How old are you and where is your mother???

Sometimes I swear there are THREE children living in my house...but I only remember giving birth to two. The third one is much bigger, a lot hairier, and way older looking than the other two, and yet they sometimes act like they are all the same age...grrrr.
I already have to wear the hats of mother, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, employee, student, homemaker, chef and sometimes handyman. I simply don't have any more room on my head for a referee's hat, too.
The problem is that my son and...um...that bigger kid are just too much alike. Both are stubborn, demanding, controlling "little" people who sincerely believe that the world revolves around them (or if it doesn't, it should). Try to force them to work together (say on the smaller child's homework) and the result is always complete chaos. This chaos is "black-hole"ish in nature as well. If you are anywhere nearby, you might try to resist, but it is useless...you WILL get sucked in. For a long time I have resorted to just making sure that they never have to work together on anything un-fun. This is accomplished by me just doing EVERYTHING un-fun (homework, showers, bedtimes, etc.). Otherwise I get the unique pleasure of settling their arguments and THEN having to do the un-fun stuff after they are settled down so that they don't start arguing again. Boo.
This week I had enough. With all those other aforementioned hats to wear, I just can't keep up with having the sole responsibility for all the un-fun stuff and I have no further desire to play the referee role. I ripped my husband a new a$$hole...um...I mean, the bigger kid and I had a long heart to heart talk about roles and responsibilities last night.
I am happy to report that post a$$hole ripping, one of the children disappeared and an adult appeared in his place. The adult was actually able to get the child to finish his homework without my intervention last night. AND, tonight my son actually requested his Daddy's help with his assignments. I almost had a coronary...but like, in a good way. Now to see how long this will last...a person can hope, can't they?

It's been too long....again

Well, it seems like I go thru phases with this whole blog thing. Bloggin like a mad woman for a couple of months...MIA for a couple of months... I'm back in action, for now. For those of you who weren't along for the ride, here's a recap of the last 4 months:

- Back to school for the boys.
- Na-Na started kinder.
- Na-Na likes kinder, but keeps getting in trouble for talking too much.
- Na-Na also gets in trouble for pushing other "friends".
- Na-Na and the principal are now BFFs.
- Bubba is doing better in school - no more daily behavior reports - Yea!
- Bubba is even a student council rep for his class.
- Both kids growing like weeds and eating everything in sight.
- Speaking of eating...went to get dog food, came home with a new puppy - Buddy.


- Buddy eats everything...puppy food, chew toys, grass, sticks, kids toys, pillows, jackets, shoes, kitchen rugs, carpet, door frames...
- Buddy is lucky to be alive...
- Buddy is getting better and slowly learning the rules...slowly...really.
- Our other dog, Daisy, not always a fan of Buddy either...he eats her food, too.
- Daisy is almost 13 years old and it is showing - sad...
- Halloween was cool - we had a ninja and one of the Incredibles.
- Thx dunes vacation cancelled...boo.
- Alternate, last-minute Thx vacation to LA was fun...train rides, museums and more.
- I got a promotion at work just before x-mas break - yea!
- Christmas came and went in a blur.
- Kids said Santa was nicer this year.
- Santa got smart.
- Kids are still all about quantity not quality.
- Santa bought a lot of little things instead of fewer big ticket items.
- Kids were thrilled.
- All of this agreed very nicely with Santa as Santa is a cheap bastard... :)
- Quiet New Years. Na-Na and Eugene sacked out early, Bubba and I stayed up to watch the ball drop on TV (we woke up Eugene just in time)
- Eugene hurt his shoulder at work and was on "light duty" for 2 months.
- Now Eugene is home and officially physically disabled (we already knew he was mentally disabled)
- I am stressed out about him being hurt and not being able to work.
- Eugene is gonna have surgery next month.
- I am stressed out about him being hurt and not being able to work!
- It could be a 4-6 month recovery period.
- I am stressed out about him being hurt and not being able to work!!!! AAAHHH!
- I finished another PM class.
- I only have one more PM class to go - yea!
- It started yesterday - boo!

Okay, I think those are the highlights. I am sure there was more, but I have probably blacked everything else out.

Before I go, I thought I would post a bit about New Years resolutions. I made a few, mostly centering on being more organized at home and health focused. As of week 2, I am happy to say that I am doing rather well so far. Here are some of the things I am working on:

- Stop letting the mail pile up on the kitchen counter. Open it, read it and deal with it appropriately each day.
- Commit to loading up the dishwasher every evening. No more lazy, "I'll do it in the morning" nights.
- Fold the clothes as they come out of the dryer. No more digging through big heaps of clean clothes on my couch to find a pair of socks.
- My shoes belong in my closet, NOT all over my living room.
- I will commit to actually doing the stretches that my chiropractor THINKS I am doing every morning.
- I will lose 15 pounds (already lost 5 of these by the way...yea!)

Well, I am about blogged out. This year looks promising...stay tuned to find out how it goes.

:)