So very tired.

So, we went camping this weekend. Me and Doug and all three munchkins. I was nervous about things going crappily, and being blamed for any number of things that could go wrong. Not because I really think Doug is like that, but because it's what I'm used to.

We got out of town late because i read my court order wrong and couldn't pick up the girls til 6 instead of 5.

Cady peed her pants on the way down there - just didn't quite make it to the toilet because she didn't tell anyone she needed to pee until it was too late to get to an exit. So... very closely monitored liquid intake for her after that.

We got to the site and set up everything in the dark. Madison was VERY helpful even though it was 1130. She's a champ.

Middle of the night, mine and Doug's mattress goes kaput. So, I pulled a 'bad mommy!' and moved the girls off of theirs and we slept on it the rest of the night.

We went to Target in the morning, bought a new air mattress, and went back to the campsite. I cleaned up the tent and Doug loaded up the car for a trip to the beach and cook-out/picnic while we were there.

Finally made it over to the beach, and got the kids out of the car and it started pouring. Pouring, I tell you. Doug barely got the top up on the convertible fast enough to keep it dry.

We waited that one out.

Got in the water - Twain, the boy who will NOT be bathed without screaming bloody murder LOVES the lake apparently. So that was good. And then... it started pouring again. We ran for the shelter house and gave up. Back to the campsite.

Turns out, it stays a LOT dryer in the tent if you put the rainfly on it. But, of course, I didn't. Everything inside was soaked. Everything that is, except our clothes, thank goodness. So... I put up the clothesline, dragged out the mattresses, and waited for things to dry. Oh. And put the fly on the tent.

Couple of hours later, we went back to the beach and the kids played in the water for an hour or so. That was nice. Doug and I sat on the beach reading and talking while the kids splashed and played.

When we got back, I cleaned up the tent again and Doug went after firewood. That mission was accomplished quite nicely and we started the fire up. I made meatloaf stuffed vidalias in the coals and potatoes/onions on top the fire. FABULOUS food. Seriously. The onions didn't even taste like onions anymore - they were just sweet and yummy.

The food was done cooking about the time it started raining again. Yay. So we sat in the tent and I read and Madison read and Cady tried to sleep and Sammy slept and Doug and I ate dinner.

The tent leaks. Not badly, but still. It's more that the rain fly leaks. So it just drips into the tent. Constantly. Drips add up. By morning, Madison was sleeping in a puddle and Cady was sleeping with Doug and I.

Madison was also sleeping on a flat mattress. So apparently the kids need a new mattress now too. Fahbulous.

We left early. LOL Big surprise, huh?

On the way home, we toured the cave at the state park. It was AWESOME. You have to carry your own light because there's no electricity in the cave. Just gorgeous. Really. Almost made up for getting rained on AGAIN while hiking around waiting for the tour to start. Almost. Heh.

But the point of all of this isn't that it was a miserable weekend, because honestly, it wasn't. It was wetter than I'd like. And full of mishaps. But it was a nice weekend. Doug is a GREAT sport. He picked on me a bit, but it was good natured and he didn't blame me for any of it. Just took it in stride and helped me get things done and make things ok.

I love that man. I really do.

The kids had a nearly sugar free weekend - the only sugar consumed was a cookie at subway on the way down there and marshmallows Sat night. And there wasn't ONE SINGLE melt-down. Not one. They listened pretty well, they got along, they didn't get all hyper and crazy. It was wonderful. Sure doesn't make me want to add sugar back into their diets anytime soon. Not. At. All.

Things are becoming clear to me...

My kids are out of school as of Thursday and I was looking over their report cards last night. A's and B's of course and they both need to work on organizational skills and using time wisely. No great surprise there, as their mother is the queen of procrastinate and then hurry and get it done... though I've gotten better about that lately, and I totally blame my mom for it.

See, growing up, mom never made us clean our rooms until they were making her so crazy she'd flip out and scream at us to DO IT NOW OR ELSE! Actually, she was like that with all behavior. And so, we (and by we, I mean I) grew up thinking that was the way it was. You put things off until they can't be put off any longer, and then you bust ass to get 'em done. Nevermind the amount of stress that induces.

And yet... I find myself falling into that same pattern with the girls. So I'm making a concerted effort to stop it. We've instituted a couple of things that I sincerely hope we can keep up with until they're habits.

1. 15 minutes of working in their bedroom every night. The goal isn't a clean room, it's developing the habit of picking things up and putting them away. I don't care if I go in there at the end of 15 and it's not clean... as long as they've been actively working in there for 15 minutes. Yes, eventually the room will be clean and they won't be able to spend 15 minutes working, but in the mean time, they're developing a good habit.

2. I'll spend the same 15 minutes every night working on a room in the house. Doesn't matter which room and doesn't matter if I get it completely clean in that 15 mintues.

