27 February 2009

Good Night

24 February 2009

Labels

One of the things that I do to pass the time and make a little extra cash is take surveys online. Sometimes I get lucky and am rewarded with a couple bucks, or I get points that when added up to a crazy sum, I can redeem for cash, or on a rare occasion I get a product in the mail to try and then report on. It's fun and easy and it makes me feel useful...sometimes.
Today though as I was filling out another survey, I was struck by the "profile" that I fit:

A 25-35 year old female homemaker with some college but no degree, non Latino/Hispanic, white/Caucasian mother of two with a total household of four, living in TX with a gross income of $25,000-$49,000, with no family member working in the advertising/marketing/newspaper market, whom does all the grocery shopping and uses a laptop/notebook computer device to access my wireless Internet and takes surveys 1-10 times per week.

Maybe I should get this printed on a card so that I can hand it to the few people that I talk to and then they can make a more determined observation of me. I mean on the surface it's really not that off the mark. It pretty much sums up my current status in an awkward but none-the-less shell. This information could also completely negate the small talk that follows after meeting a person and then I could dive into the real questions, "What antidepressant are you on?", "What does your husband think of your obsession with putting the dishes in the dishwasher the correct way?", "What is your preferred outlet: screaming, punching the walls, or running out of the house?", "When was the last time that you got 8 consecutive hours of sleep?", "What's your poison? Chocolate or tequila?" I might have stumbled onto something.

smashed

I stated a new book this morning-"smashed" by Koren Zailckas. Stuart bought this for me and I needed to take a break from Karen Kingsbury. Here is an excerpt from the 1st chapter:

(at this point the writer is 14 years old and at a co-ed birthday party)
The only commandment that boys seem to live by is "Thou shalt be strong to the point of being cocky." That means pedaling their bikes toward three-foot-tall ramps without fearing broken ribs. It means taking a sucker punch without squealing. It means knowing how to change tires, drive nails, throw spirals, and unhook girls' bras without looking.

And while I don't think I'd be any good at being a boy, given the fact that I am constantly afraid, constantly crying, and characteristically weak, I envy the fact that boyhood's rules are consistent. Being male is not a mess of contradictions, the way being female is. It is not trying to resolve how to be both desirable and smart, soft and sturdy, emotional and capable.

Interesting. Just thought I'd share.

22 February 2009

One Child Wonder

Today was an easy day. Nothing spectacular happened. Stuart didn't have to work (well, he does have to leave for work in about an hour), there was nothing pressing that needed to be done and the boys didn't hurt themselves or the dogs or the house. The wonder part came this morning. I needed to run some errands and Stuart needed to work on the truck. I get myself dressed, the boys dressed and was heading out the door when Tyson informs me, "I'm staying with daddy."
Normally this is when I would bring out the stern mommy, but today I changed my mind. I looked at Stuart and said, "ok." This brought out what I can only describe as the "evil eye" but in my husband. And just as quickly it disappeared. "Alright buddy. You can help daddy work on the truck." I can not tell you how much the boys like to play with daddy's tools but Tyson really likes to help. He knows more than any three year old should know about the goings ons in the garage and Stuart takes great pride in that.
So I load up Tucker and off we go.
It was fantastic!
I mean, Tucker is by far the harder child to handle and there were still bouts of whining and complaining. But how glorious it was to only have one set of feet kicking shoes off, one set of hands grabbing at things on the shelves, one mouth complaining about sitting in a cart, one body being kept from catapulting onto the ground, one diaper to be monitored, one pair of eyes noticing all the items that couldn't be purchased...ONE child!
I am in no way complaining about the fact that I have two children. I love my boys. But it was oh so nice to remember the feeling of only having ONE.
Now I must go think about someONE else and go wake him up for work.
Shout outs:
Deodorant-I'm digging your new scents.
Socks-I love everything about you, especially fun colors. Except when I sleep. I just can't do that.
New sheets-ahhhhhh...

Couldn't Say It Better

(click on photo and it will open in a separate window)
Add two dogs to the mix and this is MY world. Could not have said it ANY better! Tacoma (with no kids) needs a kick in the shins.
Thanks JW for finding and sharing this!!

