BUT, last week, a house I’ve been curious about and have had my eye on for 7 years since it was first custom built went on the market . . . and for way less money than I would have ever thought - like $250,000 less than I guesstimated.

Hubby scheduled a walk-through for us yesterday, more because we were just curious what it looked like inside because it’s so neat outside. It’s way bigger than we need (4100 square feet), but it isn’t a Garage Mahal . . . it FEELS homey - the bedrooms are bedrooms, not play rooms or sitting rooms. The bathrooms are just bathrooms. There’s a great space for fun downstairs. There are the perfect number of bedrooms for our family and guests and my hobby room (i.e. all the stuff we can’t put anywhere else in our house room). There’s a perfect spot for the kids to have a homework place with their laptops. There is a perfect little loft office with a great view of Pikes Peak for hubby. There is no freaky wasted space with freakishly high ceilings. Great kitchen. It sits on 5 acres. The views of Pikes Peak are great. The kids would live within bike riding distance of friends they’ve had since they were born (not kidding - daycare buddies at 8 weeks old). They would go to another great school district and to the same school as those long-time friends. They would play sports with kids they go to school with rather than go to school in one district and play Y and Little League sports with kids from another district.

I loved it.

What would you do?

Thankfully, it’s not in the forest - just right NEXT to the forest. If it were IN the forest, it would be difficult not to buy it. I know we could plant trees, etc., but we’ll use this as an excuse not to make our lives more chaotic at the moment.

I guess we’re not moving . . . but if we’re not buying that house, maybe I can convince Hubby to get me mid-life crisis Audi A4 Convertible instead…

Last night, or should I say early this morning, I was up around 2:00 a.m. to let the damn dog out. I sat on the couch to wait for her to do her business. Through the open window I heard rustling outside in the cul de sac then heard a trash can get knocked over. I looked outside, expecting to see some of the neighbor’s teenagers out there getting ready to go home or something. Instead I saw a black blob rustling around in the neighbor’s garbage! The black blob came into view after a little while - it was a bear! First bear I’ve seen in the neighborhood. It’s common knowledge that you shouldn’t leave your trash cans outside or put them out the night before . . . but it happens. And it is a great bear attractor. I didn’t run for my camera and run outside to get a picture of the bear . . . I chose to watch it from the comfort of my living room . . . but he did create a little mess for our neighbors to clean up this a.m.:

Ya - crappy phone photo from the car on my way to work this morning . . . he must not have found anything good in there since he left an entire can untouched before he headed up the neighbor’s driveway and out of sight.

Glad I checked the garage door last night! A couple nights ago it was open all night - and the door to our house from inside the garage does not latch . . . so ya, that coulda been fun!

No tiger sightings yet . . . unless a cat from the local big cat sanctuary gets out, I think we’re safe on the tiger sightings

After food and beer, we headed across the parking lot to the theater for some Julia in Eat, Pray, Love. All I can say is GOOD movie! I got a little annoyed at her self-pity poor me attitude for a while, but she sucked it up and made plans to make some changes. It was a LOOONNGGG movie (started at 6:50 - we walked out at 9:20!) . . . but I never once wished it was over. It was just a good life lesson movie . . . and now I REALLY want to go to Rome . . . and Bali, but only if I get to stay in the exact place she got to stay in

No real detailed review from me, other than I’d actually go see it again if someone asked . . . definite chick flick, but definitely worth it.

I QUICKLY saw my evenings getting out of hand . . . and me staying up WAY too late to try to get my stuff done, whatever it may be.

My solution? I leave my laptop power cord at the office, which means I get about 2 hours of time on my laptop before the battery dies . . . which gets me in bed sleeping before 11:00 . . . which makes everyone happier the next morning

Problem solved.

I went to Target and came home with only ONE additional item that wasn’t on my original list of 3 items.

I consulted Betty Crocker on how to cut up a whole chicken. Why? Because I made fried chicken from scratch.

I made mashed potatoes from scratch.

I made gravy from scratch.

I made banana pudding from scratch.

I turned a pair of Dude’s flood pants into shorts because he just couldn’t bear to part with them. This required the use of the SEWING MACHINE.

I turned a pair of Princess’ flood pants into capris because she just couldn’t bear to part with them. This, too, required the use of the sewing machine.

I sewed patches on a Boy Scout uniform.

I’m pretty sure a beer will suck me right back into my regular universe where I wake up tomorrow and go to work and go out to eat with friends and to a movie and don’t see a single piece of raw food or fabric.

At least it better because I don’t think I can handle another day in the alternate universe!

The Silver Medal goes to the person that invented Headlamps.

