Parental Supervision....Living with my In-Laws

Let's give thanks Spin Cycle style

2008-11-26T09:53:00.000-08:00

Here we are time once again to give thanks. Jen over at Sprite’s Keeper asked us what we are most thankful for this week’s Spin Cycle. So here’s my top ten (man I love lists…so here we go…):

10. Technology: Seriously I do not know what I would do without my cell phone, internet connection, and digital camera. What did people do before all this technology?

9. My car: I am so thankful for my car (are the gods listening??). My car has 172,355 miles on it! Please, please, please do not fail me now. I can not afford another one. I drive about 30,000 miles a year, so every day I wonder how much life my little Sebring has left, and I frantically hope that it’s at least 2 more years (please stop laughing at me and instead cross your fingers for me and send up a prayer—the car gods will hear you).

8. Lower gas prices: I’m pretty sure almost everyone on the planet agrees with this one. A quarter of my pay should not go for gas to get me to work.

7. Holidays combined with Vacation time: I have 5 days off in a row!! And at Christmas I’ll have 10 days off! I love this time of year.

6. Unexpected generosity: I put together a Toys for Tots fundraiser at work. With the economy the way it is I wasn’t expecting a fantasic turn out, hopefully a couple hundred. We made $950.00 in four days! It’s a great feeling knowing that it was a success.

5. The blogosphere: I am totally addicted to all of you bloggers. It takes all of my will power to not quit my job to stay home and blog 24/7. You guys are so awesome!

4. A healthy family: I am so thankful that everyone close to me is healthy (at least physically—the jury is still out on my families mental health…).

3. Great Child Care: I am lucky enough that my FIL watches my daughter while my husband and I are at work. It’s so comforting knowing that she’s not with strangers all day, she’s with someone who loves her and it makes a big difference.

2. My husband: My husband is wonderful! He is very intelligent and very capable of doing all the manly things that need to be done around the house. He fixes my car (see #9), he’s the reason my car has made it to 172,355 miles. I often find myself saying “What did I do to deserve this”... um..yeah…ALWAYS in a good way (eye roll….you know the one hunny). No seriously, I love my husband and I am so thankful to have him.

And the number 1 reason I am thankful this holiday season is…

1. My daughter: I wonder if my daughter will ever realize that she holds my heart in those soft little hands, or that I’m addicted to those cute little naked feet with those tiny, tiny little toes sticking out from under her blanket at night because she absolutely has to rip her socks off before she falls asleep. Will she ever know that my heart melts with every softly spoken “mama”, that I could look at her for hours just because I am in constant amazement at how lucky I am that she’s ours, or that I watch her every night as she sleeps and that I run my hand over her beautiful blonde hair before I go to sleep and before I leave her in the morning to go to work? My world is a brighter place because I have my very own angel and I am thankful every minute to have her.

What are you most thankful for?? Leave your comments…I’m thankful for those too!

Oooops, I almost forgot, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Screw it...

2008-11-17T18:51:00.000-08:00

I've been kinda discouraged lately. My husband's not thrilled with the whole blogging thing. So I thought about just giving up on the whole thing. And then I came to my senses and thought screw it. I love reading everyones blogs, and I love writing on mine....so I'm gonna keep doing it! It's kinda like a drug I'm addicted. But right now I'm tired and it's snowin like crazy (which means I have to get up earlier than 4:30) so I gotta go to bed...catch all you peeps later....Hang in there for me I'm gonna try to start posting more regularly!

Home Sweet UNINHABITABLE Home

2008-11-07T10:36:00.000-08:00

I'm moving!! To the other side of my in-laws house...This is where I'm having issues, I should be moving into my own house...not into another part of theirs.

A few weeks ago my FIL ambushed me since I have Fridays off and my husbands at work. He had me come up stairs(there's the in-laws bedroom, my husbands old bedroom, and a larger outer room where the stairs come up.) And he proceeds to tell me "The Plan" that they came up with....My MIL, FIL, and apparently my husband..because "they talk about this a couple of weeks ago"....thanks for including me. So any way the plan is to move my husband, Cutie Pie, and me into the upstairs where they are, and then they will move to where we are now.

The move would give us alot more room, and Cutie Pie her own room. So you may be asking what the hell my problem is?? I want to move into MY house....not get more comfortable in theirs.

My husband pretty much left his room the day we got married 4 years aga and hasn't touched it since.....It's horrible, we checked it out last week...to let you know how bad it is I found a bottle of beer (yes a full bottle of beer) sitting on his dresser. It said it would be best to drink it before May.....of 1999. I started dating my husband in August of 1999. The beer is older than our relationship. Does this kinda let you know how awful cleaning this room is going to be?

So I deceided that since this wasn't my idea, I'd just keep my mouth shut and let them do the planning and cleaning on the big move. So last night his mom tell me that we need to get a "schedule" made so we can get this done before Thanksgiving.....(now mind you once his mother starts on something, she doesn't shut up, kind of like a little yippy dog.) So I just kinda shut down cuz the whole thing just makes me feel horribly sad. I feel like I'm never going to get out of this freaking house, like I'm never going to get rid of these shadow that have to know every move we're making, and that feel the urge to redo my laundry and rearrange my daughters closet.

I know I should just move into the bigger spacwe and be happy with it but I just can't shake this urge to start crying.

So below is my house, effing money pit. The first picture is a picture of a picture (confused yet) of the house before we did anything to the outside. The second picture is of the house after we took off the enclosed front porch (I think it looke much better without it) and put on new siding and new windows. The inside changes have been even more dramatic, I'll have to get some pictures of that for you. (all the before pictures are regular pictures not digital, so I'll have to scan them or just take a picture that worked pretty well.)

Oh PS: See the drive wayt that the pictures are take from??? Yep it's the in-laws drive way. I am NEVER going to get away from these people. Even if we ever get into our house we'll have to see them every day because we have the farm to take care of on their property, so we'll have to feed the animals every day....sigh...

PPS: We are going to redo that awful metal roof.

Thank God!!! Spin Cycle

2008-11-06T18:43:00.000-08:00

Jen at Sprite's Keeper was brave and asked us to do a spin on election day.

I am so frickin glad that it's all over! I am so sick of Fox News I can't even stand it. That's all my father in law watches. I've been way over it for months now.

There are two tvs that we watch in our house. My father in law will turn on both tvs in two different rooms to Fox News.....We are all Fox News all the time. Let me tell ya, I care about our country and who gets elected....but I can not watch non stop news.