21 February 2009

Ahhhh

I'm blogging from my phone while at McDonalds. How cool is that?

20 February 2009

Jailbirds

19 February 2009

Weight, Woot and Whoa

Today we went to Tucker's 2 year well baby appointment. It was no surprise that the child is huge. Since he's been born, he has literally been off the charts as far as weight and height. Today he made it back to the charts. {sigh}

Weight: 35 lbs 7 oz (>95%)
Length: 37 in (>95%)

Here's a little ditty I have done to compare my monsters:

Weight (in pounds) Comparisons
Height (in inches) Comparisons
And yes, I am completely obsessive. Here's another example of my OCD: I make up the bed as soon as I or Stuart get out of it. This includes when he gets up at 9:30 pm to get ready for work. Even though I am going to be getting in bed within a matter of hours, I still make it up. I also do NOT let people sit on the bed once it has been made. This causes me great strife and quite a problem for the dogs. It's what I do, and yes my therapist gets paid a lot of money for me to explain this.

So many of you have seen my status on facebook about "wooting." Here's the low down: Stuart is a complete and total geek, dork, nerd...I could go on but I think you get the picture. He is quite handy in the electronic department (he has an entire bin just devoted to "cables"). I digress. He hourly, {ahem} I mean, frequently checks dorky websites such as slickdeals.net, onesaleaday.com and woot.com. The latter sells gadget-friendly items at a great discount. The catch is that once the item is sold out, the deal is done for the day. Every once in awhile a wootoff occurs. This is where the aforementioned time sucking site sells items back to back for hours, days, or any other amount of time they deem appropriate. During said wootoff an item called a "bag of crap" (boc) will hopefully appear. The boc can contain anything from Texas air to a 60" plasma tv and anything in between. A boc sells for $1.99 + $5 shipping. You can see why my dear, sweet, wonderful husband is o-b-s-e-s-s-e-d with this. It just so happens that a wootoff began Wednesday at 12 am. And it is STILL going on. Because my husband is so caring, he had me start monitoring the wootoff waiting for anything "great" and of course the ever amazing boc. I am woot-stipated (thanks JF for the fantastic symbolism). Not only are both our laptops monitoring this site but we are also monitoring another site that is solely devoted to alarming you when an item sells out and a new item is listed from woot.com. Stuart also expertly downloaded this same software onto both of our phones so that while we are out of earshot of our computers we can be alerted of progress on the wootoff. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Last night I dreamed at woot. It's just WRONG.
**and no, we didn't get a boc. they sold 15,000 of them at 5:32 this afternoon. their server crashed when the item was listed. the first sucker got his boc within a second of the boc listing. darn it.**

Has anyone tried this?

I just bought it yesterday and I am kicking myself for not coming up with this idea. If I had a nickel for every fabulous idea I had, I would have -$.50. But seriously, this is marvelous. At the bottom of the bottle is an area with vent holes and inside are smelly-goodness air freshener beads. Who doesn't want the cabinet under the sink to smell better? It's amazing. Go out and buy it.

Shout outs:
Calculators-man alive, I don't think I can even add anymore with out.
Spoons-cereal just wouldn't be the same.
Microsoft Excel-oooh, I love making charts and graphs and sorting!

18 February 2009

Right Now

This is the scene is my living room. Right. Now. 11:09 am.

15 February 2009

This Is What I Do

To add to the SAHM things, I also read. Books mainly but these creep in too:

Blogs that make me cry
Confessions of a Yummy Mummy

Tuesday's Mommy
mat, liz and madeline
nienie
Magdalena's Mommy
Cora's Mommy
Bring the Rain
Maddox's Mommy
Larson's Mommy
Issac & Asher's Mommy

Blogs that make my laugh
Cake Wrecks
Dooce
Her Bad Mother

My mom friends
A Day in the Life of a Lewis
Autumn's Life and Thoughts
Blue Ridge Baby News
Certified Organic Mom
Doting Momma
In My Own Words
Jessica Gann
Melanie Fryar
Smart As Allison
The Brooks Family
The Heberts
The Schrenks
Just What I've Always Wanted
The Tidmore City Limits
The Watsons
My Candy Boys

More friends
Do Well Dowell Family
English Lessons
Gary and Jodie
Into the Life and Mind of Fidi
a happy family is but an earlier heaven
The Nanny
The Waiting Room

Don't really have a label, but I like to read
Etsy
Kelly's Korner
Paint in My Hair
The Fincher Adventure
Mckmama

14 February 2009

Some say love...

