Ironic

I have a new line to add to Alanis' song. "It's having just cleaned the carpet and your 2 year old spills red Kool-Aid. Isn't it ironic? Don't cha think?" The first time I heard that song, I thought, "That's not ironic, her life just sucks." Of course, I was 13 at the time, so my views might have been a little skewed. But now that I think about it again, yeah, her life does pretty much suck. But yeah, so I cleaned the carpet yesterday. And this morning, Layni walked in the living room with a glass of red Kool-Aid that got left on the counter after dinner. Of course she spilled it! But I didn't flip out, I just put her on the naughty seat, went into my room, and quietly beat my head against a wall. Or I would have if I could have gotten that Alanis song out of my head. Anyway, I paid the price for my cleaning activities, my back hurt like a mother all night last night and most of today. And the best part? Aside from the red Kool-Aid stain, the carpet doesn't look that much better than it did before. Isnt' it ironic? Don't cha think?

So I went shopping today. I told Dave I was going to the commissary, but I lied. I went to town. I'm not supposed to drive anywhere off base, but I was feeling reckless today. I'm just sick of being stuck on this stupid base. It's huge, but there's a whole lot of nothing to do. Although, Monday and Tuesday were really good days. The weather was nice. Then it got cold and windy, so we couldn't go outside. I'm finding that good days are ones where there is outside play. Everything was fine going to town, but it's not something I want to risk frequently. I got everything I needed, except a Ken Doll (don't ask) and a new lunch box for Dave. He brown-bags it everyday, and his old lunch bag has just about bit the dust, so he wants a new one. Unfortunately the only lunch boxes I could find had either Dora the Explora on them or Lightening McQueen. And since he finally got a call sign he likes (Spock) I don't think it's a good idea to send him to work with fodder for another one that might be lame. And I got the good toothpaste. I love that we are finally in a place financially where I don't have to buy the cheap-o brand of everything. I can splurge on the good toothpaste!

So the great housing debate has reared it's ugly head again. We had pretty much decided to move on base, but then I got the bright idea to look at some new construction homes in the area. Now I'm the one on the side of buying and renting it out, and Dave is the one who wants to rent! Oh the twists and turns of life. Not to get into too much detail, but we've decided to go ahead and apply for a mortgage and see what happens. If we don't get approved for very much, then we'll just rent and be happy. If we do get approved for a decent amount, we're probably going to build a new house there in Ohio. My biggest fear about being a landlord was that we weren't going to be able to rent the place. That fear is much lessened with a newer house. I know what I've looked for as a renter, and a newer place will always win out over an older one (except in the case of historic homes, but even then, with kids? Maybe not so much). So we'll see. We figure we can't make a decision until the money is all in place, and we'd prefer not to start that process until the baby comes, so probably in May. So stay tuned! I know you're all on pins and needles to see what happens. ;)

So I'm having this issue. I feel guilty because I don't really feel bad about the recession. I mean, from Dave and I's perspective, this is a great opportunity. We're throwing more money than ever into our retirement accounts because every dollar we put into the stock market is buying more than it has before. And I feel bad for people losing their homes, but we're looking to buy one, because we can finally afford it. And part of the reason they are so cheap is because other people are losing them. I feel like our money is going further than it ever has before. We don't have tons of money, but like I said before, I can finally afford to buy the good toothpaste! But that's the thing, we've always tried to live frugally, avoided debt, lived within our means and saved. And guess what? We haven't been hit that hard. Even if Dave were to lose his job, we'd be good for at least 3-4 months while he looked for a new one (and with his education and experience, he'd probably be able to find one here at Edwards!). I'm just not worried about the economy. Maybe it comes back to that gospel principle, (I'm paraphrasing) if you're prepared, there's no need to fear. When things were good, we prepared for a time when they might not be, by saving money, living frugally, and getting a good education. Now we're reaping the rewards because we can take advantage of some really good opportunities. But I do feel bad for other people. I know plenty of people who've lost their jobs, and that sucks for them. But at the same time, there's this little voice in the back of my head saying, "If you hadn't bought that big, expensive, new house then things might be a bit easier for you." I don't know. I should have more love for others, but it's hard when you see people reaping the consequences of their decisions.

