Logistics

One of the hardest things about living without my husband around has been the logistics of handling three small kids. I have only one set of hands and there are times when Chloe and Luke both need their teeth brushed, Audrey needs a bottle, everyone needs pajamas, I still need dinner, and we all need it RIGHT! NOW!

But sometimes it's really a little ridiculous! Our tv broke, so I did all my comparison shopping online, then bought a new one. from Sears (because have I mentioned that I am watching the entire Alias series on dvd while my husband is gone? How did I not know this was such a great show and I was totally missing out while it was actually on the air?)

Anyway. I ordered it to be delivered to our local Sears and went to pick it up today. The designated loading zone for the pick up area was full, so I parked in the nearest parking space about 10 feet away.

Got all three kids unstrapped and out.

Got Audrey in the stroller.

Splashed in puddles.

Went inside to have them load up the tv.

But they could not load it into my car that was 10 feet away from the designated loading area. So I went back out.

Splashed in puddles.

Got Audrey out of the stroller.

Got all three kids in and strapped.

Drove 10 feet and waited while the guys put it in the back of the van.

Drove 10 feet to park again.

Got all three kids unstrapped and out.

Got Audrey in the stroller.

Splashed in puddles.

Went into the mall to have dinner and look at sand sculptures.

And we all had ice cream.

Because it really does make everything better!

The winner is...

JennyB! But I don't have any way to contact you. So hopefully you check back with me. You get your choice of cups. Each one has the coffee picture on it, but there are three sayings to choose from...

-A morning without coffee is like...something...without something else.
-Sleep is a symptom of caffeine deprivation.
-Behind every successful woman is a substantial amount of coffee.

Let me know which one you prefer!

The bloggy giveaway!!!

***UPDATE*** Comments are now closed. The winner will be announced this evening around 5pm central time. See ya then!

It's here! Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer is hosting the bloggy giveaway. To join in the fun, I am giving away an "After a cup of coffee...or two" mug! You can choose from three designs. And don't worry, if you like the mugs but don't win, you can buy one for yourself (or your 50 closest friends) on my sidebar.

Good luck!

Oh, and if you actually want to win, make sure you leave me your email or blog address so I can find you! The winner will be chosen at random on Friday, July 27. This giveaway is open only for those in the US or Canada.


create & buy custom products at Zazzle

The Most Beautiful Words

From my dishwasher's instructions:

"There is no need to prewash your dishes."

Doesn't it send shivers down your spine?

I have a dishwasher!!!

And I have no idea how it is possible but somehow the new dishwasher- which is exactly the same size and fits in the same space as my old one- holds about 14,000 more dishes.

And the top rack raises and lowers and there are things that attach and detach and fold over, and it brings me joy and fills my kitchen with light and happiness just to look at it.

It does not, however, bring me joy to see the scratch/chip that somehow got put in my cupboard. I've had three phone conversations about it today, the original guy who came out is coming back next week to look at it, and you can bet that Home Depot is getting a visit by me in person.

I'll keep you updated about that.

And I know you'll all just be on the edge of your seats until this drama plays out.

I hope you can sleep what with all the excitement and new developments going on.

But hey, at least it got rid of my blogger's block!

I got one!

If you don't read BooMama (why? why wouldn't you read BooMama every day?) then you might not know about Monk and Neagle.

In that case, click here NOW!

I got one of their free cd's in their recent giveaway, and I am so excited! I can't wait for it to come. You can listen to five of their songs if you click here. My favorite is Beautiful You.

And just in case you somehow missed the 340 other opportunities I gave you, you can click here to hear them.

Or here.

Could you use $300 in free groceries?

5 minutes for mom and Horizon Organic are giving away $300 in free dairy products!!! To enter to win go check out 5 minutes for mom!

The magic words

So today I discovered that Home Depot really does appreciate it when you use the magic words.

But they aren't "please" and "thank you" no matter what The Backyardigans sing.

No, the magic words for Home Depot are "baby" and "health hazard."

As soon as I said that, they were all about coming out today to try and fix my sink, instead of maybe tomorrow or whenever their contractors had time.

Wouldn't the world be so much nicer if people really did respond to please and thank you?

It's like something out of a bad movie

You know those movies where the husband goes away and then everything goes wrong?

Well, I have been waiting and waiting for our new dishwasher to arrive. The one that came with our house makes the dishes dirtier than when they went in.

Seriously.

It just spreads sediment over everything in there, kind of like some nasty, less cheerful form of pixie dust.

So today was finally the day, and the delivery men arrived, and I had to dig out my reciept to prove to them that they really did have to bring it all the way into the kitchen, install it, and take away our old one.

Because we had already paid them to do it.

Really. We had.

So when they were finally convinced, and after some grumbling about squeezing the dishwasher past all the baby toys in the house, they hooked it all up, and we turned that baby on.

And nothing happened.

Well, not exactly nothing. It made some noise but it was so quiet that we all leaned in to see if that was the water.

It wasn't.

An hour of pushing buttons later I had to refuse to accept the new dishwasher, convince them that they had to bring the old one back in, because they wanted to leave a gaping hole the size of a large cave in my kitchen, with live electrical wires hanging out.

They said we just shouldn't touch them.

Yeah.

So they put the old dishwasher back in and left.

Note that I said "put it back in" and not "installed."

Because they didn't. Install it.

