See: quote of the day

I am totally frazzled and I do not get frazzled. My anxiety level has reached an all time high and it's freaking me out. I feel like I am on a constant overdose of:You know those diet pills that are supposed to vamp up your metabolism by making you jittery all. day. long? I just can't seem to relax. I'm sure if I were to take my blood pressure right now it would be: and I am always in the 110's. This feeling of not being in control really has an effect on me. I am used to being in control. Control of myself, my kids, my house, my finances, etc, but lately it feels like they are taking control of me. If you could see my house right now you would want to report me to:the BBC's, How Clean is Your House. These woman would not be pleased with me. Today I had another inspector here to make sure our house was up to code and I didn't even clean-up. Usually, I wouldn't dare let someone look around my house without cleaning it, but my no-care-attitude as of late has taken over. It's really despicable if you ask me.
I haven't been: well at all which contributes to the no care attitude because I am too tired. This living in the future thing has got to stop. My life has always been so scheduled/planned out but there is no rhyme or reason at this point. I even scheduled the day in which both my kids would be born. I said, the 11th sounds good, how does 7am sound,
because I do not like:surprises. I told Eric the other day that I think the stress of 2005 was like a walk in the park compared to 2008, and 2005 was the year from hell. I just need to keep telling myself, at least the house is sold, that always seems to help for at least a few minutes.

A fresh outlook

Last week I got great news about our Rover, if you remember the dealership quoted me anywhere from $800-$9,000 to fix it. Totally laughable. So, I called this independent repair shop that specializes in English cars. He said it could be as simple as the fuel filter. What? The dealership never mentioned anything about that.... ugh. So I scheduled a time for him to take a look at it to figure out just what it could be and if the car was worth saving. In the meantime that meant that I would have no car. I have long since liked the Honda Pilot and the Saturn Outlook and decided to call them to see if they ever offer extended test drives, and wouldn't you know, Saturn does! So tonight we picked up a car to test drive for a day or so... just enough time to get me through the day or so that it will take to tell me what my rover needs. Hooray, free rental car!! And to tell you the truth, I really like it.

Junky junk

For those of you that live near me, a question... Do you need to get rid of anything? I want to have a garage sale before we leave and am thinking of doing it in April sometime. If you want to sell anything and would like to bring stuff over to my house let me know. I have already started to sort through all of our stuff and have a pretty significant amount of CRAP! I guess if you have nothing to sell you can always come buy my stuff.

Climbing the walls

Yesterday we were teased with a 50 degree day here in WI. The boys and I were so ready to venture out - it came at the perfect time. Of course today we got a nice big punch in the gut when we woke up to flurries and 35 degrees.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

My thoughts exactly.

Of the tribe called Flintstone

Could this be quite possibly the meatiest foot ever? I tried these on Cohen the other night among a bunch of other shoes that Ethan used to wear. This one is not gonna cut it. When he stood up in them his toes hung way over the front of the shoe. I'm not even sure he has bones in his feet let alone his non-existent ankles. Thank you Eric - your cankles are in affect.

Two giant steps forward, two large steps back

Well, it appears my luck has ended. I was on a roll, so I thought. I sold my house day one, for asking price. I was flying high. No worries in sight. Then Eric passes his boards - no problem. Relaxing on could nine. Somethings gotta give, right? Right. Monday, my washing machine decides it doesn't want to drain/spin anymore. So, for the past two days I have had loads among loads piling up. Today, a service guy came over and told me I will have to call Kenmore directly because he is unable to service it. Great. Now I will be waiting until Friday for a service call that will cost me $65 just for the guy to knock on my door. Then, I can only assume parts will be a boat load. Ugh. And to top it off I took my car in yesterday because it was acting weird (why couldn't one of my sisters found a nice mechanic to marry is beyond me) and got a mouth full of car crap that means nothing to me other than $$$! So, pretty much the Rover is on it's last leg along with my washer. Like I can drive a car cross country when it has issues! Issues that he says could cost anywhere between $800-$9,000. Now how the hell do you budget for that? This is exactly what happened to us when we were ready to leave Provo, Eric's Jeep was ready to die. Their symptoms match perfectly... 90,000 miles, only 6 years owned, and the cost to fix it would be more than the car is worth. Stress is building. The cherry on top of it all is that Eric has to fly to Kansas City in two weeks for his clinical board exam. Let the emotional eating begin. My fingernails are already non-existent.

