there's nothing to eat here, not a thing...

Not true, but try convincing one of my kids of that in the morning. This child likes to wake up and catch the bus with no time to spare. If there are no PopTarts, or breakfast that Mom made, or raisin toast to grab quick, this child says that there is Nothing In This House To Eat.

I suggested perhaps getting up a bit earlier and pouring a bowl of cereal, which we have plenty of, or maybe making a bowl of oatmeal, or even some toast. Or eggs.

Child went out door with no reply.

And since I easily feel like a Bad Mom, I felt bad. Should I have breakfast always prepared for this child? I cannot mention the age, but this kid is plenty old enough to fend for self.

Speaking of No Food In The House, there really is. But once the good stuff is gone, the kids start saying that. I start feeling that too. The milk is almost gone, and the eggs are almost gone. The bananas are gone. The bread is getting low. The pears are history, and the apples are getting low. The pretzel jar is empty. The Goldfish crackers are all eaten up. There are no cookies in the cupboard, no tortilla chips.

So this Bad Mom is going to Aldi today to stock up on fruits and veggies and pretzels, bananas and yogurt.

Snow has been sputtering from the sky this dark grey morning. It is cold and getting colder, no sunny spring day like yesterday. brr. But SO cozy in here...except for the bickering...from the two little princesses. I thought it would be SUCH a good idea to just not wake Charlotte Claire up this morning, she was dragging yesterday. So she is home. But for some reason, the two of them just NEED the same dollhouse Mommy. They are bargaining now, Camille says Char can have her in 80, but Charlotte Claire keeps asking, "80 what?"...right now they are giggling and laughing, but then Charlotte Claire will ask again for that Mommy in the purple shirt. We have the same Mommy in a pink shirt, but that will not do. They have to want the same one, kids are just programmed that way.

The kids have a mid-winter break from school the week after next. I have my surgery on the Tuesday, but I am thinking of maybe doing an overnight in a hotel before that. Just to get out of the house and go swimming, and have fun with them. I haven't found any deals yet, however, and don't want to pay big money.

Big money. I have like twenty things I can list right off the top of my head I would buy if I had the money. Small things, like kitchen chairs that match, or something to organize the shoes and backpacks. And big things like a new minivan and a pop-up camper. Then really small things like a new garbage can, new lamps (one of ours turns off and on by screwing the lightbulb one way or the other). And of course there are new windows, which we are really starting to need, since they are rotting, and then there are all the cracked tiles on the kitchen floor, and and and...

Anyway, we had a nice dinner last night. I knew Paul had a meeting last night, but then remembered that the college kids would be home for dinner, so I decided to make something good. Roasted pork loin with olive oil and lemon pepper, baked crispy potato slices in oil and black pepper, the yummy long, thin green beans, and some brown rice. It was really really good, and they liked it. I am glad there is some of the pork loin left for my lunch today.

Tomorrow, I get to work at the Dome again! Big game against Georgetown, huge crowd expected. Syracuse has only lost once, and are just a joy to watch, they are so good. Of course I am not going to watch the game, but to work at the concession stand, but...I can watch on breaks, and if I do beer pouring, I can watch the second half of the game. I am already not thinking of the Cookiewiches...last time I only had half of one. Only, ha. Half of one still has almost three hundred calories, ouch! But they are genius-ly good, soft ice cream swirled between two giant homebaked chocolate chip cookies...

A day late and a dollar short. I will never be a Sucess Story. I did wash socks, but they are clean and still single, mingling on the couch. I did wash and shine the fronts of the my kitchen cabinets yesterday, which I bragged about to all the kids and Paul, who just nodded, although Mirielle did say, "I can't tell the difference." While I was shining and polishing up on a chair, I thought of how in the bible we are exhorted to cleanse the inside of the cup, not just the outside, so I decide that perhaps I will work on cleaning out those cupboards one of these days. I can't keep up with everything though, when I work on one thing, other things slip...

I tend to get these big ideas of getting all these things done, but for example, after I finished with the cupboards, I was done. Oh, I swept and mopped and did the dishwasher and a few loads of laundry and exercised and went outside with Camille, who does not even need one push on the swing anymore because she can do it herself, wah. But I run out of steam in getting projects even started. Our house is doomed to be just as it is: not too bad, but never how I want it.

Perhaps we need the president to come stay with us, so I will be forced to clean out the linen closet.

I want to paint the kitchen still. Actually, I want someone else to paint it for me, I can't reach the top behind the cupboards. Maybe if I just go buy the paint and start spackling, the older kids will be nice and help me.

My thoughts are all over the place today, blah.