Really?

I put that way embarrassing picture of myself up and nobody comments?

Just call me " Domestic Goddess"

Martha Stewart ain't got nothin' on me (unless you count millions of dollars and a staff to make you look really good) I've been the domestic goddess the last few days. After loosing yet another article of clothing to grease spatters when I cook, I though investing in an apron might make sense. Well I looked around and my supernatural tendency to be cheap kicked in. $15 dollars for an apron! Shoot I can sew that, so I did for $14.95 and a lot of stress because I was tired and the instructions didn't make a whole lot of sense at 11:00 pm.
This is the result. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Did you get that I think it looks hilarious! Actually the apron came out well, no huge sewing disasters associated with it, it looks like it's supposed to. Ha ha ha ha ha ha but it looks like I should be sporting a bonnet and a long skirt. Watch out that picture would count as porn 120 years ago you can see my elbows and my ankles! The fabric is actually pretty modern but at a distance tends to look like calico. Igor told me I looked pretty - I knew I loved that kid!- Sonny Boy just told me I looked "old fashioned" Hubby hasn't seen it yet but I'm guessing he'll have a big time poking fun at me . Yes unfortunately that's typically what I look like when hanging around the house, no make up and hair pulled back out of my face with a headband when it's too short for a pony tail. You know, a REAL HOUSEWIFE look.

I'm still caking around. I made this creation the other day, more to try out a recipe for cake than actual decorating.

It's a dense chocolate cake with chocolate ganache filling covered in marshmallow fondant. Taste pretty good and surprisingly not that sweet, it's got more of a dark chocolate vibe going. I didn't spend a very long time decorating it and it's not a very tall cake. It did taste good though, however we are already tired of it and there's still a fair amount left four days later. I guess I'll end up throwing it out.

I did hit up a girl I know that's pregnant and told her I'd do her baby shower cake for free since a) I need to practice and I'm sick of eating cake b) she knows or is related to half the town and hopefully it will turn out well enough to get a bit of word of mouth going. I guess I'm sort of in business now, We'll see. If I was smart I'd bake a nice one and take it down to the farmer's market and hand out cards, however w/o having a commercial kitchen and an inspection by the health department I don't want to draw too much attention to myself.

That's about it I suppose. Sonny Boy starts school on Wed, Yay! Igor will start after labor day, three afternoons a week at the public school for speech therapy etc and two mornings a week at the private preschool that I had already signed him up for before the school district told me what they were doing. It's going to be a lot of shuttling again this year but all the schools are just a couple of blocks from home and there is enough shopping here in town that I can get all the errands done while the kids are in school.

I kept expecting Pinky Tuscadero

You know the Happy Days episode where Fonzie and Pinky are in the Demo Derby? Awe yeah, the staple of county fairs in the midwest. We took the kids to the county fair on Sunday afternoon and attended the "Crash-up Derby" while there. Let me tell you that's a cross section of society you don't see very often. What I would like to point out to you is the people standing on the far side the arena with only orange construction fencing between them and car knocking into them. Doesn't seem too safe does it? Well it wasn't, unfortunately a car rammed into a crowd and injured a fireman and one of the flagmen working. I can't understand why they were not behind something sturdier and while the people standing behind that orange fence seemed to be actual drivers there were children in that crowd as well. Just pure DUMB. Sonny Boy loved the thing and was disappointed when we left, but it was late, it was hot, we were out of money and I had a headache going and the loud engines and smell of untainted exhaust was more than I could handle. We did other things at the fair as well. Igor is now proclaiming he wants to be a farmer when he grows up, so goodness there's no better place for a want to be farmer to learn the difference between a sheep, goat, pig, cow, and horse. However he still calls most large creatures in pastures horses when he'd be better off to guess cow here in "America's Dairlyand". I do think he might be a little horse obsessed (due to his mother's good influences I must say!) but I hope he can see the difference.

I think this is a sweet picture, he wasn't real sure about sitting next to that goat though.

OOOO was he proud to be on that tractor!

Of course we rode some rides as well, Igor rode this one all alone.

The kids were enchanted with this little guy, he was remote controlled and pedalled around the children's area talking to the kids. Took Sonny Boy hours of pondering, is a robot? It's not a mascot because no one could fit in that costume. Finally he figured out it was remote controlled and somebody must have been in a nearby building running him. He was close, but the guy running him was only about 15 feet away and blended in with the crowd and looked as if he was on the phone.

Sonny boy saved one of his rides for the "big" rides. Hubby doesn't do well with rides, I don't do too well with spinning rides but can handle tamer ones. This one is pretty fun and does give the impression of flying a little.

Things are settling here. Kids are bored and we are all wanting school to hurry up and start. The weather here has been beautiful, however the mosquitoes are just horrible and I hate having bug spray on me and or the kids. It's a necessary evil sometimes though.

