Allergies are awful.

Sorry to state the obvious.  My head has been in a constant state of full and leaking for about a week. I just want to put my head down an sleep a while.  ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz  My sweet Allen has a stomach bug that is causing his diapers to be more unpleasant than the normal ones.  Fortunately everyone else in the house seems to be managing.

Not much to add today.  I can't seem to think straight.  Probably time for more coffee.

It's not exactly around the corner, but......

Christmas is coming, you guys.  I know, I know.  Half of you don’t want to talk about it, the other half is burying their head in the sand and the last half can’t wait.  Yes, I said half three times.  This isn’t a math blog; I can do what I want.  What are you doing/planning for gifts this year?  My husband’s large family refuses to do the honorable thing and draw names so everyone is still supposed to buy for everyone else.  Now that the nieces and nephews are grown and  married (mostly), this is getting hairy (read: EXPENSIVE).  So last year I decided to go with “family gifts” and made a game night basket (well, actually it was a bowl, but whatever).  I put in a couple packs of playing cards, a card game rule book, some microwave popcorn and some hot chocolate.  I packed  it up in a fun bowl with some colorful shredded paper, slapped on some cellophane and there you have it. 

Got any ideas that you’ve come up with for easy peasy gifts for Christmas that won’t sneak in your house and take money from your wallet while you sleep?  I’d love to hear them.  Especially any cool homemade stuff.  But it can’t be too hard.  I’m not sure I can be trusted with power tools.  And not homemade ugly, either.  We all know what I mean. 

                                                                                   Source

**Side note: Have you seen the musical Chicago? Whenever I hear/say/type the word cellophane the song “Mr. Cellophane” always comes to mind.  Now I’ll be singing that in my head all day.  And, if you know what I’m talking about, you will to.  You are welcome.  If you don’t know what I’m talking about, get some culture people.  GO SEE A MUSICAL!  Here is a link to get you started: Mr. Cellophane

PopSugar Fall Style Box

Subscription boxes.  Who has one? I am new to the world of the mystery box, but I'm joining up.  I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of the PopSugar Fall Style Box.  It should hit my doorstep any day now.  I tried to be good and stay away from spoilers, but I couldn't help myself.  So, see below if you want to know what is inside.  If not, stop here.

Not sure what it is?  PopSugar (among others) has a monthly subscription box.  You pay the fee, $35, shipping included and they send you a box.  It's that simple.  Then, each season, they seem to put out a special $100 box that is supposed to be just a little more luxurious than the rest of them.  That is the box I'm starting with.  I was too late to get the regular September box as it was already sold out. 

I am not affiliated in any way with PopSugar, but if you want to join, I'd love for you to use my referral link.  It's just a way for me to earn a free box if others sign up from my link. 

Now, for the Fall Luxury Box Spoilers:


Rachel Zoe Gold Knot Ring



Beurre & Sel Cookies:

Cynthia Vincent Silkscreen Cotton Shopper Bag:

 

 

 

Christian Lacroix Riviera A6 Lay Flat Notebook:

 

 

Goldfaden MD Skincare Doctor's Scrub:

 

 

 

 

Library of Flowers Bubble Bath:

 

Stila Luxe Eye Shadow Palette

I'm pretty excited to get mine in the mail.  It is a small way for me to treat myself each month.  Once I have the actual products in hand.  I'll come back and post a review.



Mobilize

I remember being a young girl in middle school and watching a close friend suffer through his father’s cancer diagnosis.  He was only getting worse and it was difficult to grasp the enormity of what they suffered.   My best friend and I wanted to do something for the family to help cheer them through the Christmas holiday.  I have no doubt that she is the one that came up with the initial idea.  I don’t even remember how we procured the goods we used, but what we did was a simple thing.  We did the 12 days of Christmas.  Each night, just after dark, either her mom or mine would drive slowly past their house.  She and I would jump out, run up the porch steps and leave an item to two by the door for the family; a cookie jar, Christmas candy, some kind of trinket to play with, etc., then we’d ring the bell and run as fast as we could back to the car and have our driver race away in hopes of remaining anonymous. It was a highlight of my youth and a defining moment for me in terms of who I was going to be.  What kind of person I’d grow into.