Is this





Or this



Maybe this



Really this



Happy Love Day!

13 February 2009

Our Love Story

February 14, 2002. I was sitting at Starbucks waiting for him to arrive. I was excited and nervous but mostly anxious to see him again. For the past week we had been on a "break." Time to think about our relationship and where we wanted to be. We hadn't seen or talked to each other in a week, a very long week. So I sat ready to see him. We had been dating for 11 months and I thought he was the one. We came from very different backgrounds but I didn't care. I was sure tonight was going to be the night that we would discuss taking the next step (not towards getting engaged, but maybe closer to that place).
I see him park and walk up. There was something different about the way he looked at me but I brushed it off. He got closer and sat down. No hug-hmm. We chatted for awhile about nothing in particular. Then he asked me to take a walk. We started up and he didn't hold my hand. Weird. We made it down to some benches and sat down. OK, this is it. Whatever he says, it's going to change our lives.
He starts talking but the words aren't what I think they are going to be.
Wait. Wait! Did he just say...no. Huh? Break up? No, no, no! Hold on. What is he saying? Really? Over? What is going on here?

The tears started. Full on sobbing. Could this really be happening? No. We were supposed to be talking about taking the next step in our lives, sealing our commitment to each other even more.
"But you were the one..."
Silence.
It was over.
He walked me to my car but I couldn't even see through the tears. How was this possible? I was crushed. My heart hurt. Really, really badly. This wasn't supposed to happen, on Valentine's Day of all days.

In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps. Proverbs 16:9

Exactly one month and 13 days later I went on my last first date. Kinda funny how God see things. I had gotten a call from Stuart Doss of all people. He left me a message asking if I had someones number. I was at work and so I didn't get his call till after I was done. Funny. How did Stuart get my number? I checked my phone book but I didn't have the number that he wanted. I called him back and when he answered he quickly told me he was sorry for the message he left. Really? Why? He then proceeded to ask me out. Really? Why?
Stuart and I had known each other for about a year. We were both in the college class at church and both of our parents worked at church. Ever since he moved to San Antonio I had heard bits and pieces about him from my mom and dad.
"The Doss' youngest son moved back to town. I think he just got out of the military."
"The Doss' son is about your age."
"I really like the Doss'. They are such a good family."
"We're trying to set a date to have dinner with the Doss'. Their son is going to be there. Wanna come?"
"I have a boyfriend mom."
Little did they know...

March 27, 2002. Stuart picks me up at my house. I had to work that evening so we decided on a 9 pm time. He came to my door and said hi to my parents. Nice. He walked me out to his car and opened the door for me. Very nice. We went to TGI Fridays and talked and talked and talked. It was really nice. He dropped me off around 1 am (I know, kinda late) and simply said he had a good time and he would call me later. Nice.
I walked inside, went upstairs, poked my head in to my parent's room to let them know I was home safe and went to bed. The next morning I woke up and got ready for work. I walked into the office and was met by strange looks.
Well good morning to you too.
"Clarissa, why aren't you at the hospital?"
"Uh, why would I be at the hospital?"
More confused looks.
What was wrong with these women?
"Clarissa, do you not know?"
"Know what?" Now I'm starting to get a little perturbed.
"Clarissa, you need to call your mom right now."
Shock. What? Why?
I pull out my cell phone and hit 4, talk.
My mom answered and it was very clear that she was upset and crying. Somehow I was able to get the information-my dad had a stroke. My head was reeling. I didn't know what to do or think but I had to get to the hospital. Fast.
As I was driving I get a call from someone I didn't know. It was Stuart, calling to make sure I was ok. As many of you know word travels very fast in churches and the news about my dad's stroke was no different.

