funny how blogging gets pushed to the side.

it's been um...17 days since i last posted? if my mommy mind can count i think that's right...

what have i been busy doing???

1. i cooked the hell out of a turkey on thanksgiving. i was so impressed. however, when i look at this picture i have to think of the old gag...'which one is the turkey?' ha.

2. we bought a car! wow! well, not a car. we're now proud owners of a 2006 honda odyssey. we picked it up a week ago yesterday and we still only have 200 miles on it. i think 150 of that is runs to walmart. (and yes i'm going back again tomorrow...rob bought granola bars today that expired in july '05...i'm surprised he didn't have to wipe the dust off the box to see what he was buying.) we have a moonroof, leather seats, power side doors and a dvd player. to tell the truth all i wanted was the basic one with cloth seats but i started thinking about those long trips to iowa to see grandma & grandpa. so we went with the leather package. i was impressed with the dealership (not the salesperson, just the dealership). they gave us full price for our trade in. lesson learned: get the used vehicle appraised at night. i doubt they saw the windshield pits, the rusty spots on the hood, how long it had been since it'd been washed or waxed...

3. we're about done with our xmas shopping. actually rob did most of it. i just have to shop for my mom & bro & sister-in-law. i think my mom is about done. now, my bro & sil, i have no clue. this is a sore spot with me. i'd love to get them something for their house (a picture, a mirror, an appliance) but have i ever been invited to where they live? no. they bought a new house this past spring and we were in iowa over the summer but were we invited to see it? no. sil said that she would invite me next time we were out, b/c they had to 'clean.' wtf. it's a herculean effort to get out to iowa to see family and they have a new house and she says 'we'll do it next time?' phhhhhbt. i have a feeling it's a dump. but do they think i'm that rude to have this disgusted look on my face if i were to come over? ugh. like i said...sore spot.

i guess i don't have a 4.

i have lots of plans for the next few weeks though. (here comes another list! i'll use letters though, just for flair.)

a. bake some cookies. i'm thinking about having a get together with some friends. the guys can do poker in the basement and the ladies & kids can do gossip/cookie decorating upstairs. actually i'd like to invite just a friend & her kids to do this. trying it with more than a few kids would be a disaster. and it would probably involve steam cleaning the carpeting.

b. get rid of some of the damn toys around here. i made one trip today to goodwill. not just toys, i guess. rob's tshirts have got to go. his dresser is full and he has 3 of those yabba cubes (or whatever the hell they are that college kids use as bookshelves) full of them. i guess they multiply as we're sleeping??? if rob was on deployment they would have been gone right after he left, they've been bugging me that much.

c. do some sewing. i've kind of come to a dead halt on it. i think it's b/c it's hard for me to sew with the kids around and reese has been very attached to me lately. (mom, i'm going to help you; mom, i can do it all by myself [and she grabs what i have in my hands]; mom, play with me; mom, dance with me; mom, you be frosty and i'll be karen...i'm about to lock myself in a closet and force her to do something INDEPENDENT.) i have reese's jumper that i don't think it going to turn out very well, another vest for her (our family LOVES fleece), and i want to make a table runner for my table but i have no clue even wehre to start on that. (i bought the fabric last year...shhhh...)

d. have the neighbor and her son over for a playdate. or cookie decorating. :p
i would have done it before now but we're finally getting healthy after some stubborn colds. i don't think she'd care about a little extra snot, but i'd feel bad if i got her kids sick.

i think that's it for now. oh, wait. CHRISTMAS CARDS. isn't that a huge undertaking these days? the toughest part is the damn photo of the kids. i should do one of the family but i just look way too fat in photos these days and i guess i'm in denial that i'm really THAT fat. so i just do pics of the kids. :) let the relatives get one hell of surprise on xmas eve when they see me waddling in. ha! anyway, there's the photo, the xmas letter, the card itself, the addressing, the stamps, and the seal. quite a costly effort. the photo i'll do at home & just print off on our computer. i could do it at the kodak machine though. those might look a bit better. i really don't want to do a letter. the kids have been busy but what have i been doing? checking message boards obsessively? blogging occasionally? keeping up on the amazing race and america's next top model, thanks to tivo? cleaning the toilets? changing the most rotten diapers a child could ever produce? i can brag up & down about my kids & husband but when it comes to me, there's not much to say.

sigh.

on that note i'm heading to bed. maybe i'll think of something braggy to say about myself in our letter...