A lot of my Readers find my blog by mistake. They google words like "Simple Living", "Living Simply", "Gracious Life". They come here expecting to find beautiful designs, recipes and someone using words like "Sweet and Lovely". I know it must be a shock to their system when they see photos like the one above. Most runaway quickly but some actually stick around. I love these Followers because they giggle at my less than P.C. comments. And that makes me laugh. So see, we all win!
For the life of me, I forget why Joshua is crying. But whenever one of my kids has a fit, I like to capture the moment. And this is another reason that I need to carry my camera wherever I go. You just never know. Half the time, just letting them know that their tantrum may end up on my blog, calms them down. But then at other times, they storm away and up the stairs they go. And before they do, I yell to them "Don't forget to slam the door"! They never disappoint. Damn this quality built house! I pray for the day when I can have a new house with cheap hollow core doors. A boy can dream, can't he?
So although my blog isn't about "Simple Design", the reality, my friends, is that this is real life. And I'm sorry to burst your bubble but screaming kids is a part of real life. At least it is for Our Simple Lives.
Please let me know if you need to be redirected to sites where everything is always perfect. Cuz it ain't happenin' here!
Thank you all for your kind words, yesterday, about Roman and Sophia. And just to answer most of you, the kids are fine. The weather was beautiful this past weekend and they were surrounded by Friends who kept them busy. Thank you for your concern.
On Sunday, the kids get ice-cream. It's a big deal because they don't usually get it at any other time during the week. Most times, we'll take them out. But when the whole neighborhood is in the house, we'll buy a large carton and then pull out things like chocolate or caramel syrup and sprinkles and such. Sunday was exceptionally busy at our place. Not only did Claire have her friends over. But John had two of his friends in too. That made for 10 kids running all over this place! And at lunch, Fred found himself serving seven instead of the usual four.
Remember the old days when parents told their kids to stay away from the Fags in the beautifully appointed house down the street? Well, those days are gone. Apparently, they now say, "Why don't you go hang out at Mark and Fred's for awhile"! Gays from back in the day were lucky. Sure, they were seen as total outcasts, beaten and spit upon by society in general. But I bet their homes were sparkly clean and they weren't spending the gorgeous day inside doing dishes. Lucky dogs!
Your Friendly Neighborhood Gay, m.
p.s. I know I'm a nut but I actually do enjoy the kids having their Friends come around. I can keep track of them that way.
Last Wednesday, I went down to the lower level(Family Room/laundry) to feed the cats before going up to bed. I discovered that Sophia had died sometime during the day. I petted her for a little bit and then put her away until the next day when we could bury her.
Sophia came from a pet supply store. They didn't sell animals but they allowed the Humane Society to bring animals in to find homes for them. When we went into the store, she was in a cage with her brothers and sisters. They were all sleeping and she was climbing the cage and screaming. Fred and I recall thinking that she looked like a Gremlin. But not as cute as one!
And although we thought she was odd looking, we just loved her and had to have her. Back then, you just forked over $20.00 and you could adopt from the Humane Society. Now, it's almost as hard as adopting human children.
So we took her home and our other cat, Minuette(Pearl), took her under her wing.
Pearl died about 8 years ago and Sophia had been on her own until TomCat came into the picture.
She wasn't a huge of him in the beginning. But then she grew to like him.
And John loved both of them.
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Roman
04/06/98-03/16/12
After dealing with Sophia, I started to round up the kids to get ready for bed. Roman usually follows us. This time, he started to climb the stairs but slid back down. And then he wouldn't stand up again. This has been happening a lot lately. Fred and I had to carry him up to our room this time. After we put the kids to bed, I told Fred, "you know this is it, right"? He said that he knew. I felt bad for Fred and for Roman.
Roman came to us when he was about four months old from a local breeder. Four months was perfect because he was house trained/broken.
Fred, John and Roman - May of 2000
We knew that we had wanted a dog but argued over what to get. I was wanting a Rottie or a Boxer and Fred wanted a Golden. We had a deal that whatever situation we saw first that would work for us, we would go with that. So we saw an Ad for Roman and that was it.
My Mom, John and Roman
Roman was our first baby. He was born 2 years before John and I was a total Dog-Person back then. Roman came to us in August and then Fred left for one year to finish up a project in France. So then, it was just the dog and me for a year.
