Christmas and Some Other Things

First up, Christmas was very nice. We ran all over Tacoma and Seattle and I was exhausted but it was a really good day. You know, besides the ridiculous amount of presents we got; by the time we got home there were literally toys crammed into our van, falling out when the door opened. It was insane. Don't get me wrong, of course I appreciate it and of course my kids loved it, but no one needs that much crap. And I don't want to have to find a place for it all and the clean up was crazy. So I hope your Christmas was as lovely as mine. Just less crap filled.

So now that I've updated on Christmas, I can blog about what I really want to blog about. And that is: nothing. I have about four ideas I've been working up in my mind but the thing is I am SO freaking TIRED I can't properly formulate them. I would like to know when the night will come that I am not woken up by a screaming child wanting me to hold them, or nurse them or rub their back...EVERY night. I'm also not very smart, because I haven't been going to sleep until like 1am most nights. I just don't get why I'm so tired...

Also I just wanted to throw out here that I hate those blogs that you have to click a "read more" button to actually read the whole post. Do you know what I'm talking about? It is SO ANNOYING. Why yes, I did come here to actually read the posts. So why do I need to keep clicking this stupid button to open up the whole thing? Then if I missed a post, I have to read the first one, click back to read then next one, click "read more" to read THAT one--when all I should have to do is scroll down. Dumb.

Hey guess what? My 8 month old is pretty much walking! Isn't that crazy?! It is so cute to watch his little legs carry him across the floor. Gosh I love him.

Also, I'll be back in a day or two for my wrap up of my favorite things of 2010!! Are you STOKED?! You should be. You should be.

Merry Christmas!

So this past week has been cuh-razy! Just lots of little things to finish up and get done, but I'm very happy to say that I'm at a good place. As in, pretty much done! I just have a few more presents to wrap, and a couple of handmade things to put finishing touches on. I feel good. :)

Plus, my house is pretty clean! I KNOW--its a Christmas miracle!! I was feeling so happy last night because I wrapped most of the presents, cleaned my house, got everyone to bed and even had a little time to mess around with some photography! It was heavenly.

Here's some of the stuff I did:

Those are Christmas lights, and I was figuring out how to change the shape of them from plain circles to whatever I wanted (like stars and hearts), get it? It actually wasn't too hard and although they're not exactly right, it was still fun to try and get some good results.

Update: I guess I should clarify, I didn't do the shapes in photoshop, I cut the shape I wanted (star and heart) out of a piece of black paper and put it over my lense, that changes the shape of the lights. Also, my cousin's hair turned out beautifully (if I do say so meself!), the lesson was good too! So all in all, I really have nothing to complain about, how weird! ;) Here's a picture of my cousin, sorry you can't really see her hair, I wasn't in the right mind set to think of taking a picture! (okay, stole some off of Facebook)

And this is what I looked like for the wedding, kind of fun to get dressed up! :)

Now on to the next couple days of fun and craziness! I hope you guys all have a great and amazing Christmas! Wishing you safe travels and no family fighting! ;)

Randomocity

I'm feeling better. Not completely Christmas-y but not so dark and gloomy and scary. So thats good!

I went shopping with my mom earlier and it was so nice to talk with her and get out some of my feelings, of course she has awesome advice and even some advice I think is dumb (mostly that she thinks I should wake up earlier, silly woman!) but she's one of the best people I know, so listening to her makes sense. (Except for the getting up earlier. That makes NO SENSE AT ALL.)

I have a busy weekend ahead of me. My cousin is getting married. I'm doing her hair, helping set up the reception, taking some bridal shots, and making like 500 asparagus roll ups. Pray for me that her hair turns out gorgeous.

I bought some of the Pepperidge Farms knock off Tim Tams. Pray for me that they're amazing. I'm going to need them.

I bought this potpourri spray that is really cinnamon-y and smells so good. I sprayed it on everything I could think of. Now its a little TOO smelly in here and I have a potpourri hangover.

Maybe I'm heartless but I didn't get that much out of Toy Story 3. I mean, I thought it was cute but honestly? They ARE just toys aren't they? I mean, is there supposed to be some sort of message about taking care of your toys? "Play with your toys kids or else they'll be sad!" or "If you accidentally lose one of your toys, they'll take over a daycare and make other toys miserable!!" I thought it was a little dramatic. Sorry.

