You're Fired (said in Donald Trump style...)

In all honesty, *I* would have fired me by now...

A Dying Art?

It's been much longer than I planned in between my blog posts. The days seem to just run into each other and the next thing I know another week has gone by and I'm not quite sure where it went. I've also been experiencing the doldrums lately and am trying to pull myself up by the bootstraps.

On to what I've been wanting to post about. Sometime in the past month-ish I went to put my favorite classical music station on the radio (K-Bach) and low and behold, it's been changed to adult contemporary! I went to the website and the following was posted:

"We thank the Loyal K-Bach audience for all of their support over the years. It is with great regret that we must tell you the station's format has been changed. We are now playing "all the songs you remember" in a new AC format."

It went on to say that the reason it had to change was that not enough businesses wanted to advertise on a classical music format station. This is the second classical music station in my area to cease to exist which makes my heart sad. While my musical tastes range from Bach to Metallica (and almost everything in between!) I've always derived comfort and peace from hearing a beautiful flute concerto or french horn solo. My kids also enjoy listening to classical music and would ask me to put the radio on "quiet music". I had to tell them that we no longer have "quiet music" on the radio. Of course, I have classical music downloaded on my iPod which we can listen to whenever we want, but it lacks the spontaneity of hearing what's on the radio and listening to the sometimes quirky ads.

Time for this classical music "geek" to sign off...good night!

Nap???

I'm now remembering part of what made Wednesday so aggravating. Twin #2 is acting like a nut and refusing to nap for the 2nd time this week. He is really reminding me of his big sis in her toddlerhood. The difference was then I "only" had one kid and we weren't tied to being anywhere and now we leave at the same time everyday to get my eldest from school. Little stinker is only going to get a 45 minute nap today.

Too bad, so sad I guess! :op

All's Well That Ends Well (I stole this from my sis!)

Yesterday was tough to be sure.

Today was a very busy day, but it was filled with little people, friends, family, chauffeuring kids, chocolate goodness and a precious moment with my older two. It is now ending with a clean kitchen (woo hoo! and not the norm around here) and a dent made in my financial/paperwork madness.

(happy sigh) ;o)

Do Over

Can I please have a "do over" today??? It's been a challenge...

Pizza

Homemade pizza and a glass of 2 Buck Chuck make for a nice evening and relaxed momma! I have to admit that I have become narcissistic-ly addicted to my simple cheese and 1/2 pepperoni pizza.

(it's a little sad that this is my first post in a while, but all the same...)

#@*% Shoe!

I am *so* ready to throw this #@*% shoe out the window!

In it's defense, it is doing it's job. I'm just tired of walking slowly and almost tripping on the "mine field" that my house becomes by bed time...

She has a crush...

And I don't quite know how I feel about that! I don't even think she realizes she has a crush (she being my 6 yo daughter), but that's what it is. During the course of our conversation on the way home from school I asked her if any more seating changes have happened in class or if it's stayed the same (I was able to help in class earlier this week). She replied it's stayed the same, but she would like to move next to (insert said boy's name). Here's how the rest of the conversation went:

Me: "Really? Why is that?"

P: "Because I like him."

Me: "Do like that he's funny?" (something I observed about this boy earlier in the week)

P: "No. I like how he looks." (Really????? Already?????)

Me: "Yeah, I noticed he has dark hair. Is that what you like?"

P: "And he has blue eyes."

Me: "Okay, Honey." (and then I quickly changed the subject!)

Oy vay! I have to say I'm *so* glad my daughter is socially on the shy side. I'm just reeling a bit that she's starting to notice boys. Of course, I did have a crush on a boy named Jeremy Kellogg in the 2nd grade, but that was different! ;o)


Now on to "toe" news. It is getting better every day, just taking longer than I hoped. For some reason I think I expected to be 100% after they glued my wound shut. Like that would magically make it instantly healed, bruise and all. Isn't that how it should be for moms? I personally think Moms should be immune to colds, flus and injuries until their last birdie has left the nest.

I'm just sayin...

