That's not true, I have a very GOOD idea of why they look the way they do. 

1.  I'm in the middle of painting bedrooms.
2.  I haven't slept most of the nights this week (was awake 3 times again last night).
3.  It's EXTREMELY humid outside and Jesse has refused to set the thermostats cool enough to offset the humidity that's seeping inside through the pores of our house.  I can't work (or sleep) when I'm overheated.
4.  When you don't feel well and are in the middle of projects, you tend to let other things go.
5.  I decided to give myself a break and not be so hard on myself, this ONE time, trying to keep everything spotless - which rarely happens, anyway.

Thus, the explanation of how I find my house this morning.  Further "imploding" the core of my very being is the fact: Jesse invited his brother and wife to spend the night tonight, maybe tomorrow, too.  I feel snowed under because the girls have a 2pm therapy appointment, which will put me home closer to dinner time than afternoon. 

GADZOOKS!!!!  Company????

I'm warning you - the house is a disaster area, but . . . with explanation.  And if you think I'm crazy, please keep your comments among yourselves, as I'm beating myself up (despite all the good and logical reasons) for letting things get this bad!

THE NEW GREEN BEDROOM:

1)  Why does cleanliness matter?  People are coming here completely unexpected.  My answer is, "You should always be ready for guests."

2)   People know children live here and don't expect your house to be spic and span.  Why are you so upset?  Yet another answer in my head replies, "But you SHOULD be able to find your way around your kitchen to cook your guests, if not your OWN family, a meal.

3)  How was I to know a guest would actually NEED to use the guest room?  The answers pops out in a flash, "You ALWAYS have guests.  That's what this house is about - an open door "guest" policy."

4.  If you think your house isn't good enough for guests, is your opinion of your OWN self and family so low that you should except this slovenliness to be *ok* to live in for days on end?  The answers appears with lightening speed, "Oh shut-up, Cherylyn!"

In protest of my completely unfruitful week:

1)  As soon as Jesse left for work, I turned the thermostat from 73 to 70 degrees.  (*GASP*!!!!!)  If I expect to get ANYTHING done, I can't be sweating up a storm and feeling sick, which is what happens when I am overheated, which has become a daily/nightly occurrence as we battle over the thermostat setting.  I have a note on the front door to turn it back up to 73 degrees when we leave for the girls' appointment.

2)  I can't move the king size bed by myself, so the double bed may go back to the girls' room until I have Jesse's help.  I'm a 55yo woman who is only able to do so much! 

3)  Even Jesse commented yesterday morning after I bathed and stood in my underwear in front of the oscillating fan, hands on hips, trying to cool my already perspiring body in the "wind" of the fan, "You look like Wonder Woman." 

My terse reply was, "Yeah, Wonder Woman making a come back 30 years later and experiencing menopause!"

I forgot to mention:  It is "our week" to bring snacks to the foster class,  I bought a gazillion white & black seedless grapes yesterday.  It sounded like an easy thing to bring.  But, now I must make time to wash them and cut them into small bunches to make serving them easier (and cleaner).  I guess it was going to be MY TURN at some point and no Saturdays have been good Saturdays.

On that note I will prepare to say good bye and leave everyone with these positive comments:

1)  The air conditioners have already begun to cool the house and I feel energy in my bones, although old and tired bones.  Actually, just sitting here - I feel chilly (shhhhhhhhh!).

2)  Some wonderful people (thanks, Reba & Glenn) are watching our 3 girls tomorrow while we attend the foster class.  With a plethora of friends, can you believe we could find no one available???  Well, maybe the fact we have THREE children to be watched explains that!

3)  The bright spot of my morning has been eating a banana that was perfectly ripe.  Not too green and not too yellow with black spots.

It's in the small things that happiness is found!

No cute pictures.

No complaining about my life (BTW:  I DID sleep well last night) or dumb mistakes I've made.

Not only should we remember how 9-11 impacted our lives, but also the April 19th bombing in Oklahoma City - where I live and remember feeling the bomb, as I sat in a desk chair at work.

Those dates, and many other violent news days, are memorable. 

Let us also remember the many days of peace and freedom we have had the privilege of living in The United States of America in between those horrendous days of tragedy. 