I'm teaching Relief Society on Sunday, its about the sacrament. I wish I could just play this for them. I LOOOVE John Bytheway. Seriously. (By the way--OH MAN I'M soooo FUNNY!!--I saw him give this same talk live myself!--NO REALLY THOUGH, DID YOU GET IT??!!?--)

And I will stop here for tonight. Goodnight.

Bah Humbug

Honestly, after this last Christmas and the way things are going this year, I am not really loving Christmas time so much.

When I was younger, Christmas was magical. I mean seriously, it was magical. I loved it and I loved everything about it. The traditions my mom did, the smells, the weather...I loved it all. When we were in Utah, I still loved Christmas. We got to do Christmas our own way and I liked it. Sure Christmas is always stressful, there's decorating and shopping and wrapping and EVERYTHING, but I could do it how I wanted and it was still fun.

Now? It just doesn't feel like Christmas! The weather has been awful. Just rain and rain and RAAAAIIIIIINNN and gray and ugly. But not very cold, and not snowy. I miss the snow.

I feel all this pressure from certain family members who put an emphasis on the presents and Santa, and I hate it. Not just because we don't have money to buy a bunch of presents, but because we've never made a big deal about it and our kids have never cared...until now. We've never pushed the Santa thing, I mean, of course they know about Santa and watch the movies and all that, but we don't push a big "Santa's who brings all your presents!! Be good because Santa's watching!!' thing. I don't remember ever learning that Santa wasn't real, I just always knew and I never had a huge disappointing memory of finding out. I would've liked that for my kids, but its not working out. Also, I would REALLY rather focus on the real reason we celebrate Christmas and thats the birth of the Savior. Not Santa Claus.

Enough ranting. The point is, because I feel like the focus is in the wrong place, I get all huffy and sad and upset and bah humbug-y and I can't even feel good anymore. And whiney a little...not that you guys didn't know that about me already. The whiney thing.

I'm trying, I really am. I usually love Christmas music and movies and I haven't even felt like they've made much of a dent. Plus why is time going SO FAST?! Its like December just started yesterday, and now its already the freaking 14th!? I have tons of presents to finish up and things to figure out still. So, how are you doing on Christmas this year?

Food for Thought

Every year my family and I write what we like to call "Memory Letters." We pick a new theme each year and write a memory about it, for example we've done: cousins, best vacation, favorite Christmas, most embarrassing moment, etc. This year we picked:

Food: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

I finally wrote mine and thought I'd share it with you, mostly because I already wrote stuff today and I didn't want to come up with MORE stuff out of my brain for a blog post. Sorry, but I'm fairly lazy and I'm tired. So here it is:

Food and I have always had a rough relationship. From the very beginning, there's been problems. From the projectile vomiting that had my mom changing two or three outfits each Sunday, to long hours sitting at our kitchen table next to a plate full of food I refused to eat, we just haven't always gotten along.

On a pleasant note we'll start with the good then. The first thing that comes to mind when I think of "food" and "good" together, is when I was pregnant with Bethany. It was before we even found out we were expecting and were at Dave's parents for dinner. Steak dinner. I had never before nor have I since ever had a steak taste SO DELICIOUS. I remember finishing my own, then moving on to the nieces and nephews plates next to me that didn't finish, then sucking the fat on the plate. It was just so good! I also could tell you about every candy, cookie, sweet thing I've ever loved but I suppose that goes without saying. Also I've always loved cheesecake. My mom used to make me one for my birthday every year…why don't you do that anymore Mom?!

The bad huh? I'm sorry Mom, but I have to say the worst thing I've ever had is Sweet and Sour Meatballs. When I was younger, I made it very clear to my mom (and most my siblings did too) that I did NOT like sweet and sour meatballs--at ALL. But I think my dad did, or maybe just my mom, because she kept making them and I kept having to gag my way through them. I remember one particular day we had them for dinner and I refused to eat them. I sat and groaned and whined for what seemed a very long time, until my mom informed me that she was going to the church for something (can't remember what now?) and if I didn't eat my meatballs I couldn't go with her. I hum-hawed until the last second. No really, the LAST second possible. As she pulled out of the driveway there I was running after her, meatballs shoved in my mouth, gagging and crying and begging her to take me too. Very dramatic, as is my style.

