15 + 1 Things About Me (no, you didn't ask, but I will tell you anyway)

Two other bloggers that I LOVE to read are You Know It Happens At Your House Too! and Overworked Supermom.  They recently did posts telling their readers 15 things about themselves and challenged us to do the same.  I thought I would step up to the challenge since about half of my new followers are people that I don't know personally.  So in no particular order, here you go...

1.  I usually laugh when people get hurt.
I don't mean to be insensitive or anything.  I just can't help it.  If someone was really, truly hurt then I am sure I wouldn't laugh.  Well, I like to think that I wouldn't.

 

2.  I would love to be a stay at home mom.
I was a teacher for 8 years and now I have a home daycare for teachers.  However, if I could I would LOVE to be a stay at home mom until my youngest is in school.  I would love it.  I know that it's hard work...but guess what else is hard? Working when you have young kids.  And yes, I am working.  I can't leave my house at all during the school day.  I can't run to the store.  I can't meet friends for a playdate.  I can't stay in jammies all day with a sick kid.  I think it would be fabulous to be home with my kids.  It would kick ass.

3.  I always want to buy As Seen On TV products.
Yes, I am such a sucker for this crap.  The infomericals just suck me in.  If I could, I would buy it all.  Every last bit of those wonderful, ingenious yet useless pieces of junk would be mine.  My husband usually reels me back in before I make the purchase.  He reminds me of our lack of storage space and all the other crap that I just HAD TO HAVE and only used one time. 

4.  I think having 3 daughters is awesome.
I won't lie.  I did expect and want to have at least one boy.  I mean, when you have 3 children, I would think that the odds are in your favor to have a little bit of a mixture.  BUT now I think that it's great and I can't wait to see the girls grow up together.  My husband loves it too.  I was the one who really was hoping for a boy.  And although I do think he would have loved having a son, he is so wonderful with the girls. 

5.  I have a dry sense of humor.
My favorite movies and TV shows really prove this.  I love movies like Best In Show, A Mighty Wind, The Royal Tenenbaums, and anything with Ben Stiller or Vince Vaughn.  I love TV shows that have that interview style thing...like Modern Family and The Office.  I also think Jane Lynch is hysterical (I loved her waaayyyy before the Glee phenomenon).

6.  I LOVE flip flops.
If I could wear them every single day, I would.  That's the bottom line.

7.  I like something about each season of the year.
I live in Delaware and we have a little bit of everything.  I absolutely love the summer.  It is my favorite.  But I love when it turns to fall and it starts to get chilly and the leaves start to change.  Winter is my least favorite but a snowstorm is always exciting.  I personally wouldn't mind be snowed in with nowhere to go for a few days.  Maybe I would get caught up on my laundry that way.  Then after the cold winter, I just LOVE the spring.  The day when we get that first warm weather and it seems like everyone is outside is the best.  Although I could do without the people who put their convertible top down on those days.  Isn't that so annoying?   The dumbass that puts their top down the second it hits 60 degrees looks like...well, a dumbass.  But anyway, as you can see I enjoy a little something about all four seasons.

8.  I am super impulsive.
I just am and I can't help it.  I am impatient and when I want something, I want it right away. 

9.  I have old friends.
Not old as in their age, but old in that I have known them for a very long time.  I have known my best friends for over 25 years.  And since I am 33, that is a pretty good chunk of my life right there.

10.  I am a talker.
When I was in grade school, we had to take a personality quiz in gym/health class.  It came as no surprise when my test results showed that I had an extroverted personality.  The teacher said I would talk to a stop sign.  My most FAVORITE teacher ever wrote on the back of my report card at the end of 6th grade, "Talk, talk, talk! You should be a politician." 

11.  I still consider myself a teacher.
Even though I resigned 3 years ago and have had the home daycare since then, when people ask me what I do, my first instinct is to say "I'm a teacher".  Not sure why because I wasn't in love with being a teacher.  It was something to do when I decided to change my major in college...so I chose education.  I will definitely go back to it (although I think the only reason I will is because I got my Masters degree and I feel bad wasting it and I also want my pension).  I hope when I return to teaching I have a new appreciation for the profession.

12.  I LOVE reality television.
Yes, I am 100% aware of the fact that it is crap.  But it is my crap.  My mindless, wonderful, entertaining crap.

