Promises, Promises

We sit most weeks through some form of lie winter weather advisory.  I'm hear to tell you, I think I'd rather just be surprised than all he hype and let down.  So far 4 chances of major white stuff, and the only thing we got was cold rain.  Apparently, checking the weather has become such an obsession a routine lately that today, as my daddy was teasing the kids, asking if it was snowing yet, Bear says "No, Baba! It no snows at our house.  Snow is blue.  Our house only has green."

Maybe I should lay off the weather.com radar map......

Party Time

There is nothing a 3 year old likes better than a party (well, maybe a cardboard box or sand).  All week the topic in the car was the Valentine's Day party at school.  Mostly, Lola talked about the candy and cake.  Bear wanted to dance and sing.  From what I hear they both got their wishes.

But my favorite moment came on Thursday when Lola is jumping up and down telling me that Friday is tomorrow and tomorrow is the party.  Grinning from ear to ear, she says, "I can't wait to 'share-a-breate' Valentine's Day!"

I love it.  It's my new phrase.

Next up....it's almost time to "share-a-brate" my birthday.

The Money Pit

Yes.  Yes.  It's true.  My life is so hectic that I forget to blog.  I may sit and stare at the computer for an hour, and it never occurs to me that I could actually log OFF facebook and type a new entry.  And there have been MANY lately.

So the kids and I are officially residents in a new house that we are paying through the nose renting.  It's lovely....but I'm here to tell you it is all a facade.  Let's put it this way.  For the $$$ cha-ching that I am laying down on this place each month, I could live at the beach all summer long with no worries.  Sad, but true.

So, my "landlord" lives in Japan.  Only me, right?  He or his company bought several houses in this neighborhood for the Toyota execs when they were in north MS, but now they are all gone and presto...instant home for the Three Muskateers!  Don't get me wrong.  I'm psyched to have a roof over my head....just hoping it stays there.

First...actually, I can't even remember what was first!  Yep, the list is THAT long.  Mostly I remember no heat the coldest weekend of January, except in my bedroom, which was a SAUNA.  Need to lose a few lbs?  Just come help me put away my laundry.  You could drop a quick 20 in my closet alone!  All fixed and it still doesn't work in half the house.  But works enough to end the "camping out" in my floor.  That's right.  No heat upstairs, so the kiddos slept in my room on their mattresses on the floor.  Call me a bad mom, but I could not share a queen with these two.  When we tried it was like, "this sleepless night is brought you by the letter 'H'"  because that's the letter we made laying in the bed.  Bear is a sideways kinda dude.

Then, there was the time I was washing dishes and a tsunami small stream of water came from under the sink.  Oh heavenly day!  They didn't even attach the garbage disposal to the pipe.  It was just sitting there.  People!  You CAN NOT make this stuff up!

There was a hole in the ceiling of the twins' bedroom that was patched up several days in....then when the heating guys came to check it out...they discovered that HOLE was the ONLY way to the upstairs unit.  Now, don't you think the builder's men (who patched the hole up only the day before) would have realized that?  Oh wait, I'm giving too much credit where NONE is due.

But in the end...I'm home.  For now.  I'm still not sure what the future holds or where it will be found.  But I do know that it can be found much freaking closer than it was.

Drive to preschool: 10 minutes
Drive to my work: 10 minutes
Getting 2 hours of my life back each day: PRICELESS!!!!

Nice pants

I'm walking around the house a couple of weeks ago, and I find Lola doing this wild woman dance in the hallway near the bathroom.  So I asked, "What are you doing?  Is your tummy hurting?"  She grins from ear to ear....WARNING, WARNING!  (You never can tell these days what she is up to!)  She says, "Mom, I've got squirrels in my pants!"  I stopped in my tracks, sat down the laundry basket, and said, "Excuse me???"  She said, "You know, you dance funny when you get squirrels in your pants, like you can't sit down."  I'm racking my brain to figure out what on Earth my child is talking about.  Bam!  It hits me.  I asked her, "Lola, are you talking about ants in your pants?"  She stopped dancing, and said "oh yeah, ants.  I knew it was something outside!"