You really want to hear the ugly? Well, as ugly entails I've had some ugly experiences with food as well. Mostly, many episodes of eating something and the ugliness of seeing it come back up again. After barfing up many things you become a kind of expert on whats easier to throw up and whats worse. Ice cream, not so bad. Wendy's fries, surprisingly not that different as when they go down. Mexican, VERY bad. When I was pregnant with Bethany, David and I and my parents went to the temple, I had a horrible headache that was making me feel pretty nauseous. While we were in the temple, the headache was gone, but when we came out it slowly started up again. We decided to go out to eat at a little Mexican restaurant. The headache was so bad during dinner I could hardly eat anything, just a little bit of the rice and some refried beans. By the time we got out to the car, I was not doing well. I sat in our brand new car of one week and started vomiting into my skirt, it was a sort of bowl to catch every thing. I don't know how I threw up so much since I'd hardly eaten anything, but boy did that burn and somehow it tasted like soap. It was probably the worst thing I've ever thrown up, and thats saying something.

Also, I can't eat fruit. It makes my throat swell shut. So I think food hates me too. Hopefully in the future we can mend our ways and learn how to play nice. I'm trying to do my part, but man that food is stubborn! We'll see if we can ever reconcile our differences but in the mean time I'm going to eat this chocolate over here…
Love, Melinda

Whats the good, bad and ugly you've had with food?

Also I Want A Snack, Just So You Know

Its that time again. The time where I talk about Facebook.

For the most part when I blog about Facebook its because something really weird has happened on Facebook because I mentioned something on my blog. For example, this and this.

But this time I'm just flat out complaining. (I know, so original for me huh.)

Why oh why oh WHHHYYYYY do some people have to make every single status update something political?! Ugh!! I don't want to hear your political garbage every five seconds!

Also NO MORE CHURCH QUOTES!

Wait a minute---this is feeling repetitive...have I blogged this before?! Why yes! Yes I have!

Guess what? ITS STILL ANNOYING PEOPLE!!

(Also, I KNOW you can hide people's posts, I just wish I didn't HAVE to do that because people don't get that NO ONE CARES.)

Okay then, here's a new one for you guys: in the last couple weeks I've seen at least three different instances of someone ripping another person apart on Facebook. Like for instance, one person was across the country at her mom's helping her after a surgery, her little brother was up late playing his drums. She couldn't sleep and it was waking up her baby. While I would be TOTALLY annoyed by this, I personally would've just gotten up and told him to shut it. She wrote it on FACEBOOK and said she hoped he read it. And I thought I had problems with confrontation. Yeesh. The other day a friend of mine was mad at her brother for not replacing the milk after he'd drank the last of it. And they had a full on back and forth war in comments. Really people? And yes, she's married. One of the other ones just ripped a lady in her ward apart for something she didn't like and the support she got was shocking. The hate, the anger, the swear words...

I think the lesson to learn here is that Facebook is a powerful thing and we need to use our powers for good, not for Facebook fighting.

I just save that stuff for here, on my blog. Because I am waaaaay more mature than THOSE people. Obviously.

ALSO: if I hear one more person say something about "so much for global warming" I'm going to explode!!

Okay, I feel better now. What do you think people do thats totally dumb? You know, besides harp on people for no real reason.

Sleeping Beauty

I don't get a lot of sleep. Having a 7 month old and three other children, it just seems like I NEVER EVER EVER get a good night's sleep. I'm pretty much exhausted every day and I'm seriously looking into getting a big rubber mallet to knock myself unconscious before bed.

Last night was an especially rough night. The baby has a cold, so he's congested and not sleeping well. Then the two year old has been having a hard time the last few nights as well, about midnight he started crying and snuck into our bed. (Yeah, yeah, I don't want to hear that the reason I don't get any sleep is because my kids sleep in my bed, I am too cranky to respond nicely.) So all night long we were squished and crying and not sleeping well. My two daughters get up WAY TOO early and such was the case this morning. It was my second daughter's birthday yesterday and she got a barbie doll that I told her I would open today. TWENTY minutes before my alarm was supposed to go off, guess who's in my face whispering "MOMMY?! MOMMMMY?!" Yes, that horrible child. I peek my eye open and she asks if I could open the barbie right now? AND I AM ANNNNGRY! I told her I was SLEEPING and to GET OUT. Not two minutes later, my oldest is in the room "But mommy can't you open it?!" Its getting to the point where I'm going to start screaming I was so tired and all I could think of was that she was ROBBING me of a precious TWENTY minutes of sleep!!

