I have a crazy boxer dog. Actually I quite like her, but I think that she drives everyone else nuts. She only listens to me and Thing 3--which is ironic since Thing 3 is shorter than her. Everyone else is just an annoyance to Zoe. It's hilarious to watch/listen to Thing 3 scold Zoe. She makes Zoe sit, and lay down before she can do anything. If Zoe even looks like she might steal or even sniff Thing 3's food, she starts yelling at her, and Zoe's ears go back like "Oh Man! Busted again!" I love to watch the two of them run around in the back yard... Zoe is soo careful to not knock Thing 3 down, but still chase with her. It will be fun once there is snow.

Anyway--my crazy boxer dog-- she always decides around 3:30 in the morning that she needs to go outside to go potty. The ritual is the same every night... even if I try to ignore it or change it. She will come into my room, and start to whine. I will ignore her. Then she will start to shake her head, which rattles the "necklace" (her tags), I ignore her. Then she will start to bump the bed, until I get up. Then once you are up, she runs out the door, then runs back in the door to make sure you are comming. Then she runs to the stairs and sits there until you start down them, then she runs to the door, and does her kidney bean dance...

Last night, I just didn't want to get up. So, when the bed bumping didn't work, she put her paws up on the bed and put her face in mine and did this weird little talk thing she does. It's half bark, half howl... its hilarious, except at 3:30 in the morning. So, we finished our routine, and then I dragged myself back to bed. She really is a good companion for me, and she is really good with my kids, especially Thing 3.

She follows me everywhere. I can't even begin to tell you how many times a day I trip over her, 'cause she is right under my feet. If I leave a room, and am gone longer than she likes, she comes and finds me. When I take the garbage out, she greets me when I come back like I have been gone for a year... thats fun. When there is someone even remotely close to the house, I know it cause Zoe starts growling. I love that. I never worry about someone sneaking in, cause she would let me know. She might not do anything if they got in, but her scarey bark would surely scare them away.

Sometimes I wish my life were as simple as hers-- sleep, play, sleep, poop, sleep, eat, sleep, play... its a good life. We have been trying to find her a "life partner" but haven't had any success yet. She would be even happier if she had another doggie friend to play with. She is a social animal, she just gets really scared around other kids. I know that is because our naughty neighbors in our last neighborhood used to tease her relentlessly. So, now she associates all other kids, besides her kids, as mean kids. Its hard to de-program her, but we are trying.

Anyway, I have a crazy boxer dog, who thinks she is human. Maybe in her previous life she was.

Happy Halloween! Ba-hahahaha!! (thats my evil laugh). Trick or treating-- the begging for candy from strangers. We spend 364 days a year telling our kids to run, run away fast when a stranger approaches with candy, but yet on Halloween, it becomes ok to take candy from strangers. Crazy!! But, in all honesty, I love halloween. I love to dress up with the kids. It's the one day of the year that it becomes ok for me to be as crazy as I really am. I love taking the kids trick or treating. And of course, there is that wonderful little thing called:
"The Mommy Tax"! You gotta love the Mommy Tax! That ensures you good candy for at least another week! The kids get to eat all the candy that they want on Halloween night, then it all goes into a giant bucket, so that there is no fighting over the candy. Which also supplies Mom and Dad.

In our old neighborhood it was a blast to go trick or treating. We had a great neighborhood. All of us close- in proximity- neighbors would give the kids special treat bags. Then we would hit the streets. One street over there was a house that turned their garage into a "cafe". They grilled hot dogs for the whole street, made hot chocolate for everyone, and served kool-aide and of course beer. It was all free for the taking. As you can imagine--our neighborhood was THE neighborhood to trick-or-treat in! It was great, great fun. They made a spook alley in the back yards, and used their ATV's to drive those daring enough to experience it around. My kids loved it! It was great fun. And the candy was awesome.

