Deadbeat.

Wow. It occurred to me tonight that I have been a complete blogging deadbeat. Not that life has been so entirely thrilling and there is much to be shared. But I do love reading blogs and know that I miss y'all when you're not updating as often. My blog reading habit could be part of why I've been such a deadbeat, I can barely keep up with all the blogs in my reader. Sorry that I haven't been commenting as often as well, it's not you-it's definitely me!

So...I'm trying to think of what's been happening. The biggest thing has been sending Kelley and Bethany back to school. Most years it seems like I am totally ready for school to start (bad mommy!). This summer though...not so much. I truly enjoyed having the girls home!

They had some super busy weeks thanks to their Papa for planning lots of activities and taking them on their annual vacation. This year the girls went to Gatlinburg, Tennessee with Mammie and Papa and had a great time! Here are a couple pics they sent...

The rest of their time was spent swimming, staying up late (really late some nights) and actually sleeping in. We had a lot of fun just hanging out.

School started this past Monday. Bethany is in 4th grade and so far seems to be loving it! Her teacher is new to the area and seems really nice and one of her neighbor friends is in class with her. Kelley started 6th grade, and I'm still having trouble accepting that my baby girl is in middle school now. She's not been too thrilled with it either so far. I think it's because her best friend isn't in any of her classes. They were together in grades 3, 4 and 5, and Kelley really didn't invest herself much into making other friendships. Hopefully she'll meet some new friends in her classes soon and her outlook will change.

And that about wraps up the excitement here. Yep, not much! I've been reading like a mad woman, it's been a great season for reading with both a new Sookie Stackhouse and Stephanie Plum book out! We are also doing work around the house-trying to purge and purge some more since it seems we aren't going to be moving anytime soon. Boo to that! Once we get done with that we'll be doing some more exciting stuff like new flooring, paint and furniture.

I'll leave you with this funny. The news is old, but what is so funny about it is that apparently this is actually the *news* in other countries! Hysterical! But not sure about that shower scene...

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It's Earth Day 2010, and this is what I'm doing about it. Or green and crunchy missed me. Or I just FAIL.

Seems that these days there is a lot of talk and action about going "green" and becoming "crunchy". The phenomenom appears to be a good one, taking care of Mother Earth and our families. I can't find anything wrong with being green and crunchy. Not everyone believes that humans have an adverse effect on the environment, which I do. However, green and crunchy is certainly a good thing for our planet regardless of what our thoughts are. I think everyone does agree that there are things that are harmful to our bodies out there. So any change to reduce the introduction of harmful chemicals and what-nots to our bodies and our children's bodies is also great.

Now I have to confess...I am not very green or crunchy. *gasp* Why? I have no idea. When I look at myself and my life, I surely would fit in well. People consider me a tree hugger, I was always the "hippie chick", am a nurse, have had an immune system cancer with no known cause, am a mommy who wants the best for her children. And I am just not green or crunchy.

I support this cause. And I have tried to adopt it, really I have! But it's just not sticking.

I've gotten a bunch of reusable bags for the grocery store, but they never get used. A couple years ago we tried to grow a garden. It didn't work out. I'm a Cancer and I match the traits of that sign perfectly except for one...I don't have as a green thumb. I kill every plant I touch. We have talked about replacing our lightbulbs with whatever the green and crunchy type are, but have never done it. We would definitely recycle if our trash service made it more convenient like we've had in the past. As it is now, we would have to seperate our trash, no biggy, and then actually drive it to a recycling center. It sounds like a lot of work. We do have a recycling center nearby though...I should probably give a little more effort on recycling now that I've actually thought about it. I need to work on not relying on convenience foods and actually cooking meals regularly for my family, before I can concentrate on organic foods. I have eaten hummus and it was OK, but nothing that would become a staple in our diets.

There are a couple of things I actually do. The girls and I have t-shirts promoting the cause. That probably doesn't count does it? I don't litter! We buy our tomatoes from a road-side stand. Those plastic bags we get for our groceries? I save them and reuse them for things like litter box duty and to line small garbage cans in the bathroom. I wash some clothes in cold and hang dry, it's more for keeping clothes in good shape but it still counts. What else? Thinking. Surely there's more. Still thinking. Heck, I'm not coming up with anything. I must be nervous being put on the spot and all.

So that's a snapshot of my "green and crunchy" life. Obviously I fail.

There is every reason why I should make it a priority to be green and crunchy. No reasons why I shouldn't. At the least make *some* changes. In honor of Earth Day I will now start my green and crunchy journey. I'm going to make Earth Day every day!

Are you green and crunchy? What changes have you made that you think are most important? And could you help me out? Where should I start?

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Bad habits? Not anymore!

Do you have any bad habits? I'll admit it, I do. Like gossip, wow can I get caught up in that! Procrastination is another bad habit of mine. Really bad. And don't believe me when I use the excuse that I work better under pressure, cause that's not really the truth.