13.  I also love to read.
I really love to read although I don't get to do it as much as I would like to these days.  There was a time when I would read anything from Oprah's book club.  I loved that chick's taste in literature. 

14.  I have always been a beer drinker.
It's true.  If I had to choose, I would choose a beer over wine or other alcoholic beverages.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoy wine and I drink it often.  I also love a good margarita.  But if I went out to dinner or a party, I would most likely choose to drink beer.  I have always been that way and actually only started to like wine about 6 years ago (coincidentally that is around the time that I had my first child....hmmmm).



And another pic because it is funny...

15.  My husband and I met when we taught summer school together.
Well, really we met briefly before this.  I worked with his dad and I had been introduced to him (yes, by my future father-in-law) once before we taught summer school together.  It took all summer for us to finally decide to go out for a drink.  He emailed me the day after we finished teaching and asked me...and the rest, as they say, is history.
Lucky you...I added a bonus #16!

16.  This blog was started on a whim (because as I said in #8, I am so impulsive).
Yes, I started it suddenly one day.  But I have to say that I'm really enjoying it.  If others are too?  I am not so sure.  But I hope that you all are:)  There are days when I say that I am going to delete the whole thing and be done with it.  I can't get into this whole blogger game...like the constant updates on facebook, posting everyday, researching other things to write posts about, checking stats and all that.  It just seems like too much work to me.  But I'm still plugging away at it and I really do like it.  We will just have to see how it goes...

So there are 15 + 1 things about me.  I did not expect this to be as difficult as it was.  If you are reading this, I challenge you to make your own list and share it!

 

Come ONE. Please don't come all.

I just had to write about this and I need to know what other people think.

If your kid, who is school age, gets invited to a birthday party, do you bring your other children along?

Please say no.  Please say you don't so I know that I am not alone here.  Well, I actually know I'm not alone because my friend and I were talking about this yesterday and she is so on my side.  Or really, I'm on her side because she was the one who brought it up.

I am not talking about if you are going to a little family party or a party for your friends' children.  Then, by all means bring the whole fam along.  But if your 6 year old gets invited to a party someplace like Chuck E. Cheese and it's for a classmate that your other children clearly do not know, would you bring along your other child(ren)?

I know your other kids may be bummed that they didn't get to go.  But guess what, little Johnny? You will get your chance to go to your own friend's party someday and your older sister Sue won't get to go.  That's life, buddy.

Not only do I think that you shouldn't bring the other kid(s) along...I think that you most certainly should not call the parent of the birthday boy or girl and see what they think.  All you are doing is putting them on the spot.  Then the parent feels bad and says yes when clearly your other kid WAS NOT invited.  Then what?  Do they have to make an extra goody bag? Does your other kid sing happy birthday and partake in the cake eating fesitivites?  Or do you put them off by themselves with a fountain soda and a crappy slice of pizza and hope they don't put up a fight?

My oldest is in 1st grade and she is SO on the party circuit this year.  The girl has been to more parties in one year than I have been to in a decade.  It's getting out of hand.  But I will tell you this.  Not once did I bring along my 3 year old.  It would have ended badly for everyone involved, trust me.  Plus, I would never do that.  She wasn't invited to that party.  She needs to learn that about life.  (Even though more than once I just told her we were going to something for school and most definitely NOT a party.  It was kind of true.  They were parties for school friends.)

But again, someday my 3 year old will go to a party and her older or younger sister won't get to go.  It's all relative. 

I would love to know what other people think about this.  Please share your thoughts!!!

That's me. The queen of excuses.

I can find an excuse reason for anything.

Today is Fat Tuesday and we were going to have tacos for dinner.  Then my husband said we should get some good take out because again, today's Fat Tuesday and tomorrow marks the beginning of Lent.  Ahhh Lent, the time of year when I give up chocolate because I both like chocolate but can definitely live without it.  Works for me and works for whoever is judging me about the quality of my Lenten sacrifice.

So since it's Fat Tuesday, I don't have to cook dinner.  Good enough reason for me.  It got me thinking, though, how I can find good reasons for any of my choices. 

If the kids are going to be doing something outside the following day, I can skip bath that night because after all, they will just be getting all dirty in the next 12 to 18 hours.