So after dinner we had to handwash about a days worth of dishes. And then we opened the cupboard under the sink. And that's when we found the flood.

And all the food we had just washed off the dishes.

So we had to empty the cupboard, clean out all the water, food and general nastiness, and my first instinct (which I thankfully avoided) was to grab the sink sponge and rinse it out in the sink.

And Home Depot does not currently have anyone in the store they can call to fix this, so we are sinkless until tomorrow. Because the delivery men left the old dishwasher, but did not leave any of the hoses or pipes, so I can't even go in there and try to fix it myself.

Not that I'd know what to do if they had, but still. It would have been something.

Oh! Somthing to write about!

I have had some serious writer's block lately, but this is definitely worth posting!

Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer is hosting a bloggy giveaway carnival!

Lots of free stuff.

All at the same time.

It doesn't get much better than that.

Check it out at her site, and check back here next Monday!

Now I just have to think of something really good to give away...

Well that didn't last long!

Today I had someone (a friend's sister) come and clean for me. I've just been overwhelmed and my house was in serious need.

She scrubbed my kitchen and both bathrooms for me, and they were cleaner than they had been in months.

Notice the word "were."

Chloe wanted to eat a biscuit leftover from dinner last night so she sat down at the table.

And then dropped the biscuit on the floor.

It bounced.

And rolled.

And crumbled.

The floor that was clean? Is clean no more.

Introducing the coffee shop

So you may (or may not) have noticed the nifty little (ORANGE) box in my sidebar for TheFind.com.

(But really, it's orange, and the rest of my blog is not. How could you miss it?)

It's this really cool shopping search engine that is geared towards women. When I need to buy something, I usually head straight to Amazon, or if I'm feeling frugal, then I'll go to, well, froogle.

But this site is SO. MUCH. BETTER.

It definitely has a much easier results page to use and finds the best prices.

Remember that mascara I told you about a couple months ago? I totally found it for less than the link I gave you when I used TheFind. (And come on, it's expensive mascara! I'm all about saving $4.) And you can click this handy little (orange) button to find it easily.

I don't have to promote any products or anything, these are just (ORANGE) tools to make your shopping life much easier if you find you're interested in something that I like.

And ok, I'll make a small profit when you buy something through my blog (you could just do all your Christmas shopping through me, if you wanted!), but by using the coffee shop, you'll be supporting me.

And by supporting me, you're supporting my husband in the Navy.

You're practically supporting America and the fight for freedom.

(Ok, maybe that was taking it too far.)

Check it out!

(Did I mention that it's orange?)

WW- Meet Pink and Blue Daddy

yawn...sigh...

WARNING...much wallowing and self-pity ahead!

I've been trying really hard to think of something funny or even light-hearted to write about, but I'm dry.

I feel like the life has been sucked right out of me.

Right now my ideal day would be to sleep in as late as I possibly could, then get up, move to the couch and read and watch tv until it was time for a nap. Then wake up, read and watch tv, and then go to bed.

In short, completely lazy and self-centered.

With a lot of chocolate.

I know a lot of this is post-company let-down. My mom was here for a week, so I had help and company. Now that she's gone, everything just seems like so much effort.

Plus, it feels like my husband has been gone FOR-E-VER, yet it hasn't even been a month yet.

*sigh*

We don't even have any chocolate in the house...

Wordless Wednesday- Fireworks

Ya'll ROCK!!!

I can't even begin to tell you all how much you have encouraged me over the past weeks as my husband has been deployed. I so appreciate your prayers as well as your comforting and uplifting and funny comments and emails.

Now I have been nominated for two bloggy awards in one week! You guys know exactly how to make a girl feel loved.

First, Kate at Small Scribbles nominated me for a Blogger Reflection Award! Her posts are always so thought-provoking and inspiring, that it was an honor to be nominated by her!

Then, Missy at The Three Olivos nominated me for a Rockin' Girl Blogger Award! I've only read Missy's blog a few times (and she is new to mine, too!) so it was so sweet of her to think of me!

Now I am supposed to nominate other bloggers...however, 10 is a bit much! Five for each award. So if you can forgive me, I think I'll do two for each award.

Here are the rules for the Blogger Reflection Award:

"Give to those who have who have been an encouragement, a source of love, impacted you in some way, and have been a Godly example to you. Five Bloggers who when you reflect on them you get a sense of pride and joy… of knowing them and being blessed by them.”“This award is for the best-of-the-best so consider who you pick, carefully. This award should not be given to just anyone. If you’re going to do the award don’t just write a few words and slap it on your Blog. Write real thoughts about these Bloggers and what they’ve meant to you. If the Bloggers you pick have already been given the award, don’t be afraid to give it to them again. They deserve it as many times as it’s given.”

First...Bethany at A Picturesqe Life and Joy at Living Joyously. I am blessed to know both these bloggers in real life. They both challenge me to be a better mom, are dedicated to God and their families, and include tons of pictures of their gorgeous children!

Next, the Rockin Girl Blogger Award...This goes to Megan at SortaCrunchy and Mikki at My Bible and a Cup of Coffee Works For Me. They are so sweet to read my blog and comment and are constantly encouraging me and praying for me, and I so look forward to hearing from them. Yet I am such a bad commenter on their blogs! I totally lurk. They are definitely some rockin' mamas!

Thank you all again!