We had a little talk when I got up twenty minutes later.

After my oldest got off to school, I went back to sleep. Thats right, I did.

I'm still angry just thinking about this. I think I'm going to go in their room at midnight tonight and ask them to get me a snack or something, awwww sweet justice...

P.S. I had a very busy Thanksgiving weekend, I hope yours was full of family and friends and happiness and thanksgiving!

My Brain is Too Tired to Think of a Title

I'm feeling much better than I was last week. But instead of feeling depressed and hopeless, I feel anxious and overwhelmed. And mostly happy too. I've been laughing a lot more as well. Its nice.

The reason for the anxiousness and feeling overwhelmed is because did you guys realize that Thanksgiving is in three days?!?! And after that it'll be a blink of the eye and Christmas will be here! And I have about a million and fifty trillion things to get done from Thanksgiving to Christmas and it feels like it just snuck up on me and is pointing and laughing in my face now. And maybe kicked me in the ankle a couple times too.

Also, we're having a HUGE snow storm here right now. And by huge, I think we have like two inches. You see, when it snows in Washington it becomes a time to panic. To cancel school, to stay inside, to drive like a crazy person and freak out a lot, to write a million Facebook updates about it all. Its what you do. Picture people running around in circles, grabbing their faces and screaming WHY?!!? towards heaven. And cars sliding around and crashing into each other. And on the side lines, there's kids making snow angels, having snowball fights and building snowmen, laughing jollily and having the times of their lives. Also I think there's some explosions in there too.

So, tomorrow my daughter has no school and that would be fantastic if my husband didn't have to work either, but so far, he does. The best thing about a snow day, is sitting inside together all warm in blankets, drinking hot chocolate and watching movies. Or reading a book. I read three books this last week and I really want to read more but I can't get to the library because well, see the last paragraph.

I made a list today of all the things I need to get done. I feel less overwhelmed, but only a little. If I could get a car and a babysitter to watch my kids, THEN I'd be doing great. Also there's that weather thing, but what was I saying about that again?

I love the holidays...no really, I do. How about you? How do you handle the stress, the packed schedule, the crowds and the gimme gimme's your kids throw at you?

Make It Stop

I am a somewhat obsessive person. Or I have an addictive personality. Its like if there's something I like its ALL or nothing. If I have a new friend that I love I want to see them ALL the time. If there's an Italian Soda I like, I drink one every day. Until I realize I can't do that anymore.

Take blogging, I look at blogs ALL the time. I may not blog as often anymore but thats because my life sucks and is boring.

So anyway, the point is that I am wrapped up inside my own head ALL the time. I am constantly thinking about and obsessing over EVERY little thing. I can't turn my brain off for the life of me (or would that be the life of me if I did?) and sometimes it gets old. Sometimes I would like to just not care about every little thing. I would love to just stop thinking for five minutes. I'm telling you my mind is thinking about something and how I feel about it like every second of the day. I worry about my kids, I think about issues I'm having, could my baby be any cuter, what that person is wearing, how I shouldn't have yelled at my kids just then (yes, just now), what groceries do I need, why is this sweater so itchy, is my daughter okay at school without me, how I need to stop wasting so much time but really why since I have NOTHING TO DO ANYWAY, why is that person so annoying, why am I so annoying?!?!

It just never ends, and if it bothers me so much, it has to bug other people right? My constant analyzing and talking and sharing how I feel. It gets old right?

But you guys, I don't know how to stop! How do you stop your brain from thinking? How do you change the way you react to things when you've been reacting that way for like ever? I really honestly try so hard to let things go, not worry what other people are doing because who cares, and just be happy; but eventually I fall back into obsessing about everything.

