the girl who took some pictures

Got into a picture taking mood today. Matthew was just so darn cute in his hat and the light was all golden and the sky was so blue...it had to be done.

Enjoy!

the girl who is waiting for a break in the rain

It's a rainy Florida Day and I'm waiting for it to clear so I can go meet the locksmith at Albertsons and pay him $200 to change out the ignition switch on the van which, inexplicably jammed up on me. (Although, apparently its a common problem on that particular make/model/year)

Matthew comes out to the porch and sees that its raining and proceeds to make the following statement:

"Mommy, it's raining. The sun is saaad. You have to make it happy. Sing Mommy, sing about cars. Go 'Cars, cars, cars!' (in sing-songy voice) Do it, Mommy! Do it!"

So I oblige by singing "cars" over and over.

"It's not working, Mommy! Do it again!"

I guess there are reasons I don't have a singing career as it is still raining. Lol.

******

So what to do when it's raining except take pictures of the little boys all together on the bed?

Here they are, all together on the edge of the bed. My two baldies and two Breck models side by side.

Now they are head over heels having fun.


And finally, it's tummy time for all.

*****

I love where we live. The location is excellent with the school across the street and easy access to grocery store, gas station and babysitter. The cons are pretty much that we are six people living in a 1200 sq ft space with all the "stuff" six people accumulate. Add to that the fact that the storage in this place is not overwhelmingly great and you find you have to get creative.

One of the purchases I was looking forward to making (but have since put on hold) was an IKEA expedit bookcase. Scrappers swear by it and I thought it would be a good place to store my ever growing collection of albums and possibly some scrappy supplies. The boys still get into things, but they have learned that Mommy and Daddy's toys are to be respected, so I was finally comfortable putting some of it more in the open. Sure it would have taken up the last remaining wall space in the living/dining room, but at least I had a place for it.

Well, after cleaning out my office at work, I had to find a place for the cradle my "assistant" used to occupy. My grandfather made it before he passed and it has been passed around to all the grandchildren for the great-grandbabies. I'm the most recent to have it, and possibly the last. So, until my parents come to visit from Texas, it's mine to take care of, cherish, and store.

Thing is, its big. I'm talking a nice sized wooden cradle that does break down to some extent, but we aren't talking pack and play here. So it took up the spot destined for my bookcase. However, I still had two problems. 1.) I just knew that the kiddos would look at it as an invitation to play on/in it and Ididn't want it damaged. 2.) I still have a ton of albums overflowing their storage. So, I found a solution.

Nice, huh? My "babies" all in one place. Now there are still a couple albums stashed away, but the bulk are here and it makes me happy.

*****

Speaking of creative storage solutions, I'm trying to streamline my stash. Now, I'm using more and more of it as I complete lo's (even though I've fallen off the wagon slightly.) but it still occupies my amoire and chest and some space in the bedroom as well. I got a clip-it-up last year and discovered that while it stores everything magnificently, it just doesn't work for me. It's awkward to turn without overbalancing it and it was sort of crowded. I dream for the day I have a room of my own (or at least a room I share with dh just for our playthings) and can use the clips on a rod type system. I think that will work better. Aside from the embellies, I also have a huge stash of ribbon. I really don't know why, I don't use it enough to justify all the ribbon I have, but there ya go. It's a scrapper's mentality. the second I get rid of it, I will probably need it for some project. I'll search all over for it, get frustrated, and finally remember I purged it Don't laugh! It's happened!

To that end, I've tried several systems: the all wrapped neatly on wooden clothespins system, the wrapped neatly on chipboard cards system, and the kept on spools and sorted by color system. Trouble was, I always seemed to revert to the carelessly unrolled and thrown in whatever storage container was handy system.


These were all the containers I was using to store my ribbon in. Yes, some have been repurposed since my revelation (more on that in a sec) and I'm not inclined to UN-repurpose them for the sake of a photo.