Well that just about sums up my little spin.... Ok let me be honest...it's late and I'm tired and lazy...and a little pissy because of some in-law stuff, which I'll let you in on tomorrow during Cutie Pie's nap time...but ya, anyway sorry about the short post. I promise I'll dobetter for the next spin...

WTF Thursday...

2008-11-06T06:34:00.000-08:00

I've been crazy busy lately so I haven't had a whole lot of time to check all my favorite blogs...sorry guys... I miss you! But any way, the reason we're here WTF Tursday! (Sorry I missed last week).

1.) People who talk in the bathroom...worse, people who talk on their cell phones while they're going to the bathroom....in a public rest room. WTF?

2.) People who talk with thei mouth full....come on guys it's just really gross!! WTF??

3.) Issue 6 was voted down! Damn it people I wanted a casino in Ohio! Now, no casino....WTF?

4.) My car over heated on the way to work last week....stuck on the side of the raod for 2 hours...WTF! (Luckily my husband saved me and it was an easy fix).

5.) I never have enough time for anything fun....Where does all my time go??WTF??

Not my best WTF Five....so I need your help give me you WTFs for this week

Happy Halloween....

2008-10-31T10:54:00.000-07:00

This week's Spin is on Halloween...

I don't really remember much about our Halloweens growing up, just bits and pieces. So I'm pretty sure that this is going to be the best Halloween....like ever... Are you asking why? I'm not really sure....I think a witch put a spell on me...

Everything's better with LilWitch so this will definitely be the best Halloween. We go Trick 0r Treating tonite! My spin is short this week, but I have a sleeping baby and laundry to do so from me and LilWitch.....Happy Halloween!!

Thanks for the e-bitch slaps...

2008-10-27T04:18:00.000-07:00

OK, so the first week of Club Half as Small as You was kind of rough. I could have done better…much better. But I didn’t do too bad. There were no Famous Amos Cookies or king-sized Snickers. And thanks to all of my fellow HASAY club members for the e-bitch slaps (they apparently have something against forks….which is fine because all the good stuff like ice-cream and pudding needs to be eaten with a spoon!!) So because of those e-bitch slap I’ve hired a personal trainer.

She’s been in the business for about 15 and a half months. And let me tell you she is TOUGH! Her take on exercise is a little …um..unique. This was our regimen for this weekend:

1.) Instead of Push-ups my trainer prefers Pull-ups (well, they’re actually Pampers Cruisers in size 4, but that’s just being technical). We do 8-10 reps every. single. day. And sometimes in the middle of the night. Let me tell ya they can get pretty dirty.

2.) My trainer is a huge fan of running. This weekend we did endless laps with increasing speed to build endurance. This is kinda how it went: living room-dining room-kitchen—kitch-dining-living—liv-din-kit—k-d-l----and faster and faster until all I saw was a blur. My personal trainer is short, but man is she fast!!!

3.) My personal trainer also realizes that physical endurance is not the only thing that needs a workout…balance is key. She also works with emotional endurance. She call this exercise Titanium Tantrums. This is how it works: If I so much as look at her-she cries, if I leave the room-she cries, if I pick her up-she cries, if I set her down-she cries…you get the picture. She’s very good at this one; we worked on it for HOURS this weekend.

4.) We also worked on strengthening my arm muscles. For this one I carry around a 26 pound weight every where I go. I can switch from arm to arm and sometimes both if I carry the weight in the middle. This one gets especially tiring since it’s a special weight that can move and shift at will.

5.) Hugs-Kisses-Bites: This little exercise is for the brain. My little personal trainer randomly switches between hugs, kisses, and bites, keeping my brain ever alert for the searing pain that maybe mixed in with the sweetest little hugs and kisses.

6.) I almost forgot the best one: The tunny-bouncer. For this one my personal trainer sits on my stomach and bounces up and down. I think she's fond of the uhhhg sound each time she bounces. This is not only good for the stomach muscles, but also for bladder control!!

So there you have it, my personal trainer’s unorthodox methods. While her methods do sound a little screwy they are working. I lost 3 pounds last week! I’m not going to lie to you it was hard…and I did wonder once or twice about hiring such a brutal trainer. But to tell you the truth, I can’t fire her….she scares me.

So to all my fellow club members: keep up the e-bitch slappin…it’s working. Good luck with your quest for the skinny….and oh yeah, pray for me I think she might kill me!!

WTF Thursday..

2008-10-23T09:53:00.001-07:00

Oh this week was such a pain in the ass. So here goes…WTF Thursday…

1.) We saw an add in a newspaper for a cute kid contest witht eh grand prize being a $25,000 scholarship…cute kid? We have one of those, so I jump online to submit my pics…..Oh yeah, by the way what our ad didn’t tell you is that for each picture you want to submit it’ll cost you….$19.95… are. you. freakin. kidding. me? (I am definitely in the wrong business, if any of you want to send me $20 and a picture of your kid I’ll pick a cute one)…WTF?

2.) Microsoft Works. What the hell is this program good for?? My FIL told me that if I typed my resume in this horrible program that when I emailed it it could be opened (I specifically asked him this before I typed the WHOLE thing including a cover letter)…he was so wrong! My FIL and Hubby spent over two hours trying to get the stupid thing to open and print in Word. Nothing would work right, which caused my hubby to act like a jerk to me, which lead to the crappy week I’ve been having…WTF X2!

3.) People who pee on the seat in the women’s restroom…WTF?? This makes me absolutely insane…wipe. it. off! I can understand why you want to hover…let me tell you it’s even harder to hover over a pee drenched seat! It’s just nasty…WTF indeed.

4.) Laundry: How in the world can 2 and a half people make 3 (or more) loads of laundry every other day?? Our laundry days are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday—god forbid I miss a Friday and we have to make it all the way to Monday. I mean really…WTF.

5.) Awful drivers: There was a guy behind me yesterday, he pushed my speed up to 75ish…(maybe closer to 80---shhhh) then he blew around me honking his horn because I wasn’t going fast enough…Well excuse me if I’m already speeding in the fast lane I’m not moving over because you want to go faster….WTF.

Now it’s your turn, what were your WTF moments this week?

Here's a little laugh for you....can you believe a guy in my office didn't get it, he's bald. Maybe that's worse than being blonde. To see some cool corn mazes go to www.cornmaze.com

Tricked Out Granny

2008-10-23T06:16:00.000-07:00

This week's Spin Cycle assignment: TRICKS!!

