Why in the world am I so busy?

I feel like I'm on a treadmill that never really stops.  It's stressing me like crazy.  Here's what's on my mind right now.

1. There's a weird smell in my bathrooms.  That's great, because I'm trying to sell this place.  The smell is a mix between mildew and thousands of dollars in plumbing bills.  Hopefully, it's just some water under the house.  I can deal with that.  But, while I'm waiting, I'll just stress over it.  Fun.

2. The kids both stink.  They really needed baths tonight, but we got home late, and it just didn't happen.  So, I have two smelly angels.  I hope that Maggie won't wake up and want to get in the bed with me, but she probably will.  I love her, but she's much more cuddly when she's fresh from the bathtub.

3. We had pizza tonight, and we're having pizza tomorrow night.  And, we'll probably have french fries on Friday night.  Sorry.  Maybe somewhere in there the kids will have a couple of bites from an apple.  Maybe.

4. I just paid some bills.  Looking at the bank account is sure fun.  I'm ready for two incomes again.

I guess that's it.  And, I guess that's really not too bad.  I mean, I have a house to worry about.  My kids are awesome, even if they do sort of smell like garbage right now.  Pizza covers dairy, breads, veggies, and proteins.  (Sure.)  And, in 6 short weeks, I'll have two incomes....and more bills.

What????? Six weeks????  I'm getting married in six weeks????  I've been saying 9 weeks.  Whoops.  I can't even begin to think about what still needs to be done.

Free Moment with the Computer

I was reading a blog that belongs to a sweet friend, and I realized I haven't blogged in a long time.  Life gets busy.  People play on Twitter too much to blog.  People clean the kitchen too often to blog.  People sit on the couch without the computer in their lap too often to blog.  You know how it is. 

I looked back at a little entry I had in April.  April was a tough month, but April was necessary.  April was great, now that I'm here.  Basically, I listed 7 must haves in a future fellow.  Here is what I have now.

1. I want a name.   *Nothing is official yet, but there have been some hits.  Sweetie, Sweet Cakes, and Pickle have all been tested.

2. I want to be completely open.  *No secrets really.  Still not at the "fart confidence" stage.  (I thank a dear family member and her husband for that lovely phrase.)

3.  I want someone who's as excited about Jesus as I am. *He's got me beat. Pretty much, he's living this inspiring journey that I'm getting to be involved in.

4. I want artsy.  *He acts.  He plays music.  He even drew a lovely picture of me shooting a vacuum cleaner.

5.  I want Mike Rowe-ish.  *He has no issues with getting dirty. He may be borderline sloppy.  Alright, he's pretty sloppy, but it's a lovable sloppy.

6. I want a financially independent person.  *He's all for putting me in charge, and having an allowance.  

7. I want someone who really appreciates my awesomeness.  *Oh, he knows.

And, really the best news in all of this is...it's Chuck. :)  We make a great team!  

Should we be Chulie or Juck?

Time Flies

My children are growing too fast.  I think this is the first time I've really stopped to this about it.  I mean, I've enjoyed every little milestone in the past four years.  I wasn't the Mommy who wanted them to stay tiny babies forever. I didn't cry when they started walking.  I didn't feel sad when they were potty trained.  But, I was watching them play tonight, and I teared up.  They are just big!

Tonight they took all the couch cushions off and scattered them, along with pillows all over the living room floor.  They jumped and hollered and had a blast.  Maggie covered herself up on the couch once, and I heard Eli say, "I'll just step over this rock.  Hey...wait a minute...that's not a rock.  That's a kid."  As they were doing this, I was folding laundry.  I came back in the room, and it was perfect.  All the cushions were back, the area rug was in its place, the ottoman was centered on the rug, and the blankets they were playing with were folded neatly.  Maggie did it all by herself!  Then, she fell asleep. :)

And, Eli has been a talking machine tonight.  I've even asked for a kiss a few times, and he gave me one, but he never stopped chatting. :)  He took a bath, after Maggie fell asleep.  He lined up all his little bath toys, and they played. I got him out of the tub, and he asked me where the water goes when it leaves the bath tub. I helped him put on his jammies, and I brushed his teeth.  Now, he's in bed too.

They are too big. :(  I'm sad about it.  I guess this is the feeling that makes women want to have more babies.  Yikes!

But...now that I think about it, not too sad.  I mean, they get their own water and snacks.  They buckle themselves in the van.  They feed the dog for me everyday. I haven't changed a diaper in a year.  

I'm feeling better now. :)

Beef Festival

The kids and I went to the Beef Festival tonight in Harrodsburg.  I know, you're jealous of the fabulous life we live.  Sorry.  We are just better than you.

Really, it was a fine evening. We walked around in pleasant weather, ate Dipping Dots, and played free games.  The kids raced stick horses, walked through a hay maze, brought home tomato plants, and had their faces painted.  There was a wine and cheese event there that looked nice. But, I wasn't able to participate.  I guess it would've been weird to drink a bunch of different wine in a tent while my kids stood around in the gravel outside.