Anyway, enough deep thoughts. You don't come here to read my deep thoughts! You come here to laugh because my kid locked herself in the bathroom or spilled Kool-Aid on the carpet. I only need to share deep thoughts if they are of the Jack Handeyvariety. Well, I need to go unload groceries, put them away, wash dishes, return the carpet cleaner, etc. Blah. Sometimes this job sucks.

Why I oughta....

Sometimes I wish I had an anonymous blog so I could post all the horrible things I think about some people with no chance of it getting back to them!! Michelle is not feeling very Christ-like today!! (And no Jessa, it's not about you, your visit was one thing that made me smile today!)

Weird

I feel weird today. And the weather isn't helping. Rain, rain, go AWAY!! I wanted to take the kids to the park today, but with it raining that won't happen. And even when it stops, it'll be nothing but mud. I'm going to try and take them to the indoor playground here on base, but we'll see what happens. At least we'll go to the library. I've just got to the get them out of the house today. We won't survive being cooped up like this!!

My body is being weird too. If you ask me, it feels like I'm getting ready to have a baby. Which I shouldn't be, considering that I'm only 33 weeks. But I don't know, something strange is going on. And I'll be the first to admit, I'm no expert when it comes to going into labor. The only times I've been able to do it on my own were when it was early, and had to be stopped. With Nora, my body just kind of gave up after 36 weeks (after trying quite hard for the previous 6 weeks!), and I had to be induced at 42. With Layni, it would start up, then stop, then start, then stop, and we all know how that ended up. This is different though, it's like my whole body is gearing up for something, where before it was just my uterus. Or maybe I'm just going crazy. That's a completely reasonable conclusion. I've been telling Dave for a while that the inmates were taking over the assylum up here. We'll see what happens in the next few weeks.

My projects are coming along. I'm halfway done with Nora's quilt. And halfway done with the crib blanket. Those were supposed to be completed yesterday, but I'm thinking my time-table may have been a bit ambitious. The crib blanket should be done in a few days, it's going pretty quickly. It's the quilt that's going to kill me. It's not going very fast at all. But it's the next to last project, and I've got 6 weeks to finish it. I'm sure I'll get everything done before the baby comes, it's just hard to see the end when you're in the middle. Dave is working hard on the bunk beds. He got all the wood cut, and most of the holes drilled. Now he just needs to sand them, and he'll be done in the shop! That will help a lot. The shop is only open from 9-6, so he can only go on Saturdays, which means 4 days in the shop takes 4 weeks. Once he gets the sanding done, then he'll bring it home and the girls and I can paint everything and get it ready for assembly. That will be fun, hopefully assembly shouldn't take very long! No matter what though, we're moving the girls into the play room and getting the nursery set up on March 1st. That will be awesome.

Well, I need to go hit the shower and get dressed so I can take the girls out of a bit. It seems to hae stopped raining (for now), so it's a good time to be out and about. And maybe I'll snag a $5 footlong while I'm out. Sounds good.

Top 10 Reasons I want to have this baby already

1. So I will stop waddling like a duck.

2. So people will stop looking at me sympathetically because I'm so huge out in front.

3. So I can stop taking this medicine that gives me all the jitters of a triple shot mocca without the chocolatey flavor.

4. So I can wear heels again.

5. So we will be 3 months away from moving, rather than 5.

6. So Nora will quit telling people that Mommy throws up in the potty.

7. So I have an excuse not to wash dishes every night.

8. So I can get 5 lbs of weight off my bladder.

9. So my mom will stop bugging me about naming him Jakob rather than Daryn. Once it's on the birth certificate, all debate stops yo.

10. I don't really have a 10th reason, but I'm sure I'll think of something soon.

Frickin' Frackin' House!!

