Going home

I'm headed home for the holidays. Merry Christmas everyone. :D

Hugs,
Melinda

On having children and Christmas

It has suddenly occurred to me that with the birth of a new baby, that no one (aside from Sweet Pea, the 6 year old) has asked what I would like for Christmas. This isn't a problem though, because I really don't know what I would say if someone were to ask me. It took me almost 10 minutes to come up with pastry blender for Sweet Pea. The reason is because I have been so focused and so busy trying to make this a good Christmas for the girls. With their Daddy overseas, it's sometimes hard to be cheerful, so I focus on them. I guess that's what happens when you become a grown up.
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I knew I had forgotten something. The other day, someone mentioned that it was only 2 more weeks until Christmas. That really caught me off guard. I've been counting weeks until Dale is home. (It's now 5 and a half, by the way.) And then we've been planning on having Christmas here when he gets home. So for me... the world will celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25. I plan on celebrating around Jan. 25. :D

Michael Jackson theory

I have a theory. It's just this wild random thinking I was doing the other day. Michael Jackson started singing when he was really really young as part of the Jackson 5. He sang and sang and had the dark skin and big nose for a while. Then came "Thriller." In Thriller, he had lost a lot of weight, his skin was beginning to lighten, and his nose was skinnier. With each subsequent album, his skin was lighter and his nose was... well... less.

So my thinking... Michael Jackson is not Michael Jackson. What if he's been replaced? What if the person who we all think is MJ is really... *GASP*... a white guy?? I think it's this guy that was an MJ impersonator and was so good that when MJ was taken away, the impersonator took his place.

Now, don't ask me who took MJ away or why. Don't ask me why there's an impersonator in his place. Most of all, please don't ask me if I'm serious. I'm not. I do have one conspiracy theory that I'm not going into online, but I wanted to present this, because I thought it was a funny idea. :)

http://allied.blogspot.com/images/michael-jackson-early-years.jpg
http://www.nostalgiacentral.com/images_music/jackson_63.jpg
http://pochettescd.free.fr/images/m/Michael_Jackson_Thriller-front.jpg
http://www.nrc.nl/images/scholierenbad.jpg
http://michael-jackson.juaxoo.com/images/Michael-Jackson-photo.jpg


I mean really... all you have to do is an image search of MJ on Google. If you look closely enough, it is not that hard to see... it's NOT him.

Okay, enough of theories for tonight. I'm off to read. Night. :D

To my mysterious benefactor

I don't know who you are, or why you chose the mirror instead of knocking on my door, but thank you. :) I greatly appreciate the new tube of Carmex.

Hugs,
Melinda

The cold sore from Heck!

Dale, my husband, gets cold sores all the time. It's not unusual for him to have 3 or 4 jars of Carmex at any given time. And oddly enough, I've gotten to wear I can actually tolerate the smell and taste of it.

So Monday morning, imagine my surprise when I woke up with a HUGE cold sore right in the middle of my lip. I remembered what Dale does, he slathers it up with Carmex. So I went hunting for one of his little yellow jars. Surprise! I couldn't find ONE! Nothing. Nada. Not one. There wasn't any in the house. Have I really gone 10 and a half months without one jar of Carmex in my house?

This cold sore hurts. I finally got to the store yesterday to try and find a jar of Carmex. Imagine my disappointment when I couldn't find any. All they have, it seems, is those little yellow tubes of petroleum jelly. BLECH! Well, I have to have something or this thing will never go away. It tastes even worse than the jars.

The worst part of this cold sore is that I can't even kiss my darling girls. It makes me sad.

Hugs,
Melinda

New Pictures

I LOVE my girls. I love playing with my girls too. This first picture is Lil Bit and me playing a new game. She was chewing on her toes, so I thought I would play along. You can't see, but we were really giggling. We have a different game that we play with her paci. She's such a tease. LOL

The next picture shows how well Lil Bit is starting to move. She scoots herself around, usually backwards. This time, she managed to get herself under the pack and play and couldn't figure out how to get out. Sweet Pea decided she wanted to be in the picture too. I guess I added her for comparison's sake. I love my girls.

Lil Bit is so funny. I think she's about a week, maybe two, away from crawling on her hands and knees. Today, she said "Mam-mam." I'm not making it up, because Sweet Pea heard it too. It just makes my heart melt. :)

Erma Bombeck once wrote an essay on what she would do differently if she could do it all again. One thing that she said stuck out and has stayed with me. She said she would enjoy pregnancy. I understand that now. With Sweet Pea, I was simply pregnant and since it was the first one, I was just excited. With Lil Bit, I've grown up. I feel like I had so much more time to enjoy being pregnant. I feel like I have time to enjoy her growing up and all of her milestones. I also feel like maybe I cheated Sweet Pea of that time by having to work. But....... with the fact that I enjoy Lil Bit so much, I'm also learning to enjoy Sweet Pea.

Well, that's all I have for tonight. I'd better get to bed so that I'm fresh for more enjoyment tomorrow. ROFLOL

Only 7 more Sundays till Dale comes home! Whopee!

Oh Christmas Tree...

Time for a new picture. This is our Christmas tree. Sweet Pea and I had a lot of fun decorating it. It's just tall enough that the angel doesn't fit on top, so I had to wire the star to it. It's so pretty. I love this time of year.

