Thoughts from the mower...

Trees with branches that don't move, tick me off.

Riding lawn mowers are supposed to cut the time in half, not double it, but I guess that's what happen when only one blade works.

I am blessed *cursed* with the Mangus work ethic.
If only I had watched my daddy prepare and beautify his lawn, I have found I am more anal than ever about how it looks.

Slimy slug catapillars that bite do not belong on my neck.

Kevin is such a good little man, I get my morning hug, and he's not awake without it. :0) Even if he has to stop me from what I am doing.

Children who are all grown up and still using their parents to milk them for money is not acceptable. I won't tolerate it. My kids have a rough road ahead of them like I did.

I am the crotchity little old house wife who has no neighbors, but still wants the mailman to think her yard looks nice...and that her husband doesn't have to mow it all the time.

Wonder what else I can do, so David doesn't have to....

Okay I think that was all of them.

Funny Smells in my car....

So as the list goes, I've gotten nothing done at home once again. Since I repainted my kitchen I still haven't gotten it completely organized the way I need to, but I've been trying very hard. LOL It's just not getting there.

Salem has been very fun, and challenging for me. Tera told Myles the next flip they buy they should just hire me to do it, since I enjoy it so much. LOL Yeah, why not get paid for something you love to do.

Yesterday I removed wallpaper border and painted the bathroom upstairs, painted the wrought iron vent covers, that are oh so beautiful...I have fallen in love with the charm of the house, but I do have to say, people who wallpaper everything including ceilings really need to have their heads checked, it's just messed up. Oh and to paint over it, yeah the wallpaper, is kinda funky too, but when you are on a time limit, you have no choice. Ho hum.... Maybe next time salem needs to be flipped, they'll allow me to strip wallpaper one room at a time, til we are down to bare plaster. That would be AWESOME!!! And slowly we can restore the charm to the house, room by room. Yeah that would be just rock on fun! 100 yr old houses are awesome! LOL
I love it!

So as things go, funny smells eminate from my car, I noticed it yesterday, so I have to get in there and clean it out this morning. Otherwise Kev and I will be riding around in the lunchbox on wheels with our heads hanging out like hounddogs letting our ears flap in the breeze. I have to mow the other yard, and david looked at me this morning and said, you know you can mow with the big mower, he said two passes over it is better than you aching all over. LOL He knew exactly what I was going to try to do this morning, LOL. Yeah but time limits me, so I think I will be riding it today. I have to give lacey a flea bath, I took her to Salem the other day, and she's chewing herself like crazy, and she's supposed to see the groomer next week, this is oh so not good. :0( We discovered Tuesday evening that one room was left with infestation because David was doing an outlet and his legs looked like raw meat when he got home. So yeah lacey got some fleas too. But glad we figured it out before the tenants moved in. And the house got bombed. LOL

I have all kinds of other things to do, but I don't know how physically possible going to get it all done, and I usually set goals for myself but it never works out, but guess what, it's the last day for Salem and I'll be so happy to see the final rewards to all of our hard work. It's exciting. It's not even my house, or my flip, or my rental, but it's made me so happy to work on it. LOL Yeah I'm nuts, but when my friends are in a bind, I help. I'd do the same for my family, but they rarely ever ask. They think I'm too busy or something I guess. LOLOLOL

Kevin is still passed out, he keeps telling me that he doesn't want to paint in his sleep. I think he's having nightmares about "the dirty house" (his nickname for Salem). LOL
Off to work I go.....

And the list goes on and on.....

Okay so last night we stayed at Salem until almost ten. Kevin was yet again, non stop...and yes I agree with Tera....Wayne did phenomenol with Kevin the last 30 minutes we were there, he had lots of fun. What coca cola and pepsi will do to this child, no one ever wants to experience, but he went to bed with little qualms last night, and was up bright and early with Daddy and I this morning.

David worked on electrical outlets at the Salem rental property and I worked on more paint work on the house too, while Wayne and Tera and Myles plugged right along getting things done, tonight is the final night to get the little stuff done, so major clean will be tomorrow. It's been a hard past few weeks, but it's almost done. And I'm proud that our regular crew has done so well. Especially as bad as it was. :0)O

Oh yeah and have I mentioned that I'm the maid of honor at Tera and Myles wedding. So the bridal shower is in 5 weeks and yet again, I'm in the midst of lots of planning for that.

Grace called yesterday from Dianna's phone when we were at Salem. She misplaced her phone and she had shut it off....needless to say on the voicemail, Dianna had left the phone on by accident and was yelling at Grace, and I was all not pleased. Now that Grace has a phone, she shouldn't have to WASTE her grandma's minutes to call me, and that'll be the last time she talks to me unless she finds her phone. Well she found it, but I've decided it's going to be a cold day in H E double hockey sticks before she goes on another trip with her grandma D. That's for sure.

