The Big Move

Not a new house.

Just a new bedroom.

Oliver suggested last night that we give up the Master Bedroom to A and JD since you know, all we do in our room is sleep.

We need all the kids to have more space in their rooms to play.
Why do we need them in to play in their rooms more?
Not because I dont enjoy seeing their bright shiney faces.
But because during the course of one evening Oliver and I are constantly bellowing "OUT!" while we try to take 2 minutes in the kitchen to talk, steal a kiss, etc. If we are in any room, the kids are directly behind us listening.
This is just a side effect of having kids I suppose.

But A and JD would get to spread out in the huge room, C and JR get to move up to a bigger room, and that leaves Oliver and I with the little room.
I mean LITTLE
Postage stamp little.
With a King sized bed.

Oliver swears the bed, dresser, and grandmas special chest will fit but I stood in that room today and I just dont see it.

Im afraid.

Maybe we wont hear that they cant play in their rooms because its too messy and they own too much crapthere is no space. Maybe they will actually hang out up there with their video games, and toys, and computers. I think this whole theory is far fetched but Oliver seems convinced.

So next week we will start the move and if Im lucky, while no one is looking I can throw out some stuff.

Vanity At its Finest

I am secretly a ridiculously vain person.
I style my hair and wear eyeshadow to do yard work.
I try to keep money and time spent to a minimum but I like to look nice.



I have been dealing with a case of what appears to be adult onset acne. I never had a pimple in my life until I was pregnant the first time. Since then its gotten progressively worse and Ive finally thrown my hands in the air.

I ordered proactive and Im thinking about going back on the pill.
I hate the pill. I dont need the pill. I need better skin though.
Even Oliver mentioned that hes never seen it this bad. If Oliver says something it MUST be bad.

Its unfortunate because since I jumped back into CHI products my hair has never looked better health and style wise, but my skin is just awful!

I'll take any advice at this point. Im out of ideas.

Im A Winner!

Its true!

If you havnt been over to *Dandelion Wishes* to chat with Mamarazzi then GO! Just wait until the end of this post. Its a lovely place full of pixies and gum drops, and rainbows, and... ok maybe it doesnt really have any of those things but she is awesome.

I woke up this morning to find I had won a special surprise gift on Mamarazzis blog from Little Gems by Jax on etsy!
Maybe its earings?
Maybe its a necklace?
The surprise is the best part and its all cute x100 so I have no reason to NOT be excited.

Whats even better about this win is that Im plugging/supporting a fellow Michiganian(Michigander?). She has a promo going on right now to get FREE stuff with any purchase from her shop, and she still has a 10% off holiday sale going on.

Now, On your mark! Get set! Go! *Dandelion Wishes* and Little Gems by Jax!

Thank God Its Over

Man that was a MESS!

A fun, over indulgent, slightly inebriated, mess.


Im so glad we are finished for another 364 days.

Everyone got some good stuff, ate A LOT of food, and drove all over creation. Whew!

I dont need to ramble on about all the stuff we got but I will say that I got a snuggie, and I will add without shame that I am wearing it right now.

Wilson the Chocolate loving chocolate lab seems fine so far but he did eat some MORE chocolate today. He eats dead animals he finds in fields. Im guessing this wont kill him.

I leave you with a few pictures...


A and JD, easily the coolest kids EVER. Obviously.


A and JD with their cat Samantha(also affectionately referred to as "the spawn of Satan")


Oliver and JD and his new PSP


Me, C, and JR


Testing out the new mic


All 4 boys and Spike.

Back to blogging about non-holiday related things tomorrow!

Cheers folks. I hope you all made it out alive.

Christmas is about surprises!

We came home from our Christmas party last night to find that our lovely lab Wilson had eaten ALL the chocolate for the boys stockings.
A whole bag of York Peppermint Patties, and a bag of Hershey Kisses. Wrappers and all.

So In addition to waking my panicked father up with a phone call(to see how much chocolate would kill a chocolate lab, oh the irony), Oliver had to go out and find a 24 hour gas station on Christmas Eve to buy overpriced candy to fill the stockings.

We also may be finding an emergency vet tomorrow when all those wrappers try to find their way through his digestive tract unsuccessfully.

Merry Christmas Boys and Girls.
The kids open their gifts this evening!

The Art of Cold E-Mailing

Let me just start by saying, I have no idea what the art of "Cold E-Mailing" is but I intend to find out.

And frankly, the idea of it makes my hands clammy, my forehead sweaty, and my vision a little blurry.

But I need a job. More than that even, I WANT a job. I WANT to get out, interact with people, network.

Oh yeah, and Im terrified of being impoverished.

So here is the problem:
I live in a resort town. It booms in the summer. Its dead in the winter.

Its winter.

This does not bode well for the current job market.

I WANT a nice entry level position working at the front desk at your resort, behind the counter at your kitchy shop downtown, SOMETHING where I get face-time with PEOPLE. I dont need full time. I dont need benefits. I just NEED to get out of the house and hopefully bring home some money while Im at it.

So Im resorting to cold e-mailing because well.... theres no one actually at these resorts. Some of them arnt even open for the season yet.
Hopefully I can portray my sparkling personality in a cold e-mail and actually get SOMEONE to call me.
I get the distinct feeling that writing personal sounding e-mails(that dont make me sound like a complete tool) to so many places is going to occupy my time for the next 48 hours.

Desperate times call for desperate measures people.

Cold e-mailing, also known as "thinly veiled begging".

These are a few of my Favorite Things

The kids are home for Christmas break this week. Just A and JD with us this week and seeing that they are 10 and 11, this should be easy right?

Wrong.

"I'MMMMMMM BOOOORRREEEDDDDD!"

This is all Ive heard this week. Once the video games are turned off for the day they suddenly have NOTHING else to do. You know, a bedroom full of toys and instruments and 14 acres of woods and fields and theres not ONE thing they can do but pick on eachother.



When I do manage to get the kids to go outside they come back in 37 times and track snow across all the floors, leaving me with dirty wet floors, and dirty wet socks. I feel like Ive sunken to SHRIEKING "TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES!! NOT IN THE HOUSE!!"

Lord Help Me.

But! I woke up this morning after getting to sleep in to some glorious sunshine which made the fact that the cat had thrown up on my favorite comfy red chair a little easier to handle.
The boys helped pick up the house without too much pleading.
I painted my nails bright red for Christmas and Oliver made me coffee.

Oh and JR's tiny little Orange Ukulele showed up for Christmas. I dont think Ive ever seen anything so cute in my LIFE.