Weekly Update...(is it *really* a weekly update if I just started it this week?)

Good Tuesday evening to all you fine folks.  I say this, even though I thought that yesterday  was Tuesday.  I ran in the bedroom, told Brad I'd be back in 5 minutes after I fed the dogs, rushed downstairs and done what needed doing, dashed back up the stairs and plopped on the bed.  A couple minutes passed and I was like, "Um, why aren't we watching Anarchy?"  Brad looked at me strangely and said, "Because it's Monday."  Yep.  That was a good answer.

I thought I might try to start doing a weekly update of the life and times of Erin and the Johnston's.  Writing all the chaos down sometimes makes it seem not *too* crazy!  

First things first...the hubby had some tests done last week and everything come back OK - THANK YOU LORD!!!  Best case scenario.  Such a relief when you go from bad thoughts to knowing it is all OK.  

Now let's get into the nitty gritty of things...

After I picked the girls up at Orff, we went out to paint pumpkins.  That's when I noticed Margo had some wet looking spot on her lower neck area.  I thought she'd gotten into some motor oil or something.  After scrubbing her with Dawn dish washing liquid and her trying to bite my hand off, I left her alone, and later saw that she'd apparently had an abscess that busted and it was oozing out yellow (and terribly stinky) gunk.  Ugh.  

Cosmo had the runs today.  Yep.  After Leah just gave him a bath yesterday, he repays her by soiling her bedroom carpet.  Don't worry, I got it all cleaned up and hopefully whatever caused that doesn't come back again!

I think that Lily has peed on the green mushy chair AGAIN.  Why can't she just pee in the floor like most bad dogs do???

Sometimes I feel like the animals run my life - just sayin!

We have made it through Leah's two tests Monday & Tuesday.  Lots of studying and don't know how she did yet.  She said the Math test was hard and the Science test was harder than she thought it would be.  I can't really fuss at her if she didn't do well, I know that she studied and she knew everything on her study guide.  Having to go through school as a parent is a lot more stressful than going through it as a child, I think!

Halloween is almost here!  I'm excited but sad at the same time.  After Halloween, I usually start dragging out the Christmas stuff, but honestly, I'm just not ready for Christmas to come yet!

I broke my finger nail trying to use it as a screwdriver on Leah's glasses today.

I have eaten about 45.2 fruit slices - and NOT the good healthy fruit - this is the sugar crystal coated gummy candy I'm talking about.  Ooops.  I sure wish I had will power.  

My hamstring and sciatic nerve are giving me fits today.  I blame it on the lumpy pillow top pad thingy that Brad bought over the weekend while he was in Lexington.

I have a hundred loads of laundry that I need to do.

I painted a pumpkin for Lily & Cosmo with their names on them.  I am going to try to get some pictures of them tomorrow!!!

That's about all I can think of right now...It has been a stressful week so far with waiting for Brad's test results and all the studying for Leah's tests, but we have survived the worst of it I think!  Now, I'm gonna unbutton my britches and let this belly breathe while I kick back with my bottle of water and pack of Smarties and watch Sons of Anarchy because today IS Tuesday.  I'm sure of it this time.

Happy week everybody!

Some random useless information

Sometimes I have random thoughts - well - a lot of times I have random thoughts and thought I'd share them with you all.  I'm just nice like that.

RANDOM & USELESS INFORMATION ABOUT ERIN

1)  Mashed potatoes might be one of my most favorite foods, ever

2)  I have never had my eye browns waxed.  Don't judge.  I'm not girly.  And I'm fairly sure it would hurt

3)  I might have a slight OCD problem with constantly having to do something with my hands.  If I drive, I play with my hair with one hand, if I sit, I play with my fingernails.   If I stand, I usually have my hands clasped together in front of me, or play with my fingernails.   If I'm outside, anywhere near grass, trees, bushes, I have to pluck off a piece and either tie it in knots or tear it into pieces.  The same applies with hay.

4)  I realized, on the hayride over the weekend that BOTH of my kids had to be picking hay, like me, the entire time we were on it

5)  I can not drink plain pop (or soda for you fancy folks).  Well, I guess technically, I "can" drink it.  I just don't like it

6)  I love the smell of Sharpies, rubber cement, spray paint, and gas.  It is a good thing I have a strong will where that stuff is concerned cause I really do like the way it smells!

7)  The one area that I do NOT have a strong will is around candy.  I am a candy junkie.  Cookies too.  And cake.  And ice cream, if it is a good kind...well,  you get the point

8)  This one might amaze some of ya'll - but I am very shy and don't really say  much sometimes.  I always feel like anything I have to say is silly or doesn't matter or make sense or isn't important

9)  While we are discussing my weaknesses, I am always thinking that somebody is mad at me or I have done something to someone to make them not like me.  If you are reading this, I have probably thought you were mad at me or didn't like me at some point in our lives

10)  I hate my sinuses

11)  I really don't like to clean much...but my hubby loves things to be clean...you can imagine the chaos that creates!