So, this house will kill me. Don't get me wrong, I like this house a lot, I like where it's located, I like the layout (about 500 sf smaller than my old house, but feels like it's bigger), it's not haunted. I like this house a lot, but I think it's trying to kill me. First, Layni gets locked in the bathroom, sending this overprotective mother into panic state thinking about how she's going to drown herself in the toilet (and hoping and praying that Nora flushed after the last time she used it). Now the furnace isn't working. 3 maintenance guys have been out to fix it with no dice. The HVAC guy is coming in about half an hour to give it his best shot, so we'll see what happens. If they can't fix it tonight, it's TLF (temporary living facilities) for us because I'll be darned if we're staying in this house tonight with no heat!

**Update**
Well, the HVAC guy came and fixed things. So yay! Turns out the people who lived here before us had a dog, and the hair clogged up the ducts, so the heat from the furnace was backing up, causing the furnace to think it was overheating and shut off. The HVAC guy spent over an hour sucking crap out of our ducts. And guess what, our heat works much better now!! I've had the heat set at 74 all winter, and it hasn't been over 70 since he cleaned it. My house isn't trying to kill me anymore. Yay!

At least they make me laugh...

So we had to call maintenance tonight. Why you ask? Because my sweet little 2 year old locked herself in the hallway bathroom. Not even joking. Apparently she was in there playing, and shut the door with the lock engaged. She's a smart little bugger because she knows she'll get in trouble if she's caught playing in the bathroom. Her solution? Shut the door. She was locked in there for about an hour before we even realized it. We could hear her playing, so we thought she was just in the playroom. It wasn't until Nora came in the living room crying because she had to potty and couldn't get in that we realized something was amiss. After trying on our own for about 10 minutes to get in, we decided it was best to just make the call. And when the guy came, we just had a good laugh. And Layni thought it was the funniest of all. She's cute. I'm glad my kids make me laugh. Otherwise they probably wouldn't have survived this long.

Dang it feels good to be a gangsta...

Oh Office Space. I miss you. You were my feel good movie. After a crappy day, I could always sit down and watch you, and you'd make me laugh, and all would be right in the world. But alas, you're rated R. And so there was no joy in Mudville. I could use some Office Space this week. Thank goodness it's a short week. But for a short week, it's be awfully long. The girls have been sick, now I'm sick, and just about nothing has been done. I did get my crib bumpers done, though, and that makes me feel good. It's about the only thing. Stupid rotten no good week. Glad it's over tomorrow. I can't even find the ringtone I want for my phone! Grrrr.

Speaking of which, I got a new phone! That's something good that happened this week. I've been on my parents cell phone plan for a while now, and honestly, I really don't like it. It's a crappy phone, and I'm always worried that I'm going to use all their minutes. So, after some talk, Dave and I decided to get our own phones. We've had a Virgin Mobile phone for a while, but haven't been using it since I've had the one from my parents. So, we just bought another Virgin phone for me to use, and he'll just use the old one. But my new one is cool. I dig it. I usually don't get attached to things, but I think this one will become my new best friend. That's only IF I can find a super amazing ringtone. The one thing I liked about my old phone was that I could record my voice and use it as the ringtone. So my ringtone was "Ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Pick up the phone!" and my message tone was "Message. Message. Message. MESSAGE!" it was amazing. Beyond amazing. People in the supermarket would laugh at my ringtone, it was that amazing. But alas, no more. Now I've got to find a song that I like. I'm thinking "California Love" by Tupac. I freaking love that song. And it just might rival the "Ring" in terms of awesomeness. Seriously, a white girl, with three kids is standing in front of you in the supermarket. All the sudden, "California Love" starts blaring out of her purse. Wouldn't you at least giggle? I would.

I need to buy spoons. I swear the children just eat them right along with their cereal in the mornings. We own 18 forks (I've counted) and 6 spoons. We buy them in sets!! I don't understand how we have 12 more forks than spoons!!! This is not OK. I would bet money that when we move, we're going to find all 12 spoons under the dresser or somewhere. They're plotting against me. I really think my children are trying to drive me insane. It's a conspiracy.

