I hate confrontation. I also hate dealing with confrontation while home alone with the kids. It makes me use my good Irish temper.

I had to call the police to mediate when Daryl came to pick up his stuff. It's been about an hour and I'm still shaking. He decided to come to the back door and demand to know where all his missing stuff was. The things that weren't mildewed and/or had food on them were either out in the driveway or donated a couple of months ago. I wasn't about to tell him exactly what happened to each thing - they've been here for 7 frickin months.

Of course, there was no payment of money and no personal apology (or a thank you) for the inconvenience of storing his stuff. Instead, I got an earful about how he had to go through chemo and more reasons why I should feel sorry for him some more. Not flying with me today. So, I slammed the door in his face and called 911.

The cool thing about living in a very small town is that the police were in the back alley in about 2 minutes. The officer came in and calmed me down - struck me as funny that he was standing in my house telling me that he was in charge :o) I was a bit mama bear-ish at the moment. LOL!!

The officer stayed until the truck was loaded and made sure I was safe in the locked house (and calmed down) before he left. I called Joe at work to fill him in and thought the worst was over.

I was wrong. What was worse is that Grace thought that the police officer was here to take ME to jail! She launched into full hysterics and it was all I could do to not just sit down and cry with her. Broke my heart to see her so scared. She just doesn't understand how someone who lived in our house as family can be mean and hateful toward me. Joe and I also make a point not to fight in front of the kids and when they see us mad, they get scared. I think I'll be writing Dr. Phil a note about this downside to his tidbit of advice. We also won't be watching COPS for a while.

I'm hopeful that Daryl will be able to come back and pick up his mattress and box spring without incident. Joe will probably be home by then and can take care of it. I just want this whole thing to be over with.

Rain again today. Except that it makes me smile today.

I started my day (well, besides the kids getting up before 6 am) shoving all of Daryl's stuff from the garage into the driveway out back. In the rain. The two grills and a couch and a bed and boxes of papers and a smoker and a few other odds and ends - all in the rain.

That's how he wanted it, when he came to the house the other day and started yelling at us, in our house, about not being good Christian brothers/sisters. So, I feel good about pushing everything out there this morning, just as he requested. I don't know many other people who would have kept all the stuff in their garage for 7 months without payment or contact anyway.

I called Joe at 6:45 am to ask him if there was anything else that needed to go out. He only asked if I had gotten the couch out there and when I said "Of course," he told me he loved my stubbornness. :o) I joked that it was only when it benefited him. :o)

So, the rest of today will be spent inside, cozy and warm, with the doors locked. :o) I have grand plans of scrapbooking and reading a book. The kids are caught up on their sleep and are behaving, so I might get to do it.

Tristan went to take his nap at 3 pm yesterday and got up this morning at 5:30-ish. Grace was sent to her room around 5 pm last night and got up this morning with Tristan. It was very strange not to have kids up and about last night!

Spring was here, I hope it comes back soon.

I got 2 quilt blocks sewn this morning for my Block of the Month (BOM) and 2 others made from some fabric I cut a while back. I need to put my usable fabric scraps away now and get out my scrapbook stuff out. Unfortunately, all I want to do is take a nap.

I was up at 6:15 again this morning. I went to bed shortly after 10pm last night, but woke up again when Joe was getting ready for work and Grace came in to use our potty. Thankfully, he helped her and got her back to bed without making me get up too. What I keep thinking is how is that not enough sleep?

I've been trying to find some time during the day to relax. I have several books checked out from the library right now, but I just can't seem to settle down during the day to read them. I try to read at night, but fall asleep within the first 5 pages. I will be enforcing nap/quiet time today - if only for myself!

Mindy called yesterday morning right after I blogged. I will be so glad when she has this baby!

I've been up for almost 4 hours already. At least I've been productive!

The 3rd load of laundry is drying, the downstairs was vacuumed, (needs a cracker crumb touch up already) the pot and pans are put away and the dishwasher is going again, the counters are cleaned off and we've all had breakfast. The kids are dressed and I've been to the mailbox twice to put outgoing letters in. Our bed is made and Tristan's will be completely washed and put back together by nap time. Grace's was done on Tuesday.