12)  The one thing that I really enjoy in life is trying to bring a smile to people's faces or make them laugh...even when I don't feel like it

13)  I have a hard time saying NO to people but I think that I am slightly improving in this area, either that or nobody has really asked anything of me that I have wanted to say no to!

14)  I might be a "slight" hypochondriac and worry over everything.  If my eye twitches, I'll research it to death.  If my side has a pain, I think the end is near.  I got to the point that I was driving myself crazy with analyzing every little twitch or pain in my body, so I am trying to do better...

15)  I love me some bluegrass and bluegrass/gospel music

16)  I miss clogging SOOOO much but my poor knees just don't like it anymore...maybe I should research that knee problem???!!!  LOL

17)  I miss my friends that I don't talk to much anymore...hummm, wonder what I did to make them not talk to me anymore???  (Are seeing what I mean!?!)

18)  I love my animals - so don't mess with them.  I have two dogs, if you don't want them to bark when you come in, or jump on you, then don't come to my house...they live here, you don't.  

19)  I haven't eaten a bowl of cereal in a month or so, I'm not sure why, I just haven't

20)  I love FALL and thankfully Fall is here...pumpkins, mums, Halloween, scarecrows...it's all good!

21)  When people find out I am a stay-at-home mom, I immediately feel my defenses rise, because I think that they assume I'm stupid and can't do anything else.  Not true.  I choose to be a stay-at-home mom because I want to be and because it works for me and Brad

22)  I have learned that you can never tell what a person is going through just by looking at them.  You never know what a person is dealing with.  

23)  I like to stick notes in Brad's lunch box, or the kids, sometimes...I know if somebody made my lunch, it would make me smile to get a note

24)  I like to name my cars...My first car was Otis the Oldsmobile (it was a hand-me-down from Mama).  My next car (that I WORKED *gasp* for and bought) was Sally the Sunbird (I loved her...she was black and had a sunroof.)  Then we had Isabella the Impala.  She was so roomy and red.  She got sick while we were in TN and was doomed.  That's when I got Grayson the Galant which is my current car.  It's OK but not my favorite.

25)  I have terribly bad hair

That's all I got for you...I know, I know...It is probably the most exciting thing you have read in a very long time!!!   

My Old Man...he's pretty fuzzy

My old man, that's Cosmo I'm talking about, not the "hubby," is a great man!  At a whopping 12 years old, he still makes me smile every day.  At 12 years old, however, he is also making me sad because I know that our years together are limited.  I have heard of Shih-tzus living 15, 16, or 17 years, but even that only gives me 3, 4, or 5 more years with my favorite fuzzy guy.

Cosmo has been my best friend ever since we got him.  He was my first baby and, boy, have I treated him like one!  I taught him tricks when he was younger - sit, shake, lay, roll over, and high five.  These days, if I tell him to do something, he usually just falls over on his side and looks at me like, "This is all you're gonna get."  

Cosmo was there when we brought Leah home from the hospital, perched in the window of our little apartment in Berea, wagging his tail.  My mom was there with him and kept telling him that we were going to bring him a baby.  When we got there, he climbed right up on the car seat and sniffed his new "baby," and must have approved because he became Leah's "guardian."  He would lay beside her while she napped. If she cried and I didn't get to her fast enough, he'd come looking for me.  When she wasn't feeling well, he would lay beside of her.  When she would grab his ears as she got older and yank, he'd try really hard not to bite, but would snarl his lip up and look at me angrily.  

My Cosmo has been there for me through many rough times.  He was there with me when I had my first miscarriage.  He lay on the couch with me as I cried.  He was there for me when I had my 2nd miscarriage and let me pet him and talk to him and cry.  He was there for me as I mourned the loss of my beloved Granny.   He has been there for me through the happy times, like when we brought Logan home from the hospital and when we moved to our current home.  He has gone through many birthday parties with us and never stops begging the party-goers for food!

I say, with confidence, that Cosmo is definitely a Mama's boy!  We know each other pretty well...in his old age, he's gotten pretty stubborn and very set in his ways.  He is losing his hearing and I have to talk very loud or get really close to his ear when I talk to him.  We sort of have our own language though, as crazy as that sounds...He knows when I point that he is supposed to go, he knows when I clap my hands or pat my legs that we are going out.  I also know his little perks such as when he sits on the floor and shifts from foot to foot and whines that he needs to go out.  If he wants a drink, trust me, you'll know it!  It never ceases to amaze me that he knows what time he eats and he gets incredibly hyper when it is his supper time. You could practically set your clock by him!  

Yesterday, when the man come to fix our heat, he rang the doorbell...this was something that would always send Cosmo into a barking frenzy of excitement.  However, yesterday, Cosmo never even heard the doorbell - he just kept sleeping.  My guy is getting old...but he's still got a lot of life left in  him.  

I wonder what the future will hold for him...I hope that the rest of his years are good ones for him...Either way, I promise him that I will be there for him - through the good times and the bad - just like he has been for me!