Funny how I blog in waves isn’t it? Casey once told me that she’s come to accept that my blog post frequency changes with my life and it definitely does. You might think my absence means bad things but it doesn’t. I just get really into living and focusing on something that I don’t feel the need to blog for a while. (I am very consistent on Twitter though. It’s become just a part of my daily life.)

So, here are some random things on my mind.

  • I don’t blog about my kids very often because they are older, don’t willingly pose for pics and don’t want to be discussed much. I wonder what current mommy bloggers who mostly discuss their kids will do once their kids grow up and no longer want to be discussed? I suspect that many of them will find their voice in other interests and their blogs will cease to be “mommy blogs.” (Side note: I only check dooce.com every few months but WTF is up with her extreme difficulties with her oldest kid? That poor child.)
  • I have a dream to plan people’s Disney World itineraries as a job. Hotel suggestions, restaurant suggestions, what to do each day of the trip. It’s so much fun to me but so overwhelming for people who aren’t into the details like I am. If you were somebody who didn’t want to delve into the details yourself and just wanted a plan handed to you, how much would you pay for that?
  • Our house. OUR HOUSE. It’s slowly emerging as a really nice place to be. I have most of our rooms unpacked and it’s actually a functional, comfortable place to be. I always knew it would be awesome and now we finally get to start using it.
  • I wasn’t looking forward to school starting again but now that it has, I’m finding a lot of pleasure in hanging out in coffee shops to work and completing errands alone. Payton is stressed out by school already (which happens when you take extra classes and enroll in all pre-AP classes). Blake is happy to be at a new school this year where they know what Apple products are. Here are my 2 on the first day:

40262 1591698835816 1336246232 1568283 6476830 n Random thoughts of mine

2

16 August 2010

Summer

4 comments

I’m having trouble with this summer coming to a close. I realllly love being with the kids and can’t believe the school gets them back in a week. I think they might be looking forward to it though.

This summer didn’t turn out quite how I wanted it. I planned on traveling with the kids and taking advantage of all 3 of us having some time to do that. That didn’t happen. In fact, I’m fairly sure every other person in the United States traveled 3 times as much as we did. I don’t get jealous easily but the one area I do get jealous is when people get to travel a lot and I don’t. I don’t think most people have paid off all of their bills and live in a very modest house so they can travel…only to not be able to do it.

But I’m not bitter. (Yes I am.)

Instead, we spent a lot of time and money on our house this summer. We’re physically and emotionally exhausted.  Every minute and dollar we have is spent getting our house improved so it’s a place we will want to live.

We’ll probably move in this weekend. Two rooms are still unlivable but we hope to install the wood floors in those rooms within the next couple of weeks.

We’ve got a lot done but a lot is still left. Wood floors, counter tops in the kitchen, unpacking, buying new furniture. We’ve lived in limbo for a year now and we are looking forward to having a permanent place that’s ours again.

Seems ironic that Andy’s former company has showed interest in having him back again. Although we miss Wichita, we can’t go through a move again anytime soon.

We’ve gotten through the worst of the stress and expenses which means we can start to think about traveling again. New Orleans, Walt Disney World and maybe our first out-of-the-country-as-a-family trip are possibilities. I can’t wait.

4

2 August 2010

This and That

3 comments

  • It just occurred to me that Blake is fascinated with a whole lot of Japanese things like origami, ASIMO, Fushigi and the movie Ponyo. I guess it makes sense since the Japanese seem to combine techie and whimsy in many of their creations. Naturally, I started researching trips to Japan (they have a Disney park!). The verdict? It’s expensive as hell. Someday.
  • I’ve been job searching again. Summer is coming to a close, we need a consistent flow of money again and I’d like to get out of the house. Fingers crossed, please!
  • We think we’re moving in NEXT WEEK, people! We’ve been gradually moving in each room, our refrigerator arrives tomorrow and we’ll get TV and Internet switched over this week. We still won’t have floors in the front 2 rooms or new counters but we can add those shortly.
  • About 4 or 5 times a week, I get told that I’m not old enough to be Payton’s mom. I am a young mom but haven’t had this kind of feedback before. Losing 20 pounds (went from a size 14 to size 8 since Christmas!) and getting a bit of a tan helps, y’all!
  • Payton has her learners license and she, like, drives now. Also, she has an appointment with a modeling agency this week. Nevermind that. I found out they are a scam.
  • I planned on a whole post about the Lady Gaga concert but let me just sum it up for you: fan-freaking-tastic. Payton and I love that chick.

The end.

3

30 July 2010

How to paint shiny oak cabinets

When we bought our house, I knew I’d be painting all of the shiny oak cabinets before we moved in because there’s very little I hate more than oak covered in polyurethane. I wasn’t sure what the process would be like but since I’ve spent my summer doing it, I’ve put together a tutorial based [...]

10 comments

Read the rest →

26 July 2010

House update – cabinets are painted!

Drinking game: count how many times I say “polish” in this video.

1 comment

Read the rest →

19 July 2010

Yep, still alive!

Hi blog friends!
Still alive in Texas although barely (HOTTTTTT!). Some random stuff:

Will have a big update on the house this weekend. FINALLY!
Can’t believe the kids go back to school in a little over a month. I’m dreading the school getting them back. BOO!
If I haven’t mentioned it before, http://younghouselove.com is my favorite new site.
Lady Gaga. [...]

2 comments

Read the rest →

6 July 2010

Random junk for this Tuesday

We spent the long weekend in KC with family. Had a great time.
Sunday was our 12th anniversary. Andy and I aren’t much into public proclamations of our love for each other (people who make that a habit often end up divorced any way) but I’m super happy to be celebrating our 12th. He makes me [...]

10 comments

Read the rest →

1 July 2010

Paint! Paint! Paint!

This is our 3rd house but the first that I’ve picked out paint colors in. We had our first house built and our wall color choices were various shades of tan to go in the whole house. Second house was already painted and we just left it the way it was.
Also? I’ve always been [...]

6 comments

Read the rest →

27 June 2010

What a mess

A quick update on our house. It’s a total mess and I couldn’t be more excited.

1 comment

Read the rest →

26 June 2010

Mega huge beach trip report for a mega huge family

As I posted previously, we spent last week with Andy’s siblings and their families. We used to all get together when a sibling got married but now that 6 of the 7 are married (and the 7th has no plans to marry soon), we have to make plans to get together.
We decided on a beach [...]

12 comments

Read the rest →