Folks, I use to ride horses. I still have the riding breeches. I can’t fit into them and I can’t imagine I will ever be able to do that again. Mainly because I have since had kids and your hips change. I have now put aside 7 blouses, and who knows how many socks. Next will be the breeches. I don’t want to let go because it brings back a lot of memories. Maybe I’ll take a picture of them before sending them on their way to some new home. Sigh. This house cleaning is taking a lot longer than I thought. So many things happen the first weeks of school. I totally forgot about that. Luckily, it will settle down. Just in time for the holidays!!! Just gotta laugh and go with the flow.

Yaa, I know. I can’t afford anything right now. Unless it’s pretty much free. That doesn’t stop me from looking. What with two boys that are already driving me insane with the start of school… vision therapy, occupational therapy for the oldest, asthma and hypoglycemia issues for the youngest, one new school, both new teachers… and nothing set in concrete for times… did I mention both of them want to join the cub scouts this year? I get a twitch in my eye just thinking about it. Instead… I was told aboutOuter Banks vacation rentals in North Carolina.

I saw the place listed and went BINGO. I need to go there for relaxation. It’s even big enough to hold TWO families. Much less one family with 3 boys… yes, I’m counting my husband as a boy in that statement. It has TWO kingsize beds. The rest is great for the kids. Bunk beds or twin beds or a queen bed. Their choice. We could all have our own rooms to hide in for peace and quiet.

Here are some pictures from the Carolina Designs Realtor web site:

And the boys would love the fact there are TVs in each room. We don’t have TVs in our bedrooms. Ahhh… the little things you can enjoy on vacation.

Still, we like to play as a family and it includes a private pool and a game room with a pool table. We might not ever make it out to see any sites at that rate.

Get up, leisurely breakfast, go play in the pool, come in and eat lunch, go play in the playroom, eat dinner, watch tv and it’s bedtime.

Though I’m sure I could find some time to drink tea and read a book in this room:

Whoa. Love the windows and the layout. I might not make it to play time! Well, they say dream big and I can dream about having a vacation here. Anyone want to come with me?

Every couple of years my husband’s work goes through a change of insurance. They get an insurance quote and a bunch of paper work and off we go. It always makes me nervous. Not that it is bad, just different. Every company has slight differences in their terminology that can make an impact on what we are charged. So far, it has been a good experience. Every company we have worked with has been more than willing to talk to me on the phone as long as necessary for me to understand it.

I just feel like I should take a class in Health Care because I know it would help me not have to call so much. Then again, we switch in a couple of months to a new company and new insurance… which is not long enough for me to take a class in it. I’m sure it would take a full semester to teach me!

Folks, I couldn’t believe my eyes today. I went to K’ohls, to T’arget, to L’owes, to C’ostco and in each place there were ads for Christmas. Seriously, christmas stuff. While I hope to actually get Christmas cards out this year (I missed the last two), I can’t even think about sending out holiday invitations for parties or to start decorating for the season. Halloween hasn’t past, Thanksgiving is still coming… and Labor day hasn’t even occurred. Don’t the stores realize they are going to make some of us avoid them because I don’t want to deal with the thought of the holidays yet???

Look at the silly cakes I made for the kids for their first day back at school… how can you go beyond what is happening today to something four months away?

Ok, I love doing stuff to make my kids smile. Particularly after they had their first day at school… each at a separate school. I was proud of both of them. Bet they are already considering Christmas even if I can’t get my brain wrapped around the idea.

and all through the house, the creatures are stirring and mommy is going insane. I think I should make a few slideshows of the insanity of my household. I’m not sure if is the amount of stuff I still have to buy for ‘school supplies’ or the fact that I’m just not a 100%. Seriously, I left the ‘grocery’ supply list to get this week with no idea that I would

1. be sick
2. it would be so huge once I put it together.

You ready for this? 4 plastic containers of baby wipes, 2 bottles of hand sanitizer, 3 packages gallon size ziplocs, 1 package of snack size, 2 packages of quart size, 3 boxes of tissues, 2 rolls of paper towels, and due to a mistake in my part… I still have to go get Expo dry erase ‘bold’ NOT ‘low odor’ AND ‘regular Ed only’ markers. Mine are ‘low odor’… Exactly where do the taxes I pay for schooling go? This list does NOT include the stuff I bought weeks ago that included 4 reams of white paper, 1 ream of bright colored paper, crayons and more. No joke. Must run… lots to get done.

After taking out a small loan… we are getting my teeth implants done tomorrow. I should be in no pain for 24 hours. And the card my mom sent me should keep me smiling.

The front says:

Open it and:

Off to have ‘parts replaced’… hope it made you smile as much as it made me smile. Now if I could just be alive enough to check out some more ipod accessories to see if I really want an ipod after all the fun I have been having with my iphone. Or maybe I’ll hunt down iphone accessories. Nothing like being a numb face to sit and try to drool on my keyboard.

My children will soon be eating me out of it. Think I’m joking? Take a look at the size of their shoes compared to mine! Mine is on the left…

Now mind you, my oldest just turned EIGHT. Did you catch that? EIGHT years old. And his feet are almost bigger than mine. The younger one is catching right up to us. Scary to think about it. Makes me think we ought to be an rv… be ready for rv repairs as we travel from buffet to buffet to feed our boys. You know all those ‘All you can eat buffets’ you see advertised? Yaa, I have a feeling that will be cheaper than feeding my sons at home. Sigh. I knew they would grow up fast, but I wasn’t quite prepared for the food intake. Some weeks are better than others. Thank goodness!

Hmmm. Every so often my keyboard goes haywire. No matter which key you press it goes in order of the keyboard depending on where it decides to start. If it starts at “s”, then the next time you press any key (or even the same key), the next letter on the screen is “d”, then the next is “f”. Weird. Is this a sign that I need to trade in my fairly new computer for an Asus? Sigh. I know the answer to that. It’s not the computer. I’m still trying to figure out which software starts this mess. There will be another post when I figure it out. Just wish my memory was working as well as when I was 20.

It seems to go in cycles like everything else. One week I saved $60 in groceries with buy one get one free and coupons. This last week, I saved $1.75. Ugh. Both times the total cost of the bill without the discounts was about $100. Lately I have been looking into vitacost coupons to see if I could use them. Turns out that my grocery store does not take print at home coupons. Yet, there are coupons for K-mart and Sears out there. I’m looking for some book shelves and that might be the ticket.

Better than me checking out the garbage on Thursday nights as I drive around to get home from Karate. I am amazed at what people put in the trash. Then I looked at our trash and wasn’t so amazed. Things I think are trash because they are broke or ripped, disappear before the trash trucks arrive. While I wasn’t willing or able to fix it, I guess someone else thought they could.

Ok, back to work. We have company and I have a household to run. Although it hasn’t been running very smoothly since we got back. Ahhhhh…