Now the revelation. My LSS was selling some ribbon organizers recently and I was skeptical as to how well they would work. I was certain that the ribbon would get all sorts of tangled. However, after seeing the owner work steadily during a crop (back in December) to fill this organizer, I was amazed. She managed to get a box about 2 ft square, filed to the brim with ribbon (on spools, loose, in baggies, all of it) into this little bag about the size of a makeup case...with room to grow!

So I sat on the idea for a little while and finally took the plunge. This is the result.

And there is plenty of room left over to grow. What I like about this is that I can still add ribbon and keep it separated by color without having to move anything else. Plus it's squishy and easily stores in a quarter of the space I was using before! And, I'm happy to report, I have had no issues with tangling (as of yet) All in all, a good $20 investment. Love it!

*****

Eli update: the little boy wants to crawl! He spends a LOT of time practicing. Raising up on his knees and rocking back and forth. All with a look of concentration on his face. Catch him at it and he drops down to his belly, so I'm going to have to go stakerazzi to get a shot, but this comes close.


He's still the happiest, most easy-going baby ever. I am so happy he joined the family! Every day I think about how, even though I had my hands full with three boys, I always felt the family had some growing to do. And when I was pregnant, I really didn't have the little girl longings I had with the others. I knew (or was resigned to, lol) I was going to have another boy. He's my ray of sunshine, my little Eli-phant, and I love him to pieces.

****

Well, there was a break in the rain and went to meet the locksmith at my stranded van. $210.00 later, I'm mobile again. Now to use it to go job hunting. It's funny how not having to go to work changes things. I'm using my down time to organize and purge, slowly but surely. We want to move to a house with more room to spread out when our lease is up. I'm hoping to find something in the area and same school district. Of course, being employed will make that a whole lot easier, lol, so I better get back on track.

the girl who is unemployed

Technically that is.

My last day on paper was Friday. But I'm going in tomorrow to make sure payroll goes off without a hitch, because I have good work ethic like that(and it's my pay that's being affected too!)

My "assistant came to work with me one last time and got smothered with kisses from everyone. I think that they will miss him more than me. He;s been a little mascot for them. They've seen him grow from the little not-quite-five-pounder that he was when I first started bringing him to work, to a robust, chubby little not-quite-fifteen-pounder. Plus he's adorable, how can you not get attached?

My babysitter is quite heartbroken over the possibility of losing the boys. She loves them and I love her for loving them. I can't exactly ask her to hold their spaces though. She's one woman running her own daycare and can only take a limited number of kids. Well, I'm taking up three spots. I can't ask her to do without that income. But, she's given me some tips on some things, and hopefully we can make it work.

She loves Eli, especially (who doesn't?) and has this thing about wanting him to be in real little boy clothes. I'm happy to let him stay in sleepers all day, but Miss Mitzi likes him looking like a little man. So much so that she started looking for clothes for him. This outfit is courtesy of her. He DOES look like a little man. He has just grown so much!

And he's Mr. Personality too. I'm sure he'll be just as much trouble as Matthew, because he is very much "look at me! play with me! pay attention to me!" But as a baby it's adorable.

Speaking of Matthew, I'm trying to figure out if its him or Ian who did this.


Yes, that's a Happy Face drawn right where Mr. Happy hides.

I'm leaning towards Ian, since he's the resident artist. But I was baffled as to why he would be drawing on his undies.

Then it hit me.

These are plain white undies. No decoration. No cartoon characters. Naturally he had to iven them up!

I have strange children, lol.

In other news...I was asked to be a guest designer for the Color Challenge on 2Peas. I had fun with it.

This was the Color Combo I was given:


And this is what I did with it.


I'm running out of stash, so my layouts are becoming more streamlined. I can only hope that I become employed soon, or else I won't be able to take advantage of all the yummy BOY goodies (finally) from CHA. I'm in love with several items and simply want to go crazy.

So this is kind of a rambling, pointless post, but I wanted to show off the pictures, lol.

