The dog really did eat his homework!

I taped it back together the best I could...

The accused...

Who me??

If you give a mom a phone...

I'm home today with two sickies.  Kyle and Hope both have colds with coughs and feel miserable after a not-so-good night's sleep, so I get an unexpected day off.  Tough on the paycheck, but I'm not complaining...these years go by too fast and one day I know I will miss it terribly.  Nick and Vinny are already old enough to be home alone if they are sick, no more mommy coddling needed for them.  Sigh.

Oh yea...how about if I call school to let them know they are absent?  That would be a good idea, 'specially since school started half an hour ago.  GAH!  I remembered to call into work, and cancel the puppy sitter, school should probably know too.  I intended to call earlier, but got distracted.  Those who know me well, especially those who have to live with me, are not surprised by things such as this.  They know that I tend to move about the house like a "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie" book.  Today it went something like this:  If your child is home sick from school, you will need to go to the kitchen and call the school to tell them about their absence.  And if you go into the kitchen to get the phone, you will see that the dishwasher needs to be loaded, and when you go to load the dishwasher, you will see that the dog peed on the floor, and if the dog peed on the floor you will need to go downstairs to get some paper towels to clean it up, and when you go downstairs to get paper towels you will see that a load of laundry needs to be started, and after you start a load of laundry you will feel so productive about your day already that you will decide to go back upstairs to the kitchen and blog.  

And forget to call the school.

See? 

This sort of thing happens regularly with me.  It drives Vince crazy, but lucky for me he usually still finds it cute. Usually.

So.

The dogs have been keeping us busy, and also sufficiently broke.  Feliz has been to the vet more in the past three months than her entire life.  She has been having urinary tract infections and possibly bladder stones and has been on special food and several rounds of antibiotics already.  It clears up...and returns.  Hmmph.  And Macey, in addition to her regular puppy checkups and shots, now has to go in for a possible uti herself, as evidenced by the sudden and frequent peeing and unproductive squatting in the yard that she has been doing the past two days. I just have one question: WHAT IS UP WITH THE POTTY ISSUES???  Seriously.  I wasn't surprised with Feliz, since she is a Bishon and they are notorious for bladder problems, but Macey too?  Ugh.  

I'm wondering if it has anything to do with the fact that she is eating anything and everything she can find, including (but not limited to) sticks and leaves and sand and lint balls and tiny little wrappers and erasers, and whatever she can lick off the baseboards in the kitchen.

She is so naughty.  She knows when she has something she's not supposed to, and that if we catch her we are going to try and pry her little alligator mouth open and dig out whatever treasure she's munching on.  So if hiding under the dining room table doesn't work and we actually catch her, she gets all manic, locks her jaws shut, and swallows it as soon as possible.  And then looks at us like this...

How are we supposed to get mad at that face???  She is growing so fast.  Her legs are getting long and she has those big puppy lab paws now, and it's so cute to see her clumsily bounding about.  She's adorable and hilarious and driving us all crazy.   Feliz included, but that is nothing new.  Although, they are getting along much better, Macey still pounces on poor Feliz most any chance she gets.  Feliz will play with her and even instigate now and then, but she still walks around in fear of being blind sided by her unpredictably rambunctious sister.  Poor Feliz has even developed a nervous facial tick.  She's always had it, but I never really noticed it much before until Macey joined our family, and it has thus increased exponentially.  Now, Feliz quite often looks like this...

Poor baby.  Maybe she needs therapy.  Anyone know a good pet shrink?

  

It's about time

So, she finally did it.  After over two weeks of this...

Feliz finally stood up to Macey.  It's about time.  Poor Feliz has been bit, pounced on, and chased out of her bed multiple times over the past two weeks by her nemesis new little sister.  We didn't let Macey go too far, but we also knew that Feliz would have to set her own boundaries at some point.  Well, yesterday she finally had enough, and she actually growled and stood her ground...

Once Macey saw that Feliz was not the least bit impressed with her antics...

she submitted and subsequently piddled on our carpet in submission - never thought I'd be happy about that!

But then they started playing together...

Yay!  It's just the cutest thing.

I think they are destined to be great friends.

We had a fun day with the kids yesterday.  All of us were off work and school for President's day, so we headed to LaCrosse for some "guy time" and "girl time" - the boys went to MC Sports and Hope and I hit the mall.

To be honest, I started our little treck quite crabby after a not-so-good night's sleep (please tell me that this puppy will eventually sleep through the night).  But my husband, who is so very intuitive and awesome, pulled into the Target/Starbucks parking lot on our way out of town, announced to the kids that he was getting something for his WIFE ONLY, and emerged with an iced mocha complete with an extra shot of happy juice espresso.  He knows me so well (she's tired and crabby...better get her some chocolate and caffeine STAT).  It almost made me feel guilty for calling him a "poopy head brat face" earlier.  Almost.

Last evening involved buzzing Nick and Kyle's hair...