My grandma is a bit cranky…well, that is an understatement. If you ask my grandma how her day went you get a ten minute monologue of how bad she feels and what hurts. She’s not happy unless she’s griping about something, or more often, someone.

Now don’t get me wrong I love my grandma, she raised us after all. But after a while all the crankiness gets tiresome. My granny is also the type of person that will make a nasty face when she opens gifts, or complain about how she doesn’t really need it, or how awful it is, or how it doesn’t fit.

Every birthday and Christmas is a pain in the butt trying to figure out what to get her. Until her birthday a few years ago….I thought “screw it, she’s not going to like her gift anyway, so I might as well have fun with it…”

My husband and I were at Hobby Lobby (love that place!) and we saw the ugliest little statue of a tribal warrior of some sort—UGLY!!! Perfect gift for Granny’s birthday!! (Which just happened to be at a restaurant with the whole family). Now let me tell you I amuse myself, I laughed the whole way there and could barely contain myself thru dinner.

Gift time!! She get to our gift, she pulled out the ugly little warrior (that had a spears in his hand –too cool). And she blanks out on me…(I’m laughing my ass off) the entire table freezes. My grandma looked at my mother, my mother looked at me (with the same blank face) and I say….”It’s the God of fertility”. More blank stares---for god sake people it’s a JOKE. Aaaa duh! After they finally got it they thought it was pretty funny, and my grandma put it in her flower bed.

The next year’s gift stopped me right in my tracks at Target. A monkey cookie jar…oh yes it was definitely as cool as it sounds.

She thought that one was pretty funny. Now she’s really getting into the strange gifts, which takes away all the fun. But now she at least pretends to like the gifts, because she thinks I think she won’t like them. I don’t have to hear her complain, and I get a laugh…so the trick’s on you Granny!!

Club Half As Small As You....

2008-10-19T18:00:00.000-07:00

Casey over at Half As Good As You has been appointed to the task of whipping a bunch of us blogger into shape. I have a shape it's just a lot rounder than I would like it to be. And a whole lot jigglier (I'm pretty sure that IS a real word). than I's like to be.

Now it's Sunday night and I'm supposed to have my assignment into Casey by Monday...and I'm dead tired cuz it was a crazy weeked do I'm gonna try to make this short and sweet.

The root of the jiggliness (also pretty sure that IS a word) is a lot of dates and some fate....Right now you're probably all like "what???" Let me explain, the extra padding that I'm having trouble with is a result of D-8 (King Size Snikers) and F-8 (Famous Amous Cookies) from the vending machines at work. (Get it Dates (D-8) and Fate (F-8)---I know, lame --it's late cut me some slack).

Now to get down to the task at hand, on to the Half as Small as You assignment:

1.) What motivates me: My daughter. I want to set a good example for her, and I don't want her to go thru all the cruelty that I went thru because I was a pudgey kid.

2.) What is my long term goal: Lose the extra weight and start eating healthy.

3.) What is my long term weight lose goal: I would guess that I need to loose about 40-50 lbs.

4.) What tools are available to me: None really, unless you count a bicycle, but my husband broke it a while back, so I may have to steal his....

5.) How often can I exercise: Now this is a hard one, If I'm home I'm pretty much the only one whose watching my DD. I'm gonna try to fix up the bike and ride at least 45 minutes 3 times a week....I'll try.

6.)What do I plan on doing: ok, I kinda jumped the gun on this one refer to question 5, also I need to make more of an effort to eat healthy (It's kinda hard cuz the in-laws cook, really good bad for you foods with yummy sauces galore) (I've tried to do the cooking every so often, but it's a huge PITA--because the in-laws are control freaks--moody control freaks).

7.)What worked in the past: I've had sucess with Weight Watchers, I tried again recently with out the same luck...

Ok, so there you have it. I'm insanely tired so I'm gonna go to bed now. I promise a better post next time, when I'm more awake. So I'm off to get this linked and then to bed, aaah tomorrow's Monday...great!

WTF Thursday...and a little more...

2008-10-16T05:41:00.000-07:00

It’s time for another edition of WTF Thursdays. What got under you skin this week? Here’s my WTF Five:

1.) How come I can never find my size at stores? There are two possible reasons for this. A.) I am the average size woman and apparently my size sells out in 5 minutes flat. Or B.) I am the only woman that’s this size so they don’t make it. WTF??

2.) At the same store as mentioned about, we wanted to get Cutie Pie a cute little hooded sweat shirt…..they didn’t have her size. They had like 24 in the 12 month size, none in my DD size (18 months), and 3 in 4T. Who chooses how many to order in each size…WTF??

3.) Sorry all you football fans….but what the hell is up with putting the Browns/Giants game on INSTEAD of Prison Break?? Wentworth Miller is the only reason I look forward to Monday. WTF??

4.) Whenever I’m in the shower it seems like everyone comes from wherever they are to stand right outside the bathroom to talk. There’s something disturbing about hearing your FIL talking while your in the bathroom naked…..Showers are supposed to be relaxing…WTF??

5.) The heater in my car has not been working on the lowest setting—no big deal. Today it only works on the HIGHEST setting. I kinda felt like I was in a wind storm on the way to work. My eyes are all dried out and my hair looks like a blow-dried poodle…WTF???

We have a special addition this Thursday since it’s my 4th wedding anniversary.
10 things I’ve learned about being married:

1.) Being married can make you feel like there’s no one else in the world that knows you as well as your husband, and at the same time make you wonder why your husband just doesn’t get you.

2.) You can never change your husband’s freaky quirks…..ever! (this is a whole separate post…or two…or…more)

3.) Never marry a funny man, or one that thinks he’s funny.

4.) Never marry an only child. There are many reasons for this: He will pick on you like he’s 10. He will be spoiled rotten and think that he’s always right. He won’t share.

5.) Never turn your back on your husband. He will tape your pajama bottom legs shut so when you put them on you won’t be able to get your legs thru in the middle of the night (Refer back to #3, for more clarification).—He is NOT funny don’t laugh at that!! (ok, it was funny, but we can’t tell him)

6.) It was a very good idea to marry a man that could fix my car---way to go me!!

7.) No one can make me angrier (or happier) than my husband.

8.) The most relaxing feeling in the world is to lay in bed next to your warm husband after a long day. (Except on the days when he’s being a PITA—refer to #5)
9.) My husband is the kindest, most decent man I have ever met. And the hardest working person I know.

10.) There’s nothing better than knowing that you have found the person that was meant for you…without a doubt.