Will post any job hunt successes as they happen!

the girl who needs an umbrella (ella, ella)

No pics again, but an update.

Washer is fixed. I did it myself actually. The first repair guy that came out diagnosed it with a broken transmission.

Landlord wanted a second opinion.

Second repair guy (from different company) said same thing so eventually she consented to order parts.

Third repair guy missed the Saturday appointment for the day I was home and forced me to take a day off of work to wait for him so I could have a working washer. This was the day I got called in to go to a meeting which was useless. The next day I found out they were eliminating HR.

However on that day I thought I had a working washer because they replaced the transmission. So the washer finally spun again, but wait...nope, not working. Won't agitate now.

Fourth repair guy came out and looked it over and ordered parts.

Fifth repair guy came out to install said parts, but they were UNNECESSARY as the only thing wrong with the washer at that point was that repair guy #3 (coincidentally also repair guy #4) didn't put the machine back together correctly and left off (and left with) the part that actually makes the agitator grab on to the thingie that makes it agitate. (For the record, the part is called a "spline" don't know what the agitator thingie is called.) So repair guy#5 asked me if *my husband* was mechanically inclined and told me how to tell *my husband* how to fix it. I'm surprised he didn't call me "Little Lady" and ask me why I was wearing shoes in my kitchen. (For the record, it's to stomp on the roaches).

So the part arrives before I go into work last Tuesday and in five seconds I have the whole thing running smoothly and washing clothes.

Repair Guy #6 shows up on Saturday (you think I'm going to cancel? Hmph, they better come out just for the hassle they've put me through) and I explain I fixed it, but could he please put the housing back together correctly (something repair guys 1-5 haven't done yet) so it will open properly. He did, clothes are clean again and the love seat is now sporting the layer that needs to be hung.

So that's some good news at least. I thought I'd lead with that.

But here is where the umbrella comes in since when it rains it pours.

Florida Dad had a heart attack Monday.

He's as fine as he can be right now and I've been doing my best to help out. Scared the bejeezus out of me, but I'd never let him know it. He's too ornery to die. Besides, then he'd have to give up his post as president of the DOMC (Dirty Old Man Club) and I don't think he's ready for that yet.

But I did request that he have pretty nurses during his convalescence.

More rain on the way.

DH got some bad news about his job too. Going into Pop culture speak here, the Bobs are at his work and the TPS reports aren't being stapled correctly.

So in a couple weeks he will be joining me in looking for new employment.

Sigh!

My last day at work is Monday.

No nibbles yet, but at least I got the benefits pushed through before my exit.

I gotta take my victories where I can.

At least I'll have clean clothes to wear for my interviews.

the girl who sees you

I see that visitor count keep going up (even though the comments remain the same, hint, hint, a girl needs a little PVM ya know) but don't really have anything new to post.

I'm in a crappy mood and don't really want to bring the whole world into my black hole.

Still looking for a job and still going into work every day until the final day. The resentment and "why bother" attitude is starting to pervade and becoming very difficult to fight. I keep reminding myself I'm staying for the employees so I can get through open enrollment and they can have their benefits and so I can finalize training of the person responsible for their pay.

I remind myself this was my idea to stay long enough to accomplish this and that I really fought for it, and even though the extra paycheck is definitely a motivating factor, it's really because I hate leaving things undone.

But it's hard to go in and remain positive and professional.

It's hard to try to finish up projects that may, ultimately mean nothing to anyone but myself.

It's hard to hear another person come up and say "you're leaving? why?" or knowing why and telling me why its so unfair.

It's even harder to put a smile on my face and say, "I'm sure it will be a positive move and things will work out, don't worry." instead of agreeing with them and ranting and raving about the injustice of it all.

I had an employee in my office for 20 min the other day actually crying because she had heard the news.

It's hard, and just add to that a washer that STILL isn't fixed and a cold that WILL NOT GO AWAY and I am just drained.

So I'll try to post when I am in a better mood or have good news.

Thanks for lurking.