June 2002. Stuart and I have been dating for 2.5 months. It's been magical. My dad is healing, Stuart is wonderful and I am about to go to Hawaii for two weeks with the family that I was a nanny for. The two weeks in Hawaii go by in a blur. It was such a fantastic place. A place that would have been so much more incredible with Stuart. Before I leave I find out that the person that was going to take over for me for the remainder of the summer in Hawaii backed out. I was asked if I could come back and stay for the rest of the summer. Uh, yeah!
I came home for two weeks before I was to head back. I tried to spend every available second with Stuart. One night when Stuart was driving me back home, he turned to me and said, "I love you. I really do."

Get outta town! I sat there. Voiceless. Had this man just said that he loved me? Yes! Yes he did.
I returned the compliment the next day. I was too emotional from the initial testament that I couldn't function.
The rest of the summer was a dream. Stuart and I talked every single night. The $800 cell phone bill will testify to that. Sometime during those late night talks I realized that this relationship was different. Then I knew why. Stuart was the one. With all my heart I knew it.
Apparently he knew it to. He bought a ring. He made an appointment to talk to my dad. My dad made him wait for 30 minutes before he brought him back to his office. Then he made Stuart sign a contract stating that our first born would be named Angus Og. And Stuart signed it!


August 17, 2002. I was flying back from Hawaii by myself because the day we were to leave I came down with an ear infection. So I had to stay back an extra three day for the infection to heal. I was a mess. All I wanted to do was see, hug, kiss and smell Stuart. I. Could. Not. Wait.
The plane landed and he met me at baggage claim. He was wearing jeans and a green and white plaid button down shirt. He looked wonderful. We got my luggage and headed to his car. Since my flight was delayed he asked if we could drive to school so he could take a test. Ha!
We pulled into the parking lot and parked. He stopped and looked out the window for a minute. Then he turned to me. My heart was popping out of my chest. I'm pretty sure I was holding my breath. Something caught my eye and I realized he was holding a small velvet box in his hand. No way! For real?





December 28, 2002. One of the three best days of my life. Among our family and friends, I became Mrs. Stuart James Doss. My father married us. My sisters and my bff Laura were my bridesmaids. His brother, brother-in-law and bff Justin were his groomsmen. The girls wore black, non-matching dresses. Phil did my hair. :) Stuart wore a black tux with a white vest and bow tie. My dad wore his kilt. My dad's bag pipe band brought me down the aisle. My father brought out the contract to make sure everyone could validate Stuart's contract with him. He also casually implied that his stroke was due to Stuart. It was amazing.
When we left the church we jumped into his mom's white convertible. Everyone released white balloons.








February 2009.
We have been married for six, blissful years.
We have two incredible sons.
We have two large dogs.
We have our own house.
We moved to Las Vegas.
We moved back to Texas.
We moved six times.
We gained a brother-in-law.
We gained a niece and a nephew.
We sent my grandmother and his grandfather to heaven.
We watched and cried as God took Stuart's mother to be with Him.
We share a greater love every day of the year.
We have God.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
I love you with all my heart and soul. You are my better half. Thank you for giving me this love story to share.