My husband is my best friend; I would be lost without him. And he wouldn’t be able to find anything with out me, or fold laundry, or remember anyone’s birthday. So I guess we’re a pretty good match. And he’s got a really, really cute butt!

I love you Sweetheart, Happy Anniversary!

So to celebrate our anniversary I'm gonna share

some of our wedding photos with you..

Ahh.. Me and hubby...

This is our "we're gettin a little sick of the 10,000 photos" picture

And this one: well it's just a kick-ass picture of ME! (I don't get too many of those)

And, oh yeah, what are your WTFs for this week??

Office Bling

2008-10-14T12:56:00.000-07:00

I am a working mom….and I hate it. If you come into my office you can see where my heart lies. I have 40 different pictures of Cutie Pie in my office—No joke I counted. Now I’m not totally psychotic, there are other pictures of my husband and my niece…3 with my husband in them (1 without Cutie Pie, it’s our wedding picture) and 3 of my beautiful little niece—I totally adore her!! Being able to look at picture of my little one at work makes the day bearable. These pictures are my office bling. Notice the little pompom bunny my niece made me, and the red heart that came on some flowers my husband sent me….My office bling!!! And oh yeah… the chap stick—I’m kinda addicted!

What's your office bling??

I LOVE Mondays....

2008-10-13T18:18:00.000-07:00

For one reason, and one reason alone. PRISON BREAK! Well, Wentworth Miller. He is seriously HOT. So tonight instead of Prision Break......the Browns / Giants game is on....What the Hell!! I need a Wentworth Miller fix for crying out load! Now I have to wait a whole week. Argh!!.

So tell me who's the hottie you'd like to get a hold of?? Come on, I shared with you...who's your Hottie??

The only thing you have to fear is fear it’s self…and spiders

2008-10-13T12:22:00.000-07:00

And snakes, I really hate snakes. That’s what I fear spiders and snakes, keep them away from me and I’ll be fine. If only it were that easy! But this week's Spin Cycle deserves so much more...

My biggest fear is mediocrity. I fear not having the ability to give my daughter (and future children) what I think she (they) deserves. Now I do realize that life’s focus should not be all about money. But, damn it, let’s face it…having money allows you to focus on more rewarding things. I fear that my husband and I will never get out of this hole, that we’re in a quick sand of debt and bills (and fixing this effing house, which of course = debt and bills).

I really don’t want you guys to think that I’m an “all about the money” kind of girl. I want to be able to pay for weddings and first cars. (My mom actually took the $1,000 I saved to put down on my first car because she had to buy herself a car—and didn’t have the money herself). Do you see where my fear started. My husband and I feel it’s very important to teach our kids to work for what they want. So don’t think we’re going to raise spoiled brats. I just have the fear that we won’t have it all together when they need us. I don’t even know completely what that statement means. Maybe that’s why it scares me so much.

I want to be financially stable so that I can be there for my kids, so they can focus on more important and rewarding things. I guess that’s what it boils down to is that I want to be secure in my life (in every way) so that my kids can be rock solid in theirs. It’s just so frustrating and scary to know how to get to “secure”.

**Argh..It’s so hard to describe this fear, because I’m not sure I completely understand it myself. So I hope I didn’t leave you guys thinking “What the hell is she talking about???” Maybe I should have just left it at spiders and snakes.

Say...Tag

2008-10-12T18:31:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by DeeMarie over at My Life in a Nutshell for a picture meme. That's right I have arrived (lol). Here's how it works.

GameRules: Pick the 4th file, 4th picture from your folder of photos and post it, sharing the story behind the photo. Then pick 4 people to tag and to share some bloggy love with.

For out honeymoon my husband I went to Punta Cana. It was seriously the best (pre-Cutie Pie) time of my life. While we were there we went on a safari. The picture is of some girls at a ranch where we stopped to eat....chicken that still had the feathers on it. Not the best lunch I've ever had, but we sure had a great time. It's a perfect time to look back at my honeymoon picture, My anniversary is this Thursday!!! 4 whole years!! Happy Anniversay Honey!

And now for my four tags:

1.) Jen over at Steenky Bee

2.) Tif over at Rapture of the Sleep

3.) Molly over at MommyCoddle

4.) Tori over at the James Family Blog

Thanks DeeMarie this was so much fun.

Welcome to WTF Thursdays...

2008-10-09T12:44:00.000-07:00

Alright so last night my daughter decided she wanted to spend some extra time with me at 1, 2, and 3AM!!!! I went to bed about 10:45 and I have to get up at 4:30ish…. So as a result of the extra togetherness with my sweet little Cutie Pie my brain isn’t exactly functioning today. Total brain function isn’t really a necessity at my job (my opinion not theirs), but it does help if you want to write a good post.

Since my brain isn’t at 100% power you’re not going to get a good post. What you are going to get is WTF Thursdays. Let me explain. I am lucky enough to work 4 ten hour days (I love it—well if I gotta work anyway) Monday thru Thursday. So today is the end of my week. So for WTF Thursdays I’m going to give you 5 thing from my week that make me want to say….you guessed it…WTF.

1) I am addicted to Diet Pepsi, and I usually drink 1 or 2 20 oz bottles a day at work. They frickin raised the price to $1.49 at the gas station by my house….WTF? (I mean you can get 2 liters for $.99 if you catch a sale….double WTF?).

2) Time warps…. The 20 minutes that I have for lunch (and to blog) goes way faster than the last 20 minutes of the day…WTF?

3) Only being allowed 2 minutes in the bathroom, because if you take longer your husband will have a melt down because Cutie Pie is making him CRAZY….. Really the 15 month old is kicking your ass??....WTF?

4) Winter weather. It was 33 degrees out Monday morning on my way to work….WTF? I’m not ready yet!!!

5) All the stuff in my keyboard at work…WTF? ---No really it’s kinda gross.

Ok, there’s my 5 WTFs for this week. I promise next weeks will be better—if Cutie Pie lets me sleep (dear God please let me sleep).

Ok now it’s your turn what are your 5 (or more or less) WTFs for this week. Oh come on I’m dying to know….leave me a comment, I love em!

To Choose or not to choose....