There are many items we take camping, but if we forget our headlamps, ACK! Walking with a dog on a leash in one hand and a flashlight in the other is not so much fun in a dark campground where puppy feels the need to check out everything! Having 2 hands available is awesome! And the bathrooms . . . vault bathrooms are DARK - and if you have to set the flashlight down, well you’ve defeated the purpose of taking a flashlight to the bathroom. Putting the flashlight in your mouth to hold it is no fun either. Headlamps, on the other hand, require  no hands, have multiple brightness settings, and can be angled wherever you need them to be to see best. Kudos to the Headlamp Woman!

And the Gold Medal goes to the person that thought up pocket meals!
Yes it’s a crazy little thing . . . but any food that you can mix up at home, wrap up in foil, freeze, use as ice in the cooler, throw in the fire to cook without preparation at the campsite, and eat without dirtying more than a fork is awesome in my book! And the kiddos like to eat anything called Cowboys and Indians Dinners, breakfasts . . . we’ve tried it and we love it . . . so yay to the Foil Pocket Dinner Maker Upper Person!

**********

I found out I might get two trips to Italy in the next 6 months out of this new gig. I’m hoping I get to go on at least one . . . not holding my breath, but it’s a definite possibility!

**********

Kids had their first full week of school. They did great! Dude is having a little trouble with all the homework - not the actual work, but DOING the homework. He’s got 30-45 minutes each night, which is way more than the 15 he’s had the past few years. He’ll figure out his time issues . . . hopefully sooner rather than later!

**********

I went to Back To School Night on Wednesday. That’s where you get to go listen to the kids’ teachers talk about how they run their classroom and what they plan to do for the year. You also get to sign up to volunteer to help in the classroom. I didn’t write my name down for 5th grade. I did volunteer to help with 2nd grade. We’ll see how that all shakes out. I did, however, sign Hubby up to present to the 5th grade - that’s what he gets for not being here this week

**********

Dude has the BEST desk in the entire school. I’m convinced of it. His classroom was actually intended to be the science room, so it’s a corner room with lots of large windows. His desks faces a window - a giant window that frames Pikes Peak perfectly. I’m quite jealous. He’s quite happy.

**********

I think Dude’s teacher will be perfect for him . . . she loves the outdoors, hiking, climbing, rafting, biking, camping . . . all the stuff Dude likes.

**********

Dude had to create a culture wheel . . . they had to take a round piece of paper and cut pie shapes out. Then they wrote the part of their life that consumed that pie shapes amount of the whole circle. Anyhoo . . . Dude’s huge more than half shape said “Outside”. The other shapes were all pretty even, and said baseball, hiking, camping, bike riding, soccer, and family. Ummmmmm . . . if I’m not mistaken, all of those are outside

**********

Princess has the same 2nd grade teacher that Dude had. I’m way excited that she has Mr. Krich! I love his male perspective to teaching - and he’s got a loud boisterous voice, he’s got RULES that the kids must follow, he’s got lots of fun incentives for them to learn match facts, he loves recess as much as the kids. He is the ONLY person on this planet who has ever said of my two children “It’s amazing how much alike they are!” Seriously? He ammended that statement with he doesn’t know how alike they are academically, but he made that remark because Dude and Princess apparently both like to talk (who knew!) and are the only two kids he’s had that felt the need to yell “He’s looking at his watch!” rather than give the loud SHHHHHHH that most of the kids give. I think Mr. Krich is in for a big surprise in a week or so when he sees Princess’s real personality come out

**********

I took a look at Princess’s math and spelling books that were sitting on her desk. She spelled her own name wrong . . . in her spelling book.

**********

In addition to work and school, Dude started soccer this week. Practices Wednesday and Thursday from 5:00-6:00. He’s so excited and had a blast Wednesday . . . we’ll see how it goes tonight.

**********

Princess starts soccer next week - practices on Thursdays from 6:00-7:00. Thankfully she didn’t start this week since Dude had a pack meeting on Thursday at 7:00.

**********

The principal called me yesterday after school. She started with “I just wanted to let you know that we had an incident on the playground with Princess today.” She must’ve heard my sigh and realized I was thinking “Are you kidding me! ALREADY??!!!” The next words out of her mouth were “I guess I should have started with she didn’t do anything wrong and isn’t in trouble at all. But we did have to call the other little girls parents to come into school and talk.”

Turns out 3 little girls had emotional issues - gasp! Girl 1 promised Girl 2 she’d play with her. Girl 1 decided she wanted to play with Princess and asked Girl 2 to play what they were playing. Girl 2 got mad at Princess for “stealing her friend” and started chasing Princess. She pushed Princess down on the concrete sidewalk and started kicking dirt at her. Princess told the playground monitor. So all 3 girls had to go to the office for a chat . . . Girl 1 and Princess got apologies from Girl 2, who had to stay and wait for her parents to come to chat about all of it.