Guess what? Some of our bad habits actually have positives! Surely that old adage "everything in moderation" probably applies, isn't that always such a drag? Anyway, I read about this in "O" magazine written by a professor in social psychology. (Confession: I don't watch Oprah. I'm not even sure that I like her. Sorry. But I do love magazines).

Since we all probably feel guilty about a bad habit or ten, I want to share the good news with you!

Bad Habit: Anger.
The Old Thinking: It's unhealthy and causes high blood pressure.
The New Wisdom: We get angry because we feel we've been wronged. Reacting with controlled anger is good. When we hold it in, it causes anxiety. In return our body releases the body's stress hormone cortisol. Too much cortisol can cause depression, obesity and bone density loss.

Bad Habit: Negativity.
The Old Thinking: Pessimism can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Debbie Downers are annoying and less likely to prosper.
The New Wisdom: Pessimists are more likely to foresee and overcome potential future problems. It can turn anxiety into action.

Bad Habit: Cursing.
The Old Thinking: Cursing is trashy.
The New Wisdom: Using your favorite four letter word at the right time can alleviate pain. Researchers speculate that cursing activates the stress response, boosting the body's pain threshold to deal with crisis.

Bad Habit: Doodling.
The Old Thinking: Doodling means you have trouble focusing.
The New Wisdom: Doodling can boost the ability to notice and remember mundane information. The act of drawing can make use of parts of the brain that might otherwise be used for daydreaming. So instead of a wandering mind, you are actually retaining more information.

Bad Habit: Procrastination.
The Old Thinking: Procrastination keeps you from getting anything done.
The New Wisdom: In short bursts dilly-dallying can increase your overall productivity. It is hard to maintain high levels of concentration after an hour or so. Research has shown that people who check their email or Facebook throughout the day are on average about 10% more productive than those who don't.

Bad Habit: Gossip.
The Old Thinking: Gossiping is a sign of insecurity.
The New Wisdom: Gossiping can strengthen friendships and our moral compasses by informing us what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Just be sure to be careful about what you say and whom you say it to. Dishing about Tiger Wood's latest mistress with your friend-is OK, spreading false rumors about your boss to coworkers-not OK.

So there you have it...I feel less guilty about my bad habits already!

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Stream of Rambles...

Bloggers have been doing a lot of "Stream of Consciousness" posts lately. My thoughts are really disorganized these last few days so I'm going with the "Stream of Rambles" type of post. I imagine there won't be any pearls of wisdom here and it might even cause you to get kind of sleepy. If you aren't able to take a nap as soon as you're done reading, you might want to skip this one.

You may have noticed that I've been quiet for a little while. I managed to lose access to my blog! Kind of like locking yourself out of the house, but not really. I changed my template and then could not access any of my pages or dashboard. There were no links or ways to get to my profile. Somehow I found an "open window" that I could crawl through and so I did just that. Hopefully I'll remember which way I did that, cause I do like the new template. It's still not my goal of a personalized custom template, but it's cute.

Speaking of goals, I didn't share a March update on my 65 in 365. Don't worry, you didn't miss anything. I'm fairly certain that I accomplished nothing on the list. And that is down right shameful! Hopefully there will be something to share before April is over.

Can you believe we're already half-way through April, or is it just me? I checked the calendar today and my gosh, where did the time go? Nobody's asked me where I've been lately, so I guess I wasn't abducted by aliens. But really...did the world somehow skip a week or two?

This has been a downright awful week, really the kind that it can only get better. Which is a relief I guess. Kelley and Bethany have both been home sick all week. Kelley had a cough last week, but it wasn't until Sunday that she clearly was sick. And by "clearly sick" it was one of those nights that includes vomiting. Not to get stuck on the subject because it's gross, but as parents do you find that vomiting always seems to commence at night, when everyone is in bed? That is always how it happens here. Bethany had a bit of a fever, so I knew she was headed for sickness as well. Monday was spent at the Pedi's office, which with waiting times is always an hours long, miserable event. Bethany had an ear infection and allergies. They suspected Kelley had strep or the flu, so they sent us for stat rapid tests. I bravely asked if they were testing for seasonal flu and swine flu, which the answer was yes. Big mommy mistake right there. Kelley heard *swine flu* and went into a panic. Turns out she had none of the above, which was a relief. But still had something, just not sure what. We came home armed with five filled prescriptions and I've been taking care of my sick babies all week-just wishing I could take the icky stuff from them. Though neither has much of an appetite, things are looking better and fevers are gone. Today they had such a case of cabin fever that I broke the "too sick for school" rule and let them out to get some fresh air and play for a bit.
So it's back to school tomorrow. They are ready! And would it be really bad if I said I was ready too?!

My missing tooth spot has healed. And I do feel much better. Though I feel uneven. I have this weird OCD thing with my body, things are supposed to be symmetrical and my mouth is not. That's been annoying. Also I've been a teeth freak my whole life so I was definitely sure that I needed to get a replacement tooth. Now I'm having trouble justifying spending $3-4,000 on it. That is crazy! Hundreds maybe, but thousands? If it was a front tooth then I'd have no qualms. But this is the next to last tooth in the back. What would you do? That's a lot of money.

