CheeseHeads Unite, or What's A Girl To Do?

Well, the SuperBowl (big football game for those of you unfamiliar with it) has come and gone, and even if you were living under a rock you probably got exposed to some of the HOOPLA. Why do they have HOOPLA for football? Wouldn't it be more appropriate for basketball?

I always serve lots of snack food for the family although we don't really have a SuperBowl party. It's kind of like our New Year's Eve, a family only celebration.

I am secretly celebrating the end of football season.

Actually, my husband is not too bad about watching sports, although if the Saints are on, don't expect him to clean up the kitchen. And he is also a big Green Bay Packers fan since childhood. He saw the very first SuperBowl, Number I, when Bart Starr was the quarterback (and he pointed out the old man who is now Bart Starr when they showed him on TV yesterday).

Even I remember Bart Starr a little. I joked on Facebook that I wasn't old enough to remember SuperBowl I (well, what I actually said was, I wasn't sure I had been born). Of course, one of my trusty friends made sure she corrected my math and told me (and everyone) that, yes, I was born but the time this Americn Iconic Experience came to town. I remember Bart Starr because I think my brother had football trading cards in Elementary School. Do they still do football trading cards? Does anyone under 45 collect them?

So, the SuperBowl. An American Icon. Now we have celebrities on the Red Carpet, like Harrison Ford (usually they are promoting their new movies and books, so it's like one long advertisement all day long). After Christina Aguillar botchted the National Anthem (did you catch the look on the faces of the Troops in Iraq?), well, there was some politicking and there were references to 911, World War II and other great historic events, although I think they skipped a mention of the Boston Tea Party. I guess freedom means we are free to---have the SuperBowl! A big football game that generates lots of advertising revenue.

I usually watch the Halftime show to see which famous recording artist (usually Non American)will perform. Of course, I probably shouldn't let my kids watch it. They were watching during the famous Janet Jackson Nipplegate a few years ago, although I think we had all turned away to watch Amelia playing with her food or something and missed the actual "flash in the pan." I had to watch it later on the Internet to see what I missed.

So this year I made a bet with Miranda that the Black Eyed Peas would NOT get bleeped when they sang their Boom Boom Pow song (don't know the official name of this song. Does it matter?) They got bleeped on American Idol a few seasons ago when they did it. She bet that they WOULD get bleeped. So we paid very close attention to the halftime show, and since they DID NOT get bleeped, she now has to make her bed every day this week IN THE MORNING. No waiting until she gets home from school (I'm trying to break this bad habit). Amelia was smart enough not to take the bet although she almost went in with Miranda on it. No one was stupid enough to bet money. At least Fergie has a good nickname.

I thought the halftime show did very well considering that their Friday practice got cancelled at Texas Stadium (the same day that ice fell off the roof and hit workers in the head). I saw one person whose electrically lit costume wouldn't turn off when it was supposed to, but other than that it looked pretty good.

It was a pretty good game, or so I am told. I believe the Packers had several injuries and almost lost their way in the 3rd Quarter. By this point the girls were taking a bath so they could stay up and watch GLEE (they are major league Gleeks). They recently spent their Christmas gift cards and allowance to order the GLEE first season and half of the second season on DVD. It was supposed to be here Saturday on Free Member Express Ship but we got a notice that it would be late due to the ice storms.

We got out Friday and got some SuperBowl groceries and some milk and eggs for a neighbor. By the way, folks, Target prices on SuperBowl stuff on Friday were lower than on Sunday. I had to go by there Sunday to make a return and do some shopping, and I had to buy a second bean dip. It was 50 cents more than the jar that I bought on Friday, and most of the chips and other dips had higher prices as well. Keep this in mind for your SuperBowl planning next year.

Yes, I had a busy Sunday. In addition to returning some pjs and picking up some last minute SuperBowl and other food items that I forgot on Friday, I went clothes shopping for the girls. I got some really inexpensive (nice euphemism for cheap) courderoy pants for between $7 and $4 a pair, and about $50 worth of slip on slippers for $5 a pair (I will be wearing these around the house and the tent at Gulf Wars!!) In other news, the movie The Other Boleyn Girl is available in the cheap movies bin down the way from Electronics for only $5.