OMG - girls. I can’t WAIT until she’s a teenager and their hormones start working their magic . . . ugh!

Princess is fine . . . didn’t even mention it, so she must not have been too traumatized. We did chat about it and about how SHE would have felt if she were girl 2 and how she could handle the situation . . . she simply said “There are lots of kids on the playground - I’d be sad, but only for a minute because I’d just find someone else to play with that day.”

**********

We had a busy week . . . needless to say, the kiddos were a bit GRUMPY this morning. They complained that they didn’t get to just watch a movie any night this week. And OMG they didn’t get to watch America’s Got Talent!

I politely reminded them that NOTHING we did this week was for me and that we can stop doing any of their stuff any time . . . outside of school and work, we went to SOCCER practice because they wanted to play soccer. I went to Back To School Night because they started school. We went to a Pack meeting because Dude wants to be in Boy Scouts. I met with my Brownie co-leader because Princess wants to be in Brownies.

They are not willing to give up soccer, Boy Scouts, or Brownies - they are, however, willing to give up school. I told them that was not an option. They said OK and asked for a snack. I said we didn’t have any because we hadn’t gotten to the grocery store with our crazy week. Their world just about ended.

Until I reminded them we have about 50 gallons of ice cream in the freezer . . . then they were good.

*********

After being home for almost a month, Hubby went to work Monday . . . I guess this was good practice for me doing it all this week! So glad for him to come home today.

**********

This weekend we will DECOMPRESS and get ready for next week and do it all over again, minus the back to school night and Pack meeting . . . but we will add Thursdays to our soccer practice schedule.

**********

On a side note, can I just tell you how happy I am that I am completely stupid about soccer . . . never played it and really don’t know much about it, especially at the level Dude is playing at. It’s SOOOOO nice to be able to go to a practice or game and just watch without feeling obligated to help (I so would not be helpful with soccer) or really even know what’s going on, so I don’t have to be stressed about whether my kids know what they’re doing

*********

I am off to finish my Friday at work, then head home to beer and Bloody Marys while Hubby takes Dude to soccer practice

So yesterday I went to Goodwill with just a few items . . . 2 fishing poles, a Princess bicycle, and 4 large wooden saw horses from Home Depot.

They refused the saw horses “because they were stained.” Um . . . they were stained because we put a door across them and, well, STAINED IT! So some stain and some white paint were dropped on the top of these nice solid saw horses . . . which rendered them completely useless to Goodwill.

I understand the dude was probably told not to accept stained items in general . . . but these are saw horses! And I must admit I was a bit annoyed.

I was annoyed enough that I drove an extra 10 miles to The ARC . . . who accepted the saw horses with big smiles and big thanks.

The experience at Goodwill reminded me of my last experience with the Salvation Army, which is why I don’t donate to them anymore . . . they were having a winter coat drive. I was a college student with no money, but I did have 2 winter coats: one warm practical one for the cold MN winters and one fun one I bought on clearance as a treat for myself a couple months previous. I went to donate the fun treat coat . . . they refused it because it wasn’t new. They told me thanks, but no thanks, they could only accept new coats with tags on them. Um, seriously?

So in short - the Salvation Army really made me mad, and Goodwill kinda made me mad - and I’m kind of starting to wonder if places asking for donations aren’t getting too picky about some things?

Last week I suddenly started working 4 days a week instead of 2 . . . and by suddenly I mean my boss called on Tuesday and said “how many hours are you available to work for us?” I said “All I can give you is 30 . . . Tues-Fri 8:00-3:30. I have to keep Mondays clear for volunteer stuff I’m already committed to.” He said “OK. Done. Can you start this week?”

Um . . . sure. So I did.

This week, the kids have their first full week of school AND they both start soccer. Dude practices on Wednesdays and Fridays from 5:00-6:00 and Princess practices on Thursdays from 6:00-7:00.

Add to that the Back to School Night on Wednesday that the kids are not welcome at, the last-minute Boy Scout Pack meeting on Thursday evening, and a Hubby who left for work for a week and you have a pretty full week staring back atchya!

I guess if we’re all going to start our new stuff, it might as well all start at once

*For the record . . . I’m not complaining. I’m way excited about my increased hours at work . . . last week was so much less stressful knowing I had 4 days to get all my bazillion hours worth of stuff done instead of just 2. And I’m excited for the kids to get going with soccer . . . they both are needing an outlet for their extra energy and a way to decompress after school.

How do they do it? I am 100% certain there is no way I could fall asleep with my glasses on, my headlight illuminated, and s’more on my mouth And if I were to actually fall alseep that way, there is no way I WOULDN’T wake up when someone took the glasses off my face and the headlamp off my head.