Bad, Bad Blogger!

I am not a good blogger. It seems I have abandoned my post! Shame on me. I promise to do better in the future.

It's been crazy as hell around here this past week. Trying to get ready for this freakin' yard sale, Lauren's softball practice and Mitch's soccer practice is keeping me on my toes. I haven't been this active in ages. Or so it seems.

I don't have much time to post here, but I wanted to update it. I promise I will post more later. Let me gather my thoughts over the next couple of days and I should have plenty to write about.

Until then my sweets....

Hey...Batter, Batter.......SWING Batter!

We've had a breakthrough...oh happy day! Lauren, my little bull-headed 8 year old has finally listened to me. Hey, what do you know, Mom actually knows what she's talking about!

All season long we've sat in the stands watching, cringing at her batting technique. She gets the job done up at the plate, but her batting finesse is....well, lacking.

That was until today. Finally, after weeks and weeks of choppy, stiff batting she has decided to try out Mom's way of doing it. We turned on the Cubs/Cards game and I stood her up to the "plate" aka...Evan's dino book...and showed her the right way to swing a bat. It was beautiful. She has the swing of a pro.

Her coaches this past year have been a joke. They've tried to teach her to stand at the plate with the bat held high and it just wasn't working. You could plainly see how uncomfortable she was. Standing there all stiff like a statue. Swinging like she was chopping wood. BUT, because they were her coaches, she didn't want to do anything different than what they said.

She's got the strength to hit it to the fence already and now that she's got her swing down, I bet she can definitely hit some homers. This weekend would be the prime time to do so. What better place than at a tourney where you're representing your home town.





Lauren's favorite softball cheer.....


We don't play with Barbie dolls,
we don't play with barbie dolls.
We play with our bats and balls,
we play with our bats and balls.

We don't wear no mini-skirts,
we don't wear no mini-skirts.
We wear dirty socks and shirts,
we wear dirty socks and shirts.

Sound off 1..2
Sound off 3...4
Sound off 1...2..3..4!

The Soaps Have Nothing On This Family.....

For years I have griped and complained about Todd's family and how not to follow in their footsteps. Only to sit back and hope my children listened.

Todd's family isn't your normal everyday run-of-the-mill family. It's Dysfunction Junction at its best. I know when you marry into another family, they do things differently and you have some level of adjusting to them, but not in this family. There is no getting used to them.

For one, they never do things the same way twice. Well, except holidays. You can bet that his father is there with a plate well before the food's even done cooking. And you can bet there will be people eating in the living room, bedrooms, outside, hallway...anywhere they can find a spot. Outside seems to be the hotspot, even in November (in the rain) because at least there's a table to set your food on.

But at least you kind of know what to expect when you go there for holidays. That was until Easter.

Todd's mother passed away in May of 2003 from cancer. It was a shock because she was dx with stage 4 lung cancer just a few weeks before and had never smoked a day in her life. Even with all her quirkiness, I miss her to death. Father-in-law was already trying to hook up with a woman, at a bar, within two months of losing her.

I took great offense at this. I felt it was inappropiate for him to be acting like a giddy school boy in a bar so soon after his wife fell sick and died. Maybe that's just me. I thought she deserved a little more respect than to already be at the bars trying to pick up women within 60 days of her death. Mind you, that was 60 days when I found out. It was even earlier than that.

I know there are men out there who can't stand to be "alone". He needed someone to be his "mommy". He's such a baby. His actual comment at the funeral, after we pried him off the casket, was "Who'll cook my food and wash my clothes?"

HUH?? WHAT DID HE JUST SAY?? I about knocked him out. That's all she was to him? Well then, thank the good Lord he spared her. She was a person, not his personal slave. He had stripped her of her independence. She didn't drive so she relied on him to get her where she needed to go, unless it was in town. Then she would walk. Regardless of the weather. She used to work when they first married, but soon after she quit and became a SAHM. Per his request. Her new job was to be there to crank out babies for him and to take care of his house. Sad.

This brings me to the current ordeal. He has met a lady from SC who visited his church a few times last Winter and they became pen pals. At Easter he gathered us in the kitchen and told us about his pen pal so if we 'saw a strange letters lying around with her name on them, that's the reason'...whatever.

Fast forward two months.

We were gone to a soccer tourney and came home to a message left on our machine that said, and I quote, "Well, hellllllooooo there Todd and Kara, this is your Dad. Hey, I just wanted to let you know there's going to be a weddin' next spring. Uh huh. yep...well, okay then. Talk to you later. Bye."

What the Hell??!!

Now, he's moved this woman in with him and of course, she's making it hers. She's civil to the rest of the family, but to the oldest daughter and oldest son, she's super sweet. She's buying them gifts all the time but yet barely looks at the rest of the family. See, they're the ones in charge of the will, etc...

Her agenda?? I believe she's a gold digger. Thinking since he's recently widowed he'll have insurance money. She's been married twice before. One died and the other, I'm not sure about. Also, there was talk about a $1.2 mil lawsuit he would be entitled to if he chose to pursue it. That alone could hook a harpie in a minute.