If I am getting ready to crack down once again on my diet, I give myself permission to eat whatever crap I choose for that last day.  I always say it's my "last hurrah".  Problem is, I find myself having a "last hurrah" every weekend.

If it is payday, I say we should splurge and go out to eat or order take out.

If it is payday, I also tell myself that is it okay to feed my $400 a month Target habit. 

When it rains, it's fine to stay in jammies all day and not do a damn thing.  Because it's a rainy day, what else is there to do?

If I have a little bit of a cold, I will sometimes say I should just skip my run for that day.  Once I did read that if you exercise when you are sick, it may make you even sicker.  Don't want that happening, right?

If the kids keep making a mess in their room, I just shut the door and carry on.  No use in making them clean it up (or me clean it up while they put 2 toys away, whine about it, then sit and watch me do the rest) if they are just going to be playing in there.  Why clean it all up just so they can make a mess again?  It is not until it gets out of control or I fall over a toy while coming in with laundry to put away that I finally make them clean.

See, I have gotten pretty good at finding excuses legitimate reasons for every choice I make on a daily basis.  I always say "whatever works."  Just so happens that my little excuses work just fine for me...until I find myself with dirty kids, an extra 20 lbs to lose, no money but a surplus of crap from Target, and a messy house.  Hmmm, maybe I should rethink this.

College Prep or Preschool? WTF.

I thought I was doing good.  I really did.  But just when I think so, something happens to make me realize that I am clueless as usual.

My daughter turned 3 back in August and she was difficult to potty train.  Maybe not "difficult" but she is super stubborn.  She wasn't into it at all and NOTHING I said or did helped.  She didn't give a crap about sticker charts or M & M rewards for using the potty.  Actually, I could tell that she was appalled that I was offering was one little crappy M & M.  Clearly, she was not going to accept less than a dozen candies in a small bowl (because she always wants everything in a bowl).  She didn't want to go to the store and pick out underwear.  NOTHING got her motivated.

So the day after Christmas I just said, "This is it.  I have given you enough time.  You are ready."  And she was.  2 days later we were good to go.  What a relief.

FINALLY she was ready to start preschool.  This is where it gets tricky and I started to feel more and more like a bad mom whose child was destined for a life of mediocre grades at best and no real head start in her education all because of my poor planning.

I was at a birthday party with my oldest and I nonchalantly mentioned that I was looking at a few preschools to another parent.  She looked at me and said, "Well if you want her to go to such and such a preschool, you should have registered like yesterday...it is so hard to get in there."  Ok, so that one is out.  I am not into ultra-competitive shit for 3 year olds...really, I am not.  Then she said, "And have you toured such and such preschool lately?  I hope they updated it.  UGHH.  It seemed so rundown."  I mentioned that I knew someone who sent their child there and they loved it.  Her response was an eye roll and half ass smile.  Then the 3rd school I mentioned got a little bit of a warm response and she told me that she had some heard good things about it. 

What the hell is going on here?  Hey, she is just 3 freakin' years old.  It is not like we are ready to go check out college campuses.  I am not keeping her home with me when she should be at school knee deep in AP Calculus.  IT IS PRESCHOOL.

So to keep it easy, we sent her right up to the preschool that my older daughter went to.  She loves it and it's close.  She's happy with it.  We are happy with it.  So far so good. 

After the reaction that I got from the parent at the party, I was sure that I had put my 3 year old's academic future in jeopardy.  I was all set to sign her up for soccer and cross my fingers.  Colleges give soccer scholarships, right?

But I think she will be alright.  She's a smart one and quite a character. 

However, a soccer scholarship would be the icing on the cake. 

"Don't bite your sister's butt" and other stuff moms say

Words that I have said as a mom that I never thought I would utter...

1.  "Gentle with the cat.  She doesn't like her back smashed to the ground like that."

2.  "Just one bite of broccoli and you can have that ice cream sundae."

3.  "Please don't wipe your nose on the sofa."

4.  "Can't I have one godforsaken second alone?  Shut the bathroom door and go play in your room."

5.  "Don't bite your sister's butt."

6.  "If you don't pick these toys up, every single one is going in the trash."

7.  "I don't care if Santa brought them, I will write him a letter and tell him how you disrespected him by leaving them all out when you knew I was coming back up with a trash bag."

8.  "Now don't pee pee in those underwear.  Dora will be so sad if you get her all wet."

