Two-Week Update

When I started this blog, I promised it wouldn't take control of my life the way my other internet obsession - eBay - did.
So, with lots of other stuff going on over the last few weeks, I've been absent.
Now it's time to unload.

VACATION - we went on a family road trip last week. We left Tuesday afternoon and returned Sunday evening. Stopped in Savannah, then on to Charlotte, then Asheville, and back to Savannah. My husband's cousin is an officer in the military leaving for Iraq soon, so we visited him in Savannah. Asheville was just for fun, and Charlotte was to check out a new job opportunity. Kids were surprisingly great in the car, thanks to the built-in DVD player. I can recite High School Musical word-for-word by memory.
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-squeak....

SURGERY - Hubby is having a partial fusion of his right wrist on Monday. I will be home from work for 2 weeks trying to be a nurse, and taking care of the kiddos. I'm equally scared about the surgery and kid responsibility. Hope both will turn out OK....

TENANTS - We bought two houses last year, planning to do the "pre-construction flip" that had gotten so popular in this area. (The market was so strong that by the time the house was finished, it could be resold almost instantly for a sizable profit.) However, the market leveled off about 30 seconds after we signed the contracts and the builder finished 6 months ahead of projection. After nearly 6 months on the market with no buyers, we resorted to renting both houses. Even though we still lost money each month, it stopped the hemmorhage.
Until one tenant went crazy, stopped paying rent, and is now being evicted.
And the other tenant gave notice while we were on vacation.
Lovely.

BOWFLEX - I've used it twice, and the ab-roller more than that. Gotta start somewhere... I've also been trying to eat better, and someone at work today actually commented that I looked like I was losing weight. WOW! (I don't see it, but who cares???)

Math

$350 = cost of almost-brand-new Bowflex at neighbor's yard sale last weekend.
5 = number of days said Bowflex has been in my extra bedroom, assembled and untouched.
25 = number of pounds I want to lose. Preferably in the belly, hips, and butt.
0 = minutes per day of available "me time" in order to put the $350 towards the 25....

Two

She can count to twenty.
She can say all her ABC's.
She can sing every song on the Fifty Bestest Kids' Songs CD.
She can pee and poop on the potty.
She can make me smile like no other.
She's my baby....and she's two today.
I love her with all my heart.

Last Night's Dinner...

...was crisp fresh green beans, roasted potatoes, pork loin with mushroom gravy, and whine. Lots of whine.
Having dinner together as a family is very important to me. Problem is, our kids' behavior is largely driven by biological factors. If we let them get too hungry or too tired, the downward spiral starts.
Their bodies want to eat dinner at 5:00-5:15 pm. I, however, don't get out of work until 5:15-5:30, and then have a 45-minute ride home. If they wait for my arrival to eat, the meal is quite unpleasant because we find ourselves an hour into the inevitable meltdown.
Like last night.
We've tried the late-afternoon snack; then they don't eat dinner.
Any other suggestions???

Bookends to the day...

7 AM: I was caught by our 4-year-old boy during a very awkward moment in the bathroom. I tried to brush it off and make him leave, but he was having none of it.
"Why are you bleeding, mom?" His eyes narrowed. "You need to tell me. I'm your son."
Gulp.
"There's blood in a special place inside mommy's belly, where babies grow. That blood turns into a house if God puts a baby in my belly. If He doesn't, the blood comes out."
He got excited for a moment.
"Are we having another baby?"
"No. That's why the blood is coming out."
He thinks carefully for a long moment. Then, "Oh. That makes sense. Bye, mom."
The door closes. Almost all the way. Then his little head pops back in.
"Do you need me to get you a band-aid?"

7pm: Apparently we've done a really good job teaching our six-year-old daughter and four-year-old son about sharing. Too good.
You aren't supposed to share in Monopoly!
Dad was putting the baby to bed and I was playing Princess Monopoly with the big kids. "Just a quick game, and then it's bedtime."
She landed on his castle. She paid him. He paid her.
He landed on her castle. He paid her. She paid him.
I was almost out of money. He gave me some of his.
Quite the rock and hard place....can't tell them not to share, can't break the promise of "just one game" if that game isn't over...