I'M FREE!! (Kind Of!!)

It’s 11:27 PM on Saturday night, March 14, and I couldn’t be happier!! I have all of next week off, and I’m so PSYCHED!! The last time I had any substantial amount of time off from work was when Derrick was born 3-1/2 years ago, and while I wasn’t at my place of employment working, I certainly wasn’t relaxing!! Between Derrick in the hospital, getting married, Derrick coming home from the hospital, doctor visits, and just basic infant care all by itself, relaxation wasn’t exactly on the "To Do" list at that point. Not that it really is this time around either, but at least the OPTION is available should I care to indulge myself a little bit...and I just might!!

Before all that relaxing though, I have plans to whip this place into shape. I won’t have the kids underfoot to get in my way, Bub will be either working or sleeping most of the time, and Derrick will have a TON more fun at daycare playing with his friends than he will staying home watching mommy clean house. And when I say clean, I mean CLEAN!! Walls are getting wiped down, lights and fans are getting cleaned, appliances are being washed up, cupboards & closets are being organized and sorted through, floors are getting scrubbed. I plan on tackling one room a day...the kitchen, living room and our bedroom (the kids’ rooms go through this twice a year...once in the summer and once closer to Christmas).

Then comes my Everest...my mission...THE DINING ROOM!! Bub and I have picked a color we want to paint the walls, a color we want to paint the ceiling, we have chosen the flooring we hope to put in, we found some baseboard trim we both like, and I have my eye out for some curtains and lights that will pull the whole thing together. If things go as planned, and they probably won’t...because do they ever?? LOL...I should have the dining room done in three to four days. The only thing left to do in there then will be to replace the exterior door, and that will happen when the weather is a little warmer than 35 to 40 degrees on a GOOD day LOL I can’t WAIT to see it once it’s all done...I’ll be sure to post before and after pics!!

The other big thing is that I will be a Godmother again on Sunday to my friend’s baby boy...and I’m super excuted for that!! My other friend’s sister, who I wrote about in my last blog, is doing REMARKABLY better, though she’ll likely still be in the hospital for awhile yet while she continues healing and regaining her strength. Thank you to everyone who prayed for them!! Ummmm....no big plans for Easter this year...probably just church and then maybe brunch or something. Of course we’ll have baskets for the kids though But yeah, my big hope is to have this place weeded out and whipped into shape, and the dining room’s face lift done before returning to work on the 24th. Wish me luck!!

Gumball As Big As My Hand!!

That pretty well sums it up! Trey and I were at Wal-Mart the other night, and on the way out there was a machine with gumballs literally as big as the palm of my hand!! I couldn't resist...I had to find out if this was a real deal or if it was just an enormous piece of candy. To my utter amazement, there is a gumball big enough to not be able to fit into my mouth! (Now THAT'S big!!) I had to suck on the candy coating (thank goodness I like the taste of apple!) and soften it up a bit, because the first time I tried to bite into it I think my dentist heard the sound of staying in business loud and clear!! There's GOT to be more sugar in that one piece of candy than in the entire bag of candy I bought for Halloween this year!! I could only chew half of it and then I had to give the other half to Trey, because my jaw was starting to ache from working so hard at sucking, chewing and biting!! Trey even had a hard time biting into just half of it!

So that was the interesting part of the weekend. I worked Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Saturday evening my husband and I went out on a date together. We went out to a nice supper club for dinner, and then met friends at a local bowling alley, bowled a few games, had a few drinks. Tonight was just a low-key night, the regular routine of getting everything ready for school tomorrow. Of course, this was the weekend Talin lost his reading book for school, so he'll have to look for it tomorrow before he goes outside to play with all of his little friends. I'm off tomorrow, so out of habit I'll probably wind up looking for it anyway, just to save myself the $$ for having to pay for a new one. In a way, it's like a treasure hunt...look for something so you don't have to pay for it! LOL

Today I normally would have been at church, helping the kids with the food drive we have going on. But, I worked. I hope the director got things a little organized! I should call her... hmm...

Tomorrow my goal is to get the kids' pumpkins carved. You KNOW I'm gonna have pictures of that up! LOL Always fun to watch the kids dig out "pumpkin brains!" Gotta get that done before Wednesday night!!

Sorry so short tonight...but really not much going on since I worked. Tomorrow I'll be outside, if the weather is nice, raking up the leaves that fell off of the enormous tree in the back yard. I swear, if we got a penny a leaf, we'd be set for a LONG time! Have a great week!!