Car Wash Games

I gave in yesterday and finally washed my car.  It was in dire need of a wash but I'm so impatient and don't like to wait in line behind all the other filthy cars so I tend to put it off as long as I can. I mean really, I have things to do!  In the meantime I play a little game.  I watch all the other cars and see who has a dirtier car than mine.  I can usually find plenty of winners.  "Whoa!  Did you see that one?  Where's he been?  Four wheeling?  Sheesh!"  That always makes me feel better.

Then once I've washed my car the game changes to looking out for who hasn't washed their car recently.  "Oh wow!  She really needs a car wash.  Wonder what's holding her up? heh heh."  Then a little voice reminds me that my car is in that category 90% of the time and maybe I shouldn't laugh.  But I laugh anyway cause for once (and for about 10 minutes) my car is clean.  Well, the outside at least...

New Il Divo

I got the new Il Divo CD, The Promise, for Christmas and I love it!  It's just fabulous and better than their last CD.  If you don't have it, I think you should put it on your wish list. :) 

                                                

Here's to happy Christmas gifts!

time to organize

Always at this time of year I want to organize things. Well, I want to organize things pretty much all the time but mostly don't have (or take) the time but now I'm ready. And feeling a desperate need to do so. (Have you seen my desk?) I was pretty excited to see rubbermaid tubs (not for my desk) and other various organization tools in the ads yesterday. Am I the only one to get excited about that? Every year? 

I was also wishing we could have our 2nd annual Stuff Swap in January but alas, basketball trumps all. So, that gives me until March 21st to clean out and organize and clean out so I can donate all sorts of things. It just occurred to me that maybe not everyone knows what the Stuff Swap is... 

Our Stuff Swap is like a giant indoor garage sale where everything is free. People bring anything they want to get rid of and we set it all up by category in the gym at church. Then for the next few hours people can come "shop" and take home whatever they might need/want. Last year was a huge success and we had stuff in just about every category you can imagine - clothes, electronics, toys, fabric, decor... Someone even donated several bars of soap that they didn't want. That might sound odd but it was great! The left overs go to various charities such as Goodwill, the Jeffco Action Center (JAC), Warm Hearts Warm Babies, etc. Places like JAC help homeless or needy families so things like soap are needed. 

Anyway, it was really cool and I'm looking forward to it this year. (You may be able to tell that I'm also in planning mode...) I guess I'd better get back to my desk.

If your arms are full...

This morning I went to Sams Club to get stuff for our annual fondue dinner on Christmas Eve. I was putting two large trays of meat in the fridge... well, let's rephrase... I was holding two large trays of meat in one arm and attempting to move stuff with the free arm. You might already have a foreboding feeling, and maybe you're thinking 'why didn't she just put the meat on the counter?' Let's not oversimplify things. I was sure there would be no problem to juggle things. 

I reached for this largish tupperware, that was a little heavier than I had anticipated, and tried to move it up a shelf. The tupperware, however, decided that the floor was a better location. As I dropped it the lid went flying off and stroganoff-type sauce went flying everywhere. I got in my eye (even with my glasses on!), on my face, all over my clothes, across the room to the pantry doors... Needless to say there was a massive puddle on the floor with pork and potatoes swimming in a lovely brown gravy. 

Of course I was supposed to be at the church in 30 minutes, when do these things ever happen at convenient times? I was trying to clean up quickly so that I'd have enough time to change rather than go smelling like onion and mushrooms. And because it was wet and uncomfortable.

This afternoon I started making a cake that looks great. It's a cinnamon cake with caramel glaze and chopped cashews on top. You're supposed to make the topping so you can pour it on the hot cake while the sauce is hot. Sounds easy enough. BUT the cake, which is supposed to take 22-25 minutes to bake, has now taken 35 minutes and is so not done. And the caramel sauce is burned. I'm thinking the outside of the cake will likely burn before the inside is done. Sigh. So much for our yummy dessert tonight. 

I'd better get out of the kitchen before I create a real disaster. Good thing dinner is in the crockpot. I can't mess that up too much, can I? Can I? 

The Question

The question that is currently driving me batty is "Would you like that in a bag?"  Oh. My. Gosh. YES. I would like a bag. Call me a planet killer but I am not going to carry my [x-many] oddly shaped items out in the snow in my arms. 

Oh, no thanks. I'll just shove some of this in my pockets, some in my purse and some in my arms. No problem.

Sometimes it's only one item and not such a big deal but seriously people if I have more than that, put it in a bag. I will fully admit that I am not on the green bandwagon. I believe in taking care of our planet because it was a gift from Heavenly Father, however, that does not mean we must throw common sense out the window. 

So, the next clerk that says "Would you like a bag with that?" beware - I've been shopping for days on end and I'm tired and really tired of that nonsensical question. 

OH, and just print a stupid gift receipt unless you are prepared to accept a return without it without arguing! If you make stupid rules then play fair. 

