Operation Unplug

 My latest and greatest plan to become a Superhero (more like a necessity than a plan) took form in an experiment to not get on Facebook last week (which has become a sick addiction for me as a stay at home mom, it sadly being my only source of human interaction that doesn’t involve hot dogs, tying shoelaces, and searching all three different locations where a clean pair of underwear could be for that ONE superman pair. No not THOSE ones, the RED ONES…) and also ditching the television completely. I say completely because I’ve already dwindled it down over the years, but was curious to see what it would be like with zero, zip, nada for 7 days. Let me tell you, it was fantastic. Holy CRAP there is so many hours in one day! For fucks sake there’s life to be living, instead of staring into a man made rectangle. Whether it’s laptop size or ridiculously large (thanks for the free TV Kathy). Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been back on Facebook but for a fraction of the time, and while I tried to watch a movie on day 8, I didn’t make it all the way through, and haven’t tried again since.

Within the first 48 hours:

-         I cheated and checked Facebook. Didn’t respond to anything, felt guilty immediately, closed the entire laptop, and walked away shamefully. 

-         My music came back. I mean really came back, the way it’s supposed to be there. Strumming along in the back of my head all day long making me move around differently than everyone else in the room. I’ve been playing my keyboard since we moved into Maude, but I was reacquainted with my guitar, such an old and beautiful friend. Beat that Facebook.

-         I discovered that I’m uncomfortable in silence. I never noticed it before. I think it’s because it makes the chaos that’s going on in my crazy, list making, over multi-tasking brain entirely too loud. So I’ve added, “being comfortable in silence” to my list of “Things to do in order to become a Superhero”.

-         I danced. I’ve been working out by dancing for a while now, but this time it was different. This time I was BORED OUT OF MY MIND and wound up jumping around like I was in an 80’s music video. So I know it sounds silly, and romantic, but it was freeing. The kids thought it was hilarious, joined in, and we had this wonderful, childlike, corny, tear jerking moment together. Now I’m pretty sure I unknowingly do it while I’m making lunch, and have walked in on Jamis doing a damn good booty dance by himself if his bedroom.

-         I chopped wood for hours. I had this insane rush of physical energy I’ve never felt before. I was all Hulk-ish, swinging away (with damn good aim I must say), splitting logs left and right. Then bringing them inside and using them as free heat for the house…there was something very Scarlet O’Hara about it. I’ve done it multiple times since then, and I think it just keeps getting better and better (not to mention making me smaller and smaller, SCORE)

I have to say it was a great success. I feel so much more connected to my surroundings, so much more in tune with MY feelings, MY wants, MY passions. Not those of a character in a movie, or a friend on the Internet. I’m still getting used to it all, and of course I’m still being me and making it difficult, but I cant deny and I wont ignore the change that happened so far, and I can’t friggen wait to see what crazy scheme for Superhero status I come up with next.

It's the little things that matter....right?

I hate it when my overactive brain ruins such a great weekend. As strong as I like to think I am, I loose so much momentum when Jason has to go back to work (or school) and I'm stuck with the chaos of the boys by myself. If you don't know what it's like to rein in three boys under the age of 7 by yourself...enjoy your hair, cause I'm loosing mine by the second =) It hasn't been all bad these past couple of days, considering my mom insisted on Jason returning to Lowes and getting something much more fun that weather proofing supplies for his birthday, her treat. I assumed he'd peruse the power tools, maybe a new hammer or something (he's easily satisfied with tools, and I'm not gonna lie, so am I) but he came home with something MUCH better than a hammer:

My new favorite picture of all my J's

We've both wanted one of these for years, and finally have a porch to put it on! On Tuesday night we celebrated it by having one (or three) of our new favorite drinks while swinging away together. It was amazing, and COOOOLD. I'm absolutely loving getting all bundled up with my cute black jackets and scarves, and having to sit just a little closer to The Man for warmth. Soon there will be a fabulous fire lit inside, just waiting for that "HOLY SHIT IT'S REALLY COLD" morning to come around! Soon though, I'll take pics.