Now, I am standing by that same best friend as her husband battles a debilitating lung disease.  I am powerless to help him.  I cannot fix his lungs.  I cannot find a doctor who performs experimental miracles and has just such a trick up his sleeve for her husband.  But I know what I can do.  I can rally the troops and organize deliveries just like she did.   As it stands we are currently arranging a meal rotation for those who want to leave one for her and a gift card rotation for those who just don’t, can’t or won’t cook.  The outpouring of support and love is uplifting. I don’t believe in Karma or putting good into the universe in order to have good returned, but I do like to see someone that is always willing and ready to help others  see that support returned when she most needs it. 

There will be long hospital stays in their future.  I’d love any thoughts on what would make that more comfortable for the patient, my friend and their young son (elementary school age).

You don’t have to be in school to learn!

It took me 35 years and the internet to figure that out.  Do you have any idea the wealth of knowledge there is on the internet?  I was so blown away by the thought that I don’t need to sit in a classroom to learn a subject that it just about knocked me over.  Seems obvious, I know.  I’m slow.  The altruism of the internet is amazing to me.  There are so many FREE tutorials on practically everything that someone somewhere sat down and painstakingly put together.  In the immortal words of Mr. T, "Stay in school! Don't do drugs!" I am not saying you shouldn't go to school by far, but that you aren't limited to a traditional classroom for knowledge. 

Case in point – I had an old sewing machine collecting dust at my grandmother’s house and no idea how to sew two pieces of fabric together.   A few quick Google searches and a hesitant trip to the fabric store for supplies and voila – I made a zipper  pouch.  Can you believe it?  I guess if you sew you can believe it, but if you don’t sew……………………….!  I know, right?  I even lined it. Next I moved on to a few simple skirts for my girls and some PJ pants for my little guy! My next goal is to learn to read a pattern since most everything I’ve done down has just been written directions.   Thanks to a few individuals on the internet and Pinterest to help me bookmark it all, I have plans for sew many projects  (ßDid you see what I did there?)

I'm still new to the blog world, so I don't have any photos on hand, but if I get a little better at this, I'll try to go back and add them.

I started a blog and didn't tell anyone.

I started this blog 4 years ago and didn't tell anyone.  I put a few posts on it and then promptly forgot about it.  Now 4 long years and much blog fodder has gone by without so much as a comma from me.  Since I have such a HUGE following I'm certain that everyone has just been bursting with curiosity at what I was doing.  Not that much, actually, with a minor exception.  We have added a new member to our merry band of weirdos, Allen.  Wait, wait, I guess I should back up and do a re-intro.

I am Lois.  My husband is William.  We have 3 children: Emily, 12, Elizabeth, 9 and Allen 3. We are weird and fun.  William is the "he" in the blog title.  The man really cannot help himself when he comes up with crazy things that he says. He has passed that funny ability on to our children.  This blog is starting out as a snapshot of our funny moments and whatever else that I care to talk about.  I don't know if anyone will ever read it.  At worst I'll have a digital diary for my kids some day, which isn't a bad thing.  At best, I'll make a zillion dollars and can quit my day job.  Who knows. 

**Side note.  I try to catch all the typos and I know they are irritating when you see them.  Give me some grace.  Sometimes I'm in a hurry to go play superheros with Allen and don't check quite as well as I should.  And, should this blog take off or I keep writing, maybe one day I'll be blogging with a grandbaby on my lap.  So the typos my be here a while despite my best effort.  Playing superhero guys with your mama always trumps everything else when you are a 3 year old boy and a 30something mama.

Sheets

I have finally met my match in stubborness in my 5 year old, Elizabeth. I was changing the sheets on her bed last night before bed. I had put on the Hello Kitty sheets only to discover that she wanted the pink sheets. Well, too bad, the Hello Kitty sheets were already on the bed and I wasn't changing them. After a tearful good night (from her, not me) I went downstairs.

When I came up again in the morning to wake them for school, what do I find? Elizabeth is sleeping on the floor. Rather than sleep on those Hello Kitty sheets underneath her cozy electric blanket, she spent the night in her sleeping bag on the floor. When I woke her she casually said, "I thought I'd sleep on the floor last night." To which I replied, "You really wanted those pink sheets, huh?" As she points to the unslept in bed with the offending Hello Kitty sheets she says, "I hate those sheets." Case closed.

I have to admire her for her resourcefulness in solving her own problem, and her pluck for not backing down. Both will serve her will in years to come, assuming she uses her powers for good. :) But I am also a little nervous for what the teen years will bring if this is how she acts now. God help me.

Tonight I am not sure how I will respond. Should/will I put the pink sheets on to reward her effort, or should I leave the Hello Kitty sheets on to test her resolve? Odds her she will have forgotten all about it by bed time, but only time will tell. Kids are strange animals.

