Uhhhhhhhhh...........

For all family members reading this (Bri;) What goes on the blog, stays on the blog!!





So Tired. So Tired. Every year the same. Does anyone understand what putting a Thanksgiving dinner for 21 people together ALL ALONE and then cleaning it up ALL ALONE is like????? I have to say, Marks mom was the only help I had. She did one of the turkeys and helped with dishes. My dad carved. My mom made gravy. Thats it. Every year I seriously doubt whether this torture is worth it. Technically it wasn't even pot luck, because the stuff people were supposed to bring (except my MIL's turkey) they bailed on and either just didnt bring it or called and asked me to just "get it" for them. They day itself was nice. My tables looked good, my house looked good, the food was great, everyone loved it, we watched football, lalala it was all pretty much perfect. Its in the evening when everyone leaves that it sinks in, I get really tired, then crabby, then pissed, etc. Then Mark gets mad because "dont' do it anymore if it sucks so bad, just stop doing everything" when I'd rather he didn't give me advice like that, it dosen't help after the fact, because every year it seems like it will be different and then I end up in the same situation. Seriously, look up the blog archives for the last 2 Thanksgivings, its quite pathetic! waaa waaa, right??


BUT THEN...............I have to just shut up because seriously, what the heck am I complaining about??? I just gorged myself and 20 other people on a delicious, top of the line feast, washed all my dishes that I own with top of the line dish soap in my dishwasher, plopped on comfy, clean-ish couches in front of a new (inexpensive, yet sufficient) flat screen TV, Sent my hubby off to a secure job that supports us and allows me to be a stay at home mom, Tucked my healthy children into their own individual warm beds, now I am going to go drink a ginormous glass of cold filtered water and snuggle in my own amazingly comfy bed and watch whatever the heck I want until I fall asleep. Everyone had a great time today, My cousin who has been banned from his own home/family activities for heinous drunken behavior( which he has also displayed at my house at past family gatherings..yikes) he was able to come today (sober, thank goodness) and enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with family, and I could tell he appreciated us having enough courage to have him over so he wouldn't be alone today. My uncle Paul was brought from the nursing home that he may or may not live another year in, and although he is a miserable crab I think he enjoyed it,so that was good.
It hit me tonight when I was saying prayers with the kids, that there are a lot of people out there tonight in need (hopefully less tonight that normal, but they are out there, kids included)and I should be pretty ashamed if someone like me is having a pity party. Was it worth all the work?? Mabye not to me personally, but I don't celebrate Thanksgiving for me, I like it because it is the calm before the Christmas storm, I have as much family around as possible, and it helps us all (especially the kids) take a minute and be grateful to our Heavenly Father for the ENORMOUSLY blessed life we all have.

So I guess what I'm saying is that if all I have to complain about that I had to work too hard, I need my head examined. And next Saturday, we are having Turkey day #2 at my parents, and you know what they say.....turnabout is fair play. :D

The usual crazy

I have been such a bad blogger lately, but I just don' t have much else to say other than how I just race from one thing to the next in a controlled frenzy day after day. I am happy to say though that I did start my Christmas shopping yesterday, and I had fun doing that. Christmas is back on, but the kids don't know that yet. I'm sure they know they aren't getting NOTHING but they are such little PUNKS so much of the time. They did get themselves to school on time today without too much yellling from me so that was good. I'm trying to make them more independent and make them pack their own lunches and find their own shoes, stuff like that and they are doing pretty well.

Cade and Cooper are going to Thatcher with my dad tonight (after Cade's football pizza party-YAY I don't have to cook!~)and they are staying until Wednsday morning. They will only have 1 day of school next week. That make-up work is gonna SUCK big time, but oh well. With all my dad puts into the boys and their music I can hardly say no, they can't be in the recital. The recital is Tuesday night, but I can't practice with them like it needs to be done, and my dad is willing to take them and work with them, so thats how it is going to have to be, school isn't going anywhere. I am feeling VERY guilty about not driving up to go to the recital, but my mom says it won't be a big deal if I miss it and I really don't have the time or want to spend 75 bucks in gas to drive the 6 hours round trip to go. It is killing me to stay home, because I hated it when my parents missed stuff I was in but I just can't do everything, so I'm trying to let it go. It should be a nice calm week with only Sadie and the 2 little boys though, I am kinda looking forward to that. Plus Sadie will be gone for half the weekend, as well.

So I'm just doing the stuff I need to do to get my house put together for next Thursday, I am hoping to redecorate my kids bathroom (the one everybody has to use) and get some flowers planted out front as well as all the other horse crap that goes along with getting my stuff together and cooked up. I think we are having about 30 (including kids) which is typical.