9.  "Ohhhh look, a new episode of Max and Ruby!!!"  (said with true honest to goodness excitement...probably because it meant about 28 minutes of peace)

10.  "Go grab Mommy one of those blue sodas out of Daddy's little fridge."

11.  "When you are at school, pleeeaaase try not the say the word poopy so much. Your teachers won't like that. "

12.  "The person who owns Target said we can't come back until you know how to behave there."

13.  "Please do not put (insert: paper, dog treat, crayons, trash, dirt, sand, etc) into your mouth!"



14.  "If you keep jumping on the bed, you will fall off and we will have to go straight to the Children's hospital.  Is that what you want?"

15.  "Fine, but if you get a cast put on then you can't get it wet.  That means no swimming and also no baths so you will be super stinky."

16.  "No, we can not get a baby jaguar." (Thanks a whole hell of a lot Diego)

So cute.  Won't be so cute when it grows to full size and fatally mauls you.  Where is that disclaimer on Nick Jr?

17.  "Maybe someday we can go to China but I don't know if Kai-lan can come with us."

18.  "Guess what Mommy bought? Lunchables!!"  (They are grotesque but my kids love them and think that they are a "special" treat.)

19.  "It's dancy dance time.  Yay, it's Biz's beat of the day." (who knew Biz Markie had a future beyond "You Say He's Just a Friend")

20.  "Ok, so do you want to listen to Kidz Bop or Laurie Berkner Band?"

I am sure this list could be endless.

PLEASE share some things that you may have said that you NEVER ever thought would come from your mouth! 

Putting a Positive Spin on Things

I am trying to be more positive these days.  I see people everywhere who are going through serious stuff...and I realized that I need to look at the bright side of things that maybe aren't so great.  I don't mean major problems, but rather the little day to day issues that can bring you down.

I have come up with 5 possible downers that you could put a positive spin on...

1.  Gray Hair
So you get into your 30s (and maybe even your 20s) and you start spotting those pesky gray hairs.  It sucks.  But it doesn't have to.  Why?
Well, when I go to the salon to get my hair done (aka. Target to buy boxed hair color), I see that it says the more gray hair you have, the more of a highlighted effect you will get.  JACKPOT! That is exactly the look I was going for...sweet! That just makes me love my grays. 
I have to take what I can get when it comes to hair.  I have extremely curly hair (like so curly that Kenny G was my dobbleganger), so color is the only way I can really change it up without looking like little orphan Annie.  I will take my highlighted grays and be happy as a freakin' clam.

 

2.  Excessive Coffee Drinking

When you are in your childbearing years and you think about having a baby, you always read about the negative effects of caffeine.  But every now and then, a little gem of a study comes along that finds positive effects of drinking coffee.  I LOVE when that happens.  Here is one article that might make you feel better if you are a coffee drinker:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/279924-positive-effects-of-caffeine-on-the-body/

One of the positives is that it reduces the risk of liver damage. This leads me to #3.

3.  Drinking alcohol

Of course, we know that drinking excessive amounts of alcohol can do all kinds of damage to your body.  Did you know that doctors say women should have no more than 7 drinks a week to reduce the risk of health effects?

But if I, in turn, drink extra coffee on those days that I am hitting the bottle, would that minimize damage to my liver? Hmmm...something to think about.

And I need to add that my grandmother attended happy hour and drank beer until just a few months before she died at the age of 84.  She also smoked.  I don't smoke, but the happy hour thing sounds good to me.  If she did it, hell, I should do it too.  Of course not now.  Taking 3 young kids to happy hour with me is probably a no no.

4.  Low cash flow
From time to time (especially with young children), you may just find yourself to be flat broke.  I'm just going to say it.  You all know those times (and if you don't, screw you...no,just kidding.  Well not really.) when you need payday to hurry up and get here.  During these times, you might be out shopping for only the necessities and the kids start their standard song and dance of asking for every little piece of junk that catches their eye.  When money is not a problem, you may give in and get them a little something.  But when it's not an option, I try to look at the positive side.  I am teaching my children that they can't always get what they want.  Sometimes they have to go without.  That's life.  Deal with it. 

