So I'm really just an ungrateful whiner sometimes...

I got my car back - and the heater works like a charm... this all happened at about 5:30 yesterday.  I had finally showered by then so M.O.T.H. took me over to pick up my car and I was able to do some quick grocery shopping on the way home.  Despite a minor squeak which the back brakes were still making I was happy - hey, I had MOBILITY again!!!  

So what turned me back into a whiner?  A little too much cheerfulness... really - there is such thing as too much.  I stopped at the grocery store nearest the car place - which I rarely go to unless they are having a KILLER sale on cereal.  I had barely gotten to the front door when I was greeted...  and then another nice employee greeted me as I was walking past the .88 cake mixes... and then before I'd made it through fresh produce I was greeted by two more employees...  

Is there something on my face?  why are all these people smiling at me?  I did shower!  isn't there a shelf somewhere you should be stocking?

I'm pretty sure that by the time I left that store I'd been greeted by every single Smith's employee... some twice...  I mean there's nice and then there's stalking...  I shouldn't have to turn to respond to yet another greeting whilst debating the merits of orange peeps instead of the traditional yellow...  and when I was leaving with my bagged groceries the guy who greeted me at the beginning asked if he could help me to my car...

NO!  For crying out loud people!  I seriously am going to have a complex... I checked my fly, up.  I checked my teeth, no spinach.  Hair - ugh, but acceptable...  

So yay to Smith's grocery store for having the friendliest staff in town...  and yay for keeping them all on in this stressful economy because frankly - most of them are just wandering around the store harassing your customers :)

To counteract all of the vim and vinegar - I was given this loverly award...

...and I kid you not this award was given to me because of the great Attitude/Gratitude shown on my blog...  umm...  thanks Janet - and yes, it's too late to take it back now :)

I'm officially supposed to give the award to 10 other folks that are showing great Attitude/Gratitude... I need to go ask around at Smith's and see if all of the employees are bloggers...

If you made it this far into my whiny post you have a great attitude and I have gratitude that you are still my friend - so this award is for you!!!!

(maybe the employee training manual hasn't quite distinguished between stocking and stalking?)

The search for amusement in my universe...

okay - so maybe the universe is funny... I'm just not getting it today...

I mean really...  

I show up yesterday morning for a quick little replacement of some brake pads on my car...  the safety factor was less important than the fact that every time I stopped anywhere everyone would stop and stare.  No, not because I drive a cherry red hot rod - because the SQWEEEAK of my brakes was loud enough to set off alarms.  

and OF COURSE - something called "CV boots" were leaking...  do I know what that means?  No.  I do however know that they cost a lot of money to replace.  

And remember this - when it took forever to get ahold of a bulb for my left turn signal?  well, yeah - of course my brakes and boots are unique as well and have to be ordered in... so I'm now on day 2 without a car and I think I may scream...  of course, that won't accomplish a whole lot besides freaking out my kids!

So this morning - the heating repairman comes to the house and finds that the problem is minor...  visit cost only...       but wait... this other piece looks like it's going to kick it soon.  So I weigh my options - pay now and suck it up... or wait and pay another visit cost...  I had the part replaced now - and the repairman left saying that we'd be good for ten years now!

Ten minutes later...  (okay - closer to 3 hours) I have no heat...  good thing it's a nice sunny day - and I'm waiting for the repairman to return my call...

Speaking of calls... my car still isn't done...  

Is there anything funny about all of this?

Oh - I smell kind of funny... or is is funky...  I keep putting off my shower because the phone might ring, and besides - who wants wet hair in a cold house?

UPDATE:  repairman has given me permission to crank up the heat a little to keep it cookin' - take that Mr. cold blooded :)

and have I mentioned that next week is book fair - and the crazy book fair lady is already tearing out her hair once again?  She was better this time and remembered to proofread the flyers before copying... IF they've been copied since I had to send them up there today with the kids...  (and somehow I feel the need to apologize to all of those people who read that book fair post last fall without realizing that I was the CBFL...)

Major/Minor... whatev...

Our family has a lot of birthdays crammed in with the Holiday Season - the youngest is more familiar with which event is coming next than with the months of the year.  (oh PLEASE let that not be true...)

With all of this fun there's a little bit of forgetfulness about which holidays actually bear celebrating...  so on President's Day Eve we're not COMPLETELY surprised when this happens

Po: "so what's the special breakfast for President's Day?"

Mom: "special, how about Cheerios?"

Po: "it's a holiday Mom!"

Mom: "so... what sounds good..."

Po: "Presidents eat donuts right?"

no - those were not OUR donuts - but M.O.T.H. did break down and pick some up for FHE treats...  apparently presidents DO eat donuts :)

Flashback week...

Quick back-story:  back in the high school years I took early morning seminary (a church class that began at the crazy hour of 5:45 every school day) so I would frequently have a backpack full of hair supplies/make-up and scriptures.  I also had the world's funkiest hair-do...  or maybe the 2nd funkiest...  someone certainly gave me a run for my money....  the point being that I needed some serious goop to keep that hair sticking in all those directions.  The hairspray of choice was Aussie Sprunch Spray - it held all that insanity where I wanted it AND it smelled good.  Turned out to be a good thing that I liked the smell because one morning I grabbed my bag and heard a dripping sound...  ummm... oops, the bottle of hairspray had gotten crushed (probably by a history book...  and even if not I'm going to blame it on that - I hated my history class) and the hairspray had soaked through... not my history book but my scriptures... BIG oops!  I loved these scriptures - they were the cute little size that was useless for scripture chases but dainty and handy as long as you weren't severely nearsighted...  

