I’m jumping on the blogging bandwagon (yet again). Lauren over at Filing Jointly–my personal bloggoddess–recently posted about a theme folks have been writing entitled “Things I’m afraid to tell you”. This is a very hard thing to do and I seriously don’t know exactly what I will write…so here goes!

I’m not posting this on social media, so if you stumble across this…congrats?

1. I have a strange habit. I sucked my thumb until I was 8. While I did this, I would touch (couldn’t find a less creepy word) a blanket. It always had to be silky, so sometimes it would be a dress slip, sometimes a swimsuit and finally a pink polyester, oh so soft robe. The thumb sucking left but the robe (Robey) stayed. I’ve gone without it before (to camp, some vacations, etc.) and I seriously think I would live if the robe went up in flames. It’s just something I like to hold on to while TV watching, reading, surfing the internets… I’ve actually tried Googling to see if others share this same habit…alas, I haven’t found anyone yet.

2. It’s hard finding things to write that won’t completely mortify my husband. I mean he didn’t even want me to blog about the time he caught the house on fire. But this isn’t about him. So I don’t think he’ll mind. Hubs and I were married very young. I was 19 and he was, gasp, 18. Bird was born a little over a year later when I was 20. Because of my lack of focus and my award winning slacker-dom I never made it to college. This is seriously embarrassing to me and hopefully I will get there some day. You know, like the same day I suddenly forget to procrastinate and miraculously become organized and motivated.

3. I was a bully. And I feel terrible about it. I was a tiny, tiny child. I was almost always the smallest kid in my class and I had a lot of anger about not having control over my life. I took this out on others. They were never smaller than me. I was more of a physical bully than a verbal one. It was almost always a one-off thing. Until I was in High School. My buddies and I would go to the Junior High to pick up one of my siblings when we would drive by this one girl and yell, “Jenny Craig!” Which brings me to:

4. I am now a big girl, and holy karma, I am enrolled at Jenny Craig. Which leads me to the reason I am a big girl:

5. I was diagnosed with severe depression and OCD (thoughts only) 11 years ago, although I’m sure was suffering way before that. I’d been a runner, and weighed a little less than 100 lbs. This was after my second kid. I got on meds, which was very necessary. I was fine in most ways–including weight wise for about 7 years until they stopped working. I was switched to a different med and I packed on the pounds. I switched back to the old ones, but it was no use. Now losing weight is a VERY slow process. –The only reason I can write about this now is because I’m borrowing on the courage of others. Lauren, The Bloggess and other bloggers occasionally write about their struggles, which makes me feel less alone and helps me to realize that depression is not something to be ashamed of.

Whew! Glad that’s over.

Tell me your five!!! Ya know, if you feel like it.

 

 

1. The theme for spring break:

 

 

 

 

 

The kids were not thrilled. The house is NOT ship-shape.

2.  Sold even more cookies. My favorite part was eating barbecue. It was windy and cooooolllllddd.

 

 

 

3. So the next day I had a fever and had to miss a fabulous GNO which involved EATING and bowling. One of which I am much better at than the other. Bet you can’t tell which.

 

 

 

4. Tuesday Bird was home chillin’ cause he’d been up all night at a friends house.

Textual proof:

Me- Are u spinning the night at GPS?

Bird-Yes. The whole night. Spinning in large tea cups.

Don’t you just love how prim he is in his texts?

5. That very same day I took the kids to the park. Well, two of them anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. I wanted to make Bird jealous of the fun we were having, so smarty that I am I didn’t send the pics I took with my phone but texted him instead.

Me-There are kids your age here

Bird-Ok.

Me-They’re having lots of fun

Bird-Ok.

Me-One of them has blue skin and green teeth

Bird-You should take a picture!

Me-I tried. No image. Eerie.

Bird-Weird looking vampire thats immune to sunlight?

Me-I think the blue skin protects him.

Bird-Oh ok.

7. The girl and I went to Girl Scouts and I snapped this flattering pic. That’s pollen on my nose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. Wednesday we went to pick up boxes from a food bank when the TRE went screeching by. I wondered later if using my flash was disruptive to the driver. Then I remembered that it’s a train. On rails.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. Thursday we went back to the park and had a picnic. It was windy. And expensive. This week we all promised not to eat out and then we’d go to Kincaid’s on Friday. So instead of spending $20-$25 at Subway, we went to Albertson’s and spent $33. But we didn’t eat out!

