i swear, i can't handle one more thing!

Thankfully, the semester was over when the inducer (whatever the crap that is) on our furnace decided to seize up making said furnace inoperable. While checking out the furnace (meaning "flipping the switch to see if it would magically turn on), I noticed a PUDDLE OF F'IN WATER under the water heater. If it hadn't been 4am, I would have screamed the words going through my head which aren't appropriate here - or anywhere for that matter.

So, Bub was home for the day with the boys and took care of everything to the tune of $1000. Our new inducer is loud, but at least our new water heater produces hot water in a millisecond.

It's just that this is all too much. Bub is still unemployed, and while it is great for her and the boys to have this time to bond together (and there is a trusted person looking after the, teaching them, playing with them), we just can't afford it anymore! I cannot emotionally handle it anymore. It's too much pressure.

If the furnace and water heater were it, it would be different, but since December we have lost two fridges (only replacing one so far with a used one), had to replace the timing belt and 16 valves on that piece of crap Honda, need new brakes on the Dodge, need a new windshield on the Honda, need to inspect and license both of them ASAP, we're behind on some bills, and I still have another semester which starts in 13 days. Oh, don't forget a marathon in exactly six weeks for which I still need to raise $440 and run a lot more long distances.

Let's not forget that Bub is sick for at least a week every single month. Like awful sick - barfing non-stop for an entire week. Some people say that women exaggerate their periods, but nobody would purposely and violently throw up for 7+ days. Who is going to hire her? I wouldn't! Without a job, how is she supposed to get insurance? She can't. However, she can't get Medicaid because our household income is too great even though we are not legally or biologically bound to each other. (Nice move, state of Utah. Quite convenient for you and slaughtering us. Just one more way to stick it to "the gays.")

There's a good chance that I might have a nervous breakdown soon. Luckily, Bub's folks help out a lot, but living in their debt just makes it all worse. I hate it.

No, I don't have a plan. I'm just whining which I also hate. Waaaaa...

I just need to suck it up and get a promotion or another job or something. I also need to find something ($25000 maybe) to bring me out of this funk.

Suck.

Easter, 2011

We had a GREAT Easter!

Meatball coloring eggs. He took it very seriously and was very patient so that he could get just the right color soaked into each egg.

Meatball just pulling faces at mommy.

Two adorable boys at the easter party (at Carol S's church). This was in the gym with games everywhere! Pin the tail on the bunny, bowling, clothes pin drop, fish pond, etc. etc. etc. Next door was a room full of crafts.

Peanut coloring eggs - not nearly as patient as Meatball - preferring to plop the eggs into the cups and splash dye on the table cloth (and self). There's a reason he wasn't wearing a shirt!

Peanut and the Bunny. So stinkin' cute!

Seriously adorable. Meatball and the Bunny.

By far, the two most handsome men that the Bunny saw that entire day - I'm sure of it. (By the way, they were sooooo good at the egg hunt! Not greedy at all, and Meatball even offered some of his eggs to a little girl that didn't get any! They shook hands with the Bunny and said "nice to meet you.")

Easter morning at our house was crazy. The Bunny couldn't leave eggs out because Sadie the dork dog would have eaten every one of them, so he visited our house last. He let the dogs outside and then hid the eggs. Peanut was up at about 5:15 to look for eggs. I made him lay on the couch with me and go back to sleep. Meatball was up 45 minutes later. They found all 60 candy-filled eggs amid screams of "EGGGGGGG!!!!!!" and squeals of delight. (Don't worry about their teeth. I'm eating the candy faster than they every could. I'm doing it for them. Really.) Then, we sat down to Belgian waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. We went to Papa and Nana's shortly after where there was another egg hunt, lots of bubble blowing, craft painting, and some BBQ burgers. It was a great day.

What have we been up to?

The Peanut crashing trains while at Toys*R*Us.

Meatball and Grandpa watching a movie and sharing a popsicle. We had to get a shot of this because Meatball is usually Granny's boy. For these two to sit together for an hour was strange!