5.  Overeating/Snacking
I have a problem with snacking.  My name is Katie and I am a constant grazer and snacker.  There you have it.  I always thought that this was my main problem.
However, in the past year or so, many dietitians say that eating several small meals throughout the day boosts your metabolism and leads to more weight loss.  Well, hot damn...I should have a metabolism that is through the roof with all the small "meals" I eat throughout the day.  Just gotta figure out why this weight isn't coming off as quickly as it should.  Maybe, just maybe, I should add even more small meals in when I can.  I'll try that and let you know how it works.

So you see, it's easy to put a positive spin on things. 

You have to laugh, or you would cry.

One of my most favorite bloggers, Jen from People I Want to Punch in the Throat, wrote a great post about things that you could do BEFORE you had children.  It even got published by the Huffington Post!  You can check it out here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jen-ml/before-kids-list_b_1239222.html?ref=parents

It is meant to be funny, tongue in cheek, and not to be taken so seriously.  Just a hilarious post about things most parents SHOULD be able to relate to.  So you can imagine how shocked I was when she started getting slammed by some asses having a field day in the comment section.  The crap they were saying was off the charts ridiculous.  Things like she shouldn't have had kids in the first place and that they had never experienced most of the things that she mentioned while parenting.  And my response to that is "BULLCRAP!"

I will the first to admit that almost all 26 things on her list pertain to me.

Some of them include me dyeing my own hair.  It has been over a year since I got my hair cut.  First, I have naturally VERY curly hair and I want it to grow so the only way is to not get it cut.  Secondly, I don't have the time or money to go to the salon and drop $150 on a new do.  One day, I hope and pray I will do this again.  And I am confident I will...maybe even this spring.  But for now, I think I will survive.

We also rarely can do anything spontaneous.  Everything must be planned or scheduled ahead of time.  Even a run to Target includes a bag with wipes, diapers, a change of clothes, a portable potty seat, and 2 sippy cups.

I can't go to the bathroom alone or take a shower without someone knocking on the door. 

I don't get to read much.  I have 2 magazine subscriptions and I am about 4 months behind.  I usually just throw them out before I read them because they are so outdated.  I have to choose my free time wisely and reading a magazine is not on the top of my list.

I don't watch R rated movies much anymore either.  I don't think they show them on Nick Jr or the Disney channel.

I very rarely sleep in these days.

If you read her post, you get the idea by now.  Much of what she said is TRUE.  It is just the reality of having children.  And it doesn't mean that she, or any of us that agree with her, love our children any less.  I can assure you that I love my children more than any other thing in this whole world.

To sum up my thoughts,  the crazy people commenting on her article either live in some dream world where they can sit around eating caviar and sipping wine while their children read War and Peace quietly in their bedroom or they are too scared to admit that being a parent is some hard work that requires sacrifices.

My hope for them is that they immediately contact their doctor to remove whatever crawled up their asses and died.  And that they learn to laugh a little...it's better than crying (which they probably do while secretly medicating themselves with booze and pills).

When It's Time to "Defriend"

It's another facebook post!  Everyone seemed to enjoy the last one, so I thought, "what the heck".

I have a few friends that clean out their facebook accounts from time to time.  I have never done this but I think that it's a great idea.  No use hanging on to the dead weight.

Here are some guidelines, if you will, for defriending:

1.  If you see someone out in public and they don't acknowledge you, DEFRIEND.

2.  On that note, if you see someone and you don't really want to acknowledge them, go ahead and delete 'em.  Why string them along?  It's not you, it's me.  No, it really is you.

3.  If their constant posts about their day to day, minute by minute "fiascos" are enough to make you want to put hot pokers in your eyes, then it's time to say "ADIOS".

4.  If they have over 1000 personal friends then they won't give a crap about losing you, go ahead and bow out of that party gracefully.  (And by gracefully I mean delete them, don't say a thing, and hope they never notice.)

5.  If every profile pic consists of a self portrait with that horrid "kissy face", that would be enough for me to walk away. 

6.  If they "over like" or NEVER like a damn thing you say, post, share...buh-bye.

7.  If you would never be friends or friendly with that person in "real life", why would you be friends with them in your "cyber life"?


8.  If it becomes obvious that they are stalking you (ie. showing up where you are, consistently commenting on posts on your wall that are not meant for them, etc.), it is time to cautiously defriend.  I say cautiously because you never know what those facebook creepers and stalkers are capable of.  They might go all Single White Female on you.