I tried to watch this on Sunday when I was back home and doing the laundry. My husband decided to try to prove to me that we owned the movie already by looking through a number of bins and stirring up so much dust that I had to dust the TV set once he finally left the room. No, we didn't own it already. I've only seen it once, and I would have seen it more times if we owned it. The costumes are awesome. Some of it is not strictly historical but that's because it's based on Phillipa Gregory's novel.

I finally gave up trying to watch the rest of the movie since everyone wanted me to come see the kickoff. I came out to see it and then waited 30 more minutes for it to occur (fortunately I was sewing trim on a dress so it wasn't wasted time).

We had lots of food! I made a 7 layer dip although my kids and I argued over whether it really had 7 layers or not. I left out the guacamole (Robert doesn't like it) and the green onions (forgot to get them and they would upset my stomach anyway). So it was a bit bland but still good. We mixed the olives, tomatos, and some lettuce together for a layer (although I counted it as three layers). There's still some of this left for munching today. We had some chili and some queso and some chips, as well as ham, fruit, old cookies from Christmas (now in the trash, thank the Lord). Even the dogs couldn't eat any more and started walking away from doggie leftovers. Since the only liquor we have in the house is vodka, I got some orange juice and I drank screwdrivers because Shiner Bock, my husband's beer, is a little too heavy for me. Of course, the family had already used up all my football napkins that I found last week when cleaning out a drawer, so we used Valentine's Day and old Mother's Day napkins instead. We have a plastic football bowl that was supposed to be a one use only thing--well, five years later it's still going strong.

Amelia and Miranda spent most of the game on a free website decorating rooms. Then we checked Facebook and they thought it was pretty cool (no FB accounts for them until age 14 though). They were shopping the Foamation website for CheeseHead apparel by halftime. I want the CheeseHead earrings and the doggie hats! Actually, if you like foam products that look like Cheese, this place does it all. Cheesy ties, Cheesy tophats, and Cheesy baby clothes (OK, maybe not the last one). And all of the products that I saw retailed at $20 or less!!.

You can tell this is a business that is being operated by a non-retailer. He should have made that price $19.99.

So, this was my day: Go to Target. Return PJs. Buy food. Shop Clearance and Valentines' Day kids clothes. Come home and unload. Try clothes on kids. Try slippers on everyone. Take tags off slippers. Persuade kids to think about the clothes for a few days before I have to take them back. Get Robert to fix everyone brunch (eggs and bacon) since no one has eaten ANYTHING during my absence and it is now 11:30 (what have they all been doing for the last two hours, anyway?) Try to get girls to go get dressed and finish putting away their laundry. Start more laundry. Friend comes over to return some clothes her daughter didn't like and buy some others from my consignment pile in the living room. Friend gives me a hug because my house looks almost as bad as hers does (what can I say, the kids have been out of school since Tuesday and they didn't finish putting their things away upstairs). Make 7 layer dip and put out munchies. Put on new movie. Get annoyed at husband for stirring up dust trying to prove that we own movie already, when I know we don't. Fold and put away three loads of laundry. Match up odd socks. Finish snacky lunch and second screwdriver. Start sewing trim on sleeves of dress, my friend's idea. Check Facebook and put silly stuff out there on the web. Check Ansteorran digest (It's so refreshing--people in the SCA have to ASK what time the game starts!! It started about the same time it has every year for the last 12 years or so, around 5:30 to 6:00, depending on whether you want to see the national anthem and the coin toss prior to kickoff.)

