CUE HEAD EXPLODING

Actually, that's probably a bit too dramatic--really things are going fine. But it is nearly midnight and I still haven't touched the dishes or the fridge. And that simply MUST be done. So I'll do it.

Just pray for me--that the kids will let me get at least a little bit of sleep in the car tomorrow. I'm going to need it.

Other than the kitchen we're done--I just need to pack some toiletries. Unfortunately my box of craft stuff will not fit, so I'll just have to do without while I'm in California. Oh, well. Not the end of the world by any means.

Oh, yeah, and we need to cram all this stuff into the car tomorrow morning. When it will be approximately 16 degrees. *shivers* That's just too cold, if you ask me. Just too cold. Especially when getting to the car involves walking 1/4 mile roundabout on sidewalk or trudging up a hill of snow-covered grass. Fun.

We're leaving tomorrow

Thus begins the freaking out!

Okay, not really--but only because if I freak out I'll get much less done. So let's just hit the to-do lists, huh?

PACKING:
Load up car partway
Get Josh to pack his clothes
Get Josh to clean up the rest of his clothes
Choose piano music to take with us
Transfer important files to laptop

CLEANING:
Vacuum
Sweep
Mop
Dishes
Clean bathroom
Wipe out fridge

MISCELLANEOUS:
Make myself scarce from 10 a.m. to noon so Josh can study
Feed everybody three times (pancakes, pasta, and swiss chicken)
Go and get copies of Leo's birth certificate
Return library books

Totally doable. It's just going to be a long two days. Wish me luck! And good weather! Please!

There are moments . . .

every so often when I cannot handle what my brain does to me.

I can't take any outside stimulation (like babies crying, ahem), and I don't want to look at anything, because the thoughts in my head just won't stop.

Bad news: the sublease fell through. Great for them! They get to keep their apartment! Bad for us, in that I've had this hope for the last week that we wouldn't have to pay rent for four months and could save that money.

Good news: we don't have to clean out the apartment to make room for their stuff. This will be nice, since I'd just barely started and we want to leave in a little over 36 hours.

It's snowing again. It's beautiful to look at, but it's NOT nice to walk in when the construction crews have so kindly DESTROYED the only walkway to get to the parking lot. This means trudging up a slick, snow-covered grassy hill to get to the car. So not nice. I'm only glad we're not trying to move. Oh, wait, we are! Ha! Maybe I should just get the community aide to open the gate for us on Wednesday morning. Not a bad idea, actually. Hmmm . . . .

I'd like to introduce you . . .

to the fine art of playing the saw.

When I looked in front of me at church today, there was a man a few pews ahead with a saw leaning against his leg. "How odd," thought I. Then the first counselor introduced him as an old friend who was going to play the saw for us.

Here's some more information about the musical saw. Enjoy learning something new today.

Okay, now THIS is cool

I learned about this website a few weeks ago, and I'm excited to share it!

It's called Swagbucks, and the basic idea is you can run Google searches through them to "win" points, which you can redeem for prizes. My favorite? 45 points gets you $5 Amazon credit, which is e-mailed to you AS SOON AS YOU REDEEM IT. No waiting four to eight weeks, wondering if you'll really get what they say you will.

Even if I only earn $5 a month, in three months I'll have enough to buy a book I've been wanting forever. All for doing something I'd be doing anyway.

So if you want to try it out, go to Swagbucks and take a look around. And if you want to encourage your friends to use it, their referral program is pretty decent, too.

This is just one more little thing I do to try to make my life a bit more fun. If I can pay for a few little luxuries without dipping into student loan funds or the money Josh works so hard for to support our family, it makes me feel better.

P.S. Since I wrote about InboxDollars, and Opinion Outpost (e-mail me for a link), I've earned $40 through the two websites together in not a lot of time. I'm just waiting to redeem until I get to California, so that I don't miss a check in the mail. Cool, huh?

Meet Joe Black

Josh and I watched Meet Joe Black together this past weekend.

It is definitely on my list of top ten favorite films. I love the music, the pace, the INCREDIBLY expressive acting. Seriously, how can a man deliver a one-word line but communicate such an incredible range of feelings at the same time? It's as though the actors in this film are telling the entire story without many words at all. As I see the expressions on their faces, and the body language, I feel I can see exactly what their characters are thinking and feeling--as well as the progression of thoughts as they discover things about each other.

This film is the one that proved to me that Brad Pitt deserves to make a lot of money---he's an incredible actor.

Ugh, and with that, I need to go change an especially "fragrant" diaper.

Anxiety

This two kid thing?

It's dang hard some moments.

Like when I get Leo to take a nap, and then try to put Guy down, who screams and wakes Leo up. Or like when I finally take a moment to sit down and realize that my house somehow exploded and there is shrapnel on every surface and littering the floor.

And the laundry? Oh, the laundry.

I just have these moments when I feel so overwhelmed. And I'm trying to just take life one step at a time, but the list in my head keeps getting longer. It's hard to focus on this one thing I'm doing right now when the rest of my house is a visual reminder of the next six things that have to be done.

The best part? Josh won't be home until late tonight. One last group project.

But maybe that's a good thing. It'll mean I won't have to worry so much about getting the house looking decent just yet. I have a few hours to try and get the place looking decent again.