Let us be grateful for our blessings as we remember the not so great historical days.

IN REMEMBRANCE . . .

I decided to finish laundry, except for the sheets on my bed, in case I decided to crawl in it!  I also thought some desk work wouldn't hurt.  Yesterday, I was shocked to get an auto insurance cancellation notice in my e-mail.   It was only one day late, but that sure got my attention!  I guess while JoAnn was still here visiting, I paid everything up through the 15th of this month and must have missed that one bill, due on the 8th.

Today I balanced my check book which (I thought) had plenty of extra money until we have money deposited on the 15th.  I like to balance to the penny, now that I FINALLY learned how to do that!!!, and I like to balance weekly.  I haven't touched the account since mid-August.  Oops!  First mistake!  So, when I came out hundreds of dollars different, I just figured I needed to be more careful when punching numbers into my cheap Wal-Mart $1 calculator.  Nope, the figures were correct; both a second and third time. 

TALK ABOUT SOMETHING THAT WILL WAKE YOU UP FAST!!!!!

The Reality:  I had less than $100 in our account and over $400 in outstanding checks.  One was the car insurance payment I made over the phone yesterday.  The second was our church tithe - NOT a good one to have bounce!!!  I finally made things balance - down to the bank saying I had 20 cents more than I said I had.  Whatever!  We'll see how that works out over the next few times I balance; and then I'll take their 20 cents, if they insist!  I figured out I neglected to write down one $350 online payment, another $75 online utility payment, and had added a check for $151, instead of deducting it.  YOU do the math!  My biggest checking account boo-boo to date, for sure!  I was sick!!!

I called the bank first, before finding my errors, and immediately transferred money from our business account to cover a large amount of mistakes - not knowing HOW bad it was going to be!  Praise God Jesse is self-employed and we can do that!

I guess I did things too quickly and carelessly.  The times I forgot to post two bills paid online and added a check I wrote (instead of subtracting it) were within 24 hours and when JoAnn was still here visiting us.  I don't think I was paying absolute attention to what I was doing, something required if I'm expected to come up with correct math balances!!!

As quickly as I sprung to attention, worked out the problems, and sighed a sigh of relief, the emotional wear and tear sapped me right back down! 

And then "this" started, not helping matters.  You know, the real dark skies with soft gentle rain????  The lulling you to sleep kind of rain????!!!!

I've done 8 loads of laundry and emptied the refrigerator of all unrecognizable leftovers.  Keeping busy helps.  Since it IS starting to rain, I'm expecting Jesse home early.  It's creeping up from the south and will soon make it impossible for him to mow.

The other funny thing, the laundry room is REALLY hot from the dryer and I've put a package of ground beef on top of the washer's lid to thaw out - the warmest place in the house!!!!  A GOOD THING since I didn't think about meat for dinner until I made sandwiches for lunch!  Oh, help me!

Anyway, what a day to have on a normal (had enough sleep) day!!!!

Thus, the reason for ROFLOL!!!

I'd like to say I went to bed early, I *did* but I did *not* fall asleep early.

I'd like to say I feel "so much better" today, and I do (kinda) compared to yesterday.

The truth of the matter is, I was so exhausted by 7pm last night (and still alone with my children, as Jesse is working crazy hours - mowing in the dark - to keep ahead of his customer's lawns before the NEXT rains get here) that I thought I'd cry, but I was too tired to cry.  EVER BEEN THERE????

I got through dinner by making a frozen Stouffer's lasagne and throwing lettuce on our plates with homemade balsamic vinegar salad dressing - totally spaced on making the frozen garlic bread.

Finally, at 8pm, I got in bed and instructed the girls that unless the house caught on fire, or someone was profusely bleeding, NOT to wake me up.  AND (furthermore), if they woke me up by arguing, they'd all go to bed immediately.

They respected my wishes.

HOWEVER, I was so tired, I was wound up tight as a clock spring and could NOT relax.  The more I tried to relax, the more tense I became, causing the beginning of a headache. 