And check out this drawing of Johnny Bench that Nick put the final touches on for his art class...

Ok.  You can both stop growing up now.

Our week in review

Our sweet, calm little puppy Macey...

...has morphed herself into a manic, bitey little alligator baby. 

I'm not sure why this has happened, but we are doing our best to follow all the advice we can find when googling "someone please help us, our puppy is posessed and even though we have a virtual pet store full of toys to choose from, she is using us as her preferred chew toys". 

Feliz is still highly annoyed at her new little sister's presence. 

She tries to defend herself and let out a pitiful little growl once in a while when she is being attacked played with by Macey.  But most of the time she retreats to her kennel or comes running to us wide eyed with her tail tucked firmly between her legs, seeking protection from the little terrorist that resides with us.

And now about the humans...

Hope has decided to speak with a British accent.  Awl. the. toym.  I think we are on day four of this adventure.  Most of the time we don't know what in the world she is saying, but we smile and nod alot.

Nick got contacts this week.  Pretty awesome, and more evidence than the voice cracks that he is growing up and becoming a man.  Sigh.  He is getting all geared up for baseball season, as his basketball season will be coming to a close in a couple weeks.

Kyle's quote of the week:  "Mom, if you hear a large fart, it's just my iPod."  Please don't ask me to 'splain that, because I haven't the slightest.

Vinny went to his first dance last Saturday night.  He spent quite some time prepping himself for it...shaving, grooming his nails and eyebushes, and coordinating his outfit around his fedora.  Sweet.

Vince and I celebrated Valentines Day by going out for dinner at Ciatti's Italian Restaurant in LaCrosse.  We went early to hopefully avoid the big date crowd, which was a very nerdy yet smart idea.  We arrived at 5:15 without a reservation and were seated at a table right by the fireplace.  Cha!  Have I mentioned before that my husband rocks at giving me the most awesome, original, and romantic gifts ever?   

Seriously...ROCKS!!! 

This year he got me a heart shaped box filled with gourmet, handmade Artisan chocolates. 

We are savoring one or two a day, and yes I am sharing with him.  Mostly.  He also got me a "Wonder Woman" christmas ornament. 

That is extra special because it compliments the "Superman" christmas ornament that I bought for him for our first Valentines day together in '08.  And as if that weren't off-the-charts awesome enough, his next gift brought me to tears...

...a pewter statue of a knight in (shining) armour riding on a horse.  Sword drawn, ready to protect and rescue me at a moment's notice. 

I love that man.

Not My Blog, More Most-Perfectest-Purse Awesomeness, and I GET A SNOWDAY!

I haven't been this excited since 1987. 

I have never worked somewhere that closed when the weather was bad.  Even during my highschool and college years working at Hardees and Country Kitchen, they stayed open through it all and I don't remember ever having a snow day from work...until today.  My place of employment is closed today and when I discovered this as the kids still slept soundly in their beds this am, I did a silent little happy dance from my couch.  Not that I don't want to go to work, I love my job, but who doesn't love a snowday?!  A crazy person, that's who.

The only thing that would make today even better is if my kids had the day off too, but our schools are only doing the two-hour delay, so I guess I will get most of the day all to myself. 

Wait a minute...

Visions of a quiet house void of incessantly bouncing balls,  numerous "KNOCK IT OFF!"s and "Mom... mom... mom... mom... mom...mom...mom...mom...mom..." (contrary to popular belief, this does not end when children leave toddlerhood, or even elementary school).  Doesn't sound too bad after all.  I'm sure I can find all kinds of lovely ways to fill my day including (but not limited to) CMT, HGTV, and a new edition of "The Most Perfectest Purse Ever".

Just in case you missed the excitement of editions one and two, and you happen to have absolutely nothing else of the slightest value whatsoever to do with your time, you can read all about my previous successes at finding the most perfect purse here and here.  Just know that you will not be able to get those eight minutes of your life back. 

I have been searching for months for a new purse that meets my criteria for awesomeness.  It's not easy to find.  The other ones were most certainly awesome and served their purposes for a season, until either I found an unpredictable flaw, or they became too small for my ever increasing need to carry more crap around have essential items available at all times.

So after months of searching and subsequent rejecting, I finally found my new baby:

Can you hear me singing Stevie Wonder "Isn't She Lovely"?  Well, I am.  And no one is rolling their eyes at me because they are at school and I GET A SNOWDAY!!! 

So now, can we talk about how awesome this purse is?  Seriously. Let's just count the ways that it fits and/or exceeds my stringent standards for awesomeness. 

1) It has to be real leather. Or a fake material that I happen to think is real leather.  Check.  And dare I say that I think this one actually may be real leather.  If not, they added some fake leather smell to it which is totally fine with me. 

2) It has to have a short handle.  Check.  Do I realize that it makes me look like my grandmother to carry my purse around by the handle and nearly dragging it on the ground?  Yes, yes I do.  And my grandmother was a very smart and practical woman. 