10. That night we decided to go to Kincaid’s.

11. I found this great recipe for Seasoned Chicken Strips. It was sooooo good and healthy. What a combo. You’ll have to click the link to see the final product. I was so good about my before shots, and completely neglected the after (maybe because the food was ready?) But that’s okay since mine looked just like the pic on the site.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12. The girl and Max decidedly not enjoying Ship Shape Spring Break:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

13. My cat:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

14. My other cat:

 

 

 

 

15. Both cats!

 

 

1. This blog cracks me up. Warning: There may be some strong language.

2. Wednesday was leap day. And we had 2 leap day miracles:

a. I got to go to Target TWICE in one day!

b. This:

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Just going to remind you a little teeny bit about my wattpad account. If you like my grammar, the way I put quotation marks around dialogue, or ya know, the story please vote. And comment. I like comments.

4. Is this a cry for help?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. THE HUNGER GAMES!

6. If you haven’t read The Hunger Games, you absolutely positively must finish reading this blog post and then read it.

7. I haven’t read a book in like 2 weeks. I knew I was feeling an empty hole in my life.

8. I’m supposed to be reading Oliver Twist. My dad is reading it too. Rather, he’s most likely finished with it and I am just slacking!

9. number nine, number nine, number nine

10. One of my children thinks Yoko Ono can’t sing. But he wants to go to Yoko’s Donuts on his birthday. He couldn’t explain the thought process behind this. I have to add that he’s never been there before so he has no idea if it’s good or bad.

11. This same child thinks ’80′s music is terrible. I. am. ashamed.

12. A Treasure Trove

13. Spring?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring! (Ok, I know it’s not official, but it will be in 18 short days–and also, did you see the blooming tree?)

14. I wrote most of this post on Wednesday, thinking it was Thursday and I was getting a jump on it. This was the least procrastonaty I think I’ve ever been. And it was a mistake.

15.

The single mom for a weekend edition…

1. Yes, just this one little weekend. Hubs is in L.A. at a nerd convention.

2. Have you ever gone into a store, say, like a Target and started looking at the clothes and one top looks very familiar? You look down and realize you are wearing that top right then. Suddenly, you turn red and leave as fast as you can hoping you don’t get stopped for shoplifting. Yeah, me either.

3. Many people believe that there is a great need for a sarcasm font. I nominate MS Comic Sans. Let’s get this thing rolling, folks.

4. Funny break

5. If you decide to do parent taught driver’s education for your child please be aware that you will be asked to raise your right hand and swear that you will be responsible for your child’s driving until they are 18. They snuck this little ritual in on me after Bird did the eye test, took a picture, and I had paid the sixteen dollars. Yes, PTDE is half the cost of traditional driver’s ed, but I’m not sure I can handle the responsibility.

6. Reading time:

7. Texas Gothic by Rosemary Clement-Moore: I will read Rosemary until the day she stops writing. I am proud to say that I have read all of her published books to date. I love her style and how she sucks you right in to her stories as though you’re walking right along with her characters. Amy Goodnight carries a solid Texas name but her branch of the family turns out to be quite a bit less than traditional. And, omk, love interest Ben is swoon-worthy.

8. Connected by Jolyn Palliata: Jolyn is one of my writer friends from wayyyyy back to 2009. I know, forever, right? Anyway, she is really getting her stuff out there. Connected is a novella about two souls, one with a living body and one without which are by some twist of fate, interconnected. Rhys’ (my fave male name ever, btw) conscious is stuck inside Addison and at first it is a very uncomfortable situation. Fast, and fun Jolyn will pull you in to their story and won’t let you go even after the twisty ending. Disclaimer: This is not, I repeat NOT for a young adult audience.

9. Next I’m reading Amber Eyes by Jolyn as well. I read this a few years ago when it was in it’s primitive form and loved it, loved it, loved it then. Jolyn has edited it and sent it out into the world. Check it out. And last time I read it, it was for young adults.

10: For writers:

11. Check WeBook out and tell me what you think. I think it’s a very clever idea. I wonder if it will be successful in finding agents, etc.