When the traces of a headache appeared, I labeled the whole sleep and tense-thing as "hormones" which made me relax a *little* bit.  Didn't make me fall asleep, but I quit trying to explore my head for what could be bothering me so much to make sleep elude my body.  NOTHING is bothering me.  I haven't stayed on schedule with the painting jobs, but it doesn't bother me - not at all.  I ran out of detergent (yes ME run out of something, in my organized pantry and laundry room stash!) after doing Rissy's clothes yesterday - but no biggie!  I don't have the ominous feeling that someone is about to die or I need to pray fervently for someone specifically  . . .   Gotta be hormones.  I made that analysis because, although it's muggy outside, the house is set at 73 degrees and I was burning up HOT all day and all night again.  Just sweatin' up a storm while I *sat* on the sofa or *sat* at my desk!  Too bad calories don't burn up as easily!!!  LOL  So, yep!, hormones.  And, I'll just have to wade my way through this, as I'm not running to the doctor for a "problem" that is supposed to be a natural occurrence in the body of a woman!  Last night, I took the sleeping pills the doctor prescribed for those "difficult nights" and laid there until 10:15pm, when I deliberately turned off the TV, thinking a total lack of stimulation would help.  It didn't.  I spent another restless night, but maybe got an hour more of sleep than the previous night.  I'm a person who REQUIRES sleep.  I feel "sick" without it.  When I woke up at 6:30am, I played my Pollyanna "glad game" and thought about soon how the clocks would have to fall back and how dark it would be when arising in the mornings, so I thought of it as retraining my sleep brain!  Happy!  Happy!  Me!  (giggle!)

I need to adjust my attitude and NOT my prescription dosage.

I need to take the advice from my friend Julie who left a comment on my blog yesterday.  Visit her blog today, if you get the chance, because she posted lyrics to a song that made a better point of what I was trying to express yesterday . . .

Maybe watching "Little House on the Prairie" DVD's with my girls cuddled up (all of us together) in my bed isn't a grievous act of irresponsibility . . . as long as I do laundry in between shows!!!  (Jesse told me where to find one more bottle of Tide in the garage!)

So that's the plan, Stan!  Just taking a chill pill and letting God set the course of my day.  Otherwise, things will be totally out of control.  I can "feel it" in my tired bones. 

P.S.  Sorry about the spooky glow-in-the-dark pictures of Stormy's eyes.  Red-eye reduction doesn't take the place of glow-eye reduction!

P.P.S.S.  The border you see in the pictures above Stormy's head is what needs to be covered with primer before painting the walls, basically, the same color (minus border) again.

I didn't sleep well last night - not at all. 

I was HOT (throwing the blankets off of me and then back on) because Jesse and I had forgotten to turn the thermostat (that controls the bedrooms' temperatures) down; RESTLESS (felt like I was only barely sleeping, but mostly awake); and had some OBSCURE DREAMS (too many to remember!). 

In one dream, I was trying to transfer all of our family's prescriptions to ONE Wal-Mart store, but the pharmacy required me to name the type of medicine, the person for whom it was prescribed, the date it was last filled, and the prescription number - ALL FROM MEMORY!   Since my memory is so poor lately, I guess that one could have been termed more of a "nightmare" than a dream!

Other weird-type dreams persisted.  Last night, I ate chicken breast with barbecue sauce, macaroni & cheese, and a green salad for dinner.  Nothing so unusual as to cause my sleep to be disturbed and deprived.  But it was - VERY deprived.  After an interrupted 6 hours of "trying" to sleep, and waking up at 5:30am thinking I could fall back asleep if I tried hard enough, I got up at 6:35am. 

I hit the coffee maker's "brew" button and turned on the TV.  My head was dizzy and swimming and I felt icky and sleep sick.  Kinda nauseous. 

Local news was boring, so I flipped over to Fox and Friends.  I saw there (and then again, later, on NBC's "The Today Show") something about some music award show yesterday where some band member made fun of some other band members who wear promise rings as a sign they intend to remain pure until they marry.  "The Today's Show" did a whole segment on the fact some people attempting to do something "good" were being criticized.   They didn't actually agree with the band members wearing the promise rings as a "sign" of a moral decision; but, had to actually ask two guests the question, "Is this for real or what?  Does it work?"  Does that mean the thought of chastity is that weird that guest panelists have to debate its validity????