I love dogs if they behave and I had Roman perfectly trained. Then Fred returned home and thought that all of my rules were silly and then everything went to hell.
It got worse after John was born and I was stuck with kid duty and didn't have the 24 hours a day to vacuum up dog hair. Then I just got angry at the world and mostly took it out on Fred. Now that I think about it, that's around the same time that Fred starting calling me a bitch. But with Fred being a dog-person, I thought it was a compliment. Hmmm!
It doesn't matter. What does matter is that John picked up on Fred's cues and became a dog-person too. Or actually, a total lover of all animals. In fact, the remaining cat, dog and dragon lizard are all Johnny's.
But of course, I'm still the one cleaning up after them.
Before Roman had passed, Fred was already hinting at another dog. Like a fool, I'm sure I'll agree eventually. I love to see him, and the kids, happy. And the dogs do that for them.
Best Buds
Roman and John were like brothers. Until this weekend, Johnny didn't know life without Roman. And John reached to Roman for comfort through hard times. Of course, Roman was always there for him.
The Mobil-Vet couldn't get to our house for 11 days out. So although I didn't want to do it, I schedule to take Roman to our Vet. I had thought that we would go as a Family but Fred insisted that the little ones stay behind. Still, I told him to give John the option. So Fred and Johnny headed out on Friday afternoon.
The last photo of Roman
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Roman and Sophia
Lifelong Friends
Who are also missed by these two.
TomCat
Who now sleeps where Sophia died.
Maggie
Who seemed a little troubled this weekend too.
If you're sad already, I'm sorry to do this to you. But Fred wanted me to put together a slideshow for his Friend, Roman. He chose the song and most of the photos. If this video doesn't work, let me know. I'm having issues with YouTube mixing with Blogger.
I don't think I'll be replying to comments today.
Your Friend, m.
Thanks for the input yesterday. I always love to know what you think. Plus, I'm happy that you like coming here. So whatever it takes! I'm a Pleaser.
As you have probably figured out by now, I'm going to talk about Ikea. I knew I couldn't fool you. You're so smart!
The twins needed new mattresses. And since they are only 7 and really don't require the top of the line mattresses, we knew we'd find one at Ikea. And I hate spending money on a mattress. It's like buying a furnace. You need one but it's not something you can show off. Well, unless you have lots of visitors to your bed. I'm not judging!
Usually, we pack up all the kids and go together. But because we knew we had to haul mattresses, I told, I mean..., I asked my Mom if she would watch them for about four hours. Of course she said yes, she always does. So Fred and I headed down to Baltimore. Seriously, it was such a quick trip. Gone are the days when we could walk leisurely through Ikea looking at things we didn't need and then ending up buying them too. Also, as it is, we can only put two of the kids in the Ball Room so John and Claire come with us and then we have to deal with them. Don't you just hate when you have to parent your own children? Honestly!
Doesn't Fred look like a real American?
So, an hour and 15 minutes down, grabbed a few light bulbs and we were off to search for mattresses. Although we knew exactly what we needed and headed straight for them. Before leaving, Fred had already checked on-line to make sure that they had what we needed and where they were in the store. He had everything printed out. When Fred is on a mission, he completely ignores me. For that matter, he ignores everything and everyone, including the kids, until the job is done. I'm only getting these photos of him because I'm not wrangling the boys down from these shelving units. For better or for worse, Claire is just like Fred. It is what it is.
But we found the mattresses in record time and then were able to go the the cafeteria and have a bite to eat before heading back home. Four hours away from the kids is a good little break. It's nice being able to have Fred in the car and he has no choice but to listen to me. I need that sometimes.
There was a time that I would have totally decorated my whole place with things from Ikea. But, you get older and items come in and out of your life. And now, I just pick up an item or two from there. But still I love to go. And each time I walk in, it feels like my very first time. Shopping! I meant Shopping! Geez, that was a close one! Don't worry, I didn't become a Man in Isle 37 Row 4, between cheap vases and picture frames.
Have a great weekend!
Your Friend, m.
p.s. This is Not a paid Ad for Ikea. Those bitches don't need any help from me.