Yesterday's list was almost as good. I got the master bath (minus the tub) cleaned really well. Grace had a potty chair mishap, so I got to clean the downstairs bathroom as well. I got all the clothes washed yesterday and was ready to start bedding today. I got the digital pictures downloaded onto CD's and cleared off the computer desk. I got Tristan's toys put back into their bins and taught Grace how to write MOM.

Busy, busy, busy. :o)

Joe is on his way home. He was supposed to interview at Lowe's this morning, but since he worked all night, he's not up for it. Hopefully, they will reschedule for him. I worked on his resume last night and I would hate for it to be wasted time.

I still haven't heard a peep from Mindy since Monday afternoon. I think that things are just super stressful down there right now and I really don't need the added emotional strain. I understand the crazy pregnancy hormones, but it is never an excuse to treat people like crap. I guess I'm not one to put up with the yelling, complaining and cussing anyway.

I'm hoping to get some quilting done today. I feel like the house is somewhat back in order and I can play again.

Wednesday. Trash Pickup Day. The day the big trucks - yes, 3 different ones - have to idle outside the house for a minute or more each, starting at 6:20am. I hate waking up to beeping and diesel truck sounds. The funny thing is that when Joe got mad and threw his spiked shoes into the yard waste bin, I think he forgot to dig them out and they got dumped today.

At least I got to go to bed early last night. We watched Navy NCIS at 8pm and I went to bed. Joe left sometime about 9:30pm for work, but I didn't even hear him leave. Sadly, I could sleep for another couple of hours.

I haven't heard from Mindy since about 4pm on Monday. She was complaining about the house being a mess and that she had been yelling at her hubby, got all worked up and then someone else called and she never called back.

Speaking of laundry, I better get a load in before Joe gets home and wants to sleep and the kids need some breakfast.

Yeesh, what a day.

I spent the first half in the bathroom, wishing I was dead. I'm feeling better now, so I'm hoping it was just an intestinal bug. At least no one else seems to be feeling poorly.

Shortly after I got settled in for a game on the computer, Daryl showed up out of the blue. He came to get his stuff. No money and no call ahead of time. Figures. I had to wake Joe up to have him deal with it.

We gave Daryl back his TV and his clock radio, some clothes and shoes and let him know that there wasn't much stuff left in the garage. He seemed shocked - as if he hadn't just disappeared for 4 months without contact or that his stuff hadn't been in the middle of our garage since the beginning of last September, without ANY payment and as if he had always kept his word.

We have been going through a little bit at a time, getting rid of the smelly mildew clothes, dishes and cookware with grease and food on them (I really don't want mice or rats in my garage) and things that were broken and wet. I had a charity pick up most of the usable clothes, microwave and a lamp 2 months ago. We were facing the cost of removing a couch, queen size mattress and boxspring and a bunch of diabetic syringes, plus the additional cost of renting a truck to haul it to the dump. Now, he says he'll be back with $100 on Saturday and will pick up what is left. I doubt that he will be back and I'm not counting on any of the money.

If he really was sincere, he would be repaying us the $100 *official* loan, the money he owes me for cooking for a catering job he had last spring (at least $300) and something to offset the 5 weeks he stayed here and ate our food, as well as something for the use of our *entire* 2 car garage all winter long.

I'm so frustrated with the whole situation. He needed help 3 weeks after we bought this house, stayed for 3 weeks and then we helped him move into a new place. He was off the radar for a few months and then showed up again in September. He called in crisis, saying he was dying of cancer, had just been evicted and needed a short term place to store his stuff. Stupidly, we said yes - but only after he said he would pay us storage costs. He ended up staying with us another 2 weeks and we still don't know if he even had cancer. Evidently, he is cured now. He's healthy enough to have a new insulin pump and to be driving again. I hate feeling totally scammed.

Anyway, the kids are out lifting weights with Joe and I think I'm going to go hop in the shower. I am in need of some lavender (calming) aromatherapy.

It's been a long weekend. Joe has had the last 4 days off and goes in to work tonight, so it will actually be more like 5 days. Thankfully, we haven't gotten into a huge fight :o)

I went up to see Mindy in the hospital on Friday afternoon. I took up some puzzles and a deck of cards for her. We ended up playing rummy for almost 4 hours.