So suprisingly enough David and I couldn't go to sleep and finally passed out about 130 a.m.
But we got up on tie this morning. I had to go push mow the front yard, back yard, and side yard by the garden, because the big mower needs a new blade, (even though we replaced it at the beginning of the season), long story, but I'm all yucky feeling and need another shower before I leave here to go to lunch then Salem.

Wish me luck!!!!.....

Oh, and I had to cancel the meeting with the other maid of honor for Tera's planning of the bachlorette party, so Ann said she was emailing me a game plan tonite. LOL That's good, cuz her and Brian have not offered to help with Salem as they have offered to help with rentals before, so she's got to respect us for helping instead.

We found the belt!!!!

As a well thought out plan goes sometimes, nothing of mine got done once again. So hopefully today is going to be the stuff I was going to do yesterday....oh and we found David's long lost belt....he put it in his dresser drawer. The sad part was, I got in that drawer yesterday to get his socks...and guess what? I looked right at it. LOLOLOL

Kevin was a non-stop talk aholic all last evening. After lunch with daddy I took him to Grandma P's house, Grandma P is david's mom...and laid him down for a nap, then I headed to the Salem rental property to help finish up the kitchen. Tera had to unlock it for the carpet guys. They got there WAY behind schedule. But I got a lot done.

I went and got Kevin after his nap at Grandma P's house and then stopped and picked up "snacks" for Daddy and Kevin at Sonic. Then we went to see David and then back to Salem. But he didn't stop talking. Not at all. LOL

Off I go for now...I have to get something done before little man wakes up for the day

A little hard work never hurt anyone....

I do believe it's killing David and I. LOL We got up a few minutes behind schedule, and we cannot find his long lost belt. It was taken off his shorts for work to do laundry and *poof* it has vanished, did the dissapearo act...and he swears it's in the bedroom floor.

So today...even tho' I'm completely fatigued...I'm going to once again, for the third time, overhaul the room, this time it's getting gutted. The clutter drives me nuts in this house, because even if it's clean, you still cannot find ANYTHING when you put it down, it blends with the camo clutter around the place.

We've been helping Myles and Tera with their rental property Salem. Many times over Myles has thanked us and thanked us, telling us, if it wasn't for our help he would have been "screwed". The last tenants really trashed the property and they lived in it for only two years. It even had brand new carpet when they moved in, and yet the carpet that was ripped out looked like it had been used for at least 15 yrs...with all the stains and dog hair on it. It was disgusting.

So we have to catch up, recoupe...at least I do. David says he's fine but I'm a little tired. I do believe that I'll be headed over there again this afternoon when Tera gets off work, to help clean the place up more and do touchups. Although I have Kevin, he'll be facinated with the house, so it will be good, and he loves to clean, so I'm going to give him his own clorox wipes to use. LOL Yeah that'll be good.

Last night Kevin was very whiney but well behaved, we will see how he does today. I have a few small things on my agenda as a mother and a wife. But for the most part, Mondays are not my days to get much done, not when David works until 8 p.m. this day. We usually go into town in the afternoon to make sure he's fed for lunch, then in the late afternoon, we stop and drop a snack, or we all don't eat til Daddy gets home. Mind you we have good for you snacks and such the like in between because KIDS WON'T LAST THAT LONG not eating something for energy. LOL So we have to eat SOMETHING.

Off to find the long lost belt......tooodles.

Sunday Evening

And yet again.....I'm blogging... Grace is still with her Grandma D....it will be for the week I guess.

It was difficult to hear she had chosen to stay. But her father did say that the cell phone he can understand, yet she looms it over anyone's head if they cross her path she can call her mother. LOL I think this is funny yet somewhat twisted concept on her part.

Grace has gotten away with nearly anything and everything, and when the ex's family wants to show off for their friends then it is INCONVENIENT for her to get away with whatever she wants, so then it becomes an issue. Whose the bigger adult about this? It's a really hard call.

So Grace really didn't say she CHOSE to stay to me on the phone, but I called her father, like all mom's do, we have to hear ALL the angles, because eventually the angel will tarnish her halo....Grace's has been tarnished since she could talk, but you get my drift. LOL

He told me she put up and argument, she had two opportunities to hitch a ride home, and guess what she didn't take it. And now she is stuck with Grandma D who has been frustrated all weekend with her. And when Grace recounted it, "I'd been called ass numerous times today."
Yeah it wasn't her dad who had called her it this time, it was her Grandma. Can you imagine that? Grace be an ass? Hmm...let me see, I'd be a total horses hiney too if I got my way about everything, and then all the sudden had to show character and some class...I've never been taught to respect these people, so not only did she look like one, she made her grandparents look like asses as well. Once again, who is the adult here?