Back to my day: Try to order some stuff from Kohl's--needs to wait until I can put some money in my account (the bank was closed Friday when I tried). Bid on another present for my husband on Ebay (I am determined that I am going to win this!!!) Tinker with Kohl's order to try to get free shipping. Switch clothes over and start another load. Go clean up kitchen and some snacks. Feed tidbits to dogs. Eat some more. Watch Halftime show. Win bet with Miranda over whether the Black Eyed Peas will be bleeped. Listen to husband complain about how mediocre they are (well, I don't disagree). Go back to Internet for a while and read SCA digests and Facebook Posts on the SuperBowl. Clean up the rest of the SuperBowl food and set up dishwasher to run in 4 hours. Watch last two minutes of game and part of the trophy presentation. Explain to the girls who Vince Lombardi was and why the trophy is going Home to Green Bay (VL was the first coach of the Packers and coached them to their first two SuperBowl wins, in SuperBowls I and II. Then they went downhill for a while. This is only their fourth victory in 45 years, and Robert still has the sweatshirt from the last time, which Amelia is wearing to school today). Go to bedroom to watch Glee. Crash about halfway through Glee and miss the big Thriller finale (Michael Jackson's relatives must be making a fortune exploiting his music--his death must be the best thing that ever happened to them). Get up later and get ready for bed. Take another Benedryl to stave off eczema and itching. Sleep until 3am. Get up to do email and blog. So now we are caught up. Except on laundry.

Who has time to watch football, anyway?

By the way, the other team playing in the SuperBowl was the Steelers, a great team if you like Pittsburgh. I'm sure there's at least one ex boyfriend of mine out there rooting for them (in football you root. You don't cheer. This was wisdom imparted by my sports fanatic ex boyfriend, and even though he is my ex boyfriend, he was usually right on anything sports related).

There were some interesting and accurate Facebook comments about how all men don't look good in tight yellow pants. Well, the Steelers may not have won the game but they won the tight yellow pants contest hands down on FaceBook. Most of those Green Bay guys looked like they had eaten too much Wisconsin cheese.

Pleasant Valley Mom (will I actually get to sew or scrapbook today or is there too much laundry left?)

The Gulf War Meltdown, or Snow Days in North Texas

Six inches of snow on the ground in North Texas and I just can't catch a break! Boy, snow days sure exhaust this Pleasant Valley mom.

It started snowing last night about 2 am and I didn't even notice what it was doing when I was up doing my blogging thing. About 5 minutes after I quit, I went to get the girls up, and THEN I looked out the window. I no longer watch the news and I rarely watch the weather, but even I knew it was probably going to do something--but what?

Our school district won't make a closure decision until 6:45 and sure enough, I was back on line when the emailed update came through. The snow was pouring down. Robert decided to work from home. The kids got too excited to go back to bed but I made them wait until 8 am to go out (I tried to go back to bed but to no avail. Unlike the rest of them I get up between 4 and 5 am lately with no alarm clock--just like my mom used to do).

Well it snowed and it snowed and it snowed and it snowed. At least six inches and still coming down. It doesn't usually snow like that in North Texas. At 8:15 precisely the girls were ready to come back in. The snow was very wet and sticky, because the temperature was hovering right around 32 degrees. Also we have no waterproof gloves, boots or pants other than a pair of rainboots that are 2 years old. We don't ski or visit winter climates (doesn't agree with R's knees or my ecsema)so we don't have any ski clothes or other proper winter playclothes. Other than possibly getting some more rain boots (which I won't be doing today), our gloves and hats and things are quickly soaked in a snow like this. Amelia in particular doesn't last very long, poor baby! I don't even go out in it. R has some old waterproof gloves so he can clean off the car and such, but not me.

Our cars, of course, are BOTH in the driveway covered with snow because it's Destination Imagination season, plus we are still reorganizing our camping equipment and getting ready for Gulf War (we almost finished the reorganization last fall but Christmas intervened, and it's been too cold to hang out in the garage much lately). Hope it warms up by Saturday because we have a big event in Athens to go to (Kingdom A & S), and then there's also a DI work session on Monday! Pray for nice weather because I am just not going to allow six fourth graders to paint backdrops in my foyer (they might get paint on the fifty pounds of fabric sitting out there!)