Saturday was sunny and beautiful. I took the kids with me into town, stopped at the bank, grocery store and Michael's. I finally got an eyelet setting kit - the tool set by Making Memories - with my 40% off coupon. The neighbor, Eric, came over for dinner with their two daughters. His wife was working this weekend and I made Tuna Noodle Casserole.

Sunday was sunny and nice again. We skipped our class before church and just went to the regular service. I cut Joe's hair before we left, so we were almost late. We got home and I put a U-Bake pizza in the oven and headed next door to talk to Jen (Eric's wife) and find out how everything had gone with her weekend.

Mindy called about 6pm to let us know that she was home. They let her out of the hospital, but she's still on strict bedrest. We'll see what happens today. I got a nap :o) and cleaned the fish tank. We were watching Crossing Jordan (10:40pm) and the phone rang. Mindy was having some sort of weird pain and thought she might need to go back to the hospital. She called triage and by the time she called me back, the pain was gone. I went to bed and Joe stayed up to get his clock ready to go back to work tonight.

I was up at 7am this morning - better than the 6am we've been averaging lately - and I've been catching up on the forums and email. I got some mail put in the box first thing, ran the dishwasher and now I need to fix some coffee and breakfast.

Gosh, what to tell. Not much happened today.

I got the UPS package for the neighbor today, so it wouldn't sit on the porch all day. Benefit of living in a good neighborhood!

I printed up all the bills and due dates, so I can come up with a plan. This one involved tears and I don't cry much. Short of a miracle, I don't know what we are going to do.

Mindy will be staying in the hospital for at least another week, unless she goes into labor first. They did an amnio this morning and the lungs aren't even close to being mature yet. They did find out the sex though - it's a BOY!! She was so sure she was having a girl :o) Now to do the quilt. I'm thinking fun little bugs.

I'm really low on diapers (like 3 left) and I'm waiting for Joe to get up so I can go to Target alone. I really need a break from the house. We really don't have the money to spend, but we need to have a few essentials, diapers being one of them.

The kids cheerfully helped pick up the living room this afternoon AND they took all their toys upstairs. I have yet to check on the putting away of said toys, but at least I'm not tripping over the stuff.

I was brave and did a craft project with the kids this morning, since the weather was horrible. I took a styrofoam egg carton and cut the cups out. The kids colored them with markers. Then, I folded a long pipe cleaner in half, twisted it to make it more sturdy and poked it through the bottom of the cups. The sharp ends were bent over to keep the "stem" in and we glued a pom-pom into the bottom of the cup, covering the pipe cleaner ends. Voila - Tulips!! They are in a mason jar on my windowsill drying :o)

I need to make dinner and pick up all the papers and such on the counter and I have a poopy diaper to change. The fun just doesn't stop!

Comments are back! What a pain to transfer everything to a new template :o)

I just got done reading the new Ms. Doxie -- ROFLOL!!! I needed it too.

Now to find something to eat :o)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I started the day in a RED shirt - note to self: Red is NOT green - I should be happy that was not an indicator of how my morning went :o)

I got the curtains sewn for the nursery. Only took me 2 hours (with interruptions, of course) and they turned out really cute. Oddly, I was scared to make them and kept putting it off. The thing that pushed me to get them done? Mindy will be having the baby sometime this week. Chances are it will be on Saturday. She's been in the hospital since Monday afternoon - forced bedrest - and now her labs are prompting them to take the baby early.

Joe will be working a double shift today. He's off getting some racking right now from another store and then will be heading home for a nap and to head back in tonight. He should be home in time for me to go to MOPS tomorrow and then he's off through Monday! Sadly, we can't afford for me to go to the scrapbooking retreat this weekend. I would love to get away for a couple of days :o)

The update about the maybe dead boss? Well, he's not dead. He showed up to work on time and when asked about the baby? He declared that the baby was a false alarm. So, now we're thinking that there was a rendezvous of some sort that the mom and sister wanted to interfere in and not being able to find him, thought that surely work would have to know where he was. Of course, this is all pure speculation and we will probably never know what was really going on. :o)

I headed to the library last night after dinner and picked up the books I had on hold. Bought a book for $.50 (library book sale) that I think my FIL will like. Stopped at the Post office to mail a quilt block on the way through town and noticed a mini van for sale at the lot across the street. It was a 1998 and they had $4999 on the windshield. It was too dark to see the mileage or if it had air conditioning, but it looked clean. I'm thinking about calling to see if we could even get financed for it.