I was a little sad this year, thinking about the hotdogs, and spook alley, and not really very excited to trick-or-treat...but I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. Our new neighborhood was alive and kicking!! There were kids galore, and it was fun to listen to the screaming and having a blast. Some of the neighbors really got into it, by playing MJ's Thriller out their windows, or other scarey, festive music. Most had their smoke machines, and a lot had weird dancing zombie type things. Several houses had the grown-ups all dressed up handing out candy. There was one lady who had gone all to the nines in her witch costume--complete with the spooky-witch- british accent. Her skin was all green, and her teeth, yes teeth, glowed in the dark. It was wild. Thing 2 started toward the door, saw her, and turned around and ran back to me. He says "I don't need candy from her". So I took his hand and walked him to the door... it was fun to watch him interact with her. The funniest part is she is the president of the childrens class at our church!! How great is that?! The other house that completely freaked them both out was this house where they were dressed up like zombie/monsters. You had to go past him to get the candy, and he would growl at the kids that they could have 3 pieces of candy . Thing2 would'nt go up. Once I convinced him to go up, the critter just growled at him, and he took that candy so fast and ran his little heart out. He had the funniest look on his face-- I wish I would've had a camera. It was priceless!!

Thing 3 did NOT want to go Trick-or-treating. The kids would ring the door, yell trick-or-treat, and she would freak out! Then our neighbor boy came over, and got his candy. We said to her "Thing3, don't you want to go to anonymous neighbor boys house and get candy?" She got all excited and yells "Yeah!" Then she grabbed her bag and was out the door. She would run, not walk from house to house. But, always end up at the back of the pack of kids. One time she got all mad, turns around to me, yells "I can't see" then growls the loudest growl. It was soo funny. All the kids started laughing and moved out of her way. Because she was shorter than everyone else, she couldn't run as fast. That meant that she never got to ring the doorbell. Several times we had to ask the people to shut their doors, and let her ring the doorbell. She is soo funny! She had a blast. Once she got to Anonymous Neighbor boys house, (who BTW is her cousin. She loves the whole family. There are very few people that she will go to without crying--these guys are among the chosen few! ) she was done, and wanted to go home. So, we made a bee-line to Grandma & Pappys house, and she zonked out before we got there. I am glad she made up her mind to go trick-or-treating.

Anyway-- I love Halloween. I know, as a Christian, I shouldn't. But, I do. I love the parties, the pranks, the jokes, the costumes, the falling leaves... it's just a great time. It is the start of "the holidays" for me! I was a dope this year and forgot to take pictures of the kids trick-or-treating. I guess there will be no scrapbook pages. Oh well. Some of your best memories are what I call Kodak moments. Those pictures that you have in your brain of events... some are better left in our heads! I have that!

Today was the childrens program for our church. I was extremely nervous. When we practiced on Friday--the whole thing took 2 hours. I was dying. Were we REALLY going to have to sit on the stand with all these rowdy kids for 2 hours?? Thankfully, no. It was only 1 hour and 15 minutes. We made it without killing someone. We made it without any major distractions or embarrassments. It was all good.

I remember the stress of those programs. I was glad that it was them, and not me! I am glad that we are getting into a groove with the kids. Hombre is soo good with kids. He is a natural. I love to watch him interact with them. He is the pied piper of children!

We went to our cousins house for dinner tonight. It was great great fun. Usually within 1 hour of being there, Hombre is giving me the secret signal that it's time to go... but that signal never came! We really enjoyed ourselves, and had a great time getting to know them. It was fun to reminisce about our childhood, and to learn more about their families. I totally enjoyed myself.

It has been a blessing for me to have them live behind us. It was such a difficult move for me, that having family live behind me was reassuring. When ever I get sad being here- I can look out my back window and see their house and realize I am right where God wants me to be. How could we NOT be? It is NO coincidence that my cousin happens to live right behind me, and we never knew it. We hadn't seen each other in over 15 years!! That is not a coincindence, that is the hand of the Lord! I recognize it when I see it. I am where I should be, doing what I should be doing. It is time for us to reconnect with family--both of our families! I see Hombre's Grandfather working miracles, and it is just amazing!!

Noises. Some noises are good: children laughing, babies crying, babies cooing, basketball games, swooshing of snow skis, the humm of a boat, the lawn mower... but some noises are bad. Some are actually really obnoxious. Especially in the middle of the night.

I had a nightmare last night. Some crazy thing was trying to catch Hombre and Me, and we were hiding from it... I woke myself up yelling his name. Surprisingly, he didn't wake up. But, then I heard it. The noise. At first I thought it was the bathroom sink on, slowly dripping. No, not my bathroom. No, not the kids bathroom. Was it the laundry room sink? No. Where was that comming from? Then I realized it was above me, in the ceiling. How could that be? I got a ladder, and stood there. Sure enough, there it was. The noise. Drip. Drip. Drip. Constantly, not stopping. Drip. Drip. Drip. Now, I am a freaker. That is common knowledge. It doesn't take much to get me to freak out. I go and wake up Hombre. He looks at me like I am on crack. He comes out, listens, then says "Yup. It's a drip. Go back to sleep." And proceeds to go back to bed. WHAT?? How am I supposed to sleep with that? The noise?! Drip. Drip. Drip. I am sure that it gets louder when I go to the family room. Drip. Drip. Drip. I know that sounds crazy. But I am sure that it is dripping louder, as if to say, "don't forget that I am here!"