We don't own a snowblower or a snow shovel because some winters it doesn't snow at all and it usually stays less than 24 hours. I don't know about this one though. I made R go out and move the van a bit and shake some of the snow off the trees, in a rare break from his work (I never saw someone work so much on a snowday!) I stood on the porch and in the back and took a few photos with the old camera, because I put the better one down in the house somewhere during DI practice this weekend, and now I can't find it. Maybe it's in the Scouts stuff from Monday--I literally just remembered as I am sitting here writing.

So the girls are literally soaking wet by 8:15 and I am putting the wet clothes in garbage bags because Thursday is the secondary laundry day around here. Monday is primary laundry day, but by Thursday there are 3-4 MORE loads of crap to wash, so Thursday is secondary laundry day. When I miss one of these days there is hell to pay until the next one. Since I got my fleece for Gulf War cloaks on Tuesday, I washed all of that stuff between Tues and Weds (total of 35 YARDS! Some of it is for blankets though). Anyway, I am doing about 15 loads this week with the extra fabric for Gulf War. And people wonder what I do all day?

Then I am freaking out trying to get some hot chocolate or grits or something down these little girls, and it's 8:20, and you know who is already up in the office working! So I am trying to get him downstairs to eat too so I can get some eggs cooked. R is the official breakfast cooker--he cooks eggs, pancakes and french toast and usually uses his cast iron skillets. I don't touch the cast iron skillets--they have bad karma for me. Every time I touch one of them, something happens and it gets rust on it that has to be polished off, so I leave them both the hell alone. That's what happens when you integrate someone else's pots and pans into your kitchen. Those damn things have been in my cabinets 17 years now, and they make fabulous food for him, but they hate me. They leave rust spots on my shelf liner paper just to mock me. "Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah! You can't cook with cast IR-ON!"

So, R FINALLY comes downstairs and agrees to fix some eggs although he reminds me about 40 times that it is a WORKDAY for him (yes, and I will be painting my toe nails and eating bon bons all day like usual, in between the 15 loads of laundry of course).

I am rapidly losing my patience with the three muskateers (my husband and the two kids) as I mentally tick off the things I need to get done before Saturday: finish making Valentine's cards with the new Cricut I got for Christmas (can't afford to buy cards since I just spent all that money on a die cut machine!!). Finish birthday card for Tanya for Sunday's birthday party (wrapped Zhu Zhu pets already at midnight one night this week). Cut out at least one clothing item each day for Gulf War using the patterns Viviana made for us. Sew something and finish something that will be used at Gulf War. Paint puzzles for MOC on Saturday because they need to dry by Friday. Paint black star on MOC floor cloth for tic tac toe game. Clean out MOC tubs for Saturday and get stuff together for Kingdom A & S. Get garb ready for four people (or at least three) for Kingdom A & S. Get SWAPS counted and coins rolled for Thinking Day Feb 20th (maybe kids can do this with supervision). Get Miranda to research her St. Valentine's presentation for Kingdom A & S. Bribe at least one child to do Environmental Contest, due Monday, with promises of money in allowance account (I keep their allowance account on paper so that I can make additions and deductions all the time without going to the bank). Work on presentation board for Thinking Day and see what is missing about the country Colombia from the research the Scouts already did. Oh, do six loads of laundry. clean bathrooms upstairs and make sure upstairs doesn't get trashed, because we have two girls coming over Sun night for a sleepover and we will be gone all day Sat. And I don't do housework on Valentine's Day. Call PTA mom re book presentations for Friday to find out what she will do if school is delayed start tomorrow.