Now, they're in my bed, and they won't go to sleep.  Come on...fall asleep.  I've got to do better with this bedtime stuff.  I'm really slacking off on routine, and they are staying up later and later.  I'm also letting them sleep with me more often than not.  Not cool!  I'm worn out.  Being squished between two sweaty bed hogs doesn't really make for a good night's sleep.  I do love being able to hug them and kiss them while they're sleeping.  But, I miss spreading out all over the bed.  

I'm so tired! So, goodnight Blog.

Old fingers on an iPhone

I'm writing tonight from my iPhone. I've never dine it this way, so we will see if my old lady fingers can do this. I just really want to blog. :)

It's my birthday. I'm squished in my bed between two bed hogs, two pillow pets, a stuffed mouse, and a piglet. I don't think I'd choose to usher in my day in any other way. :). My kids have been so excited about my birthday this year. Maggie started working on my present days ago. She drew my several pictures and wrote "Happy Maggie Mommy Birthday Eli From" on a card. She made me help her wrap it in a gift bag and promise not to look until it was time. Before bed tonight, she decided it was time. Along with that, I found that she'd added a homemade necklace, a picture of me jumping rope beside a flower, and pictures of Eli and Grandma. The several pictures that she had originally drawn were justt loopy scribbles, but she told me one was a slide, and one was a knotted string. She said the others were just nothing. I said that they were "abstract.". I told her that's when you draw something that's beautiful, but just not a real picture of anything. So she sorted through her stack and told me that many of them were abstract.

Now, I know that my dear Eli loves me to, but he's a boy, and boys just don't get into all this like girls. But, I think he was a little jealous of the attention Maggie got for her work. As I was closing the windows around the house, I heard toys being dumped out of something. Eli came running to me with an old pink purse. He said "happy birthday. Here is your present.". I opened the purse, and inside was his firetruck. He told me I could have it and he could just play with his little one. Precious!

So, basically I'm just saying that I gave the most amazing kids on the planet. Maggie's arm is thrown across my neck as I type, and Eli's feet are kicking my kegs. Eh, who needs sleep?

If you didn't know...Mike Rowe was an opera singer

So, things have changed.  For the better? For the worse?  I don't know.  (Okay, I think I do know.) But, it's made me think about what I want.  I mean, dating again immediately is probably a horrible idea, but I think I should at least know what I want.

1. I want a name.  Sweetie, darlin', sweet pea, hey you....anything.  I like it.  I like how there's a name only one person calls me.

2. I want to be completely open.  I mean, it's hard to do, but totally worth it.

3.  I want someone who's as excited about Jesus as I am.  I think He's great, and I want someone else who does too.

4. I want artsy.  Theatre, music, visual art...whatever.  I like artsy.

5.  I want Mike Rowe-ish.  Artsy, but willing to get dirty and see what's wrong with my car.

6. I want a financially independent person.  He doesn't have to be rich, but he's gotta hold his own.

7. I want someone who really appreciates my awesomeness.  He has to think I'm tops.  Because, I am.

Can I afford to be picky?  Uh, yeah.  Maybe in the rules, I'm not supposed to be at this age, but I am.

And, I just realized this makes me sound crazy.  I guess I can own that. :)  I guess this is my first "Dana-esque" entry. Ha.

Maggie Wisdom

This afternoon, Maggie and Eli were going with me to the salon.  I was telling them all about it, in hopes that they would be super well behaved.  So, I told them that was going to get my hair colored.  Eli paid no attention to me, and just played with Mouse.  Maggie asked me what color my hair would be.  I told her it would still be brown, but darker.  She said, "Whatever color it is, I'll still love you."  Aww.  I guess love has been on her mind lately, because a couple of times last weekend, I was fussing at Eli, and she wanted to know if I still loved him even though he was being bad.  Of course I do! :)

Maggie also told me that a little girl in her class today said she wasn't Maggie's friend. Here's our conversation:
Me: "I'm sorry about that.  Are you friends now?"
Maggie: "No, but we had to go to the 'peace table.'"
Me: "And what happened?"
Maggie:  "Well, I just let her go on her way, and said we don't have to be friends if she doesn't want to." 
Seems like Maggie handled it well.  I wonder how many more "I'm not your friend" situations we'll have to deal with?  A million?  I guess it will die away by 25?

Also, this evening, we were watching  The Regular Show, at Eli's request, and Rigby the...whatever animal he is, was doing jumping jacks. Maggie said, "Umm, he has a wiener, and when he does jumping jacks without clothes on, everyone can see it."  Interesting.  Don't worry, Rigby has no genitalia. 

Now, Maggie is playing Paper Toss on my phone, Eli is eating crackers, and Gabby is eating the cracker crumbs.  It's gonna be a nice quiet night.