Do you think they medicate for this sort of thing? Don't worry, I'll just be obsessing over here while I wait for your answers. :)

Surprise In a Diaper!

My baby is at the point now where he's mobile and whenever he finds something on the floor, it goes straight in his mouth. And because of this "eating everything he comes in contact with" every day is an adventure.

A treasure hunt of sorts.

Oh not for him--for ME. You see, every time I change one of his poopy diapers its a surprise of what I will find in there. For real. EVERY diaper.

Its mostly paper or stickers, thats the joy of having little girls who like to draw pictures all the time. They leave pieces of things left on the floor that the baby will find. Oh, he will find them.

It makes me crazy, I am constantly picking up and yelling at the kids to keep stuff off the floor. But inevitably someone forgets or the baby finds some secret hiding spot and there it is, evidenced in the poop.

He'll have a strong stomach right? Like you would need to read this post?

And that is my life right now. Crazy cleaning and poop diapers. Yay for me.

And Now, A Letter

Dear Nephew,

I had a dream the other night that we were at Thanksgiving dinner. All the family was there, yes including you, and you decided you were going to eat off everyone's plate. I know that you are a strapping thirteen year old, and you are constantly hungry, but I have to admit when you got to my plate and started eating MY MASHED POTATOES, I yelled. And then promptly your mom yelled at me for getting after you. And I felt super bad--in my dream. Now that I'm awake and have time to assess this dream, I'm a little perturbed that I was the one who got in trouble. Also, I know that it was a dream and didn't actually happen, but I must say that somewhere in my subconscious I could see this very thing happening. So, let this letter be a warning to you: DO NOT EAT MY MASHED POTATOES. Ever. Obviously, they are important to me.

Just letting you know because I love ya!

~Aunt Melinda

Link Time

I honestly feel like I have nothing to blog about.

Its not that I don't have a million things swirling around in my head, its just that a. it'll take too much effort to really put into words what I'm thinking and b. none of them are funny.

I've been reading a bunch of blogs like Single Dad Laughing and (Gay) Mormon Guy and Kandee Johnson and they're all so uplifting and trying to help people. It makes me feel like I'm reading self help books every day.

So when I sit down to blog I either want to write out some big inspiring post or I want to say I'm not going to blog because I should be spending my time with my kids and doing uplifting things.

Its confusing I know.

So although this post is a total dud, you can click on those links and hopefully find something that will lift you up instead!

What did You do This Weekend?

These pictures are all backwards but we'll just have to deal! We went to a trunk or treat Saturday night and got very soggy. It was pretty wet out, but still fun. We did a Ghostbuster theme this year--me, Dave and Maddie were Ghostbusters. Bethany was a ghost. Sam was the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and Kimball was Slimer. It was a LOT of fun!

On Friday we did a fun little party at my parents' house. I dressed up like Betty Boop that night but I couldn't take a picture of myself in the mirror very well, this is the best I've got:

I know it sucks. Taking a picture of yourself in a mirror is harder than you think!

The night was filled with fun halloween food and lots of fun games for the kids, they had a blast!

Kristie's costume was the best! She dressed up as Timmy and it was hysterical! When we first drove up we saw her through the kitchen window and were like "Is that dad? I don't think so...Is it Timmy? No, they're too short...WHO IS THAT?!" Well, it was Kristie. Every time I'd see her out of the corner of my eye, I'd have to do a double take! haha

This is her cheesy Timmy grin--spot on!

She's holding up her finger because Timmy smashed his finger a few weeks ago and its all bruised on the end, so she even made her finger looked bruised to match! Clever girl!

This is Timmy's reaction to seeing her the first time, it was awesome!

We also went to Dave's parents for dinner Sunday with lots of yummy food and treats, like caramel apples and homemade peppermint patties! It was a crazy and busy weekend but we had such a good time, made out like robbers on the candy and enjoyed having fun with our family most of all! Hope you had a very fun Halloween as well!

Dance Monkey Boy!

You know those people that stand on the corner with a sign and dance around?

Yeah, me too.

Have you ever noticed that you hardly ever notice what the sign even is? And even if you WANTED to know what the dancing sign person was dancing for, they're moving around so much you can't even see the sign anyway.