Excuse my little Christmas rant. I'm almost done shopping and I'm sure I'll happy up soon. :)

Christmas Shopping

I was at Barnes & Noble this week and there were about 4 people in front of me. To one side they have a table for free gift wrapping done by various organizations that are hoping that you'll donate generously to their cause. (There isn't room for this table at the end of the line after you've paid so there it sits at the beginning of the line...) The guy immediately in front of me began talking to the lady at this table. Great, no problem. Accept that he totally forgot to monitor the line and before you know it it was his turn. There were two cashiers ready so I walked quickly past him to one of the cashiers and he stopped mid-sentence and said "Was I holding you up?" His face said so much more. It was more like "you dumb broad! What's your problem?" I smiled and said, "We're both up!" and pointed to the cashier who was waiting for him. Her face said, "Hey bozo, there are 20 people behind you who are ready to check out if you're not." (Never underestimate what a face can say. They say so much, you just have to pay attention.) Even my cashier was looking at him rolling her eyes because she had been waiting for him too.  

Now, what I really wanted to say to him was that I think it's wonderful that he's interested in the I'll-Wrap-Your-Gift-For-Free-If-You'll-Donate-To-My-Charity lady but if you're not going to pay attention and step lively when it's your turn, then don't be offended when I go in front of you. Step out of line until you're ready to be part of the line. 

That same day I was in line at Walmart and had a huge cart load (HUGE). The lady behind me started rolling her eyes and sighing. I was thinking she could have used those very eyes to look before she got in line and if she doesn't want to be behind my big cart, choose another line. And I have to mention that my order went very smoothly. It's not like I was that annoying customer that had 12 price checks and an open package that needed to be replaced, and, well you know what I mean. I just had a big order. 

So, today I'm heading out for more shopping. I hope I have nothing to report when I return.

pop

As we arrived at school this morning J saw a kid get out of the car in front of us carrying two 12-packs of pop. 

J - OH DANG! 

Me - I suppose you were supposed to bring something for German today? (German is the only class that sponsors parties - all the time!)

J - Yeah.  I need you to go to King Soopers and get me 2 12-packs of pop and bring them back.

Me - Why? What is it for?

J - Frau is back.

Me - So you guys all have to bring her pop?

J - No, we're just having a party. Just go get me some pop.

Me - No. I'm studying for finals and I have a cold and I'm tired. I'm sorry you didn't remember.

Several hours later the phone rings.

J - Mom, seriously, I really need you to bring me some pop right now, it's time for German.

Me - Fine. Be waiting outside.

I grabbed the only pop we have that I was willing to give up (i.e. not my diet Pepsi w/lime) and drove to school. J opened the car door and his mouth fell when he saw a 12-pack of lemonade and a 12-pack of Fresca. 

J -Are you serious!?

Me - Yeah, that's all we had.

J - I told you Mt. Dew and Coke.

Me - Did you? (Seriously, I don't remember him saying that at all which I attribute to the cold) Well, this is what I have.

J - Forget it. I'll just tell her I forgot.

I take a couple things away from this story: First is that teachers do not need to ask students to bring in lots of pop (btw, wouldn't one 12-pack be sufficient from one student?) to celebrate her return from a short absence. Second, as much as I would like to hope that J will learn from this, I'm sure he'll mostly remember that I was mean and didn't do exactly what he wanted. It won't even occur to him that he was the irresponsible one, not me. 

I'll just add this to my list of 101 ways to annoy your teenager. It's amazing how fast that list grows...

Tree Trimming

One of the things I love about Christmas is seeing the wonder and excitement in little kids. Last Friday, after our mad morning of shopping, I set out to put up the Christmas decor. My 5 year old nephew was all too happy to help so we started with the trees. First, he helped me check lights and we discussed ways to make the tree even "wonderfuler" and "beautifuler" and we talked about why they don't make brown Christmas lights (Joshie's favorite color!). He's glad they at least make orange (his other favorite color) and maybe he'll put a string of all orange lights in his room. (His mom doesn't think they own a string of all orange lights...)

Let's start with the tree on the patio. This is our "Scandinavian Tree" and it has several matching ornaments (thus the theme). Joshie was happy about that and as he started hanging them up he said "OH! Another snowflake. I'll put that right by this one."  I should mention here that Joshie has been a liner-upper his whole life. He puts everything into nice, neat little lines - M&Ms, cars, pumpkins, anything. So pretty soon I looked over at the tree and realized there was a line forming:

Next we went to the living room and did the silver tree. Another theme tree which means more matching of like-ornaments:

Last we started on the family tree. (Yes, we do have 3 trees. Yes, I'm a little crazy. No, I won't come decorate your house. No, mom likely won't put up even 2 of them after I leave.) As we were decorating this tree Joshie shared some of his logic with me. I told him to be very careful with the glass ornaments because they can break easily. He said, "Yeah, so we have to put them down low [this is where I paused and listened closer] so they won't break if they fall." Oh! Ok, really, not bad logic. Not quite the way I think of it but I can see where he's coming from. 

Then Tiernan, who's 3, woke up from his nap and needed to help too. Both of the boys were oooing- and aahing at all the ornaments they unwrapped, it was great. Tiernan replaces many letters with "w" and he was just cracking me up. "Dis one is not wastic [plastic]. Dis one is wass [glass], I will hang it on the wanch [branch]." But, the show stopper was when someone handed him a nutcracker to hang up. "Oh, dis nutwhacker is not wass!" Oh my. That was a good laugh. I've never met a kid who has such a knack for saying things the most inappropriate of ways so innocently! 

My two little decorating buddies:

It was also so funny to look at the tree when they were done because they both chose a spot and stuck to it, putting pretty much all their ornaments on just a couple branches.  This is Joshie's branch - it was so loaded down that it was touching the floor. We did move some of the ornaments after boys left so that we wouldn't step on them...