Strummin' On The Old Banjo...

... I mean guitar.

We took a break from what will go down in history as the "Jello Fiasco" to go celebrate Memorial Day at my brother's house. He had told us that he had Guitar Hero for his Wii, and I was less than interested. But then I saw it... and I had to try it... and gosh darn it, I'm hooked.

Now I have to add it to the "Things I Want That Cost Several Hundred Dollars" list.

Seriously, it is so much fun! I waaaaaaaaant one!

J-E-L-L-O!

We are currently experimenting with vasts amounts of Jello at our house. It's all in the name of science - well, sort-of. The truth is, we are in the process of making the Incredible Edible Jellyfish.

I've already mentioned that we need to make a jellyfish costume - but that is not all, no that is not all. We are also required to make an edible version of the sea creature. What would be a more perfect medium than Jello?

Pictures will hopefully be available on Friday morning (the big event is Thursday night), but if I don't post before then, it is because I am trapped in Jello. Send help!

I'm not kidding - have you ever in your life had to make a Jello mold that involves approximately 40 cups of the wiggly-jiggly colorful, sticky, gelatinous stuff?

Wish us luck.

Clothes, Clothes and MORE Clothes!

I have been drowning in clothes. They are everywhere; piled throughout the house. Some are clean, some are not. Some fit, some don't. It's been overwhelming.

Last night I informed The King that we were having a "Clothes Party" tonight. I told him I needed his help to get the clothes under control.

So, after dinner, we started making the girls try on every article of clothing that they own. The girls decided that we weren't really having a party - we were actually having a fashion show! (Hey, whatever works!) 2 hours later (with about 30 minutes in breaks), we managed to get through about 80% of the clothes.

The good news is that The Princess doesn't require as many clothes as I thought she would. Probably two pairs of shorts for the summer, maybe one new shirt for occasions where she needs something nicer than play clothes. I can totally deal with that. She will need more when school starts, but I won't buy those until August because otherwise she will outgrow them before summer is over.

The Dragon has a lot of clothes too. But while she seems to have plenty of long-sleeved shirts, I think we are severely lacking in the t-shirt department. Thankfully, I can get several of those for a good price at Wal-Mart or Target. Of course, I still have more clothes to go through tomorrow, so this could change. We'll see...

As for The King and I - we didn't have to model our clothes for anyone. I could definitely use some new shirts. So many of mine have small holes in them, or are stained beyond belief. And I would REALLY love to find a great pair of sandals.

The King hasn't mentioned his requirements yet, but I imagine he could use one or two new articles of clothing.

Since The Dragon's last day of school was today, and The Princess only has a half-day of school on Thursday, followed by a long weekend, I think I will be spending most of the weekend shopping. Could be fun!

How About A Little More Of The Story?

I think the hardest part about blogging is telling the whole story. It is so hard to tell the most painful parts of your life - I really don't know how other bloggers do it. I realize, of course, that this is not a requirement of blogging. But sometimes it seems to me that if I were to put it all out there to begin with, I'd avoid a lot of confusion in the first place.

Some people have picked up on the fact that I have been extremely on edge lately. I anger easily. I'm very tired, stressed, and overwhelmed. Some of these feelings are almost "normal" for me. But right now, you should probably take those "normal" feelings and multiply it by ten. That would probably be closer to how I really feel.

Sometime during the end of March, my Dad started talking about leaving my Mom. Again. The first time this happened was about 7 years ago. I was pregnant at the time, wasn't feeling well, and really couldn't handle this news very well. Everything was up in the air for a long time. And then, finally, he left.

It was the week before The Princess' baptism.

The day before The Princess' baptism was the day I started to lose Nemo.

And my Dad completely lost his mind.

As you know, I miscarried. I don't blame my Dad for this (even though it's tempting - I would love to be able to blame someone for this), nor do I blame anyone else. But man, the timing sure sucked.

Well, since then, I've been playing this stupid game where the object of the game is not to tell The Princess and The Dragon that Grandpa moved out of Grandma's house. It's been challenging, but we've managed it. For several weeks, I held out hope that maybe my Dad would change his mind and come home. It was possible. After all, he'd done this before. I figured that if everything went back to normal, the girls wouldn't need to know about it.

I also thought (and still strongly believe) that it was my Dad's responsibility to break the news to his family. He still hasn't. For that matter, he has offered everyone an explanation of his logic... everyone except me and my family. I'll admit it, there's a pretty big grudge being held here. But if you have the balls to leave your wife, then you should have the balls to tell people what you are doing and why.

Today we told the girls about Grandma and Grandpa. They seemed to handle it well, but I think their true reaction will show itself in the coming weeks. They do know that their Grandma and Grandpa still love them very much, and I suppose that is a good thing. We went to dinner tonight with everyone but Grandpa. Everything seemed fine until I overheard a little voice saying "I wish Grandpa were here."