Mostly I just look at the person and laugh. I especially like the ones that are really dancing and they think they look so cool. I can just see some teenager's thinking on this one:

"Hey, look at that guy dancing on the corner, yeah, the guy with the sign! Dude, I dance waaaaay better than he does! AND I'd get paid to do it! Thats like the easiest/bestest job in the WHOLE WORLD!!"

I honestly think the company is wasting their money because I personally have never gone into a place because of a dancing sign person, so it can't possibly be working.

But hey, they sure are entertaining when you're stuck at a light!

p.s. Do you have your halloween costumes ready? I don't have a single one done and haven't even started! Yikes, gotta get on it! But I do have the idea all ready, so hopefully they'll come together quick. What are you doing this year?

Dream Swap

Do you all remember a few months ago me talking about my "DREAM TEAM" and doing package swaps? Well, if you don't I guess you'll have to dig through my archives because I have a raging sinus headache and this is just going to be as good as it gets. So anyways, we decided after such a busy summer and not doing package swaps that we wanted to do a sort of "mini" swap. Where the budget was smaller ($5) and it had to fit in one of those like 8x10 envelopes. Michelle had my name, and her package couldn't of come on a better day! I was having a bad day and there's nothing like cheering up like a nice gift from a great friend! Here's what I got!:

Isn't she awesome?! YES, yes she is.

This is what I pulled out of my envelope:

A sweet note, and two pairs of halloween socks! (I have worn them both already, much to my kids jealousy!)

Cute halloweeny dish towels, they are up along with my other halloween decorations!

And not pictured was a cute sticky notepad tucked sneakily in those towels.

I love these ladies! They are so amazing and make me so happy, they surely know how to make a gal feel good! Thanks to my Dream Team for being so fantastic!

(Are you satisfied Sheryl? I looooooove you!!)

Dream Weaver

I posted a VERY long time ago about my husband talking in his sleep. Since we first got married, he has talked in his sleep and it is always--ALWAYS--funny! And after so many years I finally wised up and recorded it. :) If you're a Facebook friend, I posted this on there awhile ago, but I thought I should share this with you guys here, because you are TOTALLY missing out! So here it is, and please enjoy:

One More Reason I Can't Clean

I just recently found this blog called Hyperbole and a Half and even though she swears every once in awhile, I think she's HYSTERICAL. Like I think I'm in love with her a little bit.

Anyway, I thought it would be a funny change up from regular 'just writing' posts, so this is my take with her style on what happened to me earlier today:

Let me set it up for you, my kids were watching tv.

This is what they looked like:

I needed to vacuum. I warned them before I did it that I was going to vacuum. I was going to be turning the vacuum on RIGHT NOW.

This is what ensued afterward from my son:

Turn the vacuum off.

Turn it back on.

Screaming, running in circles, running from one end of the room to the other whilst screaming.

So if you come to my house and my floors need vacuuming, you will know why it hasn't been done.

Adventures In Babysitting

I don't know why bad things happened to me when there was a babysitter around, but when I reflect on some of my babysitting days, I can think of a few too many sad stories.

Like that one time when my brother got upset that I ate the last of the ice cream (maybe I took it from him? Small detail really) and he chased me down the hall and knocked me down and sat on me and proceeded to STRANGLE me. Yes. Thats right, he choked me. Hands around the neck, head knocking back and forth. Me going "ugh, ugh, ugh!" My sister crying in the corner. It was lovely.

One time my Grandpa babysat us and although I have a wonderful grandpa and I love him, somehow we weren't quite meshing that night. I don't remember what he yelled at me for (I'm sure I was completely misunderstood and had done NOTHING wrong) but I DO remember the crying. And making sure that the tears stayed on my cheeks as I went to bed so that my parents could see them when they got home that night and feel AWFUL that their sweet daughter had been so mistreated.

I started babysitting when I was twelve and believe you me, I made LOTS of mistakes. I'm not going to share them because I wouldn't want child protective services called, which is why I NEVER want a twelve year old to babysit my kids.

The end.

Up and Down

Dudes, I want to crawl up in bed with a good book, fall asleep and not get up for a LONG time. I am SO TIRED. I already have sleep problems but I've been getting even less rest than usual. I think. What if this is normal?! What if I NEVER get any sleep for the rest of my life?! Kill me now.