My thing

While William has the knack for making comments that are just slightly off kilter, I have the knack for breaking down a simple process. And by breaking down, I do not mean break up into more managable parts, I mean break down as in broken.

I just have the kind of luck that if something is a long shot; the last possible thing that could ever go wrong, so don't worry about it kind of thing; that ONE thing is the thing that will happen. It is just a gift.

That said, I have spent the whole afternoon at work having an issue corrected that I did not cause and that never should have happened any way. But of course it happened. To me. :)

Not a hat

I was folding laundry last night and sent my girls upstairs with a pile of their clothes to put away. As I was sitting in the living room folding the next round I hear tons of giggling followed by a shout of, "Special delivery!" I look up and what do I see? My 8 year old with a pair of my thong underwear on top of her head. No, really. The waist band came down to her chin and the, ahem, underwear portion was a line over her nose. She laughed hysterically and I just stood there in stunned silence.

I turned to William and said, "You can't make this stuff up." His response, "Blog."

OMG I can't believe I just posted this on the internet. Thank God I don't use real names.

No time like the present.

We bought a new car this weekend and, in true William fashion, it was almost spur of the moment. He took our old minivan out for a trip to the game store (Gamestop) to trade in some games and on the way home called to tell me to put my shoes on we are going to buy a new car. In his defense, we had been talking about for a few weeks and deciding the best time, but for William, there is no time like the present. Our poor van was making a clanging rattling noise that I am at a loss to describe. It was still running great, but I think it was only a matter of time.

You know the best part of the whole thing, though? Normally I'd be the one in the driver's seat intiating the purchase, approaching the subject, etc. The best was that he took charge and took care of it. He said that he didn't want me in the "old death trap" anymore and then we went out and did something about it. Thanks, babe!

I'm back!

The cold (or whatever it was) that I had is finally letting up and I am starting to feel human again. I'm not gonna lie. I felt really bad for a couple of days. Really bad. But then the fever finally broke and stayed away and I started to claw my way back to normal. Now I sound like I have smoker voice and smoker cough. Now all I need is large sunglasses and to start calling people, Doll-face, after I hand them a hard candy from my purse.

Ick

I don't feel good. Coughing, achy and just general ickyness (ickiness?). And William is going on a business trip today not to return until Friday. Is it too much to ask for his work to schedule his trips when I am well? *sigh*

Extracurriculars

We signed our girls (ages 8 and 5) up for cheerleading. It wasn't my first choice, but they were thrilled. They have played soccer and a bit of basketball already. I have no problem with cheerleaders in general. Heck, quite a few of my friends growing up cheered at one point or another. I just want them to develop a skill or sport that they can continue throughout their lives for exercise and entertainment. In my opinion, there is nothing entertaining about a 40 year old cheerleader. :) I wish that I had cultivated my own interest in sports, but I was too girly and afraid to look dumb back in the day. Thus, at this point in the game, I DO look dumb when playing any sports because I didn't develop the hobby.

We signed them up through an organization called Upward. http://www.upward.org/ I am really pleased with them. They are a Christian based group that stresses the importance of healthy competition, skill building and fun. I am excited for the girls to be involved with them. If they want to cheer, I think this is a good environment to start in. However, it will seem weird going to a basketball game on purpose to watch the cheerleaders. . . . .

William's favorite store

William has a hard time at Walmart. He swears that everyone there wears sweatpants with holes and that the children all have kool-aid stains around their mouths. Oh, and I almost forgot about the pastey skin and the sores on their hands. (??) I try to convince him that not everyone that shops Walmart is from that particular demographic (or a lepper), but the people at this website are not helping my case. . . .

http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/

Go ahead, click it. But I will warn you: it is a train wreck. You'll spend at least 30 minutes on there trying to convince yourself, no, PRAYING that the pics you see are photoshopped.

Wait. . . . what?

My husband has been trying to convince me for months to blog about the things that he says to me. I AM always telling him that he says the most off the wall things at the most ridiculous times, so maybe he's right. Intro the blog: Yes. He really said that. I decided to share my wonderful husband's quirkiness with the world. I have changed all names to protect the innocent (and the wicked!)

Today's offering from my husband, William:

Is there anything better than sliced, Land 'O Lakes, American, deli cheese? I think not. It must be because the milk they use naturally contains "America", unlike the processed cheese that has to add imitation "America".

I love that man.