A new twist to the seventh inning stretch

The kids have been obsessed with baseball lately. This afternoon they were playing inside, Alden was the batter and Ruth was the pitcher. He was actually being the leader for a change, it was so cute. Ruthie threw the ball at him and farted really loudly at the same time, then she turned and ran away with a scared look on her face. Alden struck out then said "hey pitcher, I need my pitcher!" From the bathroom I hear "umm....the pitcher has to go poo poo". After the pitcher went poo-poo they decided to do some work on the fireplace. Alden tried to chip up the tiles with his hammer, but luckily he mostly made noise rather than damage. He also told me we need to replace a wall with a new one. He's quite the little construction worker, I love it!

They really do love each other

We went swimming at a friend's house today, it was so nice to cool off. I was pushing Ruth around on a float and Alden was holding on to the side. I told him to kick his feet and I let go of the float, Roo said "push me mama" and Alden said "don't worry Woof, I got ya" as he kicked all the way over to the step so Ruth could get off the float. Those little moments make me forget how they torture each other, Alden's favorite thing to do is take away something Ruthie is playing with and hold it above her head.

Don't mess with a fat woman and her soft doughy pretzel

I went shopping at Target this evening. To cap off my rare solo trip out of the home I bought a pretzel at the food court. The desiccated lump of greasy dough the "cook" handed me did not resemble the luscious fully formed beautiful pretzel in the display case in any way. I asked for a manager and patiently waited for 10 minutes, then not-so patiently for another 5. When she finally wandered up I explained that I the gorgeous pretzels in the display case were misleading and that something needs to be done so more fat women did not experience the same disappointment I myself was now recovering from. The manager said the pretzels shrink when cooked and blah blah blah and I said regardless they are selling something that is not as advertised and that is a poor business practice. The manager threw up her hands and refunded my money for both the pretzel AND my soda, which I refilled before I left. Take that in the bulls eye, Target! I didn't WANT a refund, merely the acknowledgement that they shouldn't be advertising something they are unable to supply.

I didn't know I was pregnant....

I'm watching this show on TLC and I can't believe these women didn't know they were pregnant until their baby was on it's way out of the birth canal. Seriously. How is this possible?? Okay, irregular periods, minimal weight gain, no morning sickness, I can see that. But HELLOOOOOO you can totally feel and see your baby trying to punch it's way out of your belly. There's no way in hell you can write off the feeling of someone playing kickball with your cervix as gas or food poisoning. There's gotta be major denial, lack of knowledge about the human body, and a whole lotta mental illness for someone to not know she is pregnant.

Telling tales

Lately the kids have been mega tattletales, and it drives me nuts. We walked past another mom and kid at Target and the kid had spilled Slurpie on his shirt, they said in unison "Mooommmm that boy spilled Slurrrrpie...." Um....okay thanks. Later we pass a kid who is standing up in the cart: "Mooommmmm that girl is standing up in the cart".....on and on and on "Moommmm that baby isn't wearing shoes...." "Mooommmmm that lady is taking a long time to checkout..." over and over and over they told on people all over the damn store. Thank goodness we weren't at Walmart or the Grocery Outlet or they would have had even more things to tattle on, like babies in diapers chugging baby bottles of Mt. Dew. As I loaded them in the car I told them I was done with hearing them tattle on people, and they need to mind their own business, not the business of others. I hear Alden start to tell Ruthie something as I close the back door, and by the time I open mine I hear Ruthie say "Mooommm, Aldens' minding other peopleses businesses still..." Oy.

Home and hole free

Nick finally got home after midnight Thursday night (so Friday morning I guess??). After forking over both an arm and a leg, a tow truck deposited him in front of our house. Yesterday morning he took my car to Firestone in Merced, they patched the tire free of charge and said there is no reason why America's Tire couldn't patch it, and yes I do need new back tires but not urgently and not for the price I was quoted. Yay, finally something positive! The tire was patched quickly and we were able to still make it to the circus in Fresno. I'd been talking to Ruth and Alden about it all week and they had a wonderful time. Ruthie's favorite part was when Gravity the naughty clown was caught by the Ringmaster, and Alden's favorite part was the elephants pooping.

Kicked out of a tow truck?!

Seriously.

So Nick calls a tow truck to take him and the Honda home. Actually, he calls our auto insurance who dispatches the truck, and he makes sure to ask about the mileage limit since he's about 80 miles from home. He's assured there's no charge and no problem taking him that far.

A truck comes within half an hour (impressive). It's a flatbed, and his car is loaded quickly. He gets in the cab and the operator asks for the address. Nick gives him our address and the guy looks at him like he's asking to be taken to Mars. Apparently he's the only truck on duty for his company and can't take Nick home. So, he kicks him out and ditches the car and Nick has to call our insurance company again. The replacement truck isn't there yet, but he was assured that it would take him all the way home. What the hell is going on with our lives that things are this jacked up?

The rotten cherry on this shit sundae is this: my donut tire seems to have a slow leak and I won't be surprised to wake up tomorrow and find it totally flat.

Seriously, do I need to start going to church or something???

I found the perfect living room curtains on clearance at Lowe's, but the Merced store only had one pair. I found another panel at the Turlock store, but I also got a flat tire due to some lovely bolts and nails I picked up in the parking lot. The twins and I spent NINETY FREAKING MINUTES at America's Tire of Turlock, only to be told they cannot patch it because there's another patch too close to the new hole. We drove home very very slowly on the donut. I have to get two new back tires now. America's Tire quoted me $275 for two. So NOT in the budget right now, but I guess it'll have to be.

Nick still isn't home from his car trouble adventures. Oy.

Cute pajamas for moms and kids!

With this economy, people who have been let go from their professions have had to find new and creative ways to support themselves. Check out PJs by Pinkie, read her story, and be inspired!! I love the little girl styles, the capris would be so cute paired with a tank top.

Ready for some good karma to come back to me

Things have been really stressful and hectic here, and quite honestly I'm wondering what I did in a past life that has brought me so much angst.

Nick's car broke down today. He took a half day off from work to do some consulting work (yay for padding the new fridge fund!), but his car overheated and died on his way up to Sacramento. Goodbye new fridge fund, hello repair bill. Ugh. We haven't actually taken it to a shop yet, I'm hoping my some miracle it will start tomorrow morning and run like a dream. Perhaps car fairies will visit tonight and work some magic.

We are also facing an 8% reduction in his pay, that's almost $400 a month. Holy cow, that's gonna hurt. We already live pretty frugally, I'm not sure where else we can cut back. I'm going to look into increasing our deductibles for home/auto insurance, but our rates are already fairly low so I don't think that will do much.

Doing the deep dig

If it itches, scratch it. Right?

I got caught picking my nose today. This isn't very high on my list of embarrassing moments (trust me, there are worse things), but it was pretty dang funny. I was stopped in traffic, so naturally it was time for some nasal maintenance. I finally dislodged the offender and wiped it on a napkin, then I looked around and realized the car next to me was rocking back and forth from the four guys in it LAUGHING THEIR ASSES OFF AT ME. Did I blush? Hide? Cry? Nope. When the light turned I stuck my finger in up to the knuckle and twisted my arm back and forth while they roared with laughter, then I rolled down my window and waved while I got on the freeway and they continued on their way.