Actually, the A/C is optional here anymore. The car hasn't had working A/C in at least 2 summers. For the one or two weeks it is above 90* it sucks, but rolling the windows down works for the rest of the time. Plus, now that the kids are older, I worry less about them being blown by the air.

I plan to relax this afternoon. Joe will want to eat when he gets home, so I'll be cooking at some point. I have the critical sewing done for the day and I have a couple of newly borrowed books calling to me. Tonight is Survivor night - throws my Thursday schedule off, but I'll adjust. :o)

I'm about halfway through my day and a nap sounds really good right about now!

I am watching the neighbor's son, Logan, (who missed playing with his "girlfriend" this last week while he was sick) while Mindy has a non-stress baby appointment. It is finally quiet. Of course, I bribed them with pretzels and The Lion King :o)

Joe should be home from work soon. I am waiting to hear if he has found out anything about his boss. As of this morning, he hadn't been seen or heard from since sometime Thursday. His sister had her baby on Friday - no returned calls. Saturday, both Mom and Sis call - still no word from him. Same thing on Sunday. When I talked to Joe this morning, there was still no news. We are thinking possible suicide or secret romantic getaway. Regardless, Joe will be *thrilled* that there is an extra kid in the house. It might be motivation for him to put grass seed on the lawn!

I need to go fill juice cups and refill the pretzels :o)

Mondays. Ick.

The weekend was uneventful. Joe worked. We didn't go anywhere or do anything special. We didn't go to church and a baby shower.

I made brownies 4 days in a row and ate most of them myself. I gained 3 pounds last week.

The house *was* clean yesterday. Today, I don't really care. I need to go grocery shopping tonight.

I let the kids stay up last night and watch Return to Neverland on the Canadian channel. It got over at 8:45pm, so I figured they would sleep in this morning. NOT! Tristan came in at 6:45am with a wet diaper and Grace was up right behind him. So, now I'm cranky because they are not behaving and I am tired since I didn't get to bed early.

My big plan was to get up this morning and do my Tae-Bo tape *before* the kids were up. Instead, I got to get up and change a diaper, get pee all over me, which needed a shower to feel clean, get breakfast ready and clean up the kitchen from last night. I handwashed all the extra dishes too. I realize that picking up the downstairs would take less than 15 minutes, but I really don't feel like doing it.

Tristan had a fit because I washed his fleece blankets this morning. He was so sad they were in the washer. Now they are playing "kitty in the tree" and actually having fun, laughing and getting along.

Mindy just called and from the sounds of it, they might take the baby as early as Wednesday. She's starting to swell now, as well as her blood pressure being high for the last few weeks. She'll be calling back to let me know if I need to drive her to the hospital today.

So far, so good.

Last night was quiet. The kids went right to bed and Joe followed soon after. Mindy brought down a lamp they aren't going to be able to fit in the nursery and I have it hooked up in the bedroom already! I went to bed with a small plate of warm, homemade brownies and a Mt. Dew. I need to get back on the weight loss plan.

I really lost my temper on Thursday night. The living room was overflowing into the dining room and I'd had it. I kicked a path through the toys, threw dinner on the table and when Grace started whining about dinner as soon as she sat down, I sent her to her room. I'm so tired of hearing her fuss about not liking something she's never had before and after bugging me about when dinner would be ready.

Joe helped the kids pick up and got them in bed in time for me to curl up in bed and watch Survivor in peace! I was sad to see Colby go, but only because he is so nice to look at. I told Joe it would be OK, he still has the Schick ads out :o) Boston Rob on the other hand, I will cry when he's gone. He is so the type I lust after, but oddly enough nothing like Joe - well, maybe in attitude. We both fell asleep before CSI was over.

Yesterday went slowly. I kept thinking it must be nap time and it was only 10 am. It might have been because of the rain and clouds. Tristan had some success with wearing undies, until he peed on the couch. This happened not more than 5 minutes after he was sitting on the potty chair. Poor kid thought he was going to be in trouble.

Grace seemed to be bored and was making trips to the bathroom every 15 minutes. I was worried enough about a bladder infection that I started following her to see if she was in any pain. All seems well today, she made it all night (at least until 5:30am) and hasn't been in there much this morning.