Perspective

Before 36ish hours ago when that crazy bowl jumped out my hands and injured me, I was in a rut around here having a few pity parties. I'm starting to have a change of heart that chasing around everyone wasn't nearly as challenging as it is right now when I'm being forced to take it easy and hobbling around the house. Perhaps life (at least my attitude) will move a tad bit smoother at the end of this.

Perspective and changes in circumstances can be a good thing...

My pensive mood and I are now signing off! :)

Control Freak Party of 1!

I've been hobbling around with this "shoe" on my foot for a couple of hours. Now, mind you, the purpose of the "shoe" is to make it easier for me to walk around. I, of course, have chosen to still limp around only walking on the heel of my foot (because I *know* what's best) and was noticing an unnecessary pressure being put on my wound. This started to cause feelings of irritation at the "shoe". A very novel thought occurred to me then that maybe if I walked more "normal" it would stop hurting. Any wouldn't ya know it...it did!

Good night!

I've decided to boycott dishes

Seriously. Washing dishes is dangerous business. Just ask the poor big toe on my right foot. There it was minding it's own business. Really just doing it's job of supporting this tired body of mine while I wash a sink full of dishes. And then, wham-o! It gets squished and lacerated by the rim of the metal bowl that is being dried and has fallen out of my hands. (Talk about a freak accident! Couldn't the bowl have landed on the nice, soft rubber side???)

"Mean metal bowl. How dare it jump out of that nice lady's hands? Sure she's over-tired and a bit clumsy, but that bowl should know better and hold on extra tight." (This is my big toe talking...)

Now the poor big toe has been surgically glued, wrapped and a ridiculous shoe has been placed on it's foot. The right arm isn't too thrilled either since it had to endure a tetanus shot.

I think I need to avoid washing dishes for a least week. It's in my doctor's orders. ;o)

Mayhem & Chaos

I think that is my new nicknames for the twins. ;o)

(Sorry, Mom! But's it's better than Thing 1 & Thing 2, right?)

Did I really say that??

"J, did you pee on the fence? If you're going to pee out here, please do it in the dirt and not on my new fence."

One of the phrases I never thought I would say. :)

Day 1 of Homework = Success

Day 1 went very well and smooth! I don't feel as intimidated or stressed out by it.

Woo hoo!

Homework!!!

Apparently homework starts this week. I was really hoping for one more week without it and for some reason I'm feeling really stressed. Probably because this house is *really* stressful in the latter part of the day.

Boo.

Tuesday Morning Minus 2 Kids

The school year has begun and so I now have a 1st grader and a preschooler. What that means is that 2 mornings a week I "only" have 2 kids at home. As easy as this sounds they are the 2 most challenging in this house still. ;o)

In becoming a preschooling mom again I have met a fellow mom of twins who has at least one older child. Her twins are just a couple of months younger than mine, but there are some distinct differences between she and I. The first thing I noticed was that she appeared to be freshly showered and made-up. The next was that she looked relatively "thin" and physically unscathed from the ordeal of carrying twins (of course she probably has way more self-control in the eating dept than I do!). While I would jokingly love to say that I "hate" her for this, it's *so* comforting to have weekly contact with someone who's walking in my shoes.

Hope you are having a good start to your school year!

Stardate 12180.9

"Parenthood...the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Zukowski Tribe..."

When the twins were born we had a chart for each one documenting when the last feeding was and how much they ate, sleeping times and if someone was having an extraordinary rough time. This was mostly because there was no way we could keep track of feedings and naps on our own in the ridiculous state of sleep deprivation we were experiencing. I started the documentation of "extraordinary rough times" mostly because it seemed to me that either A) someone was always miserable or B) I had completely lost my mind for good. As it turned out it was mostly A. With two fussy babies on hand someone always was insanely upset over something. Lately I've found myself tempted to start the "extraordinary rough times" log again because either A) one or the other is miserable or B) I have completely lost my mind for good. Let's hope it's A!

Broke Through the Barrier!

Last night was a rough night of sleep for the littlest ones and I was at my wits end! However, we achieved a 2 hr 45 min nap today! Woo hoo! I was able to rest too and feel a bit more human.

