A quick update

So, we are in FLORIDA! Can you believe it? I hardly can. I'm using Super J's laptop and it is very temperamental for me...now and then, it totally jumps to some random place while I am typing. Very frustrating (just happened. grrr). So, this will be short. But I'll definitely write more when I get home.

Talked to Aunt D and the kids are doing great. WHEW! It's so much more relaxing and enjoyable being away knowing my kids are doing so well. :) So far, we've landed, gotten our convertible rental car, gone to the temple, gotten to our Priceline.com Holiday Inn...that is a post in and of itself. Hotel Grade: B (so far). We've gone to a couple of beaches (Super J has even gone swimming...not me. I am not an ocean swimmer. Scary! ANYWAY! The beaches are lovely, though. And I love sitting on the beach, letting go of my "negative ions." That is a reference from when I went down to New Orleans with my History Club when I was an undergrad and one of my oldest friends (meaning, she's known me forever and ever, not that she's old) and I got shoulder massages from this "vendor" on the boardwalk. He kept telling me to relax and to release my negative ions into the Might Mississippi. Oooooookay. Still. It's very soothing to sit on the beach and read (I brought along Stephanie Meyer's new release, "The Host," which I bought from Wal-mart for a screaming deal. )

Moving on...we've had a couple of meals of Seafood, which has been so yummy (if not a wee bit pricey), and we even ate at Keegan's, which we saw on "Guy's Big Bite" on the Food Network. We even ordered the Octopus Appetizer, which is what is dangling from Super J's mouth in the picture above. It wasn't bad, I have to say...much like calamari, if you enjoy that kind of thing. Regardless, Gentle Reader, they had the most divine Key Lime Pie. I kid you not. It melted in my mouth. Sooooooo delightful. Tonight we ate at Crabby Somebody's Name that I can't remember right now and Super J is napping, so I'll have to fix that later. I think I like the food better at Keegan's, but the ambiance was so fun at Crabby's. I told Super J that I should have bought one of their Gift Shop t-shirts that said, "Don't worry...Be Crabby," because that will be me the last two weeks in July. Ha!

So, anyway, I'm full of great stories but this computer is driving me nuts. We are taking pictures (we got a new camera!) so I'll be posting some of those. In the meantime, hope all is going well for you, Gentle Reader.

The countdown clock has started

And we've officially dropped the kids off at their Aunt/Uncle's house. Once we arrived, we set up Miss O's crib and we gave all three a bath and put Miss A & E to bed so Aunt D could see the routine and then we left, just before Miss O would normally go to bed. Aunt D was going to put her to sleep. As I watched them walk upstairs (we thought it best that they go upstairs before we left), I must confess that I nearly lost it. As I type, I am nearly losing it. I'm a wee bit sad. I told Super J that I'm glad he is so excited, because it might take me a bit to catch up. Maybe I'm just tired, but I feel something missing. Ohhhhhh, my heck. My hormones must be raging in a weepy direction. Anyway. This gives me a tiny glimmer into what it must be like to suffer a loss and still have to come home to the house where everyone once was.

AHEM! But it's going to be a great experience. Super J gave each of the girls a blessing (and me...perhaps I might have needed it the most) before we dropped them off, so I feel comforted and know this really is going to be a great experience.

I just wish the house didn't feel so empty...and quiet.

But it's going to be a great experience. I'm just going to repeat that to myself until the plane takes off.

I figured out how to embed YouTube videos

Yay! This is the video segment I had a link for regarding Ross (from Friend's) and his Mystic Tanning experience. Not exactly like Super J or mine, but very very funny.



Again, sorry for the swearing towards the end.

Ants

Update: Opposition: Ants. In the dining room.

Really? Today? Ants?

*sigh*

Silver Lining: We have already renewed the contract with our bug guys. We paid them the big bucks so they have to come out whenever we have pest issues. So. I will give them a call tomorrow morning to schedule another visit (they were here, like, 3 weeks ago). We'll just nip this little problem in the bud.