I had my PMS meltdown yesterday, hopefully that is out of my system and I can get crack-a-lackin on what needs to be done.

Enjoy Adam Sandler on the playlist! :D

I think I am all back to normal now, I got on top of most of the stuff I was behind on, and although this week has been so busy I have managed it fairly well. I finally got to spend a few hours with Mark, it seems like I haven't seen him or talked to him for months. Its really just been about 3 weeks, but that is a long time to live with someone and not really connect. Every night this week during hte evening when he was home, I had things to be at. Today was a good day, I accomplished lots, including finishing Eclipse!!







That is right, I have read 3 books!! It about killed me that I had to go pick up the kids from school right as Victoria showed up at the end....Torture!!!! LOL WHEN is the next one being released??


Sadly, I have not made it to the gym this week at all, But I will be back in action on monday morning. I have been eating alright, but not in a weight loss sort of way. Mark and I are doing a mini contest to see who can lose 20 pounds the fastest (and no crash dieting, it has to be done right and healthy) so we are weighing in tomorrow. It should be fun. He keeps telling me that he should be my personal trainer and put me through workouts. Ummmmmmm no. I just really haven't ever seen a couple who is really good at working out together. I know they are out there, but I just know a lot of people who have tried it and it always ends bad. So I think we will do some stuff together (we did a jumproping contest before a couple times, and a Guerilla Cardio circuit that kicked our butts) but not on a daily basis, no way. Our schedules are all funky anyway. I hate running with him, his stride is so freakishly long I have to take 5 steps for his every 2. Tonight I made us Salmon, green beans and I gave him a portion of pasta with some marinara since he was leaving for work. Any great suggestions for a prize??? I'm thinking the winner gets a full-body professional massage.

If you are looking for a bit of motivation, Check out this movie trailer. It is being made by some Body for Life guys that we know and it gives me goosebumps every time I see it. I am not sure but I think it is actually coming to theaters, I know they are taking it to Sundance film festival (last I heard) Its not a Bodyfor Life movie, its more a real people story movie, I am DYING to see it!!! Just the trailer about brings me to tears, I love it!

I'm baaaaaack!-Trip recap

It hasn't been going super well, which would explain my lack of posting. My trip, however, was really awesome!!! I got in to Missoula pretty late, and just 2 chapters short of finishing Twilight!! Oh yeah, it was really really good! We stayed a a B&B just outside town, a HUGE house from the 70's, but comfy and gorgeous view. The owner was a french lady who made us a great breakfast, I hadn't eaten more than a bite or two in a couple days so it really hit the spot. And who could argue with dessert for breakfast?? LOL So we headed back to Great Falls and I spent the majority of the time sleeping or just hanging out. It was really cold (for me, anyway) but I managed to stay warm the whole time. It was good to feel some crisp air for a change. The main event was probably the scary cowboy bar we went to to hear our friend Mary Lu sing. It was the "Ramble Inn". LOL It was pretty scary in there, talk about some creepy rednecks, I'm tellin ya. I think they were all named Sea Bass!!! LOL It was like out of a movie or something. Like my moms boyfriend Ron says "It looks like some of those guys haven't seen real people in quite a while". I felt pretty out of my element, I felt like I had a big spotlight over my head with all the wierd looks I was getting. Oh well It was a cultural experience, and I only got asked to dance once, Yikes. The next day we went out shopping and just hanging around, I took another nap of course and then went to bed early. It felt so good to SLEEP uninterupted! Then Monday we went out to the quilt shop and I got to pick material for a quilt that my mom is making me...I am SO excited!! It will be gorgeous. Then I set up a blog for my mom and then it was already time to head back to the airport. It was very low-key and uneventful....which was exactly what I needed!!!! I think my camera batteries are low so I can't get any pics off of it yet but hopefully I will be able to tomorrow.

Like I said, I had a rough first day back yesterday, just overwhelmed with the house that was filthy, a very full week of activities and hair to do, and I ran my car into my closed garage door, so that was pretty bad. And you would think that the kids having me back would be all on their good behavior, but lets just say I lost it last night amd officially cancelled Christmas. So far I haven't seen much of an effort to redeem themselves, so it may be a permanent cancellation.

I have spent the entire day today deep cleaning my house, I'm almost half done so I'm feeling more like myself again. I even put up Thanksgiving decorations (they are kind of lame, but the kids like it) since I was so innocently asked by Ellie yesterday at her piano lesson "Did you forget to take down your Halloween decorations???" LOL I thought it was pretty funny. Things are getting back to normal, and hopefully with some new law enforcement around the house it will be better than before! Santa is definetly keeping tabs on things around here.