The end.

Napping Blues

***WARNING*** Very burned out mom needing to vent right now!

Nap time at our house these days sucks. Period. For reasons unknown C is waking early crying and then wakes his brother. They have napped just long enough to want to be awake, but not long enough to make them happy. Consequently I have had days of cranky kids and am turning into a really cranky mommy.

Oh precious, long, nap time, please return to my household!

Exercise???

Who said they were going to try a new workout video this week? Not me! Oh wait, maybe it was...

Better luck next week! ;o)

Chicken.

What I really want to post about is the sweet talk I had with my 6 yr old last night. What I have time for is to tell you that Nob Hill has boneless/skinless breasts and thighs on sale for $1.99/lb! Below is a delicious recipe that you prepare in advance, freeze and then defrost and bake whenever you want it:

Amazing Chicken

- 2 lbs chicken breasts or pieces
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 c ketchup
- 1 TBSP lemon juice
- 1/4 of an onion, minced
- 1 pkg onion soup mix
- 1/4 c vinegar (I use red wine vinegar)
- 1/4 c honey
- 1/4 c canola oil
- 1/2 c apricot jam

Place chicken in a large, Ziplock bag. Mix remaining ingredients together and pour over chicken. Remove excess air, seal bag and freeze. When ready to consume, defrost and then bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.


I prepare several of these at once. With summer coming, I might try cooking in the CrockPot on low for 4-6 hours instead.

Enjoy!

Currently reading...

I'm in the middle of two books right now: Clash of Kings (Book 2 in the Song of Ice & Fire Series) and Sarah's Key. Kings is just a nice escape right now, but Sarah's Keys is being read by my book group and I have until Sunday night to finish. It's one of those books that stays in your mind hours after you've put it down. Hard material (The round-up of Jews in 1942 Paris), but I highly recommend it!

I have yet to do my 10 minutes of Jump Start...maybe tonight...who would've thought it would take this much motivation to do a lousy 10 minutes???

Lastly...

In case you were wondering, the kids are all doing good. My girl is wrapping up her Kinder year of school (sob!), my boy is busy as ever being a boy, but loves to cook with his mama, and the littlest boys are into EVERYTHING! They are tall (90% in height for their age) and therefore can reach most things and like to climb whatever they can scale.

Whose life is this anyways?? Oh yeah, mine. And most days I love it!




For the love of Pete I'm finally going to de-stink-ify myself!

Frugal Cooking

Our family is back in a season of some major penny pinching and I was wondering if any of you wanted to comment on what are some of your favorite penny-pinching meals.

We have a second freezer and when whole chickens go on sale ($.99/lb or less), I buy a few and put them on ice. Last week I pulled one out (it was a 4 1/2 pounder that cost me $3.58!), roasted it for dinner with homemade french bread (I love my breadmaker!) and salad. I then had leftover chicken for a second dinner.

If you feel like commenting, you can select "anonymous" and then add your name to your comment if you want to disclose who you are. :)

Over and out because now I really, really stink!

MIA Again!!??

I clearly have been severely MIA again. Couldn't be due to chasing toddlers, a preschooler and kinder, could it? I am disappointed that I haven't been keeping at this as often as before. I dove into blogging saying to myself to post at least something small every day and I think I did for a couple of weeks. I'm going to give it the 'ol college try again (although my success in that dept isn't so great either!)! ;-)

As is typical for most women, I'm not all that happy with the physical shape I'm in. I recently acquired 3 new workout DVDs. I decided today to start with The Biggest Loser's 30 Day Jump Start. You workout 6 days a week with week 1 only being 10 minutes/day, week 2 20 minutes/day, week 3 30 minutes/day and week 4 40 minutes/day. OMG! That measly little 10 minutes kicked my pathetic behind! Apparently I'm in worse shape than I thought. Instead of beating myself over it, I'm choosing to stay the course and see if I can get my not-too-far-from-40 body healthy.

Time to shower because I stink!

So much to do....