2008-10-02T09:52:00.000-07:00

My dear sweet husband has a problem. The man can not make a decision to save his life…and it just may come to that because if he doesn’t make a choice I’m going to kill him. (disclaimer: if anything should happen to him, I’m not serious…really). So this is my problem. We would ultimately like to have kids 2 years apart. My daughter will be 15 months old tomorrow. (are you doing the math in your heads??). I try to talk to my husband about this, and I get lines like “I don’t know, I can’t make that kind of a decision”….which of course leaves me looking for the person who is going to help me make this decision…oh yeah, that would be him. Apparently he did not get the memo. (he won’t even tell me which way he’s leaning)

So Monday morning on the way to work we were chatting on our cell phones. Out conversation went something like this:
Me: So I was thinking maybe we should wait a year….save up some money, I could loose some weigh….we could see what happens with the economy….get the house done…

Hubby: What? Why do we have to talk about this now?? We don’t have to save extra money…it’ll never happen…that’s not a good reason to wait….We can’t talk about this over the phone… Why do you always want to talk about this over the phone.

ME: EXCUSE ME??? I try to talk to you about this ALL the time. (by now I’m slightly more than aggravated Read: pissed off)

So basically I just gave up. I figure in 2 weeks I’ll need to refill my BC. I guess he’ll either be “pick it up” or “don’t worry about picking it up”. But it makes me crazy because this is a topic that should have a little more thought put into it than that don’t you think?

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, last night we were making dinner. We were making Mexican, my dear hubby took twenty freakin minutes to debate whether we should put cheese on the chips or leave them plain…no joke it was a big debate that needed everyone’s opinion. Who cares just make the damn nachos….Seriously???

He’s making me crazy. I absolutely adore this man, but come on YES or NO???

Highlights of the last 2 months

2008-09-30T09:51:00.000-07:00

A flower for Mommy...Thanks Cutie Pie

Our little farm girl!
A little snack...

Taking a much needed rest.

Too cool for shades! Cutie Pie's first hair cut.
Who could resist that sad little face?
Mommy's favorite picture.

I wish I may, I wish I might...

2008-09-29T05:28:00.000-07:00

I wish I may, I wish I might
On the first star I see tonight
These wishes I send to our Spin Cycle host
Cuz Sprite’s Keeper asked what we seek the most

Breakfast in bed every day when I woke
A husband who thought before he spoke
Quiet time with my loving spouse
No in-laws in the house

Money in the bank
Gas in the tank
No bills at the door
In my dinning room, hardwood floor

I wish for my family to be happy
Wait, wait I’ll try not to get too sappy
That my daughter’s future will be bright
And I raise her right

And my greatest wish would be for my daughter to see
Just how much she means to me.

I wish I could get rid of all the everyday hassles that fill life with worry, guilt, and anxiety. Then I could focus everything I have on my family. My world changed they day I gave birth to our daughter, she’s everything to me. I just wish I could return the favor. But life is so complicated and tricky, that it’s not enough to wish for something or want something with all your heart. It scares me that I may not be able to provide my daughter and my family with everything they may need. But I’m gonna try! And I guess it never hurts to wish upon a star.

Confession of a Non-confession

2008-09-22T10:02:00.000-07:00

The blog genius over at Sprite’s Keeper does a Spin Cycle every Friday, where she picks a topic and everyone get to write their “spin” on it. This week’s assignment is confessions.

I actually have a confession of a non-confession. Before my husband and I could get married we had to be confirmed in the church. In order to be confirmed we had to take RCIA classes. No problem. Sit thru a couple of classes, go to the church to be confirmed…piece of cake…right? Sounds easy enough. So we start the classes, and we’re doing good, there aren’t so bad (just not really my thing). So we make it thru all the classes (we only skipped one to go to a baseball game), and then they lay this on me…. You have to go to confession before you can be confirmed. So my soon to be husband and a had a conversation that went something like this:

Me: Holy S@!#!, OOO are you allowed to say that in these classes?

Hubby: I’m pretty sure you’re not allowed.

Me: I don’t want to go to confession.

Hubby: You have to.

Me: What do we tell the priest about the premarital sex thing?

Hubby: I guess you have to tell him.

Me: If I tell him, you have to tell him.

Hubby: (blank stare)

Me: and then the priest that’s going to marry us will know that we’re sinners….Crap.

So after the initial panic…ok, ok, the initial panic never really wore off…fast forward to the day of the dreaded confession. They herded the entire class (about 10 people) into the church, where you had to sit and reflect in silence, while everyone took turns going into a room to see the priest---face to face. I WAS FREAKING OUT. The whole time my hubby and I were debating on whether or not to bring up the premarital sex issue.
So in the room I go. Now mind you we have the nicest, most grandfatherly priest in the world. So there was no way I could talk to him about sex! So we talked a little about the weather, and then got onto the whole confessing thing….I “confessed” some family issues that weren’t exactly confession worthy….and then the priest is like….I know you’re a sinner, confess now… ok, he really said is there anything else you want to confess?
And I said…HELL NO! Ok it was more of a meek, no, with out eye contact.
Believe me I was watching out for lightning as we left the church.

This is the house that my dear sweet husband built….

2008-09-16T12:39:00.000-07:00

Often when my husbands and I are working on our very characteristic 1880 farm house we look at how much we have to do to finish it. Usually this overwhelms us. What. The. Hell. Were. We. Thinking?

For a change I’m going to turn around and look back. We’ve come along way! We stripped the house down to its original studs, and then we built it back up with new wiring, insulation, siding, drywall, and plumbing (any many, many, many more things). We did it all by ourselves. We had very very little help. So how can I be upset that it’s taken us so long to fix our house? I’d like to say I’m not, but I am frustrated with living with the in-laws—who wouldn’t be.

This weekend we made progress, and I’m actually getting very excited that we may actually finish the house enough to make it livable. I’m actually hoping to be in it by late November, my husband says December. I’m gonna push, push, push for mid November. Cross your fingers.

So anyways, back to the looking back part. I am so proud of my husband. He’s fixed nearly the entire house himself, if there was something he didn’t know how to do, he figured it out. He never gets enough credit for all that he does. I tell him that I love and adore him, but I didn’t think he really understands how much I really do love and adore him. He amazes me, I know in my heart that he’s that one I’m supposed to be with. And I am so happy that I have him and our wonderful little daughter.

I appreciate my husband so much, too bad that the every day frustrations of working, raising a toddler, doing laundry, renovating a house, and living with the in-laws overshadows all the good stuff.

Catching Sand

2008-09-11T08:11:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited to have started another blog. Catching Sand is going to be journal about life with my little Cutie Pie. Just getting it started so it's a work in process. Check it out and let me know what you think. Cutie Pie is my silver lining. I love her so much. I will put a post up soon about Cutie Pie going to her first concert, we had so much fun. Stay tuned.

Something Yummy....

