Random

- My milk went bad. It was very upsetting since it was only a few days old and the sell by date wasn't until 12/23/08. I didn't realize it was bad until after I had given Marcus a glass of it and poured it on his cereal. I was trying to explain to him that I had to take his milk and cereal because the milk was bad, yucky, broken, no good, and we needed new milk. I wasn't sure which word(s) he would understand so I just spewed out several to try to get the message across and avoid a tantrum. He understood. He said, "Mommy, milk batteries!" Yep, the milk needed batteries because that is what all broken toys in our house tend to need.

- We did a little redecorating in our house on Saturday. I took some things off the kitchen wall and had Greg hang up this painting:

My parents gave this to us as a wedding gift and we couldn't find a place to hang it once we moved. (A disadvantage to a more open floor plan is fewer walls to hang things on.) So, gone are the plates that we had purchased on our honeymoon and hung on the wall and this painting has made another appearance.

- I did a search on the picture files on my computer for pictures of the pooch. I only have picture files on my computer from the past 3 years. In the past three years I have taken 1167 pictures of my pooch. Obsessed much? Nope, she was just that cute.

- Overall I am feeling much better during this grieving process. Had a few bad moments today but they are just moments. It is hard to leave the house because when we left the house before, the kids always gave treats to the pooch. Now when we leave the house they either ask about her or yell out, "Bye bye Peyote." Today as we were leaving Marcus told me, "Peyote with angels. Beach. Sky. Choo choo ride." Marcus decided yesterday at some point that the pooch is apparently riding a choo choo. I suppose in Marcus's version of heaven there most certainly is a choo choo to ride.

- My brother is staying with us for Christmas vacation. I am really stupidly excited about this. This is the same kid who used to hide under the bathroom sink and jump out to scare me while I was using the bathroom and the same kid who used to leave our shared car with so little gas in it that I would run out of gas before leaving the driveway. Yet, I am inviting him (and his girlfriend) into my house for six days. I'd like to see him try to fit under our bathroom sink now! He definitely won't be driving my car either, unless we get our cars mixed up since we drive the same exact car, color and all. I probably won't see much of him since surely he and his woman will be off visiting friends in the area during their stay but since I haven't seen him since last Christmas, I am certainly looking forward to getting to spend some time with him. Depending on what kind of influence he is, I may or may not be looking forward to my children getting to spend some time with him too.

- Are you all done shopping and wrapping for Christmas? I am! I did come up with this totally awesome idea involving the kids' "big" present this year that isn't completed. I do think Greg is taking over most of the project though since it involves sawing, painting, and gluing and I think that kind of work makes him feel manly.