Happy Halloween

Is it really November 1st tomorrow? I guess that means only 55 more days until Christmas. I need to get started on my shopping.

Creepy

I've been intrigued by the Jack the Ripper case since I was about 12 years old. I think what is so intriguing to me, and to any other Ripperologist, is the fact the he was never caught. It just makes me stark, raving crazy not knowing who he was. One of the first things I want to find out when I get to Heaven (assuming I make it there, I'll most likely be going to the other place ☺) is who he was. I NEED to know.

Some might remember I went on a tour of the murder sites while in London last year. It was so spooky, but oh so thrilling. Especially for someone like me. Our tour guide, Philip Hutchinson, is apparently one of the more reputable of all the many guides in London. He has, in fact, even written a book about the case. Plus, I saw him in a documentary about Jack on the History Channel just a week or two after we came home from London. So, that must mean he knows what he's talking about. TV would never lie.

I wanted to buy the book when we got home, but couldn't find it here in the U.S. I tried for a while and then sort of forgot about it and gave up. Ryan didn't. He's been searching and waiting for it all this time. So, when a new revised and updated version was recently published, he bought it from amazon.com/uk for me.

It came on Monday and I had it finished by Tuesday. It contains biographies of the victims, a timeline leading up to their murders, crime scene descriptions, descriptions of the area, what life was like at the time and lots of grainy black and white photos. There's nothing in it but facts, no speculating on who he might have been, etc. It's so scary and unsettling. I love it. I did most of my reading in the evening after my kids had gone to bed. After I would finish, I would turn out the lights in the house and then go to bed. My bedroom is at the end of a dark, windowless hallway. It took every ounce of self control I have to keep myself from running down it into my bedroom. I would be so creeped out, I was just sure Jack would be waiting at the end of it for me.

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What's on the menu today: I had kind of a busy day of errands yesterday. I realized at around 1:00 in the afternoon that I hadn't put dinner in the crock pot. It was too late to put it in then and have it be ready in a timely manner. We had a trunk or treat Halloween party to go to at 6:00 and so I just let the kids have hot dogs. Fast and easy. We're going to be having Chicken & Rice Pacifica tonight.

Can I change my mind?

Once I decided on my goal for this week, I almost immediately regretted my decision. I want to not sweat the small stuff, but it's really hard when you have a 2 year old. Especially a 2 year old boy who is kind of naughty.

Yesterday evening, Peyton was downstairs playing. (I should remember to include here that Ryan was working late again and was not here to help me.) He had been down there for a while and so I thought I should check on him. I found him in the laundry room (I don't know how he got in there). He had opened up the dryer, removed the clothes that were in there and was sitting inside playing. My initial reaction was, "Crap! He's put clean clothes on the floor." I took a deep breath and reminded myself that it was really no big deal. I could always rewash the clothes if necessary. It wouldn't kill me.

I pulled him out of the dryer and noticed that he was kind of stinky. I took him upstairs to change his diaper. However, when the diaper was removed, there was nothing there. He was barely wet. Strange. I picked him up, but again smelled something stinky. I started looking him over and found a dried, brown substance on one of his hands. I immediately knew what had happened. Avery had used the downstairs bathroom and not flushed it. I don't know how I knew that, it's just the thought that came to my mind. I turned to Avery, who was close by and asked her if that's what had happened. She said, "oh, probably." Great. I cleaned Peyton's hand and went downstairs slowly because I was really dreading what I might find.

Sure enough, Avery had NOT flushed the toilet after using it. Peyton had managed to get into another room he shouldn't have been in. I was greeted with a lovely sight. Poop smeared all over the toilet. He had taken the toilet scrubbing brush and swirled it around in the toilet and outside it as well. He was kind enough to return it to it's caddy, but it was covered. As was the caddy and the floor it was sitting on. If that wasn't enough, he had also pulled off about a half a roll of toilet paper, strewing it on the floor and in the bathtub. Not losing my cool right then was tough. My right eye started twitching and my forehead started to throb.

I knew the only thing to do was clean it up and so I did. It was disgusting, but nothing a little disinfecting spray couldn't take care of. No big deal. Right? That's what I had to keep telling myself over and over and over. Next, I put Peyton in the tub. I cleaned him up and dressed him and I was congratulating myself on remaining calm. It was at that moment that Cameron called me, needing help with something. I walked away for about 30 seconds. I came back to find Peyton sitting in the tub again. I laughed and told him to get out and then I noticed that I had forgotten to drain the water out of it. He was wet up to his chest. I screamed. Not yelling at him screaming. A scream of frustration.

