Drug Free

I appreciate what the school is trying to do- talk to kids about drugs early and often. However, I think the material may be a bit over my kindergartner's head. She came home today to tell me that she is drug free because she is wearing the bracelet they gave her at school. And that everyone is drug free at her school. I told her that I was drug free, but not everyone is. She then asked if Dad was not drug free. I corrected myself and said that everyone in her family is drug free, but not everyone in the world is drug free. She then proceeded to tell me that people who drink and eat a lot every day are not drug free. Oops, guess I'm not drug free after all.....

Mudroom bliss

I finally cleaned up the mudroom. It is organized, neat and it makes me happy every time I enter the room, even if it is to do laundry.

Note the lockers, one for each child, so there is a home for backpacks, baseball gear and such. A calendar lists each day's activity so Daddy can't claim he didn't know about something. A magnetic board gives space for invitations. The shoe storage provides a home for the stray shoes that pile up around the house. And when the garage is finally cleaned and organized and we can actually park our cars in it, the key holder will be the perfect spot for the car keys.

This is what I dreamed of when I envisioned simplification several years ago. It has taken much heartache, money and time, but we are finally starting to live the life I dreamed about. Walking the kids to school in the morning, just steps from our door. Walking to the ball field for baseball practice and games. Calling the grandparents and even the great-grandparents for quick babysitting.

To sum it up, we're finally moving past the resentment and crap colored glasses due to the construction process and all the issues with the builder. We are starting to fall in love with our home and our new life.

Burning down the house

Watch out! Mama's cooking!


Good thing we just had fire extinguisher training. Too bad also since I had to use the last charged one in the house. The frightening thing is smoke was billowing in the kitchen and the smoke detectors did not go off. Yes, the house still stinks. No, those were originally taco shells. Now who wants to come over for dinner?

Fire extinguisher training

One of the fire extinguishers at the house is several years old and the line on the pressure indicator was right between good and empty, so I decided to teach the kids how to use one. First I taught them the acronym PASS: P- pull the pin, A- aim at the base of the fire, S- squeeze the trigger and S- sweep back and forth. Next, I had Bubby 'put out a fire' which was really a piece of foam. Hubby thought I should have started an actual fire in our backyard. Then we had a discussion on when to try to put out the fire versus running away and getting help and when to dial 911. Smoochie then said she didn't know the number to dial 911. Apparently she inherited my intelligence.
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Update on the training. Bubby wants to change the acronym to PASSS: pull the pin, aim, squeeze, sweep and scream.

Electronic decluttering

When I started my new job with big oil over two years ago, I came with a PDA and cell phone. Work added another cell phone. I carried around three devices for over a year until my work cell was replaced with a blackberry. That eliminated the need for my PDA. And finally, I am free of my personal cell. Our contract with our wireless provider terminated and hubby went for the iphone (which is really cool, btw). I rarely used my cell, so now I am down to just one device and it is liberating. So, if you try to reach me on my old cell number, that is why the message says this number has been disconnected.....