Fast forward to morning. Hombre recalls me waking him up, but is convinced that there was no drip. I convince him to get on the ladder, and sure enough, he hears it too! And now, the ceiling is wet! Yikes!! It's freak out time again. I call several roofers. No one can help us. Not until next week. Yikes! Still freaking. I take the kids to their halloween parties. All the while obssesing over the dripping. I get home, and I poke a hole in the ceiling, cause its sagging.

Then I do what any normal woman does. I called my best friend. I told her how my life sucked. That everything was falling apart. And I proceeded to tell her everything that was ever wrong... you know how it all comes rushing back to you when you are upset?? She told me life didn't suck, that I just needed to cry. I needed to get it all out. Then I would be able to think straight. So I did. I cried my eyballs out.

My parents called while I was crying... They could tell I was a mess, so they came rushing to my rescue. My awesome Dad climbs up into the attic and diagnoses the leak. "It is comming from those un-sightly pipes on the top of the house. You just need to put some tar around them. It's no big deal. All is well! Stop freaking out!" Awesome Dad says. Whew! Am I ever relieved.

I do have to say this though--having a good, hard, freak out cry is cleansing! I feel better, and its cause the house isn't falling in on us. But also I suspect, its cause I cried the ugly cry today.

Ok, so you may have noticed that I have yet again not posted anything for over 1 week. Well, this is because my computer was freaking out. Everytime I turned it on, the screen would go all sorts of funky colors. Then get all wavy and weird. So, I went 1 entire week, thinking that my computer was broken, AND NOT using it, or the internet! Whew! That was difficult!!
When I couldn't stand it anymore, I decided to "brave" the obnoxious display on the screen and check my email. Then, I had this bright idea... I wonder if the reason its wigging out is because something is unhooked. Now, according to my youngest sister, I have yet to join the 21st century. In idoit terms: I am a computer retard. I know, shocking! LOL!! Anyway, it took quite a lot of looking (not really sure what I was looking for, but I was diligently looking), had to use the handy dandy flashlight... but low and behold, what did I find? The monitor was unhooked! Yippe skippee! I can join the land of the living again!! I fiddled and faddled a bit, and got this thing up and running again! YE HAW!!! I did learn something interesting... what in the world did we EVER do with out the internet and google? Thing 1 would be doing her homework last week, and not know the answer, and want to google it... WOW!! How on earth did we ever survive without this handy dandy little thing we call the internet??

I couldn't sleep, again. So I got up and checked on all the Things... I had to look at them each twice, cause it was too wierd!! They each were sleeping in the exact the same position. Covers kicked off, with their arms up above their heads. My mom always says "that's the sign of a content baby!" Oh, that makes me happy!! I wish I had thought to take a picture of each of them... but alas, its the same as with the eggs... I just plum forgot!

So, that got me thinking of all the things that I love. I decided to make a list, and post it. It is in no particular order... just things that make my heart warm!

1. My kids sleeping. That obvious! It's cause their not fighting, whining, or "frowing fits" and I can look at them and remember that I DO love them! Even when they are little demons!

2. My Dog. She is sortof of a freak... but she gets so excited to see me. Even if I just went to take the garbage out. She greets me like she hasn't seen me for years! That makes me happy!

3. Books. I love books. I find myself thinking often: "Must have books. Need more books!" Is that healthy? Dunno, but I love books!

4. Music. I love music. My friends always tease me about the fact that I can tell you exactly where I was when I first heard a song...I think its cause my life is puncuated by song, and really its just one big gigantic musical... I am constantly thinking about "what song would I put here in my 'movie of life'." Hummm... that is a little weird.

5. Food. I love eating out, at REAL restaurants. Not Burger King or McDonalds... There is nothing more satisfying to me than a good meal that someone else has cooked. Hombre teases me that when I order, I take FOREVER to make up my mind and I tend to OVER order... meaning I order too much food. I think thats cause I always view my meals as my last meal... what if I died, and this was my last meal... I would want it to be awesome. Hombre always out orders me--that bugs me! Umm, I really am a little weird! Is that really a surprise? LOL!

