Awww Come On....

So Sam has this funny little thing (not quite a tic but close) that he does right now. Every time I say no he can't do or have something, he says "awww, come oooon", which cracks me up so hard I eventually end up giving in. Not even too sure where he got it from, I am presuming school, as that is where we are picking up quite an interesting vocabulary these days.

The other day at the dinner table, Abby was struggling with her food (mainly because she had eaten 2 cookies waaay too close to dinnertime), so when I asked her to eat her mac and cheese (it was a healthier homemade mac, not the processed stuff which she would have gobbled up), she turned around and said "I don't like that" to which I replied "don't like is not in our vocabulary." "Why do we have to eat vocabulary mom" she said... we were all laughing so hard, we forgot all about her uneaten mac and cheese...

Car Flatulence...

Just a quick update on the car situation... I DID sell the Corolla, for the full price I was asking, to the same guy who promised he would come back on Saturday... the transaction couldn't have been any smoother and hopefully that great little car will serve him well, it did great for me...

Anyhow, someone has a very cute sense of humor as the new car we bought has some strange noises occurring when we turn the wheel more than 180 degrees! It sounds like a mix between a duck quacking and the sound of someone passing gas - so if you are ever in my car, please don't give me a strange look like it was me, now you all know... and Jarrett, if you have any crashomatic ideas as to what this could be, I sure would like to know...

Why don't these things ever show up when you are test driving a vehicle???

Inspirational People and Slurpees...

So I was dying of thirst yesterday and decided to venture into 7 eleven to try out the famous Slurpees that everyone has talked about - yes, it's sad, I have lived here 7 years and have not yet tried a Slurpee - anyway I am faced at the machine trying to decide which one to get (I almost called Erika but my cell phone was in the car) and eventually decide on the orange one. So I fill my cup and then realize that it seems to be going down rather rapidly like the fizz is disintegrating or something, so I keep filling. Then I have this brainwave to put the cone shaped lid on and keep filling the cup, just so I get a little more... all was going well and the Slurpee was delicious (I am officially a fan), and I am standing in line waiting to pay and the cashier is taking ages to serve people because she keeps answering the telephone which is ringing constantly, so the lady behind me and I start talking about the slow service and according to her it is always like that in this 7 eleven (the one on the corner of King/Ivy). Anyhow, by this time the Slurpee has decided that it can seep out the edges of the lid (as I had really overfilled it) and down onto my arm and hands. By this time the cashier is ready for my money and I am fumbling around in my wallet, my hands sticking to everything I touch including the $5 note I hand her, which was kinda embarrassing. So I walk out the store and hear my name being called and lo and behold its from a friend of mine, Michelle Annese, who has her own Karate school off of Ohio.

So we sit in her sweet Mercedes SUV, which makes my new Toyota Camry look cheap, and chat about life and such... Michelle is a really sweet person who, with her husband came to Waynesboro to open up a Karate school 8 years ago. They took some huge financial risks to make the school work and I am sure made a lot of errors along the way, not to mention raising 3 children around it all, so it has been a tough road, but their business is at a point where I would say they have the "financial freedom" we all long for. They have worked very hard to obtain this and obviously not without sacrifice, but they are their own bosses, running a very successful school, doing something they both love doing and have watched it grow from nothing. They have recently revamped the whole place too, and it looks fab.

Then there is my masseuse, Ann Coman, who also has built her massage business up from scratch and is also very successful, (she has built her business up in a small room in the Karate school) and has also came from nothing - literally - her and her husband had $100 in their pockets when they moved to Waynesboro, and things went horribly wrong for them both immediately after arriving (long story)... now, she is a flourishing masseuse, and sometimes my shrink!

All around me there are inspirational people, the Golds, striving hard to make their tax offices work while sacrificing all the time, the Lassens, about to finish their education to fulfill their own employment pursuits - and maybe kill a few more mice along the way! My neighbors, Jess and Sonya who have their own successful painting business, even though Jess does not enjoy job, Cindy and Bob Mutscheller who have their own window cleaning business, just to name a few.

Dave and I would love to have our own business and if the opportunity ever came our way, we would definitely try. Not sure if we are as brave as everyone mentioned above to live in debt doing it, which is probably why we don't MAKE the opportunity happen... but for now, it is just nice to sit back and admire others who put so much on the line everyday and sacrifice so much in order to make their dreams happen, you are all very awe inspiring people who I am blessed to know...