The list continues: Call other mom re Destination Imagination t shirt order that is due Fri--did she get it? I left it under the front porch mat yesterday (chat with her 20 minutes about DI and Freecycle once I get her on phone--other mom never calls back--she actually went to an EYE appointment in all this mess--her hubby took the message but I bet he forgot to give it to her). You always have to call twice if the husband answers the phone--they never give the message to the mom. My husband is guilty of the same thing on more than one occasion. And if one of them does slip up and give the mom the message it's almost always garbled or wrong. In fact, I send this mom an email later for clarification purposes. I have learned the hard way in years past--these suburban husbands would never make it as receptionists. Their hearing has developed over time into "selective messaging" mode so they can tune out their wives.

More of my to do list: Iron and tag all consignment clothes--dropoff is Feb 19th, which is going to be a busy day since ARD meeting for Amelia is that morning and possibly rescheduled book presentations. Not washing the damn things again--they were washed when put in the plastic bins,stored in a closet, and they are clean enough. Need to print consignment tags while R is here so technical difficulties, if any, can be resolved. Sew some more for Gulf War. Feed kids and husband. Clean up after kids and husband. Cut out more clothes for Gulf War. Etc. Etc. Etc. I am really stressed out right now, you know????

So, I start to delegate. Husband is out of pocket; back in office because it's a WORKDAY for him. The girls want me to sit and watch Robin HOod DVDs. I say, I will after I cut out something for Gulf War and do some painting. Maybe you could help by hemming those little Viking dresses Viv made you? I can show you how. Major whining. It's our day off--we want to play and have fun. We don't want to sew. Sewing is work.

"Well, how about if you guys roll some more coins for me for Thinking Day? (Oh, good, they did finish that with R last night). Then, could you count these SWAPS (Some Whatchamacallits Pinned Affectionately Somewhere)." SWAPS are traded in Girl Scouts and each country has one for Thinking Day. Our country is Colombia. We need 270 for Thinking Day. Now, these were handed out to the 10 girls last week and they did bring them back, but several ran out of coffee beans and didn't finish their packs. A count reveals we have 242 so I am trying to get M and A to make the other 28. It's pretty easy: stick coffee beans and a label in a jewelry bag and add a pin. But M doesn't want to do the pins: "Mommy, will you do the pins for me?" So I do SWAP pins for 30 minutes with Disney Channel blaring in my ear.

Then I work on painting one side of these cool puzzles that Lady Stephanie Lillburn made. I want to paint one side to make them more colorful so they will appeal to the kids at MOC, but I want the edges and the other side left natural so you can see the wood grain. This is an interesting feat and as I am trying to do it mostly with foam brushes in my front foyer (yes, I am allowed to paint there and only me)--well, it's not the best job but they actually look very good. Try to get hubby's consultation on what to paint and how since he's the woodworker, but he doesn't want to come downstairs because of his knees and because he's WORKING. Painted mouse puzzle, pig puzzle, two small and one large dragon. After drying, I accented them with marker. They don't look totally professional--but not bad.

Then I cut out a navy dress for Gulf War. Kids are upstairs playing somewhere. I go back in the family room to put away the SWAPS, I change the laundry, yada yada yada.

Pretty soon it's noon and everyone says they aren't hungry (well, R says nothing because he's on a conference call). I am starting to lose it. I am working my ass off and everyone else is ignoring me, like I'm the maid.

I fix lunch for me and go lay down to watch a movie and maybe sew. M wants to go outside again. I get her bundled up and leave bags and stuff by both doors with instructions that coat is to be hung up and wet stuff put in bags. I fall asleep watching movie--I did get up at 3 am last night so I am pretty tired by now. Oh, let the doggies out and then get the clumps of ice off of them. Twice. Put away some laundry. M is yelling that she ran hot water on her feet and now she hurts--what time is it??? 2 pm????? Did anyone eat lunch???? There is wet stuff including coats all over the foyer. Water running in rivulets down the tile, and now the floor is trashed and I can't cut stuff out on it. Wet towels everywhere. Kid yelling upstairs. Hubby incommunicado.

I make M get dressed and A get dressed too. She apparently went outside and went through clothing set number 2 and now she is complaining that she has no clean clothes. I LOSE it because they are supposed to bring their own laundry down, and I am the one that did it this morning since I noticed that they hadn't put their clothes away from Monday and the hamper was full again with dirty clothes since Monday.