Intestinal issues (sorry for TMI) and their silver linings

Update: Opposition! (and yet another post for May 6!!! It's a posty kind of day, I guess)

Miss A and Miss E have both come down with the Raging Trots, so to speak. Miss A was self "diagnosed" this morning (I don't know where she learns these things, but she informed me it was "orange and very loose." Okay, then. I took her word for it...and happily haven't had to confirm or deny it since). Miss E was diagnosed just a few minutes ago when she called me in for assistance because she was finished and needed help wiping, and we both discovered that there had been an accident in her pants when we were going to pull her pants up. Seriously, Miss E had no clue there had been any problem and was just as surprised as me with the discovery. Luckily, it was very easy to clean up, but it was (beyond a doubt) retch-worthy. I had to leave the bathroom several times. Simply put: EWWWW.

Meanwhile, Super J is having issues with the processor at work. I called to share my disgusting news with him only to learn he is embroiled in his own dilemma. For some reason, the processor is not making product as it should, so he's torn it apart and has said that he is now behind for orders for tomorrow.

What to do???? Well. We've said some prayers. I find it fascinating that all this is starting to happen as the countdown for The Getaway is approaching.

But it's all okay. We shan't panic (no. We'll save that for Mystic Tanning experiences. Oh! And while we are visiting this subject, let's give a big kiss, warm hug and shout THANK YOU to our great friend, JK's Mom, for letting me buy some of her Arbonne Self Tanner to help even out my bronzed leprosy spots).

Always a way to feel better, let's look at several silver linings of the day, shall we?

1. At least we aren't trying frantically to pack everyone up, drop them off at our amazing relatives' house and leave for said Getaway.
2. At least Super J has time to work on the processor and may be able to get it to run and make product through the night so the shipment can still go out.
3. At least I have some potential swimsuits (had to throw that in there).
4. At least we didn't have the above mentioned accident WHILE LOOKING for those potential swimsuits. Oh dear heaven above. Yes. That is a true silver lining if I have ever listed one.
5. At least we know we are blessed with the above silver linings and can see that the hand of the Lord is truly resting on us.

We can get through the rest, knowing that.

Until I decide to post another exciting installment in 15 minutes, as seems to be the trend today, hope your day is going well and you are able to find some silver linings if it's not. :)

Ohmyholycow, part 2

Time: 1:55

The setup: We have just returned from a whirlwind trip to Wal-Mart and Target. We being myself, Miss A, E, and O. I am currently horking down a chicken sandwich from McDonald's, because if I don't, I will start gnawing off my arm I am so hungry (I type between bites, therefore I am. Ha. I think hunger is affecting my thinking).

Okay, why you ask have I done this? When we all know I don't like the huge shopping extravaganzas, etc. etc. One word:

Swimsuit.

For some reason, I felt impressed to try on my two maternity swimsuits. Oh. My. Holy. Cow. I'm not sure what is going on with my body this pregnancy, but (here's too much info, and I apologize to all sensitive readers) I have no stomach muscles left (my own fault for not trying to do anything with that area between pregnancies, but still! So Sad!!!) and my boobs have grown exponentially (which makes me even sadder than the gut because they are mocking me, as I know they will become shriveled sagging shells of what they once were when I am done nursing, but I'm sure that's a post for about a year and a half from now). This means that my first maternity suit (the bright red one that I used to joke makes me look like a huge tomato) makes me extremely and strangely flat chested (all things considered) with my huge gut just below. Say it with me: UN-attractive. Oh dear. So very unattractive.