To this day those scriptures (which are now used by my nearly 7yr old daughter) sport a lovely purple tinge to the corners of the pages and a distinct Sprunch Spray smell...  

So I'm shopping the other day for hairspray - with some very flat and very bland hair - and what do I see on the shelf?  Seriously - do I have to tell you... haven't you been following along?  I didn't know they still made this stuff!

  

So I buy my beloved Sprunch Spray (hey, it was on sale even!) and all week I've been having olfactory flashback when I swing my head to the side.  Needless to say I've been doing a lot of head-swinging...  I might need a chiropractor...

and my daughter... she told me I smell like her scriptures :)  Does that make me more holy?

and the other flashback - I got to have lunch with a college roommate - it's been... well... let's just guess at 17 years and it was a trip!  She was in town for the President's Day Weekend (hoping for some nice warm weather that was sadly lacking) and we had a chance to live it up for probably about 30 minutes longer than her husband was hoping for since he had all 5 of their boys with HIM for the duration!  She's always had the most beautiful eyes but I hardly think it's fair that I have far more wrinkles than she does!  It was a lot of fun - even though she actually LIKES history...

...oh, the memories - some too stupid to blog about :)

(ahh... - now I'm swinging my head side to side and enjoying the wafting Sprunchy smell...  it's cheap aromatherapy!)

they'll just wither and die, but still...

for those of you who didn't get the 2 dozen roses from your significant other (and really, if M.O.T.H. spent $100+ on flowers we'd have some big problems in our house) here you go - you're welcome to print them out and sign the name "Jack" and see what your significant other does when he sees them...

Happy Valentine's Day if you don't hate the holiday - and Happy good luck getting a seat in a restaurant Saturday :)

SOoooo not my fault!

a fellow blogger cued me in to the fact that a special holiday was coming up soon (today actually, silly scheduled posts...) - Blame Someone Else Day once again rears its ugly head!  I've known about a bunch of bizarre holidays (talk like a Pirate and Sneak a Zucchini onto Your Neighbor's Front Porch Day come to mind immediately) and I celebrate them with zeal (zeal meaning of course to ignore them except for the moments when I am trying to be witty). 

So how is it I missed this one?  It's probably your fault.  or maybe your hairdresser's dog's cousin's neighbor's mother's first boyfriend's grown daughter's pedicurist's...  I don't care, as long as it isn't MY fault.  

I'd list all the things that weren't my fault today - but since that list is REALLY long, and probably extremely tedious - just imagine the contents of your life (laundry, dishes, errands...) and know that I'm not to blame for any of it.

Who am I blaming?  ummm... I'm going with Angelina Jolie... no, not because I actually care about her  puffy lipped face or her homewrecker tattooed self - I just figured I had to lay the blame somewhere.  She can blame me for all her problems if she likes too - I'm nothing but fair!  (now when somebody Googles Angelina Jolie hoping for skimpy pictures they're going to end up here...  maybe they'll stay and see the error of their ways?)

This is perfect - because tomorrow is also known as "suck it up - let it go and enjoy your significant other day..."

P.S. If today's post isn't the best you've EVER read - it's Barbaloot's fault - I'll let Angelina off the hook for that one :)  Thanks for the info Barb!

Dominant Genes

Do my kids have any hope for a normal life?  

I took biology - even got an A - so I sort of "get" the whole dominant/recessive gene thing - so why is it that ManOfTheHouse and I are determined to pass on our worst traits??

Teeth:

T - straight!  The Orthodontist begrudgingly named me the first perfect bite he'd ever seen :)

Q - braces twice...  Twice?

The Kids:  Ugh, this is costing us a fortune!

Teeth (again):

T - rotten, my cavities get cavities...  and yes, I DO floss and brush (obsessively

Q - healthy teeth - hardly a cavity to be seen

The Kids:  again - a small fortune goes into repairing their teeth before we put braces on them.

Height:

T - I'm 4'11" - 'nuff said.

Q - 6' even...

The Kids:  I'll be apologizing for this one for years I'm sure...  no basketball players here!

Weight:

T - the genes are not good on this one - I can maintain if I constantly diet.

Q - some of the brothers can't swim because they don't have enough body fat.

The Kids:  1/2 and 1/2 - but don't tell them that... 

Asthma:

T - BIG family history - small problem myself

Q - what, you can't climb this mountain without pausing?

The Kids:  minor issues - what, croup isn't for teenagers?

Temperament:

T - AAAAAAaaaaaack - I don't want to talk about it.

Q - cool as a cucumber

The Kids:  hmmm... we do a lot of time-out around here... for me AND the kids... 

Eyes:

T - UGH - been wearing glasses/contacts since age 12

Q - not quite so ugh... glasses for driving at about 30...  

The Kids:  we're waiting on this verdict.

We won't even get started on the whole medical history...

We COULD have had the perfect kids - His height, metabolism and health - but with my straight teeth...  and my cute nose and ears :)  Good thing I think the kids are perfect just as they are... nothing a little therapy and a lot of orthodonture won't cure!