As for money, Mr. H has once again decided to look at houses. He found one that is really great. It's a new construction, much bigger than ours, in a quiet, secluded location and is on the water. The price is good. But with us, nothing can ever be easy. It's not finished. So, that means more money. However if we can offer a bit lower, even with the costs to finish the home, it's still a pretty sweet deal. We're kind of excited about it and nervous at the same time.

Well, I think that about wraps up my rambles for now. Hopefully, I'll be getting back in the blogging groove, that is if I can find a way back into my blog.

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Neighbors...

I just read about the most crazy neighbors a person possibly could have...poor Snarky Mom at Postcards from Insanity, you've gotta go read about her *neighbors* real quick, I'll wait...

Fortunately our neighbors are all pretty cool. We consider ourselves lucky because the street just isn't the same as it was when I bought this house back in 1997. The ones closest to us are all older, have grandkids and aren't usually a problem. There was an adjustment period when our one neighbor moved in. She's not bad at all, but at the time she had her husband, daughter, daughter's boyfriend, and four grandkids with her. It was a bit, um, too much. Especially the oldest granddaughter who was 16 and not attending school like she should (stuck in 8th! grade) and not at all a good influence on Kelley and Bethany. Heck some of her conversations which were loud enough to be heard caused Mr. H and I to blush and cover out ears. Thankfully all is back to normal now with just grandma and her husband home, and I do hope it stays that way.

We are very, very lucky that there aren't any neighbors close by with dogs who live outside and bark...all.night.long.every.night. I've had those types of neighbors way too many times before and it's not a good thing. Being an animal lover, I was ashamed of the thoughts that ran through my mind night after sleepless night. And I have to wonder, how do the owners get any sleep?

The worst neighbor experience I've had was when I first moved to this town and ended up in a not so great place. (Mom, Dad, why on earth did you pick that place out for me?!) The problematic neighbors were, um, well...I'll just say they were not at all who you'd want to live in the same neighborhood with, let alone next to. I thought the man in particular was pretty gross, but apparently he didn't think so...his car had a plastic plate on the front that said, no joke- "Hot damn! Here I am!".

They had the requisite dog in the yard that barked all night long. Poor dog, I never saw anyone go near it. But yes I admit again, bad thoughts went through my mind, very bad thoughts. This was before the internet where I could have possibly found their phone number (without knowing their name). If only I'd had that number, I would have called them at 3am and perhaps barked into the phone. This was also before cell phones, just think about it, I could have called from their yard and held out the phone to their dog!

It got worse though. This part is absolutely unbelievable, but I tell no lies, it is the honest to goodness truth! The gross man was into CB/ham radios. He would talk on them all the time. How do I know you ask? Well because the radio transmissions were picked up somehow by my stereo and played LOUDLY through my stereo speakers! Even when the stereo was turned off! Even when the stereo was unplugged! There was no getting away from it!

I don't know if these people rented or owned their house. But they did not have the same landlord nor could I figure out who to complain to. I may have called the sheriff, I don't remember because if I did, well it didn't do any good. Needless to say I was so thankful when the lease was up and I got the heck out of there!

Years later I met a girl who it turned out lived in the same place after I did. I never asked her about the neighbors.

Have you had any neighbors from h.e. double hockey sticks? If so, tell me about them!

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back to the daily grind...

we're home from our little vacation. as i figured the mess we left waited for our return. how nice. so now it's time to get back to "operation purge and reorganize". it's apropos for the new year i suppose...if i hadn't just done this same thing a few months ago. this time though i'm doing it a bit differently. for example completely emptying the girls room and returning things one at a time. i'm doing a little bit of rearranging to let the girls better utilize their space.

and, and, and...i have some great ideas for giving everyone a little cubby they can call their own. i'm pretty excited about the possibilities. it's a must really as we are space challenged. mr. h works from home and is starting college classes this week so he needs an "office". the girls each would love to have their own "office space" too, with desks, bethany reminds me. as for me, i would love a little area to have my "creative space". ok this gives the impression that i'm actually a bit crafty. but really i'm only a crafty wannabe. with crafty ADD.

with the new year, the new arrangements and all, i'm thinking of new changes for my blog. i'm no dooce but i've been blogging long enough that it's kind of a hobby now. so eventually i'll work on that. one thing that is coming up soon and i'm pretty excited about is "65 in 365" which a bunch of my friends are doing. coming up with 65 things to do, goals, etc. in the next 365 days. it's the "new" new year's resolution!

in case you are wondering...no i haven't found me camera yet. ugh! this is starting to annoy me. it's gotta be somewhere in all of this *stuff*. i'm glad that i had no plans to share "before" pictures of "operation purge and reorganize". really it's too shameful. but i do plan on sharing the end results. that is if i ever get to the end results. and the christmas pictures. ugh. ugh. ugh.

ok so i've realized that the only purpose of this rambling blog post is to avoid to mess that awaits me. guess i better get to work. really it was so darn nice of all that stuff to wait on me. i'll be on the lookout for the camera, y'all be on the lookout for pictures and my "65 in 365"!

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