YES, I KNOW!

I'm not doing any better at blogging than I was about 6 months ago. But, this time, I have an excuse. I have just been busy. I haven't read the blogs as much as I normally do. Nor, have I been on Facebook as much as normal.

I have been subbing. I'm thinking of looking into a secondary certificate. I have my first through eighth grade certification... and have a major love for 7th grade. But, I have subbed in the high school and I LOVE THOSE KIDS. Oh, my.... after 2 days with them, I'm thinking of changing my certification.

I still want to stay home next year. I want my youngest son's first year before I go teach. That will give me time to sub a bit more and really decide if I want to pursue a secondary certificate.

My hubby has been fighting ear infections for the last several months. Not a good thing for a pilot to deal with. Well, he suddenly started having problems with his ear lobe area. He went to an ENT AGAIN.... staff. Infection. Not office staff. HE HAS A STAFF INFECTION. That should be enough, right? Well, it just doesn't look like it is going to be cleared up by Wednesday, when he is supposed to fly out. The problem is that his head set has ear plug dobber-ma-jigs that go IN his ear. His ear is so swollen and painful that he just won't be able to wear them. :( After an 8 day tour, I would love for him to have an extra day off.... but not at the expense of his sick days.

BECAUSE, this summer, we might start working on #3's ear. (To read up on that, just search my blog for the word "microtia.") VERY. STRESSFUL.

I still have to blog about Disney.

I have a good friend who is about to pop out a baby. I need to help her, so I might be scarce... well, no more than usual, I guess.

Our JBQ is ramping up to post-season play. That means our study time will increase. Right now, we study 3 kids, each night for 20-30 minutes. EACH. ONE-ON-ONE. Yes.... 1 to 1.5 hours a night. On top of homework, showers, baths, laundry, dinners, lessons, bed times. My oldest will be studying about 40 minutes each night. Until March, my 2nd will be studying about 40 minutes per night. And my third? About the same.

I am having trouble finding a sitter. I'm very picky about my kids. I can't get into details because I don't know who all reads...

OK... I need to go. I'll BBL

JUST A FLY-BY

I know that I haven't been as diligent as I had hoped to be. When I finally lay down each night, I think of awesome things to talk about... even get most of it "written" in my head. Then, I wake up knowing I have/had an awesome post... only to have forgotten it. Guess that means it wasn't that great, huh?

I still will try, even if is just a short blurb to say "Hey," and to tell you what I'm up to.... because I know you care. ;)

So, what is going on right now? Well, hubby is on an 8 day tour. Those are really hard. I remember when he used to fly for Eagle... a 5 day tour was something we moaned about. Now, a 5 day tour is like a gift. The months of February and March do seem difficult, mainly because of all the things we have going on and his work schedule.

I started subbing with the new semester. I did my first gig as a middle school PE sub. Only for a half day. That was a good thing... the haft day. It was OK. I mean, middle school... sure, I LOVE that age. PE? I didn't like it when I was a student. LOL! It was easy, though.

Then, last week, I subbed a full day as a 1st grade teacher. All I can say is this, "PE!" HAHA!! That was easier. I was told by a few little girls that "you are my favorite substitute teacher." That is sweet. I also had a sweet baby tell his momma that I wouldn't let him use the bathroom unless he had to poop. WHAT? HAHAHA!!!! I'm mean that way. (FTR, I would probably do that in middle school, but NOT 1st grade.)

I will be subbing at the high school this coming week... 2 days worth. I won't normally do the high school, and I hope it's not expected often. BUT, they are testing and need a certified teacher, so they were very emphatic in their request. It will be fun. I'm actually looking forward to it.

I need to post about my birthday.

I need to post about the 5th annual Birthday Bash.

I STILL need to post about JBQ.

I need to post about Love Languages.

I REALLY need to post about Disney.

I need to do another post about microtia.

I was going to do another post about friendship, but that was "brain-written" in anger/frustration... I'm SO over it....

DO YOU HEAR ME?!?! I'M OVER IT!!!

Really....

really....

I need to clean out my kitchen for a few reasons.

