Chicken Dinner

I found this recipe and made it for dinner last night. It was very good. I made mixed veggies and couscous along with it. The meal cost about $6 and we had plenty of leftovers. No, I did not buy an organic chicken...I paid $4 for a chicken that probably lived in a chicken coup without any light while being pumped with antibiotics and steroids. Yum. And, for your information I did not buy it at Meijers (that is an inside joke for one of my rock star readers).

As far as eating organic goes; yes, I appreciate the idea but I live in the hood and my Kroger's organic section consists of frozen veggie burgers and about a 5 ft. section of produce. And, I don't even think that produce is really organic, I think it's a consipracy just to guilt me into spending more money (like recycling). I also do not have the time nor the patience to drive to Whole Foods every week. Rainbow Blossom is closer but it is very expensive. I will just continue pumping my children full of mass produced produced, milk, eggs, and meat. It's better than McDonalds, right?

Chiropractor adventures

I have been having some back pain. I decided I was either going to seek out heavy narcotics or go to the chiropractor. Being that I enjoy my life drug free, I went with the back dude. Plus, my Dad has been seeing a chiropractor for a little while, and if he's doing it, it must be ok...The issue with my dad is that he never mentioned the torture that you must experience. I get there and Dr. Back Fixer asks me some random questions about my pain, then he does the examine. This consists of me standing in front of him and bending over as far as I can (I should mention I am in pain and find this difficult but I also have the flexibility of cinder block so I can't bend very far anyway), me laying face down while he runs his hands up and down my spine, pokes around the problem areas, attempting to lift my leg over my head (see previous comment about pain and flexibility). Did anyone catch that first thing I had to do? Yeah bend over in front of Dr. Back Fixer while he stood right behind me. Weird. Funny thing about me is I don't give a crap. If he could promise that my back would be all better I probably would have done that naked. After I got x-rays, he laid me face down on a table and proceede to press, twist, and stretch me in ways that I did not think were possible. He also said several times in a way that was directed to me but kinda under his breath, "Wow, you're really tight." Again, I could be disturbed by that comment, but I don't give a daggone as long as I'm fixed. Dr. Back Fixer popper my spine at least 20 times. That is weird. By the time I left there I felt worse than when I arrived. I had it in my mind that I would leave there pain free. I left there in enough pain I felt like I was going to vomit. On a funnier note my dad was in the waiting room with all of my kids and my niece waiting for me. He almost had to spank mh2. I find that sad, not because she doesn't need it, but because it would have broken his heart to have spanked her. I don't know why that child pushes the limits soooo stinkin' far. She is probably going to be one of those kids that I have to send to boot camp.

Let's talk about cell phone plans.

I do not find it to be a coincidence that cell rhymes with hell. Why on Earth do we find ourselves dependent upon our cell phones? Like, if I leave the house without my cell I either go back and get it (risking being late to work) or I get to work and call the Daycare from the land line and let them know that I forgot my phone, and to call my job if they need to reach me. Really? What did my parents do in the good 'ol 80s when they probably didn't even have call waiting on their landlines?
Anywho, the reason I feel like I am in cell phone Hades is because TLB needs a new phone. This means, new contracts, more money, long conversations with customer service, research on the internet, arguments with said husband, and blood/urine samples. Why??? When did cell phones become so darn necessary. Like, holy crap what would we do without being able to check Facebook while sitting at a red light? Or what if I cannot text TLB to ask him what time American Idol comes on? What would my Dad do if he did not get tweets from Michelle Malkin on a regular basis? WHO FREAKING CARES????????
Bottom line, today is TLB's birthday so I called Customer Service got a new contract for might as well be 10 more years, he got a new phone, and all is said and done.

The perfect vacation

I was doing pilates at the Y yesterday (me and pilates is a whole 'notha post) and the instructor (who is fabulous) was talking about how she is going on vacation next week to Great Wolf Lodge. She was kinda playing down her trip "because it's not Florida or anything". I said, "Well, vacation is not really vacation when you have little kids". I really mean that, but not in a bad way. When I think of vacation, I think of me laying on a beach, drink in hand. I only get up from said location to eat, cool off in the water, or let water. Furthermore, it is only a vacation if the people in close proximity to me do NOT require me to do anything in order to sustain their survivability (this can include TLB). Now that I have defined vacation for you, what we have done in the past is take the kids out of town. They definitely have a good time, but it is an extraordinary amount of slave labor for me. Knowing this, I told my friend that I want to go on the annual week long camping trip with her family next year. Yes, I said WEEK LONG CAMPING. Really? I know I'm crazy, but that might be stupid. Anywho, it sounds like fun enough and mh3 will be over 2 by next summer. I might be able to handle it.

One day, I will convince various family members to take care of the mini humans while I go on a real vacation (I will probably invite TLB). If I fail to find various family members to care for them, I will contact Kentucky Department of Human Services to inquiry on foster care.

