MY KIDS THINK I'M STUPID - WARNING WARNING - RANT FORTHCOMING

When I make a threat my kids don't believe that I will follow through with it. I guess because they usually straighten up just in time to avoid the worst.  But this time something seems different.  I don't think  they believe that I have arranged to have their phones turned off on Friday unless I cancel the order. All they have to do is keep up with their chores and catch up on the ones they are behind on.

They have until Friday and I told them about it on Monday and they have done nothing but sit on their butts and play on the computer. This is going to get fun. I will also be disconnecting wireless internet and taking the modem for myself.

It seems that I have one child who thinks she is 18 already and paying rent so she doesn't have to help out with daily tasks around the house. Tsk Tsk Tsk.  She is still under 18 and pays absolutely no rent so she helps out whether she wants to or not. So I guess on Friday she will lose her communication device to the outside world. No skin off my back, but maybe she will learn a lesson - or maybe not. Only time will tell. (Oh and the phone still has to be paid for even if service is suspended)

And it seems like I have another child who thinks she only has to help out if everyone else does their share.  I don't care if the other kids don't do their job as long as long as she does hers she will be fine. But if everyone isn't all working at the same time she has a freak fit. Frankly, I'm so tired of all this crap.  Do the job you were assigned or asked to do and be done with it.  Everybody has different schedules you don't have to all work at the same time!!!!

The sad part is, it's not that much work - some dishes, some laundry and some simple pick up divided between 5-6 people. 1/2 an hour per day if there are no chores to catch up on. And of course there is their bathroom. I can't even go in there without gagging so I insist they clean it themselves.  If they want to be pigs, they are old enough to deal with it!

We do have the little ones try to help a bit with general pick up after all they are part of the mess making crew. But you know they are only 5 and 6 so if I feel like letting them play outside rather than  spend ten minutes picking up then that is my prerogative.  I won't be so lenient when they are older but they will still have plenty of opportunity to be kids.  And what pisses me off the most, and I don't think the older ones realize I know this, is that they have slowly tried to turn their chores over to the little ones.  I'm sorry 5 and 6 are way too young to have that responsibility so I won't put up with it.  EVERYBODY in this house has their responsibilities and they damn sight better do it and not try to pawn it off on someone else.  And I'm sorry, if you constantly get the baby to want you so you can get out of chores, don't complain when she wants your attention all the damn time.  You need to live with it!!! You create a monster and it becomes your lover, your best friend, your responsibility....PERIOD. END OF STORY!

Until Next Time...It is natural for kids to think their parents are stupid, but that doesn't mean that we as parents can't teach them how it really is. I've been alive almost 43 years, you've been alive under 20, you do the math.

HEALTH UPDATE - Feeling good physically but still can't do the diet because of the problem with my throat.  Have to pop way too many pills and have a hard time eating sometimes.  Sigh....I'll get there someday.

CLEANING MY HOUSE AND OTHER RANDOM RAMBLINGS

So, we've been trying to get the house done for guests coming up here in about twelve days.  I don't know what the hell we've been working on, but there is only one room that I consider sufficiently clean and that is my bathroom. It looks so good, you could eat off the floors (okay, maybe not - ICK, but you all know I like using those cute little sayings that in all actuality make no flippin sense)

My kitchen is trashed, there is stuff everywhere like laundry and toys and an old Christmas tree. (yes, the laundry is being dumped in a tub in the kitchen instead of being folded. Don't ask, because I have no clue.  You could always call my laundry folders if you are super curious though) And unfortunately our floors, that we are re doing, aren't even done yet. The Christmas tree box needs to go somewhere, but we aren't sure where yet.  It started off as a thin, nicely packaged box and now looks like my muffin top. (Sorry I know, ICK but after five kids, there isn't much about the human body that I'm shy about anymore)

My living room is trashed too, but with such a small house, and no playroom I don't think I will ever really like how my living room looks. It is the room that is cleaned 4-5 times a day and still, when I wake up in the morning,  it is like nightmare walking out there. Sometimes I want to cry (well, I guess not really, but I do feel like screaming sometimes).  I think that will be the last room we do the deep cleaning in too, because it just won't last.