2008-09-08T07:52:00.001-07:00

Hello Monday! This weekend can’t be summed up with one word or feeling. It was more like a roller coaster. It was both utterly fantastic and kinda crappy. More on that in the next post…today….tomorrow…soon, promise. But for now I wanted to share with you one of the good moments…we had deep fried chocolate chip cookie dough!! YUM! We took the frozen premeasured ready to bake chocolate chip cookie dough and dipped it in thick pancake batter, and then yes we fried it! (Well my husband gets all the credit for this one…I just ate it) I definitely recommend trying it it’s heavenly!!

I thought I’d add one of my favorite recipes for you too. My sister and I call it Poor Man’s Cheesecake. I promise you’ll love it . Here goes:

Poor Man’s Cheesecake

2 pk Crescent Rolls
2 -8oz pk Cream Cheese
3/4C Sugar
1 Egg Yolk
1tsp Vanilla
Frosting:
1C Confect. Sugar
1TBSP Milk
1tsp Almond Extract

Roll 1pk crescent rolls out in a 9x13 pan. Mix cream cheese, sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla. Spread in pan. Roll remaining pk of crescent rolls on top. Bake at 350⁰ for 30 minutes until golden brown on top. Cool. Mix confect. Sugar, milk, and almond extract (I sometimes vary the amount depending on the consistency, should be a little runny…and I like to make a little extra so it covers the whole thing). Drizzle over top.

Hope you like it!! Enjoy!

Picture Perfect....er..Lucky

2008-09-04T08:04:00.000-07:00

After visiting Laurie’s blog (check her out, it’s a great blog!) the other day I got to thinking. Laurie describes how her daughter was trying to dive into the water while wearing a flaoty device. A scene that screams PHOTO OP! She unfortunately forgot her camera. That has never happened to me….haha. Half the time I’m lucky to get me, my husband and Cutie Pie out of the house with out a check list. Any way her post got me thinking about taking pictures of Cutie Pie. Lately I’ve been taking her outside in the evenings after I get home from work. The sun is setting, the flowers are still blooming, and my child is running away from me. Now that Cutie Pie has found her legs I get more pictures of her little bottom running away from me then I do of her smiling face. If I’m behind her she runs, if I run (like a mad woman) to get in front of her she changes her direction and runs the other way.

You see me trying to get her attention… I probably look like a buffoon….but I’m gonna get that great picture!!! Even if it takes me saying her name 3,000 times, snapping my fingers, and doing crazy army-like rolls, jumps and dives. You know in a way it is kind of a mission…

Now don't get me wrong, this is one of my FAVORITE pictures!!! I'm just loving the adventure!!

Creating Family Traditions....

2008-08-27T09:53:00.000-07:00

My parents divorced when I was 18 months old. I know that this was for the best. With my parents our lives would have been harder if they had stayed together. Neither my mom or dad were very active in our lives (I have 2 sisters). We were raised by my grandma (thanks for being there grandma). This is not a post on divorce, but a little back ground info might help. I was too young to remember the mom-dad-family atmosphere, and I definitely don’t remember any family traditions. I guess there wasn’t any really. Holidays were more about what time we had to be with the other parent and their relatives.

So, what I’m getting at is now that I have my little Cutie Pie I want her to look back at her childhood and get that warm fuzzy feeling. You know the one… the sense of belonging and unconditional love. I don’t really have that feeling when I look back. It’s even more important to me that my daughter have it.

So since even before Cutie Pie was born I started thinking of what family traditions I wanted to start with her(my hubby’s family didn’t have a whole lot either). For her first Christmas we got a talking teddy bear that recites The Night Before Christmas. But aside from that we haven’t started a whole lot. She only turned a year old in July.

I have things I’ve thought about like putting her handprint from every birthday on a matte to frame (a little late on that, note to self get het 1 yr hand print this weekend). And when she starts school I’d like to make chocolate chip cookies with her every Friday to celebrate the week, along with some other ideas….

I’d love to hear what your favorite family traditions were from your family growing up or family traditions that you’ve created for your family….

I need inspiration, I want to make sure Cutie Pie’s memories are grand…

I want a new me....

2008-08-18T12:04:00.000-07:00

I want a new me, I’m sick of this one. My 4th anniversary is fast approaching. Every year I want to do something extraordinary for my husband. And I always envision the way I think things should go. This year I just want him to be wowed with me.

I see my self getting ready to go out for a nice dinner in an amazing dress with awesome hair. Something that would put a sparkle in his eyes. But I don’t see this body in that “amazing dress” I see a body that’s 4 sizes smaller. My anniversary is only 59 days away, those visions may be a little lofty. But I’m going to try.

I just feel so blah lately. Another word would be frumpy. And I don’t get the reaction that I want from my husband. I feel like I’ forcing him to give me goodbye kisses. Has it always been like this? We’ve been together for nearly 10 years, didn’t we start out with passion. Didn’t he want to kiss me once upon a time. I’m pretty sure he didn’t notice other women as much, nothing blatant, but the little joking comments still means he’s looking. And that leads my imagination astray. What does he really think of their bodies compared to mine???

Well the only person that’s going to be able to change my body is me. So I better get to it, after all I only have 59 days to look amazing…

Does anyone have the number to Extreme Makeover? It would be so much easier if they could just suck all this extra padding out… Maybe they would have the number for Extreme Makeover Home Edition. We could start a new show together: Extreme Makeover LIFE Edition…..

My virtual house...

2008-08-14T09:53:00.000-07:00

Hopefully we’re nearing a completion date on our house, we’ll see if my husband actually makes it over there to work on it this weekend. Since we first got our house I’ve been day dreaming of how I wanted to decorate it. With in the first year of owning it I had like 20 gallons of paint just waiting to be put on those bare walls (the ones that hadn’t been torn down and re-drywalled). I had vision. And a part time job at a hardware store where returned paint was sold for $1.00. Eventually I gave all the paint to my aunt who was redoing a house (with a sooner completion date than mine).

So now I’m catching the bug again….ooohhh all the decorating possibilities!! I pretty much know what colors I want for the walls of most of the rooms. I have my virtual house in my head that I can almost walk thru. I can see furniture, and family pictures on the walls that are drenched in sunshine, and my kid (s) playing in their playroom, me cooking in the kitchen….ahhh I can’t wait.

We have to add an addition on for the kitchen, I told my husband that I’d like to add a room next to the kitchen for a playroom/ homework room for our kid(s). That’s one of the things I really really want. So my question is to you: What do you really love about your house (or how you decorated your house), or wish you could change about you house?? I need ideas….