3. I'll also make sure one room in the house is always clean. This week, that room is going to be the kitchen. It will be CLEAN every night before I start my 15 minutes in a different room. That way, I always have a room I can look at and remind myself that it's really possible :-p

So, we'll see how it goes. Next month, I'm starting the girls' summer reading program. I still need to get the list of books together. But once I have it ready to go, they'll each have to spend 15 minutes every evening reading, and then tell me about what they read. Study habits, ya know?

Oh... and speaking of studying, I remembered last night that I was supposed to pay tuition on Thursday and didn't. So, I logged onto the school's website and had been dropped from my classes. Fairly annoying, right? But then when I went to re-enroll, I saw that there was an opening in the political science class I wanted to take, but which was full earlier. So YAY I enrolled in it, paid my tuition and was done.

Next stop was the campus bookstore website. The textbook that's required is $65 used. It pisses me off enough that I have to pay $500 for a summer class... I shouldn't also have to pay $65 for a USED BOOK. So, I copied the ISBN# and headed over to Amazon where I found the book in 'like new' condition for $2.99. It should ship Monday. It's like a garage sale, only rewarding and stuff.

So, as of July I will be a student again. I really am too old for this shit.

In other news, we're going here today... there's a car show in conjunction with this festival and Doug's entering the purple convertible. Then, we're off to Fuddruckers (can you say billion calorie burgers????) for a 'Cruise night'.

Saying no and outside voices

I have a problem. Sure, in the grand scheme of things, it's a minor problem but a problem nonetheless.

I can't say no. Well... I CAN but it causes me great discomfort. Some dude just knocked on my door. And... well... I can't NOT answer it no matter how badly I want to ignore it.

He's supposedly from a local garage and he's selling this coupon thing for 'only' $50 that basically amounts to a free state inspection (normally $15 or so) and 2 free oil filters and a couple of preventative maintenance inspections. Funnily, the 'free' oil filters are estimated at $20 each... I buy them for $2.28 at Wal-Mart and Doug changes my oil - total cost - $13 or so. And I get to not have to sit in a shop waiting for everything to be completed.

Anyway, I can't just say "Dude, it's a scam and I'm not doing it." I have to make up a plausible excuse like "It's not payday and I'm broke" or "Sounds good, but I need to think about it" or "I don't have a check book"

Bleh. I need to be more assertive, I know, but man... I hate the prospect of hurting people's feelings. Stupid me.

Happy Mother's Day!

I read this story on a message board that I post on quite a bit, and found it so hilarious, I felt it needed shared...

We had this great 10 year old cat named Jack who just recently died. Jack was a great cat and the kids would carry him around and sit on him and nothing ever bothered him. He used to hang out and nap all day long on this mat in our bathroom.

Well we have 3 kids and at the time of this story they were 4 years old, 3 years old and 1 year old. The middle one is Eli. Eli really loves chapstick. LOVES it. He kept asking to use my chapstick and then losing it. So finally one day I showed him where in the bathroom I keep my chapstick and how he could use it whenever he wanted to but he needed to put it right back in the drawer when he was done.

Last year on Mother's Day, we were having the typical rush around and try to get ready for Church with everyone crying and carrying on. My two boys are fighting over the toy in the cereal box. I am trying to nurse my little one at the same time I am putting on my make-up. Everything is a mess and everyone has long forgotten that this is a wonderful day to honor me and the amazing job that is motherhood.

We finally have the older one and the baby loaded in the car and I am looking for Eli. I have searched everywhere and I finally round the corner to go into the bathroom. And there was Eli. He was applying my chapstick very carefully to Jack's . . . rear end. Eli looked right into my eyes and said "chapped." Now if you have a cat, you know that he is right--their little butts do look pretty chapped. And, frankly, Jack didn't seem to mind.

And the only question to really ask at that point was whether it was the FIRST time Eli had done that to the cat's behind or the hundredth.

And THAT is my favorite Mother's Day moment ever because it reminds us that no matter how hard we try to civilize these glorious little creatures, there will always be that day when you realize they've been using your chapstick on the cat's butt

Cable is bad for me.

I need to figure out how to turn off all of the true-crime crap and MSNBCs damn documentaries so I can actually go to sleep at a reasonable hour. This whole getting to work on time thing is going to become an issue again if I'm not careful, and it's all because I suck at imposing a bedtime upon myself. Stupid head I am.

Asshat paid CS on Friday, like he has every Friday since the first week in December. Only he's paid 80.72 until this Friday. This week, he paid 100.00. What's up with that? I'm not complaining, but I find that anything out of the norm, with regards to him, makes me nervous.

We're trying to make Memorial Weekend plans. We're not going to St Louis, which means we're probably camping since Chicago is out. Hopefully, we can make reservations somewhere not too far away so we don't have to worry about finding a spot.

The kids were all really good tonight. I can't help but think they'd be better if they didn't have the mid-week swaps going on, but maybe I'm just thinking that because I'm still pissed at stupidhead. I just dunno.