June 30, 2009

what would ms. manners do?

Ok, so a few weeks ago there was an old old old cocker spaniel on our front porch. She was all dirty and tired. I let her in and checked her tag and gave her water and called her owner. The lady who owned her was really happy and came right away to pick her up. The next day in our mailbox was a thankyou card with 2 gift cards for Mcdonalds. NOW...do I write a thank you note for the thankyou note and gift cards or are we done? Most of you know that unless I am completely brain dead I am pretty good about thank you notes. I know I've forgotten some important ones in the past but it's not because it wasn't weighing heavily on my mind. It's more likely that I bought the card, tortured myself for a long time about remembering to write it and then lost the card. The fact that it's been a few weeks and I'm still wondering if I should write a thank you note proves that I really want to do the right thing.

So what's the right thing?

Posted by krystal at 8:53 AM | Comments (4)

June 25, 2009

uterus of doom

I'm so glad that Maddy and Angel are having babies because I have this needneedneed to hold an infant. Max isn't even out of diapers and I've been having "omg I need a baby" urges. I'm overjoyed that I got my tubes tied and I can't ever follow through on the urges of my uterus. I know that the last thing in the world that I want or need is another child, but I need to smell a baby's head. It's so weird. Kids are a pain in the butt, but babies are just the most wonderful thing in the world.

This will pass...I have not lost my mind.

Posted by krystal at 9:14 AM | Comments (1)

June 24, 2009

mermaids (or how I got so fat)

Did you ever see that movie, Mermaids? I sometimes feel like I learned to cook for my kids by watching that movie. I'm not a great cook, but I'm really good at appetizers. I realized this last night when I tess wanted a snack and I gave her strawberries dipped in chocolate sauce. Kendall made it even better by using Nutella. I don't mind doing dishes and I don't mind doing prep work so cute little snacky meals seem to be the best for us. It's not like we spend a lot more money on food because of it either. I get cheap-o Andre champagne for my mimosas and I try to hit up Giant early in the morning to find meat that's a couple dollars off and I get awesome bread from the "oops we over baked" section. Day-old bread is better for dipping into seasoned oil anyway. We also grill most of our meals now, too. That means we don't have to heat up the house or clean up pans. We eat naan cooked on the grill too because it's just so good. Kabobs on the grill and naan are easy because each person has to make their own. I'm trying really hard to get into feeding my family healtier stuff while saving time and money since we're poor and busy. It's not exactly fun, but it's growing on me. Besides, who doesn't love party food?

Posted by krystal at 9:26 AM | Comments (0)

June 22, 2009

thickah den thieves

Terri, Gayle and I often joke about how we should have the Real Housewives of Fredericksburg. We figure with our motley bunch of friends we'd make for an interesting reality show. When we all get together there are lots of hilarious conversations, lots of happy kids and sometimes, very aggravated bystanders. Terri, Becky, Tree, Gayle, Maddy, Sarah, Amy, Angel, and Suzie...when these girls are together, there's bound to be fun. We each have our fair share of crazy and there's not one of us who lacks a strong opinion about one thing or another. We tease each other and argue politics and we yell at each others' kids. We share our gossip and our beer and our lives. Thursday we had a semi-impromptu gathering of girls and kids at my house. Dan came home from work and helped gather and return folks to their rightful homes. After that, he and I sat outside and watched the remaining kids playing in the pool. It was such a happy night for me. I always wanted the big crazy family with lots of eating and playing and noise and now I have it.
***
So we have had Gayle's kids and their dog, Roscoe, at our house since Thursday while they house-hunt in Florida. Yesterday my folks came over for Father's day dinner and my mom and dad jokingly asked Dan how he likes being the father of so many kids. He said that he really doesn't mind, just as long as Gayle and Wil come back for them! haha. I told my mom that the thought did occur to me that they could skip town and leave us with two extra kids and a dog, but I felt pretty confident that they'd be back. Mom said something about "the kids of Fredtalk" and I said "well, it does take a village"
After we ate lunch we watched our kids, Gayle's kids, and Caylor, playing in the pool. Mom watched me smiling so happily at the chaos. She said that I get it from my Nannie Williams, taking in strays. She's said that before and I always love it. Nannie did take in strays; staying at her house on weekends meant sharing space with pretty much anyone who arrived at the door needing food or someone to talk to. Nannie always had something to offer to people in need. I know that I will never ever be the woman that Nannie was. Her motives were pure and good. My motive is selfish. I like being surrounded by love. I don't like a lot of people so the ones I do like, I want to be with. Of course, I also have an expiration date on all of this freaking joy. Once I don't get my Sunday nap, or once I do dishes for the 40th time or once the kids ask "so ,what's for dinner?" at 8pm after I spent all morning preparing a huge effing father's day lunch, that's when it expires. I was so very happy to get up this morning and go to work. I'm alone, it's quiet. Nobody wants a thing from me that doesn't involve installing software or swapping hardware. I'm about as complex as a speck of dirt, but I do have two sides. Today I'm embracing the flip side.