2008-08-11T05:30:00.001-07:00

Say Chee$e

2008-08-11T05:30:00.000-07:00

Last Friday we were scheduled to pick up our first family portrait…I was very excited. Until we got there. Here’s how it all started… Around my daughter’s first birthday, about a month ago, I mentioned to my husband that I would like a family portrait. About a week later her told me we were scheduled to get our pictures taken. I was absolutely awe struck that he actually scheduled an appointment for picture… how sweet!. As it turns out, he had to run to the store to get diapers and they had people in the supermarket signing customers up for $10 portrait packages (plus $6 sitting fee). My husband loves a deal, especially since we spent $160ish for Easter pictures of my daughter and niece. The $16 deal was fine with me all I wanted was 1 professional picture of us all together.

So I color coordinated all our outfits: My daughter had a little blighter blue polka dot dress on with a little duck on the front, I hads on a blue shirt that matched my daughter’s dress, and my husband had on a blue shirt that matched the polka dots on her dress. I was feeling really good about these pictures.

So on “picture day” we show up at the supermarket. So I figure the photo studio is setting up a store in the super market. It turns out that it’s a traveling photo studio and they are set up IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PRODUCE DEPARTMENT. Ok, whatever, it was only $16 and I just want 1 good photo…

So fast forward to last Friday—pick up day. Very excited… We go in to pick them up. The lady pulls out about 20 sheets of pictures. At first all I could do was stare at them in horror. Now let me remind you that my daughter was in BLUE, I was in BLUE, and my husband was in BLUE. So what color of background would you have chosen? A blue? Maybe gray? Not the photo people they chose bright as the sun YELLOW! And to top that off, they centered my husband and I, but since my daughter was sitting on my lap the picture looks lop sided, they added a black shading to all the corners (which looks horrible with the yellow) and they put one of those stupid logo thing right over my daughter’s body in every picture. And my shirt was tucked in funny….these people are looking at you when they take the photo, why don’t they say something?

You’re probably thinking “what do you expect for $16?” Normally I would have to agree, but let me tell you about the “packages” first. The most impressive package included 1 gigantic canvas picture, 2 slightly smaller gigantic canvas picture which they framed for you, and…I stopped listening after that…other photo places would charge $899.00 for that package but they would let us have it for $599.00. ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FRICKIN MIND?? I am sitting in the middle of the produce department and you think I’m going to pay $600 for pictures. HA HA HA---NO! “well, we have this package for $400…$250….(keep going lady, we’re not even close yet…). Well, if you take all the sheets that we have here today it would be $179.00”

I don’t even care for these pictures, I like that my husband and daughter are in them and that’s about it. And this lady thinks I should spend $179.00 on them. Not gonna happen. My husband finally asked what the smallest package was. 4 Sheets for $60. No thanks, we’ll just take out original $16 package, which consisted of: 1 crazy big one (it was something like 10x14 or something), 1 5x7, and 12 micro-wallets. What the heck do with micro-wallets. They are less than half the size of regular wallets.

I also think it’s kinda funny that they want to charge $179 for the sheets that they have there that are now worthless because we didn’t take them. So now pictures of my cute little baby will be thrown away, which I hate, but mama can’t afford $179…and daddy would have a heart attack it we did.

I do have to say this though my best photo session experience so far is Portrait Innovations (where we got our Easter photos). It did cost $160ish, but they took 66 different poses, we got a bunch of sheets, and we got the disc of all the high res poses (which print great at home). And best of all we got to take the pictures home the same day.

I should have been a photographer---what a racket!!

The best part...

2008-08-07T07:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, I’m taking a breath… I ‘m thinking I don’t want to talk about my in-laws any more, at least not focusing on them….it brings me down. So I’m taking a breath, and shaking it off….ahhh there we go. Let’s talk about something fun today.

What is your favorite part of your day? Have you ever thought about it? If you’re like me most of the time your focus is on the drudgery of everyday tasks… Get up go to work, come home, feed Cute Pie, give Cutie Pie a bath, feed Cutie Pie again, put Cutie Pie to bed, do laundry, go to bed. It make s for pretty long days when you look at them like that.

So I started thinking “what is the best part of my day?” (I’m on a be positive campaign!)

The best part of my day is any time I get to spend with my daughter. It’s when I come home and she runs to the door and down the sidewalk to sqeal a happy little greeting cuz her mommy’s home, just to turn and run when I get close in hopes of a chase. It’s when I take her for a wagon ride and we discover a fascinating black-eyed susan. It’s when I get to give her dinner, and we both end up wearing most of it. The best part is when I get to give her a bath (usually right after that messy little dinner!). I still haven’t figured out exactly whose giving who a bath, because we’re both usually just as wet. I love that she’s learned the word “splash”.

The best part of my day is when I get kisses from Cutie Pie, my heart melts!It's when she laughs, who knew a 1 year old could have such a sense of humor? It’s when I give her her bed time bottle and she relaxes against me and drifts off to sleep. It’s feeling her breathe against my cheek as I snuggle with her. The best part is when I lay her in her crib for the night and I just can’t move because I have never seen a more angelic site. I want to memorize every detail of that little baby as she lays there sleeping.

The best part of my day is when my little Cutie Pie wakes up in the middle of the night and needs her diaper changed or needs a bottle. (You may think that this sounds a little crazy..best part…getting up in the middle of the night???) That’s right it’s one of the best parts because I realize I don’t mind getting up with her. I cherish every minute I get to spend with my little miracle—even at 3:30am when I have to get up at 4:20. I love every minute.

So I’ve realized that my little Cutie Pie is the best part of my day…the best part of me.

Tied together with a smile....

2008-08-06T07:20:00.000-07:00

There’s a lyric in a Taylor Swift song that pretty much sums up how I’m feeling: “you’re tied together with a smile, but you’re coming undone”. I absolutely try to be a positive person, but it just gets so darn hard. We had a huge fight last night with the in-laws, and my MIL informed us that my husband and I need to talk it over because “this isn’t working”…. GET OUT is what she was saying. This isn’t the first time she’s said this, which leads me to believe it will not necessarily be a driving force for my husband. In their family they fight and then 15 minutes later they’re talking to each other again like nothing happened…..I am not like that at all. I tend to stay mad and pout a little. I’m sure Dr. Phil would have something to say about that, but that’s just who I am. In fact if I could get away with never talking to his mother again I would probably go that route. His father too. I just wish we could go up to them tomorrow and say “ok, we’re outta here…” Even if it is just across the street.