My second suit is...er...was a modest tankini purchased just last year. I put it on and I thought...well, it looked better LAST year when I was not pregnant but at the ending of nursing (...was that just LAST summer???? My poor body). I thought, I'll make due with this for the upcoming getaway. That is, until my friend JK's Mom called, and as I was chatting, I was putting stuff away and meandering through the house. Guess what. As I was talking on the phone, I discovered to my HORROR that this year, at 7 months pregnant, the top started to creep...over the belly, exposing sadly stretched skin with accompanying stretch marks. And no matter how many times I'd pull and tug, over the tummy it goes. OH.MY.HOLY.COW!!!!!!!

Both of these suits have now become UNACCEPTABLE! Yegads! So, I went shopping.

Shopping with 3 girls under the age of 6 means one thing: grab and go. This means I have spent today, at the two stores, about...get ready for it...because it's shocking: Between $400-$500ish dollars. Easily I spent that.

Gentle Reader, keep in mind that I will only keep maybe about $100-$150 (which is still shocking, but it's trip prep!), when all things are said and done, but it is SHOCKING how this happens. I know exactly where all the receipts are, but even I am in shock at it all.

I have, currently in my home, about 7 or 8 swimsuits. I kid you not. I also have some capri pants, in two different sizes. Some tops, in two different sizes. And some sunblock. I'll be keeping that. As well as the bubbles, sunglasses and swimming pool paraphernalia that I picked up to keep the kids occupied in the store. Alright, yes. We'll call a spade a spade. They are bribes. I bribed my kids, with cheap Chinese plastic things and McNuggets. But we all came out of the experience relatively unscathed. Almost half (if not more) of everything else will be returned.

So now you know my ugly secret for why I am A) such a fashion plate and B) why I don't normally enjoy go shopping. But the good news is that I think out of all of the options, I'll have a suit that will carry me through the rest of the pregnancy, birth, and a bit of postpartum. Whew.

Now I just have to pick a suit from all the options and return the remnants.

Update 2: Approx 12 hours later

Allllllllrighty then. We have darkened up through the night hours. And, you can SO tell that it was our first time to go tanning.

Superman J (or Super J as he reminded me that he likes me to call him on the blog) has "tanned" much more evenly. For me, well...you can see my left hand is considerably darker on top whereas my right hand's palm is still several shades off normal. AND, I have discovered some definite non-intended tan lines and streaking. The most glaring is a running between my breastbone and my stomach is a strange inch wide, 6 inch long white streak, literally cutting me in half. It's nice to see that I do indeed have some color, but Super J says that I look like I'm an open heart surgery survivor. Okay, then.

I have to also mention that my toes...well...the barrier cream worked well on the toe nails, but where I slathered it and it spilled onto the actual flesh, my toes are their normal pasty white color. Where no slather, DARK "bronze." I look like a sad Michael Jackson experiment gone awry.

Overall, though, we are happy with it. I didn't sleep well because I kept smelling the stuff through the night (shades of new laundry detergent when Jason was out of town!), but I finally turned on the ceiling fan and slept much better.

Ohmyholycow

Update: I just looked at my hands and turned them over to discover that I CLEARLY didn't put enough "barrier" lotion on. Ha! My palms are sooooo much DARKER than the tops of my hands.

Hahahhahahahahahahahhahaha! Of course! See. I told you I was freaking out in that little mystic tanning booth.

And now for a subject I simply must blog about...

With Superman J and my getaway approaching, it was suggested to us by a dear friend that we could get a jump start on our tanned glow by getting a "Mystic Tan." As I cannot tan in a traditional tanning bed whilst pregnant, this seemed like a good option. I'd never done it before, but Superman J was pumped by the idea and this would be yet another prep thing for the trip that we could do together, like a date! And, we'd be glowing. Tanned and bronzed. OHHHHHHHHhhhhhhh VANITY! Ahhhhhhhhh, cruel, cruel beast you are!

So, here's my question to you: Have you ever done this? It is, to say the least, a life experience.