The boys doing their "homework" while mommy finished up a paper at the end of MBA semester 4. (Why do kids do that when they smile for the camera? It's a phase that starts at 3 and ends at 19-ish, right?)

Meatball coloring while at Toys*R*Us

Peanut and mom taking a bite of a popsicle at the same time. While this kind of thing (sharing food, even sort of) usually puts me over the edge, they were being very cute and funny. It only made my stomach turn a little bit....

So proud...

So, what do you do when your cold prevents you from going egg hunting? Paint, of course!

It helps Peanut keep his eye patch on (1 hour/day) if he is doing something active but stationary. We'll be patching his eye each day for four months for the amblyopia.)

Meatball takes this very seriously. He's like Pollock flipping paint around in his excitement.


And this is what you get when you're doing "homework" at the same time as mommy. Yes, I know that it's going from right to left, but still - look at those awesome letters (and the self portrait)!

strawberry milk and accidents

Peanut: Mommy, cows lay milk.
Me: Yes, honey. Cows lay milk.
Peanut: Pink cows lay pink milk.
I just giggled.


Meatball on the phone with Nana: Oops, Nana, I gots to go! I accidentally pooped in my pants!
He didn't really; he just didn't know how to get off the phone!
I think I will use this one some day when I can't get a telemarketer to shut up!

it makes sense...

Peanut: Mommy, can I have some strawberry milk?
Me: Yes.
Peanut: Because pink and pink make pink.
Me: Yes, it does.
Peanut: Mommy, it just makes sense.

Mommy was naughty

Last night, Peanut was being a HUGE stinker. HUGE!
He reached for something that was supposed to be off-limits. Here's how the rest went down:
Me: If you touch that, you will be in big-ass trouble!
Peanut touches it anyway, just to be a shit.
Meatball (shouting): OOOOO, YOU'RE IN BIG-ASS TROUBLE!!!!
Me - head in hands.

Also, time out is supposed to be a mostly-calm endeavor. Well, last night, it wasn't. I put Peanut into time out, and I yelled in the process. He promptly informed me that I was being naughty and that I ought to sit in the naughty corner, too! So, I did. Time out is supposed to last one minute for each year of age. I WISH mine had lasted the entire 40 minutes.

Here they are being adorable:

Peanut with his best friend, Thomas. He LOVES to crash all of the trains, all of the time. Clearly, the challenge here is that Rheneas has jumped the curved track and has t-boned Thomas who is now top over tea kettle on the ground. This usually elicits an emphatic "Oooooohhhhh! Mommy - did you see that?"

This is Meatball with his best friend, Lizzy. He adores this dog, and there is a good chance that she loves him right back. If not, she at least sits still long enough for him to brush her. The other dog just knocks everyone and everything over.

At the park - I don't know why, but they refused to smile for the camera. They wanted to look serious? There was another kid there, and they wanted to look mature? Whatever. It didn't work. The other kid was named Doug. All I heard was "Mommy, Doug is a dog. You know, the dog in that movie?" (Up.) "Mommy, why does that boy have a dog name?" Oh, boy....

Time to move to Ireland?

I hear the people are very nice. Click here for details. Congrats to my gay brothers and sisters oversees. I am green with envy. See? I could totally live in Ireland. I love the color green!

Lots of culture at our place...

Is it odd that the boys' favorite character (movie, TV, etc) right now is Cosette from Les Miserables 10th anniversary production? "I want to watch Cosette. I want to listen to Cosette. I'm going to play with Cosette. I have a friend named Cosette." Constantly singing Castle On A Cloud...

Second favorite character is the Master of the House. That's a fun song to sing, too - especially when everybody raises a glass..... Oh, they get a real kick out of that! You know what I'm talking abour. You know exactly where they raise it!

The first time he heard Thenardier sing: Welcome, Monsieur, sit yourself down, and meet the best innkeeper in town. As for the rest, all of 'em crooks, rooking their guests and crooking the books.
Meatball said: You can't cook books!

Gavroche is also a hit. Peanut runs around singing "Think you're poor? Think you're free? Follow me, follow me!" With the last "follow me" shouted at the top of his lungs.