I’m currently loving:

• Franklin & Bash
• Rizzoli & Isles
• Friday Night Lights
• Air conditioning
• Ice water
• Having electricity
• Sleeping in
• Cottage Cheese & Peanut Butter (not together but one after another)

Wow. Long time no post!

I realized over dinner tonight with my buddy Shine that I never even blogged about Disney!

What?! (if you’ve ever seen Psych, you should read that in their voices, otherwise, disregard).

Ok, so January in a bulleted post:

• Happy New Year (nope, no resolutions)
• We went to Disney!! We had a fabulous time, hanging with cousins, visiting Disney parks and having lots of laughs and fun.  It wasn’t long enough and I can’t wait to do it again!
• Um….ok, well, I think that’s all.  On to February!

We’re in the middle of Snowpocalypse! Or Snowmaggeden! or SnOMG! It’s the biggest snow storm we’ve had in years, and it covers a huge portion of the US – 2100 miles wide! North getting lots of snow, more South getting ice and south getting rain. It’s craaaaazy!

So of course, it’s all everyone is talking, tweeting and facebooking about.  Personally, I think it’s kind of exciting, especially since I closed the office for tomorrow and the boys don’t have school.

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There are actually movies out at the theater that I want to see…kind of odd for me, since usually I’m more than happy to wait to see any given movie! Must have some relation to the Golden Globes and SAG awards being on lately.

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I’ve been reading a lot of books lately. My iPad is the perfect Kindle replacement, especially since I love to read in bed and it’s backlit.

Have any recommendations for me?

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I discovered AirPlay on my iPad last night – probably one of the coolest inventions EVER! AirPlay allows me to play movies on my iPhone or iPad on my tv using the AppleTv via MAGIC!! So fun.

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I could be a professional Lego organizer.

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Wow. Turns out the reason I wasn’t blogging was because my life is freaking boring!!!

• I’m organizing and editing pictures from Labor Day Weekend and the awesomeness that was my cousins staying here. Pictures that make me smile and miss them so badly.
• We’ve booked a trip (well, flights) to Florida in January with said cousins and we’re taking the kids this time – Disney, for the first time!!  I am beyond excited and hope the kids really do understand when Santa keeps the gifts to a minimum at Christmas.
• Preston finally had his restrictions from his appendix surgery lifted….just in time to fracture his wrist! (oh yeah, post and pictures coming about that!) He has a splint now and will be likely in cast on Wednesday morning.
• The boys had their first soccer games of the year – Matt’s team is like a real soccer team! They are really learning this year and  I think he really is enjoying it.  Preston didn’t get to play, but was still the team captain on the sidelines. (post and pictures coming about that, too!)
• School is in full swing  - it’s the first full week – P in Kindergarten all day, M in 2nd grade. Sigh.  They both seem to really be enjoying it so far, so I’m thankful for that!
• I have my dermatologist appointment tomorrow.  I haven’t seen anything suspicious, so hopefully they don’t either – I’ll keep you posted!

That’s it for now – more soon!!

I have all sorts of deep thought blog posts, but I’m too tired to tackle those right now.  How about a wee update instead? Ok? Good.

• I installed pendant lights in the previous can/recessed light fixtures in the kitchen today.  (a) I’m awesome and (b) I cannot believe how different the light coming from those makes the kitchen feel!! 8 yrs later and I feel like our kitchen is finally coming together!!  (sadly I have to fix one of the lights though, because no matter how hard I try not to see it, I can totally tell one is slightly higher than the other. BAH)
• I’m having parts of the house painted next week.  I’ve been wanting to paint over that builder flat crappy paint job for 8 years, and while some rooms have been done more than once, the foyer with it’s super-tall ceiling and the stairwells and upstairs hallway (same reason) have been daunting. On a whim, my brother’s friend, who is a painter by trade, was available and I spur of the moment had him come out and hired him. YAY!
• My bedroom is next. I’ve been living in a non-decorated, same furniture location, boring ass bedroom forever and I want a sanctuary, dammit!!
• Kids Week was this past week at work.  I think it went really well! Definitely learned some things to do differently next year, but it seems better each year, so we might be on to something.
• And in the most important news break of the week:

PENNIES FOR POOP!

I am so so so so so tired of Preston having accidents in his pants all the time.  For awhile he’ll do really well, running to the bathroom when he had to go – leaving skid marks, but otherwise not too bad.  But then he would get lazy again, and it would be more than a little.  Then in the last week (yes, since his surgery, yes, I know the meds can screw them up and that pushing might actually hurt), he’s not only been leaving a little, but full out going in his underwear.  GROSS.  The worst part to me is that it doesn’t bother him.  That is disgusting.

We’ve tried taking things away (his favorite Toy Story 3 game mostly), threatening, cajoling, pleading, begging, being angry, being indifferent, being sad, ignoring and anything else.  Finally I called his surgical nurse to make sure it wasn’t something related to the surgery and while I was talking to her it was like a light bulb went off over my head.

Bribery.

The only thing we haven’t tried yet.  Well, that’s not true, I did offer to give him a new car (uh, matchbox/hot wheels size) every time he went in the toilet. It worked once or twice, but wasn’t enough motivation.

And then!! Then I realized that he was starting to show an interest in money, specifically coins.  So I devised a plan, talked to him about it and then TAH-freaking-DAH!!

We labeled an old juice bottle (he wanted something big to fill), and I made the following offer:

1 penny for each 1/2 hour without an accident

1 dime for each hour without an accident

2 quarters for each poop on the potty

1 gold dollar for wiping his own butt

Now, that may sound like a lot of money, especially in the course of a long day, but let me tell you, so far so good! The boy even told me he had to poop at Target! And then? HE WENT.  Thank you baby jeebus! He stayed accident free ALL day, pooped twice, wiped once and I couldn’t be more proud.

I may have to take out a loan to pay him off, but at this point, it’s worth every. single. penny.

Even though our lovely hostess has taken a break from Monday Potlucks for the summer, I felt like doing one anyway.

My dog’s farts.  I know, gross, right? But seriously, she is NASTY.

Matt is spending the night at my mom’s house tomorrow night and Mike’s mom’s house on Wednesday night.  Totally his choice. But, um, shh….he’s never slept over anywhere before (he turns 7 on Saturday!)

My cousin, Ryan, is a firefighter. He was involved (read: working) during that big fire last week in Detroit that injured 6 of his brothers, 2 of which are buddies of his, the other 4 he knows well enough.  He, like everyone else involved, is pretty upset about the injuries, understandably.  Today, the ATF determined the fire was set deliberately. Now there’s anger, too.  He was a foot or two away from that wall falling on him. We text back and forth – he’s been back to work since and is fine.  I wish he lived closer so I could check on him for real.

Preston is having his surgery on Wednesday morning.  I’m in planning / get things ready mode. Making sure things are cleaned, organized, making lists of things that we need to take for his overnight stay.  I’m worried, of course, but I will be more worried once I don’t have anything to keep me occupied.

Boring, as usual – fruit in mah fruit bowl. 4 quickly browning bananas, apples that have seen better days and some tiny oranges that are probably not so yummy any longer.

So that’s it for Monday’s Potluck this week.  Join me next week when I recap surgery and sleepovers and Matt’s 7th birthday! (uh, unless I post before that!)