Helping Out

We talk about helping out a lot around here.  And we adjust & refinagle a lot around here to try & get things done.  See, the thing is, is that King Turd of Poop Mountain's job is so that he is home every other day & then here on the weekends.  Which, when he went back to this schedule, was hard to adjust to.  It's not my favorite schedule, and sometimes makes it difficult to plan, especially BIG projects.  You know the ones.... where you leave stuff out for a day or two, trying to straighten up enough & purge enough to put it all some of it back in the space you've created.

We used to have chore charts - years ago - when all 3 kids were here at home.  Then as children got older, that didn't quite work.  At least once the older two decided that having a chore chart was stupid, then the youngest decided that they were stupid too.... Monkey see, monkey do.  So we moved on to zones/rooms & alternating them..... then assigning them..... then asking them individually which room they would like to be in charge of.... THANK GOD they all chose a different room - a weight off my shoulders.  So we tried that for awhile.  Yeah, right - ok, so that worked for a little bit.

Now what happens is we just ask for whatever child is handy to help.  I try to be fair & ask every other time (since only the Princess & the Lego King are here at home now).  King T helps out with the dishes (which I hate) and I do the laundry (which he hates).  Then he mainly does the outside chores & I do the inside ones.  There are some things that I do outside, but the 'lift that bail, tote that barge" stuff - it's on him.

One thing that I do have to say about our kids is that they have always been willing to help with very little complaint.  They're really good about it.

Even the dogs have gotten in on the act.... they help with the cat box.... they take care of the kitty crunchies..... ewwww, gross, gross, gross..... "ha, ha, mama lemme give you a kiss"  'lick, lick, lick'....  Every once in awhile they sneak upstairs & raid the kitty box - usually we catch them before they get too far... some help is NOT appreciated!

Who helps around your house?

Bye!  Love you!  Have a good day, Dear!

Just Breathe

What the Hell?  What the Hell?  What the Hell?!!!  Breathe, breathe, breathe.... in through the nose, out through the mouth.... relax your shoulders.... breathe, breathe, breathe.... *sigh*.... ok..... What the hell?....

So you have this kid, that you've cared for & nurtured for stinkin' 21 years (as of yesterday - Bigfoot turned 21) and what does he do?  He leaves ya out of the loop..... Which then THROWS you for a loop!  Damn kid!!

Tonight after dinner the Princess asks me if I'd been on Facebook.... nope... 'Well then, look at this.... come see what Bigfoot did...'  So here is a picture of a hand with a ring on the ring finger.... and the words above it that say 'I said yes'..... What?  What the Hell?  What the Hell?  What the Hell?.... He had asked his girlfriend to marry him today.  Now, I have nothing against this girlfriend.  I actually like her... her head is actually bigger than her boobs.... which is a HUGE improvement over his last girlfriends.... This girl has a brain & can think & carry on a conversation with you - which is wonderful....

The thing that disturbs me... is that he'd been planning this for awhile.... And.... We spent 1/2 of Friday TOGETHER!!!  Driving to the city & back for a checkup on his hand.  And he didn't mention a thing to me.... nothing, nada, zip, zilch!!

When I finally got ahold of him tonight (God forbid you return your mother's phone calls on your 21st Birthday). 
When I asked him if he knew on Friday that he was going to propose, he said 'Yeah'.... When I asked him why he didn't share that information with me... Do you know what that ungrateful, brat said?  He said I was a blabber-mouth!!  A BLABBER-MOUTH!!!  (he's kinda a little bit right... shhhh)... When I said I wouldn't have told & who would I have told anyway he said 'I don't know'.... typical rotten child answer..... I wouldn't have told... that would have ruined the surprise.... but it would have been nice to be included instead of finding out on Facebook along with the rest of the world....

Anyhow.... I just have to breathe, breathe, breathe.........and hope they TELL me the wedding date or waaaayyyy down the road when I'll be having grandchildren and not just announce it on Facebook...

What the Hell's been goin' on with you lately?

Bye!  Love you!  Have a good day, Dear!

Crap Out, Crap In

Well, I just got done with another marathon sort/purge/organize session in the Lego King's room.  I am so sick of crap let me tell you!!  Sick of my crap & sick of his crap, sick of other people's crap mixed in.  It's been about a month or so since I was last upstairs working in his room... maybe longer.... I'm old & I can't remember... Anyhow, I'm done.  At least I'm done going through stuff that sat in the corner of his room & on the shelf behind his bed.  I took 4 boxes directly down to the car to drop off at the Salvation Army tomorrow.

There are still boxes that need to be moved from his room to the craft room across the hall.  Some Most of the things I found were memorabilia from when I was a foreign exchange student, college & the kids baby stuff.  Lots of craft stuff went in the donate box. 

I'd love to be one of those people again who has all these great craft things that they do.  I used to sew alot, do counted cross stitch, crochet.  Do neat little things.... *sigh* .... not anymore, I just don't have time for that.  Wait, you know.... maybe that's not quite true... maybe it's because I choose to do other things, that at this time in my life, are more enjoyable to me.  Those things don't hold as much interest to me as they once did.  And that's ok.  Times change, people change, tastes change.  I didn't really feel bad about getting rid of those craft things, it just wasn't 'Woo Hoo!!  I'm tossin' this crap!!!'.... it was more like, 'Hmmmm, never got to that, oh well.'  And then I'd take that moment to think, truthfully, if I ever really would get to it and if the answer was 'no' then I put it in the box.

Hopefully, with the exodus of this crap, more crap won't come in.  I have been pretty picky about what comes in this past year.  I do have an excess of baskets & bins..... ummmmm, 'cause I go a little crazy when I see a great bargain & I'm sure I can use it somewhere.  Which is kinda what got me in trouble in the first place.  However, I KNOW that I WILL get rid of excess bins & baskets as I go along & find certain ones that don't work.  I've found that square or rectangular baskets work better for me, so I've been eliminating round or oval or heart shaped ones.  I like them, but they aren't functional for me in most places.

So I'm trying really hard to take 'crap out' & not let alot of 'crap in'.  How are you doin?

Bye!  Love you!  Have a good day, Dear!

My Mother Called

My Mother called the other day, to tell me something, that I can't remember now.  I do recall our conversation about the dogs though.  We also talked about the neighbors new dog and my mother's cranky, old cat.

My mother's cat is mean.  He's spoiled & weighs 18 lbs., he's lost weight recently - close to 5 lbs.  He bites my mother's ankle as she walks by.  We're not talking a 'love nip' here... We're talking an all out chomp.  Then he'll take & claw her hand if she's not doing what he wants - like petting him 24/7.  He's old - King Turd says that he'd drop kick the old thing if it ever did that to him and he could take care of all of my mother's problems for about 35 cents!!

Then we have to talk about my dogs, being afraid of the new dog across the road.  It looks like a Black & Tan Coonhound.  He's on a lead/run line thingy.  He barks & scares my dogs who then of course get 'poop anxiety' and can't go potty.  Even when we go out with them to walk them.

This is where my mother stopped our conversation.  She informed me that we do not go out to 'walk' the dogs.  We go out and 'stand' the dogs.  She's getting technical.  She informed me that walking a dog - means I walk too.  We just go out in the middle or on the edge of the lawn & stand there & watch them.  Hence, ''standing' the dogs'.

So, from now on - don't bother me while I 'stand' the dogs!!

Bye!  Love you!  Have a good day, Dear!