Depot, but when it was time to go, he wanted to stay, and he tried to hide in the shelves. Here are some pics with my ancient cell phone:

Connor is hiding in the shelves.

"No, I don't want to go home, I want to live at Home Depot!" He didn't say that, but I know it's what he was thinking.

When I got back home, and put everything together, the showerhead snapped right off. Now I have to throw in the towel, and just pony up for a new shower head. Darn it! I really liked that wide showerhead, it made for very nice showers. I'm not looking forward to telling Zen I broke the shower. I thought I was going to be so clever, and show him the new hose attachment when he got back from Man Camp tonight. "See, look what I installed all by myself!" Now I have to say, "See, look what I broke all by myself!" A new showerhead like the one I broke is going to cost about $35. My $20 home improvement has turned into a $60 home improvement:

This was before I messed with it.

This is the broken piece, which the epoxy couldn't hold. Pooh!

Here's the new hose & sprayer attachment, waiting for a new showerhead.

4:40 pm - back at the laptop, Where has my day gone? It's almost 5pm, and I was going to spend ALL DAY on updating my website programming skills. Stupid shower! Stupid me!!
5:55 pm - done writing my blog post up to this point, now I'll go back to studying website programming. I'm not going to bed tonight until I have something to show for it.
6:50 pm - after much nagging from kids, I made dinner, - Philly Steak & Cheese Paninis


8:00 pm - back on my laptop, checking out website templates at www.dreamtemplate.com. Check 'em out, there's some pretty cool stuff on there!
8:30 pm - Zen came home and after asking why I messed with the shower, he said, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" But I'm still glad I have a hose to help me clean the shower, so "Thppppttt!!!" He didn't care about picking out a new showerhead, so I ran to Home Depot and picked out a new one. After his shower, he said, "Well, I declare it okay. In fact, it's as good, if not better, than the old one." Gilean took a shower, too, before bedtime, and he concurred. I feel vindicated, sort of.

Showerhead installed. The valve on the side is where I can attach the hose sprayer to clean the shower stall. Why didn't I just purchase a showerhead/hose combo? 'Cause I don't like 'em. The showerhead I picked is sexier, and more awesome. Now don't bug me about it.

Front view of new showerhead. It's a full-body output of water. Refreshing!

9:25 pm - read scriptures with kids, put everyone to bed, back on my laptop looking at more templates
10:55 pm - go to bed, but will watch one episode of Supernatural

End Post #32, 2009

More Productive Today - Tomorrow, Here I Come!

Time Log -
Hey, Emma slept through the night. Hallelujah!
6:00 am - alarm went off, lazed around
6:30 am - finally got up, got dressed to work out, put the resistance up another slot, to #2, on my Gazelle, did 30 min.
7:20 am - done with workout, then I folded whites & socks, took a shower, got dressed, turned on computer upstairs, Emma got up, snuggled & fed her a bottle, checked my email, helped Connor get dressed, cooked my breakfast (Malt-o-Meal, trying to eat healthier), work on my website
9:40 am - stop, fold Emma's clothes, dress her, get us out the door
10:05 am - at my foot appointment. Doc says it's one of three things - a bruise, bursitis (inflammation of a fluid-filled sac), or strained ligaments/tendons. So, I'm supposed to take an inti-inflammatory and do stretches for the next two weeks, then see what happens.
Next, we went to Wal-Mart to pick up my prescription & groceries
11:55 am - back home, put away groceries, decided to make cookies, an epic cookie-making session ensued, made pumpkin choc chip cookies, & E.T. Munchies. Took pictures of baby's toes for a blog post.

Mmm.... I'm not going to tell you now many cookies I ate today. No wonder I can't get rid of those 10 lbs. I gained over the holidays. Yikes!

Emma's piggies and her lovely babyness deserve a post all their own, which I'm working on, but this will do for now.

2:45 pm - back on the computer to research my website
3:35 pm - remembered 3:30 appt to pick up my new "robotic" Z-Coil shoes, race over there and pick them up. See?! -
Funky, but still cool in a weird sort of way. And they are SHPROOOOINGY! It's called "energy return." My feet feel better already. I wear them all around the house, up and down the stairs a gazillion times.

4:15 pm - back home, help kids, get package ready to mail, go to post office, go to library
5:05 pm - back home, start water boiling for pasta, back on laptop downstairs, cook dinner (mini penne w/meat spaghetti sauce, garlic bread, salad), help kids clean up for Gil's party, feed Emma, eat dinner
7:20 pm - back downstairs, I researched website programming for the rest of the night, as well as monitoring Gil's movie party, and helping Connor & Emma
They did this fun thing where they muted the movie, and the boys took various characters in the movie, and made up their own dialog. It was kind of funny. We could attempt that at Girls' Weekend with some really cheesy movie that needs to be mocked (Weird Science, Sue?), kind of reminiscent of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (obscure reference.) Anyway, the girls just giggled and laughed at the boys. But listening to young teenage boys giggle is like listening to Beavis & Butthead. It's a laugh riot all its own.