After dropping off the kiddos, we went to our fabulous local tanning parlor. See the gentleman in the picture. This is from an actual Mystic Tan ad, and it's pretty much what happens. You step into this little box, wave your hand in front of a sensor and a "soothing" voice tells you to stand on particular numbers. In "3...2...1" your tanning session begins, starting at your feet and it
moves upwards, eventually hitting your face. However, the vapors from the mist start rising the instant they jet out towards your feet and you are blasted with a mix that is so "mist"-ick, you are like...How on earth do I breathe with this? Should I breathe? Oh my heaven's above! What have I gotten myself into! Is this toxic? It wasn't supposed to BE toxic, but where is all my clean air???? Can I open the door because right now, I'm starting to panic! Yes! Panic! PANIC ATTACK!!!! In Progress...NOW!

During my session, I was sprayed 4 times, and I rotated my body around these number things so I got sprayed from feet to top (rotate slightly), top to feet (rotate slightly again), feet to top (rotate again, but it was my back...not so terrible because it's not soooo in your face), top to feet (and it's the back, once again). Technically, you are supposed to be standing calmly with your arms like the gentleman above. I have no idea how the heck I was standing because, let's be honest. I was trying to figure out if I could even hold my breath while I was being sprayed without fleeing the tiny shrinking mist-filled box.

Normally, I like to think I could hold my breath for 10 seconds, which is about how long it lasts. HOWEVER. When you are panicking, guess what. VERY HARD to hold said breath. Did you ever see "Mary Poppins?" I love the line, "Close your mouth, please, Michael. We are not a codfish." Ahhhhh, it makes me laugh every time.

Yeah. I was a codfish.

A gasping codfish, trying to hold my breath, during a panic attack. So. Pretty.

But I did it! I triumphed! It's a good thing I am pasty white and the cute girl gave me the very first level, so at least I didn't look like this when I left the booth (please forgive the swearing towards the end): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOhJMHaMBws (Scroll your mouse over this and you'll see it is actually a link to a segment of a Friends episode...I laughed so hard while I watched this, I was crying and I knew I had to share.)



And for those who might be concerned about me being 7 months preggo and all...I called my doctor and they gave me the okay to do this.

After the session, Superman J and I kept comparing and saying, "I think you look tanner!" to each other. Feeling sooooo sexy. Acting sooooooo self congratulatory. Tsk. When we went to pick up the girls, Miss A said, "I don't think you look very tan," and later said, "I think I'm tanner than you are, Mom." Ahhhhhhh yes. Out of the mouth of babes.

We may have to go back. Ha!

Almost forgot...

Happy Cinco de Mayo

In honor of this holiday, I thought I'd use a jaunty font (we'll see if Pyzam allows it...okay, nope. It doesn't. So much for jaunty font) and share a recipe we are going to be trying out tonight. I'll let you know how it goes. Ole'

INGREDIENTS:

5 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons shortening
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups boiling water

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt in large bowl. Cut in shortening to resemble cornmeal. Add water slowly, mixing with your hands to make a soft dough. You may not need all the water.

2. Knead a few minutes on floured surface until smooth and elastic. Lubricate top with oil, put back in bowl and let rest, covered for 10 minutes.

3. Divide into small balls the size of golf balls and proceed to roll out into size and thickness you prefer.

4. Cook on top of stove over medium heat using a cast iron grill or heavy skillet until top is slightly bubbly then turning on opposite side for a minute or two.

5. Keep stacked and warm inside a clean dish towel.

6. Sorry for any weird spacing. I tried and tried to fix it. I feel like using it as a pinata now. Heavy sigh.

Oh well! Off to make tortillas!

Some of the blessings of life

Gentle Reader, I am blessed with amazing friends, and you are included. As I was typing this entry, I kept thinking to myself, I have amazing FRIENDS! If I know you and hang with you and have eaten with you, cooked for you, watched your children, or shopped with you, you are my friend and I count you amongst my blessings! I like spending time with you. And I'm so grateful to know you! I hope YOU know that! I hope YOU know that I am a better person because you are in my life! I appreciate everything you do and have done and will do with and for me, and for the opportunities I am given to do the same for you. Thank you! Besides my relationship with the Lord, my husband and my family, you keep me grounded and sane and add joy and happiness to my life, and I don't know that I can express adequately how grateful I am because of that.