My bedroom is halfway done, which is a good thing, but our timeline was to have it done today.  NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! You see, my room is storage for the house. We have a closet the size of a postage stamp (okay, maybe 1/2 a postage stamp) so our stuff is stored in boxes and storage tubs in the bedroom. They must all be contained and stacked neatly. ( I sometimes wonder if anyone but me knows how to do that though. I am really trying to remember if I took a class like that in college - ORGANIZING A SMALL HOUSE 101?)

The kids rooms should be quick, most of it is just toys and clothes, but keeping them clean until after guests leave will be the hard part. Our next big thing is the kids' bathroom.  I trusted them to keep it clean by teaching them how (and having two older kids who are allowed to use strong cleaners) but I ventured in there one day and....Can I have my own house condemned?  Well anyway, let's just say they have their work cut out for them.  I know they can do it, lets just hope they do.  All I can say is I will now be doing weekly inspections no matter how hard it is for me to maneuver down their hallway (our dressers are in the hall so they have more play room in their rooms, but it makes for a relatively narrow walkway, and with my hips....) And I'm sure I will be in there, sitting in a high backed support chair, with a pumice stone in one hand and a magic eraser in the other for as much as I can handle.

My biggest problem is that I used to be the one to handle most of the big cleanings like this.  But now I just can't do it.  I can do bits and pieces and help out here and there, but I just can't get busy and bust this out in two days like I used to. (If anyone can cure my hips and my sinuses I would appreciate it and then I could have this place spotless in no time at all.)  This is one of those times I post about occasionally, where I feel very inadequate because of my limitations, but I'm not gonna dwell on that so I'm just going to say -

Until Next Time...I don't have anything profound to say today so I will just say that I have enjoyed having you all here for the last 6 months (our anniversary was on the fourth!) and I hope to see you all here for the next six months and longer. :D

 

LIFE LESSONS - FOR MY CHILDREN, FOR EVERYONE

Lately, I have been in a lot of pain and pretty much feeling more useless than normal.  I feel like I have been holed up in a little cocoon more than usual lately. So when I am pretty much home bound, what do you think my favorite part of the day is? Any guesses?  My favorite parts of the day are after everyone is safely at school and it is just Mr. Crazy, Little Butt and myself.

 If Mr. Crazy hasn't had a run in with one of his bossy older sisters yet that morning he is an absolute angel and when he isn't playing games on the computer, playing fighting games in real life or playing with one of his multitude of toys, he will sit by me and snuggle with me.  Sometimes he even begs me to let him use my computer so he can sit by me while I write.  He is such a good kid....until others come home and then he can turn into the devil (we figure, he has a new audience to get attention from so he works it, just not in a positive way.  He knows that if he tries to cuddle them like he does me they will shoo him away but if he acts up they give him exactly what he wants - attention.) 

Little Butt is a complete snuggle bug. She likes to sit with me and play games on the Kindle Fire or listen to music on YouTube. And best of all she likes to rock - a - bye in the rocking chair.  That is her favorite thing to do ever. And she will only do it with me if her oldest sister isn't home. (Hey, it's not my fault she started calling Little Butt up on her lap to avoid doing chores and now she is stuck with a mini shaddow who has turned into a typical two year old screamer if she doesn't get what she wants - I know it's mean to say, but I told her so...You can't complain about something your brought on yourself)

So what is my least favorite part of the day?  When all of the kids are here and the fighting and complaining starts.  OMG it drives me nuts.  They fight over the stupidest stuff.  God forbid one of them has slightly more chores than the other that day or gets slightly more food on their plate at dinner.  And the littler ones like to fight about personal space issues.  So I have come up with a list of stuff that my kids need to learn so we can all live in peace together and enjoy each other more when live goes to shit. (And they are good lessons for the future too.  You can't live life complaining, whining, waiting on others or being in control at all times, or your life is going to be awful.)