12 February 2009

Rad Like Dad




11 February 2009

Catching Up





Lately I have felt like running and hiding in a hole. Not because anything overtly bad has happened, I just need a really good cry and some time with myself. I have found myself crying on an almost hourly basis for the past two weeks. Again, nothing terribly bad, but just little things have caught me off guard and so the tears come. And come. And come. It's almost like I'm pregnant-I'm NOT, it's just reminds me of the beginning of pregnancies and hormones and stress and joy and fear...I think it started when Stuart got an email with the final layout of his mother's tombstone/grave marker. It hasn't even been a year since she passed away, but looking at the design just made it so real. She's really gone. I see her all around my house in pictures, when I look at Stuart (all the siblings are the spitting image of their mother), at various things that she gave us; it's just not right. My heart hurts that my boys don't even remember her. She was there for both or their births. She campaigned for Stuart and I to start dating. She will always be part of us. Then I read these heart wrenching blogs and I can't imagine the pain these families are going thru. Makes me feel like I'm worrying about tomorrow's troubles. Alright, back to reality.
So, since it's been awhile I need to catch you faithful few up to speed on my life. (Can I just say that it thrills me that anyone cares about the nothingness that is core of staying at home.)
We got our tax return! Woo hoo! Too bad all the money was already allocated to various things but it was still such a joy to log on to USAA and see such a fantastic account balance. I really wanted to leave all the money in there so that everyday I could see that number. Ahh...
We sold our Nissan Titan, borrowed a Toyota Corolla, gave back the Corolla, were gifted a Ford F150, sold our Ford Crown Victoria and bought a Mazda MPV. Yes, that's quite a lot of vehicles. I'm sure our neighbors think we are in some sort of drug ring since our driveway always has a different car parked in it. But do not fear! I think we are done with car-palooza 2009. I love my new mini-van! I am not ashamed at all. :)
We paid off one of my credit cards. It seems like such a waster to validate such a large amount of money going to one source AND getting nothing in return. But then, maybe if that person in my head who knew this was going to happen would have spoken up 10 years ago, I would still see that money. Bummer.
I have coined a new phrase for the stage that my boys are in: Tremendously Terrible Threes & Twos. Seriously. Currently the boys have taken up spitting. I really don't know where this came from-really. It's driving me insane. It's gross and messy and I think the act is repulsive. With that said, they think it's absolutely the grandest thing. Once one starts it takes a good 5 minutes for the saliva producing mouths to calm the flow enough to hear me. Ewww. Tucker is also at a fabulous stage of non-caring-discipline. He absolutely does not care what you do to him. As soon as the initial shock of "oh, dang I got caught" is over, he's at it again. All day. He gets the wallet out of my purse and dumps the contents on the floor a minimum of 4 times a day. He regularly opens all the drawers to the armoire and removes paper, pens, cards, cds, and distributes them to the refrigerator, fish tank, toilet, and Scout's mouth. Both boys have also gotten very good at screaming. I'm sure that my other neighbors think we need some serious counseling. They might have a point.
We bought new slip-cover couches from IKEA. I LOVE THEM. Why didn't I get something like this sooner? Unfortunately I didn't get to make the tremendous tour of the aforementioned palace but I think we are going to make another trip as a family so that I can bask in the glory of organization. What a heavenly place.
I got a hair cut and it came out much shorter than I envisioned. No, you can't see pictures till it grows out a bit.
Scout is doing much, much better! She is gaining weight (we'll take her in a two weeks to get reweighed) and her tail is healed (I think, the bandage came off and her tail hasn't bleed all day). She and Turbo are striking up quite a friendship filled with quiet talks by the fire, strolls along the fence and latrine duty. How romantic!
We got our carpets cleaned. One of the best moves we have ever made. I could have doubled the amount we paid for the luxury. I think we might have to make it a bi-yearly event.
Stuart and I went on our first date in over two years. That's right. Two years. Needless-to-say it was a much needed and great event. The night did end with a bit of a disaster with the babysitter, but at least we got to eat in peace and order grown up food and drinks. We have got to find a babysitter that we can use on a regular basis.
I went to the optometrist and found out my eyes are getting worse-duh. But there ARE still two or three contact companies that make contacts strong enough for my astigmatism. Dang eyes.
Shout outs:
New crayons-This completely appeals to my sense of OC-ness and it was really hard for me to let the boys actually use them.

Slip covers-love, love, love you!

Sunny skies-my boys thrive outside. Thanks for shining for a few hours each day so we could get out of the house!
String cheese-is there anything better than pulling apart cheese?

09 February 2009

Reminder

I was reading one of my good friend's blog and I just had to take awhile and cry. You can check it out here.
Thank you so much for reminding us how blessed we are.
Thank you for reminding us to pray for those who can't look at their sweet angels sleeping in the next room.