A Miserable Night...

So not to try to top Missy's blog about Apsen and the pencil sharpener, but last night after working out, I came home to find Dave holding an icepack on Abby's head and blood everywhere. It turns out she has been testing out her gymnastics out on the couch downstairs and her Star wars somersault did not quite go according to plan, leaving her cutting her eyebrow open on the coffee table and bruising her nose (she was lucky not to break it). So after careful consideration as to what to do, we opted to take her to the hospital to reduce the scarring seeing as the last time she cut her leg open and we took her to the doctors he said "a butterfly bandaid is fine because the wound is on her leg but if the wound was on her face she should be getting a stitch to reduce the scarring".

So off we go to the hospital. Now, Abby is fine in spirit and certainly not concussed but the blood is still seeping from her wound. After doing all the necessary paperwork/insurance discussion at the hospital whilst Abby is still dripping blood, we are doomed for a miserable 2 hour wait amongst children and adults alike throwing up, groaning and looking deathly pale around us. We got in a constant battle with our kids to stop licking the seats and putting their fingers in mouth!

We finally hear her name called and it is like we have just won the lottery, although we still know we are going to have to wait in the next room for a doctor. Admittedly, the doctor was very nice to Abby when he came in, but by this time his humor was lost on me as I just kept thinking "do you know how long we have had to wait" and "if I were getting paid as much as you were, I would be calling every little girl 'as cute as a button' and 'adorable' too. Only to find he glues her wound back together (and half the creases above her eye) with dermabond. Now I have liquid seal at home which would have done just a good a job, it might have stung a little when initially applied, but that sting is short lived in comparison to the sting of waiting 2 hours amongst some of the sickest people in Augusta County, high medical expenses, and a feeling of of being in an overpaid cattle market.

Needless to say when I asked the doctor if liquid seal would have done the job at home, his answer was "Hmmm, I don't know that product, it might have." Skechy answer to say the least... but it does him no good to promote over the counter medications, when we can pay $100 for his drug companies' Dermabond glue, does it?

Highs and Lows..

So we bought a new car on Wednesday, she is a beautiful Toyota Camry, and I am thrilled. I finally have the keyless entry I have always yearned for instead of having to physically LOCK all 4 doors each time we get in and out... but god is definitely playing a joke on us as now I have to OPEN all 4 doors for the kids to get in, as the doors on the new car are too heavy for the kids to open by themselves!!!!! Anyway, it drives like a dream and lo and behold patience IS a virtue as I have basically held out on my price for my old car (after being low balled by 2 people) and have hopefully got a buyer who is more than willing to pay the price I am asking.... he is due to come tomorrow to seal the deal - watch this space....

So by Thursday we have some bad news from Daves work and then Friday (today) I am helping a frantic neighbor whose dog (that they have had for 10 years) gets run down and I have to be the one to go and tell her and help her stretcher the dog to car so she can take it to the vets. Unfortunately for that little dog, her time was up and she is now resting peacefully with god...

This week has sure been a mix of highs and lows... I am just waiting for the next curveball to be thrown my way...

Sweet Surprises...

So we ate McDonalds tonight as we were all starving and running late and after dinner Sam asked for a go-gurt, his usual dessert. When he reached into the fridge, there was only one go-gurt and I knew there was only one ice-cream pushup in the freezer (their favorite that they are only allowed once or twice a week), so I threw a curveball at them saying "well you have to decide between you who has which", and thought I would just sit back and watch the fireworks fly in the fight for the push up, like my sister and I used to do when we were given such options. When I was a kid, I would have scratched my sisters eyes out to get the ice-cream over the go-gurt, but Sam put me in my place when he calmly said "you can have the push up Abby, I will take the go-gurt". Tears started welling up in my eyes. Sweet little moments of generosity like that from my kids are just so precious. I was a very proud mom tonight.

"Free Knowledge and Free Gas"...

I sometimes believe that god sends down little tests for us to see how we handle them and then evaluates us accordingly...

A prime example of this was when yesterday a friend of mine called to see if there was any way I look after her friends' little boy after school for a couple of hours each day. Of course, I love to help people, (and she was going to pay me money to do it) so just before I was about to say "yes" I thought I had better ask what the child's age was. The answer was 6, "perfect" I thought, Sam's age, they can play together...