Posted by krystal at 10:45 AM | Comments (0)

June 15, 2009

two

This weekend we didn't do a thing.
I read two books. Dan played with two kids. I took 2 naps. Trevor went to two parties. Kendall spent two nights at a friends house. We had steak and baked potatoes two nights in a row because the kids abandonned us and I'd already marinated the steaks.

Today I started 10 hour days and now I'm already tired in anticipation of this. I have lots to do for the summer so I'm sure it'll go fast.

Posted by krystal at 11:50 AM | Comments (3)

June 13, 2009

saturday

Welp, it's official. The kids are out of school. I'm already fussing at them about picking up after themselves and they've already booked up my life with sleepovers and parties. Life is good.

I'm still working all summer since I'm a 12 month employee but I really don't mind. I have lots and lots of stuff to do during my 10 hour days. It's going to be a good time for clearing up issues and clearing my mind. The silence at a school during the summer is almost theraputic. It's not as theraputic as a beach trip or the mountains, but it'll do.

I'm also hoping to get some reading done this summer. It's been a while since I read anything good. I read the twilight series but that was sort of mind numbing. I want to read real books. Right now I'm reading The Turnaround by George Pelecanos. He was a writer for my favorite tv series, The Wire. Once that's done I'd like to finish Drood and The Reader. I've started each of them but never got more than a few chapters in. I think they each might require my full attention instead of being in the rotation of books I pick up when I can't sleep. Kendall and Trevor have each requested a few books too so I have an order coming from Amazon. I really need to find our liberrry cards and have them take advantage of that, rather than buying books. I don't know though, there's something wonderful about owning a book. I like the smell and the feel and I like the idea that I can read it again later, even though that never happens.

Tessie and Max both still have croup. They were on steriods for a week and it seemed cleared up but last night they both started barking again. I've already done the normal stuff but they need more 'roids. Looks like someone will be making a trip to the dr. this weekend.

This weekend is going to be one of decompression. That party zapped the life out of me and the money out of our wallet. I just need a few days of rest and I'll be ready to play again. I know that by Sunday I'll be bored and want something fun to do but right now I'm not interested in showering or talking or being nice. I just want to sit and be.

Posted by krystal at 6:04 AM | Comments (0)

June 8, 2009

graduation

Jake's a high school graduate. Anyone who has known us for a while knows how thrilling this is for us. I'll skip the boring part...the actual graduation, and just talk about the partay on Saturday.

I seriously started planning this party about 3 months ago. I get things in my head and then just don't stop dwelling until it's as I wanted it. The problem is that I lack talent in the area of decorating and making things look nice. I bought a ton of colorful stuff and thanks so much to Tree, Gayle, Terri, my mom, Megan and the poor "oppressed" family, it looked awesome here Saturday night. We had more food and beverages than 4 parties could use. Tree made a heeeyuge banner and Gayle made this kick-ass cake. Mom helped with food and Kendall worked tirelessly to help me get the house clean. Tree made everything pretty and Dan cleaned the pool. This party was a LOT of work, but it was really so worth it. Now I have like 4000 beers left and many bottles of wine and I believe we'll be eating Allman's bbq for the next week. I feel so relieved to have Jake out of school and I'm so proud of him. I may not have talent for making things pretty, but I am gifted at surrounding myself with wonderful friends.

Now, if I could just get my friends to agree about waterboarding.

*cheers*

Posted by krystal at 4:50 PM | Comments (0)