Last week, Claire and I went door to door collecting money for the cookies that we delivered weeks before. We stopped up to Sally(above) and Carol's house. They invited us in and were all excited to show us their new chicks that they had just received that day. You may remember Carol from last year. The kids call her The Chicken Lady. Carol takes it as a compliment. Anyway, after we saw the chicks, they took me on a tour of their home. Sally was showing me her sentimental pieces from her Family and then, to impress Claire, she pulled out her old Girl Scout Sash and hat. Don't you just love her! Sally joked that it was a million years old. I doubt that but I was still impressed that it was in such pristine shape.
I posted the photo of Sally on Carol's Facebook wall. She loved it!
Claire was still more intrigued with the chicks.
I know, you may have seen this one before but as mentioned yesterday, my Mom has been missing out on these photos of her grandchildren.
Question: Do you enjoy these simple posts or do you prefer my long winded ones that never end and leave you too exhausted to comment?
Yesterday, Jacob decided that he was too pretty and that no one took him seriously. So he thought he would make some changes by riding his bike, face first, into the back of my minivan. This was the same kid who almost bit off his tongue a few months ago. What's next with him? He wasn't too bad last night but this morning he looked like this. Needless to say, he spent the day at home with Fred. I would have sent him to school but I didn't feel like being reported. I'm just too busy to be arrested.
Hey listen! I just realized today that I'm posting all these cute stuff on my Facebook page. I mean, I knew that but it just dawned on me that my Mom is missing out on things like this. I'm enjoying posting daily on that page but this is what my kids will look back on and not on my Facebook status. Plus, as soon as they change the Timeline thing on me, I'm sure I'll avoid Facebook like the plague. So until I get bored with this change, enjoy me posting these daily tidbits. Seriously, I'll probably get bored quickly.
Before I get started on, well, nothing really, I need to revisit my last post. Do you recall when I instructed you to make your comments plain and boring. Well, I need to tell you that even your "plain and boring" comments had me laughing so hard. Seriously, I was so busy that it took me a couple of days to check back on them, but when I did, I was dying. Laughing is very important to me and I think that you all are wonderful for playing along with me. My blog, as mentioned several times before, is a diary. But I thank you for making it interesting along the way. My kids, in 2020 will get a big kick out of it.
Now back to the big storm!
What, you didn't know that PA was hit by a huge storm? Actually we weren't. Truth be told, we had one snow, as far as I can remember, this entire Winter. Which is fine by me. I hate Winter. I used to love it when I wasn't responsible for gloves, hats, scarfs, snowsuits, boots, etc.... But now, I officially hate it.
But since God loves me most, he saw my suffering and took pity on me. Sure, there could possibly be sadder situations in the world but I make a good case with my prayers. I don't get all whinny with feelings and stuff. I just lay my case out and He judges. I'm an excellent debater. Seriously, throw out a topic that your support and I'll tell you where you're wrong.
Anyway, these photos are from the first an only snowfall that we received this year. Also, I took them during lunch at our office.
I keep checking Accuweather to get the skinny on upcoming temperatures. I'm wanting to pack up the Winter gear but I'm afraid, that as soon as I do, we'll get hit. As it is, it's 5:30 on Monday evening and all the kids are outside in shorts. Which is totally odd for March in PA.
I know, Ruby, I owe you this photo. I'll get to it!
Okay, I just looked and I see that I posted three more photos after this text. That means I have to come up with more to say. Geez, blogging is hard!
Alright, lets' see, I talked about hating Winter and gloves and such. Mentioned that you left funny comments that I struggled not to reply to. Even though I told you to make those comments boring.
Ah, one more photo. What else can I say? Um, I wasn't even going to write this week, but I missed myself being here. I know, I'm suppose to say that I missed you but you know. Get real! Anyway, although GirlScouts is still a nightmare, I'm going to briefly touch on Immigration on Thursday. No, no big revelations but just some random thoughts and observations. Sound good? I'm sure my attorney just passed out thinking I was about to give out some private details. Oh and seriously, don't ask me how that whole thing is going. I'll tell you when I tell you!
Listen, since we only had one snowfall and I only took about 2 photos of the kids in the snow, here is a little ditty that I put together last Winter when we did have a lot of snow. Enjoy! That's an order!
Your Friend, m.
FYI, if case you didn't figure it out, these photos aren't recent but are from our only snowfall two months ago.