12. Randomness:

13. So it’s mid January and the high today should be 77 degrees. I really love Texas in the winter.

14. The Sims 3 is coming out with a new expansion pack and Katy Perry is in on it.

15. Check ya later!

I really, really wanted to do a fifteen last Friday but oh my goodness gracious, life got in the way!

It started on Friday with the little girl auditioning for a fine arts school. I was so nervous and freaked out for her that she didn’t feel the need to be nervous at all–I’m a giver. Later that evening there was a young friend’s party.  Saturday I built a desk (only 8 hours and numerous bruises for that one!) Saturday also featured furious chicken-with-it’s-head-cut-off cleaning–a sight to behold. Sunday my entire immediate family (including spouses – that’s 20! people in 2K sq. ft.)  came over to my house…Ma and I cooked for them all. Finally, today there were two birthday parties. And since I absolutely cannot buy presents any other time than half an hour before a party there was the requisite mad dash to the store. I seriously need a break from this weekend.

And I’m incredibly cheesed that I got NO pictures of the fam or the food. So here’s one of the desk I built instead:

And here's one of the cookies the little girl has to sell (sigh):

If you're still reading this, I promise I'm done complaining. 'Cause now comes the time after I rant and get it off my chest where I have to remember how lucky I am to be so busy and to be surrounded by so many people who I happen to be related to--and that actually want to spend time together. I'm incredibly lucky to have a house to cram 20 people into. I'm lucky to have the means to buy the food to contribute to feeding such a large family. I'm even lucky that we had so many appliances going yesterday that we tripped the breaker--twice.

As a consolation, here's a site that I would've included in my fifteen.

Hawaiian Haystack edition…

1. If the above picture looks good to you, here’s the recipe. For the love of refrigerator space, please halve the recipe. I did, and I still have mucho mucho leftovers. That’s okay though cause it’s Y-U-M.

2. Debated using half or halve on number one. By the time I post it I will be semi-sure though. English majors, speak up.

3. A week of Pete says:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. I think Pete needs a vacation. He wasn’t very informative/funny/creative this week.

5. So, if you love free stuff…go here. This is my fave site for the week. Thanks for the tip Sara!

6. I signed on for Google+ and I keep forgetting to actually go there. I also forget to tweet. I never forget to Facebook. *sigh*

7. Lala had to have her tooth (molar) pulled on Tuesday. It was rough. But it makes for really cute Dear Toothfairy letters.

8. Let me translate.

Dear Toothfairy,

I can’t put it [tooth] under my pillow because the dentist took it and [pulled] it out hard!!!!!!! Please still give me a quarter.

9. For the record, our fairy gives out a dollar. And she was going to give more than one this time, but when she saw she could get away with a quarter she reconsidered.

10. No new books this week. *double sigh*

11. Only ten days till school starts! And I’ve done absolutely no school shopping yet. Please tell me I’m not the only one.

12. The streak was broken yesterday. There will only be 40 days of 100 degree or over heat in a row this year for north Texas. My oldest was really pulling for us to break the record. Yes, he’s a teen.

13. I can’t wait to try it!!!!

14. I’m really glad no one showed up for my garage sale, cause it so didn’t happen.

15. Glad that I find out about Rockin’ the River at the end of summer vacay. not.

1. This is for you sis! Sorry it’s so late in the day.

2. I love that I got to spend two hours in the kitchen making dinner. No rushing, no Hamburger-Helper-tossed-together meal. It’s nice to finally spend family time and relax.

3. 17 days till school starts!

4. Yeah, we went there. The egg didn’t so much fry as dry out.

5. My son’s decor. I don’t think we need an intervention…yet.

6. Pete sometimes gives great advice, but other times he’s really off his game. (Every family should have a white board in the kitchen!)

7. Took four kids on a four hour errand trip today. So many tantrums, I had to apologize and ply them with Popsicles before they would forgive me.

8. So excited to get back to crocheting and the blanket I started over two years ago.

9. It’s hot.

10. We’re having a garage sale next week, so everyone show up and buy all my used stuff, k? K.

11. Haven’t seen Harry Potter yet. So sad.

12. There’s a new Sarah Dessen out! It’s called What Happened to Goodbye and I can’t wait to crack it open and visit adolescence once again.

13. Best website this week is Passive Agressive Notes.com.

14. I forgot to do 14.

15. Old school Doritos…nom nom nom.

…the return. Remember these are random thoughts, k?