Now there is one "child" who shall remain nameless for his sake, that Sam or another child in their class has a problem with every day at school. Yesterday, this "child" hit Sam right above his eye because Sam touched his easter bunny and the "child" thought sam was going to take it. The principal dealt with this one and told me what happened when I went to pick Sam up. The day before that this "child" kicked a little girl and got sent to the principals office and the day before that the same "child" nearly poked Sam's eye out with a pencil...

So going back to the conversation with my friend... after delving further for information about her friends' "child", it turns out to be, yes... none other than our little trouble maker at school. What do I say? I have told my son to stay away from this "child" numerous amounts of times, how can I possibly look after him after school and let them play? Argggh.

Most of the people who know me well, also know that I am a terrible liar and follow the "honesty is the best policy" rule for everything... so I told my friend the truth and apologized for saying "no". She completely understood and filled me in with a little more detail about this "childs" background, which includes being from a broken home and his mother being a drug addict, which would explain why he behaves like he does at school. So now, the "test" from god seems a little clearer, it wasn't a test at all, but merely a way to inform me of what this child is going through, so I can be a little more tolerant of his behavior.

I still have a meeting with Sam's teacher tomorrow though to try to keep Sam away from this "child" as he has to sit at the same table as him at lunch... but at least now I can state my case with a little more compassion for what he must be going through...


The second test happened a couple of weeks ago at a gas station. I pulled up at Fishersville Sheetz to fill my car with gas and realized that it was $0.20 per gallon more expensive than the newly opened Sheetz in W'boro, so I decided to put $8 only in my car just to let me finish running my errands for the day and then I would fill up at the other station.

So I whacked it on the credit card and went inside Sheetz to use the bathroom. As I am sitting on the potty (sorry for the visual) I look down and see a rolled up bunch of dollar bills on the floor. When I have finished my business, I reach down and pick up the notes, looking around me in the bathroom as I do so like someone could be watching me...

It turns out that there is exactly $8 (yes, the same amount that I put in my car) in the bundle... So as I am walking out of Sheetz and back to my car feeling all smug that I just basically got "free gas", I look down at the neatly folded bunch of notes, that look like they have just fallen out of some old lady's pocket, and suddenly a guilt wave passes over me. I must have sat in my car for a good 5 minutes contemplating what to do as I knew that most probably if I took them back into the gas station, the money would end up in some employees' pocket... but at the same time "why should it end up in mine"?

So I decided to take the money back in - after all it isn't about someone else's actions that god was testing me on... it was mine - and handed the wad of notes to the gas attendant, who answered "oh great, thanks very much", like I had just given him a tip or something... but at least I was clear of guilt and who knows, I like to think that some nice little old lady did go back to that gas station and get given her money back... it is a nice thought... as for me? well I think (hope) that I passed that test.

Kids are so creative...

So the thousands of toys in my house are just not enough entertainment for my kids, they have come up with two new games to play which they absolutely love...

The first is called "Monkeys jumping off the bed" which involves just that, my two little monkeys jumping off the bed into one of our arms. we had many giggles playing this last night, so I recommend to all with strong arms, but be quick, as soon as one has jumped, the other will jump, so you almost have to throw the other one to the ground real quick or it could get ugly...

The second is called "tummy ski-ing" and involves sliding on your tummy down carpeted stairs (do not try if you are pregnant!). The kids wanted to do it down the stairs to our basement which has no carpet, I just made it in time to stop them as I knew it would be disastrous!

So next time, your kids say "I'm bored", you will know of two more exciting new games to play...

Car Buying

So we are in the process of buying a new car and it is turning out to be a bit of a headache... We have seen one in H'burg that we like, especially the price but it has been in 2 mild rear end accidents which is putting us off a little. We went to try a similar one out today at McDonaugh Toyota in Staunton and that has the worst thumping noise we have ever heard and when we sat idling in it, we could smell burning!!@!! Got out of that one as fast as we could... but it did look nice... might go back... lol....

I had my car detailed today, so it would be all nice and clean for a prospective buyer, and it came out looking fab... no more 5 year old McDonalds fries lingering under my car seats, the perpetual odor of sour milk has virtually disappeared and my "oil explosion" under the hood is nearly untraceable. So why am I getting rid of it? After looking at all these ringer cars, I am beginning to ask myself that same question...