Kids find something to wear. I give them hot grits and hot chocolate--don't feel like fixing another lunch. R still has not eaten I don't think--not sure. I yell and scream at kids who won't sew and want to play all day. "Mommy," says Amelia, "why are you being so mean???" But I am on the warpath. They have trashed upstairs too and I don't have time to clean it tomorrow if they are in school. I make the go upstairs to clean up playroom, make beds. I show them how to clean the bathroom by cleaning the downstairs one and give them the bathroom stuff for their two bathrooms upstairs. That will keep them busy for a while so I can go work on laundry and take a shower.

I pile all of Hubby's laundry on his side of the bed. That way he has to put it away before he can sit down and watch TV. I am getting really pissed--there is so much crap all over the bedroom that I couldn't clean it if I had 10 days. I even stack up some papers and things he keeps moving around the room. My mom would throw them away but it's woodworking stuff so I don't want to do that. I spend an hour or more putting away my clothes and getting hangers for the laundry room, and changing laundry over etc. etc. Then, finally about 4 pm, I take a shower. Of course the shower really needs cleaning but I can't see that well in there without my glasses, so I ignore it. People banging on the locked bedroom door while I am trying to comb out my hair, with bathroom cleaning questions.: "Go ask Daddy!!!"

When Husband resurfaces I inform him that I am not cooking tonight but I am sewing instead. There is a steak thawed out and mashed potatos he can heat up plus salad. I am having soup (can't chew much until I get this dental work done which will probably not be until next week with all this snow). I tell him about steak and such. I go and play on computer for a while and read Facebook. I go and sew.

I tell all three of them that if they are watching TV, from now through Gulf Wars, I want them sewing something. I have HAD it. If they can't sew their clothes then they can wear them unhemmed and unfinished. R leaves me alone on the computer while he grudgingly cooks dinner (he conveniently forgets about the steak and does leftovers so he has less to clean up). Kids are hungry and whiny since I didn't feed them properly today, but they wouldn't eat when I offered, and you would think they could learn to fix a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or two.

Finally around 8 pm I get my way: Family time! H is sewing on his blue hat (after all, he told the girls this morning how the men sew in the SCA--so now I am making him do it!!!) Amelia takes to the sewing just fine and completes her hem but Miranda whines and only does about 3 inches. She is really really tired. We watch a few episodes of Robin Hood. I sew something else for Gulf War and actually finish it (it's only a cloth for my basket, but it's something!) I do have to help the other three-well at least the girls-- with the sewing as well, after all. All I have to do with R is keep handing him various magnification devices because he is having trouble seeing the navy thread on the navy hat.

It's still snowing, mixed with a little sleet. They actually cancelled school again for tomorrow. I've never seen it cancelled two days in a row. No book presentations; no Valentines' parties; no Lightning Thief field trip Friday afternoon. I guess we will be squeezing these into my "workweek" next week while I am trying to finsh Scouts and Consignment. It will be icy in the morning; in fact R says that there is no point in shoveling the snow away because it provides some traction if we need to get out. There will be a layer of ice underneath the snow on the driveway--he is actually correct about this, not just trying to get out of it. The road will be a solid sheet of ice though, and we live in the house on the hill. So we are not going anywhere for a while. Hopefully it will be clear tomorrow so we can go to Kingdom A & S.

Oh, Crap! I'm stuck with them all again tomorrow, and it's another WORKDAY for R. I guess I should get the bonbons and the toenail polish out. Oh, wait. I'm out of bonbons (what is a bonbon anyway?) and I haven't painted my toenails since spring 2009 (last formal pedicure). Remind me to write about how I am SO not a spa girl tomorrow.

Plesant Valley Mom signing off(exhausted and looking forward to maybe not doing anything much for Valentine's Day--except Gulf War sewing!!!) OK, do you see why the Tolkien discussion is STILL on the back burner????