Now, Peyton has 6 pairs of pajamas. One of them he was wearing and the other 5 were in the washer with 45 minutes left on the cycle. There was nothing to do but strip him down and pray that he didn't take off his diaper while waiting for clean pajamas. You see, if he can get to his diaper, he will take it off. If you catch him in time, it's not a problem. If you don't, he...well, you can guess what happens. He did take it off a couple of times. Thankfully, I caught him before anything bad happened, but it was still a very long night. Oh, and Ryan came home just as I was putting on Peyton's clean pajamas. He got to miss all of the fun. As usual. ☺

I hope this was the worst of it and I can keep my calm the rest of the week. Otherwise, it's going to be a very long one.

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What's on the menu today: Chicken & Rice Pacifica.

I got it done just in time

Thanks to my mother in law, I was able to complete my goal for this last week. I may have waited until yesterday afternoon to work on it, but Tyler's Halloween costume is finished. Whew!

My goal for this week: I'm going to try to worry less about just, stuff. Try.

Ryan and I were arguing last week about something silly. He said to me, "you know, I work and interact with 3000 (slight exaggeration) different personalities every day and the only one I can't figure out is yours. You are such a control freak, you don't let me help with anything."

It's true. I am controlling. I get agitated and can feel my chest tighten when I see something happening in a way I don't like. I just like and want things done the way I like and want them done. I know it's not a very flattering personality trait. So, in an effort to be easier on my family, I'm going to try to not sweat the small stuff this week. I really hope I can do it.

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My modem is dying and it's making me crazy. It's causing my Internet connection to be very intermittent. I'm constantly having to unplug it in the hopes that it will reset. It doesn't always work. It's really annoying. Ryan has been working a lot, like from 7 in the morning until 10 at night or later, and so he hasn't got around to buying a new one. If I knew what I was supposed to be buying and if I didn't think Ryan would get annoyed, I would just go buy one myself. Unfortunately, computers and all things related to them are something he likes to deal with. Who's the real control freak in the family? I know, I know. It is me.

Tyler was so mad last night when he couldn't go online. He was ranting and raving and railing against the horrible injustice of it. He told me he had "the worst life ever. I'm so bored, I'M GOING TO DIE!" Poor, poor child. I didn't tell him I felt exactly the same way.

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What's on the menu today: Barley & Lentil Soup. I have a cookbook published by Campbell's called Slow Cooker Recipes. This came from a section called "Winter Chill Chasers". What better way to chase away the chill of the first snowstorm of the season, then with a hot bowl of soup?

Friday tunes Oct. 23rd. edition

1. Ice Cream - Sarah McLachlan

2. Rock Your Body - Justin Timberlake

3. If I Could Build My Whole World Around You - Marvin Gaye

4. An Affair to Remember - Leo McCarey/Sleepless in Seattle

5. Bad - Michael Jackson

6. The Old Apartment - Barenaked Ladies

7. Part of Your World - Jodi Benson/ The Little Mermaid

8. Shadowboxer - Fiona Apple

9. Say It Ain't So - Weezer

10. Into the Groove - Madonna

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What's on the menu today: Caesar Pork Chops. Yes, it's from the ward cookbook and yes, it's from this person.

False Alarms

I've had a migraine threatening for the past 2 days. I've had all the pre-cursor symptoms like the aura/wonky vision, sensitivity to light and sound, tingling in my face, etc. Yet, it just won't turn into the actual headache. Sometimes, I would much rather deal with the pain of it then the crap leading up to it. I've been trying my best to ignore it, but I haven't done a whole lot because of it.

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My dad's 60th birthday is on November 5th and he's told me he expects me to throw him a surprise party. He promises to act as if he wasn't expecting it and be gracious and flattered. My mom and I keep telling him that the real surprise is that there will be no surprise party. Yes, he reads this. Yes, he'll get some sort of party, but I HAVE to tease him.

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What's on the menu today: I don't feel like cooking tonight. Pizza is ordered and on the way. We'll have tomorrow what we were supposed to have today.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned

Cameron came in the house the other day and said to Avery, "Heather (our next door neighbor) wants us to come outside and play house with her in our yard. I'm going too because I DON'T want to disappoint a girl."

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I knew the incident last week with Peyton was a fluke. I asked him to give me a hug yesterday and he just laughed and ran across the room. I tried chasing and letting him tease me for a while. That didn't work. He still wouldn't hug me. Finally I sat down on the floor and pretended to cry. I whimpered and whined that I needed a hug. He got a very concerned look on his face and came up to me. He said, "Mommy sad? Mommy cry?" I told him, "yes, Mommy sad and I'm crying. I need a hug to feel better." He paused for a second, said "hmmm" and then walked away. Grrrr..... Apparently, he hasn't yet learned that you DON'T want to disappoint a girl. I don't know how, but I swear I'm going to get that kid to love me someday. ☺

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What's on the menu today: Pork Fried Rice.