People with irrational fears of serial killers should not watch television programs that feature serial killers. Just a thought. Can you tell I'm blogging 30 minutes after taking my meds? Because I'm totally all over the place. I feel like I've had a coffee IV. And I don't even drink coffee! I need to stop this. Stop before I make an idiot of myself. Or have I already passed that point? You decide.

Yo quiero Taco Bell!

Man, I'm cranky today. I didn't get enough sleep. Part of it's my fault, I stayed up kind of late, but both kids were up like every half hour from about 2:30-4 a.m. And I had taken some Tylenol to help with my back pain, which gave me heartburn, and I am out of Rolaids. It was a great night. Sunday afternoon I took a 2 1/2 hour nap too, which really didn't help either. I've been getting these spells where I just have to lay down. I'll be sitting, doing something, everything is fine, and BOOM, my eyelids droop, my limbs feel heavy, and it's about all I can do to turn on a movie for the girls, before I pass out. I'm asleep about 10 seconds after putting my head down. I've never been tired like this before, it's the strangest thing. It probably has something to do with the meds I'm on. They take all my energy and condense it so I feel like I've had about 4 cups of coffee, then I crash. I can't wait for this to be over!!

I'm taking Nora to the park today. She doesn't deserve it, she's been whiney all morning, and after being up all night (and not up in a legitimate way, but screaming for a drink of water, and coming into our room to say she has to go potty, every 1/2 hour, stuff you know she's doing just to get out of bed) I'm not in a mood to be nice. But I'm hoping that getting her out of the house for a little bit will better her mood. She's been driving me up the wall. It's cloudy out, so hopefully it won't rain, and I don't think we'll stay very long, it depends on how many other kids are there. She doesn't like to play when there aren't any other kids. And Layni is sick so I don't feel good about having anyone else over. I just opened the windows, it's really nasty looking out today. Maybe we'll just do movies. I feel like a bad mom, but seriously, I don't want to go out on a nasty day, and neither does Layni. Man, this sucks.

I didn't accomplish my goals for last week. I came really close though. I got the crib painted, but I didn't finish 1/3 of Nora's quilt. I still have two more squares before 1/3 is done. Dang. I know it's not that big a deal, because I've got plenty of time to finish it, but I still feel like a failure because I didn't get it done. Oh well, I've just got to get it done this week, along with all my other goals for this week. But it's only Monday. We'll see how hopelessly behind I am by Sunday!! Dave is doing well on his goals though, he got all the lumber for the bunk beds bought and the rough cuts done. He's really excited about getting into the shop and getting to work. I guess I should clarify, we're not building bunk beds per se, but we're building a loft bed, and then the bed we already have will fit underneath it to make an "L" shape. The loft bed is really nice, it's got a bookcase built into one side, and we're going to attach some hardboard with chalkboard paint on it to the backside of the bookcase, so the girls will have a big chalkboard to draw on. I would have loved that as a kid. I was always playing school, and always wished I had a giant chalkboard! I think they'll like it.

I we've resolved the housing issue in Ohio. We're just going to live in base housing. We've decided not to buy, and we've been looking at houses for rent, and we'd pay our entire BAH to get a 4 bedroom anyway, so we might as well just live in base housing, then we don't have to worry about negotiating a lease with the landlord for 18 months, or worry that moving in and out is going to be a hassle. And we already know some people in the neighborhood. And honestly, we can get a base house fast, so we won't be stuck in TLF for ages. We ruled out apartment living, because the things I have to have (dishwasher, washer/dryer in the unit, 3 bedrooms) drove the prices up to $700-$800, so after utilities we wouldn't be making that much. Not enough to make up for living in an apartment. I think we're both satisfied. The schools suck, but honestly, Nora will be in kindergarten for 6 months there, it won't hurt her that much. Now, when we get to NM we won't be living on base, because those schools really suck, and all of our kids will attend them for longer. But Dave has pretty much said, one house at a time. So we can't even talk about where we're living in NM until we get to OH. And I think that's reasonable, even if the planner in me balks.