1. The Birthday Bash is coming up.

2. I got a lot of new bake ware (TOTALLY excited) and I need to make room for the new and ceremonially retire the old.

3. My birthday.... you'll find out why, soon. ;)

4. There is an unidentified odor in my fridge. It's weird. It's deep.... I don't know how else to explain it. It's not apparent when you open the door, but as you close it, there is a mild "after-smell" that assaults you. THAT simply will NOT do. I'm not a great housekeeper.

OK... You are right.... I'm not even a good housekeeper. But, I'm picky about my kitchen. I'm a messy cook/baker, but you can be for darn sure that anything you eat that was prepared by my hands and in my kitchen will be fresh and good. The smell bothers me.

It smells like the milk section in grocery stores... not *sour* milk, but bad milk. Maybe one of the gallons had a leak? I don't know.

Well, we don't have church tomorrow night. SO, while the kids are outside playing, I will be sitting in front of the fridge, with everything out on the counter top and wiping down the inside with hot, soapy, bleach water.

OK... Thank you for your audience. I shall return soon. :)

TEMPT MY TUMMY TUESDAY

I have an on again/off again relationship with Tempt My Tummy Tuesday. That is not a bad thing. My wonderful friend Lisa, and her twin sister Lana, host this fun blog in which people share recipes, kitchen tips and ask questions.

I LOVE to participate... I have been very bad, though. I either feel like I don't have anything to share (which is really not true :-p) or I'm busy... which is more accurate. I have been very busy and neglectful of my blog. I'm trying to do better.

That being said, I would like to share a recipe for salad dressing.

A lot of people are intimidated by salad dressing. I never knew this until one day, I had a friend begrudging the fact that she was nearly out of dressing, and was having a dinner party. I whipped some up. She asked me when I learned out to make it... or something like that. I didn't really know... I just knew how to make it.

Salad dressings that you buy in the store are cr@p. Sorry. I'm not saying that taste like it. There are a few that I enjoy. But, for price and quality... you are buying a bottle of cr@p. Homemade is almost ALWAYS better, and salad dressings are no different. If you keep a few key things in mind, you can whip up an easy dressing. Using this recipe as a base, you can create your own dressing that suits your taste.

Easy Salad Dressing:

You need an acid

aromatics

oil

sweetener

salt and pepper

Acid can be vinegar or citrus jucie, my favorite are wine vinegars or balsamic vinegars

aromatics: ANY herbs or spices

Oil: for something that doesn't affect taste, you vegetable oil. For a bit of a flavor, choose an olive oil. (I use Light Olive Oil. Not a lot of flavor, but I prefer it to vegetable oil.)

Sweetener, I generally use honey for this

Salt and pepper (fresh cracked pepper yields a better taste)

First, put your acid in.

Whisk in your seasonings and flavorings. Go ahead and add your sweetener, salt and pepper

Whisk in your oil. (some people measure and do a 2:1 oil to vinegar or 3:1 oil to vinegar. I just start whisking and tasting and stop when I have the flavor that I like.

Here is MY personal favorite.

Honey Mustard Dressing

I start with white wine vinegar.

I add in minced garlic, onion powder, salt, pepper, honey, COARSE GRAIN MUSTARD, a bit of Dijon mustard

I whisk in light olive oil

After whisking this, I pour into a dressing bottle (you can get these at WM in the dressing section where the packets of dressing are sold) and store for about 1 week in the fridge.

IT GOES ON AND ON

I assume you go through the same thing. Just when I think things are calm or settled, I turn around. It's the same for groceries and supplies. Just when I clear out the closet, or sort through clothes, and take that deep breath of relief at a job well done, I do laundry and see holes in undies, dingy socks.... whatever.

Today, I decided to get those items that we need. Boy, do they add up. First, we are having a SUPER cold front coming the end of this week. Those of you in these parts, I think you are aware of it and, hopefully, ready. Those of you up north, this is nothing to you. This is just normal. We are supposed to be in the low teens... 2 days where we don't get out of the 20's. For us... that is MAJOR.