I wanted you to know that because I'm about to launch into a bit about this weekend, while focusing on just one of my wonderful friends. And when I was re-reading this, I thought, Geez, it sounds like I got a girl crush on Miss K. And maybe I do, because I certainly adore her. She is so great that Superman J even said that if I didn't exist, Miss K might be in my place because she has all the qualities he was looking for in a wife (when he was looking). She's a good egg, that's for sure!

You know one of the best things about hanging out with a friend you've had for years? It reminds you of how you were and some of your favorite things you used to do "back in the day." I met Miss K when I was single and in graduate school, getting my MLS. She was in town visiting her sister, who is also a friend of mine, who asked if I'd show Miss K around one evening, and a great friendship was born.

I'm three months older than Miss K and I am continually amazed at how similar we think--she really gets me and she understands all those 80's moments (because she also graduated the same year) and she quotes movies that are contemporary with us (which I love), and we can pretty much talk about anything. But even if we don't always agree on stuff, she is an amazing listener and conversationalist. I kid you not, she can put anyone at ease and carry on a conversation with people who normally would never talk to anyone. She's just that kind of person. Delightful. It's one of the reasons she's so good at her job: she's a Communicator.

And, of course, she could have cared less about my crazy clean house...she was here to see me and the little family. Oh! What that does for the ego. Have you ever had a friend fly out Just To See You? Amazing. She was such a good sport with the girls (who, I firmly believe, came to think she came to see THEM!) and we went on quite an adventure getting some shopping done for Miss E's "Astronaut Party" (definitely a post for another time...), especially when we had to go to a store on the other side of town. True confessions? I really don't know my way around the "city" part of our city. Oh well. We made it!

Hanging with Miss K, though, totally reminded me of things that I did when I was single: I took care of myself. You hear it all the time, that in order for you to fill others' proverbial bucket, you must find ways to fill your own. Sometimes I think that's total crap (excuse the french), but other times I want to kick myself for not fully embracing it, because it's pretty true. So for me, it almost felt like a selfish weekend because I spent money and did things that I don't normally do all the time...just for me and on me or on stuff that *I* wanted to do.

Miss K and I went to lunch and dinner together a couple of times, we talked of her travels (which she does a lot for work) and relationships. Actually, we just talked and talked...even with the girls dancing and singing around our house (I told her at one point, that our home was filled with the sound of music pretty much all the time, and I did not lie about that! Ha!). We even got PEDICURES--and not just ANY pedicure. No, we got the deluxe spa treatment...which we thought was a good $25.00 less than we actually paid for (gulp!). But now we have a great story to tell, besides pretty toes, and some really cheap foam flip flops (which the girls love) and a tiny bottle of water that fits wonderfully in my purse (which the girls also loved yesterday after church when they were "thirsty.") More importantly we had 2 hours together to read tarty magazines and chat while someone else "worked" on us. As they say on that credit card commercial: priceless. It was a fast visit, but I felt I was a better wife and mother after she left...because I felt better. Does that make sense?

You know, thinking about it, it was a wonderful prep for Superman J and my getaway that is rapidly approaching. I'm so fretting about leaving my kids (for the first time since before we had kids!!! Yeeps!) that I was losing sight of the fact that I get to spend some quality time with my true Companion, and that it's okay to focus on just "us" for a few days, especially with New Baby's arrival just a few short months away. It's going to be just fine and it's all going to work out, and I totally trust Aunt D and Uncle J who are watching my kiddos, and my children are going to have a great time over there.

And when I get back, I'll be a better mother and a better wife, because that's what blessings and filling up of buckets do for you. You should definitely try it, maybe even today. :)