More on me & my first experience with pilates at a later date.

That is all.

Are all families as crazy as mine?

How many of you all can go to your grandmother's funeral and be privy to see your cousins cussing each other out? Well, I didn't actually get to "see" it (I was busy mourning the loss of one of the best women in the world) but I heard about it. Thing is...I love everyone is my family but I do wish they could all get along (in my Rodney King voice).

Onto a different thought in this busy brain of mine...My cousin and I were talking about how you have to be careful about who you are talking about on your blog. He made the suggestion of blogging anonymously. Funny thing about that for me is; I'm too narcissistic for that. Why would I write if I knew that no one knew who I was?

New thought: Who is watching Falling Skies? Anyone? I'm getting ready to start watching it with a big 'ol bowl of ice cream. I am also all alone (mini humans and lawn boy in bed). Ice cream and peace...I'll feel like I'm on vacation.

New thought: I don't want to live to be 97-years-old unless I am of sound mind & body. And, sound mind translates to being relative to how sound my mind really is now. Dude, I'm pretty coo-koo for cocoa puffs now, imagine how crazy I'll be in about 60 years.

New thought- no injuries were sustained in the canoe trip on Saturday. Though, TLB, proceeded to climb a ridiculously tall tree and swing from a rope into the water. See that picture? I obviously didn't marry him for his brains.

In their defense and other random thoughts

-I make jokes about the mini-humans all of the time, but really they are excellently behaved baby girls. How am I be sitting at my kitchen table, jamming to Lissie, drinking coffee, and writing this blog while they all play together in the other room? Because they are good girls (granted they pull eachother's hair or pinch eachother every other minute, but as long as they aren't bothering me...).

-I finished the last assignment for my summer course last night. Once the grade posts, I will have a Master's Degree in Learning & Behavior Disorders. Once I take the Praxis on July 18, I will be officially certified to teach students with LBD. I feel so relieved to have this degree complete!

-I am thinking of a friend who's husband is having some serious health problems. I am definitely in prayer for her.

-Go to the zoo on an overcast day. For whatever reason it's not as crowded. I don't know if it makes a difference for the animals or not, but yesterday was a good day to be there.

-TLB and I are planning on a canoeing trip with friends on Saturday. Last time we went I almost broke my arm (for real, my arm got pinned in a weird place in the boat when I was trying to kick us off some rocks and TLB had to use those giant biceps of his to lift me out of the canoe), the time before that, our canoe tipped so many times that both sides of my legs were covered (I am not exageratting when I say covered) with bruises. So much so, when we were on vacation a few days later, a lady on the beach stopped me and said, "Honey, you don't have to take that." That's funny. TLB abusing me? The only abuse I endure is when he tries to make the canoe trip "more exciting" and that's when we end up tipping and I get banged up. He promised me this time, he would make more of an effort to prevent me from being injured.

-When I was at the hospital visiting my grandma, we were talking about how my grandma has lived a long life (to 98!) because she lived a healthy life (no drinking or smoking). My cousin and I continued to talk about the strong genes that my family seems to have. I see things in my girls that have been passed on for generations. My cousin responded by saying, "Conni Jo, evil is strong." We are also a funny group of people.

-My Nana doens't speak to her sister. I have no idea why. Their rivalry has been around longer than I have and probably longer than my Dad's been around. I can't imagine not having a relationship with Baby S. She is the only person in the world that can truly relate to my childhood. She knows me. She loves my crazy kids as if they were her own. Plus, she's just plain 'ol good to me. For instance, she has kept the mini-humans everyday this week so that I could go to class. That is 4 kids to take care of when you count my niece (I told you she's the bomb dot com). Not only did she care for my youngins' she mopped my kitchen floor. That's sisterly love.

Keep it poppin' Pimpin'

What are you doing with your life?

Better yet, what am I doing with my life? When I get to the end, will I be able to look back on my life and feel satisfied with it? By "it", I mean, will I be proud of the way that I lived my life? I hope so. My great grandmother (if you would like to know a little bit more about how I feel about her read this) is nearing the end. She is old and it is her time. My step mom asked me how I was doing. I really am fine with it. She is 98! She has bad hearing, bad eyesight, difficulty chewing and a mind that has been slipping away from her for quite a while. It is time for her to go Home. It is time for her to go to Him.

I am so lucky to have had 31 years with my great-grandmother. Who knows their great-grandmother as well as I do? Who had the opportunity to be loved by someone as wonderful as she loved me? I am sad for my grandmother and my Dad but I am happy for my great grandma. She has looked forward to this for as long as I can remember. She is the one who I would call and ask her all the questions that I had about The Bible. I remember I heard about how terrible the end of the world would be when it came, and she told me, "Jesus will come like a thief in the night. There is no point in worrying about it." She also explained to me that because I believe that Christ died on the cross for my sins and rose from the dead that I have been saved. I believe her.

Kiss the people that you love and tell them you love them.