Honestly, I think I'm going to clean my house, take a shower, put a movie on for my older kids and then go take a nap with the baby. Can I do it?! I hate napping but I'm so exhausted I don't think I can take much more.

Also, I have to get this off my chest. I'm sick of people. And drama. And crap. Why do I let things bother me so much?! Why do I take everything to heart?! Gosh darn it, I just want to be happy! Every day I resolve to let things go and not let things bother me and EVERY day I do that, something comes up to throw me! And I'm over it, I'm not doing it any more, I'm just going to let people do their own crap and I'm going to be happy! And tired. And just a teeny bit whiney.

Here's what happened the other night--I was at my parents' for a family birthday party, with my aunt and uncle and cousins' and their spouses and all that. One of my cousin's got married last year to a girl I sometimes don't know how to read very well. She's pregnant right now and said she wanted to have a natural birth so I lent her my hypnobirthing book. I went to talk to her about it that night, but before I could say anything, she tapped her glass next to her and told me to get her some water. Now the thing is, if ANYONE said "Hey Melinda, could you grab me a glass of water?" I would be HAPPY to do it and would think nothing of it, but the way she did it was like I should serve her because she's pregnant (and not even HUGE pregnant, I would even understand that a little more) and the attitude behind it was SO RUDE. I was pretty mad. Of course, I got her some water and of course I didn't say a dang thing because I'm stupid, but then we had to go home after that because I was...upset. (Also this isn't the first time she's had me "serve" her so it builds up. One time they showed up late to a get together and all the ice cream was put away and she told me to get it out and scoop her some. Rude.) More than anything though, I'm upset with myself for being upset! I know, I'm insane. Today, its more funny to me than it is upsetting, but I'm sad at myself for letting it bother me (and also for not saying something at the time). Bah. I'm working on it.

On a happy note, I made something I'm excited about this weekend. You know those "keep calm and carry on" signs? No? Here's an example:

Pretty cute normally right? Well, I made one for ME, that matches ME. :) Here it is:

Its huge and fun and I love it! I got the frame from the Goodwill for $10 and I painted it turquoise, then took the picture out, flipped it over and painted it. Now I need to hang it, exciting!

What did you do this weekend? And how do you get over people's stupid crap that isn't just stupid but affects you? I NEED TO KNOW!

So What If I Dance Around in My Living Room?

In my living room, leading out to the backyard is a huge glass sliding door. There's a karate studio right behind our house and I'm pretty sure people can see through the huge glass sliding door into our living room. Where we spend most our day because the tv's in there. And the kitchen is right here too. Oh and most importantly, the computer.

I often wonder after I've done something really weird, if someone saw me and what they'd be thinking.

Like when a new cartoon comes on and I do a little weird jiggity jig towards my kids to the music. Really big hopping and crazy spins and moves. Are they thinking "Whats that lady with the crazy hair and still in her pajamas hopping around for?! Did she step on one of the million toys on the floor? Whats going on?!"

Or when a new cartoon comes on and the music for it starts playing and I sing really loud and crane my neck back to sing it like a pop star. Are they like "Why does that lady have a spoon in her hand and is using it like a microphone? Is she howling at the moon?"

Or like when my son is running around completely naked, are they like "We should call social services, there's obviously a problem with this lady."

There's a lot more situations I think of during the day but you get the point. If you saw your neighbor dancing around like a crazy person through their living room window, what would YOU think? We'll leave out me spanking my kids, dragging my son to the bathroom, how many hours I sit on the computer, nose picking and so on and so forth...

Locked Up

Wow, its been almost a week since I last posted. Do you know whats been taking up my time? Of course you don't unless you know where I live and then this post is gonna get really awkward because you'd be seeing a whole lot of naked.

Let me explain before you exit out of here.

I'm potty training my son. So very often he ends up naked, its just easier that way. Things are going so-so. He's goes potty on the toilet if I hassle him a LOT, but he fights me all the time. Don't tell me he isn't ready, you don't know him! More than anything, he's just stubborn and doesn't like to be told what to do about anything. The reverse psychology thing works really well on him.

So anyway, I pretty much want to kill myself right now. Potty training sucks. Even if I had complete confidence with him at home (which I don't) I don't know how it would go if we went out anywhere.