Easter Breakfast

This morning I made these....
Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls
a la Top Secret Recipes.

And they tasted spot on!

Rolls

2 T yeast
1 c warm milk
½ c sugar
1/3 c butter, melted
1 t salt
2 eggs
4 c flour

Filling

1 c brown sugar
2 ½ T cinnamon
1/3 c butter, melted
nuts, raisins

Icing

1 stick butter, soft
2 oz cream cheese
1 ½ c powdered sugar
½ t vanilla

1. For rolls, dissolve yeast in warm milk in large bowl.
2. Add sugar, butter, salt, eggs, and flour and mix well.
3. Knead dough into a large ball. Cover and let rise about 1 hour.
4. Roll out on floured surface to about 21×16 and about ¼ inch thick.
5. Preheat oven to 400.
6. For filling, combine cinnamon and brown sugar, spread butter over surface and sprinkle with cinnamon mixture.
7. Roll dough from 21 inch side.
8. Cut into 1 ¾ inch slices and place in a lightly greased pan. Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly brown.
9. While rolls bake, combine icing ingredients and beat until fluffy.
10. When rolls slightly cool, coat generously with icing.

Makes 12

25!

Happy Birthday Molls balls & Barfa!

Isn't this picture great? When would you say this was taken? 1995? That would put you at 12 years. That's more than half your current age. Crazy how time flies. I think that's my head in the background, behind Mr. Pig. I wish I was in N. Cal to celebrate - have a great day! Love you guys.

p.s. we really need to have martha's shirt re-made.

Let's ask Ethan

Scene: Sitting at the kitchen table eating dinner, NCAA basketball on TV, Ethan's pump starts beeping.

Eric: Ugh, Ethan needs a new site. Ethan, who do you want to give you a new site, Mommy or Daddy?
Ethan: Mommy.
Eric: Booyah, ha ha haha... too bad Jos, I guess you have to do it.
Josie: Ethan, who do you want to do the dinner dishes, Mommy or Daddy?
Ethan: Daddy.
Josie: LOL. Nice, Ethan! I will take a 2 minute site change over dishes any day.

Dinner, bloody nose and some easter eggs

Eric is on spring break right now so we had some friends over last night for dinner and a movie. We actually barbecued in the 35 degree weather. We felt like we couldn't wait any longer for Wisconsin's spring to come - I think Mother Nature realized our defiance and decided to stick it to us because we woke up to 5" of new snow on the ground. Ugh. So, midway through dinner last night Ethan gets a great idea ("Mom, I have a good idea, why doesn't Carter sleep at my house tonight?") that Carter should stay over. Ok, I don't see why not... so we put the boys to bed and head downstairs to watch I Am Legend. A little freaky for my taste, but ok.
Well, midway through the movie I hear footsteps upstairs. So I run upstairs to lay down the hammer and find Ethan and Carter in the dining room, Ethan with a crazy bloody nose, and Carter balling because he has no idea what is happening to his friend's face. Supposedly, there was some wrestling or something going on in the dark in Ethan's room and this was the result. Ethan had to keep saying over and over, "I'm fine, I'm fine", because he thought Carter would have to go home. See, that's always the threat... eat your dinner or Carter will have to go home, go to bed or Carter will have to go home, brush your teeth or Carter will have to go home... apparently he was listening. Eventually, they fell asleep, and when they woke up they had fresh snow to play in and a dozen easter eggs to dye. Oh, the insanity.

No, I had no part in organizing the eggs like this.
Poor Ethan, he has inherited my OCD.

Ethan was wanting that sticker to stay on the egg a little too much.

It's official

Eric is in line to graduate on time thanks to his above average board scores! Phew, so glad that's over. We are all so happy for you Eric!

BLURB

I just went through the mail pile from the last few days and my Blurb book was there waiting for me! I think it turned out great - very worth the time, energy, and money spent. The quality of the pictures are great. I am for sure going to make one of these every year.

I'm baaack

Well, my life as a full time mom has resumed. I got back from Em's last night and it was as I never left. Eric slept in as I made breakfast and got the kids ready for school. I guess he is entitled, after all, he did let me go. It was a fun, quick trip. It was great to meet little Addison. She started to pull herself up onto her feet while I was there and her first tooth broke through! Em looked great and I was very impressed with her store, The Dressing Room. She is in the process of renovating a new space which she will be moving into in a few months. So, we shopped a lot for new draperies, fabric, accessories, etc for the new store. I did fail to get Em to start a blog. I think she's being truthful when she says she has no time for one. Maybe after the new store opens?!? Jonas is Jonas - easy going, a great dad, patient, and hardworking. He did such a great job renovating their house. Thanks guys for letting me come, but next time you will be coming my way!