I love The King and our two beautiful little girls. Sometimes I think they are all I need in life. As long as we are together, I have all that I could ever possibly need. I'm so sorry that they are getting the worst parts of me right now. But right now, I really don't have anything left to give.

Deep? Well, I Like It Anyway...

What though the radiance which was once so bright
Be now for ever taken from my sight,
Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind;
In the primal sympathy
Which having been must ever be;
In the soothing thoughts that spring
Out of human suffering;
In the faith that looks through death,
In years that bring the philosophic mind.

From Intimations of Immortality
- William Wordsworth

Almost Over (... until NEXT year)

The last two weeks have been rather nightmarish for a variety of reasons.

One of those reasons has been ballet. But it's almost over!

Tonight, The Princess will be dancing her recital piece, and tomorrow afternoon, The Dragon will be dancing her recital piece.

I am very excited to see them perform (I am one proud Queen!), but I will also be happy to not have to worry about ballet for a couple of weeks... until they start taking lessons again for the months of June and July.

There won't be any "big" performances until this time next year... what a relief!

If you live in the area, I tried to send you an e-mail invite. If you didn't get it, you are still invited. Admission is free, no tickets are required - just contact me to get the exact "when and where" info. Might be a fun family activity... if you enjoy ballet. :)

Clarification...

[SPOILER ALERT! The last paragraph of my post reveals the winner of Survivor, so if you don't want to know who won, I recommend that you stop reading now. Don't even tempt fate! But if you do, don't say I didn't warn you!]

My Mother's Day wasn't ideal. Let's face it, it almost always looks better on TV than it is in real life. BUT, that being said, it wasn't necessarily The King's fault. I've been informed that it's my job to fill-him-in, give him clues, tell him what I want. I have done this in the past, particularly with Christmas, where I have gone as far as purchasing my own gifts (I refuse to wrap them however). He could've taken some more initiative, I suppose, but really, he was NOT the reason why my Mother's Day sucked.

What would've made a nice Mother's Day? Being able to sleep in, for one. Maybe having breakfast made for me. Unfortunately, those things aren't feasible when you have church at 9 AM. I was up at 7:00 to make sure that I and the girls were ready for church. The King works hard, and I was so exhausted from my long and tiring Friday and Saturday, he had to "take charge" all Saturday night, because I was basically unconscious by 7 pm. That's a pretty incredible Mother's Day gift in and of itself - especially since it involved making sure that both girls were bathed before they went to bed. With all the work he put in on Saturday (not to mention a day spent out in the garden - more on that later), I would've felt bad for him if he had been up at the crack of the dawn cooking an incredible breakfast and getting the girls all ready for me, so perhaps I could've slept an extra 45-minutes to an hour.

As far as flowers go... in a way, he DID get me flowers for Mother's Day. I mentioned that I went shopping for flowers on Friday. I don't think I told you how many I bought. All together I purchased 102 individual plants (and I only spent $23.13 including tax). I believe 21 of them went to my Mom for Mother's Day, and I planted 6 of them into a hanging basket on my front porch. That left SEVENTY-FIVE plants that needed to go into the garden. Guess what I don't enjoy doing? Planting, gardening, weeding, etc, etc, etc. Guess who planted all SEVENTY-FIVE plants for me? The King. Is that not an incredible gift? I think it is. It REALLY is.

The Dragon gave me a hug and a kiss. She CLEARLY thought that she had given me the best gift ever imaginable. It definitely WAS quite fantastic.

The Princess gave me a collection of items - the best of which is a coupon that says "I will clean the house. (Only One Time)" Do I kill her now and hand it to her after school, or do I hang onto it until she is 16? *ponders*

Even Nemo gave me a present for Mother's Day. The forget-me-nots were in full bloom, and the one lone tulip that is planted by him burst forth into a beautiful blossom.

But Nemo... there's where it hurts. I was doing OK, up until Mother's Day. And even then, in the morning, I was doing OK. But I went to church, and someone chose today to announce their pregnancy - and of course, she had a due date close to when our little Nemo should've arrived. It hurt. I know it wasn't intentional - she is not someone I ever talk to, she wouldn't even know about my miscarriage (or pregnancy) - but it still hurt. I would've left the room, but I play the piano in Relief Society, and since I was still stuck there, I couldn't exactly leave. I realize that some people would say that I can't begrudge someone else the happiness that they feel because of their pregnancy - and 'some people' would be right. But it doesn't change the fact that it still hurts. Church is REALLY hard for me right now anyway - everyone is pregnant. Starting in March, there is AT LEAST one baby being born every month. I was supposed to be November. I was taking comfort in the fact that there would be a gaping hole there - I never imagined being replaced. But I was. And on Mother's Day no less. And it hurt.