I put Emma to bed around 10pm, then got Connor ready for bed, and let him watch a movie in Gil's room, and he crashed. After dinking around the help section at HostMonster, I finally emailed tech support, and they directed me to a website called www.w3schools.com. I feel like singing the Hallelujah Chorus! Aaah, relief, I can finally update my web skills in an easy-to-learn format. Now I can make some progress. I'm not as far along as I want to be, but I can feel in my gut this is going to be good.
11:57 pm - quitting for the night, going to indulge in an episode of Supernatural, then go to bed. Aahhhh...

End Post #31, 2009

Finally Started Working on My Website

Going to try to get this blog post done earlier today, so I can get to bed on time, and maybe get up early tomorrow. Maybe I will be more productive that way.

Time Log -
Midnight last night - to bed
2 am - Emma woke up, I put her binky in her mouth, back to bed
3:30 am - She woke up again, same thing, back to bed
4:00 am or so - She woke up, would not be comforted, so I picked her up, and we had a hard time on the couch, she fidgeted a lot, could not get comfortable, she has a hacking, wheezing noise going on now, if there's another night of this, we'll go to the doctor
5 am ? - I took her to my bed, and eventually we both fell asleep
9:15 am - we got up (yes, the older two children got themselves off to school), gave her a bottle & the boob tube, went downstairs to check email, and looked at Wilton products online, started blog post
9:50 am - do laundry, change Emma's diaper, dress her, sat down to make her a purple binky clip to match her outfit (sometimes you just want to be pretty, even at home), but I gave myself a mental slap and told myself to not get distracted, went downstairs to exercise
10:50 to 11:20 am - exercised on Gazelle, think I will try a higher resistance next time, it might be getting too easy
11:20 am - get Connor some food, wash dishes (this means I wash the big pans, Dani & Gil are the dishwasher loaders and undloaders), feed Emma, put some of the food away, make my breakfast
12:05 pm - sit down at the upstairs computer to file some of my email, and get started on my website, probably wasted 20 min on some British news website
12:50 pm - change Foofie's blow-out diaper, take the dirty laundry downstairs, this inspires me to do the whites, which makes me want to take a shower, so I can put those dirty whites in the laundry, I got showered & dressed, went back upstairs, put Emma down for a nap
1:30 pm - back on the computer
2:05 pm - can't keep my eyes open, ate some lunch, then laid down on the couch
3:15 pm - Emma woke up, so I tried to be productive again, got distracted by looking at more nostalgic teen flicks on Amazon, Dani & Gil are home, help Emma & Connor
3:55 pm - downstairs to my laptop to see if I can get some more done, help kids off & on, it was a hard fight to not go to my bed for a nap, but was able to start on figuring out my website. I'm starting from scratch this time, but using an online server called HostMonster, who provides a lot of support. The last time I had a website, and learned programming, was a shocking six to seven years ago, and of course, I've run into problems on eBay because my knowledge of website programming is so out of date. So, I wanted to get a website with someone who would give me support, and HostMonster is one of the highest-rated webhosting servers out there. But there's a learning curve, so it's going to take me some time to figure it out.

This is what I need a website to do:

1. Host picture files - Ebay can do this, but because I need a website for other issues, why pay eBay a separate fee to host my stuff?
2. Host files - Files that other people can dowload, mainly free cutting files for my Pazzles Inspiration (oooh! which I need to bring to Girls' Weekend!!). Blogspot won't host files for download, just pics and videos.
3. If I get to do what I want to do in the long run, have a branded product that I pay someone else to produce, then I want to reserve my brandname on the Internet - Becky's Craftroom, so my website is beckyscraftroom.com, but all you get so far is an underconstruction page.
4. Besides, the cost of HostMonster is only about $5 a month, you have to pay it all up front (I subscribed to three years), but my website is paid for three years now (yes, Sue, I paid real money for it, earned with my Pazzles profits), and the customer support is awesome.
5. Craft blog - yes, I already have a beckyscraftroom.blogspot.com, but again, I can't really do what I want to do - downloadable files such as Pazzles cutting files or Photoshop files to offer to customers. But with my own website blog, I can do this.

7:00 pm - went visiting teaching, Connor begged and puppy-dog-faced me, so I took him, and he was as much of a spaz as you'd expect.
8:30 pm - back home, talked to kids, hugged baby, then we read scriptures, and we all pitched in to pick up the tv room (Yeay!! the upstairs looks pretty clean!), I fed Emma, then bathed her, got Connor ready for bed, put Emma to bed, read story to Connor
9:45 pm - back downstairs to my computer, talked to Sue on the phone, worked on my blog post
10:30 pm - I'm going to bed, so I can get up early and exercise, maybe I will get some more work done.