6. Laughing. I love to laugh! There is nothing more healing to me than a good laugh! I heard once that if you want to stay young and look young, you have to laugh! I like those kind of laughs that get you going soo hard that you can't talk, and the tears just flow-- thats a good laugh!

7. Hombre. Need I say more?

8. Water. I love the sound of water... rivers, lakes, oceans! I love it all. It is the most relaxing sound in the world to me. I want, someday, a house on a lake with a huge, awesome porch that I can sit, listen to the water and read a book. Ahh--heaven.

9. Fireflies. They are soo magical. I can't even begin to explain how incredible they are. If you have never had the chance to see them, then take a trip to the mid west in the month of July (they are only out for like 6 weeks) and see if you don't find them the most enchanting things around. When I create my own worlds, fireflies will be everywhere! Just one look at them, and they make you happy!

10. Cicadas. I love to hear them "sing". (click on the AU files in the cicada link to hear what they sound like) The first time I heard them, I thought there was an electrical wire down somewhere... but then I became used to them, and their "songs" became a peaceful sound to me. Now, the bugs themselves are gross, but the sound they make is music to my ears!

11. Skiing. I love to snow ski. I am soo excited for it to snow so that I strap back on those skis and tackle the mountain... or better yet let the mountain tackle me!

12. Campfires. I love the smell of campfires. I reminds me of being a child. Why? I dunno. We never camped. But for some reason the smell of fires reminds me of home.

13. Traveling. I love to travel and SEE things and places and people. You learn so much more by going, doing and seeing. I want some day to travel all over the US, and then branch out to the world. There is so much to see and learn. Some of my favorite cities: San Diego, San Fransico, SLC, Chicago, Jackson Hole, Seattle, Spokane, Chelan, Couer d' alene, Madison, London, HongKong, Mexico City, Puerto Vallarta, The North Shore, Oregon Coast... I could go on and on... I just haven't seen enough of the world to be satisfied.

14. People. I love to watch people. Everyone has a story... I like to see how they interact with each other, how they act when they think no one is watching. You can learn a lot about life from silently watching people. My favorite memory is going into the city to the mall at christmas time with my cousin and sitting in the food court and just watching people go by. THAT was a great time!

I could go on and on... but this is just the short list of "a few of my favorite things!"

It is amazing how quickly time flies-- it has been 12 days since my last post. I am shocked! I have such a hard time sleeping at night lately, and I lay there and think of all these great post ideas... but then I finally DO fall asleep, and by the time I am coherent again, they are all a distant memory.

There is one thing that has been consistently on my mind. It was an interview that I saw with good ole George Dub-ya... DISCLAIMER: I try to refrain from talking about politics with anyone that I would like to continue being friends with. Friends, family and politics just don't mix. I tried recently to talk politics with my Mom-- It didn't go over very well. I guess that tells you that I have sortof a "different" view. Whatever that means.

I really don't like Dub-ya. There are soo many reasons why... I wouldn't even venture to start naming them. I heard him recently in an interview defending his appointment of Harriett Meirs to the Supreme Court. He said: "I listened to what Congress had to say. They had some interesting ideas. One of those ideas was 'Hey--why not appoint someone who has never been a judge before"? UHHHHH- OK!?! That makes no sense to me. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. I guess the reason I am not in favor of someone who has never been a judge being in the highest court in the land is this: Will she be able to rise to the pressure that she will be facing, and rule in favor of the LAW and not popular/political opinion? She has no experience in this venue... I just think that it is a tad bit risky to appoint someone with no experience to our highest court of law. I guess the old addage really IS true-- It's not WHAT you know its WHO you know! One good thing for Harriett-- she'll never have another job interview again. Wouldn't THAT be nice??!

The next thing that I have been thinking about is something that I saw on CNN (again late at night when I couldn't sleep). Did you know that in California, normal Joe's like you and I can write a law, and if no one in the Senate apposes it, it is then MADE a law??!! Umm, I think that is cool to some extent, but a little freaky deeky in another. I would like to make some laws of my own...

1. Mandatory prison time, (no getting out early for good behaviour or sentence suspended, or sentences served at the same time) for anyone convicted of child abuse of any kind.