The other difficult part of Mother's Day was that my kids chose to fight all during Church. I know I am not alone on this one! My mood was shot by the time we finally made it out the parking lot, and since my kids were now fighting about how to climb into the car - many of my neighbors got to hear me yell "Get in the car RIGHT NOW before I decide to RUN YOU OVER." Yeah, good times!

The Church also gave all the Mother's a small box of chocolates. I was in such a foul mood, I inhaled them in a matter of seconds when I got home. I honestly couldn't even tell you what they tasted like at this point. So much for savoring and enjoying them. They were the good kind too.

So... there you have it. The story of why my Mother's Day sucked. It really wasn't THAT bad... but I really was struggling with the "what could've been" yesterday, and it kind-of made the day not-so-great. Sure, a card would've been nice... but would it have changed a sucky-day to a GREAT day? I'm not so sure. My husband loves me, and he does a lot of things for me on days that aren't ALL ABOUT ME. And I love him for that.

Besides, I got to order pizza for dinner... and I ordered the kind *I* wanted... ham & pineapple with breadsticks to boot. And I ordered hot wings for The King. Yum.

Maybe the REAL reason that Mother's Day sucked was that stupid Parvati had to win Survivor. BLAH!

Mother's Day...

... it sucked.

The End.

My Day

6:00 The alarm goes off
6:09 The alarm goes off again, and I get up.
6:12 I wake up The Princess, and go "boot" laundry.
6:20 Start brushing The Princess' hair to make it pretty for ballet this afternoon.
6:45 Finish The Princess' hair, help her get dressed, give her breakfast, some of which is portable so she can take it on the bus.
6:52 Head for the bus stop.
7:02 Back home, work on the preschool scrapbook project.
7:50 Feed The Dragon breakfast, get her dressed and ready for the day. Work on laundry, preschool scrapbook, and other tasks until...
8:45 Leave for preschool "photo session".
9:00 Sit and wait for kids to show up so I can take their picture.
10:00 No kids showed up. We leave the school.
10:20 Arrive home and attempt to reboot laundry, but can't find the girls dance leotards.
10:45 Dance leotards found and are placed in the wash.
11:00 Head to Sutherland's to buy flowers and tomatoes.
12:30 Head to McDonald's for a quick lunch.
1:00 Head home to get girls ready for dance class (and put leotards for dance class in the dryer!)
1:45 Leave for dance class.
2:00 Ooh and Ahh over really cute girls performing ballet.
3:00 Head to Wal-Mart in pursuit of "Wave Petunias" and a few other miscellaneous items.
3:45 Head home!
4:00 Plant newly acquired "Wave Petunias" into hanging baskets.
4:45 Water petunias and watch them prompty turn into drowned rats!
5:00 Look at petunias again and they are perky and smiley and overall, happy.
5:30 The King arrives home and I show him all the rest of the flowers he gets to plant.
5:45 Talk on the phone to multiple people in a very short amount of time.
6:15 Start people working on their dinner. I don't claim to have "cooked dinner" - we each had different things, all of which was completely microwaveable.
6:40 The King leaves to go gaming.
6:45 Told the girls we had 15-minutes to do whatever we want.

7:00... I will be directing the girls in a very quick and dirty clean up. The The Princess will be taking a shower. Then they might have a few more minutes to play. Then they will be gong to bed. At 9:00 my SIL is coming over to scrapbook. Between 9:30 and 10:00 I will be leaving to go to the airport to pick up my Mom. I will then return home and do more scrapbooking. I also have to write down "the plan" for tomorrow (yet another really crazy day), plus sew straps and wings on to one dance costume. JOY!

What did YOU do today?

Busy

Really, the title says it all.

I keep taking on project after project, when really, I should just say NO! Except I can't say no. Wanna know why? It's because nobody asks me to do these projects - I create them all by myself. Ugh.

My latest project is a scrapbook for The Dragon's preschool teachers. The thing is, I wanted to make one for The Dragon (because I made one for her sister), and since I'm doing it digitally, it really isn't any more work to create four than it is to create one. The only difference is, instead of having years for me to simply dream about this wonderful scrapbook, I have less than a week to have it completed so that it can be printed in time. Yikes!

So, if you feel neglected, know that you are loved and thought of often. I am just BUSY!

Please Vote For Lara!

My friend Lara of Overstuffed entered a photo contest and was selected as one of the finalists. She is now in the running for a $1000 prize!

The winner is determined by whose photo gets the highest number of votes (yep, it's a popularity contest). I'm begging you (and so is she) to please go vote for her if you have a minute. Obviously, if you like a different picture more, by all means, give them your vote - but at this point, it's looking like the competition is down to her and one other person, and Lara really needs your vote!