Tristan took a good nap and Grace and I played Go Fish. I got a bunch of planning and cutting done for my Easter Egg Blocks and I really need to work on the curtains today.

I have a new supply of Mt. Dew and can conquer the world! I also got a shower this morning and am having a good hair day, which is rare when a person is growing out short hair. I am feeling very springy again today.

It's only 8:45am and I've been up for over 2 hours. I haven't gotten a thing accomplished either :o)

The neighbor boy is still throwing up and now I'm getting hyper-sensitive to everything the kids say. Grace seems to be doing ok, but had diarrhea this morning. I'm hoping it was all the apple juice. I keep getting waves of nausea, but I'm hoping it's just stress.

I had a good night out last night. I got to vent a bit, as the ladies I meet with are older and have been where I am with the kids and DH. I'm not sure what Joe did while I was gone. He was already asleep when I got home (10pm) and left this morning about 4am. I woke up to all the cookies being erased from the computer AGAIN and I'm assuming that he was doing something he doesn't want me to know about.

I've got a poopy diaper to change and I've got to get SOMETHING done today :o)

It is sunny again today! Joe has today off and has been busy outside since 9am. I got most of the house picked up and ready to vacuum, after they all stop tracking in grass and dirt. I have the 3rd load of laundry in the washer and I have taken a shower!

Grace seems to be over whatever it was that she had yesterday. The neighbor was not as fortunate though. I got a call at 9 this morning to see if I could bring the steam cleaner down. Seems that the couch and floor need some attention. I think there is a germ-festival going on down there. I still wonder how we can be around them almost daily and my kids don't always get sick.

I have a ladies night tonight. Our Sunday morning group is meeting to go over some reference materials and chat a bit. I would love for Joe to just take care of dinner and I could have a peaceful afternoon, but I get to make sure dinner is made and the kids are ready for bed before I leave. It's no wonder I usually decline an evening out - I spend all the time before I leave getting everything else ready and I crash as soon as I sit down.

After sweeping up the pile of dirt, twigs and leaves from the kitchen floor, I was thinking to myself how nice it would be to switch places during his day off. I could leave 3 pair of shoes wherever I wanted, my underwear in the bathroom, shave and leave the hairs all over the tub and then actually expect there to be something other than cereal for breakfast - ready and waiting for me. He has wondered why I tell him my day off is the first day he goes back to work :o) I just tell him he is equal to 2 more kids in mess and effort.

It's a lazy day around here. Grace is coming down with something, mild fever and she's started sneezing. Joe is switching back to days today. I'd be surprised to see him up from his "nap" in an hour. I am 2/3 done with the quilting on my cousin's quilt and then I have to do the nursery curtains. I'm still in sweats - I hardly ever wear them anymore - and Tristan is still in his PJ top and a diaper.

I just got off the phone with the Children's Ministry leader from our church. Apparently, Grace has told the teachers in the early session that Tristan can't hear (because he signs and doesn't always follow verbal instructions) and then gone back to them and told them that she was just joking. My daughter the drama princess.

So, I got to explain that Tristan can hear just fine, he just chooses not to listen sometimes and that he really doesn't talk much, especially around strange people and Yes, he uses sign language to say please and thank you because he doesn't talk much yet.

At least someone thought to mention to said teachers that he is 2 years old and not 4, like his size suggests. He is really the size of most of the 4 year old boys we play with and seriously outweighs the little girls his age. Sort of a gentle giant until you have a toy he wants.

I am so not looking forward to leaving my kids in the care of the school district for the majority of the day and then I can get these mystery calls and feel my stomach drop to the floor. I so do not like confrontations.

The sun has come out for a while this afternoon. Yesterday was beautiful. I think I might have gotten a slight sunburn on my cheek. I put a camp chair out on the patio and read my Better Homes and Gardens magazine :o) In a T-shirt! There was a storm last night and it rained all morning, with more on the way, but I'll take the sun anyway I can get it!

I am so ready for spring this year. The neighbor's daffodils are up and my azalea is budded and getting ready to bloom. The trees are budding and my tulips are teasing me. We are almost ready to mow the lawn for the first time this year too.