2. 3 strikes your out! There are too many sicko's on the street, and they keep on offending! 3 strikes your out. (even if that means 3 different charges at the same time-- too bad soo sad! Throw away the key!!! Just move the prison out to the middle of the desert ! I have major issues with our prision system. It is entirely too much like a country club-- but that is another post for another time!)

3. A toll road for the new highway they want to build here. That would absorb some of the cost. Flip, I would be willing to pay .80 cents per toll booth if that meant there were alternate routes in and out of the city!

4. A ban on all loud rap music that you can hear through your own car while the windows are up, and you can feel the base in your chest... oh wait! I haven't expereinced that here--- YET!

Ummm, thats about all of them for now. Last night, when I couldn't sleep, I had a huge list of the laws that I would write... but that is all of them that I can remember. If I remember more I will post them later. I am sure that we all have a few that we would write ourselves!!

Borrowing the words of the great Garrison Keilor :
"Be well, do good work, and keep in touch".

There are a lot of adjustments when it comes to moving... unpacking the boxes, finding the "right" Doctor, finding a good gas station, your favorite grocery store, and the noises. Everywhere you live, you have your typical noises. But, it seems like those noises are amplified at night, and especially when it's a new environment. I swear, last night, I heard them all!! Every single last little one! You know the ones that I am talking about... the ones where if you've lived there a while, you can tell yourself "Oh, thats just the water softener kicking on" or " thats just a tree rubbing against the rain gutters", or " thats just the neighbor's dog barking"... but when you are in a new environment... everything seems louder, and scarier! Last night it was raining. I woke up in a panic, thinking someone was breaking into the house... NOPE! Just the wind attacking my windows with fervor! I get settled back down, and am just dropping off to sleep, when I hear, what sounds to me like a CRASH! I panic, check on all the kids... Umm, nope, just one of the kids' toys falling off their bed. I get settled down, yet again, and hear a low, long "HISSSSSSSSSS" What the heck?? I think for sure I am on to something... and start following the sound... all the way to the basement. It's just the watersoftener kicking on. Now I am wide awake! I tried the whole counting thing... 1 one thousand, 2 one thousand, 3 one thousand...not working.... 4 one thousand, 5 one thousand 6 one thousand... still wide awake.... What do you do when you are wide awake and its 4:00 in the morning? You do what every other normal person does... you watch infomercials.

Did you know that you can now buy software that will teach you, yes teach you, how to use Ebay? As if! They say that they can teach you how to make the sure fire auctions and you can make up to $5,000 a week!! Wow! If I had NO brain whatsoever, that would sound pretty inticing to me.... You even have a 90 day money back gaurentee... all risk free for the 1 time low, low price of $49.99 plus shipping and handeling(which happens to be another 20 bucks!)

This leads me nicely into my next point. Everyone knows someone who is a sucker for infomercials... Well my friend told me the funniest story today about a person that we both know. He is kindof a dork. Well, that is actually putting it nicely. He is a complete weirdo. His mother refers to him as "unique". That's just a nice way to say "my son is freaking weirdo!" But, hey, what do I know? Anyway, Anonymous Weirdo is addicted to infomercials. He is out to make it rich, and do it quick, without any work....There are so many stories to be told about Anonymous Weirdo, but this is the latest. He bought boxes and boxes of vitamin supplements. He was convinced that this was how he was going to make his millions. He purchased so many boxes of the supplements, that the bedroom where Anonymous Weirdo's son sleeps is too full for the son. He told my friends husband, Anonymous Lawyer, that he wanted to sue this vitamin supplement company. "They stole his money." He asked A.W "Why do you want to sue the company?" and A.W. replied: "Well, they said in the infomercial that this stuff was a 'sure thing! it would sell itself' Well, it's not selling itself... its all still sitting in that bedroom taking up space! The Vitamins are not selling themselves!!" Oh my!! Ummm....
Note to self: Vitamins do not sell themselves! Do not believe anyone who tells you they do!

This morning was really hecktic-- I got the kids out the door for the bus...finally!! I watched as Thing2 ran his little heart out to the bus, (cause he lost his homework and was frantically looking for it) all the while Thing1 was yelling "Hurry Thing2 Hurry!! The bus is coming!" She was yelling it out of concern for her little brother. It warmed my heart. Thing 3 was chasing them in the grass, and then promptly turned around yelling "Bwwrrr! Its too cold! I need shoes!" We came inside, got our toast, and settled in for a nice calm morning. Or so I thought!

