I HATE

I passionately hate littering. How hard is it to toss something in a trash container. Even if one isn't available immediately, one is not too far off in this disposable society. Today I was looking out my front window and saw Jake's girlfriend toss her cigarette out her car window. I already chewed him out three days ago, that the street in front of my house is full of cigarette butts and now I know why. She came in and fixed macaroni and cheese---another sore point---she eats a ton---more than my three kids combined---she needs to eat at her own damn house---but I am letting that slip and handed them a trash bag to clean the street up and then I am telling them they can't hang out here.

I also hate Ara being sick. All the previous week he's been in a fog and acting confused and finally by the end of the week he is sick. And GRUMPY. so much so that Andi and I left him and went out to dinner by ourselves on Friday night rather that get barraged with obscenities. He can't hear anything and keeps saying 'huh', well not saying but hollering. He better not lose his hearing when he gets old because I don't know if I can handle that. He's not good at picking up body language so verbal is all I got with him.....

GF Rant

Well I bit the bullet and let my inner grouch show today. Earlier this week, I found out that my son's gf was over when I wasn't home. (and no I'm not saying who). I am struggling to find something, anything to like about this girl. Today, I am working from home and she shows up at 11:00 (hope I didn't give away which son, now). They had their smokes (another grievance) and then came inside to watch TV...I'm trying to do my actual paid work at the kitchen table and they're gonna watch movies! I told them I didn't want them hanging out here so they made plans to leave and then started to walk upstairs! IDIOTS. What part of don't hang out here do you not understand. So I called him back in to the kitchen, and told him he knew he was not allowed to have girls in his bedroom. He gave me the duh look so I also added that I don't want her in my house at all. She stomped out at he slumped out to her car and sped off. I am really tired of the sneaky rule breaking. It's not that I don't want him to have a gf, I would just prefer he have one that inspires him to be a better person. Since dating her his bank account and goals have dwindled. I want to see major improvement. Most of the time, I try to be encouraging and supportive, but today I don't have the energy. gray skies go away.

Goodreads

I've just signed up with the largest social network for readers in the world, Goodreads. I am
trying to learn the ropes with navigating the site and get my bookshelves all lined up. Today I am working on Books I've read to or with the kids. I'm sure they don't remember me sitting in the doorway of their rooms while they were tucked in their warm beds and reading every night when we lived in Clarksville, but I remember. And then I read with Andi after the boys hit middle school.
Anyway, I need more friends on Goodreads, if you decide to sign up, please friend me so we can share good reads. I've already read 4 books and am on my 5th and 6th this month.
http://www.goodreads.com/

Thanks Robyn for leading me to this! :)

We got our microwave over the weekend and the new vacuum last night. I love them both...especially since they are free. Microwave was combined Christmas money (thanks everyone) and the vacuum was paid for from cashing in our wachovia rewards points (the gotta spend money to make money logic). We lucked out because the one we got came with a $20 gift card...more free stuff!
I had Jake move my computer back to the dining room today. I hated having it in the bedroom. I wish I had a big open kitchen with a built in office area...maybe in the next house.
I'm itching to buy some new cookbooks...Last week I checked out a couple at the library and I always check the friends of the library that sells used books for $.50 - $1.00 for cookbooks. But last week I only had $1.00 on me and Ara wanted a CD he found. So I put my Taste of Home cookbook back and got him his CD.
We are still attempting P90X. We don't last the whole 90 minutes, but commit to 30 minutes. Last week we did three nights, this week's goal is 4 nights. Baby steps. Exercising ALWAYS makes me hungry. And this week I'm on a kit kat kick. I should be banned from 7Eleven, at least temporarily.

Cold Rooms and Warm Hearts

Farmers Almanac predicted a harsh winter. We got one of those electric oil filled radiators to take the chill off the living room. It works okay, but I think I have to come to terms that I live in a house that is always going to be too cold downstairs.
Cole's pediatric cardiology appointment went well. He's perfectly fine with no heart problems. He does have a heart murmur, but it is not caused from any defects or holes. It's a vibratory heart murmur and most likely is caused from him being so slim. His EKG reading was abnormal again, but the echo cardiogram ruled out any problems and instead discovered that his heart is slightly tilted. So that abnormal EKG will always exist and is normal for him. He is almost recovered from having mono, but is grouchy as all get out. He has a lot of make-up work since this started around 4Nov and has lasted until the first week of Jan. He's working his butt off to get it all done before the end of the semester this month.

Now Reading...

I charged my Nook and loaded a gift card that a friend got me for Christmas. Note: I love Barnes and Noble gift cards. Two of the most recent reads are Water for Elephants by Sarah Gruen and The Glass Castle by Jeanette WallsWater for Elephants is also being released as a film sometime this year. I hope they did the book justice and I'm not disappointed.

I also read Strange Bedpersons by Jennifer Cruise. The characters reminded me an awful lot of the sitcom Dharma & Greg from the late 90's. It was OK, but I've read better.

Now I am reading The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller. I found it when I was looking on the shelf to see if the local library had anything else by Jeanette Walls. I remember the movie so I though I'd read the book and the epilogue A Thousand Country Roads. And then for fun I got some more Sophie Kinsella books-- The Undomestic Goddess, and Shopaholic take Manhattan.

Up and Coming Attractions

I don't think I mentioned the hideous floor length pajamas Ara got me from Land's End. Or that we paid off one of our credit cards and had a cash only Christmas this year. Long story short...I returned the PJ's to Land's End, but he had used the credit card that we paid off (so I wouldn't see the purchase) and the return was credited to that card. So now we have a negative $40 balance. Then yesterday we got a $10 off offer at Best Buy if we use that credit card, and my boss gave Ara a $50 gift card to Best Buy. So our convoluted plan is to purchase an over the stove microwave from Best Buy with our gift card and credit card and use the Christmas cash we got as gifts to pay off the credit card. Now were hoping Best Buy will have a great deal on microwaves within the next month.
We also get rewards points every time we use our debit card as a credit card. We checked our balance and had enough points to get a $200 gift card to Target....so we sent off for that. Hopefully it will show up before the 29th because Target has the Shark Navigator vacuum on sale for $179 with a $20 gift card back. I plan on using the leftover gift card money and the $20 one to buy a cool touch fry daddy. And hoping that if the deep fryer goes on sale that I could get an electric tea kettle too! I know. Crazy.