I was reflecting on the things I need to get done while the babies nap: shower (a very necessary evil), bake cookies (for a thing tonight) and put together the bank deposit. Annoyingly, these will take up most of nap time and then it's off to get my girl. The things that should be on this list are: mop floor, clean bathrooms, dust, vacuum and continue to organize personal finances...blah, blah, blah. (somehow laundry is "caught up" for a couple of days!)

Not quite sure why I felt the need to post this random, monotonous stuff, but there you have it! Probably because this is the repetitive life that I lead right now. I am grateful for visits from precious friends and moments of playing and laughing with my kids that make it all okay.

Music to my ears

The twins have taken to chasing each other around the house and giggling out of control when they catch one another. I just love that sound!

Another sound I *love* is hearing my firstborn son talking to the boys like I do, "You're okay. There's nothing wrong with you..." ;o)

Lazy Mayzie Is Calling!

And she wants a margarita, a book and liposuction.

The end.

(This is a personal re-telling of Horton Hatches the Egg)

Point A to B

I have been stuck at point A. Point A being a home that needs major organizing especially after all this re-modeling and having more work to do. Point B is an relatively organized and clean house. Now to convince myself to start moving in that direction instead of putting my feet up and reading a good book. ;o)

I wonder which will win out?

Peace out, My Peeps!

The Big Move

This re-model that we started back in mid-November feels a lot more like moving than I thought it would. We are finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel and have relocated everyone (in groups of 2) to their own room. Tonight will be the first time in almost 16 months that the man and I have slept in a room without anyone else in it! At least we'll start the night that way... ;o)

I'm so excited I can't even stand it!

I'm Back!

After weeks of all kinds of sicknesses and such (the likes of which I won't go into here)...I'm back!

Did ya miss me?

Come on...maybe a little? ;o)

Done

I'm just done.

The Plague Has Taken Over!

Which is why I haven't been blogging. :op Last week ended with the older 2 getting pink eye and my boy starting his time with the fever. He still has it, but at least there is no more pink eye in my home and no one else got it. Now if hubby and I could quickly get over the colds we finally inherited from the kids...

Enjoy the sunshine, Peeps!

Get Out of Those PJs!

I'm going on the 2nd week of sick kids. The twins had a fever for most of last week and now my girl has been home with it this week. I guess that's how it goes when you have a handful of kids! ;o) Anyhow, having sick kids puts me back in survival mode. I do the bare minimum to get through my days. I've been in my pjs until 5 minutes ago (about 1:30) and even the small transition to sweats has already lightened my mood. Some people do fine being in their jammies for several days in a row, I'm just not one of them! :oD

If I Had a Day...

If I had a day to myself, I would want to spend it looking at cooking blogs and drinking coffee. I would, of course, need a laptop to do this so I could be somewhere on the coast.

What are some of your favorite food blogs?

It's Just Around the Corner

The signs of Spring are starting to turn up in my yard. Our birch trees are usually the first show with little bits of green leaves emerging from their branches. Something about seeing those budding trees just gets me so excited for the upcoming change in seasons. I can already feel the warm sun on my face, sense the calmness that fills my soul from smelling the fresh air (and soil!) and am eagerly anticipating what herbs and flowers I'm going to plant. Hee hee!

No Use Crying Over Spilled Milk

That saying was quite literal in our house last Monday. My little mutants have become quite clever (especially Thing #2!) and now know how to open the refrigerator door. I had been trying for about a week to keep taking him away from the fridge, saying no, yada, yada, yada. And then we became the reason Safety First was created. As we were running around the house getting ready to get out the door to the twins' one year check up (2 months late!), I head into the kitchen because it had become unnaturally quiet. The scene that lay before me was the fridge door wide open, a lake of milk on the floor, Thing #1 sitting in it with a big grin on his face and Thing #2 holding the now half empty gallon milk container that started off pretty full. How he twisted the lid off in the first place will forever remain a mystery. I called for my man to get the babes feeling so grateful he was home while I resignedly trudged to get lots of old towels to clean up the mess.

We promptly put a fridge lock on that day! :oD

Oh Sweet Yumminess!