I was sipping my equivalent of a morning "cup of joe"-- diet pepsi, thinking..."Hummm what am I going to blog this morning??" I thought I would pull a picture and post it and journal about that when my blog just came to me...


Do you know what an entire 18 pack of eggs looks like broken on the floor? I do. It's not a pretty sight! It is just an ooeeey, gooey mess of grossness!

My cute litte Thing3 came in and said, rather sheepishly, I might add: "Mama-- I made a big mess." I said "You did?" She nods her head and says "Yup! I made a big, big mess. Come see". Then she turns and promptly runs out. Oh boy!

Now, mind you, I had just, not 2 minutes earlier, noticed how quiet it was and checked on her. She was "playing" her brothers gameboy while hiding under a blanket. She has no idea how to play the thing... as I pulled the blanket off, she looks up and says "Mom (all whiney like) I'm playing the dameboy!" And covers her head back up. What is a person's train of thought from playing a gameboy to egg throwing?

As I got up to the kitchen, I just sortof stared all open mouthed. I had to breath really hard to not start yelling... as I kept breathing, I started laughing. She was standing next to her creation-- all Vannah White like-- as if to say "isn't this the coolest thing ever?" She was trying to look serious, but you could tell she thought that it was pretty dang awesome! I said "Oh my! Thing 3 what have you done?" And she says, "I made a big mess!" I said "what where were you doing?" And she looked at me like I was dumb, and then said "I was frowing da eggs!!" Oh, I see that.

Hombre has a theory. He says that if you are a "lunk head", then you have "easy" children to deal with. This is because, he says, God can't trust you to give the extra love, kindness,caring and attention that comes with a "challenging" child. I don't know if I believe that. I think he was telling me this to try and make me feel better... I don't think it worked. Thing 3 is my trial. I will be amazed if we survive her. One minute she can be so darling and sweet and kind, and the next minute I think she has become possesed by the devil himself. I honestly do not know how to handle her. She is extremely difficult. Everyone has all sorts of advice " You let her manipulate the system, thats why shes like that" or "she just needs more love and attention", or "you can't let her get away with that. She needs a firm hand." I just don't know what to think anymore. She is 2-- how do you reason with a 2 year old? How do you get them to understand that they can not yell at other children just because they look at you? How do you get them to understand what it means to be nice vs. mean? I think I am raising a mean child... I hope I can figure out how to help her. She wants to play with kids, but then when she gets around them she is just plain mean.

I had to go do my church visits today (Visiting Teaching). I thought it would be a good idea to take Thing 3 because she could play with my companions little girl. Boy-- was I sadly mistaken. I have never seen Thing 3 behave the way she did today. It was completely humiliating. I don't think that I can ever go back to the one lady's house. Thing 3 was the poster child for the evil child. I was flabergasted, and left speechless. I just finally gathered up my things and left. I wanted to just crawl into a whole and just stay there forever. Throw some food in once a day, cause I'm not coming out! I honestly do not know what happened. We had our little talk about what Mommy wanted, and how she should behave... It was so far from what happened, we could've been on another planet!

I don't know what to do. I am stumped. She is my trial. Which is ironic-- since the message that I left with everyone today was that when you are having trials, if you will read your sciptures, the Lord will make it possible to handle your trials. Sometimes fixing them for you, and sometimes just giving you the peace to deal with your trials. I know this is true-- but how do I apply this to raising Thing 3?

She is angry all the time... what can a 2 year old be angry about? She yells all the time and is just plain mean. It then makes me wonder-- is she mirroring what she sees from me? And if so, boy have I really screwed up. What to do, what to do!

So, anyway, Hombre's theory is supposed to make me feel better... better that I am not a "lunk head" I suppose. He says that lunk heads are the ones that you just want to slap up side the head with a 2x4 cause their kids are turning out great inspite of the parents. I wish it were that easy... but for me, I am feeling like the complete looser parent because my kid can't play nice, or be nice.

Nice agent just called... she has sitting in front of her my MVR. She said that dumb and dumber never even tried to get the thing pulled. WHAT???!! For what ever reason they (dumb and dumber) have decided that A: they want everyone else to do their jobs, or B: they are the self proclaimed DL police! (meaning they want to make sure everyone has the instate DL...whatever! )
What a bunch of weirdos. Nice agent DID do her job, and with a couple of clicks of the mouse, our problem is solved.