So if you think that it might be time to clean house, hopefully these guidelines can help you out.  Good luck.



Undergound Cookie Ring? I think not...

My oldest is in Girl Scouts.  She is a daisy and it's her first year so we are new to the whole cookie biz.  I'm just going come out and say it, it's crazy up in there.

Why? Here's why...

1.  You have to meet about selling cookies and then meet about the meeting you had about selling cookies and then receive an email about the cookie selling.

2.  The dates are so rigid that you would think they might come repo your 1st born if you didn't get that order in on time.  I fell asleep and woke up in sheer panic at about midnight on the day the orders were due.  I immediately emailed my order so I wouldn't forget, like I have a tendency to do.

3.  As if asking all of your friends and family to spend about 3 times as much as the cookies are worth for a single box isn't enough, you have to sign up to sell them outside of a local store (like a Walgreen's or grocery store).  I am not good at selling things at all.  My 6 year old better step it up.

4.  They offer these enticing prizes to the girls, which basically makes my daughter harass me to sell more (who is the damn girl scout here?) and then whine and complain when didn't reach the goal.  Well honey, newsflash, you were NEVER going to reach the goal of selling 2000 boxes, you were NOT EVEN CLOSE.  And selling $8000 worth of cookies to win a $124 American Girl doll hardly seems worth the effort.

5.  Finally, here is the real kicker.  They send a policy for accepting checks to all parents.  The policy basically states that all checks must have the buyer's name, address, phone #, and driver's license # on it.  Why not get a copy of their birth certificate, social security card, passport, and 2 proofs of residency while you are at it.  I mean, seriously??? Have they had a problem in the past with people writing bad checks in order to get their hands on a large supply of delicious girl scout cookies that they will then turn around and sell on some underground black market? I think not.  And last time I checked grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, and the nice old lady down the street were not in the business of writing bad checks to cover the costs of their cookie habit.  If that's the case, I feel bad for them.  Then it's my treat.  Here are your do-si-dos...have at it.

Has anyone else experienced this and thought that it has gotten out of control?  I was a brownie back in the mid 80s and I don't recall this madness.  But maybe that is because in the good old days you could go door to door and ask random strangers if they wanted to buy cookies? You would even go into their houses while they looked over their options on the order form or got you money.  And if you were lucky, they gave you a little treat like some Anisette Toast for the road.  Man, those were the days.

I can't be the only one who things this cookie biz is a little silly.  God help me if all 3 of my girls end up in Girl Scouts...

The Sensual Scent of...Sour Milk

I am so sick of this smell.  Let me tell you why (even though I think it is safe to assume that no one particularly enjoys it).

Whenever there is a "mystery" smell in our house or in the van, 75% of the time it comes from this source.

A few weeks ago, I took out the double stroller that was in the van and hadn't been used for approximately 6 weeks.  Much to my dismay (and disgust), there was a  sippy cup with curdled milk in it.  Maybe that was my fault because...
1.  I had put the cup in the bottom basket of the stroller and forgotten, and
2.  I had smelled the horrible stench of probable sour milk and was too lazy to investigate to find the source. 

So thank god that my 3 year old threw a fit because she wanted to sit in that stroller (in the parking lot of the store that we were running into for no more than 10 minutes which has racks that are so annoyingly close together that I dread pushing a double Sit and Stand stroller through while getting evil eyes from other patrons with their 6 week old newborn sleeping soundly in a little travel system infant seat/stroller combo because I am crashing into most of the displays).  BUT if I hadn't given into her fit to avoid a complete failure of a shopping trip, I would have never found the cup and been able to claim victory over the horrid smell that had afflicted the van for close to 2 months. (And I also thank god for the cold weather or that smell would have been drastically more offensive).  I decided right then and there, no more milk in the van!

Then the other day we were getting ready to assemble the new bunk beds for my daughters' room.  They had a twin bed and a toddler bed.  So we had to take apart and put the two other beds in the attic for storage (since I store everything just "in case"...I might just be a hoarder).  When taking apart the twin bed, I noticed the strange, yet all to familiar smell.  Underneath the abyss that was my daughter's bed, I found another sippy cup from who the hell knows when (along with one of my shoes that I had been looking for since the summer, half a dozen legos, some barbie clothes, a naked Aladdin doll, a deck of playing cards, 7 books, and other random trash). The cup was completely empty but there was a stain on the floor under it.  I began scrubbing it (and it was a tough SOB but it all finally came up).  I also began gagging because within 1 millisecond I knew it was milk.  Now there will be no more milk in the van AND upstairs.
 