I discovered the yummiest granola bar at Trader Joe's yesterday. It's a Sweet, Savory & Tart Trail Mix granola bar and it's only 150 calories per bar.

I think this may become my new favorite post-kids-to-bed-need-to-munch-on-something snack/dessert.

Procrastination

I am currently, ever so slowly, digging my way out of massive home paperwork that has accumulated since the boys were born. This has been an ugly thorn in my flesh for most of my adult life. It feels good to get that off my chest!

I've found portions of my desk tonight that haven't seen the light of day in a year. Now time to get some sleep so I can "fight another day."

Oh, and one more thing...I was once again carded at Trader Joe's buying wine (and I am clearly well over 21)! I've decided this must be one of their ploys to get repeat customers. :)

Not So Treacherous Tuesday!

I forgot to report that we made it through Tuesday unscathed! I don't know if it had anything to do with the fact that my man was home so there was an extra set of eyes around. Regardless, I'm counting it a win!!

Ouch...

"Mommy, why is your belly so big?"

That was very innocently asked by my 3 1/2 yr old today.

I wanted to say, "You mean besides the fact that you, your sister and brothers fully wrecked me?" ;o)

However, he has a point. Bleh. That means I need to lay off the comfort food and exercise. Can you feel the enthusiasm just oozing out of me???

On a completely unrelated note, we might have snow tomorrow morning in town which means for sure up on the mountain. Woo hoo!!!

4:00 Coffee

Looks like my 4 o'clock coffee is back on the rotation! Thank goodness I love it so. :)

It's Just Part of Being a Parent

I uttered that to myself moments ago.

I was able to escape the house tonight and came home to the twins fussing and crying. They had apparently been that way for the past half hour. To set the scene, we are currently stalled in moving forward in the re-model due to our own severe lack of energy. So the boys are sleeping in their cribs lined up next to each other in our room. So if one of them is having an issue, usually the other is too. Thing #1 seems to have developed a good cough and as I'm listening to him hacking, I'm picturing a very long night for us. Instead of being angry about it (which is my normalish response), I uttered, "It's just part of being a parent." Basically telling myself to get over it. It's not the end of the world. How much better would my attitude be if I chose to utter that phrase more often rather than dig my heels in and pout? Probably a lot better...

On a positive re-model note, we finally decided on a bathroom color and the remaining carpet work is done!

Treacherous Tuesdays

treach·er·ous

–adjective
1. characterized by faithlessness or readiness to betray trust; traitorous.
2. deceptive, untrustworthy, or unreliable.
3. unstable or insecure, as footing.
4. dangerous; hazardous: a treacherous climb.

That word seems to accurately define my past 2 Tuesdays.

Last Tuesday morning, I was back in the room we are re-modeling with my 3 yr old and I hear this mysterious clanging noise. Within seconds I realize it is the sound of my large chef's knife being dragged off the counter (note: My knives are usually safely put away when clean. This one had just been used that morning and was clearly not put far enough back on the counter or better yet in the sink.) My poor 3 yr old suddenly forgot how to move his legs so he was quickly tossed aside as I sprinted toward the sound. Sure enough, Twin #2 is wildly swinging my knife around while walking to the living room with the biggest "cat that ate the canary" grin. I quickly grabbed it out of his little mitts and did a thorough once over. By the awesome grace of God he was completely unharmed and thankfully Twin #1 happened to be pasted out in his crib lest he be mutilated by his brother.

After regaining my composure, I texted one of my bestest friends, "Sometimes I wish I could be a functioning alcoholic!" It sure seems like my nerves would be better off in that state!

Now on to this morning. I very foolishly thought I'd try to throw in a quick load of laundry. I'm in the laundry room barely a minute and I hear the all too familiar scream from Twin #2 (who else could it be??) whose mouth is nice and bloody from doing who knows what to himself. He is now donning a very poutty mouth courtesy of a fat lip.

I'm a little worried to think what next Tuesday will bring!

Hope this gives someone the confidence that their mothering skills are clearly better than mine. ;o)

Plans?