Glad to be back though, it's so nice to have the space, a dishwasher, laundry that is not in dank dark smelly basement, normal (mostly) neighbors, and a clean little town to be in. What a difference your surrounding make on your outlook on life.

Mulligan!

Isn't that the term they use in golf when you get a do-over? That's what I need today, is that possible? Anybody? Cripes, I'm on the third margarita and just now able to put things in order.

I suppose you could say the nightmare started yesterday. I woke up with another elephant killer headache. I have migraines fairly often but they do seem to come in cycles, unfortunately I seem to be in one of those cycles right now. FUN. I pretty much left the kids to their own devices you know TV, Wii, DS for hours. Hubby and I had planned to go the DMV to get our car tags and driver licenses done, however at one I texted him to say that was impossible he might as well put a day's work in. However in typical Hubby job fashion he got tangled up and was way later than an average day which figures when I needed him home the most. Anyhow the kids didn't die and I didn't end up in ER (with our short break in insurance would have been a disaster) so the day was a success but a total wipe for me actually DOING anything. I honestly was in my PJ's all day.

Needless to say today was rather booked with errands, school needed to be registered for (that's another raving post) I had to go take some mortgage papers to the bank we are refinancing with, library books due, and of course the never ending need of groceries. I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER. Let's just say the evening ended with Sonny Boy going to bed having eaten a peanut butter and jelly for the second time today (it was the fastest thing I could fix and he was lucky I didn't send him to bed hungry!) at 6:00 pm, he'll tell you it was 5:00 but it was really like 5:50. If there was an act of defiance, obnoxiousness, or general being a pain in the ass he hit it today. I hope tomorrow is better. I can't wait for school to start.

Today's rough go really worries me though as Hubby now has dates for his marathon length schooling in New Jersey. My sanity lies in being able to hand over the baton of craziness when Hubby comes through the door after work, and I won't have that for 5 weeks. In days past I would have loaded up and taken extended trips down south to visit my mother and friends, maybe north to visit the in-laws, but with Sonny Boy now in first grade it's not really an option. I'll muddle through but it's going to be a long month - gee that's how long I was in Ukraine! I do see that I'll have to schedule a sitter for at least once a week to keep my sanity, the problem lies in just what do I do when I have the sitter? I'm not really a shopper beyond groceries and necessities, so do I go sit on park bench, hang out in the library with the old people (we don't seem to have homeless here, I think that's just in large cities) or go sit in a bar, Goodness knows there are plenty of them here.

In other wonders of the world, have you discovered Pandora Radio? Google it. It's a pretty neat thing, you can enter an artist you like and it will do a mix of that artist and all artist that are in a similar vein. Maybe it's old news, I do come to things a little late sometimes.

Anyhow I'm feeling the margaritas now and I'm hitting backspace a lot to correct the type-o's so I guess I should finish this and my drink.

...But here in the real world, it's not that easy at all....

Busy, Busy, Busy

As you can imagine we've been on the extreme end of busy the last couple of weeks, unpacking, taking care of this and that. You know all the craziness that comes along with moving. Last week Hubby was away for work orientation and I decided to tackle the office. Well the office was the last vestige of needing a coat of paint REALLY bad. Probably should have done it while the house was on the market, but at the rate things were going I don't think a coat of paint in one small room would have made much difference in the long run. So while Hubby was gone I dragged the young 'uns down to the hardware store and purchased a gallon of paint for the walls thinking I had some leftover trim paint in the basement. One thing led to another before I got to work and when I started painting the trim I thought the paint seemed a little thick but it was still going on pretty well until I got to the closet door and then disaster struck and suddenly it was like somebody put sand in my paint bucket. Too late to do anything about it that night I gave it up and started prepping the window (the one behind the desk) and discover that I could easily attach the weights to sash so it would work properly. This is good news as previously we have used everything from a book to a beer bottle to hold that window open as it provides good cross ventilation upstairs. I take a gander make a list and hit the hardware store early in the a.m. to purchase new paint and the rope and other little things for the window. Three trips to the store and 9 hours later - there was some kid tending in there as well of course - I finally get the window reassembled. A day behind on the office "remodel" (using the term loosely here) The next morning I awoke with a migraine that would have knocked down a bull elephant. Thankfully I had good drugs and the kids were more than happy to vegetate on TV and video games most of the day, needless to say no painting was done. Friday I got back to work and made progress but if you've ever tried to paint in a small room full of stuff with two kids tearing around the house you can imagine the level of progress made. So much for getting it done before Hubby got home. Anyways I worked on it all day Saturday and spent most of the day Sunday unpacking as well. Still not totally complete and lacks some touches but that's typical in most of the house now. I'm just chipping away at small things a little at a time.

BEFORE

AFTER

I'm here to tell you that bookcase is groaning. The mover guy said "Geez, ya'll have lots of books" I thought he was just exaggerating because that white bookcase wasn't really full at the rent house, had lots of junk stuffed in it. What I didn't realize was he was counting all of Hubby's airplane training manuals that had been in boxes stuffed in a closet I didn't ever go into. I am officially out of bookcase space now as Hubby needs the manuals accessible now.