OH! And he also brought me home some bulbs to plant, so that by spring time, I'll have some of these in my front yard:

Queen of Night Tulips...how fitting =)

But damn I'm just in a bad mood. I'm tired of the never ending mountains of laundry, the never ending sink FULL of dishes, the never ending cooking, (OK, I like to cook, I really do, and I would have to admit that we make some damn good food around here, but no matter how much I feed the boys, they are constantly bothering me for food. I feel like that's all I do anymore). Not to mention that Jamis is in his terrible two's and went from having cute silent fits that I wanted to catch on video, to screaming like a pterodactyl 800 times a day. UGH. Some days I have this amazing "I'm Superwoman" drive and I zoom around the house, my cape flapping in the wind, and I have everything spotless, dinner on the table, a flower in my hair and a big smile on my face for Jason when he gets home from work. I'm just not sure how to have that kind of energy EVERY DAY. Any ideas?

At the end of the day though, I'm not cranky enough not to appreciate how precious the boys are WHEN THEY'RE ASLEEP lol, or how long it takes me to turn off all the lights and shut down our amazing big ass house, or passing myself in the mirror almost 80 pounds lighter than last year, or curling up inside the arms of such a remarkable man...so wait...what the hell am I complaining about again?

Fantastic Weekend

I was all hyped up in excitement from finally creating this blog last week (since my master plan is to become super famous and offered a book deal...nothing special), and luckily it overflowed charmingly into my weekend.

By the time Jason got home from work Friday night, after a 10 day stretch, we were so ready to wrap around eachother and stay there comfortably making out and watching movies until Monday afternoon...then we remembered we have children =) But just knowing he wasn't going anywhere for 48 hours was enough for me to be in a glorious mood, and have a mellow, and equally glorious evening.

Saturday afternoon we're driving down Mt. Vernon on our way to Lowes (where sadly, Jason spent his birthday giftcard on weather proofing supplies; what a man) and we see a fantastic clock on someone's lawn, set out first-come-first-serve style, and we're squealing tires, thrown in reverse, and picking it up before you can say "That's a fine looking clock you got there". Even though the previous clock owner ran out to inform us that he couldn't get it to work, we were confident enough in our referbishing skills to be super stoked about our latest find. Especially when we bring it inside, and Jason has it fixed in 2 minutes flat. Not with his fabulous referbishing skills, but with his astounding ability to know an upsidown battery when he sees one =) So here's my brand new clock, helping cover up at least some of the baby-food-green wall in my living room.

I could NOT get this picture to upload in the right direction, and I really don't want to talk about it

Once the excitement from the new clock wore down and the kids were upstairs watching a new DVD, our motivation to shove foam into all the nooks and crannies of the gazzillion windows Maude has (our house...she was built in the 60's, and we're really strange and name innatamate objects) slowly turned into motivation to get drunk off loaded Coronas. If you haven't had one before, go to your local liquor store, get a $30 bottle of Campo Azul tequila on sale for 14 bucks, throw in a 12 pack of Corona, some limes, and put one shot in each beer. MMMmmm MMMmmm. Then prepare for a superb buzz way beyond that of the usual sale priced 18 packs of PBR. Lots of fun was had off a record breaking six beers total. Thanks a lot for the recipe Ray =)

So how could my weekend get any better? Being stopped dead in my tracks on the way down the first story stairs by a pair of strong sexy arms, and hearing, "Damn you are a beautiful work of art" whispered seductively into my ear. *sigh* That made the mountain of Sunday laundry much easier to conquer. 

First Post!

First on the agenda, a warning to all who:

• Let their kids run their house
• Stereotype people with tattoos
• Spend more money than they make
• Think that sex is taboo
• or don't absolutely LOVE music from Elvis Presley,

YOU WILL BE OFFENDED. All others please tune in for a rollercoaster of advice, rambles, rants and outbursts from a hard ass, tattooed, frugal, sexy, Elvis fanatic. Here goes nothin!