So... go VOTE for OVERSTUFFED WITH POLKADOTS! Her picture is the one with the little girl starting at herself in the mirror wearing her Mommy's shoes. When you scroll all the way to the bottom of the post (after all the pictures), there will be a list of who to vote for. I'm telling you to vote for OVERSTUFFED WITH POLKADOTS, but obviously, you should vote for who you want (but you know you want to vote for OVERSTUFFED WITH POLKADOTS).

In case you are still confused, I'll make it even easier for you:

CLICK HERE AND VOTE FOR OVERSTUFFED WITH POLKADOTS!

Remember, you can only vote once, so please choose carefully!

And... if your blog has been suffering from a lack of posts recently, how about you create a blog entry telling all of your friends to go and vote for OVERSTUFFED WITH POLKADOTS too! 'Cause I only have like 6 friends who read this blog, but if all six of you tell all six people that read your blog, well, that's like 36 more votes for OVERSTUFFED WITH POLKADOTS!

Um, those caps are getting really annoying aren't they? Um, yeah. So go vote. Please?

Bubble Umbrella, Anyone?

The search is on for a "bubble umbrella" and I need one ASAP. OK, I don't need one, but it would be really, really, really awesome if I could get one. I need it for a jellyfish costume. (See, there's that nasty "need" word again!). FINE. I WANT one for a jellyfish costume. Actually, The Princess wants one for a jellyfish costume (she just doesn't know it yet).

Seriously, we DO need to make a jellyfish costume, and a bubble umbrella would really help us out.

Anyone know where I can get one for $10 or less? *sigh*

(Other requirements:
Child OR Adult size is fine.
I really am looking for clear - no color.
If it must have color, some trim in light colors (white, silver, gray, light blue, light pink) is OK.
Did I mention dirt cheap?)

The King Celebrates Another Birthday!

Happy Birthday to The King!

You should all go and visit his blog and bombard him with happy birthday wishes! Really, you should!

Show him how much you love him. :)

As for me, tonight I'm missing my baby. 3-weeks today. End of story. Why else would I be up at 2:00 in the morning?

Iron Man

The King and I went to see Iron Man today. I don't want to spoil it for anyone, so I'm not going to talk plot or anything. I will however, tell you this... the trailers for the movie SUCK! I had no desire to see this movie, and it was actually REALLY good. I liked it, OK? I really liked it. For those of you don't know, the idea for this movie came from a comic book. Yep, another Batman, Spiderman, Superman, Incredible Hulk, X-men type movie. So if you liked any of those types of movies, then you've got to go see this one! (With the exception of the Incredible Hulk - that one was no good...)

Before I leave you, here's one completely random thought for you: I really love it when I get to type "The King and I". It just makes me laugh, you know, because of the musical and everything.

Oh, the UPDATES!

I get to go scrapbooking tonight. I am hoping to make a lot of progress on my digital album. It really should be done by now, but I am too much of a perfectionist. My goal is to finish it and have it printed by the end of May. There! I said it. Now you have to hold me to it. (Oh, the PRESSURE!)

My sinus-y headache-y thing is gone. It's now my lung thing. (Oh, the COUGHING!) I still have a runny nose and my head still hurts, but it's not sinus-related anymore.

I survived "hair day." I think I will able to do The Dragon's hair, though I did it today without gel. I'm dreading the gel. The Princess' hair is doable, I think. But her teacher did it for me because I was doing The Dragon's hair, so I really don't know if I can do it. (Oh, the STRESS!)

And, I have bad news folks. I'm addicted to the internet. I'm afraid The King is going to try to take my laptop away from me. I am going to have to put myself into a rehab program starting next week. (Oh, the WITHDRAWAL!)

On a positive (?) note, I am listening to Peter, Paul & Mary right now and it is making me happy. (Oh, the PEACE, LOVE & HAPPINESS!)

I Don't Know...

First of all, have you checked out my cards yet? If not, I say you should totally do it.

Second of all, my parents suck. Yes, I realize that's not very respectful, but it's how I feel right now. I may talk about it more later.

We went to Chili's tonight for dinner. My Dad (who still sucks) paid for it. I had another Big Mouth Burger (because I got addicted when I got those free coupons), but it definitely tasted better the first time around. We went to a different Chili's than we went to the first time, so maybe that was the difference.

I am still headache-y and sinus-y or something like that. And miserable. YUCK!

I am dreading tomorrow because it is "hair day" at dance. And that means I have to learn how to do my children's hair for their upcoming recital. Me and hair don't exactly get along.

I remember the days when $100 used to be a lot of money. Today I spent $100 just putting gas in my car and getting the girls hair cut. Joys!

Have you purchased your Forever Stamps yet? Postage increases are happening on May 12th.

Payday is tomorrow. I am happy because that means that I get to pay the bills. Yes, I am certifiably insane.

But you already knew that, didn't you?