I know I had something else to say, something wise and profound, but Mommy brain has kicked in and zapped my mind again. ROFLOL

Childlike Wonder

My youngest slept from 5:30 this afternoon until 9:00. In that time, the oldest and I managed to set up our Christmas tree. It's a pre-lit tree, so we didn't have to worry about the lights. The pure joy and wonder on the baby's face when she saw the Christmas tree was just amazing. I wish I could have captured it on film. And it also makes me stop and think about what Christmas is all about. When I get nervous around all the holiday shopping crowds, and I'm overwhelmed with parties to attend, I'm going to try to stop and remember that precious little smile on her face. And hopefully, I'll remember what the true meaning of Christmas is.

Things that make you go Hmmm.....

So what's up with this? The dishwashing soap says, "So powerful, there's no need to pre-wash." Then in the fine print, "For best results, fill main cup and pre-wash cup completely." ???? What the???

Then, I'm setting up my new Christmas tree today. (It's a fake one, for reasons I'm not going into here.) On the instruction sheet, in the troubleshooting part, I kid you not, it had as a problem.... "There are no instructions in my box" and the solution was "contact us at ....." Um.... HELLO???? If the instructions are not in the box, it's not going to help to put the contact point ON THE INSTRUCTION SHEET!

Man....

You look exhausted.

Why is it that people... strangers, really, feel free to tell me this? Despite the fact that I now have the baby sleeping through the night, I get at least once a week, "You look so tired." Yes... I am tired. I have a 6 year old and a 6 month old, and for the next 9 weeks, I am a single parent. But do you really have to tell me that I look tired? If it wasn't for my very wonderful babysitter (who is supposed to come in 2 hours) I would look even worse. ROFLOL

Now if I could only get the baby to take her nap, I'd be set for the day. :p

[edit] Okay, well, the baby is asleep, but the sitter cancelled. I could cry. :'(

I feel like a chicken......

We were supposed to go home for Thanksgiving. I have been looking forward to going for a month. With my mother being so sick, I try to treasure every minute I have with her. However, we were less than 1/4 of the way down the road when I decided to turn back. My excuse? My kids are running fevers and getting car sick. *sigh* But what's the truth? Is it that my kids were sick or is it that I'm really scared to face my mother's illness in real life? (I don't like excuses, so I try to know the reasons for everything.) It's almost like, if I stay away, she's not that sick, or maybe she'll get better..... Maybe I'm just a big chicken.

Change of Plans

Oh, for a normal life. Three construction zones, one accident caused traffic jam, and 2 sick children later... we decided to stay home for Thanksgiving. It's my being a responsible parent part of life that drives me batty.

But I'm determined to make the best of it. Sweet Pea and I are going to cook a turkey breast, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, strawberry salad, rolls, and brownies. I still have to find the strawberries for the salad, and I forgot to get cranberry sauce today.

Sweet Pea is already working on decorations. She's coloring some print-off pages, and we made handprint turkeys today. We're going to set out the good linens and dinnerware. I'm going to go get a centerpiece for the table tomorrow. So even though I was originally disappointed with coming home, we're going to make the best of it.

Sweet Pea lost a tooth today. It was the other front tooth. I've been singing All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth all day today. She hates it. But she is so absolutely cute, because she can't say her s's right now. LOL I'm really learning to enjoy her more. It's been hard, but I'm learning.

Oh... the best part about going for the weekend was this picture. It was nice to have both of them together. Sweet Pea was running fever and Lil'Bit had on wet pants, but it was still fun. I can't wait to see Lil'Bit with Grandpa's beard at Christmas. 3 weeks is going to be an awfully long time to wait.

I feel like I'm writing a letter.....

Hugs,
Melinda

Going Home

I'm headed home for the holidays. Looking forward to a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey, mashed potatoes, strawberry salad, rolls, pecan pie..... All the wonderful memories. Hoping to make some new memories in the short time we have. Traveling with two children will be enough memory in itself.

Hugs,
Melinda

What a day!

Boy, errand days are NOT fun. Lil Bit usually ends up missing her nap which makes her cranky. Then one of the places I needed to go was closed, so I have to go tomorrow, and I forgot half the stuff I needed to take, then I got a headache half way through the day. *WHEW* Long day.... Oh, and I also waited 40 minutes for a 15 minute doctor's visit. Why???

On the good side of the day, I did manage to get Lil Bit to sit on Santa's lap for a picture that I will post at a later date. It's amazing to me the difference in my girls. Sweet Pea didn't sit on Santa's lap until just last year.

Okay, time to dash. A mother's work is never done. LOL

My first post

I'm brand new to this. I have NEVER done this. It should be interesting. :) Of course, I have my sister to blame. ;) I couldn't post a comment on hers until I started my own. LOL

Little bit is watching a magic show on TV. Little little bit is in bed asleep (please stay that way tonight). I, of course, am bored. So I'm trying something new, yet again.

Well, off to more exploring of my blog. :D

Melinda's Editing Post

Okay, I think I found the way to add blogs. I'm not sure how to get bac

k to the edit page.

Okay, found it. Now to add a picture. :) It's Dale and the girls. :)


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*Edited on July 24, 2007 because I'm trying to change my profile picture. :P*

And yet another edit in an attempt to beautify my blog. 8-31-07

*** I think I'm going to rename this the edit post. LOL 1/26/08
*** Edited 8/19/2010 -- Trying to change my profile picture to a more current "me."