I was telling Joe the other day that when we lived in the apartment, it didn't really matter that it was sunny or not because I was never affected by it. Our only windows were blocked by the roof overhang in the front or the trees in the back. In the summer, the trees would leaf out and filter all the sun anyway. I felt like I lived in a cave for 4 years. With the house, I can open windows on 3 sides of the house to let light in where I want it and step out into the yard without going up/down 3 flights of stairs. I am on the ground level, not in the tree canopy and I feel a bit more connected to what's going on outside.

It's amazing how much it affected my depression - despite all my insistence that it didn't. :o) Throw the pregnancy and birth of 2 kids in the mix and I wonder how I did it.

The house is ready for another week. I got groceries and gas this morning.

Joe was late getting off of work, so I didn't go to church with the kids. I was supposed to lead the lesson this morning too. I didn't tell Joe because I knew he would feel really horrible for being late, but he heard me when I called to let our teacher know she would have to teach and I had to explain anyway.

When Joe got home, I made some ramen for him and went up to town.

I had to stop at the hardware store to get 2 paint stir sticks, (Nolan was painting the nursery today and Joe forgot to bring them home) a $.69 putty knife to replace the one I can't find and got a deal on some fancy twisty lightbulbs. The bulbs were $.25 each, so I got 8 for all the regular lights in the house!

I did my grocery shopping in town for a change. I got everything (except the milk) on my list, plus a few extras. I had to stop at the Texaco to get milk ($1.89 a gallon) and then had to get gas at the Chevron because they are four cents cheaper.

Total outing time=under one hour.

I got home to find the living room torn apart! Joe was barely awake in the recliner and the kids had taken over. He went to bed and I put away the groceries. Mindy called to make sure I was ready to head to town. I have been volunteered to make curtains for the baby's nursery, so Mindy and I took the kids to JoAnn's to get a pattern and the fabric after I got Tristan dressed.

Their behavior was atrocious! Tristan wouldn't sit in the cart. Grace was whining for an Ariel Halloween costume and then both decided to run back and forth across the aisle while we were getting the fabric cut. I didn't even get to look around at anything else, but did get to use my 40% off coupon to save Mindy some money :o) The kids were better in Safeway, but I still wished I could have left them at home.

I definitely wasted my money buying fish on Friday. The last little fish was VERY dead this morning when I got up. Grace was very sad, but gave it a fake flower petal and was better. We will be keeping the tank as is, until this fish dies.

My day started at 12:06am. A phone call from the high-on-something brother in law. Joe had to go back to work overnights (again) Thursday night and was there last night too. So, I get to listen to BIL rant, scream and cuss for a while. He wanted me to come get him (yeah, right) and bring him home with me (again, not happening) in the middle of the night, with 2 small kids. And our only car was not at home... I called Joe at work and let him know and promptly slept like the dead.

Fast forward to 6:00am - because I have clearly gotten enough rest - BIL calls again. This time he has checked himself into the mental hospital and still wants me to come get him. I talk to him again for a few minutes. After I hang up, I crawl out of my very warm and cozy bed and shuffle downstairs to get my cell phone and call Joe at work. During my foray downstairs, Grace has gotten up and is YELLING for me from the bathroom. So much for crawling back into bed.

By 7am, I had talked to BIL again and both kids were up for the day. Joe called when he was on his way home and BIL called again too. By 9:30am, Joe was home, I had done all the dishes, made breakfast and was ready for a nap!

Joe went to bed (after trying to call the hospital for BIL and being told that he wasn't there?!?!) and I left for a quilt show with the kids. The drive was nice, the show was pretty crowded, but I got to see a good friend, ran into an old neighbor and the kids slept on the way home.

Yesterday, I had to go into town to get some things at Target and the pet store. The list included diapers, fabric sheets and Crystal Light at Target and Stress Coat, a net, pellet food and a siphon at the pet store. Target was interesting. We ended up getting everything on the list, plus a bag of generic cheese puffs, a bag of generic pretzels, a small can of almonds and the bargain of the day - an electric sandwich maker for $1.48! The pet store was successful on all points of the list, plus 2 new fish for $3.49 each. Sadly, I have to report that I already wasted $3.49. I think we will be stuck at a 2 fish tank by this evening.