1. Do not complain about stuff your bring on yourself.  If something you do has consequences  live with it and learn to deal with it. If you created a monster, you need to work on taming it, not making it worse because it annoys you.

2. Life is not fair, not always even.  If you did more chores for a few years, that does not mean that for the next ten the others have to do more than you! It all evens out in the end and all you have to do is what your parents tell you to do and we will all be fine. (Kind of insulting that they would think I would favor one over the other. :/)

3. Worry about yourself! Just because you are

working on a project/homework/chore does not mean the other person has to do it too, at the same time.  They will get theirs done or the will get into trouble. Worry about getting your own stuff done whether the other person is working or not.  

4. You don't have to be in control all of the time. You are children, enjoy it.  Do not always think you have to be in charge of everything because eventually someone is going to get sick of it and call you on it. People don't like to be dominated all the time. If you try to take over someones life, they are going to fight back eventually and the relationship is going to suffer greatly.

So what brought this line of thought on?  With all of the bad stuff going on lately - Boston, West, TX, N. Korea etc., I feel the need to find a way to make our lives better so we can enjoy the good times more and deal with the bad times easier when they come.  We never know when a day will be our last or when someone we love will see their last day, and regrets are really hard to live with.

Until Next Time... Hold your loved ones tight and don't make life so difficult. Enjoy your time together because you don't have forever. <3 Our hearts go out to those affected by the tragedies in Massachusetts and Texas.

STRUGGLES WITH IMPERFECTION

So, over the last week I've been struggling with something that i just had to share as I think a lot of people struggle with it. IMPERFECTION.  I have learned to live with it in my house, with physical limitations and five kids there is no way I am ever going to keep my house perfect. I get it. I really do.  I've accepted it (for the most part). There will always be a dish not washed, clothes not washed/folded, toys not put away and dirt tracked through the house. (Unless of course I hire a maid to live in and follow the kids around with her cleaning supplies. Hmmm, wish I could afford that!)

My most recent struggle with imperfection came last week with my book Virgin Voyage. I finally got down to doing more than just skimming and reading my favorite parts. I was absolutely mortified to see that somehow my group of five people missed 15 mistakes in the Proof (me being one of them :/).  Things like know instead of known, child instead of children, improper indents that were made while formatting the book for publication, stray punctuation, improper punctuation.  Really really mortified!!!  (Not to mention the formatting issues of my Kindle copy that DID NOT show up on the preview I did before publication)

I had people tell me that I should just forget it and move on 15 mistakes in 312 pages wasn't bad. I had them tell me to just apologize and move on.  I tried, I really did. But I just couldn't ignore it or move on.  It haunted me, awake and asleep.  I had something that I loved so much, that was flawed, out and about and people were reading it.  After a few days, I just couldn't take it anymore I had to do something about it.  So I did.

I had been told that you couldn't re submit it once published but I did some research and found out that in fact you could. So this weekend I re uploaded my work for both the paperback and kindle versions. (I had a perfect copy already so I'm thinking that I uploaded the wrong copy or they used one of the previous copies I had uploaded when trying to make formatting perfect) I learned that if you upload a version and it needs corrections, to completely close out your browser and reopen it before uploading a new copy. So, anyway, I uploaded and republished my book without mistakes.  The preview of the Kindle showed it being perfect so if I notice on the actual Kindle that it isn't i'm going to be one upset mama. I ok'd the proof of the book this morning and am very happy with how it turned out.

