The hardest part

There are so many things that make being a parent difficult. The messes, the lack of privacy, the lack of down time, so many things. I think the hardest part, though, is dealing with kids when they lie. I don't know if it's harder when they are foster kids or if all kids are liars, but it makes things so frustrating. The funny thing is, kids are horrible liars. I used to think my parents were amazing detectives when I was younger, they found out everything I did as if by magic. Now I realized it's because kids are stupid. I guess stupid is the wrong word, they're just terrible liars. Any by terrible liars I mean stupid. Last night, we got home from the BBQ and Mercedes told me to look at the fish tank because the water was cloudy. I looked at the water and sure enough it was like...

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Posted in: family

Your entertainment for the day...

This is Aimee haha. I am posting on Chris' blog. He never posts so I thought I would give everyone something to read. Today we are switching all of our bedrooms around. Except for the master every room is changing. Mercedes and Mariah will be in the same room, and that opens up two other bedrooms. One for our friends who are going to move in with us, and another for an office/study area. It's going to be nice. I'm not sure why it never occurred to us to use our biggest bedroom as a kids bedroom. Oh well. I love change. I love changing things around. I always want to move my furniture around. I love switching rooms and moving things all over. I kind of thrive on change. That isn't typical though. Most people hate change. Not I. Later we have a birthday partay. It's going to be fun. BBQ type...

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Well, it's Saturday

Today is going to be a busy day. Our 4 best friends are all moving (luckily they only live in 2 different houses :) and I'm looking forward to a big day of helping. I love moving. It's weird, I think it's because my whole life people in my family have moved constantly. It's like a big fun family thing when people move. It's also Memorial Day weekend, which will bring welcome relief from work. The weather is also beautiful, which is really strange because it should be hot as balls right about now (knock on wood) in Phoenix. Seriously, last night we were freezing, it dipped down into the low 50's overnight and I don't think it's slated to go much over 70 today. It must be all those college kids bringing their midwestern weather back for us (thanks nicole!). Speaking of work, yesterday...

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Posted in: family,florida,friends,work

Last night

Was strange. All of my friends were either at a bachelor or bachelorette party. I was home alone with the kids. Strangely, I was totally ok with that. I scored some free carpet at Mercedes' school and hopefully it will be enough do our storage room turned get away room. One thing I love about being at home alone with the kiddos is cooking for them. I know Aimee's palate and it is just a wee bit on the shy side, but I can pretty much try anything with the kids. I thawed out some cube steak and made a quick marinade of soy sauce (thanks Jonathan!), garlic, onion, white wine vinegar, basil, and just a hint of cumin. I boiled some potatoes and mashed them with milk, garlic, and butter. I also steamed some green beans and served them up with olive oil, salt, and black pepper. The steak...

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Posted in: family,friends,home improvement,interests

And my pool

And I can't sign off without commenting on my pool. We had to drain our pool this weekend - it was a disaster. I should have drained it last year but it is such a hassle. The water in Phoenix is so hard that over time it's like you're swimming in chalk. It just about becomes impossible to maintain the chemistry in the pool. So, we drained it. It was stressful. I think our main drain is seriously clogged ( I have never noticed any water movement down there) and so I had to rent a drain pump from Home Depot. Holy crap that thing was awesome! The downer was, of course, that the discharge hose from the pump didn't come close to fitting into our cute little sewer clean out pipe and even if it had I don't think it could have handled the flow. So, I went into my alley, located a manhole...

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Posted in: home improvement,real estate

The end is near

Well, tomorrow is officially the last day of my Spring semester. I did take an incomplete in my New Testament class because 3 classes was just way too much for me with all that has gone on so far this year. I was looking back and I had a hard time convincing myself that it really was during this semester that I went to Florida twice in one month. I can't believe how difficult it has been to deal with the loss of my grandmother...even though I knew it was coming, it still hit me like a ton of bricks. On top of that, this whole business with my reproductive system and the "C" scare (I am not superstitions...I just can't say the word) has just made it impossible to think. So, in the end, my final paper for my history class isn't what I had hoped it would be ... but it is. I will really...

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Posted in: family,florida,friends,school

I am so stimulated!

Thank you George Bush, thank you for the $1200 check. All is forgiven, I promise. Now I will always remember you as 'one of the great...

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Posted in: sarcasm

Another day another ...

sick stomach. Really, what the heck is wrong with me? I guess I should go to the doctor at some point since I have a sick stomach every day. Is it normal to have guess all the time? By all the time I mean I could literally pass gas at any moment during the day, every day. And every time I eat something other than rice and plain white chicken I get a sick stomach. Is this out of the ordinary? I think that I have a serious problem trusting doctors since every doctor I have ever been has told me that there is nothing they can do to fix what is wrong. Oh, and for like 10 years I had the same doctor and he always told me that my problem was I was too fat. Didn't matter why I went to the doctor: allergies - you're too fat, sprained ankle - you're too fat, back spasms - you're too fat, and...

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Posted in: family,home improvement,interests