Water only.  Water can sit for months and be completely fine.  Water it is.

So you can imagine my dismay when I got into my van a day ago and smelled that freakin' smell once again.  WTF!!! Do these kids not understand when I say no more milk in the van?!! Do they want to drive me crazy? They must really get a kick out of it. 

I got out and started to look under the seats.  I could not let this go on as long as the last incident did.  I was looking in the back (because that is where the girls sit and clearly this was their doing) and I glanced up front as I was crawling out after an unsuccessful search.  Something caught my eye.  Could it be? NO!  It was a travel coffee mug from Disney World.  Sometimes I like to drink out of it and pretend I am on vacation (yes, I enjoy Disney World as much as my kids but mainly due to our evenings going "around the world" in Epcot).  I picked up the travel mug and opened it.  Immediately I realized it was the culprit.  There was what I can only imagine to be coffee creamer and a few sips of coffee left in the bottom.  Who knew that would smell as bad as sour milk?  Well now, I do...

I quietly dumped the mug and threw it into our recycling bin.

So the rule still stands...NO milk in the van or upstairs.  (We can keep the coffee incident to ourselves).

Finally, My Dyson Gets the Respect It Deserves

Last year, I bought the Dyson Animal (DC25).  My other not to be named by brand crappy ass vacuum exploded in my hand.  Well, the cord basically exploded.  Maybe not "exploded",  but it definitely created a spark, blew through the cord, and turned my hand black.

I had to immediately get a new vacuum that very day because 1.  I am extremely impatient and impulsive, 2. I have a St. Bernard and 3 children, and 3.  I have a home daycare.  I vacuum at least 1 to 2 times a day.  It was necessary.  Now, was the $400 Dyson necessary?  I thought so.  It is the one household appliance, besides our Keurig, that we use daily.  I felt as though I deserved that vacuum. I was the one using it everyday.  If nothing else, I could have a "luxury" vacuum (so sad that this is what it has come to).

My husband was not sold on it but it was on sale and we got a GREAT deal...saving almost 25%.

I got home and immediately opened it to test it out.  I had heard SO MANY wonderful things about it.  People had said it changed their lives.  Now here is where the problem started I think.  Why did I actually expect a vacuum to change my life? Pathetic.

I vacuumed the entire first floor.  I tried out all the tools.  I vacuumed the cushions on my couch.  I got in all the corners of the rooms.  I did it all.

And to be completely honest, I wasn't blown away.  I could never, however, admit this to my husband.  It was my idea to go get this thing.  I had to act like it was the best. thing. ever.

Over time, I did begin to realize that it worked very well.  As long as it was cleaned out, it did not lose suction (that dude was right).  It sucked up all the hair on the carpet and did a great job on the hardwoods.  I think I just had such high, unrealistic expectations.  It is a damn vacuum cleaner.  WTF was I expecting?

So last week the brush head would stop turning occasionally.  I begin to lose my shit.  I was pissed.  It had been only a year.  Immediately, true to form, I began to overreact.  I was googling all this crap about why it stop working.  If I had the proper tools, I would have taken it apart.  Thank god I didn't, that would have voided the warranty.

So after cursing the day I went and bought this freakin' thing that lasted no longer than the $150 piece of shit I had bought 2 years ago,  I calmed myself with my 3rd cup of coffee and dialed the Dyson customer service line.

The women that answered was as sweet as pie.  After helping me reset the vacuum (which did nothing to resolve the problem), she informed me that they would send out a new brush head.  She then said she was going to faint and that her "pressure was up".  After a brief hold, she came back, still short of breath but back to business (she deserves to be employee of the month).

Long story short (which is basically a joke because I have already made this story much longer than necessary), this was on Tuesday.  I got the new part yesterday.  The vacuum is as good as new.

So approximately 1 year from the day I purchased my Dyson, it finally proves to be worth every penny.  I can definitely recommend this and mean it now.  In our house, the Dyson finally is getting the respect it deserves.