Cape Optional

There's no easy way to say it.  Being a one family that lives in two separate houses doesn't add up.  So, it was time to buy me and the twins a new ride.  And though I'm a cheapskate on gas, I decided an SUV would be wonderful, especially after 9 months in a teeny tiny Saturn. 

There are things that you can learn from small cars:
1. Children who can touch each other in the car....WILL!
2. If you blew out your knee in college, you shouldn't drive a stick shift.
3. Headlights smaller than a house will not illuminate a deer playing hide-and-go-seek on the Trace.
4. Strong winds can make you a rodeo cowboy as you "white knuckle" on the way home.

So, after taking Kid home last week and visiting the house of Js (super fun!), I paid a visit to the lovely folks at a car dealership in Collierville.  In the rain.  At night.  Honestly, I was just looking for a distraction, so I didn't have to sit at home alone without the twins.  Yet, there they were....car salesman...waiting for the gullible woman to walk in A-L-O-N-E.  Bless their hearts.  When I walked out....albeit several days HOURS later, I was the proud new owner of an SUV.  Don't worry, ladies.  I got them 10K off the sticker price.  That's right.  I did WELL!  (Who's up for some shopping?)

Sure, it's the base model.  Not a lot of frills going on here.  But I have XM Radio, radio controls on the steering wheel with Bluetooth phone, and 3 rows of seats...who needs leather, sunroof, and power everything?  I needed safety.  So kbb.com, consumer reports, and just about every other publication said that's exactly what I'm getting.  Happy! 

But the biggest happy was from a free year of OnStar.  That's the single mom's guardian angel. The little blue button with all the power.  It's like the bat signal.  If you land in trouble, you press that button, and someone will come to rescue you.  Sing it with me!  Da-na-na-na na-na-na-na ONSTAR!  Whether they get to you dressed in tights and a cape, who knows....but the point is....they get to you.  Even on the Trace in Mississippi.

What I've Always Wanted

Christmas. 3 years olds. Presents.  Need I say more?

Yes, if Lola is involved.  Everytime she opened a gift, she would shout "It's what I've always wanted" before the paper was even off the present.  It got to be hysterical.  We were all saying it with her by the time the last of the gifts were unwrapped.  Apparently, like her Mama, there is a LOT that Lola wants.  But luckily, what Lola wants, she got.

That's B2Fs

Best Friends.  Some days I think they are what gets me through it.  And I'm lucky enough to have more than just one. There's Kel. The BFF from way back when we were skinny with big hair and thinking we were the coolest things to walk the middle school halls.  And I'm quite lucky to say, she's still there (and she's still skinny!).  There's Lisa, my sister for all non-blood related purposes, with an extra 10 years of wisdom and a set of twins to boot. She gives me the best advice, and is just a little bit devious.  Love it! Then, there's the newest member of the club, Kimberly.  I'm not sure I'd survive down in the wilderness of Mississippi without her.  Only 9 months, and it feels like it's been nine years of friendship.  We finish each others sentences. But more importantly, she is the most positive person I know, and it makes me want to be better...at everything.

These girls have always been there for me, and that is especially true lately, when I've needed it most.  So, Lola and I were talking about friends the other day, and she told me "Mom, you my best friend."  Once I recovered from the tears (yep, still on the edge of the crying cliff), I told her she was my BFF, too.  She wanted to know what that meant.  I told her BFF was Best Friends Forever.  Because she's 3 with lots on her mind, she couldn't remember it, so I told her to just say BFF.  I wrote it on her dry erase board, so she could understand what I was saying.

As she got out of the car in the carpool line at preschool the next morning, she went through her daily ritual of giving me a kiss and hugging my neck. But instead of telling me she loved me, she said, "Mom, you my B2Fs!" and hopped out of the car.

I love that kid!  Talk about putting a smile on your Mama's face all day.  And with Lola of course, she had to put her on spin on it.  Who needs a B-F-F, when you can have a B-2-Fs?