Em's store

Addie - SO CUTE!

Atlantic - quite a difference compared to the beaches in California.

Big heads!

Newburyport, Mass - cute stores, restaurants
cobblestones roads everywhere

These surfers are nuts. It was freezing - air temp was only in the high 30's,
I can't imagine the water temp.

This one's for Eric

That countdown has never looked so good!

School Pictures

Ethan got his school pictures back today. He is looking so grown up. Here were the two that looked the best. This year, he actually had a nice smile. Now why can't I get him to do this in pictures I take?






















This one cracked me up so I had to get it. Soooo serious, yet kind of shady at the same time. I wonder what the lady told him to think about when he was making this face.

Amazing

I saw this on the Today show this morning and was in shock. Ethan is 4 and is NOT reading. Cohen is her same age and is saying like 5-8 words is all. Can you image?

Success!

Yes, I got it! Go ME!

I took this picture the other day at the Y. I turned my back for two seconds and when I looked back Cohen was in the foosball game retrieving the ball. He is such a climber lately, I can't keep him on the floor.

Dreamweaver

I am leaving town this Friday. Yes, my husband granted me this trip after one of my quarterly "I don't want to be a SAHM anymore" breakdowns. I think he just wanted me to get out of the funk I had been in so he promised me the only thing that would do that - a break! So, I'm headed to Em's house in NH. I can't wait to meet her little Addie and see her store. If you can't tell this picture was taken a looong time ago. I recently had all of my old negatives put onto CD's (all 1600 of them) and this was one of them. I think if I keep posting pictures of her she might get a blog for herself so that she can post pictures of me in her defense. Maybe I can talk her into one when I am out there?

Hugs and kisses to Eric for letting me go during his spring break from school. He's had a crazy year as well and it isn't over. Unfortunately, I can't grant him a break from school - it's mandatory. I think a break for him is just being home. He is a great dad and will do just fine without me! Last night he was asking me about the details of my flight - it went something like this:

E: So, when do you leave again?
J: Friday.
E: And when do you get back?
J: Thursday.
E: No, really.
J: Thursday.
E: Jos, seriously.
J: Ok, Wednesday.
E: No, really Jos.
J: Seriously Eric - I get back Wednesday.
E: (enter mean look here)
J: OKAY, Tuesday.
E: Tuesday? That is so long.
J: Eric, I don't get in until late Friday night, so I only have Sat, Sun, Mon and then I leave Tuesday. It's not that long.
E: Brutaaaaallll!

I bet he is wishing he wasn't my dreamweaver after all.

First year

I decided to treat myself to an anniversary blog present. So, I visited blurb and created my very own hard copy of the first year of this blog. Fitting, considering today is my anniversary. Using blurb was really easy, a little time consuming because I had to customize everything, but very worth it. They import all of your pictures and text automatically so you can just drag and drop what you want in your book. It is really reasonable too. For my 100 page book it only cost $26 for a soft cover, or $32 for a hardcover (+shipping). I am expecting to receive it soon and will post pictures when I get it. I recommend it to all you bloggers out there that consider this your journal and want a copy of it. Blurb isn't just for blogs either. If you want to make a scrapbook, or you are a photographer and want a coffee table book of your favorite pictures - it has tons of options. Check it out...

Phew...

Our inspection passed, 100%, with no complaints from the buyers!! I can breathe easy now. I am so relieved. I was on edge all day. I was really planning for the worst. I thought for sure they would come back asking for some kind of discount. Thank goodness they didn't. Let the packing begin!

Bowlerama

Last night we ventured out to the local bowling alley for a good ol' family night out. Ethan really got into it this time. He picked out his ball - a 6 pounder, picked the color - green, put on his velcro shoes and was ready to go. Cohen was just loving the glowing light and the arcade games. Oh, and running from lane to lane, in front of other bowlers. Eric beat me for the first time in a very long time. I don't know what happened to me but in the 5th and 6th frames I choked. So unlike me. If only WI could pass the law banning smoking indoors. I don't think there is anything worse than a baby that smells like cigarettes.