So I'm a prisoner in my own house.

Not that we could go anywhere anyway because we only have ONE car right now, and the husband takes that to work. But STILL--a PRISONER!

I need more friends.

A Letter

Dear Jerk,

Hi, let me introduce myself. I live in the townhomes you were standing outside of this morning. Yeah, when you were ranting REALLY LOUDLY. Yes, I could hear you. And yes, I WAS SLEEPING. I don't really care what was going on, even if your life was just turned upside down--SHUT UP. The five people you had come out and talk to you didn't talk loud enough for me to hear, but YOU, you I could hear EVERY word clear as day. Plus the loud furious knocking on the door that is two feet away from mine, YES I CAN hear that thank you. So the next time you have a "problem" at 7:30 in the morning on a flippin' Saturday and carry on for half an hour, I just might have to yell out my window for you to SHUT UP. You don't even live here, go bother your own neighbors.

I hate you for not letting me sleep in,

Angry Mother Who NEVER Gets Sleep

P.S. I have a zit on my face, and although its probably poetic justice for picking my son's baby acne yesterday, I'm TOTALLY blaming you for that too.

Stuff

My poor little baby has his first "illness". He has a fever and threw up this morning. He's been sleeping a lot and isn't rolling around and trying to crawl like he usually does. Makes me so sad. Isn't baby sicks the worst?

So since I'm sitting around with him I thought I'd just share a project I recently finished. I made this blanket that I saw at Aesthetic Nest. I loved hers and was way excited when I realized I had just about everything already to make it myself! Here's how it turned out:

And I just had to add this picture:

It makes me happy. I wish I could sleep so soundly.

And thats it. See ya next time.

Awesome.

I teach Relief Society once a month. Yesterday was that day. And you know what? I actually really like teaching Relief Society. Probably because we have the nicest women in the entire world and they are so sweet to me.

Proof?

A sister came up to me after the lesson and we had the following conversation:

Super Nice Sister B.: Great job on your lesson!

Me: Aww thanks!

Seriously Awesome Sister B.: You're just so cute!

Me: Oh, thanks. (cheeks getting red)

Most Awesomest Sister B. in the World: I just like lookin' at ya!

Silly giggling commences from me.

I honestly think thats the best thing anyone's ever said to me! hehehe Awesome.

Dress Design for Shabby Apple Dresses

You know, I used to be fairly artistic; I used to draw and paint and all kinds of stuff! But four kids later, I don't always find the time to get creative anymore! So when I saw this contest from Shabby Apple Dresses (I LOOVE their stuff!), I decided I would give it a go! And you know what? It was really fun! And I may sound silly but I really want to wear these dresses!haha So here's what I came up with:

This dress I thought would look really pretty in a purple (I started out with red, but decided purple fit it much better!), and I would probably do it in a jersey knit material so its stretchy and drapes (thats what the lines pulling to each side are: draping sort of thing).

This next one I thought of in a silvery/gray color and I see it in a stiffer cotton so the collar ruffles stand up instead of laying down all soft and flow-y.

This one is one of my favorites, I see it in a really soft cream colored chiffon. Ruffles around the collar and the hemline, and the ribbon should be black or brown velvet.

This one I think should be a really soft chiffon-like material on top too in some sort of floral/spring print, maybe even polka dots. And the bottom should be a tan linen. I got this idea out of my love of double breasted jackets. :)

I like these kind of dresses in a floral cotton because I think they're less "in your face/lingerie" looking, I also love if the skirt had like big drapes that went into pockets. I've seen a lot of these dresses but the skirts are poofy and very short, I like the thought of a pencil skirt with it and the built in top.

This dress I didn't have the best colors for, I would like it to be more of a navy blue instead of this light/royal blue, and also the yellow toned down a bit, but probably in a nice cotton twill. I like the drop waist of it and the full skirt, I LOVE nautical themed clothes and I think this would be such a fun dress to wear! One of my daughter's dresses inspired this design. :)

Alright then, there's my designs for the Shabby Apple contest, you can tell me what you think but only if you love them! haha Its hard putting yourself out there, sheesh! :) So really don't make fun of me, I might end up crying in my closet! For reals.