It really made me mad when Todd's oldest sister asked him if he loved her or if he was just lonely and he replied, "Oh yes! She's the woman I've always wanted" Lucky for him, I was not the one he said that to. I would've said something I could've never taken back. How could he say something like that when he had turned a perfectly functional young woman into his personal slave who obeyed his every wish? I don't get it. His mother was a saint for putting up with his crap for 35 years. I sure wouldn't have.

Now, he has asked my children and Todd to be in the wedding and they have all said, and rather bluntly, "NO". God Love Them All. I think his mom smiled down on them that day from Heaven.




There's more to come on this topic...as his family is always giving me something to write about. I will try and touch briefly on their background as it pertains to the current story. There's just too much to sit down and try to write from the beginning. So bear with me. You'll soon have a good idea of what the past 11.5 years have been like. I'm sure of that.

If you lose a finger, it's not my fault!

I swear sometimes I could just strangle my husband. He does some of the stupidest damn things I've even known a human to do. For instance, driving his riding mower off the retaining wall! I have never heard of anyone capable of doing that! Until I married Todd.

He never ceases to amaze me. The stuff that he does and doesn't get hurt in the process blows my mind. Like the time I came home from work only to find out he had shimmied up the antenna, climbed onto the roof and scooted over to the chimney to put on a freakin' chimney cap..alone. He risked his life to keep freakin' birds out of the chimney. UM...hello? Call somebody who does this for a living. Duh!

I told him that had he fallen, he would've either impaled himself on the bushes or broken every bone in his body and he would've had to lie there for hours. To this he replies, "Nah, I would've drug myself over to the neighbors". Yeah, right.

Now mind you, this isn't the only stupid thing he's done. He's usually the only one in the neighborhood who continues to mow in the dark. Then weedeats. He must be part bat. That has to be the only reason he can see to cut grass in the dark. And I mean, the dark. Not twilight.

Tonight, his night-time rendevous is with the bushes. Same bushes he could've impaled himself on. He's out there with an electric hedge trimmer hammerin' away at the new growth. I have a feeling I'll wake up with landscaping like in Edward Scissorhands. So help me.

It's no wonder the neighbors look at us funny.

If only it were that easy dear!

I woke this morning to the sound of slamming doors and leaky faucets. Why oh why did I get up? And if that wasn't enough to start my day, Lauren says to me, "Mom, I have something black in my ear."

"Okay, Okay...I'll get it later", I said as I rolled back over and pulled the covers over my head. Today is proving to be just as chaotic as yesterday already. And it's only 7:00 am.

Todd is wanting to have a yardsale next weekend. The same weekend as Lauren's softball tourney. I don't know how he thinks it'll happen. He's delusional. I hate yardsales and I'm the one who has to do everything.

He has no idea just how much work goes into one of those 'things'. I spend hours cleaning out closets, sorting and washing clothes, cleaning toys, wiping down stuff that's been in storage for years. Ugh.

I'm supposed to do all that and keep the house in order with 3 kids and a niece. RIGHT!! Evan alone can wreck the house in under 10 min. And then there's Bella, the damn dog. She drags all her toys out and God forbid I pick them up. She whines, barks, paws at her toybox until I break and give them back.

~Sigh~

I give up. No more. No more trying to keep control of my house, no more trying to curb the chaos, no more trying to keep a level of normalcy around here. Have at it people. Just clean up your mess when you're done. That's all I ask. And please don't give me shit about it...Mitch, that means you.

OH...and Todd, have I told you how much I HATE YARDSALES??!! I did?? Huh, funny. I would've thought you'd have gotten a clue by now.






My new mantra: It's not as bad as it seems...

Oh My Eyes!

OK...as I sit here and type, my eyes burn in agony. I've stared at this freakin' puter now for the past 2 hours trying to figure out this blogging carp! And YES, I meant to say CARP!

I'm so damn tired, my shoulders and head hurt, but do I stop playing around on the puter? No. Why, you ask. Because I'm addicted to it. It's insane. I need to get my butt off here and go to bed. But, yet I can't.

Tomorrow is going to be here before I know it. I have to babysit for my niece and God love her, she drives me crazy! She's 8, the same age as Lauren and they fight like cats and dogs. She's one of those kids who tell you what you want to hear. Even if she has no idea what you're talking about. Now, don't get me wrong. I love her to death but....

I'm sure that comment earned me another black mark in St. Peter's good book. I need to stop being so negative. It's a hard habit to break. (isn't that in some song? "it's a hard habit to break...do di doo doo di do) OK, maybe not.

{I wish I could figure out how to post a freakin' picture on my main page! Ugh. }

I'm going to try and post a random thought on here each day...that is if I can remember! So, here goes.....

MY RANDOM THOUGHT OF THE DAY:
Do you think there is really a mother spider in everyone's basement like on Arachnophobia? I would literally shit my pants on the spot if I ever saw her. I about die the way it is with the spider/cricket mutants that are communing down there. What if they're her food source....OMG!!

My very first post!!

Oh, how exciting! I'm glad the Posse recommended doing this. I think it will be great for me. I need a place where I can air my thoughts.

I'm off to figure out how this thing works. Wish me luck...I need it. I'm technically challenged.