I can not tell you how much better I feel now that I know that the product out there is as close to perfect as I could get it. A huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.  Much of the depression I had been feeling is gone. (read my blog from Friday about my Depression). It is amazing how something can bother you so much, but when you really sit down and think about it, the solution is easy.  Do whatever you have in your power to fix it. My book was off the market for awhile and that could have hurt sales (haha not really with me, because no one has reviewed my book yet so I don't have an abundance of sales although my free weekend was amazing!) and it was a lot of work to make sure everything was perfect.  But the peace of mind I now have is indescribable. I wouldn't change it for the world.  I don't feel like a pretender anymore, I feel like a real author!!!

Until Next Time...If you want something to be perfect, then do whatever you have to do to make it that way, whether it be the first time or the tenth.  If you are not satisfied, try try try again until it is. Don't settle for second best just because it is easier!

SPRING FEVER AND ME!!!

Spring fever doesn't just hit school kids. Guess how I know that?  Yep, it has hit me so hard  I can't even function.  Of course it doesn't help me that my hips are driving me up a wall lately and I think I am coming down with something. Sore, dry throat, earache, stuffy hurting head.  Blah!

I am so excited about the next installment of my Sunset Destiny Romance series but I can't seem to bring myself to work on it much.  I assumed it was because of my hips and not being able to sit comfortably anywhere in the house to type. But then I started thinking about it.  I think I have spring fever.  Even as a school kid I never got it this early.  But then again as a school kid, our spring break was never the first week of March. :/

We had a few days of sixty degree weather and I must say it was heaven! Yeah yeah I know, sixty isn't too warm for most people, but for us here in Centeral Wyoming, that's bikini weather! It was perfect.  We'd had spring break and temps in the 50's and 60's spring must be here so the brain kicks in with spring fever.  And then what happens? I woke up to three inches of snow this morning and more is expected throughout the next few days.  Winter is back! So maybe my spring fever will go back into hibernation?   Yeah, probably not.  Once I get it I am stuck with it. (at least it's not a forever thing right?)

So what does that mean for my novel?  I'm not sure yet.  Maybe when this bug goes away and I'm not achy and stuffy and tired and blah I will feel comfortable enough to sit at the table and type again and I will only have to worry about keeping my mind on track and my novel will complete itself (seemingly not really). Or maybe once I feel better I will still be unable to get my butt up off the couch to head to the table and work. And maybe I will be able to write, but still not be able to figure out how to best structure my complicated  sentences. (Which makes for even more complicated editing).

For some reason I don't see this bout of Spring fever getting any better. And the main reason why is that we are all looking forward to The Senior's graduation. [SCHOOL IS ALMOST OVER!!!] How in the heck can I concentrate when my daughter is going through one of the most stressful, exciting, wonderful times of her life!  And then I have to prepare for the relatives that will invade in May.  That will be much more exciting than concentrating on sentence structure and Grammar. (Although it won't be as exciting as concentrating on my story line. so hmmmm....)

As it is, I have started to let the kids slack on chores and they got so used to it that I had to get tough again. Hopefully my house will shape up but I somehow doubt it will, at least before guests start to arrive.  But that's okay, it's spring right?

I've met people who don't suffer from spring fever and I envy them.  I always have, I probably always will.  I crave watching my kids go outside to play or being able to sleep in, or do whatever they want during the day.  The teachers that pile on the homework start to piss me off this time of year and I know it's wrong to be mad, but come on people it's spring, the weather is changing (in most places at least) It's time to relax and have some fun! Okay, so I know the work still needs to be done, but I DON'T WANNA!!!! I have spring fever after all ;) And all I want to do is play with my new Kindle Fire (a very generous gift) and relax to recover from scraping windows all winter!

Until Next Time...If you get spring fever, enjoy it! But don't let it take over your life because eventually you will HAVE TO get back to work!!!!

SPRING BREAK...FUN AT HOME!!!

Well, spring break is over and I am still alive, as are all of the children and the husband too!  We actually had a nice break.  We have a new living room floor and will soon have a new kitchen one too.  We have new furniture that we got at a great deal.  A couch, love seat, and rocking chair for six hundred dollars.  I'll tell you right now, I don't know what I will do without tax refunds once the kids are gone and we don't get much.  This year we got enough to do our floors, replace our stained tattered furniture, pay off some debt and publish my books.