I also made a quick stop at the quilt shop and bought a pair of Machingers. Hopefully, I'll be able to try them out in the next couple of days :o)

Mt. Dew is such a drug for me. I was having such a horrible day yesterday - yelling at the kids, having NO patience, being generally not myself and still suffering from an awful headache - that DH went up to the store and brought back, not one, but *two* 2-liter bottles of the good green stuff! Evidently, I was in need of some sugar and caffeine to calm my nerves. That and they were on sale for $.99 each. Men and on-sale food. :o)

When I told him I gave it up for Lent, he chuckled and asked since when had I ever given anything up for Lent? Yes, I know...(It was back in 1992 for those of you curious folk!) So, I am much calmer today, I picked up the downstairs (with help from the kidlets) and vacuumed all the cracker crumbs from the last 2 days, brought in the trash, yard waste and recycle bins from yesterday and got the mail. The house looks much better and I'm thinking I really DO have a tension headache like my neighbor suggested 3 (!!!) days ago. Calgon take me away!

In other news, the new-to-us fish tank is leaking. NOT a good thing. We are low on diapers. Also NOT a good thing. Money is VERY tight this week, but the brakes are working! The kids are going crazy with the sunny days, then clouds and rain - No, you may not go play in the mud!. DH has been switching back and forth from working days to overnights, three times in 2 weeks. I missed MOPS today and I really needed that break.

Hmmm, tension headache...Naw, couldn't be due to my NON-stressed life. LOL!!!

Yesterday was gorgeous. Sunny and very springy. Today? Rain, rain and more rain. Figures that it was the day we had to do more yard stuff.

I've been a scrapbooking fool the last 2 days. I went down to the neighbor's house yesterday for the afternoon. We traded stickers and die cuts like mad women. I got 2 pages done (another 2 today) and they are much more involved than I normally do. I used some of my *fancy* printed papers and lots of stickers.

My quilting bug seems to be in remission. I ironed, cut and mailed out a swap this past weekend and still don't feel much like playing with fabric. I've got a year long swap I'm committed to and Lynn's Easter Egg Swap coming up. I might just have to force myself to work on something everyday.

The house is looking like a bomb went off, but that is partly due to the fact that the kids both fell asleep before 7:30pm last night. I do the last big pick up at night when they go to bed, but I was too tired to pick it all up myself. I'll start earlier tonight!

I'm doing much better this week in the weight loss area. The scale actually was AT 160# this morning. With the *bad scale* adjustment though, it means 170#. Oh well, a couple of pounds is still a couple of pounds! I maintained the last loss through all of February - parties and cake and dinner out - I'm happy that I seem to be able to handle the longer term loss. My new method (I think) will be to lose about 10 pounds and then maintain for a couple of weeks. I am really working on changing lifestyle and not just my diet. I am active enough, that once I get close to my goal weight, I should have no problem toning and maintaining. My original goal was for 140 by next Christmas. I'd be even happier with 130!

Off to do another load of laundry and figure out what to make for dinner.

I had a migraine all weekend. Actually, I still have a mild headache this morning.
We had the car fixed Friday - $585.87 later. That was a major headache in itself.

I was supposed to go see The Passion of the Christ on Friday night with the girls, but due to the car repair mess and my headache, I stayed home. Joe was also sleeping (1pm Friday afternoon to 6am Sat morning) so that tossed childcare out the window too. He did work the night before, but it's been years since I've gotten to sleep that much.

Instead, I got to drive all the way into town, pay the balance on the car bill and drive all the way home. Then I made dinner, put the kids to bed and fell asleep on the loveseat before 9pm. I ended up spending all night on the loveseat - should have moved to the couch at least! - and was up with everyone else at 6am Saturday morning. I ran and got groceries first thing Saturday and we spent the rest of the day putzing around the house. I was in a horrible mood and just tried to stay out of the way.

Sunday was church in the morning and a quiet day around the house in the afternoon. I got some scrapbooking done and the kids watched a movie. Joe played games on the computer and started on the lawn stuff.

I went down to Mindy's last night for cheesecake after the kids were in bed. She is officially on bedrest now and can't come down to socialize. I borrowed 4 DVD's from her, for Joe to watch last night, made a quick run up to the Chevron for a 2 liter of Coke and went to bed right after I got back. Joe stayed up late in order to sleep today. He's got to got back to work tonight for 2 nights and then switch back to days again on Thursday.

I need to check with Jen and see if we are doing our scrapbooking tomorrow. I'm ready to start our Year 2000 album!