06 February 2009

Little Chefs


Playing in new kitchen from Clarissa Doss on Vimeo.

05 February 2009

Tra-la-la-la-la

So apparently blogger video sucks. I re-uploaded the video of the boys playing in their new kitchen thru a different site and now I have to wait 70 minutes to get the info from it. Grrrr. So I leave you with this-
Question: How is it that all dogs know that the best place to sleep is on the bed, the best place to lounge is on the couch and a great source of water is from the toilet?
My goal tonight is to keep Scout from poking her head in the toilet as I am trying to sit down on it. (Great mental picture I know)

Me + Cordless Drill = Amazing



We got Tucker's birthday kitchen in the mail today and I could not wait to put it together. That's right folks, I, me, myself, mommy put this bad boy together. *patting myself on the back*
I can't not wait for the boys to wake up in the morning (wait, it is morning. So I guess they'll be getting up in about 4.5 hours. Shish...) and see this. They are going to FREAK.
Drum roll please....

03 February 2009

Scout Update

First and foremost let me thank all you kind ladies that left me sweet comments on my horrible weekend with Scout, Tucker's birthday and mommyville. Y'all are the best and I totally can feel the virtual hugs from all of you!
Scout is great, great, great! We got her into the vet today and she did marvelously. The vet commented that she's a bit shy and timid but it seems to go with her past home life. She and I both agree that Scout is going to be a much happier and social dog living in the Doss house. :) After receiving every blood/fecal/mental test imaginable (I just threw the mental one in), Scout ONLY has tape worms. Rock on!! She tested negative for everything from heart worms to mange to mites. Some de-wormer, heart guard, antibiotics and ointment for her ears (from the cuts) and she is good to go.
An interesting note-Scout weighs 37.9 lbs. The vet said that a normal, healthy dane should weigh 80-100 lbs at 8 months. W-o-w. We've got a lot of fattening up to do!
The "big" problem for us was her tail. After a careful inspection, the vet concluded that it was only a laceration probably from smacking her tail like a whip against things. Keeping it bandaged will allow for the scab to stay on and the cut to heal. Yay! I was concerned that part of her tail was gone and then she would have had to have surgery. Yikes. Been there, done that (with Turbo and his leg) and have the $1500 bill to boot.
I am very glad to say that Scout is much happier now that she is in the house. AND she has only pottied ONCE in the house, but it was the first night so that doesn't really count.
The dogs are happy.
The boys are sleeping.
The husband is at work.
The wife doesn't have to clean up blood.
What a good night.

02 February 2009

I Hate Mondays


Alright, so yesterday was Tucker's birthday. I need to vent some. He got two cards-one from my mom and one from Aunt Lala. He got two birthday calls-one from my mom and one from my sister. He got two birthday emails-one from my other sister and one from my mom. Have you noticed that NO ONE from Stuart's side of the family even noticed that it was his birthday???? I DID. Stuart thinks I put too much thought into this, but come on. I'm not expecting gifts or lavish things but at least the recognition that it was his birthday would have been nice. *steam coming out of my ears*
So....since it was Tucker's birthday AND Super Bowl Sunday AND Stuart had to work last night, we didn't have a party. That's really ok. We stayed in our pajamas all day and played with Scout (who is doing better but we are still going to take her to the vet today). We had pizza for dinner and cupcakes. I had fun. We ordered him the Step 2 Lifestyle Grand Walk-In Kitchen. Can not wait for it to get here! I think both boys are going to flip out when it's here and assembled.
Shout-outs:
Huggies Clean Team Wash Cloths-you smell awesome and making getting cupcake out of hair, nails and behind ears a breeze!

Clorox wipes-oh my gracious, you saved my life this weekend!

Swiffer Wet Jet-again, how would I clean my floors without you?

Washing machines-I really couldn't function if not for you.

01 February 2009

Tucker is TWO

Tucker Patton Doss
February 1, 2007
9 lbs. 14 oz. 21.5 in

One Year Old
Two Years Old

Happy Birthday Tuck-Tuck!