NEW LIVING ROOM FLOOR (AND LITTLE BUTT)

What was the funnest part of our little vacation?  Just doing nothing too important!  I didn't make the kids do too many chore projects (laundry is still behind but we'll catch up...eventually). About 3/4 of the way through we decided that maybe we shouldn't put off the flooring or furniture any longer so the last few days were really busy but the rest of the time included lots of x box time,  reading time, social networking time.  It was really fun!

The weather was great most days so the little ones got to go outside and play which was a life saver for us.  Cabin fever can kiss my a**! This is not to say that there still aren't some lingering effects. The kids fought like crazy.  The Senior and The Freshman, Miss Crazy and Mr. Insane, Mr Insane and Little Butt.  Those are the times when I am tempted to have that dungeon built under our home...but then they start getting along again and we start to have fun. There were lots of family dinners (lunches and breakfasts too)  And The Shooter took the time to have a father/child date with each of the kids.  Doesn't happen often with his work schedule, that's for sure!

I published my two books and have done a lot of social networking. I see words like twitter, linkedin, facebook, etc. floating before my eyes while I sleep now. :/  But the kids are back in school.  The Shooter is back at work and as soon as I am done typing up this blog I will be starting work on book 2 of the Sunset Destiny Romance series.  I am excited to get back to work, but I wish spring break was just another week long!

THE FRESHMAN AND MISS CRAZY ON THE NEW LOVE SEAT

I didn't get much chance to sleep in because I had so much networking to do and we had so much work the last couple of days (floor and furniture) but that's okay because when I got home from dropping Miss Crazy off at school this morning. I laid back down and fell back to sleep for a bit and then the shooter took me out for breakfast.  So all is now good with the world...except...I have to drive daily again...blech  and I have to do it in the snow today.  The forecast said high forties, partly cloudy and chance of rain showers in the afternoon.  By nine o'clock it was snowing like crazy.  We aren't supposed to get much, but it was totally not what we'd been expecting.  I had shorts picked out for Little Butt to wear around the house and I think The Senior was planning on wearing a dress. So, the winter coats came back out and we are eagerly looking forward to the sixty degree weather coming up later in the week.  After writing all of this, I think the key word for this last week was....RELAXING.  I finally had a chance to relax a bit.  Not totally because after all, I am a mom, but some.  That's fine by me!  I enjoyed it thoroughly!!!

Until next time...Sometimes breaks aren't for seeing how much fun you can get into a short period. Once in a while when you get that break, just enjoy it.  Just relax and be grateful that you aren't super busy for once. <3

NOTHING TO WRITE ABOUT...EXCEPT...

I have no clue what to write about so I just opened up a post and started typing.  It isn't that I am not inspired today, because I have had a wonderful day and am inspired by a lot.  I have received the electronic proof of my book and am waiting for the hard copy to get here.  I have found things I didn't like and have made the changes that are needed. If I like the cover and other physical aspects of the book I will be publishing sometime in the next week.  How exciting is that! And quite inspiring.

I MIGHT GIVE A HINT (IN PICTURES) ABOUT MY UPCOMING ROMANCE NOVEL AT THE END OF THIS POST

My kids are being, well, my kids.  They aren't doing anything out of the ordinary - good or bad.  They are just being themselves.  You know, The Senior and Freshman are fighting all the damn time as usual and I'm about ready to kick them both to the curb (okay not really, but it makes me feel better when I actually use the words.) Miss Crazy is suffering from Middle child syndrome, which she has been for awhile and we are doing what we can to ease it. (see child attached to my side whenever possible)  Mr. Insane is being, um, insane?  He is loud (extraordinarily so) He loves all things weapons, fighting and superheroes and for once I wish I didn't have to listen to him do weapon sound effects! (I want to banish him to his room until he is ready for college, but that just wouldn't be nice.) And Miss Little Butt is driving me up a wall with her attitude (Jeez older girls, I wonder where she got that from! Knock it off or I'll kick you to the curb! Dang it felt even better to say that a second time) And do you know what the worst part of her attitude is now?  It is the speech.  That girl can talk back now!!! The moment all parents dread.  I am spending most of my time these days being disciplinarian. (Okay, most of my time is spent working on the novel, but the rest of it is spent disciplining my kids so maybe, someday, they will grow up to be civilized adults)