I know I am sleep deprived and probably easily agitated this morning (and might remain so, until I can get a nap later this afternoon), but several questions crossed my mind.

I wondered why those who are Christians are bashed and not given an equal opportunity to speak up for what they believe to be good or right.  They can't speak their mind and then the TV show simply move on to a commercial break.  There always has to be someone on, BEFORE the commercial break, refuting a moral statement made by a Christian. 

Does that mean one of the Ten Commandments: "Thou shall not murder" is something harmful to post on the walls of public buildings because it might send a negative message?  I'm just not able to comprehend how that statement is harmful to anyone - Christian or otherwise????!!!!

Why do Britney Spears and Paris Hilton dominate the news coverage?

AND, why is the fact that Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt (once married) met secretly over a dinner meal, this week, deemed newsworthy?

Is that what sells magazines and boosts a TV show's ratings?

Do most people really care MORE about the lives of stars and not about the common men and women who serve as, say, firefighters or police officers?  Unless a police officer gets caught doing something wrong, you will rarely see one appearing in the news.

Are the goings on in the life of Mylie Cyrus (Hannah Montana) more of an attention grabber and newsworthy than the fact we're coming up on the anniversary of the 911 disaster and GOOD, DECENT people lost their lives while being heroes?  Is that "old" news?

Is a single man or woman trying to remain chaste until marriage really something to giggle about?  Something to "DEBATE" on the news because its hard to believe it could ACTUALLY be true?

Is "GOOD" really *that* unusual?????

I may just be grouchy this morning due to lack of sleep, but I really am wondering:

BUT (anyone who knows me won't believe I actually scheduled this by choice!), I am supposed to meet Stephanie at Wal-Mart at 10:30am.  I have to give her something and we decided to grocery shop together.  She's coming over tonight to do 2 loads of laundry and have dinner with us.

I need to take a quick bath and get all of us dressed, hair done, and shoes on the right child and correct feet!  No easy task with 3 girls and me not being a morning person!

I have a busy week - at least that's my plan . . .

* I have to finish covering the few spots I missed in the new green room.  It's best to do when it's dark because I just can't see them when it's daylight, despite the blinds being closed.

* The king size bed needs to be moved to the new green room and the dressers put back against the wall.

*  The beds remaining in the guest room (a double and a twin) need to be propped up somewhere, and the border someone stenciled around the top of the wall needs to be primed, as do a few dark spots on the wall.

*  The room will be painted "cream" - a "nondescript cream" to cover an already nondescript (but old and dirty) cream color.  I don't doubt this will be tedious and extremely boring.  I'm already preparing my mind for the dull job!!!

* Of course, the girls have their therapy appointment on Friday and I'll have to do a little shopping for perishable items.  Milk . . . cheese . . . and grapes for our class snacks on Saturday, which is "our" week to help supply them.

That's about all for now~~~

Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

When I opened the front door, I felt a strange pall of death atmosphere hanging in the air.  What in the world could be wrong?  Aha!  No pets around.  No Sampson running to us to be let outside.  No Stormy, which isn't THAT unusual.  But the greatest loss of pets was Chirper.  Chirper "always at the door to greet us" Elzabad. 

Not even the wafting aroma of warm chicken from our Chinese food brought the animals into our presence. 

ALL VERY WEIRD!!!

I began to worry when we called all three pets by name and no one appeared.  Well, not that unusual for poor Sampson, who can barely hear, anyway.  But Stormy?  AND CHIRPER!!!!????!!!!!   Chirper ALWAYS is the first one at our feet - so glad to see us again.

We were almost finished with our lunch when we began to hear cat cries in a voice that was NOT Stormy's.  The cry continued to get closer and closer until Chirper came crawling into the kitchen with his belly low to the floor in a posture of total submission!  Of course we couldn't help but ask in our gruffest of voices, "Were you playing in the bathroom while we were gone, Chirper?"  Another, but more meek, meow emerged from Chirper, as he laid down on the floor and rolled over onto his side.  Another smaller meow came from his totally docile mouth and body.  In all the weeks we've had him, you have my word, he has NEVER meowed as much as he did today!

