Quiet morning

I love mornings like this. I'm enjoying my first cup of coffee of the day and everyone is still asleep but me. I can turn on the news and not listen to, "My shows, Mommy, I watch MY shows!" I can check email, catch up on my google reader and sip coffee in peace and quiet. This is a particularly quiet morning. There's a gentle rain falling outside and it's still nice and dark outside, so hopefully the kids will sleep a bit longer and let me enjoy my peace.

Friday ramblings...

If you're expecting some well-written, cohesive post today, I'll start by saying I'm sorry to disappoint. I've been stuck in the house so much lately I've got cabin fever and I'm feeling a little ADHD. However, today has been a fantastic day so far for me. Now I'm just praying that it continues...

My wonderful hubby got up with the wee ones this morning and let me get a little more shuteye. That always makes the day start off great. The coffee pot apparently got over its issue from yesterday and the coffee actually brewed correctly instead of bubbling out the top of the coffee filter thingy (which is what happened yesterday).

I won two blog giveaways, one at www.oopsicraftmypants and one at http://northernmama-northerngirl.blogspot.com - yay!

Then as I was checking my email, I got a comment on my reading list from one of the authors!!! How exciting is that?? I can't wait to get to the bookstore and buy her new book - I've seen some previews of it online and I've got to say, I have kind of a girl-crush on her. LOL Oh here's a link to her book, check it out, it's GORGEOUS. http://www.steinerbooks.org/detail.html?id=9780880107020

I got two more requests for paperback swap books, so I got those ready to mail and put them out. I feel sorry for the poor postal workers during weather like this - I don't even like poking my nose out the door, much less having to be out delivering mail in it. It makes me wish I had some styrofoam "to go" cups hanging out in the cabinet to hand him a hot cup of coffee as he passes by our house.

The Christmas tree is STILL up...so much for my idea that it wasn't staying up one more day, argh! Even Paul, who was originally on the bandwagon with the 3 year old that it was fine to just leave it up, is saying "People are going to start talking about us like we're weirdos if we don't get this tree down..." Ah well, I've been talked about before, it won't be the first time and certainly won't be the last...

It is snowing AGAIN!! Big, fat, fluffy, white flakes are coming down as I type this. The temperature is currently 3 degrees with a windchill of -11. It's pretty in a nightmarish sort of way. I've got cabin fever something awful but don't want to drag everyone out and then go through rounds of sickness and colds...

So far the children seem to be staying in their rooms for naps. HALLELUJAH!! I guess I should get a few things done before the natives start getting restless. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!

Meet Mr. Romance

Yep here he is girls...it's ok to be jealous...he's all mine! :)

He would kill me if he knew I put this picture on here - this is him at a party after he had a few brewskies attempting a dance of some sort. LOL

My husband is an amazing guy - and much more handsome than in this picture. He's a great guy, my best friend, an amazing dad...he has it all...except that he does not have a single romantic bone in his body. He hates chick flicks and will only watch them if I have whined sufficiently for a period of days until he gives in. He doesn't do PDA at all - not even a peck in public. When we discussed our "wedding kiss", he said he had a plan and the words "One, two, three, BREAK!" were actually spoken out loud. His idea of romance is picking up a Diet Coke for me on his way home from work at the gas station. It IS sweet that he does things like that; however, not what I would consider "romantic".

I've been talking about my reading list for 2010 and I got "Leaves of Grass" by Walt Whitman in the mail today. I show my dear husband and say "Honey, we could go have a picnic in the park this summer and you could read this to me. It would be romantic"

Mr. Romance's response? "I'm not doing that. That's the gayest thing I've ever heard." (**Disclaimer: My husband is not a homophobe - felt that needed to be clarified at this point.)

At the moment before he said this, I had taken a slurp of my scalding hot coffee. The moment he said it, I couldn't help but snort and hot coffee shot out my nose. I burned my nose on the inside and now I can't stop sneezing today.

Yep, I think we're in the running for romantic couple of the year around here.

Small Talk Six

OK so I know the topic for this week is "Six Ways You've Decided to Change Your Life in 2010"; HOWEVER, I've done like 3 posts on my intentions for the year, reading lists, etc so I'm pretty well over it by now. Instead, I'm going to do "Six Ways You've Decided NOT to Change Your Life in 2010". :)

1. As I sit here drinking my first cup of coffee in the morning, let's just go ahead and put it out there that I have no intention of giving up caffeine....probably ever. I need it. It makes everything right with the world. So poo on you health experts, leave me and my coffee & Diet Coke alone.

2. I am not going to give up on teaching my children manners. In this day and age where it seems like manners and respect for other people have flown out the window, it makes me even more determined to impress upon my children that having manners and respect for yourself and others is vital. So guess what kids? There will still be no elbows on Mom's dinner table, the words "may I please" will be more likely to get you what you want, and you still need to say "thank you".

3. I am not going to continue to try to live up to my mother's unrealistic expectations. I live in a house with five kids, two dogs and a messy husband. Guess what? My house is not going to pass the white glove test and probably never will. (Hey lady, you had two kids, 9 years apart in age and you were miserable to live with - we rarely felt like we could even play.) I want my kids to enjoy life to the fullest and if it takes a bit of clutter to achieve that, then so be it.

4. I am not going to leave the Christmas tree up for another day, regardless of how my 3-year-old daughter feels about it. ("It's beeee-youuu-ti-ful Mommy, I want to leave it there! Pwease don't take it down!) Tonight I am waiting until she goes to bed, having the hubs get the boxes out and we're packing that baby up - I'm sick of looking at it.

5. I am not going to stop cooking healthy meals, sorry children and junk foodie husband. We are still going to continue to eat veggies, no matter how much you loathe them, yep even you, Mr. Man. The entire contents of the grocery store do not reside in the frozen food aisle, family, deal with it.

6. I am not going to apologize for who I am or my choices in life. I've made some mistakes, some whoppers. I'm the one that lives with the consequences of them and I do the best I can with what I have. I'm not going to be perfect ever and I'm okay with that.

Well those are my six things I'm not changing. I'm sure I could find more but those are the big ones off the top of my head as I contemplate my second cup of coffee. Hope everyone enjoys their weekend!