OK, I had a decision about the park. Layni is running a fever, so we're not going anywhere. Nora is just going to have to deal with bad mommy letting her watch movies all day. We might run over to the commissary to grab some more children's Motrin, and maybe grab some tacos for lunch. We'll see. I like tacos a lot, maybe they'll make me a bit less pissy today.

***Update***
Looks like I made the right decision. Seeing as how it started SNOWING about an hour ago. No one is going anywhere at the Prahl house today. Except the commissary. Dave called and requested Chili for dinner. And he puts up with me most days, so I'll give in today.

OMGeee!!!

It's raining! That's just about awesome. I miss rain.

I would seriously like to know how many starving African children Rachel Ray is expecting me to feed with her "Tex Mex Mac and Cheese". Seriously Rachel Ray? A pound of pasta? My two kids and I will be eating that for lunch for a month. Lame.

Layni actually took a nap today. A real nap, not a "I'm going to be really quiet and make a big mess of my sisters clothes" nap. Maybe she'll be tolerable this evening. Things are always better around here when the baby has slept.

That's all. Back to your regularly scheduled programing.

Just call me big bird

So, I'm nesting hardcore. As I said before, when I nest, I don't just put away clothes and hang pictures, I'm likely to remodel the whole dang house. And being on bedrest for two weeks didn't help. I had to change my entire schedule to fit around sitting on the couch. Not cool. I feel like I missed out on two weeks of valuable baby prep time. But now the medication I'm on gives me all this nervous energy, like a couple shots of expresso, so I feel like I can make up for lost time. And honestly, I didn't loose too much time, because I got almost all the sewing done, everything except the crib bumpers, and those just because I would have had to be on the floor crawling around to get the measurements right, which was a no-no. So my new schedule looks something like this...

This week - finish painting the crib, finish quilting 1/3 of Nora's quilt
Next week - make crib bumpers, finish another 1/3 of Nora's quilt
Week after - Finish Nora's quilt, finish Layni's quilt (her's is a tie quilt, it'll take about 3 hours), crochet a crib blanket.

And Dave has a 4 day weekend over Valentine's Day. So, you know what that means! Bunk bed time!! He's promised me that he will get them mostly done by the time that weekend is over. Then either the last week in February, or the first week in March, we can move the girls into their new room and get the nursery set up. It's going to be sweet!! And with my baby shower on March 7th (hint: you all should come!), I'll have a place to actually put things. There's also a Goodwill right across the street from my Doctor's office (great neighborhood huh!) so everytime I have an appointment, I'm going to grab about $10 worth of baby clothes. Hopefully that, plus anything from the shower will give us everything we need. I love having a plan!!! Planning is fun.

But you know what's not fun? Paying $800 for car repairs. The check engine light came on in Dave's car, so we took it in. Yeah, he was basically driving a time bomb. He needs, new brake pads, new rotors, a brake fluid flush, an oil change, and something to fix the "Cylindar 1 misfire" error code (she explained what it needed, but all I could really do was shake my head and go "uh-huh"). Total cost? about $800. Especially when we only paid $5000 for the car. Oh well. That's why we have an emergency car fund. We were hoping to use it as a start to a down payment on another car, but alas, it was not to be. And this is seriously coming about a week after we had to get the power steering pump replaced in my car. LAME. Oh yeah, that reminds me, I need to put that front license plate on. Opps.

So, bedrest sucks, and I don't recommend it for anyone. Ever.

So that's about my whole world right now. And I'm pretty sure my coat of paint on the crib is dry, so I need to go slap on another one. I remember watching this show "Roswell" when I was in High School, and the kids in that show could just put their hand on something and change it's color. Of course, they were also aliens, but that's beside the point.