3) It has to have separate pockets for my cell phone and lip stuff on the outside of the purse.  This one has both, right in front, AND they have magnetic snaps.  More awesomeness.  The absence of this feature was my main complaint about edition two.  I had to put my cell phone and lip stuff in the same pocket, so when I went for one or the other while driving, it was less than efficient and that just cannot be.

4) It absolutely cannot have any sequins or tassles or unnecessary gaudy embelishments.  Please.  Check.

5) It has to be able to zip shut.  Amen.  Those snaps in the middle?  Yea, they never keep stuff in when your purse falls over.  Or your kids throw it on the floor of your car.  Not that I would know anything about that.

6) It has to have at least two big separate sections - one for my wallet & notes, the other for all my crap important stuff that I don't leave home without (my mini hairspray, lotion, advil, altoids, nail file, camera, and the ocassional happy meal toy).  This all still applies, except the "happy meal toy" stage has been replaced by iPods, cell phones, DS's, and various other things that I take away from our kids when they cop an attitude with me or eachother, which I have found works far better than sending them to their rooms because that is where they want to go anyway.

7) And last but not least, it has to be big enough to hold all of said crap important stuff, but not look like a suitcase.  This criteria is getting harder and harder to meet as I get older, however this purse still squeaks by.  Even though it weighs 49 pounds.

There you have it.  Now that I have given a virtual tour of my purse, if someone steals it and also happens to read my blog they will know exactly where to find everything.  And if they are in desperate need of a nickel and about fourteen pennies, they'll be set.

It's too bad I have nothing important to say

Nothing at all. 

One would think that I would, seeings how I am on day 6 of a 10 day hiatus from work and have had plenty-o-time to think up something important and enlightening to write about. 

But one would be wrong.

I have in actuality done very little thinking this week.  I have been MUCH too busy wrapping and unwrapping presents, napping, and drinking iced mochas from Starbucks to put together a meaningful thought, much less a string of them to put into something worth writing down.  But, really...when has the absence of a coherent thought ever stopped me from running off at the mouth, or as it is - on the keyboard? 

Exactly.

I read a really great book this week. 

I got it from my son Nick for Christmas, and once I started reading it on Christmas day I only put it down long enough to brush my teeth and go to bed for 8-ish hours on Sunday night.  Then I was right back into it on Monday morning until I finished it.  It was amazing.  The best book I've read in a long while.  It did make me think, actually.  Alot.  About the reality of the spiritual realm that exists all around us but we rarely think about.  And about the power of prayer.  Incredible.  I highly recommend it.

Hey, I guess I AM capable of putting together a thought or two after all!  But apparantly only in short, fragmented sentences.  At this point.  Oh well.  At least it's something.

I got out of the house for a little while today.  After dropping my son off at basketball practice...and by the way has his basketball coach not heard that it is CHRISTMAS VACATION??  I was less than thrilled that my sleeping in plans were interrupted at early o'clock to take my son to practice by 8:30 in the am.  Anyways, after I dropped him off I had two hours to putz around town, so I went to my favorite store to check out the "after Christmas deals".  I got exactly no "after Christmas deals", but did pick up a vegie scrubber and some little measuring cups that I don't need, but am certain will revolutionize my vegetable cleaning and measuring tasks in profound and unexpected ways...





Then I bought a newspaper and some coffee and sat in my car until my sweaty teenage son emerged from the school.  It was boring and uneventful and I loved every second of it!

I had such high expectations for this week.  I was going to clean my house room by room.  And catch up on all of our laundry.  And get all the Christmas stuff put away.  And then, with all the rest of the week that would for surely be remaining because of my proficiency at getting those aforementioned things done, I was going to catch up on my scrapbooking (of which I am about 5 years behind). 

How am I doing so far?  Well, I cleaned my bathroom!

Actually, no.  I prepared to clean my bathroom and took the rugs down to the laundry room.  I may or may not have actually started the washer, then I promptly sat down on the couch because I am on vacation.

I got our Christmas letter written and sent out!   

Well, actually no.  I emailed it.  That still counts, doesn't it?  This was our first year doing a "digital" christmas letter, and I LOVED IT!  It was fun to create, and not only were we able to send them to many more people than we would have if we would have printed them out and paid for postage, but we have been hearing back from lots of the people we sent our letters to, and you normally don't hear back when you snail-mail them, so YAY! GO DIGITAL CHRISTMAS LETTERS!   We may be doing that every year from now on.

And as far as putting the Christmas deco away, I have seven Christmasy things sitting on my dining room table that I removed from my kitchen counters today.

There you go. 

In between all of my intense laboring, I have done a significant amount of piano playing, hangin' with the kids, napping, reading, and relaxing.  And I don't regret a minute of it!

Now, we have just finished dinner and I announced that "we" would now commense with the putting away of Christmas.   My poor husband was under the delusion assumption that I would be doing this during the day while he was at work.  Silly man.