I'm curious to hear what others (the 4 of you who read this!) are doing or did to celebrate Valentine's Day. Just drop me a comment saying what are/were your plans.

Ciao Amore!

Happy Valentine's Day!

In honor of my Valentine, I'm going to post the cheesy lyrics to the song I made up for him the first Valentine's Day we were a couple. One of my bestest friends agreed to deliver balloons to him and sing this song (to the tune of Mr. Sandman):

Through the youth group
God brought me a dream
He was the cutest that I'd ever seen

With big brown eyes
And the sweetest darn smile
I said to myself, "I'll keep him awhile!"

Youth Group...I cannot thank you enough
I know I'll love him
Even when times get tough

Tonight's our first Valentine's date
Youth Group this must be fate!

***Just a note that we did not meet as teenagers in youth group. He was a youth pastor when we started dating and I was a youth worker. :)

Paint!

I am absolutely horrible at picking it out and at this moment hate it.

The end.

A week??

Really?! It's been over a week since I last blogged?? Wow, it's amazing how quickly time can fly in this household. Last I left you, it was the eve of the twins' party and I was very anxious about the rain. I have a good report! The rain stopped right when the jump house guys arrived and started up promptly when the party was over. I was *so* grateful. The party was a success as well. It was great to have friends and family over to celebrate my littlest boys.

Mid-week I was on the verge of a major meltdown about life in general (I have these from time to time...) and the straw that was breaking the camel's back was that the littlest boys kept pushing the boxes that were currently keeping my dining room closet door shut (the door knob was latch-less when we bought the house 10 plus years ago) so they could mischievously rifle through it. I had had enough! I loaded all 3 boys up and we were off to Lowe's where I purchased, among other things, a latch lock to keep that darn door closed. After getting home for lunch I texted my man, "Where is the drill and is it charged?" He quickly replied it's location and that yes, it was in fact charged. I am very grateful that he is unfazed by txts of that nature. By the the end of nap time, the lock was installed as well as a hook on the back of the door for my purse since the wee ones (namely Thing #2!) can't seem to keep their hands out of that as well. It's wonderful what a sense of accomplishment small tasks completed can bring!

I will leave the rest of the mundane details of the past week alone, except to say that during this week at least 13 legitimate loads of laundry have been done.

Holy guacamole and buenos noches!

Because we just aren't busy enough

I'm going to start by confirming that yes, it is in fact 3 in the morning. I fell asleep for a few hours on the couch earlier tonight and then dove into what should have been done while I was sleeping. I'm getting tired again, so I will hopefully be getting shift 2 of sleep done soon!

Anywho, I'm hearing it pour right now for the first time in a couple of weeks and I'm praying it will be gone by tomorrow afternoon when the jump house is arriving for the twins' party. They turned one last month, but we are just now getting to the party...sorry boys! We are also fully back in re-model mode. The tile is going up in my shower currenty and my closets are in and the trim work that needs to be done for now is done! Woo hoo! All that is left is for the carpet guy to come and do the little touch ups here and there and then we have a lot of painting to do. I'm really getting excited! Also, to add to the craziness of right now, our church has to be out of the space it has been leasing by Monday night. No rest for the Zukowski's! :)

Over and out, good buddy!

Just Keep It Cool, Boy. Real Cool...

"The theatre. The theatre. Whatever has happened to the theatre?"

"Zee problem with juevenille delinquency iz that it'z a social disease!"

"I'm gettin' married in the mornin'!"

"How do you solve a problem like Maria?"

"With a capital T that rhymes with P that stands for Pool!"

"Those who have seen your face, draw back in fear."

I really could go on and on. I love musicals, theater, Broadway (I hope to actually see a show there someday!), orchestras, etc so very much! Unfortunately, my poor husband does not. But he loves me enough to tolerate that I have a Pandora station dedicated to it all. I love that man of mine!

Sweet Innocence

There is something so wonderfully innocent about a baby. As I was getting the babies down for their nap, J fell asleep while I was giving C his bottle. I finished off the first babe and put him down for the count. Baby #2 was sacked out sucking on his pup-pup (he never took to a binky!). As I took out the soaked puppy blanket, his little mouth kept working until I replaced it with his bottle. So sweet, so innocent. I treasure moments like these.