What inspired me to write the paragraph about my brats wonderful darling children?  Well you see, Spring break starts at 3:45 tomorrow and I am going to have to be with them all day every day for a week (I won't mention that my wonderful husband will be on vacation and home the whole time too -- oops, I just did!) All I can say is that the weather better be nice enough for them to go outside sometimes or I'm gonna flip my Shiz. Really, try being locked in the house with six other people for a week because you can't afford to go anywhere to get away. We have our spring break so early here that we usually still have snow on the ground and freezing temperatures.  Who the hell ever thought of that?  NCSD has their heads so far up their hineys...but that is another story for another day.

Believe me, In the end I won't complain too much (more) because I will have help at home and I won't have to get my aching hips in and out of the car to chauffeur them to or from school. But seriously, if they fight all. the. damn. time. I am going to lock them myself in a dungeon and they  I will not be seen until they are old enough to move out and get married (was thinking college, but then they tend to come back too often)

Wish me luck folks!  This next week will be a true test of my endurance (and sanity)

Until next time...During spring break, winter break, summer break etc.  Remember you love your kids and hopefully you will survive, and if you don't, at least you will get a nice, happy, quiet place to be :p

Aspects, themes and ideas about the novel! :)

THE MONSTER IN THE DRYER

Have I told you how much I hate having to get up at 4 am to take the husband to work? Wait, what? Oh yeah, that was the blog from Wednesday. Let us talk about missing household items instead then.

Every household has something that goes missing. All. The. Time. (At least I hope so, because if not, that means we are the most unorganized group of Yahoos on the planet.) In our house the main thing that goes missing are hair brushes.  At this point in time we have 5 and today I can not find even one of them. The older two kids are already at school and that means they brushed their hair with their hands instead of waking me up to do a mass search of the house. Damn kids - now everyone is going to think I don't make my kids brush their hair :/

So how do brushes go missing so easily?  My kids, although I have been trying to train them for years, will not EVER put anything back where it goes when they are done. God forbid they have to stop reading, watching TV, or playing on the computer to do something as easy as putting a brush on a bathroom counter. I don't think they realize that their chore time would also be cut in half if they would just put stuff up as they go.  99 percent of their chores are putting stuff away that was left out through the day. I used to try to lead by example, but sometimes I just can't when my hips start hurting and I have to sit down. So now I am all about the old saying, 'do as I say, not as I do'.

I hope someday that it will all click with them and they will understand. (Maybe when they have their own messy house to clean and no one to help them???) I think it did with me so maybe it is just a normal right of passage. I guess we shall see. The Senior is 17 and will probably be moving out in two years to head down state for the last two years of college. I've done my part and now it is up to her to remember what I taught her.

Now, the second biggest thing that goes missing in our house - Pens. And the reason?  Just read above and insert pens where it says hairbrushes.  The third biggest thing that goes missing in our house - socks.  That one I can't blame on the kids though.  I have no clue where those things go.  I've contemplated aliens, a sock eating monster that lives in my dryer, a black hole in the laundry room...but then again, maybe it is the kids' fault.  Maybe they throw them away so they have less laundry to do. Hmmmm now that's an idea. But nah, I could always refuse to buy them birthday and Christmas presents to pay for new socks so I think I'm going with the sock eating monster living in my dryer.



Until next time...Don't blame your kids for everything that goes wrong in your house (although it is kinda fun)  There are just times when you have to blame the monsters that live in appliances.