Friday, February 29, 2008

Redneck

If you've ever vacuumed your entire house using a Sear's shop vac...you might be a redneck.

Hey, at least I can say that I've never tack-welded two trailers together and called it my double-wide. Nope - that would be our ex-neighbors back in Sparty, the black sheep of the neighborhood! I'll never forget one of the first times my parents came out to that house. We had laying chickens at the time and one of them wandered down the road and into their yard. Their oldest son, brought it back over...I swear, he looked like something out of the movie 'Deliverance!' We didn't know whether to oink or thank him for rescuing our chicken. You should have seen the look on my parents' faces! There was always something fun and exciting going on back at that place. (Oh, and yes, I did vacuum my entire house with a shop vac today!)

So, I get a call from an ex-coworker today about a project I'm helping a friend with. We hang up the phone and then I decide I'd better jot down his number for future reference. I scroll through the caller ID, find his #, and begin writing down his info on our phone list which is on the fridge. Gabriella was behind me the whole time, and while I'm writing, I hear her run into the living room and back. Didn't think much of it. I put the pen away, hang up the phone, and turn around, only to find black crayon all over my cupboards (photo was emailed to you, since I have been unable to upload images to my post today). I didn't know whether to laugh or cry...I still don't. I haven't told Charlie yet, but I figure, hey - it will be a nice surprise for him when he gets home!

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Crazy day

Wow - I never get to sit down and do this, let alone get through all my emails in one day! LOL

What a beginning to this week. The vacuum cleaner busted yesterday. Here I am, sucking up cracker crumbs off the floor that my 18 month old, Gabriella, dumped on my 4 month old son's bedroom floor, when the vacuum made this horrendous noise. I look down to see smoke rolling out of it - good Lord! Meanwhile, Aiden is in his crib, fussing, because he wants to be held. Gabriella is screaming at the top of her lungs. Why? I don't know - maybe it was fun, or maybe the smell of burning rubber was freaking her out. I call Charlie at work - he picks up a new belt and replaces it for me last night. I didn't try it out, which I should have. I got the kids settled into their chairs for breakfast this morning and began my morning ritual of vacuuming and dusting while Gabby eats and Aiden plays with his toy bar. I didn't get two square feet of floor clean when - yup, you guessed it! - same horrendous noise, same smoke rolling out of the bottom of that cheap hunk of plastic! (Aren't Dirt Devils supposed to be halfway decent vacuums?) So I call the 800 number and talk to the Dirt Devil people. Guess what? Ha ha! My warranty has expired! Yay! I could have swore I bought that thing based on the fact that it had a 5 year warranty on it - not a 2 year warranty. *sigh* Anyway, the lady was really nice and said she would send out 2 new belts and a new roller, free of charge...they'll be here in 2-3 weeks....AAAAUUUUGGGHHH!!!!!!! We have another vacuum cleaner downstairs in the basement...which has the same problem as the Dirt Devil. I'm freaking out here today! I haven't vacuumed in two days, I have TWO dogs (one of which is a German Shepherd, and let me tell you - the spring shed has begun!), and the broom and dust pan aren't cutting it for me. I want to cry.

I've started hitting our X-Flex (Bow Flex knockoff) lately - it feels good to burn off some of the frustrations of the week...or day...or hour, whatever! I keep telling myself, and any other mommies that I know, that you have to set aside time for yourself or you'll go nuts. Those times are precious to me, and it seems like I get less and less of them lately. I wouldn't trade it for the world, though; I just need to be more constructive in how I lay out my day. Even though, somedays, I don't think it's doing me any good, it is paying off. I was excited to see a difference from last week when I put the ol' seamtress tape to work. Plus, it seems to keep my sanity in check. Now if the weather would clear up so we can get out of the house, too! Cabin fever, cabin fever!!