I really am a happy person, and I really try hard to have a positive outlook. But his father is the most negative person I have ever met, ever. His mother is the phoniest… how can I trust her when one day she’s helping out with my laundry and the next she’s telling us to get the h**l out?
I’ve always had this basic feeling that this is American in the 21st century, life is good, you can accomplish success and have the American dream. I’m starting to lose that feeling and it scares me. I find myself saying “Self you’re a fool! You’re destined for a life of mediocrity”. I don’t want that for my family, I’ve got to figure out a way to make life better for them. So I’m going to keep smiling and I’m going to work on keeping a positive attitude, because if I don’t they win. I will not let them bring me down. And I will make a better life because my family deserves it. I DESERVE IT!! There’s got to be a way…

2008-08-04T10:19:00.000-07:00

The Status Of My Marital Bliss….
I adore my husband and my 13 month old daughter . I am truly blessed to have both of them. My problem is that since we live with the in-laws I don’t quite feel like I’m a wife and mother. It’s kind of like starting a new job. As long as you have someone hovering over you, you always feel like a trainee. It’s partially because I am NEVER truly alone. My FIL doesn’t work, and hasn’t in roughly the last 20-25 years, due to a back injury. The man is not decrepit and for the most part gets around very well, from my view I see absolutely no reason why he couldn’t have gotten some kind of job over the years—but that’s a whole different story. My MIL works full time, but always gets home about 15 minutes before me. My heart absolutely sinks everyday when I come home from work to see HER car sitting in the driveway. They are always there!! I just want some alone time with my husband and my baby.
Our alone time is very rare. I work 4 ten hour days and for now my hubby works nights. So I get home at 5:00 and he leaves at 5:30. In that time I see him for about 10 minutes. But his parents are there…always in the back of my mind I know they are there. And for some reason my FIL has to know our ”plans” for everyday. He has to know what we’re doing, where we’re going, when we’ll be back, and on and on. And if we deviate from what we “plan” it always seems to be a hassle. I don’t want my life scripted so this really drives me crazy.

Well moving on to our weekend. I now HATE the word JELLO. My MIL made Jello for my daughter this weekend. Well duh, she likes it, it’s rare to find a kid that doesn’t like Jello. My MIL would not shut up about how much my daughter loves Jello…..that she made her. It’s not the first time she’s hade Jello and we know she likes it…LET IT GO!! We do not need to here the story (and the word Jello) 5,000 times. We get it…YOU MADE HER JELLO, SHE LOVES IT. Great! Thank you. Can you tell little things are starting to make me absolutely nuts!

As a little background we only have a bedroom, an enclosed porch, and a shared bathroom to call ours. A week or so ago, I decided to organize my daughter’s closet, which is in the enclosed porch with her changing table. I took her shorts and folded them all up and put them in a cute little basket and them on a shelf in her closet…GO ME!!! I was feeling good about getting organized and taking care of my family. THAT NIGHT my in-laws watched my DD so that my husband and I could go to my company picnic. The next day I opened up DD’s closet to dress her, and everything was different. My MIL took all of my daughter’s shorts out and refolded everything differently and hung some stuff up on hangers and totally changed everything. She is constantly rearranging the stuff I’ve done, refolding the clothes I’ve folded, and changing the way I have the cupboard for DD’s bottle and snacks. It’s just so frustrating to know that I can’t even make decisions on stuff like that with out THEM screwing with it.

On an up note (kinda) my little Cutie Pie is a Houdini! My husband comes home at 3:30am from his job. He checked on her to find her naked little butt sticking up in the air. I have no idea how our little cutie pie got out of her pajama bottoms and her diaper all while she was sleeping. So at 3:30 we (when I say we I mean me) changed her crib sheets, got her a bottle and put her to bed by 4:00. Just in time to get up at 4:30 for work… I am dead tired, but I love getting to spend every minute with my little angel so I don’t mind one bit!

2008-07-29T10:54:00.001-07:00

Parental Supervision.....Sounds like a good idea right? Not so much. I live with my in-laws and I’m (a grown wife and mother) the one who is being constantly supervised. My husband and I have been married for 3 ½ years. All but the week of our honeymoon have been spent under his parent’s roof. The sad part is that my husband and I have owned a house for almost 6 years. Why in the world would we be living with his parents then? We are Stupid!! We bought a house that was built in 1880. So in our infinite wisdom we decided to gut it and totally redo everything – we’d definitely be done by our wedding. Ha! Our wedding quickly approached and it was apparent we would not be done with the remodeling of our house. It all boils down to one little problem: If we had time we didn’t have any money and if we had money we didn’t have any time.

I was definitely upset that we wouldn’t be in the house after our wedding, but my husband’s parents graciously said that we could move in with them until our house was done. Did I mention that our house is right across the road from them? What choice did I have, and besides my dear sweet husband assured me that we’d be out of there within a year. Ok, I could handle it for a year, his parents are easy to get along with for the most part (that would soon change).
The year came and went, and I started planning our second anniversary. Our grand plan was to start having children after two years of marriage. So we talked about it. And again in our infinite wisdom decided that 1) something was always going to come up to make us put off having kids, so we might as wall just go ahead and have a baby and 2) We could definitely have the house done before the baby came- after all it would take a while to get pregnant and then we’d have 9 months after that. WE HAD A PLAN!

In less than two weeks I was pregnant! Wow is it supposed to happen that fast?? I’ve never seen my husband so white as the night I told him the news. No problem we had plan—we’d just adjust it, because there was no way I was going to have a baby in my in-laws house. One thing we didn’t think about is that since we were doing all of the work ourselves we didn’t really have 9 months. It gets very hard to do drywall mudding as your belly gets bigger and bigger. So a month before the baby was due, I’m crying my eyes out because there’s obviously no way our house will be livable before the baby arrives. It’s ok though because my husband assured me that we’d be in our house before our daughter turned 1. Hmmmm, that story sounds so familiar. But like a fool I believe him.

We just celebrated our daughter’s 1st birthday—in my in-laws house. I am going insane!! The updated version of the story is that we’ll be in our house by Thanksgiving this year. I don’t really believe it this time, but it sure would be nice.

Living with the in-laws has almost become unbearable. So I’ve created this blog as a coping mechanism because I am sure that my in-laws are intentionally trying to drive me crazy! Stay tuned for some crazy in-law stories.

Do you have some crazy in-law stories? I’d love to hear them.