We picked up little man and for the most part it's been a calm evening. He's kept saying, "It's not fair." About various thing, and when we gave him peanut butter whoppers we had chose for him at Wal-Mart he asked, "Will these make me freakin' crazy?" David and I have suspicion that his other mom had chosen to test the theory of Red Dye 40 this week when she had him, and didn't have a really good experience...we've never heard him say it like that. LOL

Good Morning Sunday

It starts here. Every other weekend the children are with their "other families". Yes, we are the primary parents for both children, but Grace goes to visit her father, and Kevin with his mother on the coordinating weekends.

We started the schedule and got them to the point where they coordinated and the weekend without both children worked best, that way, we had "our time" and then when we had them, it was "family time". Otherwise the children would be split alternating, and that was not working out well.

The amazing part is, that "Big D" Kevin's other mother....well she asked for the first time since the divorce to have Kevin for a full week and this past weekend. This has been a strange request, but we let her. Since "Big D" drives a bus, school will be starting soon and she will not get that opportunity.

Grace on yet another adventure in a different part of town, left with "Squared's" (my ex) mother to go camping. She left Friday afternoon and so far that has been an adventure already. Why you ask? I gave her a "go phone". For those of you not familiar, it's a prepaid cell from AT&T....yeah not such a good idea, but maybe it was. I'm still on the fence about it.

Grace has called 7 times Friday, then on Saturday it was 3, and yesterday was 2, so either the battery has finally went dead, or squared's mom decided to finally be the adult about it and ration the phone usage out. I'm not sure. Seems to me they talked to me like I was a piece of dirt on Friday night because they couldn't handle her. But on Saturday I did txt her father to see if he was with her, and he said, his girlfriend had been stepped on a horse, and his step dad had almost been bucked off one.... And they wonder why I sent a cell phone with her?

Squared's mother does not have such a good track record with trips with horses, although she owns them, someone seems to always get injured, mainly her...but all the more, do you see why I sent it. Grace is supposed to be gone this weekend, next week, and the following weekend. Not so good. She went to Colorado once( Grace's grandma) ...got bucked off a horse, stepped on, broke her arm or something, and her hubby rode all the way back to camp on a trail riding horse that wasn't supposed to be ridden that hard, then the horse killed over before he got to his truck to pick her up to take her to the hospital. So do you see my fear? I sure hope so, otherwise I'm just paranoid...but wouldn't you be?

The difference is...that all the others are leaving, and it will be just Grace and Grandma D most of the week by themselves....this hightens my paranoia as well.

So today is "pick up" day for my little buddy, Kevin. Normally as things go, Kevin's mom "Big D" calls way too early, and asks when we can pick him up...especially when she gets him early. When it has always been over a year between 6-7 for his pick up time. Today, we are going to the "Salem rental" for our friends to help them get it ready for carpet installation tomorrow. So when she calls, and we know she will....we are going to laugh and roll our eyes once again.

But I do miss my little buddy....more than ever. My morning hugs are missed tremendously. Even though she is mom....he's told me, I'm still his "mudder". LOL And that means more to me than anything. I know he loves me, and he knows who takes care of him. After the divorce, and David and I moved in together.....she started seeing Kevin only 4 days a month, two weekends a month, friday, saturday, and sunday......friday evening, then saturday, and part of a sunday. And shortly we figured out she wasn't even having him most of that time, he was with her daughters. This is just not good. Then she's all proud when he's begging to not leave, well in my eyes I would be too, if I was at my mom's house and she wasn't there, and she finally gets there, and I've seen her for a few minutes, then I have to leave. I'd be sad too. I mean seriously...he doesn't want to leave because you haven't been there! Get real woman! Who are you kidding!

But anyway you cut the cake, he's my son. And I love him, and no one can take away the fact, that he was 2 going on 3, and didn't talk and wasn't potty trained last May 6....when David and I went on our "first date", and after a month when the divorce was final...he was potty trained and talking.

Many times before I've told Grace because she's 8...she understands much more...not to bad mouth "Big D". (She can't help it she's not very smart, Big D that is). But just like Grace, Kevin will also make his decisions about his "other" family on his own. And that just comes with age and maturity. It tried my patience to the last ounce waiting Grace to do it, and the arguments about my daddy is better cuz he bought me this, we did this...and you don't ever take me here kind of conversations, but yet later down the road she realized, but mommy pays for me to eat, mommy makes sure I go to school, mommy makes sure I go to bed on time, and mommy takes care of me because she loves me, and mommy only does what she can with the little money she has for a REASON. Because mommy LOVES me, and she's not just a buddy I go hang out with on the weekend who spoils me rotten and lets me get away with anything. And ya know what people? My KIDS RESPECT ME...go figure!!!!