How nice it is when everyone does their OWN jobs!

I have this pet peeve... I hate having to do other people's jobs for them! Especially if I am paying them. If you can take my money, then you can figure out how to do your own freaking job!!

I have lived here now for almost 6 months. For 6 months I have been trying to get myself insured to drive my car. The insurance moron keeps telling me they can't find me with my DL# ... it is invalid. WHAT???!!! How can that be? I re-newed the thing right before we moved. I call (here is where I start to their job) the Secretary of State... sure enough they can find me. I am valid, they don't know what her problem is. So, I give her the number to call, and they will give her a verbal, and fax, yes fax her a copy of my MVR so that I can be properly insured... "Ok" she says, "I'll take care of it." Then along comes this "lovely" nasty gram saying that I am going to be canceled (both cars and house) on this day because we don't meet the companies guide lines. WHAT??!?? Not wanting to have to deal with dumb and dumber, I call a different office of the same insurance company. They tell me "Hey! No problem! We'll take care of this!" I assume it's all taken care of. Ooooohhhhhhh Noooooooo! The saga continues...

Hombre is getting ready to take the bar exam, and he needs a copy of his MVR to turn in with his bar application. Why you ask? Because it makes everyones life difficult, that's why!
I figure, since they had to pull these things already with the insurance, can't we just use the ones they got from the DMV?? Sounds logical to me! I call the nice insurance lady, and she says that makes sense to her, and she will get it right ready for me... she just has to get it from "dumb and dumber". No biggie, right?? WRONG!!! Nice lady calls back and says they never got my MVR, they are still waiting for it, and Hombres was just from their computer. (oh, ok! whatever that means!) Then dumb and dumber calls..." Ummm, Anonymous lady, we still can't pull your MVR. If you want to be insured ever, then YOU need to call the DMV and see if they will give YOU a MVR report and then YOU can bring it in to us." I am shocked into silence, (my nasty side is starting to rear her ugly little head). "Why can YOU not do that, and why are we still having these problems?" I ask. She says " Its cause you have an out of state DL#. "Oh... well, you can pull Hombres just fine" I say, "what is the real problem?" I don't know she says... YOU are going to have to take care of this yourself. she tells me. WHAT??!!?? Isn't that why I pay my insurance every freaking month for? Do your own job. If I wanted to have a job I would get my own job!

Now... I wish I had been quick enough to say that to her...but, I wasn't! I just told her I would deal with the nice agent and hung up on her...only after she told me that the nice agent couldn't do her job for me either. Hummm...

I called the nice agent, and of course, she freaked. She yelled into the phone, at me, "That lady is lying to you. I gave them everything they needed to have to get this thing freaking taken care of!" I felt guilty for only a split second, and then the nice agent said "thats it! no more mrs nice guy!" OH BOY!!! I think I have started an inter agency war here!!

Well...Thats what you get for wanting ME to do YOUR job!

The sun sets in a sea of magic,

swirling colors and light kiss it away.

Such a glamorous loss seems almost tragic,

but all I can do is bask in the spray.

Library day! We found the county library today! I love books! I love to look at them, hold them and smell them. I get all giddy inside when I see all the books for me to look at and hold! On my night stand right now, I have 9 books begging me to read them... and yet I still check out more. I think it's a sickness, really. I love books! I can't get enough of them. Thing 1 said it best when she told me once that she would like to be buried in the Library. Then she could read books for all of eternity! What a grand idea. The thing that is soo incredible about books is that when it seems that everything is going against you-- you can pick up a book and instantly you have a friend and place to escape too. I love a book that transports me there and I really feel like I am there. Harry Potter does this for me. Hombre said when he finished one of them that it made him sad to finish, cause he felt like he had lost his best friend. THAT, my friends, is the sign of a great book. There are soo many others that do that for me. It is so hard for me to say exactly what my favorite book is, cause it changes weekly to whatever the newest book I am reading. (Although, I will say, it's not the latest one!That's a story for another time!) I find such pleasure in using my imagination. I feel like there is another friend just begging me to find them and explore their world with them. Oh how I love books! If I could have my wildest dream it would be to have a bookstore. Then I really could just sit and savor every book that there ever was... and die with all my friends. Isn't that a morbid thought?!? There are soo many to discover and so many places to visit! I am so grateful that Thing 1 loves to read as much as I do. It is fun to sit and read with her. And now Thing 3 is following suite. I just hope that I can convince Thing 2 that it really is his thing! :0) (he told me that he just wasn't into reading cause it just wasn't his thing)! This last week our church held a "No T.V. week" How glorious is that? It was awesome to sit and read with my children and my husband. We read so many books that week--Heaven! I am glad that Hombre is as passionate about Literature as I am. I think that Henry Kissinger said it best: "An intelligent Man (or woman) will read a book a week." That seemed like a lot at first. So, I alterd the goal to be 1 a month... but the more I read, the faster I get and I can say that there are some months that I do read a book a week. As long as you read, I think that is all that matters. Knowledge is power! Oh how I love books!