Your normal winter gear is not my normal winter gear. My winter gear consists of a jacket with a hood. There usually aren't mittens, hats, scarves, snow boots, parkas or anything. We don't have a winter wardrobe and a summer wardrobe. Our winter wardrobe IS our summer wardrobe... with a wind breaker over it, or jeans instead of capris.

MAN, did I run down a bunny trail.

All that to say I went and bought hats and gloves for all the boys. Since I don't know about recess for them (I have a friend WAY up north who says that recess is only cancelled if the temps go below zero... WHAT??? The only zero we see in temps is following a number.) I had to actually LOOK for hats and gloves... I didn't know where they would be.

SO, 4 hats and gloves. I will be subbing soon, so I got some for me, too. My 2nd son has started to wear under shirts because.... because.... I think it's because he has a friend who does it. Rather than have him wear a blue Sponge Bob t-shirt under his uniform shirt, I got him some undershirts. My honey needed some, too. His had the deodorant "glaze" on the pits... how do you wash that out? Really? I'm asking! If you know, let ME know. My washing techniques do not break through that.

I also decided that I needed a new coat. This is where I stand on coats/jackets (before today.) I have a NICE duster... gets worn a few times every few years... it's too heavy. I have a fleece. Everything else belongs to my hubby. Every time I decide to get a jacket I decide it's not worth the money. I would MUCH rather spend the money on something else... like a kitchen gadget. :)

Well, I went to the grocery store and had to buy a BUNCH of stuff. There are so many different types of things we buy during school for lunches and stuff. The good thing (that I will quickly point out to my hubby when he looks at the price of it all :-/) is that we are WELL STOCKED!

Now that all that is done, I have to find places for it. If something horrible happened and we were home-bound for a week... or 2... or even 3, I could make it. That is a great feeling.

I guess I should go now. I need to finish putting stuff away, go get the kids, put some laundry away, take my oldest to guitar lessons, feed the kids, put fresh sheets on the bed, dust, vacuum, get the kids showered/bathed and in bed... then by that time, hopefully, DH will be home.

Y'all have a good one!

SATURDAY THE 2ND

OK.... so we are sitting on Saturday, January 2, 2010.... HEY.... 01/02/2010. (That's called a "palindrome." When it reads the same forward and backward, it's a "palindrome.")

Don't have a whole lot to talk about. But, I am always happy when my "peeps" update their blogs... even when there is nothing major that they are saying. So, there might be 1 or 2 of you who are happy when I update. My goal is at least 3 entries per week. They will almost always be mundane, seldom funny, periodically angering.... just your normal, well-rounded blog. :)

My kids are playing Wii right now. Gone is the goodwill for all mankind attitude that my children had toward each other for about 5 minutes. Back is the battle cry... which is my youngest son's name. We are letting them play as much as they want... for now. Normally, video/computer games can ONLY be played on Friday, Saturday and Sunday... and only about 30-60 minutes each. (Each child... not each thing. We have Wii, PS2, DS and computers, V-smile and little plug in games. They don't get 30 minutes for each thing. ;) )

I'm ready for that. I think I will limit it tomorrow and Monday. We don't start school until Tuesday. The older 2 need to do their laundry. I need to assess their uniforms. My youngest put a hole in the knee and I need to pull those and replace. (No... I don't patch. The britches are WORN OUT! They have already gone through 1 kid for 1 year.) I need to buy some dye to darken the seams of some britches that I'm letting out.

Does anyone go geocaching? I have a friend who does. It sounds interesting. Since I DO have all boys and I can't expect them to stay inside and eat bon-bons with me all the time I figure I need to do something that is a bit more "manly." Instead of scratching myself, I figured something in the great outdoors would be great. SO, Honey? We need a new GPS that will work with geocaching. I can take the kids on the weekends. Fun? Maybe.

Well, I should go. Time keeps ticking. Daylight continues to burn. And I still have a LOT of cr@p to get done.

Y'all have a great day. (Please note, the Christmas Countdown has been updated... don't want anyone to be caught unaware.)

OH.... for your viewing pleasure. I thought I would let you know that I have solved an age-old question.

WHAT DOES BATMAN DO WITH HIS CAPE WHEN HE HAS TO USE THE LOO?

He pulls it over his head, of course!