Big Sexy Hair

Avery was admiring her reflection in the side of our car. (She was waiting for me to get outside and unlock the door.) When I walked up to her, she said to me, "my hair looks so beautiful and curly. Don't you think so?"

I said, "oh yes. It's just gorgeous."

She said,"yep! It's nice 'n sexy!"

I said, "well, I don't know if I would say that".

She said, "why? What does sexy mean? I thought it meant beautiful, curly hair."

I said, "I guess it can mean something like that."

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I did another lice treatment on my kids. I figure it's better to be safe than sorry. Anyway, the product recommends doing it 7-10 days after the first treatment. I'll probably do it tomorrow too. Again, just to be safe. I also washed pillowcases (again) and sprayed their pillows and mattresses (again). I threw away their pillows on the day it was discovered. The critters live in them. If you don't get rid of them, they'll keep coming back from now, until the end of time. I'm hoping that by spraying the new ones, it will keep it from coming back because they never had the chance to settle in. It's so annoying that you can't simply treat their heads and have it all go away forever. You have to treat their entire environment. Like, the whole house from top to bottom. Bedding (on every.single.bed.in.the.house, ugh), coats, back backs, shoes, everything. It's so tiring. I've vacuumed so much in the past week, I'm surprised the vacuum hasn't dropped dead. I've even steam cleaned my carpets. I've sanitized/done everything I can think of. If the monsters come back, I don't know what I'll do. (I know exactly what I'll do. Throw the biggest, screaming hissy fit you've ever seen.)

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What's on the menu today: Pig Sandwich

I'm so glad I decided to do it

My FJ1W goal of keeping a gratitude journal went splendidly. Over the course of 7 days, I found I had 35 things to be grateful for. 35 things in the midst of kind of a crappy week.

On Monday, I took Tyler, Cameron and Avery to my sister in law to get their hair cut. She found they had a little surprise waiting for her. Lice. Yes, lice. It was in the very early stages, but it was still disgusting. The course of my entire week changed after that. I spent days washing hair, clothes, floors, furniture & toys. You name it, I washed it and then sprayed it with a lice control spray. Then I washed it and sprayed it all over again. I'm still washing and spraying. I think I'm going to be paranoid it will come back for many weeks to come.

Despite finding disgusting creatures living on the heads of my children, I was still able to find some good.

• I was grateful I had a sanitary cycle on my washing machine.
• I was grateful I could buy a shampoo to treat the problem.
• I was grateful that it was caught in the very early stages, but I'm taking no chances. ☺
• I was grateful I was able to focus on other things besides the lice. It was hard, but I did.

The decision to do keep a gratitude journal couldn't have come at a better time. I think I received a little divine inspiration. The Lord knew I would need a little help finding the good in my days last week. It's made me so happy, I'm going to continue to keep the journal.

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This week, I'm going to finish Tyler's Halloween costume. He decided he couldn't continue living if he couldn't be Link. So, that meant I had to make a costume. I have everything to do it. I just need to actually sit down and do it. Wish me luck. I'm going to need it. Not because I don't know how to go about making it, because I'm feeling lazy and I don't want to do it.

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What's on the menu today: Cheesy Mini Burgers. Another one submitted to the ward cookbook by this person.

Well, just so you know...and Friday tunes Oct. 16th edition

1. Darcy's Letter - Pride & Prejudice (2005) Soundtrack
2. You Should Be Dancing - The Bee Gees
3. Come Away With Me - Norah Jones
4. Let's Get It On - Marvin Gaye
5. Strangers in the Night - Frank Sinatra
6. Like A Virgin - Madonna
7. Tapes - Alanis Morissette
8. Better Together - Jack Johnson
9. Learning To Fly - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
10. I Can't Tell You Why - The Eagles/Hell Freezes Over

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Avery wanted me to take her to Winder Dairy for lunch today. I told her no. I had groceries in the car that needed to be put away and she had been more than a little on the naughty side while we had been shopping. She started throwing a fit and nagging me. Well, not really nagging me. More like screaming at me. I still refused and told her to give up, her fit throwing wasn't going to work. She then had the nerve to say to me, "well, just so you know, I'm going to keep acting this way until you take me there. I'll be nice when we get there, but I won't be nice until I get my way." She's very lucky she was all the way in the back seat of the car and I was driving and couldn't reach her. Little turd. I think I'm in for it with her when she reaches her teenage years.

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What's on the menu today: Foil Pack Chicken & Mushroom. This is another one from the ward cookbook, but not from this person. It's from this person.