The first signs of fall are here-- the crisp air singing that the leaves are about to change! We are ever closer to snow! By conference time, the mountains will be almost done with their fall splendor! I love the fall! I love the crisp mornings, being able to have my windows open. I love the colors and the sweaters! I love pumpkins and all the fall festivals there are. I love September and October. Such a beautiful time of the year!

I have said it so many times before that it now sounds like a broken record: Garrison Keilor is the only person who can make the Mid-West sound romantic! He has such a way with words. When I listen to him talk about the Mid-West it makes me have an ache for "home". I loved the Mid-West. It has been a hard adjustment for me being back here, but I have decided that I need to just "buck up!". I am here and there is no going back! So, bloom where you are planted! I can miss all the great memories there, and make new ones here. I think the thing that I have been missing the most is my house (oh how I LOVED that house!) and my friends. I have such great friends back there--But, if I just sit around and pout it will never get better-- so bloom where you are planted! My children are thriving here-- its a good thing!
Thing 3 made it through Nursery without me today... whew! When I came back to get her she said "Mommy, I lost you." "But now I found you." She is soo cute. She is getting such a command of the english language. She is such a delight to have, and I am soo enjoying my time alone with her. She is constantly hugging and kissing on me! She still has her moments, but she is getting better. She came out of time-out for throwing a fit, and promptly told Thing 1 that she isn't suppose to "frow fits anymore!" Thats right, baby, thats right!
Thing 2 wanted to take me to show and tell last week at school. That made my day! He said he would tell everyone: "This is my mom. Her name is Mom. She lives with me!" He was all gun-hoe for that, until Thing 1 told him that was dumb! Then he started to re-think it and decided to take the dog. This week he took his Uncle. But, his Uncle lives in D.C. Sooo, Mom had to round up some pics of said Uncle , and the money he gave the kids from Iraq, and away to school Thing 2 and his "cool Uncle" went. Thing 2 thinks he is soo cool. It's ALWAYS fun when he comes to town! But, those are posts for another time! :0) It all makes me smile!
Thing 1 got her AR reading results back this week. They said that she is reading on a post-high school level! WHAT??! She is too smart! She told Hombre the other day that Thing 2 was bugging her both literally and figuratively. How does a 10 year old know this?! She has discoverd boys. She likes a boy in our ward, who is also in her school class, and his Dad is our home teacher. It makes me smile. There is also another boy that likes her--and he is a member too! See, thats why we moved here! It makes it a little bit easier for me to watch her push away...it would be more difficult if we weren't here--I would worry so much more! She is such a delight, and growing up soo fast. It makes me sad to realize that in another 10 years she will be gone from our home, and off to college! I will miss her so! Hombre has decided that the kids were not allowed to move away--- EVER!! I told him good luck on inforcing that one! :0)
If I were to put a song to my post today, it would be the song by the 10,000 Maniacs "These are the days". Not only just the song, and the sound of it fits, but also the words:

"These are the days you'll remember.
Never before and never since,
I promise,
the whole world will be as warm as this.
and as you feel it, you'll know its true
that you are blessed and lucky.
It's true that you are touched by something
that will grow and bloom in you.
These are the days you'll remember.
When May is rushing over you
with desire to be part of the miracles
you see in every hour.You'll know it's true
that you are blessed and lucky.
It's true that you are touched by something
that will grow and bloom in you.
These are days.
These are the days you might
fill with laughter until you break.
These days you might
feel a shaft of light make its way
across your face.
And when you do
you'll know how it was meant to be.
See the signs and know their meaning.
It's true, you'll know how it was meant to be.
Hear the signs and know
they're speaking to you, to you."

Thats the song for todays blog. I am blessed, and these are the days!