Once he knew he was safe from receiving corporal punishment, he ventured a little closer and Stormy came out of hiding after deeming the coast was clear.

As we talked about our own childhood experiences and wondering what these foster children may be first experiencing as they enter the custody of the state, (a very, VERY serious discussion)  -  Chirper came running through the kitchen table area looking like a dog with a stick in his mouth.  What in the world????  A straw!  But from WHERE?

We continued our discussion after he abandoned the straw under the kitchen table and then he came trotting in front of us in the den with another straw in his mouth, carrying it (again) sideways like a dog would retrieve a stick!  I finally figured out they must have fallen from a draw I keep them in down to a cabinet below.  A cabinet that stores the cans of cat food.  I figured he had found a way to open the bottom cupboard door (I KNOW Stormy can open the cat food cupboard) and was pulling the lost straws from there!  It was all quite entertaining and our serious conversation eventually ended so we could enjoy the antics of Chirper Elzabad!

That is our relaxing Sunday in a nutshell.  Serious discussions and serious redemption issues with our youngest pet!

NOT!

We went to lunch with another couple we met in our class and enjoyed their company - they seem really nice and are "kinship" fostering a niece.  We had the nice surprise of finding in our class a couple that used to attend one of the churches we still attend.  Maybe we'll go to lunch with them next week.

Anyway, I'm tired.  Jesse's tired.   The girls are tired.  The cats and dog are just glad we are home.  The dog needed to go outside BADLY and the cats were hungry, since they missed "lunch" today!

My keyboard is still missing "f" "n" "g" and now the "-" keys.  I haven't plugged in the new keyboard yet.  No time to mess with it.  Climbing under a desk at my age is a big deal!!!  I don't feel like fighting the keys and hitting them 3 times before the letter shows up on the screen, so this will be short tonight!

I need to find something for us to eat for dinner.  Right now, I know more than I ever wanted to know about foster children and need to find some solace in food, I think!

God Bless!

I still have to take care of recording Jesse's checks and prepare a deposit slip.  It was just not in the picture of things for me to do, last night.  In fact, I never separated that ground beef into smaller packages for the freezer!  I opened up an end of one 10lb chub of ground beef, grabbed some meat, browned the meat, threw 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup (Annamarie never knew!!!) in the cooked meat with some milk, boiled egg noodles, and heated mixed vegetables in the microwave oven.  Voila!  Dinner!  Beef over noodles with mixed veggies on the side - on paper plates, I might add. 

I was so tired, I only washed the paint from my hands (it came off only slightly easier than the primer) and went to bed.  I'll have to shower and wash my hair this morning (and try harder to scrub the rest of the paint off!!!), make out Jesse's deposit slip, clean a few areas of the house, and then we're outta here!!!

No Lori, I haven't used my birthday cord keeper thingy, yet.  We keep changing cords around.  See the new keyboard under the desk???  Dh surprised me Wednesday by bringing home that and a Nintendo DS with a "Brain Power" game.  Yay, Jesse!  I have my doubts that my Brain Power game will boost my "brain" - but, anything's worth a try!!!!

This is probably the sloppiest job I've ever done . . . but you get what you get.  It's not a horrible job, and I've seen many who do a much worse job than this.  The truth is:  I really don't care. 

I'm ready to clean up (at least my body was protected today!!!!  just my hands and lower arms took a beating!) and then I have to become creative with ground beef for dinner.  It's almost 6pm, so I better get my creativity going fast!  I had also told Jesse I would get his checks ready to be deposited tomorrow.  I may have to do that tomorrow morning.  There isn't much strength or brain cells left in poor ol' worn out me right now.  Surely there is a box of Rice a Roni in my pantry I can add ground beef to!

I used only one can of the light green paint.  I'm sure, tomorrow, we'll see little spots that need to be touched up or gone over with a second coat.  Probably, if I'd put on my glasses, I'd see those spots now.  But, I really don't want to know!!!

Thanks for taking me through this project and pushing me.  I needed a cheer leading squad for this one!!!

I'd have Rissy take a picture of me right now, but I'm pretty pathetic and beaten up looking!!!