Toys

Avery and Peyton have discovered Toy Story. Avery's been telling me her favorite thing to do is pretend her toys can talk, but she's kind of hoping that they really can. She's hoping to see them actually doing it someday. She has this idea that she'll be able to burst into her bedroom and catch them in the act.

We have Woody and Buzz dolls and Peyton has taken to carrying them around all the time. He calls them Dude and Buzzie. Why Dude and not Woody? I don't know, but it's cute and so I don't care what he calls him. He'll pick him up and say "Hi Dude!", hug him and jabber away.

I love the imagination of kids.

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What's on the menu today: Crescent Roll Casserole. A ward cookbook recipe from this person. Again. ☺

He did it on his own

Today, Peyton reached out to me, grabbed onto my shirt and said "I want a kiss." I happily obliged and he then said, "I want a hug too!". Of course he got one. And then another and another and another because he didn't want to let go of me. This is probably only the 3rd time in his entire life that he's done this. I usually have to "force" him. In the most loving way, of course. ☺ It was so nice to have him do it on his own. It brought a big, goofy grin to my face and made me feel so good. Especially after the day I had yesterday.

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What's on the menu today: Chicken Enchilada Bake. Another one from the ward cookbook and also another one submitted by her.

I'm pretty tired

I've been dealing with an annoying and quite honestly, exhausting issue today. Don't ask. Of course Ryan is out of town and not here to help. That's the way it usually goes. He's somehow able to miss out on most of the unpleasant things that happen around here. ☺ I'm seeing an eight o'clock bedtime in my children's future.

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Tyler asked me if I would do another giveaway here because he could really use $25. I told him I would be willing to pay him for doing chores so he could earn that amount of money. He suddenly lost interest.

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What's on the menu today: I did have something planned, but thanks to our little problem and also due to the fact that Ryan's not here and so I really don't feel like cooking, we're having leftover chili. I froze the leftovers from the last time I made it. I really needed dinner to be nice and easy tonight. Again, don't ask.

What I'm going to do this week

This week for my For Just One Week goal, I'm going to keep a gratitude journal. I got the idea from my friend Rebecca. Thanks Rebecca!

Each day, I'm going to list 5 things I'm grateful for. Simple things, obvious things, not so obvious. I'm sure the lists will reflect the type of day I had. Some days it might be hard to come up with five items. I'm sure others will be really easy. It's my hope that by making a list, I'll be able to find more good in each of my days. Even the bad ones. I want to get into the habit of doing it daily. Did you know that if you listed 5 things you're grateful for each day of the year, you would have a list of 1825 things you are gratful for by the end of the year.

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What's on the menu today: Polynesian Meatballs. This is another recipe from the ward cookbook.

I don't get it

My face has been breaking out all the time. Did you hear what I said? I said my face is breaking out all.the.time. I'm almost 34 year old and I'm having acne BREAKOUTS! Why!?

I had my share of zits when I was a teenager. They were mainly between my eyebrows (kind of like a third eye) and along my hairline. I actually have some small scars between my eyebrows thanks to some monster zits from my past. They're pretty. Well, guess where I'm breaking out again. Between my eyebrows and along my hairline. They're big, they're bad and they're really ugly. Hooray! It's just like being 14 again. I mean, who wouldn't want to relive Junior High?

I haven't changed makeup, shampoo, styling or any other type of product. I'm no more stressed or crazy then usual. I have no idea what could be causing this. I'm thinking about trying Proactiv. Seriously.

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What's on the menu today: Chicken Lo Mein

Disneyland 2009

This is the only shot I thought to have Ryan's dad take of all of us together. Dumb. It was taken our first day at the park. Peyton was so excited to be there, he fell asleep as we were waiting in line. He then slept for about an hour and a half. I had to wake him up so he could experience the happiest place on earth.

I loved all of the Halloween decorations throughout the park. Pumpkins, leaves and bunting everywhere. It was all so cute. As you can see, even the flowers were orange and yellow to coordinate with everything.

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What's on the menu today: Teriyaki Chicken Rolls.

I'm excited

I'm so happy that Fall and cooler temperatures are here. I'm excited that I've finally been able to break out long sleeve tee's, sweaters and scarves. The crisp air just feels so....nice. This is most definitely my season.

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Disneyland was great. The kids are already asking when we can go back. It looks like it will be something we'll have to do at least every couple of years. (I wouldn't mind that one little bit. ☺)

Cameron became quite enamored with the pins you can buy there and the idea of collecting them. So, if anyone out there is planning a trip to Disneyland before we get back there, please let me know. I'll send some money with you and have you pick up a pin or two for him. He can't wait to add to his collection.

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What's on the menu today: Ranch Chicken. This one came from my ward cookbook and was submitted by this person. I'm going to be using several recipes from my ward cookbook over the next 2 weeks. It's been such a great resource.