One Word

Benadryl.

Even more flowers

My hard drive crashed a few months back and I lost two whole weddings' worth of pictures I hadn't backed up. I suck at technology.

Mice, again.

If you're not related to me, you have probably not read this post about how my house is infested with mice. But well, it is. I've tried various methods of ridding the house of mice with results ranging from ineffective (live traps) to disastrous (rushing my dog to the ER vet after he ate a brick of poison.)

And often, when I bring it up, people suggest that I get a cat. Which I would love to do. I love cats. I am also ultra-super-mega-allergic to cats. So that's not really an option. But you know which predator of mice I bet I'm not allergic to?


Owls.

Does anyone know where I can get my hands on a pet owl? Bonus if it delivers mail and magic brooms.

I'm busy.

I'm working on a crazy long post that's not done yet. So I don't have anything interesting to say here tonight. Except that I went to a chiropractor today who doesn't think I have carpal tunnel, and explained to me why it is much more likely that I have a herniated disk in my back. Which is, you know, awesome.

We Hate Words

Him:
lunch
soup
stinky
share (when used by adults in relation to emotions)
sleepy
tummy
hungry


Me:
pudding
kudos
hubby
potty
moist
paste
mucus (the worst onomatopoeia ever)


His list is actually much longer than this. I just can't think of the other ones right now.

Birthday

Today was Eric's son's 7th birthday. We took our kids plus three of Ambrose's friends to the Waterpark of America. Which is across the street from the Mall of America. The same ridiculousness in scale as the Mall.

(Do other people out there really know about the MOA? Whenever we go there, there are people from all over the world, speaking all kinds of languages. Is it really a destination? Because for me, it's just the closest Sears to my house. It's where I bought my new lawn mower.)

Anyway. Huge. Lots of different wave pools, slides, rivers... I'm exhausted. And I still reek of chlorine.

Lucas learned a new phrase. He will now tell you that waterslides are "not his cup of tea".

How Grown Ups Make Decisions

I will, sometime in the coming months, gain access to an assload of money. At least I think that's the correct unit of measurement -- bigger than a chunk, less than a fortune. Enough to make the average game show contestant leap into the air and embrace the host, not enough to retire. Anyway. I kind of have to decide soonish what the best use of this money will be.

The government is going to want a large portion of it in taxes if I don't bundle it all away into a savings or investment plan until my dotage. And it seems like I'll probably want to have some money when I am old and feeble and no longer able to earn my keep by answering phones. So there's that. A retirement fund?

But it has also been pointed out to me that I could use some of that money to procure myself the kind of education that would allow me to earn my keep in a manner more lucrative and fulfilling than answering phones. So there's that. Go back to school?

But another point that keeps nagging at me is that my house is a moldy, rodent-infested craphole and a good portion of that money could be used for much needed home improvement projects. So there's that. Fix up the house?

Then again. Why throw money at a craphole? Why not walk away from the craphole and use the money for a down payment on a less crappy, less infested house where I wouldn't have to share one tiny bathroom with four smelly males with bad aim? So... New house?

I know nothing about money management, having never had any to manage in the past. I don't know an IRA from my elbow, and my mind wanders off and starts imagining how many bags of potato chips, trips to Tahiti, and diamond-encrusted tiaras I could buy with all that money every time someone tries to explain it to me. But I feel like this is one time in my life that I need to step up and act like a grown up person and make a well thought out, informed decision.

So what do you think, Internet? What should I do with the money? C'mon. If I can't trust you, who can I trust?

One Word

Headache.

NSFW

I find sharing my deepest darkest secrets with complete strangers here infinitely less painful than writing a cover letter and resume. Telling anyone the truth is always easier than trying to guess what it is they want to hear.

Thing One and Thing Two

Last night after the most surreal bath time ever -- me and Merry in the tub, Lucas sitting on the toilet doing his business while we discussed the merits of getting Ambrose a fighting track for the mechanical attack hamsters that his grandma brought them on her last visit for his birthday -- we put on our pajamas and snuggled up on the couch to watch a cartoon before bed.

Merry got up and wandered into the kitchen and started rustling around in the drawer that we keep all the plastic kid-safe dishes in. I didn't interrupt or ask what she was doing because I'm trying to encourage her to do more things on her own and I was assuming she was going to get herself a drink of water.

A few minutes later she came back with a blue plastic cup. Of wine.

1. I am an awesome mom.
2. Boxed wine is so convenient even a 3-year-old can help herself to delicious adult beverages any time.