Now that I'm back in my old territory I attended the Tuesday night meeting of the civic group I'd been a part of for several years now. I received a warm welcome and added the roster up to meet state mandated requirements so hey they were even happier. The group is hosting a get-together for local business people next week and we are expected to bring food. A list was passed around but I hadn't a clue then it dawned on me I should debut my cake skills if I want to put a little money in my pocket. I don't plan on doing it for a living but if I could buy a new pair of shoes now and then might be worth my while. Oh dear I better come up with something and practice it, especially after my last cake wreck.

This was my creation. They are cupcakes, don't tell anyone but the cupcakes on the back are not decorated, I ran out of frosting and didn't want to make another batch for 6 cupcakes not to mention the color would have never matched. One of the reasons I wanted to practice and getting an idea of how to place the cupcakes in the basket etc. I think it turned out pretty good and I'm pretty proud of this one. Ignore the giant skewers sticking out the basket - that is so I can cover it with a tea towel, I have an issue with uncovered food. So now my kitchen looks like a bomb went off in it, and there is a bowl of blue stuff soaking in the sink that might make someone wonder if I cooked a smurf. The good news is I HAVE A DISHWASHER!!! and a kid who thinks it's quite great to load it. I doubt that will last too long though.

Hubby's new job

Well ya know the old saying "Careful what you wish for?" I think I'm learning it. Hubby had his first official day on the job today. He called me after the day to tell me all about it. He says that everyone is super nice and he was issued lots of nifty new gadgets like a laptop (no more fighting over this one) and a Blackberry without a manual. Hubby while handy with most things is not always up to date on the latest and greatest of tech geek gadgets has no idea how to use the Blackberry - neither do I for that matter, our cell phones are just barely a notch up from a tin can and string. Tonight I rest assured that he's googling how to work his new phone and is not out painting the town in NYC and the surrounding boroughs. It all sounds great until he starts relaying the information that he will be sent to massive amounts of training. Not exactly news, however the first round will be in a few weeks and will last three weeks. NOT FUN. However that's not the worst, the second round will be in November and will last FIVE WEEKS. The five weeks does not include a break at all. UG. This training does not include a shorter little trip and short jaunts he will take in the nearby area to meet his customers. I figure in essence I will for all intensive purposes be a single parent without the respite of sending the kids to their father every other weekend and navigating the dating scene. I may really have to get a job in order to have some adult company. Thankfully we are back on my turf and I at least know a few people here.



Speaking of knowing people.... I went to Wal-Mart on Saturday and could hardly shop for bumping into people I knew. I saw at least 5 people I know and of course I looked like something the cat dragged in. Don't get me wrong, NOBODY has ever called me a fashionista or anything but I was really scraping the bottom of the barrel with my appearance. So my first excursion back into hometown society I looked like a bag lady. I bet the gossip at the dinner table sounded something like this :



Mrs. X - I saw Winnie at Wal-Mart today, they moved back into their old house. Hubby got a job back up here.

Mr X - mmm huh, Really, how are they doing with all moving ( I imagine this in an off handed way while he's forking supper into his mouth and trying to watch the Brewer game)

Mrs. X - Winnie said they are doing fine, but I don't know she looked pretty rough, I'm not even sure she had combed her hair and her clothes looked like she had been working in the yard.



I'll have to make sure my public appearances are a little more groomed from here on out. Back in Kornfield there was never danger of actually seeing anyone and if you did, well you looked better than them anyway.



If your a long time blog follower you'll remember my house stalker from last summer well as I was writing the above paragraphs he went by on his bicycle and nearly turned his head completely backwards on his body checking out the house. If I see him down in the park I'm gonna just frankly stop him and ask him what the hell his issue is.

Kids are doing good. Bored and mad that I haven't taken them to the city pool which is right behind our house. Quite frankly I'm just a tightwad and don't want to pay $7 bucks per to swim for a two hour stretch. Maybe if the weather and my sanity holds I'll take them to the lake tomorrow. Igor is settling now, and while still a little nervous about having his own room isn't really scared anymore. Funny is that he asks me every night when I tuck him in " Will you check on me when you go to bed?" I always assure him that I do, mainly to make sure he's not about to roll out of the bed. The next morning he tells me that " Momma you didn't check on me." I'm not quite sure what he expects me to do, wake him up and say " I'm checking on you" too funny.

The unpacking is mostly done with the exception of the office which has a large bookcase to fill with books, a file cabinet to load, a gun cabinet to load and walls I want to paint before I do all that. I'm pondering what color I want to go with in there and need to make up my mind as it's really a disaster and stacked with boxes. I hope I don't have an urgent need for any of the papers in the file cabinet, a particular book or a gun!

Well I'm winded I guess, I can always tell the post I put up when Hubby isn't around as they get long and babbling.