1. You think your commute is bad? Feel better? Glad I could help.

2. Looking over old drafts can be disheartening. See the purple marker? It’s purple for a reason.

3. Purple prose –noun

record breaking snow edition:

1. I realize that this may not look like record breaking snow to a lot of the country. But I have never in my life seen so many healthy white snowmen. Usually they are streaked with dirt and full of dead leaves and grass.

2. Personally I wouldn’t mind never ever making a snowman.

3. I dislike cold immensely.

4. My bushes don’t like it either.

5. Do cats have armpits? If they do, that’s what my cat was up to in the snow last night. He must’ve liked it though, cause I couldn’t get him to come in.

6. Hard to believe that only a month ago it was in the 70′s. That’s Texas for you though.

7. This list is boring. I’m talking about the weather for goodness sakes.

8. Just finished reading Respect for Acting by Uta Hagen. Lots of useful stuff in there for actors. And I guess for compulsive liars too, if that’s your cup of tea.

9. Some people have too much money.

10. Why are Hoarders, Intervention and Celebrity Rehab so entertaining? Trying to figure out if it’s the train wreck aspect, but for the grace of God, or “Whew, dodged that one”!

11. What I’m going to read when I decide to leave the house (or when the snow melts or ten degrees are added to the temperature, whichever comes first):

12. The Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan – Came highly recommended by a real life school librarian.

13. Bloodroot by Amy Greene (no, haven’t found it yet)…and why did the local librarian look at me like I was crazy when I asked for it? You’d think, being a librarian that you’d be used to hearing all kinds of strange titles, and I don’t think Bloodroot is the weirdest ever. Maybe that’s just Fort Worth.

14. Fort Worth can be backwards sometimes. Can you tell I’m a Dallas girl? I mean, the closest bagel shop is like five miles away…FIVE MILES!

15. Sarah’s Quilt by Nancy E. Turner – The second book to in the Sarah Prine series. Loved These is My Words, and I’m ready to take on some more of the old west.

PS – Writing writing, always writing. Will tell more when I have something worthwhile on the subject.

PS#2 – Today is this blog’s one year anniversary!! Yay Writer’s Cramp woo hoo!!!!

1. Thanks to Laura for getting me on here today.

2. It’s been a busyish  month since I’ve last been on.

3. Christmas and New Years have passed.

4. My dear Grandpa Tolbert passed away on 1/09.

5. The newest addition to our family was born on 1/13. Hi Zo-Zo…Auntie Jen LOVES you!

6. A death and birth within a 4 day period causes considerable reflection.

7. K, onto books. I mean book. The most recent I’ve read I finished before Christmas…don’t all gasp at once now. I read Wolf Hall and in the midst of it I noted on my Facebook status “plodding joylessly through Wolf Hall“. It took me a few weeks to read. The writer’s style is such that fast reading is just not an option. Some of it was daily grind stuff. Some of it was convoluted, wasn’t really sure what was going on at the time. Some of it I had to reflect on who “he” was. She’d be talking about another character and “he” would come up and one sentence later you’d realize she’s talking about Thomas Cromwell, the main character. So if you read it, just know that “he” is almost always Cromwell. It will save you time. So after I gave this tepid (that’s putting it mildly, I suppose) review on FB, I finished the book. And it stuck. And that’s how you know a book is really good. I researched the Tudors, the queens, Cromwell, etc. online. And it stuck some more. And then I started watching the Tudors on Netflix. And I knew what was going on, the back stories, etc. Then I realized what all the reviewers tried to tell me, that Wolf Hall is actually genius. I really think that the author slowed my reading down on purpose. So here’s to you, Hilary Mantel. Now every one go out and read Wolf Hall. Pls and Thx.

8. All I want for Easter is my two front teeth.

9. The sound is BAD but you have to check out my kiddo’s first comedy set. I may be biased, but I think he’s rockin’ hilarious!

10. Max is reading!!! And Patrick Star’s shadow visits his room.

11. Pants on the Ground. ‘Nuff said.

12. If you’re Lizzing and pulling a Lemon, you’re in bad shape.

13. Don’t get Jersey Shore. Can someone please explain?

14. Working on a short story at the moment. Only taking me months. Again.

15. Hooray for 70 degree mid-January days. Me loves.