End Post #30, 2009

Where Does the Time Go?

Sooooo, was my post yesterday just too raunchy? Only Sue commented, but thank goodness I can count on her not to be offended by my less-than-perfectness, and sometimes-crudeness. But she was the only one, so now I'm nervous. Hey, at least I didn't post any real porn. Then you could all gang up on me and tell me I'm going to hell. Okay, I should just shut up now, and move on.

Sue, did you get your package yet? If not, when you get it, read the card first, then open the plastic bag at the bottom. It's all about the sequence. I think it will be funnier that way.

Also, should I attempt to go to the Scrapbook Expo and Gem Expo next weekend? I'd like to, but Zen won't be here to watch the kids, and I'd probably better not goof off anyway, and I'd probably spend way too much money, but I want to go. Hmmm...

Time Log -
Foofie-Loo woke up again last night, around 1:30 am , but I got her back to sleep quickly.
6:45 am - She woke up, and I thought I'd get her back to sleep, but no. So I got up, gave her a bottle and the boob tube, put Dani in charge, and went back to bed.
8:30 am - woken up by the phone, so I got up, and hung out with baby for a little while. Then I checked my email.
9:45 to 10:15 am - 30 min on the Gazelle
10:15 am to 10:45 am - messing around, looking at stuff on Amazon
10:45 am to 11:45 am - checking the laundry, feeding Emma, taking care of kids, etc.
11:45 am to 12:25 pm - my visiting teachers came, glad I was here
12:25 pm to 1:30 pm - showered, dressed, then left to run errands
1:30 pm - dropped fleece blankets off to Debra Foxley, went to Wal-Mart, picked up Allison's Pantry order from Irene Weber, back home
2:30 pm - unload groceries, put food away, started the roll dough for dinner, made grilled cheese for Connor
3:20 pm - came downstairs, got back on computer, ordered dvds from Amazon for our Girls' Weekend. Yahoo! Started blog post
4:00 pm - go upstairs to start mashed potatoes for roast dinner, washed dishes, made the rolls & set them in the oven to rise
4:55 pm - back downstairs to check the family blogs
5:15 pm - back upstairs to turn on the oven, pop the frozen corn in the microwave, thicken the meat drippings into gravy, drain the potatoes, mash them with the mixer, then run out the door to ice skating lessons.
5:30 pm - race out the door (always late but worth the wait), on the ice by 5:38 pm, my instructor, Larry, good guy, said I've gone just about as far as I can in the adult classes, which is geared towards beginners, and that I should think about joining some of the more advanced classes with the kids. That means that I'd be in the same class with Dani, but she insists that I take a class at a different time than her.
6:45 pm - leave the rink, and go back home, cut the strawberries & sugar them for strawberry shortcake, find Connor in the backyard & take pictures of him playing in the patch of snow still left in the back yard:
Does this mean he wishes winter would last longer, or that spring would get here sooner so he could play in the backyard? I think spring.

Then, I read the Family Blogs some more. Stopped and put a strawberry shortcake together and ate it while I blogged some more:
This is one of the scones from last night.
This is the scone with strawberries & whip cream on top. We could have these at Girls' Weekend. Yummm...

Connor kept interrupting my blogging by sitting on my lap looking at everyone's pictures. He complained and nagged at me everytime I clicked away from the pictures to post a comment. I tried to be patient, but eventually I kicked him out so I could get done.
At around 9:00 pm we read scriptures, I fed baby (who woke up about 8:00pm from a late nap), then I got a phone call from someone asking me to teach the Relief Society lesson on March 22nd. I wasn't excited about accepting, but I felt like I should. Hey, at least it wasn't Gospel Doctrine. I barely dodged THAT bullet a few months ago. Then I did Foofie's laundry. It takes 20 min to look through all her clothes and stain-spray the messy spots. I've been procrastinating this for several days, and finally did it tonight when I pulled the last clean pair of jammies out of her drawer. I'm totally anal about stains on clothes. I hate to see clothes ruined, but then I wonder how much money we spend on soap, water, & electricity/gas washing our clothes over time? Then I bathed Emma, and put her to bed.
10:35 pm - now I'm back at my computer, determined to finish the family blogs, no matter how late I'm up. I feel bad that everyone reads mine, but I haven't read everyone else's. I'll have to get better about that.
11:45 pm - finished the family blogs, I sent an invoice to an eBay customer, emailed everyone about Girls' Weekend, now I'm going to bed. Happy Birthday Sedona!! You're a cutie!

End Post #29, 2009