Noise

I'm so tired
Of hearing things drop
On my laminate floor
It needs to stop

Sippy cups, teething rings,
All manner of toys
As they plummet down
I cringe from the noise


I think I'm a tad on edge today...

Grandma

My Grandma sent me a txt today. It was a picture of her decked out in her Chicago Bears gear. She is too precious and it made my morning. :) I just love that lady!

Go Bears!!!

4 1/2 Year Goal

I love to cook & bake. I really do. I just really don't have the time to fully commit to it as I have several other pressing responsibilities right now (4 to be exact!). ;) Anyhow, I've been making a mental list of what I want to do in 4 1/2ish years when the last 2 of my litter are in school full time and I have more uninterrupted time in my day. The top 3 right now are to cook, bake & read (better add exercise more with all that cooking & baking!)

Crock pot

I get to use my new crock pot tomorrow! It's red and beautiful and I'm *so* excited! :)

Dips & Vans

While I'm on the subject of things that I love (which makes me want to gush about my kids!), can I just tell you how much I LOVE my minivan?! Back in the day I would have been insulted if it had even been suggested that I would drive a minivan someday. I would quickly correct you that I would be in a SUV all the way. Am I eating some serious crow now and it is mighty delicious. I took a trip to Costco with my little men and as I am unloading my cart (after loading them in), I am unbelievably grateful that I have so much room for my stuff (we have a 2004 Siena with the fabulous feature of a sunken trunk area) even with a double stroller stowed in the back too. If you don't have one, I highly recommend that you purchase one if you are in a family way. ;o)

Speaking of Costco, I made the foolish mistake of going there not only hungry, but with a case of PMS. Consequently I am the "proud" owner of the Creamy 5 Layer Onion Dip and the Jalapeno Artichoke Dip. They aren't exactly in small containers either. What was I thinking??? Clearly I was thinking with a hormonally challenged brain and empty stomach!

Anyone need dip?

I like a sharp knife

There is just nothing like cutting into fruit, veggies, meat...whatever it is that you like to chop...with a really sharp knife. The meat dept at my local grocery store offers free knife sharping. However, that would require that I remember to bring the knives in the appropriately labeled sleeve and then remember to pick them up. Therefore I reasoned that I "needed" to buy a knife sharpener and a good one. I have to say that my first few attempts at knife sharpening left me with buyers remorse. I feel like I've gotten the technique down very well now and have a wonderful sense of satisfaction every time I sharpen a knife (that sense must be HUGE tonight since I just primed up 3!).

Bargains!

I love a good bargain...heck, who doesn't!? I really like it though when it's not some fad item I'll care less about in 6 months. Last night "the man" and I were discussing the plot differences between the movie The Two Towers and the book. There were things I couldn't remember so I grabbed our copy of The Lord of the Rings. Now mind you, a very long time ago I bought it because I liked that all 3 books are included and there is some cool history to the characters in the appendix and cool maps too (I was fully "geeking out" when I made this purchase!). Also it is a massively huge book (around 1,000 pages) and I LOVE books! Anyhow, now that I have children, I'm realizing my original book choice is not exactly family friendly. Mind you my 5 year old isn't exactly reading Tolkien yet, but eventually I hope that all 4 of my kids will love these books. So I decided to go online and explore purchasing them separately. I, of course, started out on B&N wondering what my membership discount would bring me...about $10/book. Not bad, but 3 books in and now I'm thinking we should probably own The Hobbit too, I can see the numbers adding up. Time to check out other sources. Next I hit up half.com and found all 4 books from the same seller for $.75 each. With reduced shipping I ended up paying just over $12 for all the books combined. Have I told you yet how much I love a bargain!?

This week the handle broke off the lid of my much loved 4 qt crock pot. After checking Bed, Bath & Beyond (they didn't even sell this size in the store!) I went to my trusty Amazon. I found a beautiful red 4 qt for $15.50! Can't wait till it arrives on Thursday. :)